THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE I » * 'ly ^^-^^^ I v:-:> THE HEART OF AFRICA. THREE YEARS' TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN THE UNEXPLORED REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. FROM 1868 TO 1871. DR. OEORG SCHWEINFURTH. TKANSLATED BY ELLEN E. FEEWEE. WITH AN INTEODUCTION BY WINWOOD EEADE. IN TWO VOLUMES. Vol. I. WITH MAPS AND WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, AND SEARLE. CROWN BUILDINGS, ^^^5*w .<_ S3 LONDON : rniNTKn by wii.mam clowes and sons. STAMFORD STREET A^D CltAlfrNfl CROSS. INTRODUCTION. Above Assouan, the terminus of tourists is the Nubian Desert, a yellow arm of the Sahara, thrust between Central Africa and Egypt. When this desert is crossed, you come to the ancient Ethiopia, which consists of lowlands watered by the Nile, while a little to the left is Abyssinia, the Switzerland of Africa. The White Nile, which comes from the Equator, is hereabouts joined by tlie Blue Nile, or Black Nile, from the Abyssinian Wells; and near their confluence is the town, -Khartoom. In the glorious days of the Pharaohs Ethiopia was colonised by Egypt, and there was a famous city, Meroe by name, possessing pyramids and temples. In the days of Egyptian decline Ethiopia became independent, conquered the mother country for a time, and was never entered by the armies of the Persians. The Ptolemies who afterwards reigned at Alexandria did conquer Ethiopia, even to its Highlands, carrying their arms, as they boasted, where the Pharaohs themselves had never been ; but the Eomans did not occupy the country ; they followed the advice of Augustus,* and the Nubian Desert was made their frontier. In the same manner the Arabs under the caliphs did not attempt the conquest of Ethiopia, and it was perhaps owing to Buonaparte that Turkish Egypt advanced so far to the south. * Gibbon, Vol. I. c. i. a 2 iv INTRODUCTION. The French expedition has always been stigmatised as a fruitless crime. But by the French the power of the Mame- lukes was broken ; by the French was displayed on Egyptian soil the superior genius of Europe, and thence may be derived a movement similar to that which in the days of the Pliaraohs was produced by the Phil-Hellenes, or kings who were " lovers of the Greeks." Meheraet Ali organised an army in the European manner, and crossing the Nubian Desert, conquered the lowlands of Ethiopia or Soudan. At the same time he commenced the civilisation of Cairo. These two great projects, culture in the capital, and con- quest in Soudan, have been carried out of late years with marvellous intelligence and energy by the reigning Khedive. To understand what has been accomplished, let us compare the Egypt and Ethiopia of the present with the past. In the past, a European traveller who visited Egypt incurred contumely and considerable risk. He was not allowed to ride on a horse ; he was called " dog " by the pious who passed him in the streets, and pelted by the playful gamin ; the dogs barked at him ; the women turned their eyes away as if they had seen an unclean tiling. But now Cairo, like Eome and Florence, lives upon tourists, who, if they are not beloved, are welcome ; the city is lighted by gas : it has public gardens in which a native military band performs every attemoon ; an excellent theatre, for which Verdi composed Aida ; new houses in the Parisian style are springing up by streets, and are let out at high rents as soon as they are finished. No gentleman wears a turban ; and few any longer aflect to despise the blessings of a good education. Let us now pass on to the south. In the ohleu time the Nubian Desert was infested by roving bandit-tribes. Since the days of Meheniet Ali they have earned an honest INTRODUCTION. v livelihood by letting out their camels : and soon they will become navvies, railway porters, &c. Already there is telegraphic communication between Cairo and Khartooni, and a railway is about to be commenced. As for the Soudan, it w^as formerly divided among a number of bar- barous chiefs almost incessantly at war. It is now conquered and at peace, and trade_] is seldom disturbed. Civilised opinion, all-powerful at Cairo, penetrates into the remotest recesses of this new African empire ; the traffic in slaves is abolished, and those who perpetrated their crimes in the dark depths of the continent have lately been reached by the arm of the law. It is my purpose in making these remarks to show what facilities for geographical research are afforded, by the power and good will of Egypt. In former times the explorer began at the Nubian Desert or the lied Sea ; lie might be plundered of all that he possessed before he entered negro Africa at all. Supposing he arrived safely in Sennaar, he was at once exposed to those vexatious extortions and delays which so frequently robbed him of his money and his health before he had opened new ground. As it is, a firmam from the Viceroy obtains him men and boats from the governor of Khartoom, and therefore his point of departure is shifted many degrees to the south. He is now able to penetrate into the heart of Africa before he en- counters an independent chief. The area of the firmam is immense, but beyond that area the dangers and difficulties of travel are perhaps increased by the aggressive policy of Egypt. The princes of Darfoor an 1 Waday have a constant dread of annexation, and a European traveller, if he entered those countries, would find it difficult to obtain his conge. The west forest reeriou which lies south of Darfoor and vi INTRODUCTION. AVaday, and also along the main stream of the Nile, has always been a slave-hunting ground ; annual raids are made from Darfoor and Waday, the hunters taking out licences from their kings,* and the Egyptian company of bandits, whom Sir Samuel Baker recently dispersed, hunted the land south of Gondokoro. These wars unsettled the country and rendered it difl&cult for travel. The slave-hunters intrigued against the European, fearing that he would expose them to the government at Cairo ; and the slave- hunted had learnt to regard all white men iis their foes and oppressors. Thus it has happened that out of a host of men who have attempted to penetrate Africa from north to south only two have achieved success. The tirst and foremost of these is Sir Samuel Baker ; the second is Dr. G. A. Schweinfurth, the author of this work. He was born at Iviga in December 1836, and was the son of a merchant. He studied at Heidelberg and Berlin, where he took his degree as Doctor of Philosophy, and devoted himself from his boyhood to the science of botany. At his first school one of the masters was a son of a missionary in South Africa ; he used often to describe the wonders of that country, and perhaps it was in this manner that his mind was turned towards that country which afterwards created his career. But the proximate cause was a collection of plants placed in his hands to arrange and describe. In 18(30, the young Freiherr von Barnim, accompanied by Dr. Hartinann, had made a journey in the region of the Nile, wiiere he had fallen a victim to the climate. His collections were brought home, and as Schweinfurth day after day studied these dry eor[)ses, a yearning came upcm him to go to Mohammed el Tounsy. Wadai. INTRODUCTION. vii the land where he might behold them in all their bloom and tlieir beauty, and where he might discover new species — those golden joys for the explorer. In 1863, he left Berlin for Egypt, and having botanised in the Delta of the Nile, travelled along the shores of the Red Sea, skirted the Highlands of Abyssinia, passed on to Khartoom, and finally, his purse being empty, returned to Europe, after an absence of two years and a half, with a splendid collection of plants. But soon he languished for Africa again, and submitted to the Koyal Academy of Science a plan for the botanical exploration of the equatorial districts lying west of the Nile. His proposals were at once accepted ; he received a grant of money from the Humboldt Institution, and, in 1868, he landed in Egypt. During three years he was absent in the heart of Africa, and, even before he had returned, his name had already become famous in Europe and America. Travelling, not in the footsteps of Baker, but in a westerly direction, he reached the neighbourhood of Baker's lake, passing through the country of the Niara-Niam, and visiting the unknown kingdom of Monbuttoo. As an explorer, he stands in the highest rank, and merits to be classed with Mungo Park, Denham and Clapperton, Livingstone, Burton, Speke and Grant, Barth and Rohlfs. He can also claim two qualifi- cations which no African traveller has hitherto possessed. He is a scientific botanist, and also an accomplished draughts- man. Park had some knowledge of botany, and Grant made an excellent collection, but both must be regarded as merely amateurs. In other works of African travel the explorer has given rude sketches to some professional artist, and thus the picture has been made; but Schweinfurth's sketches were finished works of art. In a geographical sense, this work is of importance as a contribution to the problem viii INTRODUCTION. of the Nile ; and etbnologically it sets at rest a point which has long been under dispute, viz., tlie existence of a dwarf race in Central Africa. These Pygmies are mentioned by the classical writers ; much has been said about them by modern travellers on the Nile; Krapf saw one on the Eastern Coast; the old voyagers allude to their existence in the kingdom of the Congo, and Du Chaillu met them in Ashango Land. Yet still much mystery remained which, thanks to Schweinfinth, is now at an end. That such a race exists is now placed beyond a doubt ; and it is probable that these dwarfs are no other than tlie Bushmen of South Africa, who are not confined, as was formerly supposed, to that comer of the continent, but also inhabit various remote recesses of Africa, and were probably the original natives of the country. WiNWOOD Heade. 29 Slwikh ojthe BACCAHKA -KIZeCAT MOM t\0 iith V. CJCofbifeweit, Berlin J CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. My former journey — Inducements to a second — Plan and object — Custom-house difficulties at Suez — Scenes in the Governor's divan — Environs of Suez — Sulphur mine of Gimsah — Recluse life of the officials — An unenticing coast — The roadstead of Djidda — The bride of the fish — Vo3'age across the Red Sea — Salt works of Roway — Appearance of the shore — Charm of the moonlight nights — Import- ance of Suakin — First night-camp in the mountains — New species of Dracaena — Numerous succulents among the flora — The valley of Singat — Idyllic abode of the Governor — Mountains of Erkoweet — The olive-tree wild — Gardens of the desert — Characteristics of the town Bedouins — Equipment for the desert — Old fanatic from Kano — Injury and oppression — The Bedouin camp 0-Mareg — Brown coating of the rocks — Goats and sheep of the Bedouins — Plant with my own name — Contest with the camel-drivers — Ugliness of the women — A monument of nature — Arrival at the Nile — Tent in peril — A wedding — The ninety-nine islands and the Sablook-straits — Pitiable condition of the country — Arrival at Khartoorn Page 1 CHAPTEE 11. Kind reception in Khartoorn — Dyafer Pasha, the Governor-General — ■ Contract with Ghattas — Ilerr W. Duisbcrg — Ivory trade at Khartoorn — Kliartoom possessions in the negro countries — Departure from Khar- toom — Manning of the boat — Constrnction 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 CONTENTS. 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 Page 43 CHAPTER III. Camj) of the Mudir — A negro king — Campaigns — Future of the country — A wise judge — The shrieking priest — Gum-arabic — The melodious tree — Mohammed Aboo-Sammat — Boats on the flight — Treachery of the Shillooks — General market — Excuse for plunder — First papyrus — Cassar among the pirates — Useless attempts to proceed — A world of gra«s — Hippojx»tamuses in a fright — The last obstacle — Depreciation of the Gazelle stream — Bon-mot of the Viceroy — Ghattas's namesake — The slipper-shape — Description of the Nueir — Analogy between man and beast — Cactus-type of Euphorbia — The Rahr-el-Arab a mainstream — Vallisneria meadows — Arrival in Port Rek — True nature of the Gazelle — Discovery of the Meshera — Deadly climate and its victims — Le Saint — Features of the scenery — The old queen and lier prince consort — Royal gifts — Fishes and birds 84 CHAPTER IV. Start for the interior — Flags of the Khartoomers — Comfortable travelling with bearers — The African elephant — Parting from Shol and Kurd- yook — Disgusting wells in the district of the Lao — Wide sandflats — Village of Take — Fatal accident — Arabian protocol — Halt in the village of Kudy — Description of the Dinka — Peculiarities of the race — Dyeing of the hair — Nudity — " The Turkish lady " — Iron age — Wcajwns of the Dinka — " People of the stick " — Weapons of defence — Domestic cleanliness — Cuisine — Entertainment of the ladies — Snakes — Tobacco-smoking — Construction of the huts — Dinka sheep, goats, and dogs — Reverence for cattle — Degeneration of cows — In- testinal worms — Deficiency of milk — Large murahs — Capabilities of the Dinka — Warlike spirit — Treatment of enemies — Instance of Itfirental affection- Forest district of the Al-Waj — Arrival at Ghattas's chief Seriba 137 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE V. Reception at the Seriba — Population — Fertility — Salubrity — Manage- ment — Poor prospects of the ivory trade — Failure of Eurojiean firms in Khartoom — Idrees, the chief agent — Domestic arrangements — Beauties of spring — The daughter Seriba Geer — Bit of primeval forest — Girafie-hunt — Bamboo jungle — Negro festival and music — Trip to the Dyoor and to Wow — Desertion of bearers — Good enter- tainment — Marquis Antinori and Vayssi^re — Old servant of Petherick's — Hornblend — Height of the water of the Dyoor — Apostrophe to the river — A model Seriba — First acquaintance with Niam-niam — Trader from Tunis — The Wow River — Seriba Agahd in Wow — Edible fruits of the country — Wild buffaloes — Instability of dwellings — Caama and Leucotis antelopes — Numerous butterflies — Bear- baboons — Pharaoh palms — Daily life of the Dj'oor — Their race — Iron-smelting — Formation of huts — Idyll of village life — Hunt- ing with snares — Women's work — Graves — Care of young and old Page 172 CHAPTEE VI. Laying out a garden a VEuropeenne — Hunting adventure with a bas- tard Gems-bok — Death of Arslan — Physiognomy of the vegetation — Character of the soil — Geography of plants — Destruction of a Seriba by natives — Seriba law — Cattle-raids on the Dinka — Tour round Ghattas's Seribas — Geography at Geer — Fish of the 1 ondy — Fear of ghosts in Koolongo — Caves of Gubbehee — Central African jackal — Bamboos in blossom — Triumph of Nature over her traducers — Joint- stock distillery in Gurfala — Nubian love of drink — Petherick's Mundo — Unsuccessful chase in the long grass — Two bush-antelopes — Culti- vated plants of the district — Cereals — Large growth of sorghum — Leguminous fruits — Oily fruits — Tubers — Vegetables — Tobacco — Smoking in Africa 213 CHAPTEE VII. The Bongo : Area, boundaries, and population of Bongoland — Subjection of the Bongo to the Khartoomers — Decrease of population by slave- trading — Red tinge of the skin — Width of the skull — Small growth of hair — No aridity in climato — Wild tubers as food — Races of goats and dogs — Hunting- weapons — Villages and huts — Smelting furnaces — Money uf the Bongo — Weapons for display — Wood-carving — ii CONTENTS. Penates of the Bongo — Musical instruments — Character of Bongo music — Corpulence of the women — Hottentot Venus — Mutilation of the teeth — Disfigurement of tiie lips — AiTOw-poisoning — National games — Marriage premiums — Natural morality — Disposing of the dead — Memorial erections — Mistrust of spirits — Loma, good and ill - luck — Fear of ghosts — Belief in witches — Peculiarities of lan- guage — Unity of the people of Central Africa — Extermination of the race" Page 256 CHAPTEE VIII. Calamities by fire — Deliverance and escape — Six women-slaves burnt — Barterings — Domestication of wild-cats — Plague of cockroaches — Pillen wasps — Agamre and chameleons — Fever — Meteorology — Solar phenomenon — A festal reception with an unfortunate result — Disturb- ance of rest at night — Murmuring of prayers — Jewish school — Orgies and dnim-beating — Casting out devils — Resolve to follow Aboo-Sam- mat — Start towards the south — Passage of the Tondy — Character of the forest — The water-bock — Scenery by night — Shereefee's attack — Seriba Duggoo — Consequences of the steppe-burning — Seviba Dag- guddoo — Burnt human bones and charred huts — Tropics in winter — Two kinds of ant-hills — Arrival in Sabby — Nocturnal festivities of the Bongo — Desolation of the country — Goat-suckers — Abund- ance of game — The zebra-ichneumon — The spectral mantis — Lions — Wonderful chase after hartebeests — Snake and anteloi)c at a shot 315 CHAPTEK IX. Tour through the Mittoo country — Early morning in the wilderness — Soldier carried away by a lion — Dokkuttoo — Fishing in the Poah — Feeding a slave caravan — Ngahma — Dimindo, the hunter's Seriba — Wounds from the grass — Dangadduloo — Entertainment in the Seribas. — The river Rohl — Reception at Awoory — Footsore — Trial of patience — People of the district — Poncet's Seriba Mvolo — Mercantile prospects for the Egyptian Government — Fantastic character of landscape — Structure of pile-work — Rock-rabbits — Rock-rabbits' feet — Nile cataract in miniature — The Tinnea cethiopica — Seriba Karo on the Wohko — Reggo and its breed of dogs — Kurraggera — Aboo Sam- mat's festivities — A speech of the Kenoosian — Aboo Sammat and the subjugated chiefs — Deragoh and its mountains — Kuddoo on the Roah — Fear of lions in the forest of Geegyee — Return to Sabby — The Mittoo i)eople — Inferiority of race — Disfiguration of the lips by Mittoo women — Fetters of fashion — Love of music 365 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. Preparations for Niam-niam campaign — Generosity of Aboo Sammat — Organisation of the caravan — Ceremonies at starting — Banner of Islam — 'J'ravelling costume — Terminalia forest — Hartebeest chase — Ahmed the Liar — Prospect from Mbala Ngeea — Bivouac on the Lehssy — Camp noises at night — Story of cannibalism — Ahmed's fate — The Ibba — First meeting witli Niam-niam — Growtla of the popukky-gi ass — Elephant-hunting among the Niam-niam — Surprise at the white man — Visit to Nganye — A chieftain's household — Entortainment by Nganye — Gumba — Colocasia — A Niam-niam minstrel — Beauty of the Zowa-trees — Encephalartus on the hill of Gumango — Cultivated districts on the Eye — Condition of hamlets and farms — Devastation of Bendo's district — Contest with the soldiers — Escape from a bullet — Identity of the Sway and the Dyoor — The law of drainage — Passage of the Manzilly — First primeval forest — Fron- tier wildernesses — Organisation in the geograpliy of plants — Import- ance of guinea-fowl to the traveller — Feeding the bearers — National diet Page 415 CHAPTER XI. Aboo Sammat's territory — Jungle on the brooks — Discovery of wild pepper — Giant trees — Modesty of the Niam-niam women — Fresh danger from a bullet — A Bongo poisoned by manioc — Liberal treat- ment of bearers — Nduppo's disagreement with Wando — Savage admira- tion of Europeans — The skin-trade — Wando's braggings and threaten- ings — Formation of columns for war — Natives as soldiers — Difficulties of river-fording — Difference of level of soil on the watersheds — Moham- med's prelude to drinking beer — Division of forces — Primeval forest on the Lindukoo — Kikkete's jealousy — Varieties of genets — Mohammed's reveil — Morning toilet of the Niam-niam — Waterfall on the Lin- dukoo — Magic roots — Watershed of the Nile district — Simple geolo- gical formation of Central Africa — The chimpanzee and pandanus found only beyond the watershed — Confusion in crossing the brook — Africa's revenge on the white man — Venturesome interview of Mohammed with Wando — Value of ivory and copper — Definition of a "gallery-wood" — Duality of vegetation — Wando visits my tent — Wando's nonchalance — A specimen of native cookery — Six Nubians murdered by Niam- niam — The leaf-eater and grass-man 465 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. roultry-market — Votive pillars and hunting-trophies — Indirect evidence of cannibalism — The chimpanzee in Central Africa — Presents of chim- jianzce skulls — New style of huts — The A-Banga — Cultivation of manioc in Central Africa — The Treculia — Cam- wood and muscat nuts — Conflict with natives — Shooting-match and sham fight — Magic lucifers — Mutual interchange of blood — Botanical excursion inter- rupted — Gyabir wounded — Modes of expressing pain — Female slaves captured — Giant lichens — Tree-termites — Monbuttoo frontier — Re- ception by Nembey — Northern limit of the oil-palm — Imaginary alarm — Unexpected arrival of Khartoomers — Visit of Bongwa and his wife — Cattle of the Maogoo — Cultivation of the sugar-cane — Inter- view with Izingerria — Arrival at the Welle — Condition of the Welle — Relations of the stream — Crossing the river — Monbuttoo canoes — New impressions of the heart of Africa — Arrival at Munza's re- sidence Page 515 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. (ENGRAVED BY J. D. COOPER.) I'AGE Ombet — Dragon trees .. .. .. .. .. .. .. to face 22 The, Ijnssa,^ [Cappar is fjrtleata) .. .. .. .. .. .. 23 A IJislmreen Shei p .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 34. Abno-Odfa .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 Ambatch Canoe .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 View of Faslioda .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 80 Prickles of Acacia fistula .. .. .. .. .. .. . . 98 In full flight before the Shillook canoes . . . . . . ..to face 100 The vessels in the grass-barrier .. .. .. .. .. to face lOfi Balienici^ps Rex .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. iiG The Meshera .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12S The old Shol I33 View on the Meshera (Port Rek) . . . . . . . . ..to face 136 Profiles of the Dinka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 A Dinka Dandy 151 Dinka Instruments for parrying club blows .. .. .. ,, 155 Dhika village to face 159 Sectional View, showing construction of Dinka Hut .. .. 160 Dinka Bull .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ., 161 Dinka 8heep 162 Diuka Goat 163 "Kyatf'Worm .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 166 Dinka cattle-park . . . . . . . . . . . . ..to face 166 The chief settlement of Kurshook Ali. A majestic Khaya- tree . . to face 188 Central African Hartebeest .. .. .. .. .. .. ^. 195 Leucotis Antelope (male) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Leucotis Antelope (female) .. .. .. .. .. .. ,. 197 Brass Ornaments of the Dyoor . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Portrait of a Dyoor .. .. .. .. r. .. .. 203 Portrait of a Dyoor .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 204 Spear Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Dyoor Spade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ih. Dyoor Smclting-furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Dyoor villnge in winter .. .. .. .. .. .. to face 209 Central African Bastard Gemsbok (^lH/t7o2)e /ejfrop/i/po) .. .. .. 217 xvl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Kosaria palmata TheKilnoky Younj)j Polypterus The Madoqua . . The Deloo Central African Yam . . TheNyitti Calyx of the Hibiscus Sabdarifa Bongo Goat Short-bodied Goat of the Bongo Vertical Section of Sinolting-oven Iron Money Bongo Lnnccs .. Pincers v.sed by the Bongo women for plucking out theii- eyelashes Knife of the Bongo women The Dangabor and a single ring Bongo stool Yanga's grave . . Bongo Bongo woman . . Phenomenon on the 17tli of May, 18tj9 (coloured plate) .. The Depression of the Tondy . . The Central African Waterbock {Antilope elUpsipryma) . . Mudhroom-.-haptd white-ant liilld View in the district of Mvolo . . Poncot's Seriba in Mvolo Goggo, a Mittoo-Madi Chief .. Goat of the Bongo, INIittoo, Momvoo, and Babuckur Lory, a Mittoo Woman Wengo, a Mittoo Woman Loobah Woman Cone of quartz worn in the lip Apron worn by the Madi. Ngahraa, a Mittoo Chief Mittoo Lyre Niiim-niain in full (Inm CoifTuro of the Niam-niam A Niam-iiiam Minstrel A Niam-iiiam Girl Niam-niam hamlet on the Diamvonoo An A-Banga Platycorium Elephantotia, Schweiof. Bongwa'a Wife .. Entry to Izingerria's Mbanga PACK 220 231 232 244 245 251 ib. 253 270 271 278 279 280 i 281 ib 282 283 285 293 295 to face 326 to face 336 339 349 to face 384 to J ace ib. 394 405 407 408 409 ib. 410 411 413 439 440 to face 445 472 to face 517 524 538 544 to face 546 Large Map of Dr. Schweinfurth's Discoverirs in Central Africa to follow viii THE HEAET OF AFKICA. CHAPTER I. My former journey. Inducements to a second. Plan and object. Custom- house difficulties at Suez. Scenes in the Governor's divan. Environs of Suez. Sulphur mine of Gim^ah. Recluse life of the officials. An un- enticing coast. Tlie roadstead of Djidda. The bride of the fish. Voyage across the Rtd Sea. Salt works of Eoway. Appearance of the shore. Charm of the moonlight nights. Importance of Suakin. First night-camp in the mountains. New species of Dracaena. Numerous succulents among the flora. The valley of Singat. Idyllic abode of the Governor. Moun- tains of Erkoweet. The olive-tree wild. Gardens of the desert. Charac- teristics of the town Bedouins. Equipment for the desert. Old fanatic from Kano. Injury and oppression. The Bedouin camp 0-Mareg. Brown coating of the rocks. Goats and sheep of the Bedouins. Plant with my own name. Contest with the camel-drivers. Ugliness of the women. A monument of nature. Arrival at the Nile. Tent in peril. A wedding. The ninety-nine islands and the Sahlook-straits. Pitiable condition of the country. Arrival at Khartoom. When, in the summer of 1868, I prepared for the great journey, of which the following pages contain the description, I was already no novice on African soil. In 1863 I had served an apprenticeship) in the art of travelling in the sunny fields of Egypt and Nubia. For months together, in my own boat, I had navigated the Ked Sea ; and it was while I was exploring the untraversed mountains by its coasts that I seriously conceived my larger project. My curiosity was particularly attracted towards the district of the independent Bishareen. I had then repeatedly crossed the country be- tween the Nile and the sea, and while sojourning on the lower VOL. I. R 2 Till'] HEART OF AFRICA. terraces of the Abyssinian highlands, I had learnt to appre- ciate the full enchantment of the wonders of nature in Africa. In 1866, passing througli Khartoom and Berber, I found my way back again to Egypt. Once entertained, the project of the botanical investigation of these lands resolved itself more and more into the problem of my life. The splendid herbarium, too, Nvhich 1 had caiTied home as the reward of my labours, obtained though it was at the cost of repeated attacks of fever, contri- buted to intensify my desire. Altogether the result of my first attempt was an encouragement and happy omen for my success in a second. My experience hitherto was likewise advantageous to me so fiir as this, — it had afforded oppor- unity of cultivating the faculty so necessary to every ex- plorer of unknown districts, of correctly generalising from details. Observations and impressions require to be surveyed from a comprehensive point of view, in order that the charac- teristic features of a country may be represented in their true pr()[)ortions. Besides this general information which I had pi-actically "•ained, and which 1 could no more have learnt from books than I could have learnt the foreign habits and modes of thouo^ht, I had also acquired that fluency in the Arab vernacular which is indispensable to every traveller, and which, moreover, appears to suffice for the whole of the immense district which is commanded by the Nile and its host of tributaries. Herbarium, topography, and language all .seemed to favour me ; the chief drawback was the state of my health. I suffered from a disorganised condition of the spleen, which gave me some uneasiness and misgiving; yet, after all, it appeared to be just the key that had unlocked the secret of the imexampled good fortune of my journey. The numerous attacks of fever had probably reduced it to such a state of inactivity, that it ceased to be affected l>y any niiasnja; or BOTANICAL ARDOUR. 3 perhaps it had assumed the function of a condensator, so as to render the miasma innocuous. Anyho^y, it seemed to perform services which I could not do otherwise than grate- fully accept as a timely gift of Providence. As a farewell on my landing in Alexandria, I experienced one slight twinge from my malady, and then it was quiet ; it did not again re-appear even in the noxious swamps of the Upper Nile, which had been disastrous to so many of my prede- cessors. No recurrence of my disorder interrupted my activity or clouded my enjoyment, but fever-free I remained, an exception among a hundred travellers. The time which elapsed between the completion of my first, and the commencement of my second journey, was occupied in studies which were directed to the scientific classification and analysis of what had been so abundantly secured. Whoever knows the blameless avarice of a plant-hunter will understand how these studies could only arouse in me a craving after fresh booty. I could not forget that the greater part of the Nile territory, with the mysterious flora of its most southern affluents, still remained a fresh field for botanical investigations ; and no wonder that it presented itself as an object irresistibly attractive to my desires. But one who has himself, on the virgin soil of knowlerlge in un- opened lands, been captivated by the charm of gathering fresh varieties, and has surrendered himself to the unreserved enjoyment of Nature's freedom, will be prompted to yet keener eagerness ; such an one cannot be daunted by any privation he has undergone, nor deterred by any alarm for his health : he recalls as a vision of Paradise the land he has learnt to love; he exaggerates the insalubrity of a northern climate ; he bewails the wretched formality of our civilised life, and so, back to the distant solitudes flies his recollection, like a dove to the wilderness. Of this kind were my impressions as these two years passed B 2 4 THE HEART OF AFRICA. a\va3\ I was prohibited from any immediate prosecution of my hope by the inadequacy of my pecuniary means. A wel- come opportunity, however, soon presented itself, and enabled me to resume my investigation of the district of the Nile. After the death of Alexander von Humboklt, there had been founded in Berlin, as a monument of gratitude and recoffnition of his services, tlie "Humboldt Institution of Natural Philosophy and Travels." The object of this was, without regard to nationality or creed, to assist talent in every direction in which Humboldt had displayed his scientific energies ; and it was especially directed that the funds should be applied to promote travels in the most remote districts. The Institute contemplated a supj)ly of means for the prosecution of those philosophical studies to which Humboldt dedicated himself with such unceasing ardour. The Royal Academy of Science of Berlin was vested alike with the power of deciding on the undertakings and of selecting suitable agents to carry out their designs. To that eminent scientific corporation I ventured to submit a scheme for the botanical investigation of those equatorial districts which are traversed by the western affluents of the Upper Nile. My proposal met with a ready sanction, and I was rejoiced to receive a grant of the disposable funds of the Institution, which had been accumulating for the space of five years. Thus it happened, that in July 18G8 I was once more ujwn the soil of Africa. During my first stay at Khartoom, wliich is the centre of government of the Egyptian Soudan, I had collected a variety of information about the ivory expeditions under- taken i)y the merchants of the place to the country about the .sources of the Nile ; I had likewise made certain alliances with the natives, and by these means I hoped to project a plan for a scientific progress over the district on a firm basis. There was no doubt that in the heathen negro distriets of GOVERNMENT COUNTENANCE. 5 tlie Upper Nile, the Egyptian Government exercised little influence and no authority. Under its direction, the Kliar- toom merchants had indeed done something — for sixteen years they had traversed the land in well-nigh every direc- tion, and they had established stations for themselves in the negro borders ; but they had not made good any hold upon the territory in general. Nevertheless, I had no alternative than to conclude that without the countenance of the Govern- ment, and without the co-operation and support of the mer- chants, there was no reasonable expectation that the objects of a scientific traveller could be forwarded. I was quite aware that various travellers had already attempted, at a large sacrifice of money, to arrange inde- pendent expeditions, and to engage an a^lequate number of armed men on their own responsibility ; but no sooner had they reached the more remote regions, where the few channels of the river were all in the hands of the merchants, than they necessarily became dependent on the merchants for their supplies. There was, besides, no other quarter on which to rely for obtaining porters, who are indispensable in a country where all known beasts of burden are accustomed in a short time to succumb to the climate. Upon the whole, therefore, I soon came to the determina- tion of being taken in the train of the merchants of Khar- toom, trusting that the countries opened by them would offer sufficient scope for all my energies. It was probable that the ivory traders would never, of their own accord, want to thwart me; yet I would not rely entirely on this, as I knew that they were themselves subjects of the Viceroy. As matter of fact, probably, they were entire masters of the situation in the negro countries, and really irresponsible ; but still their interests made them apparently subservient to an absolute government, and this was the handle that I desired to use accordingly. By diplomatic interest, I had secured the ostensible recognition of the Viceregal Govern- 6 THE HEART OF AFEICA. ment, but from my own experience, I was fully convinced that mere letters of recommendation to the local authorities, as long as their contents are limited to ordinary formal phrases, are of very questionable advantage. I might refer particu- larly to Sir Samuel Baker's misadventure as affording an illustration of the insufficiency of such credentials. I considered myself fortunate, therefore, in obtaining from the Prime Minister of the Viceroy (although he was himself not in residence) special orders, which I knew were indispensable, to the Governor-General of Khartoom. The Governor- General was to superintend any contract which I might make with the merchants to secure that ray journey through the district of the Gazelle River should be unhindered, and to ensure the due fulfilment of whatever obliirations micrht be undertaken. Thus the course appeared to be smooth, by which I might hope to reach the centre of the mysterious continent ; but I was still far from my object, still far from the point which I could consider as the true starting-point of my real journey. Between Alexandria and Khartoom was a route familiar enough, but even Khartoom could hardly be deemed the beginning. In order to reach the cannibal and the pigmy there faced me, as perchance there does the reader, many a trial of patience. What I did in Alexandria and Cairo can afford little or no interest; I was there fully occupied in pre- parations and purchases for my equipment, at times feeling much depressed. Before me lay the uncertain future, and the perils, which I could not conceal from myself, of this inhospitable region ; and behind me was Europe, in which to dwell was insupportable, without seeing my cherished designs accomplished. In Suez the dejection of despondency yielded to feelings of a more lively nature, partly from vexation, partly from amusement. The custom-house afforded me vexation, whilst the Governor's divan was an unfailing source of amusement. AT SUEZ. 7 I arrived ia Suez on the 16th of August, proposing to continue my journey to Djidda by the next steamer. Much gratified by tlie intelligence tiiat a steamer belonging to the Sulphur Company would start in four days, I was proceeding to embark at once, when I was stopped by the custom-house authorities, who desired a strict investigation of the luggage, and insisted upon payment of the tariff duties for every article of my huge accumulation of baggage. Perhaps everything might have Leen arranged, but when my addi- tional waggon appeared, although 1 explained that it had been furnished me by the Government, and notwithstanding that I was the bearer of letters directed to the Egyptian revenue officers, the director required an extra special order, and referred me to the Governor, who telegraphed back to Alexandria. In the meantime, for the next two days, I was compelled to take turns with my factotum, the Nubian servant, to sit in the sun on my baggage in order to protect my boxes which contained my money bags full of Maria Theresa dollars. As a refuge for the night 1 betook myself to a hotel, not much larger than a hut, in which I had already some years previously found the accommodation just suited to give me a foretaste of the privations of the desert. My consternation may be imagined, when at last there arrived from the capital an order that 1 must pay precisely as any ordinary traveller. Hardly had I recovered my first surprise, when accidentally one of the Governor's clerks called attention to some contradictions in the despatch. Further inquiries were instituted, and the discovery was made that an important word had been overlooked, and that the tenor of the message was that I was " not " to pay. Whilst this was going on, and I was kept in my suspense, I stayed chiefly in the Governor's divan. This officer, un- troubled at the revolutions which were taking place around him, untouched by any development of the spirit of the age so perceptible here, where three-quarters of the world join 8 THE HEART OF AFRICA. hands, ruled his people in simplicity and in the fear of the Lord. During the time which I passed sitting in his divan awaiting the issue of events, I was a witness of several inci- dents exhibiting this simplicity, and which struck me as being somewhat ludicrous. First stepped in a swarthy- lookinjr fellow, with a knavish countenance, such as one meets but seldom even in the streets of Alexandria. He wanted to legitimatise himself in his character of a British subject, or "_pro%e," as he styled liimself. To the Governor's inquiry where he came from, he said from Tarablus. " Tarablus ! then how can you be English ?" said the Governor. " Why, surely, because Tarablus is in the west," replied the rogue. It was objected that he was forging a lie, and that Tarablus was not in the west, and thence there ensued a tedious geographical discussion about Eastern and Western Tripoli. The rascal went on to assert that his father was a native of ]Malta, that after his death he had married, settled in Tripoli, and had become a Moliammedan ; and then he cunningly added, " Allah bo with you, and give you grace ! I should hope I could be an Englishman and yet be a good IMussul- man." Quite satisfied, the Governor gave a contented look, and let him pass. The order was given for the next appli- cant to be heard. With hesitating steps there now ap- proached a little man, black and repulsive, bringing with him a veiled girl to the front. It was a scene whicli sug- gested the thought that he must be a slave-dealer, and it reminded me of one of Horace Vernet's famous pictures ; but tlie circumstances were dififerent. He proceeded to unroll mysteriously and display a splendid caftan of yellow silk. He was, it seemed, a tailor of the suburbs, and tlie veiled beauty was a slave-girl from Enarea, w ho had ibrmerly been sold for filthy lucre, and was now bartering her honesty under the same inducement. The caftan was a gorgeous vestment lined with imitation ermine, and not unlike the night-dress of Ivan the Terrible, which is preserved in the Troitsky con- SCENE IN THE DIVAN. 9 vent near Moscow. The girl had ordered the dress, and now would not pay for it, and accordingly the tailor had brought her with him to the Governor, and* so enforced his demand. The next scene had a wonderful climax. It might almost remind one of the tedious campaign ending with the sudden collapse of Magdala. What the beginning of the contention was, I cannot tell. The Governor had apparently been trying to mediate between two Arnauts ; but as the prolonged dis- course was carried on in Turkish, I did not understand it. A quantity of apples were produced, and some of them laid for an evidently conciliatory purpose beside the Governor. All at once, however, some misunderstanding occurred, and there arose a furious storm of apples : they were hurled in every direction, the Bey himself being the originator of the bombardment ; and the scene closed as effectively as though there had been a display of fireworks. For myself, I was happily protected by my situation ; but I could see all, and am ready, if need be, to vouch for my representation in the presence of the great Sultan himself. If any one is inclined to suspect that such a sight is incompatible with the dignity or indolence of Turks, I can only remind him that their enlarged intercourse with temperaments less sluggish than their own has broken down much of their composure; and that now just as little patience can be expected from an African Bey when he is irritated, as from an excited Bavarian corporal. Although these details may appear to have no direct connection with what concerns Central Africa, yet they are significant as exhibiting how completely, for all pur- poses of administration, every institution whicli is Turkish or Mohammedan remains fixed on its ancient basis. Though Suez were to become a second San Francisco, or however much it might concentrate upon itself the traffic of the world, scenes of judicial practice such as these would be sure to recur until the last Pasha or Bey had taken farewell of this mortal state. 10 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Since my first visit five years ago, in January 1864, the population of Suez had increased threefold. The Abyssinian campaign alone had been the means of almost doubling the number of its inhabitants. A portion of the camp formed for the marching troops, and an immense depot for trusses of hay, seeming well nigh like a large village in itself, were now the sole relics of that successful enterprise. The fresh-water canal, which had now been completed for five years, had not effected any marked improvement upon the melancholy environs of the town, where desolation still reigned as ever; no gardens, no ])lantations, no verdure relieved the eye, which sought its refreshment from the blue sky and the azure sea. The hopeful expectations which were entertained from that canal seem by no means to have been realised. The deposit of any fertilising soil proceeded very slowly, and hitherto had made no change in the con- dition of vegetation at Suez, except just at the foot of the j\I()kkatan mountains, where the boulder flats, unimpregnated with salt, are traversed by a separate side branch of the main canal. Large fields of vegetables are cultivated here, and, without the aid of man, many varieties of desert plants contribute to the verdure. The tourist who loves to inscribe fresh acquisitions in his diary, may here without trouble find the far-famed " rose of Jericho," which he would seek in vain around the suburbs of Cairo. In order to reach Kliartoom, I had chosen the sea-route by Suakin, so as to avoid the heat and fatigue of a journey through the great Nubian desert. This sea-route, by Siiakin an 1 Berber, is quicker and altogether less expensive than that by Assouan and Korosko ; but it is not advisable for merchants who are travelling with any quantity of goods, on account of the heavy duties which are levied both at stiirting from Suez and at landing at Suakin. To save trouble and time I tiiought it wouhl be best to proceed to Djidda, and there hire a sailing vessel to convey ox THE KED SEA. 11 our party across to Suakiii. To reach Djidda, I made choice of a little French packet which was going thither in pre- ference to one of the Egyptian Azizieh steamers which ply between Suez and Massowa. These larger vessels do indeed touch both at Djidda and Suakin, but they are not suited for general travellers. The name of our little steamer was ' Prince Mohammed Tawfik,' (the heir - apparent to the throne of Egypt) : it belonged to the " Compagnie Soufriere," and was commissioned to supply the sulphur mines of Gimsah on the Egyptian coast with fresh water every fourteen days. Although it was in no way adapted for the conveyance of passengers, I was nevertheless quite comfortable on board. It was a vessel of only 300 tons burden, but by dividing the receptacle for conveying the Nile water into seven separate compartments, a great economy of space was effected, and a good hold reserved. The fact of the captain being a Dane, was a still farther recommendation. It w^as a memorable morning, that IStli of August, on which the sailing vessel was prepared to leave the roadstead. IMany a curious eye, in those early hours, was strained to witness the sun, as its disk rose darkened by the shadow of an eclipse. Above the flood of the Erythraean Sea appeared a golden sickle, its crescent light bearing resemblance to the moon. We were detained for yet two days in the roadstead ; but at last we weighed anchor, and the little craft soon vanished from the midst of its more imposing neighbours, the great mail shi))S and men-of-war, which gave such a bright aniaiation to the anchorage. A refreshing breeze from the north-east carried us across the gulf. Ever deepen- ing violet shadows covered the shore, until the obscurity of night had completely hidden Mount St. Catherine and the Mount of ]\loses from our gaze. At dawn we were facing the grim shore of the sulphur mountain. Here we were greeted by the waving of the French tricolour, which, in the 12 THE HEART OF AFRICA. iiionotonons grey that raautled the whole land, afforded a bright resting-place for the weary eye. According to a treaty made with the Egyptian Govern- ment, the Company are enabled to carry on their operations over IGO miles of coast, south from Cape Seit, where the Egyptian territory forms a promontory opposite the peninsula of Sinai. The coast line is similar in outline to the adjacent Gimsah, whilst, with the group of islands which lie off it, it forms the entrance of the Gulf of Suez. We now passed down the narrow channel \\hich divides the group of islands from the mainland, and there lay before us the bluff of Gimsah, a steep mass of pure gypsum, white as chalk. This peak is about 200 feet above the level of the sea : it faces nearly south, its aspect is bare, and like all the mountains contiguous to the sea on these dreary and uninhabited coasts, it presents hardly the faintest trace of vegetation. Since July, 1867, the mines have been worked by a gang of labourers, of which twenty- six were Europeans and 300 were brought from Upper Egypt. For a time they were yielding a rich produce, which afforded the best hopes for the future ; but now, like so much else in the country, have fallen into decay. The mutual intrigues and corruption of the contractors have yielded a fresh testimony on the one hand, to the continual ill-luck of the Government, which seems fated never to be able to improve the bounty of its natural resources ; and on the other, to the ruthless avarice of fort igners, which is ever stopping the progress of the country. A tedious lawsuit has laid bare a whole series of scandals, discreditable alike to the directors and to the administrators of the Viceregal Government. The state of affairs, even in 1868, was melan- choly enough. The Egyptian Government had contracted to supply work in the mines at a stipulated daily rate of payment. For the protection of the colony, as well as for the maintenance of discipline among the workmen, a guard of twenty- five soldiers was kept at Gimsah; this was rather SULPHUR WORKS AT GIMSAH. 13 a superfluity, since the Egyptian workmen, once taken into service, could not easily escape. Tiiey were hemmed in on one side by wide deserts, which could not be traversed in a day; and as for danger on the other from the Bedouins, none could be apprehended. A report about the Bedouins, which was current at Suez, could not fail to awaken my interest. The passengers of a mail steamer, which had lately foundered at the entrance of the Gulf, maintained that they had seen on the opposite mainlan;! a body of wild men 200 strong, looking out for booty and for plunder. Assuredly by no exertions could the Bedouins collect such a force in the course of a few hours. Poor sons of the desert, I knew them better ! An exhausted stomach, shrivelled up on their long wanderings till it is like an empty water-bottle^ is the only voice in their naturally harmless character which could excite to violence.' Give them a couple of handfuls of durra- coi-n, and you have made them the best of friends. Their desire for plunder is limited to the robbing of turtles' nests, and the taking of eggs from the neighbouring islands. Protected by numberless coral-reefs, the coasts of the Red Sea everywhere afford to small vessels the most com- fortable harbours and anchorage. Here a short stone quay sufficed as a mole for moorage, and close behind was a grotto-like cistern in the rock, into which the water couhl be pumped by means. of pipes connected with the reservoirs in the ship. On the narrow border of land between the foot of the rock and the sea, were erected huts of planks for the workmen, and barracks of stone for the officials of the Com- pany. Such was the little piece of land on which the colony, composed of representatives of many a nation, prolonged its deplorable existence. Bounded in front by the dreary expanse of sea, which was rarely enlivened by a solitary sail, shut in behind by the sun-scorched gypsum, they were thus exposed to a double share of direct and reflected rays. The atmosphere in which they toiled was burdened with the 14 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. stifling fumes of sulpluir, and oppressed with the perpetual odour of burning petroleum ; not alone the welfare, but tlie very existence of the colony, was dependent on the safe return of the steamer which provided them witli food and drink. Whoever lias lingered here can form some conception of the endurances of the poor beasts in our zoological gardens, which have been brought togetlier from every zone, and caged in hopeless imprisonment. So monotonously and void of joy did the days of these wretched miners pass away ; they led a life more gloomy than monastic, which might almost recall the first century of Christendom. Perhaps such a life belongs to the air, for it may be remembered that the renowned convents of St. Paul and St. Antony are distant but a few miles to the north-west ; they are remnants of the oldest convents that are known, and to them, as often as a patriarch is required, does Egypt, according to ancient rule, ever turn to supply the vacancy. In reality the colony of Gimsah, when approached from tiie sea, did present quite the appearance of a monastic settlement in the heart of a desert. Caverns were hewn in all directions, in order to work the veins of gypseous spar containing the sulphur, and amongst them lay a row of twelve hexagonal little houses, which were the kilns, built after the Sicilian fashion, and which might at first be mis- taken fur the cells of })ious monks. To crown the denial and privation of this existence, the Company, under the pretext of maintaining discipline, order, and morality among the miners, had peremptorily banished all women from the sulphur coasts. This restriction was especially irritating to the French, and as a refinement of cruelty Mas as intolerable as those poisonous fumes of pitcli and sulphur which were here set free from the bowels of the earth. Ncvertiieloss it would seem to have answered well, for young and old, Arab and European, went through their work with a diligence t^uch as is rarely to be observed in other tropical regions. TROPICAL HEAT. 15 Only when the sun's heat after midday was most insupport- able, was there a cessation of labour. At 12 o'clock, when the emjihye of the Suez Canal, in his period of repose, sauntered into the coffee-house to take an ice or to enjoy a game at billiards, the untiring director began his daily cir- cuit of inspection ; and seldom has a quotation seemed to me more apt than that in which he said that the hour was come in which he must sun-ender himself to the sulphurous and torturing flames. After stayiug twenty-four hours in the harbour at Gimsah, the ' Prince Mohammed Tawfik ' continued its voyage to Djidda, where it arrived on the fourth day. At that season, when no pilgrims were coming or going, we found the harbour all but deseTted; only one French and two Egyptian men-of-war were in the security of the roadstead. I easily obtained an open Arab boat, which 1 hoped, under favourable gales, should convey me to Suakin. On account of the prevalence of north-winds through the greater part of the year, navigation in the Red Sea is nearly always as easy in this direction as it is difficult in the contrary. This accounts for European sailing vessels so rarely reaching Suez ; they proceed only as far as Djidda and that only when coming from India or at the time of the pilgrimage. I had to spend two hot days on board while my baggage was disembarked. Whoever has been to India knows well enough what is the furnace temperature of the Eed Sea, and how, south of the tropic of Cancer, it becomes insuff"erable. The thermometer stood at midday at about 95° Fahrenheit, and the air was like a vapour-bath. The sea water, a few degrees cooler, afforded us, nevertheless, some refreshment, and we did our utmost to enjoy it at all hours of the day. Still there was something very enervating and depressing about this amphibious life. Had the heat and sun-glare been less overpowering, we might have truly enjoyed the splashing 16 THE HEART OF AFRICA. and sport in the bright green floods which spread over the shallows where coral banks ranged themselves below, and where tlie eye couM detect a thousand marvels. Like ter- races filled with the choicest plants, the sloping beds of coral descended with variegated festoons into the purple shades of the deep ; strange forms were witnessed in these living groves, and conspicuous among others was the " bride of the fish," which is celebrated in the Arabian fishing-song, " bride, lovely bride of the fish, come to me." Ever and anon on my voyage, which was to me as an Odyssey, did I delight to catch fragments of this song, as it was dreamily hummed by the man at tlie stern during the hot midday hour when the crew iiad sunk into slumber, and while, noiselessly and spirit-like, our vessel glided througli the emerald floods. The enchantment, as of a fairy tale, of these waters with their myriad living forms ot" every tint and shape, defies all power of description. Without entering the town, I lost no time in putting off to sea in my little Arab craft. At first we made little headway, but after noon a fresh breeze carae from the north-east, which continued all night, so that by the following morning, after a voyage of nearly 100 miles in twenty hours, we slackened sail under tlie mountains which I had previously visited, in lat. 21° N. 'J'he Nubian coast was almost close in front of us. A very primitive kind of compass enabled us to steer to this goal. I was glad to find that no water had reached my baggage, for in the heavy sea the boat had rolled and pitched considerably. We ran along the coast, and each familiar scene revived in me pleasant memories of my former journey, which had been unmarred by a single trouble. Close in view was Cape lloway, where the formation of a lagoon had developed natural salt-works, from which is obtained the salt for the consumption at Djidda, and for export to India. The salt, however, is only secured during the eight hottest months of the year, when the lied Sea is reduced to its SUBMARINE MEADOW. 17 lowest level, two or three feet below its altitude in the winter. The only explanation of this phenomenon seems to be the prevalent direction of the wind taken in connection with the position of the water. The bearings of the sea are such that the \\ind drives the waves with full force towards the straits of Mandeb, the narrowness of which retards the outflow of the water and produces an immense evaporation. The flat shore between the mountains and the sea with its coral reefs was hidden from our view. A green carpet of samphire covered the coast for miles along the land. This botanically may be represented as coming under the genus Suaeda, the name of which is imitated from the Arab " sued," the original of our " soda." This plant has long been turned to a profitable account, and to tliis day Arab boats may be seen about the coast, engaged in the procuring and preserving of it. Rising directly out of the water close to the shore grow in patches great clusters of Avicennia, so abundant in tropical seas, the beautiful laurel-leaf of which forms a dazzling contrast to the bare brown of the mainland. Over considerable tracts at the depth of thirty feet the sea bottom resembles a submarine meadow, rich with every species of sea-grass: in these, turtles and dujongs, which are so numerous in this part of the Eed Sea, find their pasture land. It must be a very protracted business for these cumbrous creatures to get their sustenance, bit by bit, from these tender leaflets ; but they have time enough and nothing else to do. The little islets in the height of summer are the resort of flocks of water-birds who go there to breed undisturbed. On one of these, in July 1864, we collected over 2000 eggs of the tern, although the dry area above the strand consisted of scarcely so many square feet. At the approach of night the wind fiiiled us, and with fluttering sails we drifted into sight of a place called Durroor. Two antique Turkish guard-houses of small dimensions gleamed with their white walls far across the sea. They are not unlike the rough-walled watch-towers VOL. I. c 18 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of our fortresses, and are said to have been built by Seliui II. wlien Yemen was subdued ; they are the scanty remains of a past whif'h continues to the present, isolated memorials of a barren, inhospitable coast, where all is changeless as the rolling waves. I shall not easily forget the nights which I passed becalmed upon that sea. Sleep there could be none. Drenched in perspiration, one could only sit by his lamp and indulge the hope that the breeze at daybreak might be somewhat cooler. Air and sea combined to form an interminable mass of vapour through which the moon could only penetrate with a lurid silvery gleaui. One bright strip alone cleaves itself a way over the silent waves ; it stretches towards an aperture in the horizon, which would seem to be the origin of all the brightness : but all is full of strange illusion, for the moon is here above our heads. The boat floats as though it were an aerial vessel in a globe of vapour ; the depth of the sea, illumined by the vertical beams of the moon, is like another sky beneath us, and hosts of mysterious beings, diversified in colour and confused in form, are moving underneath our feet. The calmness of the air and the unbroken stillness of this spectral nature increased the magic of these moonlight nights. Late in the evening of the third day we ran into the harbour of Suakin. This town, formerly held directly subject to the Turkish power, had three years since, together with Massowa and the adjacent coast, been surrendered to the Viceroy of Egypt. In that short time it had remarkably improved. Formed by nature to serve as a harbour for the Egyptian Soudan, and even for Abyssinia, the place, as long as its administration came from Arabia and Constantinople, could inevitably never rise, and even now its prosperity is only comparative. The Egyptian Government still obstructs all traflfic by the heavy duties which it levies even on the natural intercourse with Suez ; it is desirous of transferrintr its interests as a centre to Massowa, watching continually SUAKIN. 19 with attentive eyes the ungoverned condition of Abyssinia. Since tlie traffic on the Nile by way of Berber ever continues in uninterrupted activity, and this place lies but 200 miles from Suakin, whilst the distance between Massowa and Khartoom is twice as far, why any preference should be given to Massowa is altogether incomprehensible. I was now visiting Suakin for the fourth time, and the Governor received me very graciously as an old acquaintance. He sent immediately for some camels, which I required for the continuation of my journey. He himself had to leave the town on the following day to visit his summer abode in the neighbouring mountains. There still remained to me four months before commencing my real journey from Khar- toom, as the voyage up tlie White Nile could not begin until December or January ; I resolved to fill up the interval by a tour through the mountains of South Nubia, for the purpose of accustoming myself to the heat and fatigue of a harmless climate, before exposing myself to the fever atmosphere of Khartoom and the Upper Nile districts. Just at this time of year, too, the valleys between the Red Sea and the Nile promised me a rich booty, and I hoped to obtain a remunera- tion for any toil on my part by the botanical varieties v/hich were to be looked for on the elevated ridges. I could not do otherwise than rejoice in the prospect of escape from the glowing oven of Suakin towards the western horizon, where the mountain-chains, veiled in grey vapour, betrayed the refreshing rains which favoured the district and rendered it so preferable for my sojourn. At night Avas heard the roll of distant thunder, and the darkness was broken at intervals by flashes of lightning. On the 10th of September at daybreak all was ready. After the lapse of two years passed in tlie domestic comforts of Europe, it is not altogether easy to remount the " ship of the desert." Our first day's marcli was through a trying country. The plain indeed was uniformly level, but for c 2 20 THE HEART OF AFRICA. twelve miles it was covered with such huge black boulders glowing with the heat, that progress was very difficult. After we had proceeded about niue miles from the town, we made a short midday halt under the miserable shade of some dry acacias, which were like the uncovered skeletons of parasols. As if in despair they stretched their leafless branches towards the sky, and seemed to implore for water. Exposed here in a leathern pipe to the wind, our drinking water soon cooled down to a temperature about 18^ below the surrounding atmosphere. The coast plains, although {)ractically level, evidently slope very gradually down to the sea, for after a few hours march the town is seen like a white spot far below. Beyond is the expanse of sea, which melts into the horizon. The coast-ridges are on an average from 3000 to 4000 feet high, but occasionally single peaks may rise to an altitude of 5000 feet. At one time they appear like a lofty Mall, rising abruptly from the slanting plane ; at another like separate piles of rock picturesquely grouped behind and over one another. Our route awhile across the narrow promontory now lay along the enclosure of a valley bounded by sloping walls of granite. After twelve hours' perseverance, on the afternoon of the following day we reached the first mountain pass, about 3000 feet above the level of the sea. Infinitely refreshing was it to ascend at every step higher into the mountain atmosphere, and to be raised above the vapourous heat of the suffocating shore. There seemed a requickening energy in every breath of air, as gratefully it circulated on the heights. The real charm of such a change could not be appreciated more than on the first night of camping-out. Comfortably stretched upon the clean smooth stones which form the valley, the weary limbs could find repose ; through the silent night the stars shed a bright and kind encouragement ; there was an aromatic odour floating refreshingly around, for, impregnated with caniplior, mint, NIGHT ON THE MOUNTAINS. 21 and thyme, the air was laden with scents whicli the stores of tlie perfumer could not rival, and such as no quarter of the globe could surpass. The plants which exhale the welcome aroma are little obscure mountain weeds, amongst which a "pulicaria" plays an essential part. Noiselessly and like spectres glided the camels on their soft feet through the valley, rejoicing in the pasture, sweet and luscious after the scanty herbage of the shore, where for them all was dearth and salt and bitterness. ll Solemnity reigned throughout nature ; no discordant cry of mountain bird, no howling beast of prey, disturbed tlie traveller : there was only the delicate song of the desert cricket to lull him into peaceful slumber. The mountains between Suakin and Singat afford a habitat for such numbers of remarkable plants that they appear for their variety alone well worth a visit. The most striking- forms which arrest the attention of the uninitiated are the Dracaense and Euphorbias, remarkable as both are for their fantastic shapes. They flourish on the loftiest heights, but are found 2000 feet below towards the valleys. The first belong to those types of vegetation which (as though they had been carried in the air and dropped from another world) are limited to extremely narrow sections of the earth. The first dragon-trees (dracienie) which were observed in the African continent, are those which are to be found on these mountains alone, and even here only over an area of a few square miles.* Tlie Nubian dracseuas, being only from 15 to 20 feet in height, are dwarfish in comparison with their famous sister of Orotava in Teneriffe, but in other respects there are only minute and subtle distinctions between them and those which are found in the Canary Isles. In the lan<»uae;e of the native nomad tribes of the Hadendoa and * These appear to belong to the same species whi^li Wellsted (' 'I'ravels to the City of the Caliphs,' vol. ii. p. 28iJ) observed o.i tlio island of Socotra and (' Travels in Arabia,' vol. ii. p. 441)) on the south coast of Arabia. 22 TlIK IIEAirr OF AFRICA. ]3ishareeii, tlio draca^ua is known as "To-Omba" or "T'Onibet." The leaves afford bast for cords, the long flower stalks serv« in June as excellent food for camels, M'hilst for goats they are almost poison.* Another remarkable feature of this mountain-district is the large number of succulent plants, the fantastic forms of which here appropriately adorn the craggy walls of the valley, and supply a needed decoration to the more barren rocks of Southern Nubia. In Abyssinia itself neither enphorbi£e nor aloes are ever found at an altitude of less than 4000 feet. Here, beside the giant Kollvwal, they are found much lower towards the valley. Four smaller kinds of the same species, as well as some remarkable Stapelise (which resemble the cactus type of the euphorbise), flourish to tlie very summit of the mountains. Found in company with them is a wild unearthly-looking plant called the Cara'ib (Bucerosia), of wliieh the branches are like wings, prickly and jagged round tlie edges like a dragon's back. They produce clusters of brown flowers as large as one's fist, which exhale a noxious and revolting smell, the plants themselves being swollen with a white and slimy poisonous juice. No space may be found to enumerate all the varieties, but I must mention the Seyleb (Sanseviera), whose fleshy tender leaves provided the Nubian nomad with the ordinary material for the cords with which he binds their burdens on his camels. These leaves in shape are not unlike the Nile whips, and on that account may readily recall and stir up painful memories to the poor Nubian of the kurbatch of the Turks, whenever he may chance to see them. So richly burdened are the hanging rocks with the varieties of rarest * Tlie ucroinpanying plate gives a faithful representation of the stiff forms of the drnrtenee, surrounded by the .still more rigid ccimplicatiuns of rocks in the heigiit of the pass, in the illustration, besides tlie draoaina, may be seen the Kolk\val-euphorbia>, and in the right hand corner tiie Cara'ib. TllK LASSAV 23 plants'; so large and niultifonu is the exhibition of scarce and novel succulents — that the greatest enthusiast could hardly fail to be bewildered. As a most interesting develop- ment of structural peculiarity, the Lassav, one of the Cap- parids, demands some notice. It produces flowers which take a form quite unique. A drawing taken from nature Tlie Lassav {Capparis galeaia). (Illustration two-thirils of natural size.) shows the strange deformity of the petals, a double cluster of which is attached to the one broad sepal, so as to produce the effect of two handkerchiefs in one pocket. This rich covering of vegetation is, however, confined to the side of the mountains towards the sea ; on the other side, as soon as the second pass is left behind, the rocks are 24 THE HEART OF AFRICA. bare, and only the lowest part of tlie valley is covered with anythinj^ of luxuriant verdure. Acacias, growing so closely as almost to form a hedge, and gigantic clumps of the grass- green Salvadora, shoot up like great dishes of green salad from the cheerless space around. The moistening vapour of the sea does not reach here to clothe the parched and naked rock. Such were the valleys through which on the morning of the third day we passed on to complete the first stage of our wanderings. Towards midday, after marching for nine- teen hours, we had reached Singat, the summer retreat of the town Bedouins of Suakin. The valley of Singat is about a league in breadth. It is enclosed by two lofty mountain chains running parallel to tlie coast, apparently joined by a number of projecting spurs. On the broad sandy bed of the valley were erected scarcely less than 500 of those Bedouin tents, of which the shape, in their drooping folds, may be compared to what we see in the breast of a roasted fowl. Here, at least a quarter of the popu- lation of the town, which reckons 3000 souls, passes the season of refreshing rains. Later, when the mountain valleys are again dry and destitute of pasture, these transient habita- tions are carried back again ; and the camels and goats must find their pasturage on the slopes in the vicinity of the town, which are exposed to the action of the damp sea air. Here, at his usual resort, I met Muntass Bey, the Governor of Suakin. His residence consisted of a Sammor-acacia, with foliage wide-spreading like a i)arasol. Under the shadow of this commodious and airy roof, common to all, was served the midday meal. Some tents in the immediate proximity were provided as places of refuge from the rain. A storm of unusual violence broke over us in the course of the day, and changi'd the centre of the valley into a foaming torrent, 200 })aces wide, for three hours; the flood rushed onwards with unabated strength and sought the sea. I found shelter in a guard-room built of blocks of stone and clay, the quarters SUMMER RETREATS. 25 of the garrison of 200 Baziboziiks. After the rain the tempe- rature was lowered to a refreshing coolness, and on the follow- ing morning I rejoiced to register a temperature of 68^ F. Whilst I stayed in Singat, I always at dinner-time found an open table b?neath the G-overnor's great tree. Tliis was rendered enjoyable not more by the skill of tlie cook than by the harmony of the Egyptian singers, whom the Bey had in his suite. Tiie camels, wliich I liad hired in Suakin, were meanwhile sent away to the pastures in the neighbouring valleys, to be recruited against their approaching fatigues. Tlie camel drivers were by no means in a hurry to start, as time was not of the smallest value to them. A trip of five days in the lofty mountains of Erkoweet, eight or ten leagues to the south-east of Singat, unclosed to my i-esearches the vegetable treasures of this most northerly spur of the Abys- sinian highland, hitherto unexplored ; and was full of enjoy- ment, equally beneficial both to mind and body. Erkoweet is another summer retreat for the people of Suakin. The valley in which the tents are pitched is called Harrasa, and discloses the whole flora of the Abyssinian highland in wonderful and complete luxuriance. Euphorbise and dracsense deck the mountains in masses which might almost be reckoned by millions, so that the slopes in the distance have the appearance of being covered with huge black patches. From amongst innumerable projections of granite, mostly dome-shaped and adorned with charming foliage, there juts forth one huge slanting mass of mountain, which is probably the highest elevation of the district of Suakin, if not of the entire chain which runs along the coast. I ascended this peak nearly 6000 feet in altitude, and was amply repaid for the exertion by the magnificent prospect before me. There was extreme enjoyment in the freshness of the air. The whole contour of the coast lay stretched in clear and perfect outline. The whole confused S}stem of the mountains of the coast lay like a map below my feet. In a 2G THE iiEAirr oi- africa. circumference of seventy miles I plainly recognised single masses, so that the peaks lxno\\n to me in my earlier visits served as landmarks to inform me of my true position. As the result of several favourable meteorological com- binations, there exists in these loftier elevations a more luxuriant development of vegetation than in any of the neifrhbourine: mountain districts of South Nubia, which have a lower altitude. This is illustrated very plainly by the clusters of beard-moss (Usnea) which hang on every twig and branch, by the abundance of sulphur-coloured lichens on every mass of rock, and likewise by the formation of nume- rous luxuriant beds of moss. Mosses are generally deficient alike in Egypt proper and in Nubia, and are scarcely seen in the trenches and clefts of the Nile valley ; their existence is dependent on a minimum of moisture throughout the year, which is there but rarely reached. At Erkoweet I found again the wild olive tree, which I had already discovered some years previously on the moun- tains by the Elbe. I noticed that it assumes the same low bushy shape here, and bears the same box-like foliage, as it does on Sae coast ridges of the Mediterranean ; when the two are compared they exhibit a general identity, so that I conclude the African and European are of the same family. The olive tree, it is well known, is reckoned, like the fig tree, as originally a ])roduct of the frontiers of Asia ; in remote antiquity, it was reverenced by Semitic nations, and cultivated until it bore a rich produce. This type of vegeta- tion fails completely in the interior of the continent. In the time of Homer the olive grew wild on the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and it is still to be met with, though in an altered condition, on the coasts of Syria; but here on the Red Sea it has remained unchanged for thousands of years, and the famous classical tree of myth and song is still undisturbed in the dreams of its youth. A bare boulder-flat of black hornblondc stones, extending WATER-COURSES. 27 several miles, divides the mouutaius of Erkoweet from those which bound the valley of Siiigat on tlie east. The broad water-courses which run between, show what must be the prodigious volume and violence of the currents which occa- sionally rush downwards to the sea. These deep water- courses are, however, only periodically filled, and then only for a few hours, in the course of the year, so that for some montlis they are adapted for the cultivation of corn. Not- withstanding, there was here but a very limited cultivation of sorghum, the Arabian durra, since there is a difficulty in securing labour. The idle nomads have no disposition for agricultural employment, although famine in dry seasons, when the flocks can nowhere find sufficient pasture, brings back its recurring calamity. In the year before my last visit, in the valleys about Siugat alone, seventy men had died literally of hunger, after vainly endeavouring for weeks to subsist upon wild purslane. All water-courses, with a supply of moist soil upon the ground just sufficient for a few months, although they are not enclosed by heights like valleys, are comprehended within the Arab designation " el wady." Cheerless through the dry season, after the first rain their level sand-flats are clotlied with the most luxuriant flora ; fresh springing grasses put fortli their little cushion points, and give the sward the appearance of being dotted with a myriad spikes; then quickly come the sprouting blades, and all is like a waving field of corn. Halfway between Singat and Erlcoweet we halted in a wady of this character, wliicli bure the name of Sarroweet. What a prospect! how gay with its variety of hue, green and red and yellow ! Nothing could be more pleasant than the shade of the acacia, nothing more striking than the abundance of bloom of the Abyssinian aloe, trans- forming the dreary sand-beds into smiling gardens. Green were the tabbes-grass and the acacias, yellow and red were the aloes, and in such crowded masses, that I was involuntarilv 28 THE HEART OF AFRICA. reminded of the splendour of the tulip beds of the Nether- lands ; but here gardens lay in the midst of a waste of gloomy black stone. One special charm of a desert journey is that it is full of contrasts, that it brings close together dearth and plenty, death and life ; it opens the eyes of the traveller to the minutest benefits of nature, and demonstrates how every enjoyment is allied to a corresponding deprivation. Richly laden with treasures I returned to Singat, where I remained until the 21st of September, and during my stay I had once again repeated opportunities of studying my old friends the people of Suakin in their domestic relations. The coast lands on both sides of the Red Sea offer a striking likeness to each other, which does not consist in physical resemblances alone. The people are the same in feeling and in manners, however mucli the true Etliiopians, such as the Bisliareen, liadendoa, and Beni-Ammer, may differ in language and descent from the true Arabs; I say from the true Arabs, because the term Arab has been at times too indiscriminately applied, and ought to be limited to the nomads in Arabia, as distinguished from the settlers. On both coasts the inhabitants follow the same character of life. They are people of the deserts, wandering shepherds, and procure whatever corn they may require from external sources. Even the town life of the Arabs is essentially half a camp life. As a collateral illustration of this I may remark that to this day in Malta, where an Arab colony has reached as high a degree of civilisation as ever yet it has attained the small towns, which are inhabited by this active little community, are called by the very same designations as else- where belong to the nomad encampments in the desert. Half Suakin is like a desert camp, and for this reason I have ca^ed its inhabitants town Bedouins. These town Bedouins are people whose only distinction from the Bedouins of the mountains is that their dress almost always is of a s[)otless white: the tiuo sons of the ilesert, in TOWN BEUODINS. 29 consequencQ of their continual camp life, have long- toned clown the colour of their single garment, never waslied, to a brownish-grey, quite in harmony with the general hue of the surrounding- country. IMany very beautiful faces, perfectly regular in feature, are to be found amongst these swartliy Bedouins, whilst a wonderful dignity and elegance mark their movements. Like the inhabitants of Hedjas and Yemen they chew tobacco, and iind recreation in various amusements which are unknown to the mountain Bedouins. All alike, however, have in common the same single aim of existence : to do as little as possible, to sleep much, to drink goats milk, to eat sheep's flesh, and finally to scrape together all the Maria Theresa dollars that they can ; the latter is a matter of some difficulty, on account of their natural idle- ness. Black female slaves instead of asses, which in Suakin would cost too much to feed, are indispensable to them foi* carrying water from the well to the town. Whoever pos- sesses fifty dollars in his bag and has one slave besides his water-bearer, is quite a magnate, and spends much labour in the profuse adornment of his hair. When he is not sleep- ing, that is to say, in the cool hours of the morning and evening, he takes his walk, always bareheaded and with high-towering loclcs, here and there on the road joining in a conversation or conferring the favours of his weighty counsel. When it becomes too hot in Suakin, and the goats cive no more milk, after the last weed has been devoured, and the last tnndup (sodada) eaten to the roots by the camels, they leave the cob-webbed thorn hedges of their farms, pack together the acacia-rods and date-mats, the materials of the tent, and withdraw to the mountain pastures, which they retain by ancestral right. After them follow the Turkish soldiers, who roam through the valleys, switching their kur- batch, and proceed to collect the taxes levied in proportion to the number of cattle. The services of these officials in return are enlisted to re-capture any camel stealers who 30 THE HEART OF AFRICA. iiiiiy be seeking to escape to the remote solitudes of the mountains. On the 21st of September I resumed my journey to\vardt5 the Nile, a further distance of 175 miles. On the way my little party, which, besides the camel drivers, consisted of only a native of Berber and a dog which I had brought from Europe, was increased by falling in with two young pilgrims on their way from Mecca. I was unable to com- plete my proper retinue until I should reach Khartoom, siuce the men who had offered me their services in Egypt appeared so weakly that I considered them unfit for undertaking any journey into Central Africa. The addition therefore of these two blacks for the approaching march of sixteen days through mountain solitudes was very welcome. Their armour consisted of a Turkish sabre, and this, together with my gun, seemed completely sufficient protection against the natives, whom Sir Samuel Baker a few }ears before had so successfully mastered with the help of an umbrella, that a considerable number of them voluntarily laid down their arms. The vigiUmce of tlie dog was a security against any nocturnal attack, and indeed, at two ditierent times he had given warning to my little caravan just at the right time. Less welcome to me was the company of a disagreeable old fanatic, who, followed by two wives, was on his return journey from the Holy City of the East to his home in the far west. He was a jiriest from Kano in Ilaussa, and when ho told of the wonders of the world wliicli he had seen on his li»ng journoys, I could always set him right, having really seen infinitely more than he had. 1 completely non-plussed him by my geographical knowledge of the ^^'este^n Soudan, and after the details which I gave of that country, he was, however reluctantly, at last obliged to believe that I had actually been there. But any friendship between us was rendered impossible by the constant noise and contention caused by his wives. All amicable relations came utterly RIVAL WIVES. 31 to an end when I fouiul myself driven as I did to come for- ward as the champion of tlie oppressed. Of the priest's two wives, one had faithfully followed her husband from his home, and now saw herself supplanted by the other, whom the priest had married at the tomb of the Prophet, The fellow had begun to impose on his first wife in the most shameful manner by the withdrawal of every (;hoice morsel and of every harmless indulgence; consequently the two women were continually quarrelling, and literally laid on to each other by the hair. The man himself always took the part of the new wife, and cruelly maltreated the old. At last it became too much for me to be the daily witness of such revolting scenes, and I took the old sinner to task, and tried to inculcate in him due ideas of woman's rights and dignity, so that he could tell his countrymen in Haussa what we thought on such matters. The indifferent camel drivers and the still more indifferent camels, both alike as unmoved as the black rocks in their solemn stateliness, alone surveyed this little tragedy. Whoever has to travel through deserts should endeavour to be free from such rabble and useless retinue, A large company is troublesome on account of the scarcity of shade, since there is not always time at the halting- places to pitch a tent, and one must avail himself of the few larger trees which exist in the valleys. A stiff ascent of the road at a short distance from Singat led Avestwards to the water-shed between the Nile and the Red Sea. The elevated pass is rather to the rear of the defiles on the Suakin side. "We then descended to a very broad wady full of pasture, called O-IMareg, which was a third summer retreat for the natives of Suakin. In the middle of a green valley, two miles broad, some fifty tents were erected, all under the surveillance of a Turkish captain with some soldiers to look after the interests of the Government. Great herds of camels, cows, sheep, and goats, and amongst them several hundreds of asses, were grazing in every 32 TH1-: H1:ART of AFIUCA. direction. The Wady 0-Mareg does not form, as might be expected, a tributary of the great mountain-river Langeb, which at its recurring period joins the Barka, but takes its course direct to the Atbara, as do all the larger water- courses of the ensuing road. In consequence of the repeated storms of rain, at the time of mv journey there was water in nearly all the valleys, and everywhere there was abundance of pasture for the camels. The drivers accordingly chose a more direct road running to the south of the ordinary route of the caravans. This enabled me to fill up my map with many new details. As a general rule the drivers followed the rule of never, if possible, encountering the native shepherds on the road. Although they were of tlie same race, they feared the con- flicts which were frequently unavoidable in the neighbour- hood of any wells. I was not surprised at their timidity, as I had myself experienced some difficulty in my former tour. Having crossed the third chain, we reached the great wady Amet, which is bounded on the north by Mount 0-Kurr, a colossal mass visible as a landmark in the west for a whole day's journey. The predominating rocks are green- stone in several varieties, although beautiful serpentine is far from infrequent. In one part of the valley rises a homo- geneous mass of splendid j)orphyry nearly 1000 feet in height, brilliantly marked on its surface with veins of Indian red. From the prevalence in these mountains of greenstone, which no doubt often contains a grass-green stratum, the conclusion must not be drawn that green is at all a prevailing colour of tlie walls of rock. This is by no moans the case ; indeed, nearly all kinds of i-ock, however diverse they may appear when broken, are covered externally with an uniform dark brown, which obliterates all distinctive shades. In its interior the greenstone is unpolished and of bright colour. A superficiul accretion, the cause of which remains hitherto unexplained, forms itself on every fragment and BISHAKEEN GOATS AND SHEEP. 33 gives a coating about a millimetre thick, in colour not unlike a bright bro\A n cake of chocolate. In Wady Amet we lighted upon some sorghum-fields, which seem to have been planted out, like those at 0-Mareg and Erkoweet, by way of experiment ; but in reality they here represented the whole exertions of the idle inhabitants of the desert. Some primitive huts, heaped up in Cyclopean rudeness, bore witness to the stability of this rendezvous of native shepherds. We were here amply provided with milk and meat, goats and sheep being alike abundant in the neighbouring valleys. Camel -breeding is not carried on here so much as in the northern parts of Etbai, as the whole district of the Bishareen between the Nile and the sea is called ; the breeders avoiding the proximity of the great roads through fear of the foraging and reprisals of the military. The goats of the country form a small race of their own and belong to the comprehensive variety which is called the Ethiopian. Diflfering from those of the Nile valley, they are again found among all the nomad people in the interior ; the goats of the Dinka being a larger kind of the same character. The Ethiopian goat may be reckoned among the most agile and elegant of the race, and it might be called the climbing goat, since it prefers to feed on the young shoots of the acacia, and for that purpose often climbs up the slanting sten.s or low-growing branches. A large flock occasionally groups itself round a tree with pendant branches ; in that case, the animals are rarely seen in any other position than standing upright on their hind legs, and give at a distance an impression that they must be a crowd of men. Others may be observed in grotesque attitudes, with legs straddling, hanging in mid-air, and weighing down the boughs of an acacia. The Bishareen keep larger flocks of sheep than of goats ; the breed is verv peculiar, marked by distinctions which VOL. I. D 34 THE HEART OF AFRICA. might almost constitute a nationality. The Etbai race is closely allied to the thick-tailed species in all general charac- teristics, but distinguislied by the lissome condition of its long and bushy tail. The fleece is hardly worthy of being called wool at all, for it simply consists of rather long straight hair. Almost all are perfectly white, except (and this is the chief mark of distinction in the species) on the ancles and mouth, which are covered with black hair. The usual price in the country for such sheep never exceeds a :Maria Theresa dollar (four shillings), whilst young lambs A Bisbareen Sheep. cost but half this sum. Cattle are found only in the environs of Suakin and on the road to Taka, lying further south than the one on which we travelled. On the route which we took, in consequence of the smaller rainfall, the pasture necessary for their maintenance is not permanent throughout the year, like it is in the lands adjacent to the Barka basin, in the next district we crossed a high level, intersected by numerous water-courses deeply worn amidst the stones and rubble. The most considerable of all these water-courses periodically flowing to the south-west, was the SCHWEINFURTHIA. 35 Wady Arab. The diy bed of this was bounded by shelving: banks from 40 to 50 feet in height, and the ascent was steep enough to demand no small exertion from our laden camels. Here grew in great abundance the plant, a species of Scrophulariaceae, to which my own name had been assigned {Schu'einfurihia 'pterosperma). It met me as a greeting from my distant home. In itself it is but an insignificant little weed, but upon its discovery, Alexander Braun, the cele- brated professor of the University of Berlin, had named it in my honour — a little token of remembrance, which, according to the tribute of Linnaeus, may be more lasting, than any memorial in brass or marble. xV hollow, as of a saddle-seat, between the mountains led us over the chain, unbroken by a pass, of the fourth of the parallel mountain ridges which, with many branches, traverse tliis part of Africa. To the right on the north we left ]\rouut Wowiute and the peak of Badab in which it culmi- nates at ail altitude of 5000 feet. The road then descended into the wide plain spreading to the west of this height, where a magnificent panorama oj)ened to the view. Next we reached the Wady Habohb, a watercourse of which the breadth was about 400 feet. Proceeding across Wady Kokreb, two miles wide, we arrived at length at the equally wide Wady Yumga. By this time we were on the next line of the mountain range, in which is situated the much fre- quented well of Roway, a rendezvous for all the nomads who wander in the neighbouring localities. Here, by order of the great Sheikh of the Hadendoa, a tribute, sanctioned by the Egyptian Government, is levied on every caravan that passes. ]\[y lazy camel drivers used every available opportunity to prolong the duration of the journey. For my part I was indifferent to this, as I had time at my disposal, and my enjoyment of the flora fully occupied me ; my companions, D 2 36 THE HEART OF AFRICA. however, were not so patient. They longed for tlieir cherished Nile to put an end to this camp-life in dreary deserts. At length even my own forbearance was exhausted ; the excuses became intolerable : at one time the camels had run awnv. at another tliey wanted food, so that it grew up to a reo^nlar fiffht between us four and the dozen Bedouins who were conducting us. Some sticks, the single Turkish sabre, and an indestructible pipe tube, which I swung in my hand, were our only weapons, but they sufficed to turn the victory to our side. ]My tube smashed a number of patriarchal shepherd staves, and tlius an end was put to the eternal halts and feeds, and we went on towards the west at a better pace. I thought of the proverb that the European in India either learns patience or loses it. As we followed the Wady Laomeb with the water of its channel now replaced by verdure, we come to 0-Fik, the last mountain on the route, beyond which a desert, unrefreshed by a single spring, extends as far as the Nile valley. The last well was that of 0-Baek. "We lighted here upon some Bishareen families, who were staying temporarily with their flocks in the neighbourhood of the well, and were ac- customed after the first rain to sow a considerable piece of ground with sorghum. Amongst the men may be observed expressive featnres, well developed, unlike ours, yet less unlike them than the other inhabitants of the Nile valley. But more friglitfnl creatures than tlie women of these nomads there surely cannot be on earth. Of course I speak only of thoge who have passed tlie spring-time of tlieir life. They are lean beyond all conception, and as haggard as their goats would be if shorn of their hair, which alone gives any roundness to their gaunt frames. There is nothing about them even of that natural delicacy of many savages which makes the children of the desert apjiear like the gazelle, which is clean, though it never bathes. Physically and morally they arp loathsome ; toofhlps.«:, mangy, inquisitive, MONUME^'']" OF NATURE. 37 aad cliattering ; in a word, they are the very incorporation of the infirmities of senility. From this place it required an energetic march of twenty leagues to reach the first well on the confines of the Nile- valley. The road, now formed by numerous pathw^ays running closely side by side like cattle-ruts, crossed a great boulder tiat in a W.S.W. direction. The pack-camels pro- ceeded side by side in phalanx, as upon the open lands they rarely march in single file. There were sandy watercourses ever and again intersecting our way, and groups of hill meeting the eye in the horizon. On leaving 0-Baek we had next to traverse the plains extending to the west of the wells ; formed of the finest ■*ti?*t.i Aboo-Odfa. quicksand, blown up into hills often as high as a house, these sands were a considerable impediment to the camels. From the dreary waste of the plain with its loose black rocks, jutted up a solitary block of granite, to A\hich the liedouins give the suggestive name of ''Eremit." An liunr's journey 36 THK IIKAUT OF AFlllCA. further on there appeared, above the phiiu by the right of the road, another isohxtod mass of granite, one of those landmarks visible from afar, which, after the weariness of tlie desert journey, is ever greeted gratefully by the eye of the long-tried traveller. It is a natural stone obelisk, 35 feet high, in its singular shape resembling an inverted pear or fig. The block is narrow at the base, and evidently in the course of time has been worn away by the action of the sand as it has been driven by the wind.* This monument, the unhewn production of nature itself, is called by the natives Aboo-Odfa, Odfa being the name of a saddle covered with a canopy which is used for women on the camel. Smaller blocks of similar conformation are not unfrequently met with at other parts of the road. On the grassy bottom of Aboo-Kolod, where, in consequence of the late rain, great pools had formed themselves, we made our last night camp but one. The slopes had all the charac- teristics of being on the level of the Nile at Berber, whilst the remainder of the road again ascends. The last wady is Aboo-Selem ; it was at that time one unbroken sorghum-field, its fruitful soil was already cultivated by the industrious inhabitants of the Nile valley, although the recurrence of the rain would permit the culture only at intervals. At length on the 7th of October we entered the town of Berber. With- out loss of time I found a boat on which to continue my journey to Khartoom. Whilst I encamped at Berber, pending my embarkation on the Nile, I had been unconsciously put into a position of some jeopnrdy. The native of Dougola who accompanied me as my servant, in order to find the safest place he could to secure the prohibited wares of a Greek merchant from the eyes of the police, bad, without my knowledge, concealed under my tent a considerable quantity of gunpowder and * Tlio Kketcli on ilie preceding page is taken carefully from nuture. HOSPITALITY. 39 otlier explo-^ive iiiattM-iuls. ^Vhilst the fellow was away on a visit to town, I had unsuspiciously kindled a fire on the loose sandy soil, in order to perform my cooking operations, little dreaming of the peril whicli happily I escaped. i\[y old acquaintance, M. Lafargue, who was settled in Berber as a merchant and presided over the French Vice- consulate, himself an experienced traveller on the Upper Nile, received me with that hearty hospitality which many other desert wanderers have proved besides myself. Sir Samuel Baker aptly compares sucli receptions to the oasis in the desert. No necessity of letters of introduction here as with us in Europe ; no hollow forms of speech, exchanging (;ourtesies which perchance mean the very reverse ; no empty compliment of at best a tedious dinner ; but here in Egypt the people receive us with free and genial amiability, all Europeans are fellow citizens and everything is true and hearty. " What pleases me the most is the ease with which you travel in this country ; you come, you go, you return again, as though it were a walk." Such were M. Lafargue's (;ordial words to me. We parted well pleased with one another: I shall not see him again. About the last part of the journey to Khartoom, whicli embraces the passage up the Nile, and which is sufficiently well known by the descriptions of other travellers, I have nothing new to relate. By the complete failure of wind, much of this portion of my journey was so exceptionally pro- longed, that it took sixteen days to accomplish the whole. For the first part of the voyage, as far as Shendy and Matamma, the only considerable towns in this district, the shore offered nothing attractive. It reminded me of the Egyptian valley of the Nile only iu two places ; the mouth of the Atbara, and one spot where the renowned pyramids of ]\[eroe formed a noble background. 3Iatamma is a populous town, but extremely slow and dull. The buildings, constructed of Nile earth, fire insigui- 40 THP] HKAIiT OF AFRICA. ficant in themselves, and irregularly crowded together in a mass like huge ant-hills ; not a single tree affords its shade to the dreary streets, which are filthy with dirt. The ennui and the calm which obliged us to lay-to here, suggested all sorts of unprofitable vagaries to my servant Arbab. He received from me part of his wages, and took a wife on the spot from amongst the circle of his kinsfolk. The bride, two days afterwards, was given back to herself and her relations, to await indefinitely, for a year and a day, the expected return of her husband. Arbab had already been several times married in Khartoom ; and at every return he repeated the same usual, one may almost say, the becoming custom. The second half of the Nile voyage was, however, rich in the charms of scenery. This is especially applicable to the views afforded by the river islands. These islands are so many throughout the whole extent of the sixth cataract, between the island of Marnad and the lofty mountain-island of Rowyan, that no one pretends to know their precise number, and the sailors call them, in consequence, the ninety-nine islands. Tliis excursion offers to the traveller a most attractive prospect, and the landscapes on shore afford a treat which no other river voyage could surpass. Splendid groups of acacias, in three varieties, with groves of the holy-thorn, overgrown by the hanging foliage of graceful climbers, made the profusion of islands set in the surface of the water appear like bright-greon luxuriant and gay tangles. Wildly romantic, on the contrary, reminding one of the Binger-loch, are the valley-straits of Sablook, where the Nile, narrowed to a small mountain stream, flows between high bare granite walls which rise some hundred feet. So much the more surprising appeared the breadth which tiie Nile exhibits above this cataract, where it displays itself in a majesty which it has long lost in Egypt. Below their confluence, the waters of the Blue and tho White Nile arc PrriAHLE CONDITION OF NUBIANS. 41 distinctly visible many miles apart. It is highly probable that at certain times the level of the streams might show a difference of several feet ; the proposed establishment of a Nilometer should therefore take place below the confluence, in order that witli tlie help of the telegraph accurate intelli- gence of its condition might be remitted to Cairo. In the Nubian Nile-valley all charm is gone. Extremely wretched is the aspect of the country, and equally pitiable are its present social conditions. In the course of the last ten years, as a consequence, first, of the increased taxation, and secondly, of the diminished production, matters have continually become worse and worse. To the cursory glance of a traveller only a small proportion of this deep-rooted misery may be disclosed ; he may perceive the consequences, without being able to assign the reasons ; and from the con- tradictory statements of the inhabitants, he can hardly form a clear idea of the real condition of the country. On the other hand, the complaints of the people give him an incom- plete representation of the circumstances, unless he at the same time takes notice of the objections which the Govern- ment appears justified in raising against them. Only a thorough knowledge of the country combined with local study would put him in a position to form an opinion. In spite of everything, the fact remains that the culture of the soil is declining, that scarcity is everywhere on the increase, and that distress is consequently more frequent. In the last two months of this year's harvest, the market price of a rup* of sorghum-corn had risen to a Maria Theresa dollar. Three years before, large villages had been pointed out to me, lying completely deserted on account of the emigration of the inhabitants, and now again similar evidence of distress was forced upon my notice. In the district between Darner * The rup is a measure equal in weight to seven and a half litres, or about five oka, and containing under two English gallons. 42 'lllK HEART OF AFRICA. and Shendy, the population seemed utterly scared at the increasing emigrations. The unmarried men go to Khartooni, in order to be enlisted as so-called soldiers by the merchants on the Upper Nile. The elder people, on the other hand, leave their culture, and with a few sheep or goats endeavour to lead a meagre nomad life as shepherds in the steppes and deserts. On the 1st of November, at midday, we at last reached Khartoom, and landed on the bank, which was all alive with hundreds of boats. The German Vice-consul, Herr Duisberg, who had shown me so much kindness at the time of my former visit, again received me most hospitably. In his elegant and commodious house, I had every opportunity for rest and refreshment in anticipation of my coming labours. ( 43 ) CHAPTEE II. Kind ncepLiun in Khartoom. Uj-afei* Pasha, the Governor-General. Con- tract with Ghattas. Herr W. Dnisberg. 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 AVhite 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-G-eneral of Khartoom. who 44 THK HEART OF AFRICA. at tliat time was administerin": aftairs with considerable vigour ill 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 Avould 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 iiiithfully 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 ho 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. Pie 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 PRELIMINARY COVENANTS. 45 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-Genei-al liimself had arranged the terms, and I could find little in their tenor that would be adverse to my interests. 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-thi-oats, so mucli tlie 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 ray enterprise by Herr Duisberg, wlio 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 liis 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 Vico-coustil had gained the esteem of all parties in Khartoom, and was especially in favour with the Governor-General, wlio very thoroughly appreciated his integrity. His conciliating manners availed to satisfy the Khartoom merchants that my plan was not adverse to their interests. Hitlir>rto tlioy had 4« THE HEART OF AFRICA. 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 recon- ciliation between the representatives of African commerce and of European science. The entire ivory trade of Khartoom is in the hands of six larjrer 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 main- tained, 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 enter- prises of the Khartoom merchants, or that it only serves as a doke 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 higli 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 tliese settlements in various ways have facilitated the opera- tions of the regular slave-traders. Without these depots the professional slave-tradei"s could never have penetrated so far, whilst now they are enabled to pour themselves into the MERCHANT SERIBAS. 47 negro countries annually by thousands, on the roads over Kordofan and Darfur. 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 depots, undertaken expeditions into the interior, and secured an unmolested transit to and fro. These depots for ivory, ammunition, barter-goods, and means of subsistence, are villages surrounded by palisades, and are called Seribas.* Every Khartoom merchant, in the different districts where he maintains his settlements, is represented by a super- intendent antl 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 expedi- tions ; they a})point and displace the local managers ; carry on war or strike alliances with the chiefs of the ivory coun- tries, 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 under- stood 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 impor- tant centres are approached by the channels of the Sobat and * In the Soudan, every thorn-hedge, or palisade, is called a Seriba ; in Syria, also, the cane-hedges, for the enclosing of cattlf, arc termed Sirb, or Sereebc. 48 'n-lK HEART OF AFKICA. the Giraffe. The landing-places, called Meshera, are in all cases at a distance of some days' journey from the depots. 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 A.ugust. 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 JBahr-el-Ghazal a kind of cul-de-sac leads to the only existing Meshera. Beyond tin's, the Khartoom people have already advanced 5^ in a southerly, as well as in a westerly direction. In the district of the Gazelle Kiver, the Niara-niam coun- tries 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 pro- tection on all the other chief merchants who had possessions in the territory of the Gazelle. Duplicates of all the agree- ments were prepared ; one coj)y being retained by me, the counterparts were deposited witii 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 dcme so much indirectly to co-operate with a scientific traveller; and it was with no little satisfaction that I regarded my budget of documents, whicli would unlock for me so considerable a section t^f Central Africa, EMBARKATION OX THE WHITE NILE. 49 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 Euro[)eans. Riharn, tlio 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. Pro- testations, 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 uumbei-, 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 fm-ther up the country. The merchant Ghattas, to whom the boat belonged, had manneHl it with eight boatmen, and had also put on board fifteen hired men to serve, partly as a protection against any VOL. I. E 50 THE llEAirr OF AFIIICA. attaolvs, 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 starva- tion, they preferred to hire themselves out as robbers, slave- hunters, cattle-stealers, or whatever could enable tliem to gratify the innate propensity for adventure which belongs to every Nubian. Besides the six Nubians engaged in Khart9om,my own retinue included two women slaves, whose hand labour supplied the want of mills ; their office, per- formed by means of stones, was to convert our corn into tlie flour requisite for the maintenance of the crew. We were packed closely enough ; cramped up, we appeared like cattle in a pen, 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 some- times 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 out- stretched upon deck between mast and mast ; and in order to afford the soldiers rest by night, the vessels lie-to when- ever 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 push- ings of the hippopotamuses, as well as the collisions willi SfllP-BUILDING AT KHARTOOM. 51 tlie mussel banks, whicli are scattered in various directions. I am certain that one of these boats at any maritime exhibi- tion would attract the attention of all wlio take any interest in such things. I am not aware that there is anything accurate to be found in any history of travel on tliis subject, and it may be permitted me therefore to insert a few par- ticulars of the Khartoom ship-building. 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 recur- ring 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 ordy 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 E 2 52 THE HEART OF AFRICA. sawn while it is green. The saw is an instrument so rarely employed tliroughout Nubia, that it is handled most unskil- fully by the carpenters ; as a matter of course, there are neither steara-raills nor water-mills in Khartoom, and con- sequently the planks are cut without the faintest pretence to regularity. All these defects are, however, cancelled by the unex- ampled 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 with- out 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 fiom 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 ex})enses of building these boats so con- siderable 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, \\hich is generally half as long again as the boat. 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 Kas-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. NIGHT ON THE RIVER. 53 Bullv'v and pondei-ons 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 fore- noon of the following day we found ourselves already 1° below the latitude of Kliartoom. We sailed, without stavins our cjurse, through the night, which was cheered by the moonlight. I was sleepless with excitement at finding my- self 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 laud 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 demon- strates the complete desert character of Nubia. The shoosh- grass {Panicum turgidum), the most general of herbage for tlie camels, is here trodden down m 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. Rarely does some distant mountain or isolated hill relieve the eye from the wide monotony. In spite of all, there was no lack of inteiest. There is much that cannot fail to make the progress ever striking and impressive. The attention is soon attracted by the astonishing number 54 'J'HE HEART OF AFRICA. 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 ilay 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. Tiiousands of geese {Cheua- lopex pegyptiacus), 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 thii'ty feet high, the left appears completely and interminably flat, and occasion- ally 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 Ihiid 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 ftver a third part of the l•arth'^^ (juath'aiit. Hence it has WOD-SHELLAY. 55 arisou that tlie ciiUivated 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 depresj^ion 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 hs 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 fiom 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 Eeis let the boat drift without sail against the stream. The pi-ugress 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. Wod-Shellay is one of the favourite resting-places of all voyagers upon the Nile. Here, according to custom, an ox \\as slaughtered,* and a formal leave was taken of the Mohammedan world, by liberal draughts of merissa beer. * For tivu Maria Tliercoii dullaib (l/.j I bought two fat bullocks. 5G THE HEART OF AFRICA. This leave-taking bad 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, 1 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 ardbica) cover the districts near the shore ; farther on there was a wide extent of cultivated flat. The soil is a stififish ash-grey clay, diiferent 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 wliich 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 witli me from Europe, and in all the villages through which I passed the inhabitants, as I advanced, scampered off in terror, crying "Hyaena, hya3na!" It was difficult to make them understand that the brown-spotted animal was only a dug. 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 MOUNT ARRASH-KOL. 57 Wod-Slielltiy, iu Mobamined 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. Our voyage was next continued, through the night, as far as a watering-place on tlie 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 ct»ntent 58 THE HEART OF AFRICA. myself with a trip to the viUage of Turra, two leagues away. No idea can be formed of the number of cattle all here- abouts; 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 tlie whole of the Soudan, having beyond a doubt some close affinity to the Indian zebu. The ox of the Egyptians, which, in consequence of tlie 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 giilh 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 flower- ing acacia to a place wdiere a little weekly market had gathered the neatherds of the neighbourhooil, and where milk flowed in streams. The Hassanieh do not differ exter- nally 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 ever}where to gaze at my strange big dog, and I was roi)eatedly obliged to give n history in AFRICAN NOVELTIES. 59. detail of Ids genealogy, his qualities, and all about him. Being in possession of a splendid race of greyhounds, vvhicli they train for gazelle Imnting, 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. The graceful shade acacias (A. s^irocarjpa) here come once again into the front, soon to be finally lost sight of on the other side of the neighbouring desert. Along the rigiit 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 Ipomsea asari- folia, appearing in some places like rose bushes in the luxu- riant 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 dis- turbance ; 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 success- fully 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, therelbre, there are many places in 60 THE HEART OF AFRICA. 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 expe- dient was resorted to to make a variety in the way of cook- ing them ; they were stuffed with rice ; they were dressed with tomato sauce ; they were served with mushrooms ; and A\ hen every imaginable way of preparing them was exhausted, we had recourse, by way of variety, to the ducks (Anas viduafa) 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 Riluirn must mnrmur 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, with- out 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 mat- ting 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 foi- years the extreme southern boundarv ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE. 61 of tlie 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 valu- able. A little further up the stream, following the outline of the banks, stretches a series of Nubian agricultural settle- ments. 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 Eg3''pt, 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. A rich variety of animal life is developed in this wilder- ness ; 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 tlie 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 62 THE IIEAHT OF AFRICA. prominent a part in the upper waters of the Nile, that it might fiiirly 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 Mdeinone mirahilis, which was corrupted into the still more wonderful name of Anemone mirahilis, and so appeared in many books which treated of Africa. The ambatch is dis- tinguished 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 G 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, wliich 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 8hillooks. This tribe ot 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. Tiie Baggara, meanwhile, are ever gaining ji firmer footimr on MISFORTUNE. 63 tlie i-iver bank^i, and have already with their flocks ventured far to tlie east of the stream into the Umd of the Diiika, Some long islands of sand distinguished by stripes here gave a noticeable feature to the scene ; they were covered 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 ])alatable 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 ante- lopes {A. megaJoceras), 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 th(j branches ; and now for the first time we observed the troops of maraboo storks, which made their appearance in consider- able 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 w'as myself the means of bringing about. Early in the morn- ing another boat had joined us ; and the people wished me to allow them to stay awhile that they might enjoy them- selves 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, un- happily, 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 64 THE HEART OF AFRICA. 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 ftite would have it, however, the atten- tion 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. Tlie 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, ^^'ith 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 \\ere not fatal. The buffalo's born had struck his moutli, 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 ]\Iohammed, 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 comj^anions. BRETHREN IN THE FAITif. 65 and put tliem in great good luunour towards ine for the fnture. After a long time a mountain once again appeared; it was the two poaks of the Nyemati, imposing masses of granite whicli rise aloft on the right. We took up our quarters on the opposite island, whore a number of Baggara Arabs had pitched their tented camp. " Habbabknm, hab- babkum, habbabkum, aschera " (good friends), again and again our people b3gin 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 tlie " habbabkimis " with wonderful emotion ; but this does not quite go down ; we tind everything they offer lis 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 Kbar- toomers 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 revelr}'. 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 VOL. T. F on THE HEAPiT OF AFRICA. — indeed, in the oast, 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 thev 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 briuLT down elephants with lance and sword, a feat scarcely less fi-ee from risk than playing with lions and leopards as though they were kittens. Many of them hire themselves out tothe Kliartoomers 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 athletif', 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 tlie 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 bv this race, advanced as it is. The clothino' of tlie 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) MOUNT NYEMATI. GT of which, like plums, the fruit falls off and thickly strews the groiincl below. By the peaple of Khartoom it is called Lalob. It contains a sweetish pulp, tasting at first like gingerbread, but it leaves a bitter taste bahind, and is pur- gative in its properties. Climbing about 800 feet I reached the summit of the Nyemati, and had a fine view of the steppes intersected by the stream. The slope? consist partly of rough, massy blocks of granite, and partly of huge unbrokeu flats, some a hundred feet in length, wliich descend to the river and in places appaar like sunken roofs. In the rifts and deeper clefts swarm multitudes of bats, and a fetid atmospliere 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 tlie waters. We came continually upon Baggara, with whom, without stopping on our course, we talked and diseuss-d the market prices of provisions. A fine fat bullock was liought 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 F 2 ns TOE HEART OF AFRICA. eat. To and fro, ever anrl again swept throiigli tlie water a Sliillook fishing in his fragile boat ; he is not entitled to the "liabhahknm," because he is a heathen; he is mocked with " Wod-e-^Fek " (son of a king) for a greeting, made to tell wliere 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 M 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 tlie Uj^per 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 alwavs something new to show;" the latest tale was now about the pygmies, of whom I here received ray earliest information. 1 had no idea that I should be brought into actual and close connection with such people. I laughed at the accounts which eye-wituesses 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, THomme a queue,' served my purpose admirably. It is so clever, and yet so pointed in its fine simplicity, that it tlioroughly enlisted the attention of all who hoard it. Notwithstanding the undeniable sameness which prevailed in its outward character, I found every fresh landing-place NILE VEGETATION. (il» affunl iu(j some suipiise or other, liicli was tlio reward of penetrating, as I did, a thorough wilderness on the right bank on the njainlaud. 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 wliich 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 v\as the upgrowth of civilisation in ancient Egpyt 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 mea- sure 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 Defa- fang, 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, corre- t^punding to similar formations in the Eifel. This mountain 70 THE HEART OF AFRICA. stands as the boimdary-raark between the first negro territory on th.i Wliite Nile and the shepherd ra'^e of the Biggara. 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 butialo3S, which disappaared from sight, before we had tini3 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-driver.-!, was up and in hut pursuit. Hundreds of men armed witii 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 con- clusion that the buffaloes, which we had disturbed, had proceeded to attack the neighbouring drivers. An impres- sion 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 r](rUt a<2;ain. In the course of the afternoon the boat sailed for a waser with a flotilla of light-grey pelicans. Kepeated 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 excel- lent imitation of a luxuriant crop of grey hair, and would be a valuable acquisition to any th'-atrical wardrobe. MOHAMMKD KHEI!. 71 A hurried tiip upuu the left buuk brought me upon the track of a large herd of ele})hants. According to the Bag- gara, 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 sur- rounded 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 ipauy years a terror to the neigh- bouring 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. JMany 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 Shil- looks on the White Nile, and at which the Egyptian Govern- ment maintained a de[)ot for corn. Twenty years ago hundreds of Dinka villages stood on this side of the river. 72 THE HEAliT OF AFKICA. From the descriptioiis 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 lieart 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 Diuka, on their part, having withdrawn some days' journey into the interior. Soon after the arrival of the boat, a great crowd of nuked 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 contem- plations by pointing to the Shillooks, and making a remark that they looked like Christians. I punished him with the scornful rejdy to the effect that of whatever faith the ;?avages 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 liair. I called their attention to the great likeness between black men and white men, but very great was their astonishment when tliey saw that my hair could be taken off and put on again, which \\ ould 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 SWAKM OF BEES. 73 borrowed tmd 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. 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 tire. Accordingly I was anxious to proceed farther the same day, that I might botanise in some undisturbed spot of the primaeval 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 \Aas 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 necess-ary that the boat should be towed by the crew. As the rope was being drawn along through the grass on the banks it ha})pened that it disturbed a swarm of bees. In a moment, like a great cloud, they burst upon the men who were diagging ; every one of them threw himself headlong into the water and hurried to regain the beat. The swaim 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 Joreboding of ill, 1 was arranging my plants in my cabin, when 1 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!" 74 TUE IIKAHT OF AFRICA. soou broke upou my ear, and I proceeded to light a pipe. My attempt was entirely in vain; in an instant bees ii 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 im- petuosity of the irritated insects. The maddeuing 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. In the cooling moisture I had so far recovered my self- possession, tliat 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 contiimed 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. Meanwiiile, some courageous men had crept stealthily to the bank, and had succeeded in setting lire to the reeds. The smoke rose to their assistance, and thus they BEE-STINGS. 75 contrived to scare away the bees from the boat, and, setting it afloat, tliey 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 tlie attack everyone lost all presence of mind. Free from furtlier apprelieusion, 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 incon- venience 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, re- maining 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 harm- lessly 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 mur- derous bees belong to the striped variety of our own honey- bee. 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 tlie sixteen which that day Mere sailing in our track, was pestered by the same infliction. Xo imagination can adequately depict the confusion which must have spread in boats where were crowded together from GO 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 liave 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 mufded up for some hours in my wet clothes through 76 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the heat of the day, uuJ uu vapour bath more el't'ectiuil coukl be contrived. Ainoug the crews of the boats wliich followed us there were two deaths, which ensued as the result of the injuries wlu'ch hiid b(ien sustained. On tlie day of the bee-visitation another insect had likewise ju'esented itself, which inflicted some sharpish stings, although they were not attended by any continuous annovance. It was in itself an insignificant gadfly {Tahanus), which liere ajipears to pLiy the part of the tsetse-fly, the natives de- claring of it that it injures th(! cattle. It is widely diffused in the regions thiough which I travelled, and where the tsetse seems to fail. Our second dny 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 biink by a charming grove, where trailing creepers {Leyta- denia) dropped their pendants per})endicularly down, and bound tlie spreading bonghs of the Shubahi acacias {A. veru- gera) to the ground, an apparatus admirably adapted to the gymnastic frolics of the little apes. Wherever anyone ventures to penetrate into tlie 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 shellfish left by the high watei-, especially the homes of the Ampularia {A. Wtrnei) as large as one's fist, in its way a giant amongst the mollusks of the mighty river. 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 imme- diately we had accomplished our excursion on the land. Towards midday we perceived with horror more bees in the sliure-grass, and lo.st no time in getting across to the lelt AMRATCII CANOES. 77 hank. Here we came across numbers of Sliillookis fisliino' 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 ambatcli 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 tlieni needs onlv be tied together at the extremities, and there is at once attained a curve that would grace a gondola.* To use these canoes adroitly requires con- Ambatcli C.iuoe. siderable 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 shiedl. 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. Durino; our wanderinirs the crew had made a valuable * T]io acc'oivipaiiying illustration represents a similar canoe, weighing about -lOlbs. 78 TUK HEART OF AFRICA. discovery io replace the cracked middle of our loiio- sailyard. It consisted of a tolerably straight, though mnch knotted, stem of Balanites ; it was only 10 feet long, but was doubt- less found with mnch trouble, so rare are any trees that are straight. Tiie 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 ; tlie 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 appeal's 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 glad's beads to open a lively trade with the Shillooks. But the beads had already so mucli 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. 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 bv no means inclined to submit. Diirino; this FASPIODA. 79 time the armed force in Faslioda did not consist of more tlian 200 men. Tiie erection of anytliing like a town had only been begun within the last two years. The place was formerly callerl Denab, and now consisted of merely a large mass of conical huts of straw, besides the remarkable structure which con- stituted tlie 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 liis boats, mules, horses, soldiers — in short, everything that could assist me to inspect the neighbourhood in comfort. On account of tlie sliallowness of tlie 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.* This is the southern limit of the wheat culture in the Eastern Soudan. The neighbouring country consists of steppes, over wlu'ch, as far as the eye can see, larger and smaller groups of Shil- look huts rise from the grass. The demand of wood for tlie use of the troops has caused the larger trees everywhere to be miserably mutilated, and the few boats which are at the * The illustration represents the different well-like Shadoofs used for irrigation. t^O THE IIEAPaT of AFRICA. disposal of the Government have enougli to do in pro- curing 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. For three years, it is said, tliere 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 View of Fashoda. tlie 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 gj'ass to make an attack. Tlie fatal shot was decisive, and the attack was abandoned. From among the bones of the Shillooks killed on that day I selected from a noighbonring TENT ON THE BxVNK. 81 pit nine skulls in good preservation, the investigation of which has furnished some material evidence towards the ethnography of Africa. All boats arc 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 ii'om fear of thieves it was obliged to be continually guarded by men with loaded guns. Many boats came and went, wending their ^^ay 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 temj)erature 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 neighbour- ing sandbank : amongst them I found a suitable target on which to try the effect of the full-sized ball wliich 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 espit amusant, whose flow was unchecked alike by day and night. Whenever any one did a thing which could be made VOL. I. ti 82 THE IIEAET OF AFRICA. ridiculous, he was received with a volley of cheers of " Hue ! hue ! " (there he is). The raerissa beer of Fashoda, served out in gourd-sliells — pints and pots being here unknown — natu- rally is not without its influence in promoting this perpetual folly. The love of jocoseness among tliese people is not confined to the young, but makes them, even when advanced in years, as merry and as na'ive as cliildren. 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 tliese 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 w^omen. ]\ty Mohammed, who had the rencontre with the buffalo, was sufficiently dis- tinguished 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. V*y the judgment of the majority, to which KILLING A BOA. 83 the Nubians ever a})peal, 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. 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 Sebae. 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 hea\'y shot, of which only four grains hit, struck me as ver)"^ remarkable. The skin was brilliantly spotted, and yielded admirable material for making a waterproof gun-case. G 2 ( ^4 ) CHAPTEK III. Camp of the Mudir. A negro king. Campaigns. Future of the country. A wise judge. The shrieking priest. Gum-ambic. Tlie melodious tree. IVIohammed Aboo-Sammat. Boats on the flight. Treachery of the Slullooks. General market. Excuse for plunder. Fiist papyrus. Ciesar among the pirates. Useless attempts to proceed. A world of gi-ass. Hippopotamuses in a friglit. The last obstacle. Depreciation of the Gazelle stream. Bon- mot of the Viceroy. Ghattas' namesake. The slipper-shape. Description oftheNueir. Analogy between man and beast. Cactus-type of Euj)hor- hisD. The Bahr-el-Arab a mainstream. A^allisneria meadows. Arrival in Port Rek. True nature of the Gazelle. Discovery of the Meshera. Deadly climate and its victinjs. Le Saint. Features of the scenery. The old queen and her prince consort. Royal gifts. Fishes and birds, I REMAINED nine days in Fashoda, a residence to which the non-arrival of the boats bound for the Gazelle Eiver com- pelled us, because our force was not sufficiently numerous to overcome by ourselves the obstacles which the "Sett," or grass-barrier, would present, and also inadequate for protec- tion against an attack, which was not improbable, from the hitherto unsubdued residents. A wider ramble, in which I inspected several Shillook villages, led me farther into the country, and gave me some conception of its thronging population. The Turkish officer, Avho welcomed me like a countryman because I was Euro- pean, attended me, followed by a number of soldiers, all of us being mounted. Although throughout this tour, I was not offered even a bowl of fresh milk, and saw little beyond what had already come under my observation, viz., grey and rusty-red beings, innumerable conical huts, and countless herds of cattle ; vet I could not be otherwise than im- SHILLOOK STATISTICS. 85 pressed by various details wliich appeared cliaracteristic of tills people, now incorporated as Egyptian subjects, and wliich I shall proceed to relate. The Shillook tribe inhabits the entire left bank of the White Nile, occupying a territory about 200 miles long and about ten miles wide, and which extends right to the mouth of the Gazelle River. Hemmed in by the Baggara on the west, it is prevented by the river from extending itself farther eastward, and only the lower course of the Sobat has any of the Shillooks for its denizens. Their subjection to Egyptian government, \\hich Mas completed in 1871, has caused a census to be taken of all the villages on the left bank of the Nile, which resulted in an estimate of about 3000. Taking the character of the villages into account this would give a total of above a million souls for this portion of the Shillooks alone. Now the Shillook land, which lies upon the White Nile, has an extent of hardly less than 2000 square miles, and when the number of heads upon this is compared with those in the populous districts of Europe we are justified in reckoning from 600 to 625 to a square mile ; a result alto- gether similar is arrived at from a reckoning based on the estimate of there being 3000 villages, each village having huts varying in number from 45 to 200, and each hut averaging 4 or 5 occupants ; this would give a total of about 1,200,000. This, in fact, is an estimate corresponding en- tirely with what the Mudir of Fashoda, who was conversant with the details of all state affairs, had already communi- cated to me in 186!). No kno\^•n part of Africa, scarcely even the narrow valley of the Nile in Egypt, has a density of population so great ; l)ut a similar condition of cii'cumstances, so favourable to the support of a teeming population, is perhaps without a parallel in the world. Everything which contributes to the exuberance of life here finds a concentrated field — agri- culture, pasturage, fishing, and the chapc. Agriculture is 86 THE HKAKT OF AFRICA. rendered easy by tlie natural fertility of the soil, by the recurrence of the rainy seasons, by irrigation effected by the rising of the river, assisted by numerous canals, and by an atmosphere ordinarily so overclouded as to moderate the radiance of the sun, and to retain throughout the year per- petual moisture. Of fishing there is plenty. There are crocodiles and hippopotamuses in abundance. Across the river there is a free and open chase over wildernesses which would advantageously be built upon, but for the hostility of the neighbouring Dinka. The pasture lands are on the same side of the river as the dwellings ; they are just beyond the limits of the cultivated plots ; occasionally they are subject to winter drought, and at times liable to incursions from the Baggara ; but altogether they are invaluable as supplying daily resorts for the cattle. Still further proof of the superabundance of population of the Shillooks is manifest from the emigration which goes forward in a south-westerly direction, where considerable numbers of them, the Dembo and Dyoor, have settled on the border-lands between the Bongo and Dinka. Of these, liowever, I will speak hereafter; I will only pause now to remark how, in vivid contrast to the monotonous uniformity of nature which ordinarily asserts itself throughout vast tracts of Central Africa, there are even exhibited diversities of human development, differences of dialect, and pecu- liarities of bodily conformation. In the Shillook territory there are probably no less than 600 residents to the square mile, whilst in Bongo-land, within 180 miles to the south-west, there would be found hardly a dozen occupants on an equal area. Again, between lat. 5° and 1° N., within a range of not more than 300 miles, are to be found examples of the largest and of the smallest races of mankind — the Bari and the Akkah, of which the former might rival the Patagonians in stature, the latter being scarcely taller than Esquimaux, and considerably below a medium height. SHILLOOK A^LLAGES. 87 It should be appended to what lias been said about the villages, that the entire west bank of the Nile, as far as the confines of the district reach, assumes the appearance of one single village, of which the sections are separated by inter- vals varying from 300 to 1000 paces. These clusters of huts are built with surprising regularity, and are so closely crowded together that they cannot fail to suggest the com- parison with a thick mass of fungus or mushrooms. Every village has its overseer, whilst the overseers of fifty or seventy, or sometimes of 100 villages, are subject to a super- intendent, who has the control of what may be called a " district," and of such districts there are well nigh a hun- dred, each of them distinguislied by its particular name. One of the descendants of the ancient kings had been re- duced to entire subjection under the Government ; another at the period of my first visit was still resisting to the utmost. In the centre of each village there is a circular space where, evening after evening, the inhabitants congregate, and, either stretched upon hides or squatting down on mats of ambatch, inhale the vapour from burning heaps of cow-dung to keep off the flies, or from pi})es with enormous clay bowls smoke the tobacco of the country. In these spaces there is frequently erected the great stem of a tree, on which according to common African usage kettledrums are hung and used for the purpose of warning the inhabitants of any impeuding danger, and of communi- cating intelligence to the neighbourhood. Most of the negro tribes are distinguished by the form of their huts. The huts of the Shillooks are built with higher walls than those of the Dinka, and, as an ordinary rule, are of smaller circumference ; the conical roofs do not rise to a peak, but are rather in the shape of flattened domes, and in this way it is that they acquire the singular resemblance to mushrooms of which I have spoken. The villages are not enclosed ex- ternallv, but are bounded bv fences made of straw-mats 88 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. running between the closi ly-cramnied house?, and which serve for shelter to the cuttle uf individual householders. Great grazing-plots, such as the larger villages combine to provide for the benefit of the community, and exist amongst the Dinka, cannot be secured for the ^liillooks, because they are comparatively limited for space. Now although these savages are altogether unacquainted with the refined cosmetics of Europe, they make use of cosmetics of their ov\n ; viz., a coating of ashes for protection against insects. When the ashes are prepared from wood they render the body perfectly grey, and hereby are known the poor ; when the ashes are obtained from cow-dung they give a rusty-red tint, the hue of red devils, and hereby can be recognised the landowners. Ashes, dung, and the urine of cows are the indispensable requisites of the toilet. The item last named affects the nose of the stranger rather un- pleasantly when he makes use of any of their milk-vessels, as, according to a regular African habit, they are washed with it, probably to compensate for a lack of salt. The external appearance of the Shillooks, therefore, is by no means agreeable, but rather offensive to the beholder, who will hardly fail to notice amongst all the negro people who dwell in the plains of the Upper Nile a singular want of the lower incisor teeth, which in early life are always broken off. Their physiognomy hardly offers that decided negro type which tlieir swarthy complexion would lead one to expect. To judge by the shape of the skull, this people belongs to the less degraded races of Central Afiica, which are distinguished from other negro stocks by a smaller breadth of jaw and by a less decided narrowness of head. A comparison which I made with the skulls which I had collected and some which were taken ficm ancient Egyptian graves, and with the heads of living fellahs, established the fact of a remarkable resemblance. According to Professor 11. Jlartmann of Berlin, the similaritv between the heads of SHILLOOK MEN. 89 aiK-itnt Egyptians aiul the Shillooks rests on the projection of the nasal bones ; to liave these so deeply set as to appear compresseil by the forehead, would seem to be discordant with the general type of negro races. Witiiout pronouncing any decided opinion as to the actual relationship of the Egyp- tian to the Shillook, that eminent savant thinks tliat he at least discerns a fresh proof of an unquestionable African origin of the latter. Entirely bare of clothing, tiie bodies of the men would not of themselves be ungraceful, but through the perpetual plastering over with ashes, they assume a thoroughly diabolical aspect. The movements of their lean bony limbs are so languid, and their repose so perfect, as not rarely to give the Shillooks the resemblance of mummies ; and who- ever comes as a novice amongst them can hardly resist the impression that in gazing at these ash-grey forms he is look- ing upon mouldering corpses rather than upon living beings. The stature of the Shillook is very moderate, and, as a general rule, is short compared with that of the lank and long-legged Dinka. Like most of the naked and. half-naked Africans they devote the greatest attention to the arrangement of their hair; on every other portion of the body all growth of hair is stopped by its being all carefully plucked out at the very tirst ai)pearance. As has been already observed, amongst the men the repeated application of clay, gum, or dung, so effectually clots the hair together that it retains as it were voluntarily the desired form ; at one time like a comb, at another like a helmet, or, it may be, hke a fan. Many of the Shillook men present in this respect a great variety. A good many wear transversely across the skull a comb as broad as a man's hand, which, like a nimbus of tin, stretches ii'om ear to ear, and terminates behind in two drooping circular lappets. Occasionally there are heads for whi(!h one c(mib does not siiftice, and on these several combs, parallel to 90 THE HEART OF AFRICA. one anotlier at small intervals are arranged in lines. There is a third form, far from uncommon, than which nothing can be more grotesque. It may be compared to the crest of a guinea fowl, of which it is an obvious imitation; just as among ourselves many a way of dressing the hair would seem to be designed by taking some animal form for a model. Every now and then, however, one meets with heads of which the hair is closely cropped. However it may have happened, whether from illness or from some misadventure in dressing the hair, or perhaps from a fall of which the conse- quence has been an accident to the ponderous head-gear, I hardly know how, but something always seems wanting to such heads. In such cases there is frequently seen a comical- looking bandage fixed over the brow, forming a shade for the eyes, and which is made of a giraffe's foxy-red mane clipped short. This has been elsewhere observed, and is not unknown amongst the Kaffirs of South Africa. Thus much for the men. As far as regards the women — I saw none except those whose short-cropped hair appeared stippled over with fresh- sprouting woolly locks, and resembled the skin of a new-born lamb, like the " Astrachan " of commerce. The women do not go entirely naked, but wear an apron of calf-skin, which is bound round their loins, and reaches to their knees. Just like the Dinka, whose external habits, apart from their hair-combs, they would appear almost entirely to follow, every man amongst them ordinarily carries a club- shaped crutch, nearly three feet in length, with a heavy round knob at its upper end, but whiih tapers down to a point at the other extremity, so that it resembles a gigantic nail. Their only arms are their long spiked lances, of which (to judge from the equivalents taken in exchange) one is valued at a ]\Iaria Theresa dollar. J?ows and arrows are just as uid\ii(i\\ii jimon-jst thtni as jiiDonast the jieiglilxmring Dinka, SHILLOOK ANIMALS. 91 whilst, on tlie coiitmry, amongst the Niieir they are the cliief weapons. The domestic animals which the Shillooks breed are oxen, sheep, and goats, the same kinds as hereafter we shall find amongst the Diuka ; besides these, they keep poultry and dogs ; other animals are scarce, and probably could not endure the climate. Throughout the country dogs abound, in shape like greyhounds, but in size hardly equal to our pointers. They are almost always of a foxy-red colour, with a black muzzle, much elongate d ; they are short-haired and sleek, and have long tails, smooth as those of rats ; their ears are tolerably long, the upper portion being flabby and ragged, and therefore drooping forward. Almost beyond example in their activity in leaping and running, so fleet are they that with the greatest ease they outrun the gazelle, and are everywhere of service in the chase ; over the earth-walls ten feet high, and over ant-hills, they bound with the celerity of cats, and can jump three or four times the length of their own slim bodies. I kept a number of genuine Shillook dogs, which subsequently did very well in the farther interior, and increased considerably. Like all dogs of the Nile dis- trict, from the Egyptian pariah to the village cur of the Soudan, this breed is always found to be deficient in the dew- claws of the hind foot, which always exist in our European dogs. As a general rule, it may be said that the Shillook dog differs little from the races of the Bedouins of Kordofan and of Sennaar. The only conception which tiie Shillook entertain of a higher existence is limited to their reverence for a certain hero, who is called the Father of their race, and who is supposed to have conducted them to the land which they at present occupy. In case of famine, or in order that they may have rain, or that they may reap a good harvest, they call upon him by name. They imagine of the dead that they are lingi-ring amongst the living and still attend them. 92 THE HEAET OF AFIUCA. It is with tliem as with other uncultivated chihlren of nature that okl traditions and veneration of ancestors supply the place of religious legends or ethic system. Late in the evening of the 1st of February we left Fashodn, and proceeded, without using the sail, for the greatest part of the night along the left bank. At daybreak we arrived at the Egyptian camp. We were received with singing, shout- ing, and the braying of trumpets. I was conducted by the Governor to his tent, and whilst, hour after liour, we smoked our pipes in company, I related to him the mo.st recent events in the political world. After talking to him about the sources of the Nile, and the campaign of the English in Abyssinia, I told him of the events of the " Seven Days' War," in return for which I was presented with a fine bullock and several sheep and goats. The encampment, as I found, con- sisted of some huts erected with straw in a very off-hand way, the irregular forms of which contrasted very disad- vantageously with the symmetrical regularity which is so conspicuous in the dwellings of the Shillooks. Military tents and awnings of sedge completed the equipment of the camp. An ordinary thorn hedge with two loopholes, in which a cannon was always placed, protected the spot, which was close to the left bank of the river. In the Mudir's verandah I also made acquaintance with the Shillook chief, to whom I before alluded, who had entirely surrendered to the Egyptian Government, and was now, as the Governor expressed him- self, " eomiug to his senses." There was no external indica- tion whatever of his rank, except a miserable rag which hung about his loins, or the common sandals which he wore, might be considered such. His short-cropped hair had no covering ; his neck had a row of beads, such as the heads of families are accustomed to wear, worth about a couple of groschen ; and this was all the decoration he displayed. He retained now but a shadow of his former power; his better days were gone, days in which, attended by a council of SIIILLOOK SUBMISSION. 93 ancestral state, he had swayed the sceptre of patriarchal dignity. Of all the negro races wliich occupy the entire district of the Nile, the Shillooks used to uphold the most perfectly regulated government, and to appreciate them thoroughly it is necessary to refer back to the earliest regis- tries, which those who accompanied the expedition of Mehemet Ali left on record. But now this condition is all changed, and everything has disappeared which gave this independent and primitive people their most striking characteristics. In the immediate j)roximity of the camp all was generally at peace ; the Shillooks apparently submitted tamely enough to a Government which did not exercise any very tyrannical power, and which contented itself with demanding a supply of bullocks and a stated levy of provisions to maintain the troops. Notwithstanding this usual semblance of concord, the Governor was notoriously on terms of open enmity and feud with the Shillooks in the south. Kashgar, another descendant of the ancient reigning family, still maintained himself as an imcontrolled sovereign, and was able to render that part of the river extremely unsafe for navigation. Ever and again the Governor with his force, never more than 600 strong, was undertaking expeditions against them ; but, as he himself told me, they never came to an actual engage- ment. Although the blacks, he said, might muster 20,000 or 30,000 strong, the second cannon shot was quite enough to make them scamper off, and leave their flocks and herds in the lurch ; upon these the mounted Baggara, in the ser- vice of the Government, descended and made them an easy spoil. This nomadic race, from time immemorial, has ever, as I have already mentioned, been addicted to the plunder of cattle, and has always exhibited a preference for that occupation. In another respect the situation of the Government here is far from easy. Not only are the Shillooks at heart at 94 TlIK HEART OF AFRK;A. enmity to it, but it excites the hostility of the trading com- pciiiies who ascend the river. Nothing indicates the circum- stances better than the expression of a member of one of these companies. " The ]\rudir," he said, " doesn't like to attack tlie Shillooks; he takes care of them, and only wants a few of their bullocks; but we — we should just like to annihilate them, devil's brood as they are." In fact, as the Mudir said to me, he only wanted the best of the Shillooks ; the Shillooks know well enough that their " best " is their cattle, and this they are not really resigned passively to surrender, and so they go on and continue to be defiant, till they feel the grenades and rockets scorching their skins. For the future fortune of this favoured country I cannot anticipate much that is good. Whilst the Viceroy refuses to appoint Europeans as governors, like Munzinger in Massowa, his officers must fail in those qualifications which would be adequate for the successful administration of a newly-acquired negro territory. The visible retrogression of tlie Egyptian Soudan with respect to cultivation, confirms this unfavourable foreboding. Ismail Pasha centres all his hope upon the stimulating influence of a railway which shall connect Egypt with Khartoom, and very likely he may witness commerce enlarged to an unsuspected magnitude ; one thing, however, there is which he cannot prevent, and that is the depopulation of the Shillook lands. Since they remain closed to European civilisation, and since the hus- bandmen in Egypt are sufficiently engrossed in acquiring fresh soil for their ow n tillage at home, there is no prospect whatever for any advantage to these lands, except it can be found in a large immigration of labourers from Asia. The Governor was a remarkably intelligent Kurd, and great was my regret that I could not spare a longer time to listen to the interesting information that he gave me about the habits of the Sliillooks, which he knc w accurately from many yoais' experience. I acce])ted all Ihiit ho said with JUDI(!IAL VKRDICT. 1)5 the <^reatei- confidence, because it had seUlom occurred to aie to meet a Turkish officer, who could fluently speak the dialect of the country. He was continually being called upon to adjust the disputes of the natives, who appealed to iiis judgment, even in their most private concerns. One young girl there was who, abashed and dejected, had been crouching in a corner, and then ventured to present herself before him as adjudicator. With her speech half-choked by emotion, she besought him to interpose his authority to set aside the obstacles which her parents threw in the way of her completing her marriage engagement with a young Sliillook, Avhos3 name was Yod. The hindrance to the wed- ding was simply the fact that the young man possessed no cattle. The Mudir inquired whether Yod was not the owner of some cows. Her reply was, " No ; Yod has no cows; but Yod wants me, and I want Yod." Although she urged her point over and over again, and pressed the Mudir to pro- nounce in her favour, because his judgment would constrain her parents, the Mudir did not yield. The girl kept saying " we must," and " we will ; " tlie judge could speak only of bullocks. There seemed to be no settling the matter, when he said, " You must go and wait : wait till Yod has bullocks enough to satisfy your parents." This was not a very com- forting decision, but it showed me plainly how that it was ever his rule to recognise the customs of the. country. In order to attend to my European correspondence, which had fallen somewhat into arrears during my voyage, I pro- longed my stay for three days. Fine forests of gum-acacias encompassed the spot as far as the extensive Sliillook villages allowed them space, whilst the opposite shore presented an unreclaimed desert. At this season, when the waters had nearly reached their lowest level, the banks of the river were everywhere enlivened by numerous kinds of water-fowl. Ducks and geese did not preponderate, as in the northern districts, Imt the bird most frequently seen was the crowned 9(j THE HEART OF AFRICA. craue. Tliousauds of these in swarms were to be seen upon the level banks, nor was there much difficulty in getting at them. Protected by the tall grasses on the slopes of the bank, one had but to discharge a load of good-sized shot, and the destruction was marvellous. Besides the black and rose- coloured storks there is occasionally found the common stork, familiar to us at home; deeper onwards in the interior I have always looked for this in vain. In every region through- out Africa there exists the rapacious hawk, whilst the graceful grey falcon is not at all uncommon. The most remarkable bird of prey, however, is the large whitey-brown eagle {Haliaetos vocifer), which, sitting apart on trees and shrubs in the proximity of the waters, startles the passer-by by its peculiar shriek. The noise of this bird is very singular, and is unlike any other known note of the feathered race ; its cry ever comes unex- pectedly, and is prolonged on the waters. Sometimes it makes one think that it must be the cry of frightened women which alarms him ; or sometimes it appears as if a lot of shouting boys were rushing from their hiding-place. The illusion is so perfect, that, for my part, I never failed to hurry off in the direction of the sound, whenever I chanced to hear it. The peculiar cry of tlie bird is so characteristic, that the inhabitants of the Soudan have given it the expressive name of Faki, the shrieking priest. Of birds which attach themselves to inhabited [)arts, the white-bueasted Abyssinian raven is most abundant ; the trees around Fashoda are full of them. This species dwells in pairs, which are continually hacking away at the tree stems, the raven not unfrequently coming to associate with then). The Rahama, consecrated (as an emblem of parental affection) amongst the ancient Egyptians and Hebrews, collects in considerable numbers in Kluirtoom, where it does duty as a scavenger; but although it is ever to be found in the towns of Egyi)t and Nubia, it is never met with here ; it shuns the ACACIA-GROVES. 07 wilderness, and only I'eels at home in civilised places. In this district its place is snpplied by the little carrion vulture {Neophron pileatus), which the people of the Soudan call "Nisr," although this is only the ordinary Arabian appella- tion of an eagle. The heaths, broken as they frequently arc by low shrubs, notwithstanding the nearness of so many dwellings, afford a suitable resort for whole coveys of guinea- fowls. The herbage on the steppe itself appears for miles together to be covered with the Bamia (Hibiscus eseulentiis), a species of marsh-mallow, the seed-pods of which form a favourite vegetable amongst the Nubians. By the White Nile it grows perfectly wild, whilst in the north it requires to be cultivated. The acacia-groves produce gum in such unlimited quanti- ties that, in the interests of commerce, they are specially worthy of regard. In the winter time, with the greatest ease, in the course of a day a hundredweight of this valuable article could be collected by one man. Not once, however, did I see anyone gathering the gum, although the merchants of Khartoom are never in a })osition to supply sufficient to meet the demands of Europe. The descriptions of gum, which are hence brought to the Khartoom market, are those known as Sennaari and Talha, and are, in truth, only of a mediocre qujdity. Yet they do possess a certain marketable value, and through their abundance could be made to render a very large profit. The acacia-groves extend over an area a hundred miles square, and stretch along the right bank of the stream. The kind which is most conspicuous is the A. fistula, and which is as rich as any other variety in gummy secretions. I choose this definition of it from its Arabian appellation " soffar," which signifies a flute or pipe. From the larvae of insects which have worked a way to the inside, their ivory-white shoots are often distorted in form and swollen out at their base with globular bladders measuring about an inch in diameter. After the mysterious insect has VOL. r. u 98 THE HEART OF AFRICA. unaccouutably mauaged to glide out of its circular hole, this tliorn-like shoot becomes a sort of musical instrument, upon which the wind as it plays produces the regular sound of a flute ; on this account, the natives of the Soudan have named it the whistling-tree. It yields a portion of the gum known on the exchange as gum of Gedaref. It is often found in lumps as large as the fist ; it is rarely colourless, and more frequently than otherwise tinged with the hue of amber. Very striking is the sight afforded by the wood of acacias in the months of winter; tlie boughs, bare of leaves and white as chalk, stretch out like ghosts ; they are covered witli the empty pods, which cluster everywhere like flakes of snow ; wliilst the voices of a thousand flutes give out their hollow dirge. Such is the forest of the Soffar. Prickles of Acacia. The peculiarities which affect the growth of the acacia appear to be transmitted to a very remarkable extent. On a former journey I took some seeds to Cairo, which already had produced some trees of a very considerable size. These trees exhibited the special appearances of the parents ; below the prickles were the same excrescences and insect- borings ; not only was this the case in the park of Esbekieh in Cairo, but it also occurred in several other situations, which left the problem to be solved, how was it that the A BOO SAMMAT. 99 insect survived in the seed, or how did it contrive to get to its tree in Cairo ? On the 5th of February we finally left the Egyptian en- campment, and directed our course up the stream towards the region of the papyrus. After sailing all night we stopped just short of the mouth of the Sobat, on the right bank close to a forest. The progress of the coming days would lead us through an insecure territory ; we wanted to make up our supply of wood, and knew that the hostility of the Shillooks would, in many places, render any attempt at landing on our part quite unadvisable. Of the boats which were bound for the Gazelle, only one had arrived. In order to render us assistance, the Mudir had charged the owner not to leave my i)arty in the lurch. This circumstance had a very important effect upon my whole journey, as it was the means of introducing me to Mohammed Aboo Sam mat, who was proprietor of the boat. This magnanimous Nubian was destined to exercise a very considerable influence on my undertaking, and, indeed, he contributed more to my success than all the satraps of the Soudan. During my land journey I had first made his acquaintance, and now he invited me to be his guest until he should have accompanied me to the remotest tribes, a proposal on his part which made my blood tingle in my veins. A native of Dar-Kenoos, in his way he was a little hero. Sword in hand he had vanquished various districts large enough to have formed small states in Europe. A merchant full of enterprise, he avoided no danger, and was sparing neither of trouble nor of sacrifice ; in the words of the Horaz, " he explored the distant Indies, and compassed sea and land to escape poverty." Yet all the while he had the keenest sympathy with learning, and could travel through the remotest countries at the bidding of science to see the wonders of the world. Far as eye can see, the Sobat Hows between level banks bounded by unlimited steppes ; where it joins the Nile it is H 2 100 THE HEART OF AFRICA. about hnlf as broad as the main stream. For a cousiderable distance the cloudy milk-white waters, which indicate the mountain stream, can be distinguished as they roll into the deep azure of the White Nile. The Sobat water is, however, far preferable to tlie Nile water, wliich, after being strained as it weve, through a filter of grass, emerges transparent in colour, but with a flat, earthy flavour, which is highly dis- agreeable to the palate. The effect of the commingling of the two streams can be distinctly traced as far as Fashoda, where the inhabitants fancy they enjoy some consequent sanitary advantage. We kept quite close to the right bank of the uninhabited quarter, but on the same day we found ourselves in full flight before thousands of the native Shillooks, who, with their light canoes of ambatch, hastened to the bank, and in thick troops prepared to displace us. As fate would have it, just as we were within sight of the dreaded Shillooks, our sail- yard broke, and we were compelled to seek the land. Soon rose the cry, "They are coming! they are coming!" for in fact we could see them dashing over the stream w^ith incre- dible celerity, and crowding their canoes as thick as ants. Hardly had we regained our craft, and made some speedy preparations for defence against an attack, when the fore- most of the Shillook men, equipped for war, carrying their tufted lances in their hands, showed themselves by the banks which only now we had quitted. Apparently they came to offer some negotiation with us in the way of traffic ; but ours was the ancient policy, " Danaos timentes," and we pushed on. Although, including Aboo Sammat's party, we numbered full eighty armed men, we could not help suspecting that as soon as the north-east breeze should drop, by whose aid we were going along the stream without a sail, the savages would take advantage of our bad situation and inadequate fighting force to make an attack upon us. This fear was not without reason ; there were here, at a A HASTY RETREAT. 101 guos-s at least 10,000 Shillooks on their legs and 3000 arabatcli canoes in motion on the river. Accordingly we pushed up the stream, and had an opportunity, from a more secure neighbourhood, to observe the Shillooks more accu- rately. My telescope aided me in my investigation. I saw crowds of men violently gesticulating and contending ; I saw women burdened with baskets loaded with poultry clapping their wings. After a while the Shillooks, disap- l)ointed, began to vacate the bank which we had left, and on the river could now be seen a redouble 1 movement of the canoes, whilst opposite fresh multitudes poured in, and gave to the whole scene the appearance of a general emigration of the people. Within the last three years the boats had been permitted with reluctance, and only when several were together, to approach the shore at this part of the stream, for here it had happened in one single season that five vessels, the property of Khartoom merchants, as they were coming down the river laden with ivory, were treacherously attacked one after the other. The stratagem was employed of diverting the atten- tion of the crews by an exhibition of attractive merchandise ; while the Nubians were off their guard, at a given signal the Shillooks fell upon them and butchered them without excep- tion. Gunpowder, rifles, and valuable ivory, all fell into their hands ; the vessels they burnt. Ghattas himself, the merchant who owned the vessel by which I was travelling, suffered the loss of a costly cargo, while eighty men on that occasion met with a violent death. Only the Keis and one female slave escaped to Fashoda. Betimes they threw themselves into the water, and concealing their heads with some water weeds, floated on till the stream carried them out of the reach of harm. On the following morning, after we had passed the mouth of the Giraffe river, we were joined by a flotilla of six boats. As we reckoned now nearly 350 armed men, we felt that we LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA r>i«rnoinc 102 THE HEART OF AFRICA. cnuM venture without risk to enter upon commercial transac- tions with the Shillooks. The disturbed condition of the country had interfered to prevent them carrying about their merchandise as usual, and tliey now were collected in unusual numbers at the mart. A mile away from the river-bank there were rows of dome- palms bounding a broad level, on which was exhibited all the liveliness of ordinary maiket-elatter. Busy and bustling, there were thousands congregated together ; but the fear this time was not on our side. From far and near streamed in the natives ; many brouglit baskets full of corn, eggs, butter, beans, and ostrich-feathers ; others offered poultry, tied together in bunches, for sale : there was altogether the bustle of such a market as only the largest to^\^lS could display. The area was hemmtd in by a guard of armed men, whose lances, like standing com, glittered in the sun. Tlie sense of security raised the spirits of the light-hearted sailors, and their merry Nubian songs rose cheerfully in the air. Two hours slipped quickly away, while the necessary purchases were being made, the medium of exchange being white or red glass beads. iSoon afterwards a iavourable breeze sprung up. Everything was still active in the market ; fresh loads came teeming from the villages ; the outcry and gesticulations of the market people were as excited as ever, when suddenly there boomed the signal to embark. The confusion, the noise, the hurry which ensued baffle all de- scription; the iShillooks were in a panic, and, imagining that it must be all up with them, scampered off and jostled each other in every direction. The propitious wind did not, however, prevent our people from finding time to make a little detour into the country, where they had the luck to find some herdsmen who were trying to conceal a heifer amongst the grass. There was a report of a gun, and the beast was stretched upon the ground. A few minutes sufficed to quarter its carcase, and the hide NUBIAN LOGIC. 103 and the pieces were conveyed on board. Half-a-dozen kids and some sheep were added to the stock, and so we proceeded on our way. In the eyes of the people such plundering is deemed to be perfectly legitimate for various reasons : first, because the Shil looks are heathen ; secondly, because some years before they liad burnt five Nubian vessels; thirdly and chiefly, because mutton and beef are very choice eating, particularly after having been limited for a time to durra- pap. JMy tawny companions seemed to think that they knew a fourth palliation for their proceeding, which consisted in this, that none but themselves were capable of making a proper use of the goods of the blacks. In the districts of the Upper Nile, wherever the breeding of cattle is carried on, it is a custom of the negroes never to kill an animal, but only to consume those which die naturally ; the reason obviously being, that they look upon the possession of living cattle as the main object of their existence. With them, steers do the duty of guineas and napoleons ; the Nubians, therefore, jocosely affirm that they swallow the guineas, which in the keeping of the heathen are nothing better than so much dead capital. We w^ere not long in leaving the Shillook villages far behind. The inhabited region seemed to recede as our boat made its way along the water-course. The stream divided itself into a multitude of channels, which threaded their way amidst a maze of islands. 'Jlie distant rows of acacias on either side were the only tokens to indicate the mainland. This was the day on which we tirst saw the papyrus. To me, botanist as I was, the event elevated the day to a festival. Here at a latitude of 9° 30' N. are we now first able to salute this sire of immortal thought, which centuries ago was just as abundant in Egypt as at present it is on the threshold of the central deserts of Africa. I was quite lost in admiration at the variety of ])roduction of the surface of the water, to which the antique papyrus gave a noble finish. It strikes 104 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the gaze like the creation of another world, and seems to inspire a kind of reverence : although for days and weeks I was environed by the marvellous beauties which enrich the flora of the Nile, my eye was never weary of the vision of its graceful form. The hindrances to our progress caused by the excessive vegetation began now to give us some anxiety. All day long we were bewildered not only by the multiplicity of channels, but by masses of grass, pajjyrus, and ambatch, which covered the whole stream like a carpet, and even when they opened gave merely the semblance of being passages. It is quite possible that the diversion of its course to the east, which, for sixty miles the Nile here takes, may check the progress of the stream, and be in a measure the cause of such a strange accumulation of water-plants. Certain it seems that neither any exceptional depth of water, such as may occur in particular years, nor yet any general overflow wider than usual, avails to exercise the slightest influence upon this exuberant vegetation. Were it a coating of ice it would split itself into fragments under the pressure of the stream, but here is a real web of tough tangle, which blockades the entire surface. Every here and there, indeed, the force of the water may open a kind of rift, but not cor- responding at all with the deeper and true channel of the stream. Such a rift is not available for any passage of the boats. The strain of the tension, which goes on without intermission, has such an effect in altering the position of the weedy mass, that even the most experienced pilot is at a loss how to steer, consequently every voyage in winter is along a new course, and through a fresh labyrinth of tangle. But in July, when the floods are at their highest, navigation can be carried on along well nigh all the channels, since the currents are not so strong, and the vessels are able to pro- ceed without detention to tlieir destinations. 'J'hick masses of little weeds float about the surface of the GRASS TANGLE. 105 water, and by forming a soft pulp, contribute an effectual aid to bind together the masses of vegetation. Like a cement this conglomerate of weeds fills up all the clefts and chasms between the grass and ainbatch islands, which are formed in the back-water where the position is sheltered from the winds and free from the influence of the current. There are two plants, at a superficial glance hardly dis- tinguishable, which perform the largest share in the forma- tion of this compact web. One of them is the thiu-mem- braned water-fern, the Azolla ; the other (which is quite familiar to every visitor to the tank of the Victoria regia) being the Pistia, which can hardly fail to recall a head of lettuce. The sailors of the White Nile call it the "negro tobacco," probably with reference to the dwarfed growth of the two kinds of tobacco in the negro lands. Besides these, our duck-weeds (Lemna) and Tussieua of various sorts inter- twine themselves with the mass, and the different African representations of our commonest water-plants play a part by no means unimportant. It is remarkable that in Egypt nearly all the species of water-plants which abound in the stream of the White Nile are wanting entirely ; whilst, on the other hand, all the shore-shrubs, which had their native home in the neighbour- hood of the Equator, pass over the intervening districts and there find a settlement. Even the conspicuous ambateh is, in Egypt, not known by name ; and it is quite an event when any of the fragments of the papyrus find their way so far north. Every bit of wood which the river carries in its flood is collected by the inhabitants of the Nubian valley, and not a scrap escapes the keen look-out of the people, who are eager to compensate for their lack of firewood. At the season when the waters are at their height, the chase after floating wood is a daily occupation and a favourite engage- ment of the boys. On the 8th of February began our actual conflict with this ion THE HEART OF AFRICA. world of weeds. That entire day was spent in trying to force our boats along the temporary openings. The pilots were soon absolutely at a loss to determine by which channel they ought to proceed. On this account two vessels were detached from the flotilla to investigate the possibility of making a passage in a more northerly direction. Two hun- dred of our people, sailors and soldiers, Avere obliged to lug uitli ropes for hours together to pull through one boat after tiie other, w^hile tiiey walked along the edge of the floating mass, which would bear whole herds of oxen, as I subse- quently had an opportunity of seeing. Very singular was the spectacle of the vessels, as though they had grown in the place where they were, in the midst of this jungle of papyrus, fifteen feet high; whilst the bronzed, swarthy skins of the naked Nubians contrasted admirably with the bright green which was everywhere around. The shrieks and shouts with which they sought to clieer on their work could be heard miles away. Tiie very liippopotarauses did not seem to like it; in their alarm they lifted their heads from the shallows in which they had stationed themselves for respiration, and snorted till the gurgling around was horrible. The sailors, concerned lest by their bulk these unwieldy creatures should injure the boats — not an unknown occurrence — gave vent to the full foj'ce of tiieir lungs. This unearthly clamour was indeed the soli- tary means of defence at their command ; in such a turmoil — men and boats in every direction — firing a shot was not to be thought of. This extraordinary grass-barrier had already been met with at the time of Miss Tinne's expedition in 1863 ; here again in the summer of 1872 was it found, strong as ever, offering for months its serious impediments to navigation, and threatening to expose the crews to destitution, if their provisions should fail. The enterprising expedition of Sir Samuel Uaker, in 1870-71, suttered repeated hindrances at EL SETT : THE GRASS-BARRIER. 107 this spot. An attempt was made to employ machinery to penetrate the mass, but steam-boats proved to be (n'en less successful than tlie ordinary boats in making any headway. The conflict in these waters by means of wind and steam recalls what is not unfrequently seen in Egypt when a lot of men try to drag a donkey through the mud. In this laborious fashion we had to toil on for several days. It was only by one of the side-arms of the blockaded main- stream that it was possible to reach the mouth of the Gazelle River. To this backwater the sailors give the name of " Maia Signora," because the access to it is stated to have been discovered by tlie pilots who conducted Miss Tinne. Ever since the formation of the grass barrier {el Sett) there has been no approach to the river of Gondokoro, the Balir- el-Gebe], except by a long side-arm called the Giraffe River, which is itself almost equally blocked up. Upon the whole we were more fortunate than our predecessors of previous years, because our journey chanced to fall during one of the periodical seasons when tlie growth of tlie ambatch is at a standstill. It happened therefore that of the three obsta- cles which (besides the current and the shallows) are gene- rally to be expected, viz., grass, papyrus, and ambatch, one of the most important did not occur. The close of our first day's exertion found us at night-fall on the southerly side of an island in mid-stream, whence we witnessed a spectacle striking in its way. Through an immense grove of acacias seventy feet high {A. verugera), which were remarkable for their resemblance to pine-trees, there gleamed, with tiie glare of day, the light of huge bonfires of faggots, which the Shillooks had kindled on the opposite bank, and which gave to the tall trees the effect of being truly gigantic. Here on the 9th we tarried, and as it was the last woody district upon which we could reckon until we arrived at the mouth of the Bahr-el-Arab, we set to work to repair oui broken sailyard. We were close now to the region of tiie 103 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Nueir : and on the steppes beyond the wood, we could see troops of them moving backwards and forwards ; but they kept at a distance, and showed no disposition to open any negotiations with us. Footprints and various other indica- tions leave no doubt but that this district is the playground of elephants, giraffes, wild buffaloes, and hyenas. Maraboo storks were abundant, and would often come tolerably close to the resorts of men, but as soon as they found themselves observed M'ere careful to keep at a safe distance. During our progress along the river I brought down very many of these birds, and secured a quantity of their valuable feathers. These I sent to Europe, and at a bazaar for the benefit of the sick and wounded they realised a considerable sum. Maraboo feathers fetch higlier prices than ostrich feathers, yet it is very remarkable that they are quite unknown in the commerce of Khartoom. The temperature of the preceding days had been singu- larly fresh, and consequently the plague of flies, from which previous travellers had had to endure so much, did not at all molest us. We were, however, provided on board with all the appliances to protect ourselves from this nuisance, in case of need. Far into the night after these days of prolonged exertion resounded the songs of the Nubians, and the gourd- shells of merissa beer went round amid the native strains of Berber and Dongola. As I did not thoroughly understand the dialect of Dongola, I continually lost the exact purport of the words which were sung. One with the other the Nubians often use this dialect, although they just as fre- qnently speak Arabic. Every now and then as they sung I made them tell me the sense of separate sentences ; my listening to them seemed to delight them all, and I heard them saying behind my back, *' Pityt hat the man is not a IMussuhuan, or at least a Turk, then what a capital fellow he would be!" To which another replied, "Turk, indeed! who ever heard of a Turk troubling himself about our songs ? The NUBIAN SONGS. 109 Franks are worth a thousand of tliem ! " The flattery took its effect upon me, and I was moved at once to deh'ver a regular homily to my people. Feeling like Caesar among the pirates, I proceeded to say, " Did you ever hear, you rascals of cow-stealers, about those ancestors of yours, tlie Ethiopians of Meroe ? " " Yes, indeed ," rejoined the Nubians, " for many and many a verse did our ancient poets compose about them, to celebrate their virtue ; and they used to declare about the ruler of the gods (for at tliat time we believed in many gods) if he couldn't be found in heaven it was because he was lingering amongst his darling Ethiopians on earth. But now, we have Allah, the great Allah ; besides Allah we care for no other." " All very well ;" I replied ; " but where is the poet who can sing about his love to you, incorrigible thieves as you are ? Just mind then what you are about for the future, and try to show that you are not unworthy of your great ancestors." The next day was again employed in unrelaxed endeavours to penetrate the grass-bound channels. The patches of papyrus became at once more frequent and more extensive, and here once again, after being long missed, is found the genuine Nile reed, the " shary " of the ancient Egyptians — the same as the soof of the Bible — which always grows on the shores of the mainland. Somewhat strangely the pre- vailing river-grass in the upper waters, the Vossia p'oceniy is called in Arabic " Om-Soof," the mother of wool. This appellation it derives from the peculiar hairy character of its leaf-shcaths. These have the disagreeable quality of cover- ing the entire bodies of those who may be at work in the grass with a thick down of adhesive bristles. The sharpness of these and the scratches they inflict increase the irksomeness of the daily labour at the grass barrier. Still the great prairies amidst which the flood pursues its course afford an inexhaustible pasturage ; cattle, sheep, and horses, all graze no THK HKAKT OF AFRICA. upon them, and no herbage is tliere that they prefer to tlie " Om-Soof." At the close of the day, we again arrived in open watei-, and laid up for the night by the left bank, which presented a wide steppe entirely bare of trees. Up with the sun, with sails hoisted with a moderate breeze in our favour, off we were on the following morning ; short- lived, however, was our propitious start. Too soon the open water branched out into a labyrinth of channels, and the bewildered navigators lost all clue as to the actual direction of the stream. The projections of the green islets were always crowned with huge clumps of papyrus, which here grows in detaclied masses. It probably delights most in quiet waters, and so does not attain to the form of a high unbroken hedge, as on the upper banks of the Gazelle, for here, on account of the numerous stoppages, the stream flows through the narrow channels with extraordinary violence. The strength of the stream often makes towing impracticable, and the sailors often have considerable difficulty in sailing through it to the papyrus bushes, when they want to attach to their solid stems the ropes which are thrown out from their boats. This was the way in which we from sheer necessity sustained the resistance of the current. The depth of the channel was quite sufficient in itself to allow us to proceed, as our vessels drew only three feet of water ; but the passage had become so contracted that at sunset we fastened ourselves to the papyrus-stems, quite despairing of ever being able to make further progress in this direction. It was one of those marvellous nights when the unwonted associations of a foreign clime seem to leave an indelible impression on the memory of the traveller. Here were the dazzling sparks of the glow-worm, glaring upon us like a greeting from our far-off home, and in countless masses glittering upon the dewy stalks of the floating prairie. In the midst of these were fastened our boats, hemmed in as firmly as though they were enclosed by polar ice. Loud HIPPOPOTAMUSES. Ill was the rushing of the stream us it forced a way along its contracted course ; but louder still was the incessant splash- ing of the emerging hippopotamuses, which had been driven by the vessels, as it were, into a corner, and were at a loss, like ourselves, how to go on or to retreat. Until daybreak their disquietude continued, and it seemed as though their numbers kept increasing, till there was quite a crowd of them. Already during the afternoon they had afforded a singular sio:ht : whilst about half of our men were wadinof in shallow water and straining at the ropes, they found that they had entirely enclosed no less than six hippopotamuses, whose huge flesh-coloured carcases, dappled with brown, rose above the surface of the water in a way but rarely seen, A cross-lire was opened upon them from several vessels, but I could not make any use of my elephant rifle, because about 200 of our men were towing upon my line of sight. The clumsy brutes snorted and bellowed, and rolled against each other in their endeavours to escape ; their ponderous weight bore down the tangle of the water-growth, and the splashing was prodigious. Four days had now been consumed in this strain and struo'srle : after a final and unavailing efibrt on the fifth day, there seemed no alternative but to go back and make trial of another and more northerly branch of this bewilder- ing canal-system. We succeeded in otu- retrograde movement so fiir as to attain an open basin, and found that we had only the distance of about 200 feet to get over, in order that we might reach the spot whereat the various streams of the Upper Nile unite. This place on the maps is distinguished by the name of Lake No, but the sailors always call it Mogren-el-Bohoor, i.e., the mouth of the streams. The difficulties which met us here were apparently quite hopeless. Our boats were not only heavily laden with corn, but, formed of the heaviest wood, their build was unusually broad and massive. Yet heavy and unwieldy as they were there was 112 THE HEART OF AFRICA. no alternative than literally to drag them over the grass. By dint, however, of main force, before the day was out the task was accomplished. The grass mass itself was lifted and pushed in front, whilst the men turned their backs against the sides of the boats, and pressed them on from behind. I was the only passenger to remain on board, because being fearful of a chill which might result in fever, I could not venture into the Avater. What the maps call Lake No is merely the expanded mouth of the meeting waters. The current flowing from tlie south from the Bahr-el-Gebel passes along its apparent shores, which are projecting masses of papyrus. In order to reach the Gazelle it is necessary to bend westwards along the gradually narrowing lake-basin. At no season of the year is this water otherwise than shallow ; even at the time of our retrograde voyage, when the floods were highest, we stranded more than once. Floating islands of papyrus of considerable extent were visible every here and there, and broke the uniformity of the expanse. The passage which leads to the Gazelle has the essential properties of running water, although the stream itself is in winter scarcely perceptible. The river, however, is sur- rounded by such a multiplicity of backwaters and waters remaining in old river-beds, that the united volume of such a number of streams as I saw emptying themselves into it, at various times, through some hundreds of miles, could not possibly find its exit through this single channel alone. Petherick, in 18G3, at the period when the water-floods were as low as possible, estimated the volume of waters to be rolling on at the rate of 3042 cubic feet a second ; but he must have referred simply to the navigable channel at the mouth, without intending to represent that the calculation referred to the entire mass of the waters. It remains still a matter of dispute which of the two currents should be considered as the main stream. Accord- THE GAZELLE. 113 ing to analogy, as the Sobat is related to the Bhie Nile, so the Bahr-el-Cebel is to the I3ahr-el-Abiad, just as the Blue Nile is to the Nile of Egypt. One of the objects conteuiplatetl in my journey was to show the importance of the western affluents of the Nile which unite in the Gazelle ; and I have given evidence that, one way and another, they traverse a region of not less than 150,000 square miles. When I mention that in 1803 Speke called the Gazelle "an unimportant branch,"* and moreover that Baker has spoken of its magnitude with great depre- ciation, in reply, I might allude to another interesting fact in geographical annals. Not only did Bruce, a hundred years ago, suppose that he had discovered the sources of the Nile ia Abyssinia, just where a hundred years previously they had beeu marked upon the Portuguese maps ; but he repre- sented the Bahr-el-Abiad as an inconsiderable stream, which joined the stream of his discovery at Halfaya, Khartoom at that time being not in existence. But it is absolutely im- possible that Bruce could have returned from Sennaar to Berber along the left bank of the Blue Nile, and could have crossed at its mouth from the very spot where Khartoom now stands, without being aware that close behind him there was rolling its waters a stream as broad again as the Blue Nile. The record of his travels does not contain one word about the White Nile. The plain truth is that the White Nile was overlooked and disparaged, because it would have thrown his Blue Nile in the shade.f Ismail Pasha was quite right in sayiug that every fresh African traveller had his own private sources of the Nile; but for * Speke, p. 609 : " We found only a small piece of water, resembling a duck-pond buried in a sea of rushes." t The words of the far-famed traveller are : — " It runs from Sonnaar past many considerable villages, which are inhabited by white men of Arabia. Here it passes by Gerri [now Khartoom], in a north-easterly direction, so as to join the Tacazze." — IJrucc, b. vi. c. 14. VOL. I. 1 114 THE HEART OF AFRICA. my part I tini not at all ashamed to confess that I have not foimd them. The wind was favourable, and so long as the course maintained a north-westerly direction we made a rapid pro- o-ress. The maia channel gradually contracted, however, and deviated into many abrupt meanderings, which had to be traversed by pushing and driving with poles. Here, too, the apparent banks consisted of floating grass-tangle, tliough further off the pasturing. herds of the Dinka showed the true position of the mainland, whilst the ridge of forest beyond indicated the limit to which the inundations had extended. North of the mouth of the Gazelle the boundaries of tlie Shillooks and the Dinka meet each other, and the interven- ing territory is inhabited by the Nueir. In some places amongst the grass-tangle I made an attempt to botanize, and out of the numerous holes I fished up a variety of most interesting plants. The Gazelle is specially noted for the beauty of its water-lilies {Nymphma stellata and N. lotus). Blossoms of these, in every variety of hue— white, blue, and crimson — well-nigh everywhere adorn the surface of the water; rooted below they project their long stalks and leaves through the apertures, like fishes, in the winter, to catch the air through holes in the ice. Shouhl any one make a grasp at a blossom and fail to make good his hold, it may happen that the entire plant will make an elastic rebound and disappear beneath the grass. During the afternoon our course was N.W. and W.N.W., which is tlie general direction of the Gazelle throughout its lower half. The stream became wider again, the banks continuing to be lined by an impene- trable grass jungle. Remarkable dark-coloured water-birds {Plotus mdanogaster) are found in considerable numbers upon the shores, intent upon making prey of small fishes. Tliey settle upon the bushes, and one may every novi^ and then be seen to make a sudden ilive into the water, bring u[) a little (isli in its beak, and resume its previous perch. Amongst A GHATTAS BIRD. 115 the peoi)le of Ivhartooni this bird is called the " Ghattas," a name which invested it with a special interest to me as being the name of my temporary protector. For some few days past, just before sunset, great masses of tiny green flies had made their appearance. Although these were in no respect injurious, yet the buzzing they made and the choking cough which was caused by their numbers were anything but agreeable. Shortly after dark they retreated, only to appear again in the early dawn. Much more pertinacious were the spotty-legged gnats, which now began to torment us when the nights were not cool enough to disperse them. Everybody on board had provided him- self for protection with a sack made of calico in which he slept, the result of which was ordinarily a temperature of some 80° Fahr., about the same as a regular vapour-bath. These gnats did not buzz about with so loud a noise, but their sting was much more decided. They might not cause such a lasting itching as some of their northern kindred, but the knack they had of finding a way for their proboscis through the thickest cotton till it reached one's skin, made it only possible to keep them off by means of mosquito-nets. But altogether I reckoned this visitation as hardly worth the notice of a traveller who had grown up amongst the gnats of the teeming marshes of the north. The Bahr-el-Gliazal may in some respects be compared to the Havel as it flows between Potsdam and Brandenburg; the two rivers are not dissimilar in their excess of floating vege- tation, composed of plants which, to a great extent, are identical in their generic character. Frequently the breadth is not more than enough for a single vessel, but the depth could not be fathomed by our longest poles, and so revealed what was the enormous volume of water concealed by the carpet of grass for two hundred paces on either hand. A\'hat ordina- rily appears to be land assumes at high water the aspect of an extensive lake. The general uniformity of level prevents I 2 116 TllK HEART OF AFRICA. any extensive ran^e of vision ; but 1 hud only to mount the roof of my cabin, and, by observing the distance between the woods that skirted the i)rospect, I couhl approximately esti- mate the width of the river-bed. Nowhere did it appear Ralssnicpps Rpx. to me to extend, like the valley of the I'>gyptian Nile, to a breadth of eiglit miles; and certainly, without further evi- dence, I cannot agree with former travellers, who describe it as being a lake or marsh of whieh the boundaries are unlimited. BAL.ENICErS HEX. 117 Neither crocodiles nor hippopotamuses are here to be observed. The absence of settled river-banks prohibits the Upper Nile from being the resort of the former ; the defi- ciency of sand-banks would permit no life to the latter, which therefore make good their retreat to the narrower streams of the interior. The second day of our voyage along the river brought us to the district tenanted by the Nueir. We found them peacefully pasturing their flocks and herds beside their huts, and betraying nothing like fear. They had been represented to me as an intelligent people ; seeming to know what they had to expect or to dread, they were disposed for friendly intercourse with the Khartoom people, who, in their turn, were not inclined to commit any act of violence upon their territory. Two years and a half later, at the period of our return, all this was unfortunately changed, and landing was impossible. Most of the Nueir villages lie on a spot where the Gazelle makes a bend from a north-east to a south-westerly direc- tion. As we were making our way pnst the enclosures which lie on either side of the stream, my attention was arrested by the siffht of a number of some of the most remarkable birds that are found in Africa. Strutting along the bank, they were employing their broad bills to grope in the slimy margins of the stream for fish. The bird was the Balxniceps Bex, a curiosity of the rarest kind, known amongst the sailors as the Abu-Markoob (or slipper-shape), a name derived from the peculiar form of its beak. Its scientific name is due to the disproportionate magnitude of its head. Before 1850 no skins of this bird had been conveyed to Europe ; and it appeared unaccountable to naturalists how a bird of such size, not less than four feet high, and of a sha})e so remark- able, should hitherto have remained unknown ; they were not aware that its habitat is limited to a narrow range, which it does not quit. Except by the Gazelle and in the central 118 THE HEAET OF AFRICA. district of the Bahr-el-Gebel, the BalEeniceps has never been known to breed. The first that appeared I was fortunate enough to hit with a rifle ball, which wounded it in its back, and brought it down : we measured its wings, and found them to be more than six feet across. Another was struck, but although it was pursued by an active party of Nubians, it effected an escape. As generally observed, the bird is solitary, and sits in retired spots ; its broad beak reclines upon its crop, and it stands upon the low ground very much as it is represented in the accompanying illustration : it rarely occupies the ant-hills which every here and there rise some feet above the vegetation. The great head of the bird rises over the tall blades of grass and ever betrays its position. Its general structure would class it between a pelican and a heron, whilst its legs resemble those of a maraboo ; it snaps with its beak, and can make a clattering noise like the stork. This Balaeniceps would seem to furnish a proof that not everything in nature is perfectly adapted to its end, for when the birds are full grown, they never have their beaks symmetrical. The upper part does not cor- respond with the lower ; the two members fall apart, and, like an old woman's jaws, go all awry. The colour of their plumage in winter is a dingy light brown, their wings are black, and they seem to fly with difficulty, carrying their un- graceful heads upon their necks at full stretch, like a heron. They build in the rainy season, always close to the open water, forming their great nests of ambatch-stalks. At the next groups of huts we made a stop, and did some bartering with the Nueir, who brought sheep and goats for exchange. Here, in the heart of the Nueir population, in a district called Nyeiig, we fixed our quarters until the IGth. I made use of the time to spend the whole day in my ambatch- canoe, collecting the water-plants from the river. The Nueir are a warlike tribe, somewhat formidable to the THE NUEIR. 119 Dinka. They occupy a territory by the mouths of the two tributaries of the White Nile, and are evidently hemmed in by hostile neighbours. In most of their habits they resemble alike the Shillooks and the Dinka, although in their dialect they differ from both. The pasturage of herds is their chief pursuit. The traveller who would depict their peculiarities must necessarily repeat much of what he has already re- corded about the other tribes. With regard to apparel it will suffice to say that the men go absolutely naked, the women are modestly girded, and the girls wear an apron formed of a fringe of grass. Their hair is very frequently dyed of a tawny-red hue by being bound up for a fortnight in a compo of ashes and cow-dung ; but occasionally it is cut quite short. Some of them weave cotton threads into a kind of peruke, which they stain with red ochre, and use for decoration where natural locks are not abundant. Their huts resemble those of the Dinka; always clean, the dwellings are sur- rounded by a trampled floor ; the sleeping-place inside is formed of ashes of cow-dung, burnt perfectly white, and is warmer and better than any mosquito-net. Nowhere in the worhl could a better illustration be afforded of the remarkable law of Nature which provides that similar conditions of existence should produce corres- ponding types amongst all raidvs of animal creation. It does not admit of a doubt that men and beasts in many districts of which the natural features are in marked contrast to the surrounding parts do exhibit singular coincidences, and that they do display a certain agreement in their tendencies. The confirmation of this resemblance which is offered by the Shillooks, the Nueir, and the Dinka is very complete ; these tribes, stationed on the low marshy flats which adjoin the river, are altogether different in habit to those which dwell among the crags and rocks of the interior. " They give the impression," says my predecessor Heuglin, "that amongst men they hold very much the same place that flamingoes, as 120 THE HEART OF AFRICA. birds, hold with reference to the rest of the feathered race;" and he is right. The dwellers in these marsh-lands would probably have a web between their toes were it not compen- sated by the flatness of their feet and the unusual prolongation of the heel. Another remarkable similarity is the way in which, like the birds of the marshes, they are accustomed for an hour at a time to stand motionless on one leg, supporting the other above the knee. Their leisurely long stride over the rushes is only to be compared to that of a stork. Lean and lanky limbs, a long, thin neck on which rests a small and narrow head, give a finishing touch to the resemblance. Leaving the last dwellings of the Nueir behind us, we arrived on the following day at the first wood which is to be observed on the banks of the Gazelle. Ant-hills of more than ten feet high are here scattered in every direction, and alone break tiie universal levelness of the plain. They are not un- frequently found in the heart of a thicket, because originally the stem of a tree served as the central axis of the earthy structure. Dead and withered though this had been, it sprouted out afresh from the roots, provided that these had been uninjured by the passages of the ants. Vestiges of the floods are traceable upon them, and show that the average difference between the highest and lowest level of the water is from three to four feet. The river wends its way through charming wood-scenery, meandering amidst groves gay with the red bindweed (Ijpomwa), amidst which now and then a tall tamarind uprears itself. Here I met with a fresh representative of the flora of Central Africa in the tree-like Euphorbia with its arras outspread like candelabras. This can be distinguished from the Euphorbia of the Abyssinian highlands, mentioned in Chapter L, by the involved confusion of its branches. Its eccentric shapes would seem to fill a place in Africa which in America is supplied by the order of the Cactaceae; it also ALOXG THE GAZELLE. 121 serves like the Mexican Cereus for the enclosure of estates, as slips taken from its branches readily take root in the ground. The sportsman could here reckon on a good bag, for the widow-ducks which swarmed upon the papyrus were brought down at every shot, and were serviceable for the table. Our people were all expert swimmers, and they continually fished out of the stream the birds which were struck, while their sport in no way ever hindered the progress of our craft. The win! next day was not propitious, and the boats were obliged to stay beside a grass tangle by the bank. I made use of the detention to enjoy a little fishing for water-plants. The water-lilies surpassed all description, and would adorn any Victoria-house. Unfortunately I could not succeed in transferring to this region the queen of the waters. The Victoria regia seed, which I had brought for the purpose in pots, would never germinate ; perhaps, although it was pre- served in water, the heat of my cabin during my voyage was too great and destroyed its vitality. I can only boast of having naturalised in this district of Central Africa two plants as representatives of culture in Europe — tlie sun-flower and the tomato. The river, whicli is ordinarily about 300 feet wide, abounds in thick masses of potamogeton, trapa, and yellow ottelia. The seeds of this last plant much resemble the sesamum, growing like the seeds of the Nymphaea in a slimy gelatinous mass ; they are collected by the natives, and, after being dried, are pounded down into a sort of meal, which the sailors of Khartoora assured me was a wliolesome and excellent remedy for indigestion. It surprised me very much to learn that the eatableness of the water-nut (Trapa) was unknown to the Dinka, although it grew in such abund- ance on the river. We landed, towards evening, close below the mouth of the Bahr-el-Arab in a forest of lofty trees, where the West African Stephegrjne appears to find its extreme eastern !'_>'_> THE HEART OF AFRICA. limit. The wood of this species of Eubiaceae is somewhat soft and light, but its branches make masts for the boats of a strength and straiglitness unequalled by any other growth in the 56 countries, where wood adapted for erections of any sort is so notably scarce. The Gazelle, at the place where the Bahr-el-Arab empties itself, has a width of about 1000 feet. This mouth is itself not much less, but just above the mouth the condition of the Gazelle is so different that it must be evident to every sailor that the Bahr-el-Arab plays a very important part in contributing to the entire system. What the sailors mean by the Bahr-el-Ghazal is really only tlie channel as far as they navigate it ; to them it is not a stream, in a hydrographical sense, such as either the Bahr-el-Arab or the Bahr-el-Dyoor. It is only at the mouth of the Bahr-el-Arab that there first appears a measurable current, and the fairway, which up to that point is not above 15 feet deep, is subsequently never less than twice that depth. After getting every information I could in the re- motest west, I come to the conclusion that the Bahr-el-Arab is the main stream. Even at a distance of 300 miles above its mouth it is found throughout tlie year as a stream which cannot be forded, but must be crossed in boats, whilst the Bahr-el-Dyoor cannot be traced at all at so great a distance from its union with the Nile. The plains through which the Gazelle flows are too level to allow of any recognition at first sight of the true limits of the territory subject to its inundations. Any one, however, who is familiar with the character of the vegetation of the country, will easily detect symptoms from which he could form a tolerably correct opinion. Accordingly, on my return journey in 1871, I gathered ample evidence to satisfy myself that the Gazelle, associated as it is with the Bahr-el-Arab and the Bahr-el- Dyoor, is a river just as truly as either of the others. The fall of the water in the Gazelle is only produced by the tor- STREAM OP TUE GAZELLE. 123 rent driven from the south and west, and may hardly admit of being estimated, since the entire difference measured between Khartoom and the Meshera (the termination of the navigable course) does not altogether amount to 100 feet. An important change in the scenery of the shores super- venes upon a further progress. The lake-like surface of the water gives to the Bahr-el-Ghazal the semblance at first sight of being merely an extensive backwater. That just above the mouth of a stream so considerable as the Bahr-el- Arab there should be this abundance of water at the very time of the year when it is at its lowest ebb, is a circum- stance which cannot fail to confirm the supposition which I entertained when I entered the Gazelle : I was certain that the narrow channel through which we travelled in the dis- trict of the Nueir could not poseibly be the entire river ; and there surely must exist to the north of the river other not inconsiderable arms, which are inaccessible on account of the denseness of the river grass. Unhindered by any material obstacles, our course now lay between floating islands, which were partly adorned with variegated blossoms, and partly loaded \nth a luxuriant growth of splendid ferns. The poles sufficed to keep the boats from the floating vegetation, the masses of which were as unyielding as though they had been sheets of ice. It was evident by the motion of these masses, that the current, though it flowed languidly, had a continued progress towards the east. The river only varies in depth from about 8 to 14 feet. The bed presents the appearance of a meadow, in which little bright tortoises enjoy their pasture. This sub- merged sward is composed exclusively of the Ethiopian val- lisneria, of which the female blossoms, affixed to spiral peduncles, rise from a fathom deep to the surface of the stream, their coiling stalks extending far and wide. Very won'lerful is this plant in its sexual development ; its 124 THE HEART OF AFRICA. nortliei'n sisteis haunt the waters of the Po and of the Rhone, and have furnished a theme for the admiration of the poet. Far away, on either side, beyond the flooded borders of the grassy river-bed could be discerned, at a distance of a league or two, large tracts of forest land ; and between the river and the line of woods which stretched to the horizon there could be observed the cumbrous shapes of elephants going to and fro, and demonstrating that there at least the land was firm. The channel, which we rapidly passed along under favour- able breezes, became continually broader, and the nearer we approached the river source, the more the banks seemed to recede from each, other. The sight of men, fishing out of canoes formed by a couple of hollow stems being fastened together, made us aware that we were approaching the dwell- ings of the Dinka, and soon after we came upon the enclo- sures for cattle surrounded by low thatch huts upon the left bank. Sailing on towards the south and south-east, we approximated to the limit of our voyage. A great cracking up in tlie air revealed to us that the sailyard had once more broken, so that it was only by main force, by pushing and pulling, that we managed to reach a large Dinka village, which lay on the west, almost at the extremity of the stream. Here was the cul-de-sac, to which the Dinka have given the name of the Xyt. We had quite recently passed the mouth of the Dyoor, which appears to separate into several streams ; but if my attention had not been called to this circumstance by the Reis, I should certainly never have observed it, on account of the uniform features of that watery region. In our delight at having so quickly, and without misadventure, accomplished our passage up the Gazelle, we had a night of feasting and merry-making. The remainder of the journey was soon completed, an 1 in the early morning hours of the 22nd of February we found ourselves at the Meshera, tiio landing-place of all who resort MESHb:UA ON THE GAZELLE. 125 to the Gazelle. This place is marked in the maps as Port Rek, called su from the Rik, a section of the Diiika. These Kek people were the first allies among the natives that the new comers had acquired, and they had been accustomed to [trovide them with bearers long before the Khartoom merchants had established any settlements in the interior. Deducting the da\s on which we had not jjroceeded, our boats had taken thirty days in going from Kliartoom to the Meshera. I had been anxious to make a cfood investigation of the river banks ; otherwise the voyage might easily be accomplished in twenty days. Above the moutli of the Dyoor, so difficult of access, the deep channel is continued for a space of sixteen miles, when it forms the cul-de-sctG which I have mentioned: there is not the least current when the waters are all at their heiglit; but in March and April there may at soine places be observed a retrograde motion of the stream. It is manifestly an ancient bed of the Dyoor, or of some river which in the lapse of time has changed its course. It is not easy to explain it, but the stream seemed to me, as I think I could farther demonstrate, the navigable overflow of some inland liman, that is, the receptacle of a number of considerable rivulets meeting togetlier, something like what the delta of the Canton river would be, if it could be levelled, filled up, and carried away inland. The uniform depth of the chaimel niitrht seem to ori";iuate in some freak in the conformation of the ground, or of the masses of vegetation, which are irregularly scattered about ; but really it is only an indica- tion of a condition of things long passed away, when the mainstream flowed through better defined and more con- tracted borders. Let us for a moment review the impressions we have gained. The volume of water brought by the Gazelle to swell the Nile is still an unsolved problem. In tlie con- tention as to which stream is entitled to rank as first-born 126 THE HEART OF AFRICA. among the children of the great river god, the Bahr-el- Ghazal has apparently a chdm in every way as valid as tlie Bahr-el-Gebel. In truth, it would appear to stand in the same relation to the Bahr-el-Gebel as the White Nile does to the Blue. At the season when the waters are highest, the inundations of the Gazelle spread over a very wide terri- tory ; about March, the time of year when they are lowest, the river settles down, in its upper section, into a number of vast pools of nearly stagnant water, whilst its lower portion runs off into divers narrow and sluggish channels. These channels, overgrown as they look with massy vegetation, conceal beneath (either in their open depth, or mingled with the unfathomable abyss of mud) such volumes of water as defy our reckoning. The Gazelle then it is which gives to the White Nile a sufficient impetus to roll its waters onward ; subsequently the Bahr-el-Gebel finds its way and contributes a more powerful element to the progress of the stream. It must all along be borne in mind that there are besides two other streams, the Dyoor and the Bahr-el-Arab, each of them more important than any tributary of the Bahr-el-Gebel ; and these bring in their own influence. To estimate aright the true relation of all these various tributaries is ever opening up the old question in a new light. The ramifications above the mouth of the Bahr-el-Arab are very complicated, and must be very imperfectly traced on our present maps. The map issued by Lejean has many details, but must be accejited with caution, and requires us to remem- ber that paper is patient of error as well as of truth. Who- ever has traversed the lakes (so to call them) to the west of the Bahr-el-Arab, has, almost immediately beyond the mouth of the Dyoor, come upon the winding channel known as " the Kyt." The shores of the Kyt are firm ; there are detached groups of papyrus driven by the wind sometimes to its one baidc, and sometimes to the other; its waters rise and fall, but THE KVT. 127 luive no other apparent motion ; it widens at its extremity into u basin of papyrus, which was now open, but whicli in 1863 was entirely choked by ambatch. Heuglin, at that date, dis- cerned, as he thought, in the dwindled and distorted stems a prognostication of an approaching disappearance of the ambatch; and from 18G9 to 1871 there w^as no trace of it. Various oi)enings are made by the water towards the west among the masses of papyrus, which enclose a labyrinth of little wooded islets.* One of tliese islands is the restino;- place for the boats, and close at hand the voyagers establish their temporary camp. Being surrounded on every side by the water, all is secure fi-oni any hostile attack. The resfular landing-place is on the southern shore of the basin, and thence commence the expeditions to the interior. Such is the chaimel which, from the times of the earliest explorers, which appear to extend from the date of Nero's centurions, mentioned by Seneca, up to the mercantile enter- prises and voyages of discoveries of the last ten years, has always brought boats to that cul-de-sac, called by the Nubian sailors their Meshera. The first boat, which actually entered the Gazelle, was that of a Khartoom merchant, named Habeshy, in 1854 ; two years later followed Consul Petlierick, the first to open mercantile transactions with the tribes resi- dent in these remote regions. At that time, when nothing was known either of the Dyoor or of the Bahr-el-Arab, it must have been no small surprise to the first explorers to see a stream so large suddenly end amongst a labyrinth of small islands, without any navigable affluent. Only by the help of a native pilot was such a dis- covery possible. I was compelled to linger out the remainder of February and the greater part of March in camp upon the little * In the accompanying plan it is attempted to give some general idea of this confusion. 128 THE HEART OF AFRICA. island, pending tlie arrival of the bearers who were to help me onwards to Ghattas's 8eriba. I was happy in escaping any ill efl'ects such as might be dreaded from a protracted residence by this unhealthy river. 1 attributed my immu- nity in great measure to the precautionary use of quinine. liKOGRAPUICAL MILES. The Mcsliera. Althougli by my daily occupations, botanising in swamps and continually wading amongst papyrus clumps, I had been more exposed to malaria than many others, I experienced no sickness. I swallowed every day, in three doses, eight or nine grains of quinine, enclosed for that purpose in gelatine cap- sules ; this method is to be strongly recommended to every MALAEIOUS ATMOSPHERE. 129 traveller, since the intense bitterness of the medicine taken in its undisguised form may excite a degree of nausea wLich, I can well believe, may contribute its part to a liability to fever. This treatment I continued, without its having any ill effect upon my constitution, until I could dispense with it in the purer air of the interior. I suppose, since this is not an universal experience, that the effects of the alkaloids may vary with different patients, and therefore it would be well for every one first to test the susceptibility of his individual constitution. It is only too M'ell known how many victims this treacherous climate has already claimed ; it may without exaggeration be maintained, that half the travellers who have ventured into the swamps have succumbed to fever. The highest mortality was in the settlements of the Austrian mission in Gondokoro and St. Cross, now long since aban- doned. Miss Tinne's expedition of 1863 suft'ered the loss of five out of its nine European members, among them my unfortunate predecessor in the botanical investigation of this district. Dr. Steudner, who died suddenly quite at the begin- ning of the journey. Heuglin, too, lost the greater part of his valuable time in continual relapses of fever. The founda- tions of these miserable attacks had probably been laid in the miasma, of which the traveller had inhaled the poison during a protracted sojourn in the Meshera. The latest Job's comfort, which had most unnerved me, had come just as I was embarking at Trieste. The French Geographical Society had, a few months previously, sent out Le Saint, a naval officer, on a voyage of discovery, having for its object the same district as myself, viz., the Niam-niam countries. His outward journey had been much lengthened by the crass obstruction in the Giraffe stream, and he died before he entered the country in which his more extended wanderings were designed to commence. Before quitting the Meshera (the only landing-place for VOL. I. K 130 THE HEART OF AFRICA. expeditions starting from the Gazelle) I will make a few observations on the natural character, scenery, and inha- bitants of the region of this unique island world. The Meshera liad been reached by eighteen different boats belonging to Khartoom merchants, and these now lay, half-biiried in mud and clay, firmly wedged in the jungle of papyrus. Every new comer could only by great exertions procure a fresh resting-place. For that purpose they pro- ceeded in the following way : they backed their boat a little into the open water, and anchored ; then a rope was fastened to a strong mass of papyrus-roots, which it towed with its loosened clods attached into open water, until the breeze carried over the entire floating mass to the opposite side of the basin. Thus was obtained one artificial Delos after another. Tlie access to the bank is, however, still left blocked up by the compact border of papyrus thus conveyed across. By means of fire and hatchet avenues are then" opened, and the long roots of papyrus are piled upon the elastic sward of its stubble until an available pathway is complete. Most of the islands are adorned by graceful masses of bushes and by light groves of the larger trees, but the hatchet of strangers every year is altering this condition of things. In spite of all the uniformity of the tall papyrus bushes, and notwithstanding the burnt and dry appearance of the steppe-grasses, there is no lack, even in the mild winter of this little island-world, of the charms of scenery. The dark crowns of the evergreen tamarind stand out in sharp outline against the bare rugged branches of the aca- cias in their grey winter garb, between wliich the eccentric shapes of the candelabra-euphorbise, closely interlaced, bound the liorizon in every direction, and form, as often as the eye wanders over the neighbouring islands, a fine grada- tion of endless sliades of colour. This is especially notice- able in the early morning, when at sunrise a heavy mist SECURITY IN THE MESHERA. 131 hangs over the clamp flats, and sometimes here, sometimes there, sets limits to the prospect, in a way that would lend enchantment to any scenery. Protected by the endless ramifications of the marshes against any attacks of dangerous quadrupeds from the mainland, the sojourner here had only the most determined of all depredators to fear, namely, man himself. But even this fear was not really great. Nowhere on the face of the earth is a country more surrendered to robbery and lawless- ness than this district of Africa ; but still, as ever, one form of mischief balances another : man is a match for man ; and so it results that the stranger may find repose and security here as much as elsewhere. The natives, who occupy the entire land in a wide circumference from the Meshera, form a portion of the great Dinka family, whose extreme outposts extend eastwards towards the Egyptian borders of Upper Sennaar, and whose tribes are counted by the hundred. One of the most influential personages of the neighbouring race of the Lao was a woman, already advanced in years, of the name of Shol. She played an important part as a sort of chief in the Meshera, her riches, according to the old patriarchal fashion, consisting of cattle. As wealthy as cattle could make her, she would long since have been a prey to the Nubians, who carry on their ravages principally in those regions, if it had not chanced that the intruders needed her for a friend. They required a convenient and secure landing-place, and the paramount necessity of having this induced them to consider plunder as a secondary matter. They provided in this way, that single boats, even after all others had taken their departure, could safely remain in the Meshera throughout the rainy season without incurring any risk from the natives. The boatmen accordingly respect the bank of the river which is the resort of Shol's herds ; whilst Shol, on her part, uses all her influence to retain liei* tribe on K 2 132 THE HEART OF AFRICA. friendly terms with the strangers. The smallest conflict might involve the entire loss of her property. The old Shol did not delay, but the very first day came to my boat to visit me. On account of the colour of my skin, the Nubians had told her that I was a brother of the Sig- nora (Miss Tinne). My pen fails in any attempt to depict her repulsiveness. Her naked negro skin was leathery, coarse, and wrinkled ; lier figure was tottering and knocked- kneed ; she was utterly toothless ; her meagre hair hung in greasy locks ; round her loins she had a greasy slip of sheep- skin, the border of which was tricked out with wliite beads and iron rinirs: on her wrists and ankles she had almost an arsenal of metal, links of iron, brass, and copper, strong enough to detain a prisoner in his cell ; about her neck were hanging chains of iron, strips of leather, strings of wooden balls, and heaven knows what lumber more. Such was old Shol. A soldier, who had formerly been a Dinka slave, acted as interpreter. For the purpose of imjiressing me with a due sense of the honour of the visit and in the hope of getting a present, he began to extol Shol and to enlarge upon the multitude of her cattle. All the sheep-farms, of which the smoke rose so hospitably to the stranger, were hers; hers were all the bullock runs along the river banks; the murahs which extended in every direction of the compass without exception, were hers ; she had at least 30,000 head of cattle ; in addition to which I could form no conception of the iron and (•o})per rings and chains which filled her stores. After this introduction the conversation turned upon Miss Tinne, who remained fresh upon the memory of all. Her liberality in making presents of beads had secured her a fame like Schiller's " Madchen aus der Fremde," the spring, who brought a gift for every one. The old Shol could not refrain from expressing her surprise that Miss Tinne should be unmarried ; as an African she could not comprehend how a liulv (hat was rich could be witliout a husband. THE OLD SIIOL. 133 Very strange were the domestic and family relationships of Shol when considered in contrast with her public position, her present influence, and her excessive wealth. After the death of her first husband she had become the wife of his son by a previous marriage. 8he had thus raised this man, who was younger than herself, to the rank of prince consort. His name was Kurdyook. I had a visit from him on the The old Shol. following day. From his intercourse with the traders he could speak Arabic intelligibly. Like the rest, he was loud in his praises of Miss Tinne, and in her honour he had called the child of one of his concubines " the Signora." Plainly there was a longing after the culture of European refinement, and let us hope that it will not stop at the name. Of course, in comparison with his wife, he was quite destitute of lands ; he was a mere cypher as far as any influence on 134 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the tribe was concerned, but yet he exercised a terror over Shol, which, un ler the circumstances, was quite incredible. He was accustomed to chastise this dame, who was at once his stepmother and his spouse, and to act towards her in the most brutal manner, although she was herself in the habit, perchance as a token of her dignity, of carrying in her hand several knotted thongs like a cat-o'-nine-tails. With rambles in the neiglibourhood and in receiving a succession of visitors, I found the days pass pleasantly away. On the mainland towards the north there were several more important villages, composed of permanent dwellings and fixed enclosures for oxen. To these I constantly resorted, and the concourse of so many men coming out of curiosity to look at me, entertained me very much. Failure alike both of water and food during the dry season had driven old Shol herself to one of the islands adjacent to the landing-place ; here in some wretched huts not far from our boats she had taken up her residence in the midst of a quantity of her cattle. I occasionally paid her a visit, for the purpose of penetrating to the mysteries of her dairy. On the 2(Jth of February the old queen came to the tent which I occupied on the island, having been informed that the presents designed for her majesty there awaited her. On this occasion she had a costume somewhat diiferent. She had made a fresh selection of her paraphernalia from her iron rings and chains, and so arrayed herself anew. I had prepared everything foi- a stately reception, as I was anxious to leave behind mean impression as favourable as Miss Tinne. There were beads as large as eggs, such as never before were seen in this country ; there were marbles of green and blue from the Oriental plains : she was told they were for her. Next there were chains of steel ; these, too, were hers : then that majestic chair of plaited straw; she could scarcely believe that she was to have it for her throne. But the crowning cliarm of all was an immense bronze medal, with a chain of INTERCHANGE OF PRESENTS. 135 plated gold, which she could hang about her neck ; it was in fact, a commemoration of a German professor's jubilee, with the Emperor's likeness upon it ; but no one can con- ceive the admiration it excited. She was really touched, and the sailors and soldiers seemed to like the medal as much as she did. The gifts which were made to me in return consisted of a calabash full of butter, a goat, a sheep, and a splendid bull of a peculiar breed, without horns. The most remarkable plant amongst the islands of the Meshera is a climbing passion-flower — the Adenia venenatay the bright green leaves of which are applied by the natives of Central Africa for the purpose of drawing blisters. These leaves have, however, a poisonous ju-operty, which has proved fatal to camels. Camels have but a feeble faculty of smell- ing, and eat freely of whatever looks green, so that all attempts to acclimatise them here have been without success. It is the same plant which deprived Sir Samuel Baker of his pack-ass in Latuka. The most noticeable thing about the plant is the large development of its stem, which grows half under the soil, and projects with a strange jjrotuberance some cubic feet in content. At the end of this the stem breaks out into a number of long climbing stalks, which mount upwards to a considerable height. One example of these stems 1 packed in linen and sent to Berlin, where, after a period of ten months, it was found to retain its vitality, and in a palm-house soon developed a number of young shoots. The waters furnished a variety of fishes ; amongst these few were more frequently seen than a -sort of harness fish (Pohjjoterus hichir), of which a representation will be given in a later chapter. But the creature which most particularly arrested my attention was the salamander-like fish of Gambia {Lepidosiren), which, with its four slim feet projecting from its fish-like form, had a mouth like that of a shark. I saw specimens between three and four feet long. Its flabby 136 THE HEART OF AFRICA. slimy flesh is disgusting to the Nubians, although Sir Samuel Baker, who found the same species in the Albert Nyanza, could not siifficienlly praise its flavour. The whole family of the Siluridfe is here represented as much as in other sections of the Nile. Many of tliem share with tlie fish-sala- mander the })ractice of burying themselves in the bank, that they may await in the dry the rising of the stream ; in the same way as an eel they can wriggle themselves through the soil, and even make a way over the dry ground. Considering the circumscribed limits of land, the feathered race were foimd in great variety, I saw at least sixty kinds of birds upon the four or five islands which were nearest us. Conspicuous above all was the graceful rail [Parra africana), with its spreading claws and wiry legs stalking proudly, as if on land, upon a carpet of water-lily leaves. And not unheard were the familiar notes of our own home birds. Sparrows innumerable thronged about the papyrus plants, on which they settled for their evening roost. All this, however, is but the old story of ornithological travellers who have been before me, and hardly needs to be rep>3ated liere. la: ) CHAPTER IV. start for tlie interior. Flags of thu Khiiitoomers. ComfortaLle tri veiling with bearers. Tlie African elephant. Parting from Shol and Kuidyook. Disgusting wells in Ihe district of the Lao. Wide sandflals. Village of Take. Fatal accident. Arabian protocol. Halt in tlie village of Kudy. Description of the Dinka. Peculiarities of the race. Dyeing of the hair. Nudity. " The Turkish lady." Iron age. Weapons of the Dinka. " People of the stick." Weapons of defence. Domestic cleanliness- Cuisine. Entert dnment of the ladies. Snakes. Tobacco-smoking. Con- struction of the huts. Dinka sheep, goats, and dogs. Reverence for cattle. Degeneration of cows. Intestinal worms. Deficiency of milk. Large murahs. Capabilities of the Dinka. Warlike spirit. Treatment of enemies. Instance of parental aifection. Forest district of the Al-Waj. Arrival at Ghattas's chief Seriba. It was not until the eighteenth day of our sojourn in tlie Meshera that Ghattas's second boat arrived, conveying the remainder of the newly-enlisted mercenaries and a year's provisions for the Seriba. The agent on board was commis- sioned to procure for me Irom the interior whatever porters were requisite for my progress. The shortest possible time that must elapse before he could get to the Seriba and back was eleven days ; punctually at the end of that period he returned, and placed at my disposal seventy bearers. Thus fortunately I had time enough and to spare before the com- monceraent of the rainy season to start for the interior. By the 25th of IVEarch all arrangements for setting out were complete, and wo were ready to turn our backs upon the damp air of the swamps wdth its nightly plague of flies. Several smaller companies having joined Ghattas's expedi- tion, the number of our caravan was a little under five lumdred. Of these the armed men alone amounted to nearly 138 THE HEART OF AFRICA. two hundred ; marching in single file they formed a long column, and constituted a force with which we might have crossed tlie largest State of Central Africa unmolested. Our course for six days would be through a notoriously hostile country, so that this protection was quite necessary ; but the caravan, extending fully half a mile, was of a magnitude to require great order and circumspection. Each division had its banner, and to each was appointed its proper place in the procession. The different companies of the Khartoom mer- chants were distinguished by the colour of their banners, all emblazoned by the star and crescent of Islam. Instead of this, Ghattas, as a Christian, had a white flag, on which were worked the crescent and a St. Andrew's cross. This com- promise between the crescent and the true cross did not, however, exclude certain passages from the Koran, relating to the conquest of unbelievers, and which could not be per- mitted to be wanting on any Khartoom banner. The hand- some flag of my own boat was lying wrapped away in a box. I confess I had no desire to make a display of it among savages, and in a region where its meaning could not be comprehended; but even if I had wished to exhibit it, I subsequently discovered that any attempt to do so would have been quite a failure. No Nubians would on any account have followed a flag which did not bear the crescent and the passages from the Koran. The boats on the Nile, it is true, when they carry or belong to Europeans, do not despise the European colours ; but in the heart of the negro country, where no Egyptian authority exists, it is different, and con- sequently all European flags are worthless. The banner of Islam is to them a talisman, and they would consider it as sacrilege to replace it by the banner of any Christian country. Even the trading expeditions conducted by European mer- chants from Khartoom have conformed to this rule, and I have myself witnessed the flag waving on the Rohl Iviver at the last settlement maintained by the brothers Poncet. TRANSPORT OF BAGGAGE. 139 To a, uaturalist on his travels, the employment of mea as a means of transport appears the perfection of convenience. Apart from the despatch and order in starting, and the regu- lar continuous progress, he enjoys the incalculable advantage of being able to reach his baggage at any moment, and to open and close again without loss of time any particular package. Any one who has ever experienced the parti- cular annoyances of camel-transport will be quite aware of the comparative comfort of this mode of proceeding. A few asses accompanied the caravan, and the governor of Ghat- tas's Seriba had been courteous enough to send me his own saddle-ass, but I preferred to trust myself to ray own legs. Hiding a badly-saddled donkey is always infinitely more fatiguing to me than any exertion which may be requisite to kee"p up with the forced marches of the light-footed Nubians ; besides, I had other objects in view than mere progress: I wished to observe and take notes of anything that came in my way, and to collect plants and whatever else might be of interest. Thus entirely on foot I began the wanderings which for two years and three months I pursued over a distance of more than 2000 miles. Neither camels nor asses, mules nor horses, teams of oxen nor j)alanquin- bearers contributed their aid. The only animal available, by the help of which Central Africa could be opened to civi- lisation, is exterminated by fire and sword ; the elephant is destroyed mainly for the purpose of procuring for civilised nations an article wherewith to manufacture toys and orna- ments, and Europeans still persevere in setting the savages a pernicious example in this respect. There is sufficient evidence to show that the African ele- phant, which at the present time appears to surpass the Indian species as much in wild ferocity as in size, was for- merly tamed and trained iu the same way as the elephant in India. Medals have come down to us which portray the considerable differences between the two species. They show 140 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the immense size of the ear of the African elephant, and prove beyond a doubt that it was once employed as a domes- tic animal. The state of torpor to which, since the fall of the Eoman Empire, all the nations of the northern part of Africa have been reduced, is sufficient explanation why the worth of this animal should have been suffered to fall into oblivion. The elephant takes as long as a man to grow to maturity, and it could hardly be expected of the Arabs that they should undertake the tedious task of its training ; and certainly it could not be expected of Turks, who have hardly patience to wait for the fruits of one year's growth, and who would like the world to have been made so that they could pick up their guineas already coined on the mountains. It would be no unfortunate event for Africa if some of the European philanthropists, who now squander their homce- pathic charities on the welfare of the negroes, were to turn their sympathy a little to the pitiable lot which has befallen the elephant. The testimony of Burton in his ' Nile Basin ' is, that not only might elephants be made useful to man, but that they appear to possess an instinct which is quite a match for the reason not only of the natives of Africa, but of some other of the bipeds who visit its inhospitable shores. Extremely toilsome, I must own, were the first few hours of the march. After being for months limited to the boat's deck and to short excursions from my little island, I now found myself forced to keep up with the sharp pace of the negroes, which would be a matter of difficulty to any one but a member of the Alpine Club. Towards evening, after a two hours' march, we made our first halt in Shol's village. Near the huts some giant Kigeliae, in full flower, displayed their purple tulip-like blossoms; they still stand as landmarks on the spot, although the old Shol has gone to her rest and the last fragments of her buint huts have vanished. Tliis Kige- lia is common throughout Africa, and is distinguished for its remarkable fruit, two feet long, which hangs from the boughs ACROSS THE DINKA LAND. 141 like a string of sausages. The leaf is somewhat similar to our walnut, and in its tout ensemhle the tree may bear com- parison with a majestic oak. Trees of such marked peculia- rity cannot do otherwise than make an impression on the memory of every traveller in equatorial Africa. Shol had come expressly from her island to take leave of us, and to offer her hospitality to the caravan. Our course now lay in a tolerably straight S.S.W. direction across the western district of the extensive territory of the unsubdued Dinka. We rested occasionally in the deserted villages and amidst the empty cattle-pens belonging to the natives, who made their escape as we advanced. By their continual cattle- stealing, the Nubians have caused all the Dinka tribes to consider foreign interlopers as their bitter enemies ; the inter- course, therefore, with the settlements in the Bongo and Dyoor countries, which are separated from the river by the Dinka district, can only be maintained at the expense of keeping an adequate number of armed men to protect the porters. Agriculture, although it is carried on to a certain extent, is quite a secondary consideration. Tiie Dinka often possess large quantities of sheep and goats, but principally they are breeders of cattle. The number of cattle in the country is astounding, and seems as if it must be inexhausti- ble, even when it is remembered that thousands are stolen annually by the Nubians. There are tracts of grazing ground which take a whole day to cross ; murahs are scattered throughout the land like villages in Germany, and many of them would contain 10,000 beasts, unless I err in my com- putation, which is made by reckoning the pegs to which the animals are tethered. Before I parted from my old friend Shol I had to make one more offering of gratitude for the hospitality I had en- joyed ; this consisted of an amulet which I had to compose at Kurdyook's request. I wrote him as a testimonial a recommendation to any future visitor to the country. The 142 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. Nubians and true Arabs, in a way that is not seen in Egypt, often w ear round their neck and arras a number of orna- mental leather sheatlis, which contain passages from the Koran ; on being asked what is inside they reply, " It is the name of God." Such amulets are even bound round the necks of horses and valuable asses. It would never occur to a Nubian to ask a Frank for an amulet ; they have their Faki, who make a harvest of the business. But Kurdyook was no Mohammedan ; he was a pure, uncontaminated heathen, and Mohammedan prejudice had no part in his superstition ; in his eyes the white man was a being of a higher order, and was accordingly in a position to exercise greater authority over the invisible powers of fate than the swarthy priest of Islam. We now passed on through a country covered by farm- steads, repeatedly crossing fields of sorghum-stubble. The stalks, fifteen feet in length, wliicli lay everywhere scat- tered on the ground, were a great impediment to our progress. The corn here cultivated is the largest form of the species ; it takes nine months to ripen, and the stem in con- sequence becomes so hard and woody that it is no more like our European straw than their stubble-fields are like ours. At other places at this season the nature of the ground generally offered no hindrance, the clayey swamps being dry and hard as stone ; the high grass of the steppe trodden down by men and cattle, the woods everywhere thin as in Southern Nubia, and consisting of isolated thickets or scattered trees of no great size. For the purpose of geographical investigation a journey in the rainy season would be more advantageous, because it is only then that the actual limit and importance of the periodi- cal currents are to be estimated. Tlie term, periodical, how- ever, so frequently used in connexion with the hydrographi- cal conditions of Africa, perhaps hardly gives a correct im- t)re88ion, since the brooks and streams which more or less are HALT AT LAO. 143 dried up after the rainy seasons are over, still exercise their influence on the conformation of the land, just as truly, if not so obviously, as our perpetual rivers, which are per- uianently limited to their proper channels. Many of the rivulets in this extensive level have no apparent bed ; for in proportion as the water decreases, the bed by degrees re- sumes its aspect of being covered with grass ; the turf rapidly grows afresh as the water recedes, and, independently of this, much of it is able to endure a flood of several months with- out rotting or dying away. This is a circumstance which quite easily explains the misconceptions to which various travellers in the dry season have been liable, who have gone along without recognising any river-beds at all. It is not in any way surprising that they have crossed the beds of even considerable streams without perceiving in them anything different to ordinary undulations of the ground, for there is nothing to arrest the attention but the same uniform growth of grass, the same dry stubble, the same scorched, trampled stalks. Ten miles from the Meshera we reached the first watering-place in the centre of the Lao district, an open cultivated plain, several miles in extent, diversified with numerous farms and hamlets. Two fine sycamores seemed to beckon from afar and invite us to the spot. The water had to be drawn from a depth of fifteen feet, from wells which contained nothing better than a stinking, impure pulp. These wells are the residue of great pools formed in the rainy season, and subsequently developing a wonderful abundance of animal life, although they produce nothing in any way adapted for culinary purposes. Large water-scorpions {Belostoma), beetles, and other creeping things that are ever at home in stinking pools, whirl about in these muddy depths. Here it is, apparently, that the Dinka cows and sheep renew annually their progeny of intestinal worms {Amimistoma) and cercarise, of which the filthy beds are most prolific. Such was the drinking-water of Lao. 144 THE HEART OF AFRICA. The natives had imagined that we should pass the night at the well; anxious, however, to take advantage of the coolness of the air, we resolved, by a forced night-march, to get quickly over the district, void of water, that lay before us. Marching on through the adjacent farms we noticed old and young hurrying off into the adjacent thickets, our arrival being unexpected. Many a smoking porridge-pot had been forsaken, and now fell into the hands of the greedy bearers, making them still more desirous of tarrying here for the night ; but the orders were peremp- tory which had been given to our people to push forward without delay. To the south the ground stretched uniformly for ten miles in sandy plains bare of grass, pleasantly broken at intervals by bushy shrubs and single trees. Onwards we went for five hours of the night over moonlit sands, the imagination giving a wehd aspect to all around. The region strongly reminded me of the acacia-woods of Taka and Gedaref in South Nubia, which are seen in crossing the forests at the foot of the Abyssinian highlands. The character of the vegetation approximates to that of Kordofan. The com- monest trees are the Seyal-acacia, hegelig, tamarind, Christ's thorn, capparis, and that remarkable thorn, the randia, the branches of which serve as models for the pointed lances which the inhabitants of Central Africa employ. One of the trees of Southern Kordofan linds here its southern limit: this is the AJbizzia serieocepJiala, a tree of moderate size, of which the finely-articulated, mimosa-like leaf consists of from 5000 to 6000 particles; the thick clusters of blossom gleamed out from the obscurity like snow, and the air was laden with their balmy fragrance. Thus we wandeied on as through a cultivated garden, our path as smooth as if we \vere on gravelled walks. Reaching at length a considerable village, wo encamped on the deserted site of a large cattle-park. A suilden storm of rain put VILLAGE OF TAKE. 145 the caravan into a commotion, and forced me to retire with my bedding into one of the wretched huts, which are not really dwellini^s, but are used for the nightly shelter of the cow-herds. Imbedded a foot deep in fine white ashes, and enveloped in a cloud of dust, I passed the remainder of the night, alternate coughing and sneezing making all sleep simply impossible. On the following day we had to march for five hours without a draught of water, until a hospitable asylum was opened to us in a village of Take. We were now in the district of the Rek, a locality which formerly made a hitch in the traffic with the natives, before Petherick broke a way to the south through the Dyoor and Bongo, and opened a trade with the Niam-niam. This Take was an old friend and ally of the Khartoomers, and had attired himself in honour of the occasion in a figured calico shirt, without regard to the prejudices of his countrymen, who despise all clothing as effeminate. Near this village in 1858 there existed a temporary establishment from which the brothers Poncet started on their elephant hunts in the Dinka territory. They called the place IMirakok, but IMirakok and its elephants are now alike unknown in this land of the past, where (transient as a shower or a tide) all the lives and deeds of men have been long forgotten. It has been a land without chalk or stone, so that no permanent buildings could be constructed ; it has consequently only reared a people which have been without chiefs, without traditions, without history. Detached fan-palms (Borassiis), 100 feet high, in default of anything more lasting, mark the abode of Take, a shelter which was destined to have its sad associations for the travellers. Ghattas's standard-bearer, a most courageous fellow and the best shot among all our Nubians, killed himself on a hunting excursion, which he had nndertaken with me and my servant. I had contented myself with bagging a lot of VOL. T. L 146 THE HEART OF AFRICA. remarkably plump Nvild pigeons, but he was resolved to get at some guinea-fowl ; for this purpose he made his way into a thicket, where, as he w^as loading his piece, it accidentally went off, the charge entering his breast. This accident befell the one who was supposed to be incomparably the most skilful of our party in handling his weapons, and it may be imagined what was to be expected of the rest. Blundering accidents and wounds were of perpetual occur- rence, so that I should only weary the reader by recounting them. The traveller who has to march with these so-called soldiers must be content to know that he could not any- where more thoroughly be exposed to the danger of being killed by a chance shot ; and I do not exaggerate the truth when I affirm that my life was over and over again seriously threatened. The unfortunate Soliman, who was thus the victim of his own mischance, was the man who had saved my servant Mohammed when he had his encounter with the wild buffalo. Half the camp hastened to the ill-fated spot, to be enabled to testify to the accidental death of Soliman by his own hand. So quietly had he fallen that even my servant Osman, who was near, ascertained quite casually that he was dead ; a dark mark, caused by the smoke from the powder, at the orifice of the gaping wound, showed that his gim had gone off while he was holding it. Sobbing and weeping, his friends and countrymen stood round his body, and even the stony-hearted cattle-stealers seemed as if, after all, they were not utterly devoid of all human emotion. One of them was touched with a strange remorse, the reason of which I afterwards discovered. It appeared that Soliman owed him a debt, which he declared lie had paid; on the previous day, while Soliman had been emphatically per- sisting that the debt was discharged, his accuser, in his rage, cursed him with the heaviest imprecation he could command: "The dogs devour thee!" The disaster, there- LEGxYL AFFIDAVIT. 147 fore, was a manifest punishment from heaven ; the man would indeed gladly have never uttered the curse, but yet he could not be reconciled with the dead. On the very next day, as we were about to start, another man shattered the upper part of his arm by carelessly taking his gun from a bush where he had laid it. We left the unlucky spot, and proceeded two miles further to tlio village of Kudy, also an old friend of the Turks, as the Khartoomers are everywhere termed by the natives. Here we made another halt, in' order to pass the day in slaughtering some cattle, in feasting on beef and goat's flesh, and in laying in a store of corn for our large party of bearers. Here also a kind of affidavit or protocol, strictly con- formable to Mohammedan rule, was taken of the previous day's accident, in order to be able to produce legal evidence at Khartoom, where the deceased Soliman liad left a wife and child. The chief part of this important business was performed by the Faki, who accompanied the party as private slave-dealers, enacting at the same time their legal character as scribes. After the protocol was diawn np, it was sealed, according to Oriental custom, by the agents who were present. This was not done without great prolixity and circumstantial debate. The formality of the document was curious ; its opening words were : " Osman the agent asks Osman the servant of the lord IMusyu the question: Where is Soliman ? " Osman in his turn had to give an account of the accident: "As we were hunting in the thicket, I heard a shot," and so on. They did not expect to be cross-examined; they did not look for even such mild reproach as the king gave Hamlet when he inquired, "Where's Polonius?" but they considered it quite as well to keep up the old-established form. With Kudy I found a good opportunity of prosecuting my study of the Dinka, which 1 had already taken up ju earnest L 2 148 THE HEART OF AFRICA. durino- my stay in the Meshera. My relations with this strange pastoral people were, throughout the two years which I spent in the interior, but rarely discontinued. Dinka were my cow-herds, and Dinka provided me witli all the require- ments of my cuisine as long as I stayed in Ghattas's Seriba ; and even in the remotest limits of my wanderings I had dealings with them. I am only acquainted with the western branch of this people, whose territory altogether extends over an area of from 60,000 to 70,000 square miles, of which the length is close upon 400 miles ; my knowledge, however, is accurate enough to enable me from my own observation to add much that is new to the descriptions which previous travellers have given of this people. Although individual tribes of the Dinka, with regard to height and bodily size, stand pre-eminent in the scale of the human race, the majority of this western branch of the nation rarely exceeds a middle height. Of twenty-six representatives that were measured, the average height was about 5 ft. 7 in. According to this, the average size of the ])iid\hich run in parallel lines across the head. The women wear their hair either closely shaven or as short as possible. The accompanying portrait represents what might be styled a Dinka dandy, distinguished for unusually long hair. He must be classed as belonging to that finer-formed race which has been mentioned. Bv continual combinsr and stroking with hair-pins, the hair of the negro loses much of its close curliness. Such was the case here : the hair, six inches long was trained up into points like tongues of flame, and these, standing stiffly up all round his head, gave the man a fiendish look, which was still further increased by its being dyed a foxy red. This tint is the result of continual washing with cow-urine; a similar effect can be produced by the application for a fortnight of a mixture of dung and ashes. The beard never attains sullicient growth to be worth their attention. Their razors are of the most primitive description, consisting simply of carefully ground lance-tij»s. HAIR AND TEETH OF THE DINKA. 151 Both sexes break off the lower incisor teeth, a custom which they practise in common with the majority of the natives of the district of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The object of this hideous mutilation is hard to determine ; its effect ap- A Dinka Dandy. pears in their inarticulate language, of which I suppose we could not imitate the sound, unless we submitted to the same ordeal. Some Africans file their incisor teeth to a point ; others, like the Batoka of the Upper Zambesi, break out those of the upper jaw. The former of these practices appears comprehensible as increasing their capability for defence in single combat ; and the latter is perhaps an imitation of their deified ruminants ; but the reason why the Dinka should absolutely disfigure their lower jaw is quite beyond my 152 THE HEART UF AFRICA. comprehension. The African races have commonly been reported as distinguished for their fine rows of teeth, and it was accordingly a matter of surprise that bad teeth were so often conspicuous. The aged on this account are little short of disgusting, for the upper teeth, from the deficiency of opposition Irom the lower, project far from the mouth and stick out like a finger-joint. So marked is this peculiarity that some of the people have acquired from the Nubians the soubriquet of Abu-Senoon, father jut-tooth. Men and women alike pierce their ears in several places, and insert iron rings or little bars with iron tips. The women also bore the upper lip and fit in an iron pin, run- ning through a bead, a custom which is common among the Nueir. Tattooing is only practised by the men, and always consists of about ten radiating strokes, ^hich traverse forehead and temples, having for their centre the glabella or base of the nose : it is a symbol by which the Dinka are recognised at once. The observation of Barth,* that many heathen tribes con- sider clothing more necessary for men than for women is not applicable to the Dinka or any of the natives of the river plains. According to JDinka notions of propriety, it is becoming for none but women to wear any covering ; any attire, even of the most moderate description, is considered unworthy of the men. The Nubians, who are always called Turks, do not certainly belong to the most carefully clothed of the human race, yet the Dinka always term them women, a designation which in this sense is quite common. I always appeared in a complete suit of clothes, and my ajiparel accordingly gained for me the ironical title of the " Turkish lady." On the other hand the women here are scrupulously clothed with two aprons of untanned skin, which reach before * Burtli, vul. ii. p. 475. DINKA ORNAMENTS. 163 and behind from the hips to the ankles, and are trimmed round the edges with rows of beads, small iron rings, and little bells. At that time, white beads, as large as peas, with blue spots, called " Genetotahdah" in the Khartoom market, and others an inch in diameter, called "Barrad" or hail- stones, which were principally worn by the men as necklaces, were all the rage, every otlier description being contemp- tuously rejected. In the course of a few years the fashions in beads change, and the store-houses in the Seribas of the Khartoomers get overstocked with supplies that are old- fashioned, and are consequently worthless. The Dinka live in a veritable iron age — that is to say, they live in an age in whicli iron has still a high value; copper is not esteemed of corresponding importance. The wives of some of the wealthy are often laden with iron to such a degree that, without exaggeration, I may affirm, that I have seen several carrying about with them close upon half a hundredweight of these savage ornaments. The heavy rings with which the women load their wrists and ankles, clank and resound like the fetters of slaves. Free from any other domination, it is remarkable of this people how, nevertheless, they are not free from the fetters of fashion. The favourite ornaments of the men are massive ivory rings, Mhich they wear round the upper part of the arm ; the rich adorn them- selves from elbows to wrists with a whole series of rings, close together so as to touch. An adornment for the neck of less distinguished character is formed of strings of plaited leather ; the bracelets are cut out of hippopotamus hide ; and the tails of cows and goats, in which every Dinka exqui- site arrays himself, and with which he trims his weapons, are in common use. Since the Dinka cannot do much with his miserable crop of hair, he turns his attention to caps and perukes in a way not unfrequent among Africans. Whilst I was with Kudy I often saw those strange specimens of head-gear which, in the shape 151 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of a Circassian chfiin-lielmet, are formed exclusively of large white bugle-beads, which in Khartoom are called " muria." This decoration is especially common amongst the Nueir.* Another kind of head-dress is composed of ostrich feathers, and forms a light and effectual protection from the sun. According to the custom, which seems to belong to all Africa, as a sign of grief the Dinka wear a cord round the neck ; but amongst other nations we shall have occasion to notice several additional tokens to denote the loss of a member of a family. Since the western territories of the Dinka in the alluvial flats nowhere produce any iron, their modes of manipulation of this metal are not so highly developed as among some other tribes which will subsequently come under our ob- servation. Before the appearance of the Khartoomers, the Dyoor, who had settled within the limits of the Bongo and Dinka, in the vicinity of the soil which produced iron-ore, had performed all the smith's work which was required by the Dinka. At that time these Dyoor seem to have been brought by the Dinka to a similar state of vassalage as that in which they themselves now stand to the Nubians. The Bongo, although their land produces iron, were far too hostile to their neighbours to furnish them with a supply of iron in the way of commerce. The Dinka themselves, being ex- clusively occupied with their cattle-breeding, have no taste and find little time for any arduous work of the smithy ; hence it happens that although their iron ornaments are numerous, the workmanship of them all is of the most primitive character. The most important weapon of the Dinka is the lance. Bows and arrows are unknown : the instruments that some travellers have mistaken for bows are only weapons of defence for parrying the blows of clubs. But really their favourite * 111 WooiVs 'Natural History of Man,' p. 522, there is an accurate illustra- tion of those ornaments. DINKA WEAPONS, 155 weapans are clubs and sticks, which they cut out of tlie hard wood of the Hegelig (Balanites), or from the native ebony {JDiospyrus mespiliformis). This mode of defence is ridiculed by other nations, and the Niani-niam, with whom the Dinka have become acquainted by accomp.inying the Khartoomers in their ivory expeditions, deride them as " A-Tagbondo," or stick-people. Similar conditions of life in different regions, even among dissimilar races, ever produce similar habits and tendencies. This is manifest in the numerous customs which the Dinka possess in common witli the far-off Kaffirs. They have the same predilection for clubs and sticks, and use a shield of the same long oval form, cut out of buffalo hide, and which, in order to insure a firmer liold, is crossed by a stick, secured by beiTig passed through slits cut in the thick leather. But the instruments for parrying club-blows depicted in the accompanying illustration are quite peculiar to the Dinka. Mnka Instruments for parrying club blows. As far as I know, no previous traveller has drawn attention to these strange contrivances for defence. They are of two kinds. One consists of a neatly-carved piece of wood, rather more than a yard long, with a hollow in the centre for the 156 THE HEART OF AFRICA. protection of the baud: these are called ''quayre." The other, which has been mistaken for a bow, is termed " dang," of which the substantial fibres seem peculiarly fitted for breaking the violence of any blow. Everywhere, beyond a question, domestic cleanliness and care in the preparation of food are signs of a higher grade of external culture, and answer to a certain degree of intel- lectual superiority. I liave travelled much in Europe, where the diversity of the external conditions of life is greater than in any other quarter of the ^\orld; I have had much oppor- tunity of observation, and I am sure that I do not err in the conclusion that I draw. Not the size of the houses, nor the dimensions of the windows (for these are variously influenced by climate), not the clothing (for Sards, Dalmatians, and Albanians, incontestably the least civilised of Europeans, are the most magnificently attired of all), but cleanliness and choice of food not only at once disclose a real distinction between nation and nation, but constitute a measure of the degrees of civilisation in individual provinces and districts. Now both these qualities, I aver, are found among the Dinka to a greater extent than elsewhere in Africa. First, as to the food. In culinary matters the Diuka are certainly superior to the Nubians, and I should have little hesitation in pronounc- ing them even more expert than either the Arabs or the ■^oyP*'^^^- Their farinaceous and milk foods are in no way inferior to the most refined products of an European cuisine. The reaping, threshing, and sifting of the sorghum and penicillaria grain (the durra and dokhn of the Arabs) are brought to perfection by their female slaves, who sub- sequently granulate the meal like sago. In seasons of scarcity their talent for cooking has led them to the dis- covery of various novelties in the way of food. Like the tribes of Baghirmi, the Musgoo, and Adamawa, they make a i)reparation, very much in the Indian fashion, from the DINKA MEALS. 157 fariiiacoous germs of the Borassus palm. They extract all its native bitterness by soaking and washing, and succeed in producing a fine meal, which is purely white. The sub- stance procured from these germinating seeds has a look very similar to the root of the Florentine iris. They treat the tubers of the Nymphaea in very much the same way, and render them quite edible. With the choice cookery corresponds also the decorum of their behaviour at meals. They certainly, in this point, more resemble ourselves than any Orientals. They do not all dip their hands at once into the same dish, like the Turks and Arabs, but assist themselves singly. A large dish of cooked farina is placed upon the ground, around which the guests recline, each with his gourd-shell of milk, or, better still, of butter, at his side ; the first pours his milk only on the part which he touches, and when he has taken enough, he passes the dish to the next, and thus they eat in succes- sion, but quite separately. The Dinka repudiate the Oriental superstition that envious looks can turn the food to poison, and have no fear of the " evil eye." At times it greatly amused me to entertain Dinka ladies of rank in my tent, in order to pay them the compliment of my admiration of their perfection in the arts of cookery. On my folding table I laid out for them some European dishes, and they sat on my chairs. I was astonished at the readiness with which they fell into our mode of serving, for they handled our spoons and forks as if they were perfectly accustomed to them ; but they nearly always carefully washed everything they had used, and returned it to its place. In the interior of their dwellings, the Dinka are as clean as the Shillooks, sharing the same partiality for ashes as a bed. It ouffht to be mentioned that the traveller in this part of Africa is rarely troubled with vermin or fleas, which everywhere else, like desolation and slavery, seem invariably 158 THE HEART OF AFRICA. to have followed the track of Islam. In the Western Sondan the torments of the night are represented as insupportable, so that the huts of the Hottentots are not worse. Among the Dinka it is entirely different. The only disquietude to a stranger in their houses arises from the snakes, Avhich rustle in the straw roofs, and disturb his rest. Snakes are the only creatures to whom either Dinka or Shillooks pay any sort of reverence. The Dinka call them their " brethren," and look upon their slaughter as a crime. I was informed by witnesses which I had no cause to distrust, that the sepa- rate snakes are individually known to the householder, who calls them by name, and treats them as domestic animals, ^rheir abundance here seemed to me very remarkable. Among the Bongo, on the other hand, I spent six months before I saw a single specimen, and it appears to be an esta- blished fact that, upon the whole, they are not generally common in Tropical Africa. Perhaps the species which is most frequent is the giant python {Sebce). Those which inhabit the Dinka huts are, as far as I could learn, not venomous ; and, as evidence that they are harmless, I cite the scientiiic names of the three species: Fsammophis imnc- tatus, Ps. sihilans, and Ahaetuella irreguJaris. The Dinka are far more particular than any other tribe in the choice of their animal food. There are many creep- ing things, which are not rejected by the Bongo and Niam- niam, which they loathe with the utmost disgust. Croco- diles, iguanas, frogs, crabs, and mice they never touch ; but, connoisseurs of what is good, they use turtles for making soup. It is scarcely necessary to say that the accounts of the cannibalism of the Niam-niam excite as much horror amongst them as amongst ourselves. Nothing, likewise, is more repulsive to them than dog's flesli, which is enjoyed by the Mittoo — a fact which justifies us in the supposition that that tribe is addicted to caunibalism. Dinka, as well as Bonero, have declared to me in the most decided manner, that they DINKA DWELLINGS. 159 would rather die of hunger than eat the flesh of a dog. But a delicious morsel to the Dinka is the wild cat of the steppes, which is often found in this part of Africa, and is the origin of our domestic cat, to which it bears no slight resemblance. But more delicious than all they esteem the hare ; and in order to illustrate their appreciation of it, a Dinka, to whom I was talking, naively asked me wdiether I knew what a Dinka did when he managed to kill a hare on the steppe by a lucky blow of his club ? *•' He makes a fire," he added, "and roasts his game and eats it quietly, without saying anything about it at home." Even before they had any intercourse with Mohammedan countries, a love of tobacco-smoking had been one of the traits of the Dinka, who use the same huge pipe-bowls as we luxve already observed amongst the Shillooks. A strong stem opens into a small calabash, which serves as a mouth-piece, and is filled with fine bast, to intercept the narcotic oils. Denarcotinizing, as it is termed, is quite an old African invention. Here, where tobacco does not grow at all plenti- fully, the process answers a double purpose, for, by taking off the top of the pipe, the bast can be removed, and, im- pregnated as it is with tobacco oil, it is subsequently chewed. The smoking apparatus is so ponderous that every one is obliged to sit down while he smokes. The Dinka dwellings consist of small groups of huts clus- tered in farmsteads over the cultivated plains. Villages in a proper sense there are none ; but the cattle of separate districts are united in a large park, which the Khartoomers call a " murah." * The accompanying drawing represents a Dinka farm surrounded by sorghum fields. Of the three huts, the one in the centre, with a double porchway, is sot apart for the head of the family ; that on the left is for the ♦ The derivation of " murah " would seem to be from " rah," rest, ' merali," a resting-place for cows, or " menah,'' a resting-place for camels. 160 THE HEART OF AFRICA. women; whilst tbo largest and most imposing hut on the rio'ht is a hospital for sick cows, which require to be separated from the throngs in the murah that they may receive proper attention. Under an awning in the centre of the huts is the fireplace for the cooking, sheltered from the wind by a semi- circular screen of clay. The goats are kept within a small thorn fence, so that the daily supply of milk may be always at hand. As a rule the huts of the Dinka are spacious, and more durable than those of other tribes who build their dwellings in the same conical form. They are not unfrequently 40 feet in diameter ; their foundations are composed of a mix- ture of clay and chopped straw, and the supports of the roof are made of branches of acacia and other hard woods. Not content with supporting these with a single central prop, the Dinka erect a trunk with its spreading branches in the middle. The roof is contrived out of layers of cut straw. These buildings en- dure for eight or ten years, and decay at length mainly through being worm-eaten. The huts of the Bongo, on the contrary, are built up much more rapidly, but scction3.\Yiev>^.^^^yd^R^construction j.^rely last as mucli as three years. The principal plants that are here cultivated are sorghum and penicillaria, three kinds of beans, earth-nuts (Arachis), earth-peas {Voandzeia suhterranea), sesame, yams, and Vir- ginian tobacco ; but we shall have a more ample opportunity of entering into the details of these crops when we speak of the Bongo, who cultivate nearly the same products of the soil. The domestic animals are oxen, sheep, goats, and dogs ; poultry was never to be seen, and the cause of its absence is inexplicable. The cattle belong to the Zebu race, and are DINKA CATTLE. 161 smaller than those of the Baggara and Hassanieh ; they have a hump, their horns are slender, the fore part of the body prevailing so in size as to resemble an antelope. As to colour, the majority are nearly white, but it would be incor- rect to say that either the speckled or the striped, the taw / or the brown, are wanting. The Dinka have separate ex- pressions to denote every shade of colour of the breed, and indeed, their vocabulary for all that relates to cattle and cattle-breeding is more copious than that of any European tongue. The sheep are of a peculiar breed, which is unique amongst the Dinka, Nueir, and Shillooks ; farther on in the interior of the equatorial districts it is not known. Its chief charac- teristic consists of a shaggy appendage to the shoulders, breast, and neck, like a mane, whilst on the rest of the body, and on the meagre tail, the hair is quite short. This mantle of hair gives them an appearance like diminutive buffaloes, whilst their plump bodies and short legs increase the resem- blance. Generally white, they are occasionally brown or VOL. I. M 162 THK HEART OF ApmCA. spotted, find in some rare cases I have seen them of quite a reddish hue.* Like the pastoral people of Southern Africa, the Dinka have acquired the art of splitting the horns in their early growth, so as to increase their number at will. The continual dampness of the pasture, especially through- out the rainy season, favours the development of revolting intestinal vermes, and tlie rain-pools in the dry mouths Dinka Sheep. become most prolific as breeding-places for Cercariffi. I have frequently seen sheep suffering under disease, their ailment arising from their liver and gall-ducts being choked up by these worms. The distoma, which is a denizen of every zone and extends even to Greenland, is found here an inch long. The race of goats bred by the Dinka does not differ mate- rially from the Etliiopian form, which we have already noticed f among the liedouius of Nubia ; its only distiuc- * The illustration gives a likeness of a Dinka sheep, whicli must not, how- ever, be confounded with themaned sheep of Morocco, t Vide Chap. I., p. :;3. DINKA DOG. 163 tion is beini2: somewhat larger ; in appearance it is always meagre, and its j^revailing colour is that of a young grey colt, occasionally inclining to a dark iron-grey. The dogs closely resemble the common village curs of Nubia, a cross between the greyhound of the Nubian step])es and the pariah of the streets of Cairo. It is not unusual for Dinku Goat. their colour to be brown, but by far the larger number are a tawny yellow. Every idea and thought of the Dinka is how to acquire and maintain cattle : a kind of reverence would seem to be paid to them ; even their offal is considered of high importance ; the dung, which is burnt to ashes for sleeping in and for smearing their persons, and the urine, which is used for washing and as a substitute for salt, are their daily requisites. It must be owned that it is bard to reconcile this latter usage with our ideas of cleanliness. A cow is never slaughtered, but wlion sick it is segregated from the rest, and carefully tended in the large huts built for the purpose. Only those that die M 2 1(34 THE HEART OF AFRICA. naturallv or bvan accident are used as food. All this, which exists amongst most of the pastoral tribes of Africa, may per- chance appear to be a lingering remnant of an exploded cattle-worship ; but I may draw attention to the fact that the Dinka are by no means disinclined to partake of any feast of their flesh, provided that the slaughtered animal was not their own property. It is thus more the delight of actual possession, than any superstitious estimate, that makes the cow to them an object of reverence. Indescribable is the grief when either death or rapine has robbed a Dinka of his cattle. He is prepared to redeem their loss by the heaviest sacrifices, for they are dearer to him than wife or child. A dead cow is not, however, wantonly buried ; the negro is not senti- mental enough for that ; such an occurrence is soon bruited abroad, and the neighbours institute a carousal, which is quite an epoch in their monotonous life. The bereaved owner himself is, however, too much afflicted at the loss to be able to touch a morsel of the carcase of his departed beast. Not unfrequently in their sorrow the Dinka remain for days silent and abstracted, as though their trouble were too heavy for them to bear. Tiie only domestic animal which is slaughtered amongst them is the goat, which scarcely represents the thirtieth part of the value of a cow. A heifer has three times the value, and a cow that has calved double the value of a steer. In common with the other tribes of this part of Afiica they use rather a singular method of butchering their cattle, proceed- ing, whenever it is practicable, by the way of making a violent stab in the nape of the neck by means of a spear. This causes immediate death, and is a method which gives but little trouble. It is not dilTicult to understand how people like the Dinka should make their whole delight to centre in having thriving cattle-farms, but to us their profitless practice of emascula- tion must remain incomprehensible. The herdsmen cut their DEGENERATION OF CATTLE. 165 bulls and bucks witli the mere intention of feasting their eyes upon a development of fat which is always obnoxious to the stomach. Almost the third part of their bulls are sub- ' mitted to the knife, and the same proportion of their goats 1 and rams, and even their dogs, with the design of rendering them more agile, more enduring, and fitter for the chase ; this also being the reason why their ears and tails are clipped. Ask the Dinka what good they get from their possessions of oxen, and they have ever the answer ready that it is quite enough if they get fat and look nice. Such is the way in ; which they express their satisfaction and their pride. ' The failure of the beard amongst the male cattle so treated is a topic that suggests some observations. In spite of the anxiety and care which the Dinka bestow upon their herds, there is no mistake about the degeneration of the race. The way in which I chiefly account for this is that there is not enough crossing of breeds — in fact, that there is almost a total exclusion of any strange stock. I should say that hardly one in a hundred of the beasts is capable of either bearing a burden or going a journey, a purpose, however, to which none of the negroes of the Upper Nile ever seem to put them. But nothing is more remarkable than the entire absence of fat which characterises them ; a single pound of fat could not be obtained from a whole ox ; and not only does this defi- ciency extend to the parts that are ordinarily plump and fleshy, but the spinal marrow itself is so utterly dry that in a stewpan it runs oft' like white of egg, without depositing a particle of grease. Eye-witnesses have assured me that Miss Tinne, during her residence here, although she had whole herds at her command, could never get her supply of pomade replenished. Again the cattle of the Dinka are not provided with salt in any form whatever, which may in a measure account for the degenerating; it may explain the prevalence, all but universal, of the worms known as " kyatt," which cover ICC 'I'HK IIKAUT OB^ AFRICA. the lu'st t^toiuarU or paunch, of nearly all their cattle. These worms in Europe are included in the genus of the Ampliistoma ; they are like an oval bag, something under half an inch long, and generally as red as port wine. The sheep and he-goats that ^^^^ are left are quite devoid of fat ; ^S*!!^ their flesh when it is cooked has "Kyatt" Worm. ^^^ odlous soapy flavour, and is altogether more repulsive than the rankest roast antelope. As an illustration of the degree to which the Dinka devote all their attention to cattle-breeding, and find their chief delight in it, it may be mentioned that the great amusement of the chiklren is to mould goats and bullocks out of clay. Travellers have related the same fact about the children of the Makololo ; and, for my part, I could not help having a kind of satisfaction when I saw these first efforts at sculpture in a land where there are no pictures and no images of deities. The accompanying illustration is designed to exhibit some- thing of the-daily routine of the Dinka. It represents one of those mnrahs or cattle-parks, of which I have seen hundreds. It depicts the scene at about five o'clock in the afternoon. In the foreground there are specimens of the cattle of the country. The men in charge are busied in collecting up into heaps the dung that has been exposed during the day to be dried in the sun. Clouds of reeking vapour fill the murah throughout the night and drive away the pestiferous insects. The herds have just been driven to their quarters, and each animal is fastened by a leather collar to its own wooden peg. Towards the left, on a pile of ashes, sit the owners of this section of the murah. Tlie ashes which are produced in the course of a year raise the level of the entire estate. Semi- circular huts erected on the hillocks afiford the owners tem- poiary acconimodatiou when they quit their homes some DINKA POPULATION. 167 miles away and come to feast their eyes upon the goodly spectacle of their weultli. The milking is performed in the morning hours. Truly miserable is tlie yield, and the most prolific of the cows does not give as much as one of our ordinary goats. This defi- ciency of milk is another witness of the deterioration of the breed, and no one w ould believe the quantity of milk it takes to produce a single pound of butter. The dew hardly goes off before ten o'clock, and it is not until that hour that the herds are driven out. It is quite rare fur a murali to hold less than 2000 beasts, and some, as I have mentioned, are capable of holding 10,000. Upon an average I should reckon that for every head of the poi:»ulation there would be found at least three of cattle ; of course, there is no lack of the poor and the destitute, and these obviously are the slaves and dependents of the rich. So large are the numbers of the Dinka, and so extensive their territory, that it must be ex- pected that they will long perpetuate their existence amongst the promiscuous inhabitants of Africa. So far as regards their race, their line of life, and their customs, they have all the material of national unity ; but where they fail is that their tribes not only make war upon each other, but submit to be enlisted as the instruments of treachery by intruders from outside. That the Khartoomers have not been able hitherto to make good their footing upon Dinka soil is due more to a general resistance to external control than to any internal condition of concord. Every attempt to bring this people into subjection has been quite a failure, and not at all the easy matter it proved with the Bongo and some other communities. The southern people are emphatically agricul- tural, for the most part devoted to peaceful pursuits, and so they are wanting in that kind of organisation wliich could unite them into a formidable body for mutual resistance. The marked peculiarity of the Dinka, as well as their adherence to all their wonted habits, renders them thoroughly useless as far 168 THE HEAirr OF AFEICA. as regards the slave traffic. Although the people of Khartoom for fifteen years or more have traversed their country, they have never been able in any way to make use of the material which mif>-ht be afforded by a regulated commercial intercourse. The Bongo and the Niam-niam are alike greedy of bits of clothing, but the Dinka are utterly indifferent to anything of the sort. The women, on account of their proficiency in housekeeping, play a large part in the Khartoom slave-trade, but they give their masters infinitely more trouble than the slaves of any other race. The men that were captured, in days now gone by, were one and all converted into soldiers by the Government, and, even to this date, so large a majority of the dark-skinned troops of Egypt consists of men of the Dinka, that their well-formed persons, their tall stature, and their innate courage, would be missed vei-y considerably from the ranks. Adam Pasha, who at the time of my visit had the military command in the Soudan, was himself a Dinka by birth. I must be allowed to pass lightly over, as an equivocal topic, the religion of a people whose dialect I was unable adequately to master. It seems to me like a desert of mirages, or as a playground, where the children of fancy enjoy their sport. The creed of the Dinka apparently centres itself upon the institution to which they give the name of the Cogyoor, and which embraces a society of necro- mancers and jugglers by profession. Other travellers have recorded a variety of marvels about their sleight of hand, their ventriloquism, their conjurations, and their fomiliarity with the ghosts of the dead ; but of these I shall defer all I have to say till I come by-and-by to speak generally about casting out devils. Before we leave the Dinka we must not omit to recall their virtues, in order that we nuiy fairly estimate the charge that has been laid against them of cruelty in war. It is affirmed that they are pitiless and unrelenting in fight, that they are never known to give quarter, and revel in wild DINKA CHARACTER. 169 dances around the bodies of their slaughtered foes : a whole village will take their share in the orgies which one of the community will start, whenever, either by lance or club, he has prostrated an antagonist. But, for my part, I am ready to certify that there are Dinka whose tenderness and com- passion are beyond a question. One of the Bongo related to me, as a matter of his own experience, that he had been severely wounded upon an expedition which the Nubians had set on foot against the Dinka to steal their cattle: he had laid himself down just outside a Dinka's house, and the owner had not simply protected him against all his prosecu- tors, who considered themselves amply justified in jiroceeding to every extreme of vengeance, but kept him till he had regained his health : not content with that, he provided him with an escort back, and did not abandon him till he was safe and sound again amongst his own people. Notwithstanding, then, that certain instances may be alleged which seem to demonstrate that the character of the Dinka is unfeeling, these cases never refer to such as are bound by the ties of kindred. Parents do not desert their children, nor are brothers faithless to brothers, but are ever prompt to render whatever aid is possible. The accusation is quite unjustifiable that family affection, in our sense, is at a low ebb among them. In the spring of 1871, w^hilst I was staying in the Seriba of Kurshook Ali on the Dyoor, I witnessed a circumstance which I may relate as a singular corroboration of my opinion. A Dinka man, who had been one of the bearers who had carried my stores from the Mesliera, was about to return to his own home in the terri- tory of Ghattas, but he had been attacked by the guinea- worm, and his feet were so swollen that it was with the utmost difficulty that he could proceed a step , and he was obliged to remain behind alone. Everything was excessively scarce and dear, and ho was glad to subsist on a few handl'uls of durra and on what scra[)S wc gave him from our mials ; 170 THE HEART OF AFRICA. in this way he dragged on, and, with a little patience, would have been all right : however, he was not suffered to wait long ;. his father appeared to fetch him. This old man had brought neither cart nor donkey, but he set out and carried away the great strapping fellow, who was six feet high, for a distance of fifteen or sixteen leagues, on his own shoulders. This incident was regarded by the other natives as a mere matter of course. Jn what I have said, I have attempted to describe the leading features in the life of the Dinka, being desirous to exhibit such details as may allow a correct judgment to be formed of the true relations which exist between the Khar- toomers and this people, who are at once so pastoral and yet so prepared for war. Here, at the village of Kudy, our caravan had accom- plished about half its journey, which was altogether a little over 90 miles. It \\as on the afternoon of the 28th of March that we started afresh tow-ards Ghattas's Seriba, immediately after the gun accident which I have related. On account of their late liberal diet, oiu' bearers did not advance with their usual alacrity. We proceeded for three hours, and at a well called Pamog, 20 feet deep, we halted for the night. On the next day our route led through forests, and we entered upon the territory of the Al-Waj. The inhabitants regarded us as enemies, and, seizing their bows and arrows, left their dwellings and, like frightened game, flocked to the adjacent woods. According to our Dinka interpreters, the Al-Waj do not belong to the Dinka race, but form an enclave, or isolated community, of unknown origin. As we entered the wood, for the purpose of botanising, the savages were continually starting up before us, causing no little uneasiness to my companions, who suspected a flight of arrows from every thicket. To say the truth, the natives had been so hardly treated that it could not be expected of them to meet their oppressors very hospitably. ARRIVAL AT CJIATTAS'S SEKmA. 171 We sliould have proceeded far more quickly, but that we were under the necessity at every halt to send to a distance all round to })rocui-e a fresh supply of corn for our numerous party. Tliis continually caused the delay of several hours, as the farms were often very desolate and ill supplied. The Al-Waj district is an almost unbroken forest in the midst of open flats. Throughout the rainy season it is hardly better than one vast puddle. The vestiges of elephants are fre queut at all times ; and both right and left were giraffes ti-otting over the rusfijed jrrass and waaQ-iuji' their tall heads. The appearance of giraffes when they are running is very extraordinary, and, as they are seen through the grey twilight of the morning, they iiave a look half spectral and half gro- tesque ; they seem to nod and bow like figures in the ill- managed drops of a second-class theatre. After leaving the village of the Al-Waj we proceeded for three leagues through the forest, and found ourselves again on the extensive steppe. At noon on the following day we reached the district of the Dyuihr, a clay flat, devoid of trees. The Khartoomers cannot pronounce the native names correctly, and call this people the Dyeraweel. The large villages were now deserted, the population, on account of the scarcity of water and pasturage, having gone to the river- banlcs. For two nights we sacrificed our rest and hurried onwards by forced marches. It was just before sunrise that we reached the first rocky irregularity in the soil, a general ascent in the ground being quite perceptible. 'Bush-forests now took the phace of the steppes, which we had long found to be but scantily relieved by thickets. A luxuriant foliage revealed itself, presenting one of those striking limits of vegetation which are so rarely to be met with in Africa. From this interesting locality 1 proceeded for another three leagues, thus accomplishing the preliminary object of my journey. I was in the chief Seriba of Grhattas, which for some months to come I proposed to make my head-quarters. ( 172 ) CHAPTER V. Eccfptioii at the Seriba. Population. Fertility. Salubrity. Management. Poor prcwpLcts of the ivory trade. Failure of Kuropcan firms in Kliartoom. Llrees, the eliief agent. Domestic arrangements. Beauties of t^pring. The daugliter Seriija Geer. Bit of primeval forest. Girafl'e-hunt. Bam- boo jungle. Negro festival ami music. Trip to the Dyoor and to Wow. Desertion of bearers. Good entertainment. IMarquis Antinori and Vays- sierc. Old servant of Pethcrick's. Hornblende. Height of the water of the Dyoor. Apostrophe to the river. A model Seriba. First acquaint, ance with Niam-niam. Trader from Tunis. The "Wuw Piver. Seriba Agalid in Wow. Edible fruits of the country. Wild buflahies. Insta- bility of dwellings. C.iama and Leucotis antelopes. Numerous butterflies. Bear-baboons. Pharaoh palms. Daily life of the Dyoor. Their race. Iron-smelting. Formation of huts. Idyll of village life. Hunting with snares. Women's work. Graves. Care of young and old. Of the character of the buiklings, the arrangements and mode of life in the settlements of the Khartoomers, I had been able from hearsay to form a very imperfect idea. My curiosity was therefore very considerably awakened as our caravan approached the Seriba of Ghattas. Half a league from the place we came to a halt in order to give the customary warning by firing a salute, and without farther delay started afresh. Mounted on a donkey, and surrounded by my attendants, I went at the head of the cortege. All round the settlement for some distance the Lmd is entirely cultivated, and the view as we proceeded was only broken by large trees dotted here and there, which in their summer verdure stood out in charming contrast to the cheerless grey of the desert steppe. JSoou rising from the i)lain appeared the tops of the conical huts embracing nearly the whole horizon. 1 looked in vain for either fortifications, wall.<, RECEPTION AT GHATTAS'S SERTBA. 173 bastions, or watch-towers, with which I had imagined that a Khartoomer's Scriba mnst be provided. In fact, there was hardly anything to distinguish it from any of tlie villages of the Dinka which are scattered over the cultivated flats. A motley crowd, relieved by many a bright bit of colour, presented itself and formed a lively spectacle such as was scarcely to be expected to break in upon the monotony of an African landscape. We were received wnth a rattling salute from a number of rusty rifles, and there was every disposi- tion to do the honours of our arrival in a becoming manner. Elegantly attired in an Oriental costume, Ghattas's agent approached with the gestures of welcome, and proceeded to conduct me to the hut which for some weeks already had been prepared for my reception. For the first time I now observed that the area in the centre of the huts was surrounded by a lofty square palisade ; through the narrow gateway of this, with lowered banners and amidst the sound of gongs and kettle-drums, our cavalcade passed on. With this chief Seriba are associated five smaller settle- ments in the adjoining Bongo country, and four more in remoter spots. It lies on the border-lines of the three races, the Dinka, the Dyoor, and the Bongo. From an insig- nificant beginning it had, in the course of thirteen years, increased to its present importance. A number of Gellahba, Nubian, and other merchants, had taken up their abode on large estates within its precincts ; and here it was that they completed their purchases of slaves in order to carry them on to Darfur and Kordofaii. The garrison was composed almost exclusively of natives of Dongola; there were, however, a few Sheigeah and men of Kordofan among them, and these, including the numerous employes of Gliattas, made the resident armed force not much under 250 men. To these should be added some hundreds of slaves reserved for the market, or divided as part of their pay amongst the soldiers, and several hundreds more, male and female, who 174 THE HEART OF AFRICA. arc in actual service. The aggregate population tlierefore of this establishment almost equals that of a small town, and amounts to at least 1000 souls. For two miles round the Seriba the land is partitioned into fields. Enclosed by dense bush forests, of which the trees rarely exceed forty feet in height, this wide expanse is industriously tilled by the natives who have settled in the vicinity, and furnishes the greater part of the annual supply of sorghum necessary for the garrison. Numerous little villages belonging to the three adjoining people are scat- tered all about, the fertility of the soil, so much above the average of the district, causing the proximity to the settle- ment to be held in high estimation. The surface-soil above the iron ore has a depth of three to four feet. The extreme productiveness of the luxuriant tropics is well exemplified in these fields, which for thirteen years have undergone continual tillage without once lying fallow and with no other manuring but what is afforded by the uprooted weeds. A like luxuriance is characteristic of the forests, which year after year, from the immediate vicinity, continue to supply the spreading colony with abundance of fuel. In the rainy season the place is surrounded by pools, which disappear completely during the winter months ; parts of the soil in and about the fields become for the time quite marshy, and at intervals large tracts of the lower steppes, for miles together, are little better than swamps. The Seriba is not elevated more than 100 feet above the mean level of the Gazelle, but in spite of every- thing the climate is far more salubrious and enjoyable than in many districts of the Egyptian Soudan. This may partly bo accounted for by the fact that very few domestic animals are kept, so that the air is uninfected by their carcases, whilst the reverse is generally the case in the large marked towns of the Soudan. Camels, as I have said, are never seen ; horses and mules are only used as signs of special LTNREMUNEIIATIVE IVOIfY TRAFFIC. 175 luxury on the part of the Seriha authorities; the ass alone manages to drag out a precarious existence in the unfavour- able climate, and to defy the fate whicli has hitherto attended all efforts for its acc'liiMatisation. Fevers indeed are common, though they rarely carry ofT new comers. Hitherto but few white men have come to make experience of the climate in this portion of Africa; and up to the time of my sojourn the visits of either Turks or Egyptians had been almost as rare. The district between Ghattas's six Seribas in the northern Bongo country and immediately under his authority, extends over an area of about 200 square miles, of which at least 45 miles are under cultivation. The total population, to judge by the number of huts and by the bearers stationed in different parts, can hardly amount to much less than 12,000. This domain, worth millions of pounds were it situate in Europe, might, I believe, at any time be bought from its owner for 20,000 dollars: and this I mention as a proof of how small is the profit actually yielded by these settlements, which have been started by so magnificent a spirit of enterprise. I coidd show by reliable statistics that in some years the returns from the ivory have fallen fiir short of the expenditure. The year of my arrival may perhaps be considered as an average season, and in this the ivory sent to Khartoom realised scarcely 10,000 Maria Theresa dollars. The expenses of keeping up two or three well-manned boats, so as to insure uninterrupted intercourse with Khartoom, are considerable, while from any traffic in slaves the owner of the Seriba has little to expect. In one way, however, slaves do occasionally contribute a secondary profit to the expeditions. In times when hostilities break out and the proper stores from Khartoom cannot be ob- tained, the agents are induced to })art with whatever slaves they have to the Gellahba for a mere bagatelle ; they ex- change them for calico or anything else they can get, and make use of the proceeds to pay the soldiers. 170 THE HEART OF AFRICA. When an\iir.s are prospering, a month's pay for a soldier is five IMaria Tlieresa doHars. One of the great points with the agents is to spare the merchant any outlay of ready money: he therefore, as often as he can, pays the mer- cenaries in goods, charging them exorbitant prices for any articles obtained from his stores; on the other hand, he makes this up to them in a measure by allowing them a share in the plunder of slaves or of cattle ; the soldiers in their turn can dispose of what booty they may get, all negotiations being generally conducted by the regular slave- dealers. It is very seldom that the men are wary enougli to keep independent of the agent in their requirements, or are able, even in the course of many years, to lay by in Khartoom any considerable amount of money. The majority are pledged beforehand to continual service ; nevertheless not unfrequently they contrive to escape and, without any intimation, join tlie company of some competitor, who (in the lawless condition of the country) quietly scorns all eflforts to reclaim them. Such cases as these inevitably give rise to repeated contentions between the various Seribas, The annual cattle-plunder, moreover, does not nearly suffice either to attract or adequately to repay the hard services of the Nubian soldier, nor does it go far to remunerate the native bearers, who perform all the transport from the Niam-niam countries to the river. All matters of com- merce even in these remote regions are ostensibly con- ducted in a legitimate mercantile way. For the opening of the ivory traffic with the Niam-niam, as well as for the purpose of buying supplies for the people during expedi- tions which often last six or seven months, huge bars of copper and beads of every description have to be provided. These are dear, on account of the commission which is paid in Alexandria. The bearers, it is true, are subject with the submission of serfs to the authorities at the Seriba ; but as an encouragement to them in their work thev can claim IVOKY TKADE. 177 a stipulated proportion of the goods, and this in the course of the year constitutes no unimportant addition to the outlay. Altogether the Upper Nile traffic was carried on at great pecuniary risk, and its prospeets were far from favourable. As I saw it, it was dependent for any amount of success upon the plunder which was made alike upon cattle and upon men, and upon the levies of corn and provisions which were exacted from the natives. Without the aid of the Nubian soldiers the expeditions could not be secure. These soldiers only come to escape the rigorousness of the Egyp- tian Government in their own land ; they participate in tlie profits, and yet without them the monopoly could not be maintained. The Government could avail nothing to protect a legal business; neither could any European enterprise hope, for many successive years, to be able to work a profitable trade. The few Europeans who ever really opened transactions in these countries did indeed pay their people in hard cash and refused to have anything to do either with the slave trade or cattle-stealing, limiting their operations exclusively to the purchase of ivory and to elephant-hunting in the districts adjacent to their settlements. Just as might be expected, however, tliey were soon compelled to withdraw from their undertaking — either because, on the one hand, the stock of ivory in their immediate vicinity was exhausted, or, on the other, because they found that they could not com- pete with the native firms, who were backed by the illegal means I have mentioned. Since tlieir withdrawal, no now speculator has attempted to follow in their steps ; and as year by year the Khartoom trade loses its European re})re- sentatives, it appears as though, in course of time, the export business will pass out of European hands. Nothing will prevent this, unless some important modifications should occur in the southern provinces of Egypt. Sanguine of VOL I, x 178 THE HEART OF AFRICA. success, Ismail Pasha has projected the formation of a rail- way to Khartoom ; and, considering the general aspect of affairs as I have related them, this great undertaking de- serves the unqualified support of all who do not despair of the ultimate victory of right. A mere slave when at home, Ghattas's plenipotentiar)% Idrees, was here an important personage, invested with abso- lute power, and swaggered about like an autocrat. By birth a negro, he had not on that account less influence over the Nubians than any other official — for it is not according to the law of Islam to allow national enmity to be antagonistic to personal rank. I was received with all the courtesy due to my credentials, and for the first few days found myself lite- rally loaded with presents. Provisions of every sort were placed at my disposal, whilst my people had free board for a month in Idrees's quarters. Two neatly-built huts of mode- rate size, witliin the palisade, were prepared for me, but these were not nearly sufficient to accommodate me with all my baggage. Tiie actual Seriba, about 200 paces square, was so crammed with huts, that not a spot could be discovered where it was possible to erect a more spacious residence. Outside the enclosure, where the buildings were more scattered over the fields, I was not permitted to lodge. I was told how it had happened, and was likely to happen again, that the natives skulked about at night and murdered people in their sleep. This statement I was forced, whether I would or not, to accept, and temporarily, at all events, to content myself with my cramped abode, eighteen feet across. The huts are built of bamboo and straw; the conical roof rests on a kind of basket-work of bamboo, which is daubed inside with clay, in a way that is imitated from the almost petrified erections of the white ants. The pagan negroes lavish far more care upon their huts than the Mohammedan inhabitants of the Soudan, who, although the bamboo grows so abundantly among them, do not succeed in giving their ACCOMMODATION IN THE SERIBA. 171) " tokkuls " nearly so inueli symmetiy. Here tliey possess the art of erecting roofs which are perfectly water-tight, and which are so light that they do not require heavy posts to hold them toorether on the walls. The coverino; for the roof is formed, in the first place upon the ground, with handfuls of stalks laid side by side and knotted together. These are afterwards plaited into long strips, which are then laid one above the other, like tlie flounces of a lady's dress — a compa- rison which is further the more appropriate, because the struc- ture of the frame-work is exactly like a hooped petticoat. I would not allow the walls of the tokkul, in which I gene- rally passed my time, to be cemented with clay,- partly because I liked the airiness of the basket-work, and partly because light was necessary for my daily occupations. There seemed to me two other advantages — first, on dry days, my goods would more rapidly recover the effect of the wet to which they had been exposed ; and, secondly, I should be less plagued with rats than those who occupied the plastered huts. In stormy weather, it is true, I had to suffer a certain amount of discomfort. To increase my storage-i-oom I contrived some shelves and stands out of bamboo-canes ; I had also brought from Khartoom some deal planks, expressly for the manufacture of the tables which were necessary for my bota- nical pursuits. A traveller who is in possession of bamboos, cow-hide, bladder, and clay, will find himself not very inade- quately supplied with representatives of nearly all the build- ing materials of Europe. My excursions about the neighbourhood soon began, and these, with the arrangement of my daily collections, occupied the greater part of my time. In unfailing good health, I passed the first few weeks in a transport of joy, literally enraptured by the unrivalled loveliness of nature. The early rains had commenced, and were clothing all the park-like scenery, meadows, trees, and shrubs, with the verdure of spring. Emulating the tulips and hyacinths of our own N 2 180 THE HEART OF AFRICA, « gardens, sprang up everywhere splendid bulbous plants; whilst amongst the fresh foliage gleamed blossoms of the gayest hue. The April rains are not continuous, but never- theless, trees and underwood were all in bloom, and the grass was like a lawn for smoothness. In Tropical Africa, after long continuance of rain, the grass may be considered more as a defect than an ornament in the landscape : the obstruc- tions which it interposes to the view of the traveller consider- ably mar his enjoyment of the scenery ; but throughout the period of the early rains its growth is remarkably slow, and it takes some months to attain a height sufficient to conceal the numerous flowering weeds and bulbs which display their l)lossoms at the same season. The territory of the Dinka includes nearly the whole low ground, extending right away to the Gazelle. It is a vast plain of dark alluvial clay, of whicli the uniformity is not broken by a single hill or mass of rock, any tracts of forest being of very limited extent. As they approach the districts of the Bongo and the Dyoor, the Dinka stejipes lose much of that park-like aspect which they here present. Indeed, very marked is the contrast in the character of the scenery which appears on entering those districts ; for to the very borders of the Dinka reaches that enormous table-land of ferruginous soil which, unbroken except by gentle undulations or by isolated mounds of gneiss, gradually ascends to the Equator. This plain appears to cover the greater part of the centre of the continent, even if it does not extend as far as Benjruela and the shores of the Niger. From my own experience, I can certify that the general geological features of the soil, as exhibited as far south as the latitude of 4°, are identical with those which were conspicuous here, where the latitude was between 7^ and 8" N. At the end of a fortnight I made a trip to the soutli-east, the first of a series of excursions to Ghattas's different Seribas, which lay four or five leagues apart. On this tour I learnt THE RIVER TONDY. 181 something of the river Tondy, on which is established the Seriba known as Addui. The river was now at its lowest level, and was flowing north-east in a tolerably rapid current, between precipitous banks fifteen feet in height. In depth it varied from four to seven feet, and it was about thirty feet in breadtli; in the rainy season, however, for three miles, the adjacent steppes are covered with its floods, which are always very prolific in fish. Before the Tondy joins the Gazelle, as it does in the district of the Nueir, it spreads irregularly over the low-lying country and leaves its shores quite undefined. In this way it forms a number of swamps, all but inaccessible, to which the Dinka, whenever they are threatened by plundering excursions from the Seribas, lose no time in driving their herds. Although the Tondy is nearly as long as the Dyoor, it is very inferior in its volume of water. Like se eral of the less important rivers of this region, it flows for a long distance without any appreciable increase either in size or speed. These streams intersect the country and cut it up into narrow sections, which are rarely designated on the maps. The second of the Seribas which I visited was called Geer, and was just four leagues to the south of the chief settlement. It was surrounded by bamboo-jungles, and was situated in a prolific corn-valley, watered by a tributary of the Tondy. It contained about 800 huts, occupied by Bongo, who had settled tliere. The road to Geer, nearly all the way, was over a firm, rocky soil, through bush forests, swarming with wart-hogs (Phaco- ch&srus). About three-quarters of a league on the way, stood a dense mass of lofty trees, not unlike an alder grove. It was traversed by rain-courses, and surrounded by low swampy steppes, which in the rainy season are entirely under water. The wood consisted mainly of tall uncarise and eugenise, 80 feet in height, of which the long, straight stems were crowned by spreading foliage : it was the first bit of the 182 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. piim£eval forests which fill up the valleys through which flow the rivers of the Niam-niam. I paid many visits to this interesting spot ; by the people in the Seriba it was termed Genana, the Arabic word for a garden. In its grateful shade grew dense thickets of red-blossomed melastomacese, inter- mingled with giant aroideee {Amoiyhopliallus), and bo\\ers of creepers. The character of the vegetation was in striking contrast to the other forests of the district, and for the first time reminded me of the splendour of our northern woods — it was like an enclave of the luxuriant flora of West Africa, transported to this region of bushes and steppes. On the adjacent plains herds of giraffes were very fre- (piently seen. 'Vo bring down one of these giraffes was a matter of but little difficulty. They pace unconcernedly from bush to bush, taking their choice amidst the varieties of herbage, and I was surprised to find that it required half-a dozen shots before a herd of nearly twenty could be started into flight; but, once off, there was no gaining upon them, and, like the fleetest of sailing-vessels, they disappeared on the horizon. I was on this day treated to the rare delicacy of a giraffe's tongue ; there was some trouble in finding a dish on whicli it could be served, and I suppose that the longest fish-platter wouhl hardly suffice for the display of this dainty. I had formerly tasted the flesh in Gallabat, and as I had abundance of beef in the Seriba, the carcase was distributed between my bearers. Roast giraffe may be reckoned amongst the better class of game, and is not unlike veal. Geer provides the wliole neighbourhood with bamboos. The African species (Bambusa ahyssinica) seems to possess a character superior to what ordinarily belongs elsewhere to that useful product of the tropics. It is common on the lower terraces of Abys.sinia and in all the rocky parts of the Upper Nile district, where the climate is sufficiently moist ; it is found generally on river b.inks, though but rarely on the open steppes. FESTIVAL AT SEED-TIME. 183 The canes grow to a height of thirty or forty feet, and the stoutest specimens that came under my notice were between two and three inches in diameter. They are not so swollen at the joints as the Chinese and Indian sorts ; but this is an advantage, since they are more easily split. Even after repeated boiling, the young shoots were never eatable. For two nights and a day whilst I was in Geer, the natives were abandoning themselves to their wild orgies, which now for the first time I saw in their full unbridled swing. The festival was held to celebrate the sowing of the crops; and confident iu the hope that the coming season would bring abundant rains, these light-hearted Bongo anticipated their harvest. For the preparation of their beer they encroached very lavishly on their present corn stores, quite indifferent to the fact that for the next two months they would be reduced to the necessity of grubbing after roots and devouring any chance bird or even any creeping thing that might come in their way. Incredible quantities of " legyee " were consumed, so as to raise the party to the degree of excitement necessary for so prolonged a revel. In honour of the occasion there was produced a large array of musical instruments, a detailed account of which shall be given hereafter, but the confusion of sound beggared the raging of all the elements and made me marvel as to what music might come to. They danced till their bodies reeked again with the oil of the butter tree. Had they been made of india-rubber, their movements could scarcely have been more elastic ; indeed, their skins had all the a[)pearance of gutta-percha. The whole scene was more like a fantoccini than any diversion of living beings. By the end of April the vegetation was so far developed that I might fairly reckon on a larger botanical collection on a longer excursion. Accordingly, accompanied by my ser- vants and a few bearers, I set out towards the west, designing to visit the Seribas belonging to Kurshook Ali and Agahd, and to explore the Kiver Dyooi-. I was everywhere received 184 THE HEART OF AFRICA. most bosi»itiil)ly, and thus had every encouragenieut to make similar trips amougst the various Seribas. As a rule I did not produce my letters of introduction to the agents until the second day, that I might prove whether my welcome was a mere official service, or was accorded freely and by good-will- I had never cause to complain: the agents, one and all, showed me the greatest attention, entertained me handsomely, and placed at my disposal all that I could desire. Their courtesy A\ent so far that, although the country was perfectly safe, they insisted on providing me with a guard of soldiers- In addition to this, the local governors of the negro villages always esct)rted my little caravan from stage to stage. I found that the whole country was occupied, at intervals of iive or six leagues, with settlements of the Khartoomers, in their palisaded Seribas. The inhabitants interchange their visits as freely as any gentlemen in Europe. On the third day after my start all my bearers, who had contracted to ser\ e me for a sum which would be represented by half-a-crovvn a day, deserted ; they were afraid, perhaps not without cause, that their burdens of pickings and pullings would daily increase. This little incident, for which I was quite prepared, had its effect on the remainder of my journey. I for my part was perfectly agreeable to their desertion, for I could obtain gratis as many bearers as I required. Of course, I had nothing to pay the runaways, and was free IVom all charges to bearers lor the future. In this I had no compunction, knowing that 1 had every right to claim the Slime assistance and courtesy that is accorded to any ordinary traveller amongst the Kharfoomers' Seribas, and to have my baggage conveyed from one i)lace to another. My people had glorious times in the Seribas. There was mutton without stint; and whole animals were slaughtered even for my dogs : to my hungry Khartoomers it was litei'ally a land flowing with milk iind honey. Reserved for me were all tliiil tlnv considered llu' iircatest delicacies that Ccntrid A BOO GUKOOX. 185 Alrica could produce, and in the way of fruit and vegetables I could not catalogue the variety that \\'as served, from the sour Pishamin {Car^podinus acidus) to the horse-bean (Cana- valia). This excursion lasted from the 27th of April to the loth of May. After leaving the chief Seriba we proceeded for about three leagues to the north-west, and arrived, first, at the Seriba owned by Abderahman Aboo Guroon. In 1860 this spot was visited by the IMarquis Antinori, who, in spite of many privations, remained there throughout an entire rainy season. At that time a French hunter, Alexandre Vayssiere, under the protection of the Dyoor chief, Alwal, with whoso sons I made acquaintance, had founded a small settlement. Vayssiere himself, to whose clever pen the Bevue des Deux Mondes is indebted for some valuable articles on Central Africa, died the same year on the Gazelle River, falling a victim to a virulent fever. Aboo Guroon was formerly a servant of Petherick's, and had faithfully accompanied that praiseworthy traveller in his earliest endeavours to penetrate the Bongo country. He had obtained his name, Aboo Guroon (father of horned-cattle), from his noted courage and love of enterprise, and he was renowned amongst the traders as the first traveller to the Niam-niam. The governors of the Seribas and the leaders of the Nubian expeditions may be divided into two classes : of these the one are hypocritical cowards, always saying their prayers, and yet always tyrannical to their subordinates : the others are avowed robbers. Far preferable, beyond a doubt, are the latter ; they treat those weaker than themselves with a certain amount of generosity, not to say chivalry ; to this class belonged Aboo Guroon. Close to his Seriba we had to cross the ^^lolmull stream, wdiicli was for a long period repre- sented on maps as an arm of the Dyoor, but I have proved that it is a collateral stream, which rises in southern Bongo- land. In the rainy season it is 70 feet wide, and is only 186 THE HEART OF AFRICA. passable by swimming, but it was now nothing more than a series of pools, the intervals of which were marked by patches of gneiss. Ten leagues further west flows the Dyoor. Our route in that direction was in every way tiresome. For four leagues and a half we traversed a barren steppe, without being able to obtain so much as a draught of water, and the rough clods of clay were a continual impediment. We halted for the night in a small Seriba of Agahd's, called Dyoor-Awet. It lies on the summit of the w'atershed between the MolmuU and the Dyoor, and from the hill towards the west an exten- sive view of the latter river is obtained. Being still somewhat of a novice in Central African travelling, I resolved, in order to avoid the heat of the day, to take advantage of the moon- light nights for proceeding on our march. In the dark, however, my guides and bearers, inexperienced in their work, lost themselves in such a labyrinth of paths that we were obliged to halt in an open meadow and make inquiries on all sides for the proper route. At length we arrived at some little enclosures of Deemo, a Dyoor chief. The huts were built on the slope of a small eminence of hornblende, a for- mation that I never noticed elsewhere to the south of the Gazelle ; it extended as far as the right bank of the Dyoor, which, now at its lowest condition, was flowing sluggishly towards the north through steppes about a league in width. The sandy river-bed was bounded by clay banks, from 20 to 25 feet in height, the entire thickness of the alluvium of the valley. The breadth of the bed at this spot was rather more than 400 feet, but at this season the running water was reduced to 80 feet wide and 4 feet deep. I was told that a few days previously the water had been u[) to a man's shoulder, and that the stream would not now fall any lower. Ten days later, on my return, I crossed the river about three- quarters of a league to the south, and although I found that the wholf bed was covered, yet its deptli was not above tiiree AN APOSTEOPHE. 187 or four feet. Heuglin had crossed the Dyoor at a spot about 20 miles north of where I was, and on the 8th of April 1863 he found the stream about 300 paces in width, with a depth varying from one foot to three. Among the Bongo and Dyoor alike, the river goes by the name of " Gueddy," whilst the Niara-niam, in whose territory lies the wliole of its upper course, call it "Sway." It is ascertained to be one of the more important tributaries of the system of the White Nile. I found its source in Mount Baginze, in the eastern portion of the Niam-niam country, ill lat. 5° 35' N., and in almost tlie same longitude as that in which it joins the Gazelle; its main course, omitting the smaller windings, extends over 350 miles. As we were wading across its clear waters, my servant, Mohammed Araeen, was suddenly attacked by a sentimental fit of home-sickness. He has been mentioned before as distin- guished by the nickname of " the swimmer," and as a former Keis he was always more interested than anybody else in river-systems and hydrographical questions. Stopping mid- way in the channel, as though lost in contemplation, he suddenly apostrophised the waters : " Yonder lies Khartoom j yonder flows the Nile. Pass on, stream, pass on in peace ! and bear my greeting to the dear old Bahr-el-Nil !" An Egyptian would have been too stolid to be moved like this son of Nubia. The bush-ranges on the opposite shore were enlivened by numerous herds of hartebeests and leucotis antelopes. I hurried on in advance of my caravan, hoping to enjoy a good chase, but my attempt only resulted in a circuitous ramble and in extreme fatigue. It was not until the middle of the day that I rejoined my people in a little village of the Dyoor, and by that time, inexperienced as I was, the heat, the run- ning, and the fear of losing my way had conspired almost to deprive me of the use of my senses. The numberless herds that, w^ithout making a stand, continually scampered across 188 THE HEART OF AFRICA. my path, still fiu-ther increased my bewildermeut. I was far oiiwar.ls ou my way back when a Hock of domestic goats, startled by the apparition of a stranger came running athwart my way. They were of a reddish colour, and, had they been in the midst of a wilderness, might easily be mistaken for the little bush antelope {A. madoqua), so common in these parts. I was just about to send a last despairing shot amongst the harmless creatures, but discovered my mistake betimes. When I afterwards related my adventure for the entertain- ment of my j)eople, one of them told a similar anecdote of a previous traveller, who, however, had actually shot a goat, and when the enraged owner insisted upon compensation, could not be induced, even in the face of the corpus delicti, to acknowledge liis error. The man who told this had been an eye-witness of the aftair, and described in the liveliest manner the contest that had raged over the zoological character of the hapless goat. Rather more than a league from the Dyoor, in an irregu- lar valley sloping towards the river and surrounded by wooded hills, was situated, but newly built, the chief settle- ment of Ivurshook Ali. Khalil, the aged governor, received me most kindly. After the entire destruction of the former establishment by fire, he had erected in its place quite a model .Seriba. This is depicted in the background of the accom- panying drawing. In front is a majestic khaya-tree, which in years to come will probably be the sole surviving relic in the landscape. Several of the most important types of vege- tation are also represented : on the left are the large (jandelabra-euphorbia and borassus palms, and on the right appear the little gardenia trees, of which the fruit resembles the wild pear or the crab-apple ; by the side of these are two deserted white ant-hills. Some of my most pleasant reminiscences of xVfrican life are connected with this spot. Here it was that, two years later, aft€r experiencing the calamity of a fire, I was hospi- ^ -"5f^> ^■J^,^ , ""'■' iiHl'lllMilT'vn ''iii'i'i'"!'!ii:ii!ir :i'i!;i,iii'iiiii|ii'iii"iir:;:"!i"r', '::ii''|iT' "!';!;::: !■ ■ .''IIKI :\:4-Mf'-v FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH NIAM-NIAM. 189 tably received, and passed several months in bunting over the well-stocked environs. In no other Seriba did I ever see the same order and cleanliness. The store-houses and the governor's dwelling stood alone on an open space within the palisade ; around tlie extci'ior, at a considerable distance, were ranged the huts assigned to the soldiers and other dependants. The unhealthiness of having a crowd of wretched dwellinss huddled together, the contingent danger of fire amongst so many straw huts, and the disadvantageous lack of space in case of an attack, all had their efiect in inducing Khalil to make these innovations. On my arrival I was surrounded by a bevy of real Niam- niam,* who had been conveyed hither by an expedition lately returned from their country. They stood and gaped at me and my belongings with far more curiosity than had been evinced by the stolid natives of the country. Whilst I was supposed to be listening to the performances of the resident Bongo on the guitar, it seemed as though these Niam-niam would never tire of examining my paraphernalia. My watch, breech-loader, revolver, my clothes, and even my lucifer matches had to be scrutinised separately. Nothing of equal wonder had crossed their experience ; and what with my white skin and my appearance altogether, I looked to them like some being from another world. Amongst the acquaintances that I made here I must not forget to mention a speculative slave-trader from Tunis, who was now making a second journey over Darfoor. He could speak a little French, and, to the astonishment of every one, he could read the names upon my maps. He was the most refined of his calibre that I had ever met, and to me was a sort of deus ex machinci. Whenever I saw him I had always a vague feeling that he must be some distinguished explorator in disguise — perhaps a Burton or a Kohlts. Our * The word Niam-niam has the Italian pronunciation of " Gnamgnam." 190 THE HEART OF AFRICA. complexions were alike, our education liad been alike, and so in these distant regions we met like fellow-countrymen. In an unguarded moment I grasped his hand, drew him aside, and begged him privately to tell me who he was and where he came from. His loud laugh of surprise at my inquiry was quite enough, and in an instant completely dispelled any illusion on my part. The fact of meeting a slave-trader from Tunis in this spot so completely remote corroborates the imputation of an un- expected extent of the slave trade in Africa. This polished Tunisian was, to say the least, in many respects superior to the adventurers who ordinarily come from Darfoor and Kor- dofan. Of them nothing can be said too bad. They pursue their revolting craft under every pretext ; coming as fakis or priests, tliey make their iniquitous exchanges for that living ebony which consists of flesh and blood, and, altogether, they are as coarse, unprincipled, and villanous a set as imagination can conceive. It is pleasant to turn from these incarnations of human depravity to the calm undesecrated quiet of the wilderness around. Two leagues to the west brought us to the Wow, a river of inferior magnitude, but which was very charming. Meandering between rocky slopes, overhung v\ ith a rich and luxuriant foliage, and shadowed at intervals by stately trees, after a few miles it joins the Dyoor. Its bed, at its full measure, is 150 feet wide ; but when I saw it, on the 1st of May, it exhibited merely two little rills trickling merrily over a rough sandy bottom. In proportion to its size it seemed to retain in the dry season less water than the Dyoor. It rises in the heart of the Niam-niam country, where it is called the Nomatilla ; as it passes through the Bongo it is termed the Harey ; whilst just above its confluence with the Dyoor, to which it contributes about a third of its volume, it goes by the name of the Nyanahm. It divides the people of the Dvonr into the two tribes of the Gony and the Wow. THE WOW SERIBA. 191 On the banks of this, stretched beneath a noble tree, of which the age far exceeded any tradition of the natives, I enjoyed a noonday lounge. My dogs were never weary of awakening the echoes of the forest, which would give repeated answers to their cries. I was constrained to move on by the people who had come out to welcome me from the neighbouring Seriba of Agahd, known simply as Wow, at a distance of a league and a half to the west. The posses- sions of Agahd's company in this district are much scattered, and are interspersed amidst the territories belonging to other merchants. Their subordinate settlements extend far west into the lands of the Kredy, their expeditions reaching even to the western frontiers of the Niam-niam. The further the advance towards the west from the Dyoor, the more rapid is the increase in the level of the country. The ascent indicates the progress from the basin of the Gazelle to the central highland. The Wow Seriba occupied the centre of a gentle valley sloping towards the west. The bottom of this valley, at the time of my visit, was traversed by a marshy strip of meadow, which, in the rainy season, forms a running brook that flows into the river. A steep descent ot a hundred feet bounds the valley on the south- west. I was struck by the richness and diversity of the foliage — a peculiarity in this part of Africa, Avhere vegetation seems very much to run to wood, and develops itself in bushes and in trees. Of the trees which adorn the hanging rocks I may men- tion a few which are remarkable on account of their fruit. The Goll of the Bongo bears pods which, in appearance and in flavour, resemble those of the St. John's Bread, and on that account the Nubians, who use the skins as tan, call it the Caroob. Its wood, like palisander, is carved by the natives into pretty stools and benches. Then there was the Oncoba, from which are made the little round tobacco-boxes, known in the Arabian trade on the Bed Sea ; and there was 192 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the Stryclinos edulis, of whicli the fruit is not luilil^e a pome- granate, coutaiuing an edible pulp inclosed in a brittle woody- shell. Together with these grew the Ximenia, a shrub common to the tropics of both hemispheres. The blossoms of this emit a soft fragrance as of orange flowers, and it bears a round yellow fruit about the size of a cherry, which is about as sour as anything in nature. The flavour is like a citron, and the soft nut-like kernel is eaten with the juicy pulp. Several kinds of sycamore, apparently of the Egyp- tian species, bear edible figs, but they are poor and insipid. A beverage refreshing as lemonade is prepared from tlie great creeper carpodinus. This plant is well known in the Guinea trade for its produce of caoutchouc. Its globular fruit (the sour pishamin of the colonists) contains a large number of kernels embedded in a fibrous pulp ; its sourness ex- ceeds that of the citron. The sarcocephalus, the wild original of the species that is cultivated in Guinea, does not here grow larger than a peach ; in shape and colour it may be compared to a strawberry, though in flavour it resembles an apple : eaten to excess it acts as an emetic. The white flowers of this Rubiacea smell like orange-blossoms. The pericarp of the cordyla contains a green honey-pulp, and that of the detarium a sweetish yellow powder. Many species of vitex bear an olive-like fruit with a sweet aromatic flavour ; and spondias offer great tempting plums of a bright yellow, which, however, leave a harshness in the throat. The ripe berries of the widely diffused vangueria taste like gingerbread, and this peculiarity, in a certain sense, belongs to nearly all the edible fruits of Central Africa : whatever is not sour and astringent, like unripe gooseberries, is somewhat sweet and dry to the tongue. With the exception of the plantain (Musa sapientium), which has every claim to be considered a native of Equatorial Africa, all other fruits are cither sour and grating on the jiahitc, or tliev arc sweet with an after sensation of drvne«;s. BUFFALO-HUNTING. 193 Tlie most perfect examples of each of these are the pishamin and the date ; intermediate to thorn both is the tamarind. On accoimt of the numerous gnats and gadflies on the west of the Dyoor, cattle-breeding suddenly ceases, and even in the Seribas there are found only a few sheep and goats. On the other hand, wild buffaloes, after being entirely missing for a long way to the east of the river, now re-appear. We had not come across any since we entered the region of the Gazelle, and the first that we now saw were on the southern frontier of the Bongo territory. Only one kind of buffalo is known in this part of Africa, but the difference in the formation of their horns is so remarkable that cows and bulls appear quite like two distinct animals. In the bulls the roots of the horns meet at the toj) of the head, and cover the whole of the forehead, whilst in the cows they are sepa- rated by nearly the entire width of the brow. The habit of this animal is different from what is ordinarily found else- where ; for in these regions buffsilo-hunting is considered by no means a dangerous sport. After my recent experience on the White Nile I was surprised to find so many ready, without hesitation, to accompany me to the chase. For my- self I had rather a dread of the animal, as my predecessor, Herr von Harnier, had fallen a victim to a wild buffalo, which had mutilated his body to such a degree that it could not be recognised. On the morning after my arrival I had the luck to surprise a small herd in a swamp. They immediately took to flight, with the exception of two, a cow and her calf, which looked about, astonished, after their disturber. I and my companion fired simultaneously, and we should have secured the sucking calf, if the swamp had not been in our way. In flavour, the best parts of the buffalo-meat almost rival that of a fattened ox : it is tougher and more stringy, but, in spite of everything, it is juicy and palatable. The flesh of the tame species of southern Europe is, on the contrary, VOL. I. o 194 THE HEART OF AFRICA. worse than canier.s flesh, and may indeed be pronounced uneatable. Ghidly I shoukl have extended my tour westward, to the Kosanga mountain, and as far as the Seribas of Zebehr, Bizelli, and some others. The agents were always courteous, and, unencumbered, I could easily have accomplished my desire ; but my botanical collection had largely increased, and my supply of paper was exhausted, so tliat I was con- strained to give up my project, and to return. The rapid development of vegetation, moreover, warned me that I ought to be back at my quarters in Ghattas's Seriba before the beginning of the rains, so that for the whole of the season, after they had decidedly set in, I might concentrate my energies on the investigations which were the proper purpose of my journey. Accordingly, after exploring the immediate neighbourhood of Wow, I returned at once to Knrshook Alls Seriba, where I spent a few more days in some brief excursions. Dense still were the woods around the settlement, although Khalil, in order to obtain arable land, was daily thinning them by fire. 'The small depth of soil in these parts, often barely a foot, is one of the causes of the instability of the dwellings which are run up on it, and which are also liable to destruction from worms above and from white ants below. When the inhabitants are compelled to rebiiihl, they prefer to settle on fresh territory — they choose virgin soil, and hence it arises that not only the villages of the natives, but even whole settlements of the Nubians, are continually changing their sites. Every place bears the name of the native chief; when he dies, therefore, the foi'mer name falls into oblivion. In consequence of this, it becomes very difhcnlt to fix on the maps names and localities, which can rarely be permanent beyond a period of at most ten years. The only enduring landmarks are afforded by the water- courses: ages pass on, and these change but little as they lulfil their function in the ocnnomv of nature. THE HARTEBEEST. 195 The environs of Knrsliook All's Seriba abound in every variety of game. (Jenets, civets, zebra-iclmeumons, wart- hogs (Phacoclioerus), wild pigs, cats, lynxes, servals, caracals, and the large family of the antelopes, all find here their home. In this neighbourhood I killed my first hartebeest and a leucotis antelope. The hartebeest (Antilo^e caama) is common throughout the greater part of the continent, and varies in its form, its colour, and the shape of its horns, according to sex, age, and adventitious circumstances. In zoological collections two specimens are rarely seen exactly like one another.* Called " karia " by the Bongo and Central African Hartebeest. '*songoro" by the Niam-niam, the hartebeest is the most frequent of all the larger game. It is generally found in small herds, varying in number from five to ten, its haunts being chiefly uninliabited tracts of wilderness. In the cultivated districts it prefers the light bush forests in the vicinity of rivers, though it is never seen actually in the river valleys. It takes its midday rest by standing motionless against the • It may not be superfluous to give a picture of am old buck, iior to remark tliat the females also have horns. () 2 106 THE HEART OF AFRICA. trunks of trees; aud by its simiLarity in hue to the background which it chooses, it often eludes all observation. Throughout tlie raiuy season its colour is bright — a sort of yellow-brown, with a belly nearly white ; but in the winter it tones down to a dullish grey. With the exception of the leucotis, its flesh is the best eating of any game in the country. The leucotis antelope * is the species that congregates in Leucotis Antelope (male). the largest number in any of the districts that have been liitherto explored. In the dry season they are often seen in the wadys in large herds, varying from 100 to 300 liead ; during the rains they resort to the more elevated forests. That is their pairing time, and they divide into smaller gi'oups. These graceful animals have the same habit as the South African spring-bok ; running at full speed, with outspanned legs, they often bound four and five feet high, and jump clean over one another. The female, which has no horns, in colour and size very much resembles the yalo (A. aru7idinaeea), but it can be easily distinguished by the hair on the metatarsus being blaclc, while in the yalo it is grey. * Separate illustrations arc given of tiic niale ami female. WATERPOOLS IN THE RED ROCK. 197 Throiigbout the whole of this neighbourhood are numerous plains of ferruginous swamp-ore ; only in the rainy seasons, wlien the rainfall is at its height, are these covered at all with grass, which at its best, compared to the luxuriant vege- Leucotis Antelope (female). tation around, is a meagre down, hardly equal to our poorest ])asture lands. On this plateau the raius of March and April begin to fill the numerous clefts and chasms; the pools thus formed contain a variety of interesting water-plants, which disappear completely w hen the waters again subside. Where- ever the red rock is exposed, its surfiice is adorned by the rosy blossoms of the dianthera, a species of capparis, which here supplies the place of our viscous catch-fly and cuckoo- flower. Nowhere in the exuberant tropics are we more vividly reminded of our own scenery than in such spots as these, where, on the edge of woody precipices and surrounded by the smiling green of the sward, gleam these gay patche^^ of dianthera. The naked stone covered by a low detached overgrowth, in picturesque grouping, rivalled all that I had ever seen. The gardenia trees fill the air with the fragrance as of a bower of orange blossoms and jasmine. The month of ]\Iay here, as in Europe, is a month of flowers, amongst which the world of buttei-flies pass tlieir ephemeral existence. As a ruh', tliese lepidoptera were not 198 THE HEART OF AFRICA. laro-er nor more diversified in form and colour than the Euro- pean, but, in their atrgregate, they were full of beauty. The dews of night were not sufficient for their thirst, and in motley masses they assembled round every puddle to enjoy the precious moisture. By a skilful swing of the butterfly- net I could catch a hundred at a time. They continue to swarm in this way till the beginning of July. At times I saw them thronging all amongst the Ibliage, and giving to many a plant the appearance of being covered with the most variegated blossoms ; the bare rock, though destitute of vege- tation, became as charming as a blooming meadow. The quantities of butterflies in this district are very large in com- parison to what are found in the northern regions of Africa at this season. Two leagues to the south of the new Seriba was the site of the one which had been burnt. But few vestiges remained, lor nature here soon effaces what iirc may have spared. The only surviving evidence of its ever having been the resort of men was a thriving grove of plantains (Musa sapientum). The shoots had been introduced from the Niam-niam lands. In he meagre houseliolds of the Nubians, fruits and vegetables are hardly considered necessaries ; indolence and distaste for work cause the gardens to be much neglected. By my own experience, I have found that all gaiden produce of the southern regions can be cultivated here at the outlay of very little attention. The plantain bears fruit within eighteen months of its first sprouting. Coi)ious is the river as it flows by the place, shaded by magnificent afzelia, fila'a, and syzygium. The ini- jtenetrable jungles of bamboo, which extend on either side, are the abode of a large number of bear-baboons. It was in vain that for some hours I pursued one after another of these bellowing brutes : immediately they became aware of my approach, they wei'e knowing enough to quit their ex- posed positions on the trees and conceal themselves amidst tup: hafhia vinifera. luo the waving grass. The jungle swarmed, too, with great wart- hogs (Phacochierus), wliich appear as ineradicable as the wild boars of Europe. The chase of these had small attraction for me, aware as I was of the extreme unsavouriness of their flesh. On my way back to the Seriba I made a slight detour, in order to visit the village of the Dyoor chief Okale. This lies to the east, upon a small stream, the banks of which are shadowed by some splendid woods that display the glories of the Niam-niam wilderness. It was like an enclave of the south transported to the bushwoods of the north. I looked here that I might discover the palm-tree, which the Khartoomers call the Nakhl-el-Faraoon (or Pharaoh's date-palm), and of which they had given a wonderful description that roused my curiosity. I soon satisfied myself that they really meant the Rajohia vinifera, which grows far and wide throughout tropical Africa, althougli probably, in this direction, this may be its limit. A considerable number of the trees and plants charao teristic of the jSiani-niam lands occurred to me in my rambles, and amongst them the blippo (Gardenia malleifera), with the inky sap of which the Niam-niam and the Monbuttoo delight to dye themselves. Whether we advanced through villages or hamlets, we always found the overseers in their full state. Their official costume Wcis everywhere a long chintz shirt. From their sparkling eyes beamed forth the delight with which they regarded my appearance, doubtless to them singular enough. Most readily they admitted me to every corner of their households, whence I procured one curiosity after another, and what I could not carry away I copied into my sketch-book. Although I could not manage, in the course of an ex- cursion not occupying three weeks, to traverse the entire district of the Dyoor, I nevertheless very much increased my familiarity with their habits, of which I will conclude this chajitfr with a concise account. 200 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Dyoor is a name assigned by the Dinka, and is synonymous with men of tlie woods, or wild men. This designation is a name of contempt, and is intended to imply the condition of poverty, in which, according to Dinka ideas, the Dyoor spend their existence. Of course, it refers to their giving their sole attention to agriculture, to their few goats and poultry, and to their disregard of property in cattle. They speak of themselves as Lwoh. They use the Shillook dialect unaltered except in a few expressions which they have adopted, and are anxious to claim a northern origin, specifying their progenitors as 0-Shwolo, or k^liillooks. The area of their territory is quite small, and their number cannot exceed 20,000 souls. On the north they are bounded by the numerically large tribe of the Dembo and some smaller kindred clans. Eighty miles to the south of them, but separated by the entire width of the Bongo country, reside the Belanda, a tribe of which the customs are modified by their intercourse with the Bongo, but which still make use, with very minor differences, of the Shillook dialect. These Belanda are partly under the sur- veillance of the Niam-niam king Solongho, and partly tribu- tary to the intruders from Khartoom. The chequered map of Africa suggests to every reflective mind many considerations as to how any advance in civilisa- tion can be possible. There is an utter want of wholesome intercourse between race and race. For any inember of a tribe which speaks one dialect to cross the borders of a tribe that speaks another is to make a venture at the hazard of his life. Districts there are, otherwise prosperous in every way, which become over-populated, and from these there are emigrations, which entail a change of pursuits, so that cattle- breeders become agriculturists and agriculturists become Imntcrs living on the chase ; districts again there are which shelter the remnant of a people who are resisting oppression to tlic very verge of despair; ;ind tliere are districts, more- DYOOR DECORATIONS. 201 over, whick have been actually reduced to a condition of vassalage and servitude ; but the case is liere altogether without example of a district which, whatever be its other fluctuations, has ever submitted to a change of race or of tongue. Former travellers, although they have found their way to the Dyoor without concerning themselves with the origin of the people, appear to have made the observation that their complexion is a shade lighter than that of the Dinka. For my part I am convinced that this is so ; not that I should feel justified in insisting upon this token as showing a difference between Dinka and Shillooks. Probably, the colour of the skin of the Dyoor loses something of its darl^er hue from their living in the shadows of their woodlands ; but this is a question which involves meteorological and geographical considerations which are beyond our grasp. In spite of their intercourse for many years, and their partial dependence upon the Dinka, the Dyoor have not departed from the Shillook mode of decorating themselves. Just on the extreme borders a few may every now and then be found imitating the radial stripes upon tlie foreheads; but it is quite uncommon for either sex to tattoo themselves. Neither does their daily familiarity with the Nubians induce them to adopt a modest dress. They only wear round the back of their loins a short covering of leatlier, some- thing like the skirts of an ordinary frock coat ; a calfskin answers tliis purpose best, of which they make two tails to hang down behind. Anything like the decorations of the hair which have excited our \vonvuor. commerce by the Dembo, who, as neighbours ol' the Baggai'a, were led into business relations alike with Kordofan and Darfoor on the one hand, and with the northern negroes on the other. Our fine metals, one and all, were quite unknown amongst them. Their women, too, in hardly any respect differ from tlie Dinka women ; like them burdening the wrists and ankles with a cluster of rings. Very frequently one great iron ring is thrust through the nose, the hole to admit it being bored indifferently through the base, the bridge, or the nostrils, 'i'he rims of the ears also are pierced to carry an indefinite number of rings. These deformities are especially charac- teristic of the Belanda, who sometimes attach to their nose a dozen rings at once. One of the iron decorations which is most admired, and which is found iar away right into the heart of Africa, I first saw here amongst the Dyoor; I mean the iron beads or per- GLASS BEADS. 203 forated little cylinders of iron, strung together. These have some historical interest attached to them in connection with the development of trade in Africa, arising from the fact that they were earlier in use than glass beads, to which they must be compared. Glass bnids, obviously, were only brought into the market after it had been proved that the natives would be willing to wear ornaments like in form but of a lighter material than the hard metal which they were wont to forge into shape piece by piece. The Japanese and other inhabitants of Eastern Asia are known to trick themselves Portrait ot a Pjvor. out in steel beads, thus evidencing their long exclusion from all intercourse with Europe. In the Soudan these strings of 204 TEIE HEART OF AFRICA. beads were principally made at Wandala, and Bartli has specially noticed them at Marghi. Every tribe which I visited in proceeding inland from the Gazelle I found to retain the preference for beads made of iron. The derivation of the stock from a negro race of the nobler kind, and one which has a small development of jaw, such as the Shillook, may be fairly understood from the accompanying portrait. The sitting figure is a likeness which I took at my leisure of one of my bearers. I thought it would illustrate the graceful slimness of the limbs, which nevertheless are all in due proportion. It may serve, too, in a degree to exem- plify the appropriateness of the expression " swamp-man," which I have several times employed, and moreover may hel[) to justify the comparison which has likened them to a bird. riirtrait of a Dj-oiir. In recent times they have lost some of their ancient habits. Fur instance, the ju-acticc of mutual spitting, which was long SPEAR-HEADS AND SPADES. 205 the ordinary mode of salutation, has fallen into desuetude. Throughout the entire period of my residence in Africa I was never a witness of it more than three times : and in all these cases the spitting betokened the most affectionate goodwill ; it was a pledge of attachment, an oath of fidelity ; it was to their mind the proper way of giving solemnity to a league of friendship. The spot which the Dyoor iuliabit is the inferior terrace of the ferruginous formation in the district. The consequence is that they are quite at home with all iron work. The Dinka, although they do not settle down close to them, because of the hostility of the Bongo, yet are glad to wel- come the Dyoor, in order to avail themselves of their aid in getting at the iron, which would otherwise be unsecured. It Spear Head. might almost be said that every Dyoor is a smith by profes- sion. The result of their toil, however, does not so much find its way to the underground stores of the Dinka as to the masrazines of the Khartoom merchants. Dyoor Spade. The accustomed shape in which the raw material is used as a medium of exchange is in spear heads* or in spades. * The spear-heads, as represented m the engraving, are about three-quai ters of a yard in length. 206 THE HEAIIT OF AFlllCA. Throughout the whole district of the Upper Nile these answer all the purpose of our current coin. Althoagh the superficial veins of iron ore, for hundreds of miles, do not differ much in their appearance, there are only certain localities which produce an ore that, under the j)rimitive mode of smelting, yields a remunerative supply of genuine metal. One of these prolific veins is found in the proximity of Kurshook All's Seriba. With a perseverance for m hich I could not have given them credit, tlie natives have dug out trenches some ten feet deep, from which they have obtained a material very like our roe-stone. Considerable quantities of red ochre are discovered, but they are not turned to any account, through ignorance of a proper way of manipulation. Just before the commencement of seed-time, in March, the Dyoor make a general move away from their huts, partly for the purpose of dragging the rivers for fish, and partly to busy themselves with iron-smelting in the woods. In the siiaded centre of a very wooded spot they construct their furnaces of common clay, making them in groups, sometimes as many as a dozen, according to the number of the party. Tlieir wive? and children accompany them, and carry all their movables. In the midst of the wilderness, otherwise so desolate, they form a singular picture. The stems of the trees gleam again with tlieir lances and harpoons; on the branches hang the stout bows ready for the buffalo hunt ; everywhere are seen the draw-nets, hand-nets, snares and creels, and other fishing-tackle. There is a mingled collec- tion of household effects, consisting of gourd-shells, baskets, dried fish and crocodile, game, horns, and hides. On the ground lie piles of coals, of ore, of cinders, and of dioss. Petherick, the fii-st explorer of this Dyoor district, has given a very accurate account of their primitive method of smelt- ing iron, so tliat I may be repeating in a degree what has been related before : many things, however, there are which appeared to mo under a somewhat different aspect. DYOOR SMELTING FURNACE. 207 The smelting-fiirnace is a cone, not more than four feet liigh, widening at the top into a great goblet shape. So little deviation was there in the form of any that I saw that all seemed to me to be erected on precisely the same model. One obstacle to the construction of larger furnaces is the extreme difficulty of preventing the mass of clay from cracking in the process of drying. The cnp-shaped aperture at the top communicates by a very small throat with the cavity below, which is entirely filled with carbons. Into the upper receiver are thrown fragments of ore, of about a solid inch, till it is full. The hollow tunnel extends lower than the level of the ground ; and the melted mass of iron, find- ing its way through the red-hot fuel, collects below in a pile of slag. At the base there are four openings : one of these is much larger than the others, and is used for the removal of the scoriae ; the other three are to admit the long tewel- irons, which reach to the middle of the bottom, and keep the apeitures free for the admission of air. Without stoking. Dyoor Smelting-fumace. the openings would very soon become blocked up with slag. In reply to my inquiry I was told that bellows are never employed ; it was said that too fierce a fire was injurious, and caused a loss of metal. A period of a day and a half, or 208 THE IIEAET OF AFRICA. about forty hours, is requisite to secure the product of one kiudling. When the flames have penetrated riglit ^^through the mass of ore until they rise above it, the burning is presumed to be satisfactory. Amongst the Bongo the furnaces are different, being generally constructed in three compartments, and fitted with bellows. They also place layers of ore and fuel alternately. The deposit of metal and fuel is heated a second time, and the heavy portion, which is detached in little leaflets and granules, is once more subjected to fire in crucibles of clay. The particles, red-hot, are beaten together by a great stone into one compact mass, and, by repeated hammering, are made to throw off their final dross. Nearly half of the true metal is scattered about during the progress of the smelting, and would be entirely lost if it were not secured by the natives. In regard to its homogeneousness and its malleability, the iron procured in this way is quite equal to the best forged iron of our country. The Dyoor and the Bongo appear almost equally ignorant about charcoal-burning. They understand very little about the exclusion of air from the furnaces, or of burning their wood in piles : their science seems limited to the combustion of small fragments heaped up over one another till the fire below them is choked, or subdued by pouring water upon the top. I am not aware whether the other negroes have mastered the secret of charcoal-making ; but if what has been said about the Dyoor holds good about Africa in general, it accounts at once for the remarkable fact that in spite of the abundance of the crude material, iron is so little employed. There is a universal absence of lime, so that stone erections are quite unknown. If a comparison might be instituted, I should say that in Africa iron might be estimated to have a value about equi- valent to copper with us, whilst the worth of copper would correspond to that of silver. . 1/ /;:.l..llllill:i»lllll|lli'M!:.ll!.M.[l demoralising tendency of Islamism, which would ever give a retrograde movement to all civilisation. Throughout Africa I have never come across a tribe that has not adopted a mode of building huts which, alike with respect to exterior and interior, is not peculiar to itself. The huts of the Dyoor do not resemble the mushroom shapes of the Shillooks, nor are they like the substantial huts of the Dinka, massive and distinguished by small outbuildings and porches. Again, they could not for a moment be mistaken to be dwellings of the Bongo, because they have no straw projections about the top of the roof. In a general way they are a yet more simple and unadorned construction — not that they are destitute of that neat symmetry which seems to belong to all negro dwellings. The roof is a simple pyramid of straw, of which the section is an equilateral triiingle, the substructure being all of wickerwork, either of wood or bamboo, and cemented with clay. Inside every hut there is a large receptacle for storing whatever corn or other provision is necessary for the house- hold. I'hese are made of wickerwork, and have a shape like great bottles. To protect them against the rats, which never fail to carry on their depredations, they are most carefully overdaubed with tliick clay. They occupy a very large pro- portion of the open space in the interior ; very often they are six or seven feet in height, and sometimes' are made from a compound of chopped stubble and mud. After the huts have been abandoned, and all else has fallen into VOL. I. P 210 THE HEART OF AFRICA. decay, these very frequently survive, and present the appear- ance of a bake-oveu gone to ruin. In the Arabic of the Soudan this erection is called a " googah." It is derived from the Dinka ; the huts of the Bongo and the Niam-niam having nothing of the sort, because they build detached granaries for their corn. The picture \vhicli is here introduced is a representation of the rural pursuits of this peaceful tribe. It is presumed to be winter time, ^^hen, for some months to come, no rain is to be expected. It may be taken as illustrating what might be witnessed at any time between October and April. The tall erections adjacent to the huts contain the various grain requisite for the next seed time, and may be supposed to be full of the sorghum, the maize, and the gourd.* It is better to let these be exposed to the siin rather than to run the risk of having them devoured by rats or vermin in the huts. Underneath these structures the goats are hid ; besides these, dogs and some poultry are the only domestic animals they keep. The open space in front of the huts consists of a plain, most carefully levelled by treading it down. Uj)on this floor, which is perfectly hard, the corn is winnowed ; and it serves as a common area for all domestic purposes. In front of the huts, too, sunk to some depth below the ground, there is a great wooden mortar, in which the corn, after it has been fii-st pounded by the primitive African method of stones, is reduced to a fine meal by rubbing with the hands. The Dinka also use these sunken mortars, which are hewn out of some hard wood ; but the Bongo and Niam-niam carry with them movable mortars of a smaller size. To the right maybe observed a man, who is collecting iron ore, and one of the wicker baskets which belong to the * The Dyoor cultivate very nearly the same crops as the Bongo, and tliese will be deBcribed with rofcrenco to that pooplo. DYOOR PURSUITS. 211 reserve of corn. Great gongs hang upon the posts towards the left, and some of tlie massive bows, of which the strings are ready stretched by a billet to serve as snares. This artifice is employed by several of the people of this district to facilitati^ their chase of the wild buffaloes. Very strong straps of hide are strained across the tall grass of the low- lands, where the buffaloes congregate. One end is listened either to a tree or to a peg driven into the ground, the other end attached to the bow. This forms a kind of noose which, through the rebound of the billet, tightens itself about the legs of the buffalo when it strains it. The startled beast makes a bound, and is immediately fettered. The hunters, who had been lying in w ait, seize this moment and, with their lances, strike at the prey, which, if not utterly entangled, is sure by the bow to be obstructed in its running. In a similar way all the larger antelopes are captured, especially the powerful eland, at which it is hard to get, even after it has been driven to the marshy levels. Good large families have the Dyoor ; and were it not that the Nubians come upon the land, and every year carry off at least half the corn that is grown, there would long ago have been, as with their kindred on the White Nile, a dense Dyoor population. They partake also of the skilfulness of the Shillooks in obtaining resources for liveliliood in various ways : they pursue the chase, they practise fishing when they have the chance ; they are industrious in tillage ; they thoroughly appreciate the value of cattle, and would like to possess them, although in their new settlement they can boast little more than a few kids and goats. To have a well- stocked poultry-yard, and to possess that friend of man, a good dog, is essential to the satisfaction of a Dyoor house- hold. Upon these the attention of the men is centred, and on these they make their largest outlay. If they escape servitude to the Nubians, and are not obliged to turn porters to convev their burdens, or builders to erect their dwellings, p 2 212 THE HEART OF AFRICA. they employ themselves with their fishing and hunting, or in practising the art of Tubal Cain. Labour in the fields is all done by the women, upon whom also falls the entire domes- tic superintendence as well as the actual work of the house ; they make all the wickerwork and do all the manipulation of the clay ; they trample down the level floor and mould the vessels of every size. It is remarkable how they manage with the mere hand to turn out immense vessels which, even to a critical eye, have all the appearance of being made on a wheel. In order to render a clay floor perfectly level and free from cracks they work in a very original way. They procure from the woods a piece of tough bark, about three feet long ; they then kneel dowi\ upon the clay, and per- severe in patting it with their pieces of bark till they make the surface of the soil as smooth as though it had been rolled. In a very similar way they prepare the graves for their dead, which they arrange very close to their huts. A circular mound, some three or four feet high, indicates the situation of the last resting-place of a Dyoor so long as the violence of the rain allows it to retain its shape ; but a very few years suffice to obliterate the final vestiges of these transient memorials. Affection for parents and for children is developed amongst the Dyoor much more decidedly than in any other Central African tribe which I have known. In a way that I have not observed among other pagan negroes, they place their infants in long baskets that answer the purpose of cradles. There is a kind of affection which even brutes can display to their offspring as well as human beings. In the very lowest grades of human society there is ever a kind of bond \\hich lasts for life between mother and child, although the father may be a stranger to it. Such, to say the least, is the mea- sure of affection which the Dyoor show to their little ones. Nor is this all ; they have a reverence for age ; and in every hamlet there are grey heads amongst them. 213 CHAPTER VI. Laying out a garden a V Europeenne. Hunting adventure with a bastard Gems-bok. Death of Arslau. Physiognomy of the vegetation. Character of the soil. Geograpliy of plants. Destruction of a Seriba by natives. Seriba law. Cuttle-raids on the Dinka. Tour round Ghattas's Seribas. Geography at Geer. Fish of the Tondy. Fear of ghosts in Koolongo. Caves of Gubbehec. Central African jackal. Bamboos in blossom. Triumph of Natiu-e over her traducers. Joint-stock distillery in Gurfala. Nubian love of drink. Petherick's Mundo. Unsuccessful chase in the long grass. Two bush-antelopes. Cultivated plants of the district. Cereals, Large growth of sorghum. Leguminous fruits. Oily fruits. Tubers. Vegetables. Tobacco. Smoking in Africa. I WAS again in Ghattas's Seriba on the 13th of May. The arrival of an ivory caravan on its retnrn journey had brought an unwonted animation. But for me very soon the ordinary routine of life came back, and one day passed on just like another in the closest intercourse with Nature. Except during some temporary excursions to the Bongo, this Seriba would be my residence for some months to come, and I set to work to nialce my quarters as comfortable as I could in a good-sized hut which had been vacated for me. The first thing I did was to lay out a large vegetable garden, a task which engaged not only all my own people, but gave occupation to not a few of the black slaves of the place. I had not only brought with me a good supply of pickaxes and spades, but I had likewise a capital collection of seeds. Thus I hoped at once to provide for my own necessities, and to prove to the natives the productiveness of their soil. The plot of ground was nearly 200 paces square, iind the ii<-xt thino: was to enclose it with a hedge of straw. 214 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. and to lay it out with a series of parallel beds. The larger iiumber of these beds I planted with the best sorts of maize, of which I had procured the original ears from New Jersey. Seventy days after sowing I reaped the crop, and the in- gathering did not simply answer my highest expectations, but surpassed in quality the original stock ; the kinds which seemed to succeed best being those which after they are dry are horny and transparent. Tobacco from IMaryland grew to an immense height, and 1 gathered several hundredweights of it. There was not altogether so much of a deficiency of tobacco in the country as of the larger leaves, of which use could be made for rolling into cigars. In Egypt the Virginian tobacco can be made to grow leaves as large as the palm of one's hand, but in the negro districts the whole produce is quite diminutive. Negroes always sow tobacco under cover before they plant it out ; the midday sun of Central Africa is too powerful for the seed, which infallibly perishes in a parched soil. I had always to guard against the same difiiculty with all my European vegetables, especially in July, or at other times, when five or six days without a drop of rain would come in succession, and I only saved my young sprouts by having water brought twice a day by the women in their great pitchers. Worms did a vast amount of mischief amongst the germinating seeds, and no devastator was more destructive than the great millipede {yS^irostreiitus), which, as long and thick as my finger, penetrated the soil in every direction. The havoc made in this way amongst the beans before they were set was very considerable. The hard, yet fertile soil, I feel certain, is quite suited for our cucuniljcrs, cabbage, turnip-cabbage, and radishes. Of radishes, tJie European sort succeeds better than the Egyp- tian, which belongs to quite an anomalous variety. Melons and water-melons can only be ripened during the winter UK'iitlis, wheji they are artiticially protected and supplied GAllDEN VEGETABLES. 215 with moisture. Any attempt to grow them in the rainy- season always results in failure ; either the fruit is eaten by worms long before it is mature, or the leaves are devoured by grubs. Here, too, I trained some tomatoes and sunflowers, which ever since have been quite naturalised in this part of Africa. Had my sojourn been longer, I should have made an attempt at establishing the plantain, of which indeed I saw some isolated plants now and then in the Seriba. This is a natural production of the land of the Kiam-uiara ; it would doubtless thrive here, but the indolence of the Nubians is so great, and their indifference towards all produce that must be gained by toil is so indomitable, that garden culture amongst them remains fitful and unprogressive. When I had seen all the labours of the kitchen-garden complete, I was free to abandon myself to tlie full delights of the flora. Up with the sun, I used to take one or two of my people with me to carry my portfolios and my arms, and in the safe proximity of the Seriba I explored the woods for hours together, returning about noon with a whole treasury of floral wealth. My table at meals never failed to be well supplied, and I was treated as bountifully as in Africa I could be. I enjoyed sitting in the shade of some spreading tree, while I proceeded to analyse, to classify, and to register, the various novelties which I was perpetually finding. Later in the day I was in the habit of wandering out alone over the plains, whilst my servants at home busied themselves in renewing the paper for my hortus siccus, and in pressing out the plants afresh. This labour of the day was often carried on till quite late at night : it was repeated so often that my collection increased to a very considerable extent ; roll was J tiled up after roll; everything most carefully stitched up in hides ready to go along with me on my farther journey, and to be carried across deserts and seas until they could finally be deposited in the magazines of science. One of these rambles into the woods led to a singular 210 THE HEART OF AFRICA. hunting adventure, which could only occur in Central Africa. I had been sitting crouclied up for half an hour or more under the shade of a" butter-tree, in the midst of some tall grass, and, engaged in the dissection of my plants, I had quite forgotten where I was. My three attendants were enjoying, as they were accustomed, a peaceful doze ; stillness reigned so supreme in the solitude that one could almost hear the tread of every emmet on tlie soil, as backwards and forwards it liurried to the laboratory within its hill. All at once a huge shadow came in sight, and looking up I saw, just within pistol-range, the great form of a buck antelope. I was struck as much with admiration as with surprise : the creature had seemed to come suddenly from the earth. ]\[y heart fluttered at the apparition, but I could not be otherwise than sensible of its beauty. It was a specimen of the bastard gems-bok (Antihjje hucojyJiiea). Except on the belly, which was white, its long hair was all of a brownisli grey. It carried its head erect ; its ears were long and pointed ; its horns mas- sive and very long ; its black legs going off into white fet- locks. A stiff mane of bright brown crested its curved neck, and reached to its withers. It had a tail like the giraffe, with which it wisped off tlie flies — a tuft of hair of about nine inches in length appended to a long slim stem. There it stood, majestically, I might say, like a stately buffalo when it surveys the region all around before it trusts itself to feed. There it stood, in an attitude at once commanding and de- fiant. Whenever it moved the grass crackled beneath its tread, and ere long it shifted its place again and turned its lull face towards me. I cautiously reached out my hand for a ritl<^ that was lying near me, pushed back the guard, and, at the next movement of the beast, hit it with a ball right upon tlie shoulder-blade from a distance of about twenty paces. The creature reared itself up, then paused an instant, staggered, and let its head sink down as if amazed. 1 was just about to get hold of a second rifle when there came BA8TARI) GEMSBOK. 217 a sudden crash, ond, wliile I was still sitting, tlie animal had I'alleii just beyond the open portfolio which was lying out- spread before me. Fortune had thus oast the noble prey right into niv clutches. Ceiitial Alrican ISastard (U-msbok (Aiitilope kucophaa). The sound of the rifle had hardly aroused my people, for this is a country where a stray shot does not attract atten- tion for an instant ; but my shout of surprise and delight brought them quickly to their feet. Some negroes were soon fetched from the neighbouring huts, who quickly completed the work of flaying and jointing the prey. Its head alone weighed 35 pounds. The natives informed me tliat the Mahnya (as the Bongo call this species of antelope) are amtiug the rarest animals of the district, although they live as much in one quarter as another. They ai'e ordinarily found singly and far separate from any other of their kindi'ed race ; and it is said that the largest of them will assail a huntsman, and are as furicms when angry as a wild bufialo. For a long time 1 was sorely depressed by the loss of my trusty Arslan, who had been with me ever since I left Berlin and had reached the remote wilderness. He had 218 THE HEART OF AFRICA. accompanied me through all the hardships of travel ; and here I hoped that all dangers were passed, and now that the heat of the desert and the privations of water had been overcome, I had no fear of losing him ; but he sank a victim to the treachery of the climate. My dog had seemed to me almost the last link that bound me to my home, and when 1 lost hiiu I felt as though a bridge had been broken down which connected me with my native soil. It would have been a grief to me to lose my dog anywhere, but to lose him here was doubly sorrowful — here, amongst cir- cumstances where lie more than ever replaced the lack of a friend. Nature, pure and free, must ever be a great consoler amidst all the disappointments of life. The stillness and peace of the plant-world brought ease to my troubled mind. To that world, as I turned then, I may be permitted to return now. Nothing could more completely witness to the great variety of vegetation in my immediate neighbourhood than the fact that during my residence of five months I male a collection of almost 700 flowering plants, which I duly classified. It would not be possible in Europe during a whole year to gather so large a number if one Mere limited to the environs of a single town. From my own exj^erience I am satisfied that, notwithstanding all means of inter- communication, it would be beyond the power of a botanist to secure anything like 500 species in an entire season. This would arise very much from his having to change his position, and from the varying time at which plants come into bloom : but here, in the land of the Dyoor and the Bongo, Flora seems to delight in crowding all her pro- fusion upon the earlier months of the rainy jjcriod: the autumn is left comparatively barren, and even at the height of the rains there is little to be foimd which was not already in perfection some time before. WOODLANDS. 219 The land itself seems decidedly less varied than in the most uniform districts of Germany. Woods indeed there are, and steppes ; there are low grassy pastures and shrubby thickets; there are fields and coppices; there are marshes and pools; there are bare rocky fiats, and occasionally ar rocky declivity ; very rarely, and only in the dry, out-drained river-beds, are sands to be met witli ; and from thef-e ordinary characteristics there is little or no deviation. The features of the Avoodlands are, however, very diver- sified. There are trees which run up to a height varying from 30 to 40 feet, and these alternate with dwarf shrubs and compact underwood. 3Iany of the fields are marked by single trees, which stand quite apart, and which have been intentionally preserved by the natives because of their edible fruit. In some places there are low-lying grassy flats, which in the rainy months are quite impassable, be- cause the grass grows taller than a man ; whilst in others the grass is stunted, because there is but a thin layer of soil to cover the rock below, and consequently vegetation is comparatively weak. As to the pasture-lands, they seem to be interrupted every here and there with bushy and impenetrable thickets, which are either grouped around some isolated trees or luxuriate about some high white ant- hill. In the shade of these are found the splendid bulbs of the Hajmanthus, Gloriosa, Clorophytum, together with Aroideae, ground-orchids, and the wonderful Kosaria. Upon the drier spots within the forests, or where the clay-soil happens to be mixed with sand, weeds and herbaceous plants are found which recall the flora of the northern steppes. Amongst these are the Capparidea?, which (existing as they do in the south of Nubia) make good their claim to be a bond of union between the two zones. Pressing further into the thickets which are formed in the forests, we come across great trees so thickly bound by the wonderful foliage of the large creej)er Carpodinus, that a ray of sunlight can 220 THE HEART OF AFRICA. never pass them. Here, too, are wild vines of many a kincl, the festoons of which are further burdened as they hang by Pioscorife and xVsclepiads. Kosaria palmata. Many are the comparisons that might be made by way of analogy betN\een the numerous trees of this delightfully wooded district and those of our own home. Some of the trees at first sight have a considerable likeness to our common oaks : amongst these may be named both the Terminalia and the butter-tree (Bassia or Biderospermum). Tlu> fruit of the latter consists of a globular oily kernel, which looks something like a horse-chestnut, and which is as large as a good-sized apricot, and is enveloped in a green rind. This envelope can be kept till it is as enjoyable as ii medlar, and is considered one of tlie chief fruits of the country. From the kernels of this widely-known tree an oil is expressed, which, under the name of " butter of Galam,' FrtUCTIFEROUS TREES. 22i is a recognised article of commerce in Gambia ; it lias an unpleasant flavour, which makes it not at all a desirable adjunct to the table, and so, for lis, it has but an insignificant value ; its most valuable property is that, at a temperature of 68° Fahr,, it becomes as solid as tallow. The tree itself is very handsome, having a bark which is regulaily marked by polygonal rifts in its surface, and which permits it to be likened to an oak. A very common tree, which bears a somewhat striking- resemblance to our white beech, is the small-leaved Ano- geissus. Nut-trees are here replaced by Kigelia and Odina. Far spread as are trees of the character of our oak, so too ^ve may say are trees which have the look of a horse- chestnut. Of this kind is the Vitex Cienhou'sldi, with others of the species, of which the sweet olive-shaped fruit is gathered as assiduously by the natives as by the wart-hogs, who relish it exceedingly. Another favourite fruit is the produce of the Diospjros mesjnliformis. The plane-tree may here be said to be represented, equally with respect to its bark, its foliage, and the pattern of its leaves, by the splendid Stereulia tomentosa, which has established itself pretty generally throughout Tropical Africa. In the place of willows Africa offers the Anaphrenium ; and over and over again the traveller may ftmcy that he sees the graceful locust- tree. The Parkia is another of those imposing ti-ees which are met with ; the leaves of this are not unlike the Poin- ciana, w hich is known also as the Poincillade or Flamboyer : its flowers are a fiery red with long stamens, and hang in a tuft; when they die oft' they leave a whole bundle of pods, a loot in length, in which the seeds are found covered with a yellow dust. The Bongo, as indeed do the Peulhs of Footah Dyalon in West Africa, mix this mealy dust with their flour, and seem to enjoy it, but it needs an African palate to con- quer the repulsiveness of this preparation. Many types of vegetation, however, abound, to which we 222 THE HEART OF AFRICA. are altogether imaeonstomed, and can exhibit nothing which appears to correspond. It is not only by the exuberance and dignity of their forms that these are marked, but still more by the novelty and grace with which Nature seems to have invested them. No European production in any way represents the Ajiona senegalensis, with its large blue-green leaf and its small fruit. This fruit contains an aromatic dark red pulp, and in a modest degree it displays something of that captivating quality which has exalted its kindred plant, the Cherimoyer of Peru, to its high repute as the queen of fruits. It must be owned, how^ever, that it is difficult to secure a well-developed example of this fruit, for so keenly is it spied out and devoured by the birds that often for months together it may be sought in vain. Much more singular is the magnificent candelabra- euphorbia, which follows the pattern of its prototype, the American cactus. Palms are not frequent enough to play any important part in the scenery, or to demand any par- ticular specification. Groups of the Borassus are observed near the river-banks, and the Phoenix spinosa, the original of the date-palm, grows upon the marshes of the steppe. Next must be mentioned the varieties of fig-trees, with their leathery leaves, and, associated with them, those chief characteristics of African vegetation, the Combreta and the Rubiacea3 ; tamarinds with their thick tubular corollas, and shrubby Gardenia3, dwarf and contorted. It was the southern limit of the acacias of the White Nile ; and only in isolated cases was the stem of the Balanites to be seen, lingering, as it were, on the steppes of Nubia. Even the tamarind had become scarce, and farther south I did not meet with it at all. In its general character the flora of this district seems to conform very much to what has been discovered on the table-land of Western Africa, of which the lower terraces form a narrow belt along the shore, and are distinguished CONFORMATION OF THE LAND. 223 for the wild luxuriance with which the African primeval forest seeks to rival the splendour of Brazilian nature. In contrast to this, the bush-forests in the higher parts of Tropical xVfrica, broken by the steppes, present in uniformity perhaps the most extensive district that could be pointed out in the whole geography of vegetation. Extending, as it does, from Senegal to the Zambesi, and from Abys- sinia to Benguela, Tropical Africa may be asserted to be without any perceptible alternation in character, but that which is offered by the double aspect of steppe and bush on the one hand, and by primeval forest in the American sense on the other. On the west this is illustrated by the marked difference between the table-lands and the low coast- terraces, whilst in the interior it is exhibited by the distinc- tion between the woods on the river banks and the flats lying between the river courses. Here, in the country of the Bongo and Dyoor, this, which may be designated as a duality, almost completely fails, on account of the small supply of water in the rivers and brooks ; but in the land of the Niam-niam it is again very striking. Limited as have been the botanical collections of the few who have explored this immense region, they are still suffi- cient to justify us in estimating the relative abundance of species. When the collections from Java and Brazil are compared with those of Tropical Africa, it is certain that the plants of Africa are not altogether half so numerous. It is not in the least below the most abundant tropical districts of the New World in producing timber trees. Trees and shrubs constitute quite a fifth of the entire production, and in the woods of the Bongo the variety of foliage is every- where astonishing. Any tracts covered by a single species are altogether rare, and would exist only within the most limited range. This uniformity of Tropical Africa in com- parison with the enormous space which it occupies, and the striking want of provinces in the geography of its plants 224 THE HEART OF AFRICA. which it displays, are the results of several agencies. On the one hand, it arises from the massive and compact form of the whole ; and on the other hand, by an external girdle which keeps it shut up, so that it is not penetrated by foreign types of veo-etation. This girdle is made by currents of the sea and lono- tracts of desert (the Sahara and Kalahari), and en- circles it entirely. In the direction towards Arabia there is, as it were, a bridge into the regions of India, and, indeed, the Indian flora has a great share in the characteristics of its vegetation. The greater number of the African cultivated plants, as well as nearly all their associated weeds, have been, beyond a doubt, derived from India — a conjecture, equivalent to a prophecy, which Rob. Brown had formed at a time when little was known of the vegetation of Central Africa. Already have I expressed my happiness at having thus reached the object of my cherished hopes — my satisfaction at thus finding life to be with me an idyll of African nature. My health was unimpaired, and never before had I been less hindered in prosecuting my pursuits. I felt alone in the temple of creation. The people around me \\ ere somewhat embarrassing. Their wickedness, with its attendant impurity, stood out in sad contrast to the purity of nature ; but it did not much disturb the inner repose of this still life. In sick- ness everything is sad, and the craving for home is not to be suppressed; but whoever, in the robustness of health, can imbibe the fresh animation of the wilderness, will find that it stamps something of its unchanging verdure upon his memory ; his imagination will elevate it to a paradise, and the days spent there will enrol themselves among the very happiest of his life. One day in June there came back to the Seriba a company which liad been sent out by the agent to fetch the ivory which had been stored in one of the minor Seribas of Ghattas on the Rohl, 130 miles away to the south-west. The proper place of embarkation for the Seribas on the Rohl, which are AN ABANDONED SERIBA. 225 under a separate agent, is the Mesliera Aboo-kooka, on the Bahr-el-G-ebel, which is nearer than the Gazelle ; but during this year the natives were animated by such a hostile spirit, that the shorter route was impracticable, and thus it was necessary to proceed to the banks of the (xazelle. In April the chief Seriba in this territory had been abandoned by the few men who had been left, after nearly all their entire garrison of a hundred men had been killed during a raid against the Dinka tribe of the Agar. The remnant, who had been informed of the calamity by some friendly natives, found themselves in a great strait. They could see no prospect of defending themselves, and were cooipelled to surrender all their stores and ammunition, and to escape under cover of night to one of the dependent JSeribas. The main body of the troops were still out on an expedition to the Niam-niam country, and it was only the fear of their sudden return which deterred the Agar from annihilating the very last of their foes. They plundered and burnt down the Seriba, which has never since been restored. It was formerly the property of the brothers Poneet, although they were never known to visit it. Petherick halted at it whilst he was on his desperate march to Gondokoro, and inserted it upon bis map under the name of Adael. Bad tidings travel quickly, and so it chanced that the intelligence of tliis dis- aster reached Khartoom before my letters ; the details were related very indistinctly, and my friends were for a while under some apprehension about my fate. In another respect a star of ill-luck seemed this year to have risen over the enterprise of the company of Ghattas. The season had drawn near in which the agents usually commenced their annual depredations in the districts of the Dinka to replenish their stock of cattle. As the various associations were entering upon mutual competition, in order to prevent disagreements, there was laid down a kind of Seriba law, which was pretty well the same everywhere. VOL. I. Q 226 THE HEART OF AFRICA. First of all, the territories immediately dependent were dis- tinctly designated. Then it provided that the approaches to a meshera should XDnly be used by those who could esta- blish a claim to it. Nearly every Seriba has its separate avenues, upon which it levies a toll, and an avenue without tolls is not a legitimate highway at all. If any extraordinary companies desire to make use of these roads, they must first come to terms with the Seriba agents, who have the super- vision of the riglit of way. Even chieftains who supply pro- visions to those who are on their transit, would be sure to attack them as foes if they were not first conciliated by being appointed as guides and dragomen. Very similar was the arrangement that regulated all the expeditions which were undertaken against the Niam-niam. Each separate company had its own route and its own train of captains, who purchased the ivory and procured a market. No new-comers were allowed to intrude themselves into an established market, or to infringe upon its trade. Fresh marts could only be established by pressing farther onwards into the interior. These new establishments in their turn were subject to monopoly, and were rigidly protected. Where- over any violation of this rule occurred, there would be very serious conflicts — so much so, that amongst the Nubians the affray was very often fatal. This, however, would only happen while the contest was limited between one negro and another, for true Nubians at once renounce all allegiance to a leader who presumed to shoot a brother Nubian. The Khartoom companies are most jealous of all their rights of cattle-plunder, alike in this region and in every other. The district over wliieh the incursions of Ghattas ranged embraced the whole of the lower course of the river Tondy. During the previous year it was said that the total of the booty was no less than 800 oxen; but this year, although the aggressions were thrice renewed, the result was altogether a failure, and was quite a derision amongst the CATTLE-HAIDS ON THE DINKA. 227 neighbours, being barely forty head of cattle. In vain had they explored the country west of the Tondy ; to no purpose had they scoured the territories alike of the Rek and of the Lao ; everywhere they were just too late. The Dinka had got intelligence betimes, and o£f they packed their herds and families to the inaccessible marshes. Their mere supe- riority in numbers here gave them the advantage, and they could hold their own against considerable troops of armed marauders. The whole Dinka tribe amongst them could hardly boast a single musket which could go off properly. Other companies, which had been more fortunate in plunder, were now ready to avail themselves of the opportunity to dispose of their superfluous cattle in barter for what the country afforded. Sometimes it might be for slaves, or for copper-rings, or sometimes (and this was a very favourite method) for bills of exchange upon Khartoom. Thus those who lived upon robbery were glad mutually to make a mai'ket of each other. The mode of carrying out these raids may be thus exem- plified : On tlie last occasion 140 armed troops, accompanied by a recognised train of some hundred natives, followed again by a lot of people with a keen scent for cattle of any sort, had set out upon their enterprise. In this cavalcade they had proceeded exactly as though their intention was merely to reach some Seriba or other. Then, all of a sudden, when they saw that the chances were in their favour, just at night- fall (deviating to one side, or even retracing their steps), they marched on till, generally at break of day, they arrived at the devoted murah. Having surrounded it, they began to beat their gongs and to fire away vigorously. They were so alarmed at the likelihood of hitting each other in the legs (for that is the general result of their firing) that they merely discharged a lot of blank cartritlges into the air. This, how- ever, was quite sufficient to intimidate the natives, who lost no time in making their escape through the gaps which the Q 2 228 THE HEART OF AFRICA. invading party were careful to provide in their ranks. In a general way the Dinka have no larger number of servants with them at their cattle-farms than is absolutely necessary, and, as I have mentioned, they leave their wives and children in outlying huts, so that these are very rarely exposed to the rapine of the invaders. By the help of the negroes whicli they bring with them, the invaders soon make themselves masters of all the herds, and hurry back covered by the protection of the soldiers. To supply the requirements of a year it is necessary that they should secure by their raid at least 2000 head of oxen. Of the plundered property two-thirds belong to the autho- rities, the remaining third being assigned to the soldiers, who hawk it about and dispose of it as they please. A portion, however, is first allotted to the leaders of the negroes, to the overseers of the districts, and to the chiefs, which is ever an excuse for great rejoicing. The scandalous accomplices, abettors, and receivers of this odious commerce are those professed slave-traders, the Gellahba, who have succeeded in finding snug quarters for themselves iu every Seriba, where they manage, like idle drones, to enjoy the produce of the toil of the industrious. Their transactions extend to calicoes, soaps, and head-gear ; they deal in firelocks, looking-glasses, and onions ; they can sell a few slaves, old or young, male or female ; they find a market for rings and beads ; they do something in amulets and verses of the Koran ; very often they have on hand some bullocks, sheep, or goats ; indeed there is hardly anything which chance does not occasionally throw into their line of business. Thus it came to pass that this year they carried on a thriving cattle-trade in our settle- ment. From the other marauding companies, whose luck had been better, they had acquired a considerable store of cattle, and they did not miss the opportunity of turning it now to their own advantage. When I consider the ravages that are made year after EXCURSION TO SUBSIDIARY SERIBAS. 229 year on so large a scale upon the cattle of the Dinka, and the enormous comumption of the Nubians, I confess that it is quite an enigma to me how the supply is not exhausted. Althougli I am aware that tliey never kill their cattle, yet the murrain of flies every season decimates their herds ; and, besides this, their cows very seldom ever calve more than once, and very frequently remain utterly barren. Observa- tions of this kind somewhat assist us in forming an estimate (if the vast numbers of the people, since for the mere oversight and custody of the myriads of cattle there must be multitudes of men corresponding to the hand-to-mouth population of our civilised communities. From the 21st of July until the -Ith of August I made a tour, which gave me an opportunity of inspecting the sub- sidiary Seribas of Ghattas. My acquaintance with the country was thus materially enlarged. A march of about four leagues towards the south-west brought me again, by a road which I had not hitherto traversed, to Geer, where the fields of sesame were already in bloom. The sesame in this district all had white blossoms, while in the Nile country it as uniformly blooms with a pale rose-coloured flower, and this is by no means an uncommon feature in the flora of the region. I could oxhil)it a long list of i)lants which elsewhere are either red or blue, but here are invariably white ; but I could not offer any satisfactory explanation of the circumstance. liike all my other wanderings in the interior, this little excursion was made entirely on foot. To get along through the tall grass was anything but easy. The negroes tread down a sort of gutter, the width of their foot, and along these we made our way, as in a wheel-rut, as best we could. It was quite necessary to keep one's steps verging inwards. Oc- casionally these gutters change their character and become water-courses, by means of which the adjacent steppes are drained. But the enjoyment of a luxuriant nature, with its perpetual change of scene, and the charms of novelty which 230 THE HEART OF AFRICA. presented themselves in the foliage, compensated liclily for a little toil ; and day by day practice made the trouble lighter. 'J'his tour contributed in various ways to my stock of in- formation. In Geer I met with the clerk from the Seriba destroyed by the Agar, who related to me the adventures whieli the sufferers had endured upon their flight. With a Faki from Darfoor, who had formerly visited Bornu and the Western Soudan, I had a long geographical dispute as to whether the great river of the Monbuttoo emptied itself into the Tsad, or flowed direct into the sea. The foreigner argued justly for the Sbary, whilst I, on the other hand, was referring to the Benwe. I succeeded in stirring him and all the other interested listeners to a state of considerable amaze- ment at my acquaintance with localities of which they had no knowledge except by rei)ort and which they bar .ly knew even by name. I told them about the whole series of states right away from Darfoor to the ocean. For about the hundredth time I had again to answer the inquiry why Europeans want so mucn ivory. The curiosity on their part is quite intelligible, as ivory is the unseen incentive which keeps alive the system of plunder practised by the Nubians, and I endeavoured to make them comprehend something about the handles of knives and sticks and parasols, the pianoforte keys, the billiard-balls, and the variety of other uses to which the material is ai)plied. From Geer, with its questions of geography, history, and political economy, I proceeded another league and a half, and came to Addai, where the whole armed force was employing itself most peaceably in the art of tailoring. In nearly all Mohammedan countries needlework is the business of the men. A short league brought me to Ivoolongo, past which there flows a copious stream, bordered by thick jungles of impenetrable bamboos, and which, not far from Addai, flows into the Tondy. The stream is singularly abundant in fish, and the Boiigcj wei'C busy in securing tliiii- chief haul. KILNOKY AND GUER. 231 They proceed very much in the European way of clamming up the stream by weirs, and laying down wicker-pots of con- siderable size. The fishing, for the most part, is done twice in the year ; first, at the commencement of the rainy season, and again when the waters begin to subside. A large proportion of the fish captured in this stream is nearly the same as what is found in the Lower Nile and in Egypt ; but some sorts arc found which are peculiar ; amongst which the fish-salamander (Lejpidosiren) and some Siluridae may be mentioned as representatives of the tropics in Africa. There is one kind of these called Kilnoky by The Kilnoky. the Bongo, and which is rather interesting. It reminds one of the species of the Auchenipterus or Synodontis, which are distinguished by their forked tail-fins. Another of the most frequent fish is that known as the " Besher " of the Nile, here called " Gurr " by the natives.* The elegant, large-sealed Heterotis nilotieus, which the Bongo style the '• Goggoh," has a tender flesh and is of a good flavour. The river does not generally abound with fish which are desirable for food, l>ut those which can be eaten generally belong to the section of the Characini ; for example, the Hijdrocyon Forskcdii, * The illustration on the following page represents a young fish, about nine inches long, and is remarkable for the long, thread-like spikes of skin on the lids of the gills. This peculiarity has been observed in Senegal, and probably is only seen whilst the lish is young. 232 THE HEART OF AFRICA. which is here called " Kyalo." This is a grey-streaked fish, glittering like pearl, in shape not unlike a salmon ; it has red fins and a regular dog's head, of which the lanky jaws, armed with conical teeth, amply justify the systematic name. Kelated to this is the " Kaha " (Ichti/horus microle])is), which is noteworthy for its pike's head, and the small-scaled DisHchoclus rostratus, or " Heeloo," as it is termed. There is another sort which the Bongo call " Tonga." Besides these there are the " Kalo " {Aledis) and the "Dologoh" {Githa- rinus). Of the perch, which plays so prominent a part in these waters, the silver-grey Lates niloticus, known as " Golo," Young Polypterus. is very abundant, and perhaps still more so the " Warr " (Chromis), about the length of a finger, and of which there are several descriptions. The " Warr," when first caught, is of a dark-green tint crossed obliquely by a number of broad dark stripes. The most common, however, of all the fish, and which seems never to fail in any of the marshes left by the retreating floods, are the sheath-fish, which belong to the Cl.irias species, the white flesh of which lias a detestable flavour of the swamps; and the " Geegongoh," which while they are alive are so like in colour to the brown slime in which they roll that they cannot be distinguished from it. A rare sort of the smaller fish is that known as the " Banghey," and which belongs to the species of the Schilbe. Interesting, as being a representative in Africa of an Indian specie^, is the speckled grey and b]-own Ophiocephalus ohscuriis. It onlv remains to mention among the les«scr sorts \ HAUNTED CAVE AT KOOLONGO. 233 " Ndeer " (Ctenopoma Petlierickii), the " Labyririthi " of the Marango (Labeo Forsl:aUi), aud the " Moll " {Mormyrus cyprinoides). There are two methods which the Bongo employ to pre- serve the flesh of their fish. Table salt they cannot get, but they substitute what they obtain from ashes. They cut the fish through leugtliways, simply expose it to be dried in the sun, and afterwards hang it u}) to be fumigated in the clouds of smoke which fill their huts. Another way is to cut the fish up and dry it, aud then to pound it all up in mortars until it is reduced to a jelly, which is rolled into balls about the size of the fist. These, with their high flavour, form a favourite ingredient in soups and sauces, which are en- tirely wanting in all other aromatic condiments. In Koolongo so many ridiculous tales were dressed up for me about the wonders of the subtenanean world, and of the abodes of evil spirits in the neighbouring caves, that I glowed with the desire to make tlieir acquaintance. No one that I could find in the Sariba had ever ventured to visit the dreaded grottoes, and the alarm of the Governor was a great joke ; after he had talked away for an hour, and declared he would accompany me, he ended by offering a handsome " backsheesh " to one of his subordinates to take his place ; but his offer to go had been publicly made, and, as matter of honour, he was bound to attend me. We had to cross a stream ten feet in depth, an 1 as, on account of an injury to his foot, he was riding an ass, the timid fellow found just the pretext he wanted to excuse his retain ; he could not allow his invaluable donkey to get a chill. In a party of eight, including myself, we set out towards the house of terror : three of my own servants, two of the soi-disant soldiers, and two of the natives who acted as guides. This company, however, could not help cousidering themselves inadequate to face the peril, and as we approached the caves some extra negroL'S from the adjacent fields were pressed into the service. 234 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Upliill for a while was our way from Koolongo, and on accomplishing the ascent we had tefore us a wide plain, and about a league away w'e could discern the spot, shrouded in a thick co[)pice, wliicli was the ohject of our march. Beaching tlie entrance to the cavern, we found it blocked up through a considerable fall of earth, which apparently had been caused by the washing away of the surface soil by springs bubbling up from beneath ; and the outside was so choked up by masses of underwood, that no one could suspect that there was a grotto in the rear. When, fourteen or fifteen years previously, the first in- truders made their way into this district, the story goes that hundreds of the natives, with their wives and children and all their goods and chattels, betook themselves to this inac- cessible retreat; and tliat liaving died of starvation, their evil spirits survive and render their place of refuge a place of danger. Just as we had contrived to push a little way into the thicket, an idea struck one of my servants that he could be as cunning as his master. Finding that I persevered in my intention, he bethought himself of the bees on the White Nile, and so there rose the shout of '" Bees, bees ! " from more than one of the party. But they got some stings they hardly looked for : one good box on the ear, followed up by another and another, made their cheeks tingle again, and they were fain to proceed. I can still laugh as I picture to myself those nigger rascals resigning themselves to enter the shrubs, and I see them heaving a sigh, and looking as if they were ready to send their lances through the first devil they should happen to meet. I followed them on through tlie hazardous pathway, the darkness growing ever deeper. Stnnililing on, we made our way over blocks of stone, de- scending for more than a hundred ieet till we reached the entrance of the cave, which, after a low kind of porchway through the rifled rocks, arches itself into a spacious grotto, ('a[)able of sheltering some thousand njcn. In plac(> of any heart-rending shrieks ol wicked ghosts. INVOKING THE SPIRITS. 235 there was nothini^ more to alarm us than the whizzing of countless bats [Phijllorhina eaffra), and thus at once tlie wliole veil of romance was torn asunder. We reclined for a time in the cool shade, and then I invited the whole party to take part in a scene of conjuration, for which they were quite prepared. With the full strength of my voice I cried, " Samiel, Samiel, Afreed ! " invoking the spirits of evil to put in an appearance ; thus all pretext of fear from that quarter was put to rest ; and now belief in ghosts took another shape, and the men pretended that they were terrified, because the cave was a lurking-place of lions ; but as a fine brown dust covered the floor of the grotto, leaving it as smooth as though it had just been raked over, I asked them to show me some traces of the lions. They could detect nothing, however, but the vestiges of some porcupines, of which a few quills made it clear that other creatures besides ghosts and bats made the cave their home. That brown dust was a vast mass of guano that had gradually accumulated ; I brought away a sack of it with me, and it worked wonders in making my garden productive, resulting in some cabbages of giant growth. The rocky walls of the cave, dripping as they were with moisture, were covered with thick clusters of moss, which took the most variegated forms, and were quite a surprise in this region of Central Africa, where mosses are very scarce. A regular network of foliage, with long creepers and thorny brambles, filled up the entire glen upon which the grotto opened, so that no ray of sunlight could ever penetrate. The Bongo give the name of " Gubbehee " (or the sub- terranean) to this cavern. I tried to creep into some of the crevices, but was soon obliged to desist, sometimes because the fissures were too narrow, and sometimes because the mul- titudes of bats came flying out in my face, and sometimes because the reeking ammonia choked me, and made further progress impossible. By some shots, however, which I ch's- chai-ged, I convinced myself of the magnitude of these rifts, which, within a few inches, were full of guano. 236 THE HEART OF AFIIICA. Full of spirits, we retraced our steps to the Seriba, and had some sport with the Governor about his pretence of the susceptibility of his donkey. When I asked him to accept a bet of 100 dollars that he would pass a night by himself in the cave, he was quite as bumptious as on the day before ; but I moderated his enthusiasm by suggesting that his donkey, per- haps, was worth more than the- 100 dollars, and that I was sure that the donkey could not stand the damp. The result was, that he declined the engagement, and cried off the wager. These details will answer the purpose of showing what kind of heroes these cattle-stealers and men-hunters are. To them most literally applies Dante's verse, when he speaks of the saucy herds who, " behind the fugitives swell with rage, but let these show their teeth, or even stretch out their purse, and at once they are gentle as a lamb." Against the poor fixint-hearted negroes they were valiant and full of pluck ; but all their courage vanished into nothing when they came in contact with the Shillooks and Bari. In Koolongo were wide plains covered with earth-nuts, which attract multitudes of the jackals of the country, which scratch up the nuts, and crack them with their teeth. The jackal (the " bashohm " of the Nubians, Cams variegatus) is one of the most common animals in Bongo-land. It is about the size of an ordinary fox, in colour being like a wolf, with black back and tail. They are pretty sure to be seen in tlu; early morning, squatting comfortably down, and com- posedly enjoying the nuts. I knocked over several of them with heavy shot, and took care of their skins, which gave me some beautiful fur. The bashohm is very destructive among the poultry of the villages, doing even more mischief than the wild cat, which does not care to venture so near the huts. From Koolongo I returned to Geer, from which it is dis- tant about as far as from Addai. Half a league on the way we came to a spot where a deserted Seriba of Ghattas's exhibited its desolate remains. The sight here was very striking ; after penetrating the tall masses of grass, we found ANOTHER DESERTED SERIBA. 237 some self-sown sorghum, the stalks of which reached the astonishing length of 20 feet, being beyond question the tallest cereal in the world. The extraordinary growth was probably to be attributed to the manuring substances whicli, year after year, collect upon and fertilise the soil. The palisades of the old Seriba were still partially standing, and were hardly higher than the surrounding grass, and the ruins were overgrown with wild gourds, calabashes, and cucumbers. The bare frameworks of the conical^ roofs had fallen to the ground, and lay like huge crinolines : they served as supports to the growing pumpkins, and formed in this condition a thick shady bower. The extensive wilderness derived a weird aspect from the strange stillness that pervaded the deserted dwellings. There was not a song from a bird, there was hardly the humming of an insect ; it seemed as if Nature were revelling in her undisputed sway, or as if the curse of a prophet had been wreaked upon the abodes of violence and of plunder. By the end of July all the bamboos were in full blossom. The grains are not unlike rye, and are edible, and, in times of dearth, have been known to form a substitute for the exhausted corn. When the fruit is mature, the long, rami- fied panicles have a very remarkable appearance, and the ears, clustered together at their base, radiate like an ancient whirlbat. Very rarely, however, does the African bamboo bloom, so that it is not often that it supplies the place of ordinary corn. At an equal distance of a1 out a league and a half from Koolongo and from Geer lies the village of Gurfala. The way thither led through perpetual marshes and was so interrupted by deep masses of mud that I had repeatedly to change my clothes. When the naked skin is exposed to the filth of the bogs, it is not only annoyed by a number of insects, some of them harmless enough, many of them most disgusting, but it is terribly cut by the sharp edges of the grass. This not merely causes considerable pain, but the 238 THE HEART OF AFRICA. wounds inflicted in this way are often very troublesome and slow to heal ; they not unfrequently result among the Nubians in serious sores, and have been known to entail the loss of a foot. At every Seriba there vvill be found some who are suffering from this cause, and Baker ob- served the recurrence of the same evil amongst his peo[)le. As the same consequences do not occur in Nubia itself they are probably to be attributed to the effect of the climate. The backs of tlie negroes are not available for transport over any long distances of this fenny land, because of the insecurity of the footing ; and in another respect this mode of conveyance offers little attraction ; to mount one of the negroes is almost as disastrous to one's white summer garments as an actual tumble into the marsh. Soap is not a common article hereabout, and must be used economically, and the traveller has to put up with a general wash about once in two months. All the minor Seribas are really established for the purpose of overlooking the Bongo, and the sub-agents are always in trepidation lest there should be a sudden disappearance of all their negroes. It has not unfrequently happened that whole comuiunitics of the Bongo, quite unawares, have taken up their baggage, started oft" from their state of subjection, and, escaping the hands of their masters, have established them- selves amongst the neighbouring Dinka. If they wisli to cultivate corn for themselves, who could venture to blame them? The Bongo name for Giirfala is Ngulfala, which indicates an earlier tribe of this race, which is no longer separated into various clans. Gurfala, I found, had its amusing associations. As in Koolongo it was the fear of ghosts for which the people had been conspicuous, so here it was the effect of a great brandy-distillery upon the inhabitants that entertained me. This distillery was kept by an old Egyptian, one of the few of his race who resided in the district of the Seribas. Out of an^ardel)," or about five bushels of sorghum, he managed, AFRICAN DISTILLERY. 239 with his rude appuratus, to extract about thirty bottles of watery alcohol. The sallow old Egyptian, whom the enjoy- ment of his vile liquors had tanned till his skin was as dry as parchment, was, as it were, director of a joint-stock company, of which the sub-agents and the soldiers in the Seriba were the shareholders, contributing their quota of corn to the concern. The apparatus for distilling consisted of a series of covered clay retoi ts, connected by tubes made of bamboo ; the establishment for working was made up of a party of fat-bellied, swarthy women slaves, who had to pound away at the grain in a mortar ; and as often as they paused for a moment to recover their breath, after their grinding exertions, they invariably panted till they reminded one of exhausted Cybeles. The chief material used was sorghum ; the produce was a vile spirit. All the Nubians who settle here would abandon themselves very much to the use of brandy, if it could be more readily procured and if a con- tinual superabundance were at their disposal ; their fanati- cism, however, is irreproachable; they rigorously follow the prescription of their law, and most scrupulously observe tlie Fast of Kamadan. Together with the fresh relays arrived rows of spirit-flasks in their original packing (mostly made at Breslau), which are stored away in the magazines. These find their way from Alexandria and Khartoom to this remote corner of traffic. The agents drink their spirits neat, and cannot get it strong enough to please them ; everybody else dilutes it w ith two- thirds water or mixes it with his meiissa. In their drinkimr- bouts they used to besiege me with applications ibr some of the sharp radishes from my garden, which on these occasions they seemed especially to relish. What was most revolting to me about their intoxication was that they always preferred the early hours of the morning for their indulgence, and for the rest of the day became incapable of standing upright. After they were tipsy they were just as pugnacious as Euro}»(.ans, but the excitability of the South would break out, 240 THE HEART OF AFRICA. 80 that manslaughter and death were not of iinfrequent occurrence. After a couple of days I took my departure from the huts of Gurfala, where a number of the Gellahba also have settled themselves, and I made my way over a short two leagues towards the west to Doomookoo, the fifth of the Gl)attas Seribas. The route was over a firm soil, alternately bush- wood and open steppe. The grass on the rocky level seemed to have a permanent character. All of one kind, and covering large tracts of country, it reminded me of the waving ears of our own cornfields. Although the region seems to be desti- tute of any continuance of trees, it far surpasses the Euro- pean plains and meadow lands in the variety of its permanent grasses. About half-way there was a pond made by rain on the rocky ground, which was covered with the large red-headed geese of the Gambia and a number of widow-buntings. Only during the rainy season do these birds quit the waters of the great Nile and find their way to the interior. At Doomookoo I found the negroes all astir ; an equip- ment was being made for an expedition to Gebel Higgoo, and, with the co-operation of Aboo Guroon, was to consist of a hundred armed men. Mukhtar, the captain of the troop, re- peatedly assured me that he could reach his destination in about five days, and I was much disposed to accompany him. But there was in my way this obstacle, that I was obliged to get my correspondence ofF-hand ; I had to write my letters for a whole year. The mountains Higgoo and Shetatah have been so denominated for some cause by the Nubians ; Higgoo signifying a bandbox, and Siietatah being their name for cayenne pepper. They lie in a soutlierly direction froui where we were, only a few leagues distant from that Mundo which is so often mentioned by Petherick ; a spot which on every map is notoriously always pushed either backwards or forwards for several degrees, and originally, by those who professed to have visited it, was said to be situated on the MUNDO. 211 Equator. The fact is, that Miiudo is the name onliiiarily given by the Bongo to a small tribe calling itself Babuckur, which has contrived to wedge in its position between tlie borders of the Bongo and tlie Niam-niam. On the eastern limit the Bongo denote the Niain-niam themselves by this name of Mundo. To the isolated hills of this border-land, such of the Bongo as could maintain their independence made good their retreat, and only in consequence of the contemplated expedition of the Khartoomers were they laid under tribute. During the present year the trading compa- nies had established a numbar of settlements here amongst them, these advanced colonies being necessary for the secu- rity of the highways for traffic into the Niam-niam territory. Hitherto all the avenues for transit had been found liable to attack from the uncontrolled Bongo and from the Babuckur ; but now the entire region was sequestered, and made a kind of preserve, on which the two companies could meet and monopolise their slave-plunder. In one of the more extended lowdying steppes, overgrown with its mass of vegetation, I lost a whole day in vain endeavours to secure an antelope of that large breed which is found here, but which seems to elude all pursuit, in the course of the chase learning to discriminate a considerable number of species. Fate was here unpropitious. Manoeuvre as I would, I could not sneak up close enough to get a shot. More than once I saw large herds of Leucotis, grazing appa- rently in entile re[)Ose ; but every movement of mine was so dependent upon the formation of the ground, and every dis- turbance of the tall grass resulted in such a crackling, that to meditate a surprise was out of the question. If ever I flattered myself that I was gaining some advantage, and was getting close to the herd under cover of a detached bush, I was sure to be betrayed by the keen vision and disquietude of some stray beast that was hanging on the flank. Still greater were the obstacles that occurred if pursuit were tried in the drier tracts by the border of the lowlands. lEerewere VOL. I. R 242 THE HEART OF AFRICA. seen whole troops of the xVboo Maaref (A. nigra), like great goats, with their sharp horns and their flowing manes, proudly strutting on the plain ; but, times without number, on the first ahirni tliey bounded off. No avail that their black wrinided horns were riglit before us, rising and sinking in the grass, offering a mark indeed somewhat indefinite ; no good that we crept on, three at a time, one taking the ^^il- derness, another the thicket, and the third, step by step, getting through the marshy hollows — everytliing was ineffec- tual : just as we thought we were getting an advantage, either some one would fall into a hole, or would shake a bough that hung over his head, or would disturb the crack- ling stalks in the bushes, and all hope was gone ; the signal of danger was circulated, and the herd were out of reach. These details will furnish an idea of the endless artifices by means of which the chase in the rainy seasons has to be j)rac- tised to insure success. Wet through, and with clothes satu- rated with the mire of the marshes, extremely weary, and having only succeeded in sending one poor Aboo JMaaref liopping on three legs after its companions, we returned at the close of our day of unsuccessful exploit. The return to my headquarters from Doomookoo was a journey of about four and a half leagues. I found the way entertaining enough. Elevated dry flats of rocks came in turns with inundated lowlands ; and after passing through pleasant woodlands the road would wind through open steppes. Game was everywhere most abundant. It was only necessary to withdraw for an hour from a settlement to get an impression that the whole of the animal creation liad ceased to give itself any concern about the proceedings of man. Not one of the soldiers, whose lives are lavished by their employers in a hundred useless ways, finds the least enjoyment in the noble pleasures of the chase. They all shirk the trouble, and, even if they could get up the necessary perseverance, they are such bad shots lliat thoy could hardly recomj)ense themselves for their THE HKGOLEIi AND THE DELOO. 243 (!xertioii. Besides this they prefer the very rankest of their goats' liesh to the choicest venison ; partly it may bo from, the general uniformity of their diet, or partly perhaps from their religious aversion to eat of meat shxuglitered in a manner that is not prescribed in their law ; certainly it is very rare for them, in their wanderings, to partake of any game which they have captured. There are two little antelopes which are here very common, and which roam about the country in pairs. One of these is the Hegoleh (A. madoqua) which appears to be found right through from Abyssinia to the Gambia ; the other is the Deloo {A. grimmia), which is known also in the south. They are both pretty and lively bright-eyed creatures, of which the entire length is but little over three feet ; they correspond very nearly to a small roe, or the fawn of a fallow deer. The Hegoleh is all of one colour — a light tawny with a greyish throat, not so foxy as the Leueutis. The Deloo is of a fawn colour on its back, w ith a tinge of yellow in front ; its flanks are nearly white, whilst its aidvles are black. Its head is very expressive ; a black stripe runs along it and terminates in a dark brown tutl ; this gives to the female, which has no horns, rather a comical look, running up as it does into a stiff peak of about five inches long : in the males this growth is concealed by the short horns. Both kinds are distinguished by the glands of the lacrymal ducts.* The Madoqua has two pair of these, one pair set under the roots of the ear, making a triangle of an area of half a square inch ; the other pair in the tear-pits composing a sort of pouch, about an inch long, which consists of a deep fold of skin, and from which is discharged a viscous and colourless matter. Above the tear-glands, towards the nasal bone, there projects on each side from the frontlet a thick pad about three inches long, which seems to have an adenoid texture, almost like * The licail of the IMadonua is represented as accurately as i;ossible in tlie accoiiijKiiiyiiig illustration. K 2 'ZU THE HEART OF AFRICA. a tumour. In the same way as with the Cervicapra, these tear-glauds during any excitement open themselves like the nostrils of a snorting horse. The Deloo has only one pair of these glands, which lie horizontally in a narrow streak acroi^s 'I'he Madixiua. the hollow of the eyes. Both kinds are alike in never ven- turing into the low grounds exposed to floods, and in pre- ferring the rocky lands which are covered with bushwood. They often get into the middle of a thicket, and startle the huntsman by suddenly springing out, in the same way as the Ben-Israel or Om-digdig of Abyssinia (A. Hemprichiana). The flesh of both these antelopes is very indifferent for eating as compared with the larger kinds ; that of the Deloo when roasted liaving a singular acrid flavour, which seems to suggest the unpleasantness of the glands. Towards the end of August the sorghum-harvest com- menced with the pulling of the light crop of the four-monthly sort, which had been sown in the latter part of April. But the general ingathering of the heavier varieties, which CULTIVATION OF SORGHUM. 245 contribute chiefly to the supply of corn, did not take place until the beginning of December, after tlie rainy season was over. In Sennaar and Taka, sorghum requires five or six mouths to come to maturity, but in this district it rarely takes less than eight montlis. Both the early and late sorts commonly attain a height of nearly fifteen feet ; the stalks of the former remain quite green, but the reedy stems of the latter become so strong and woody, that they are used for fences to divide one enclosure from another. Some of the varieties are scarcely inferior to the regular sugar millet {Sorghum saccharatum) in producing an abundance of sac- charine matter ; these are known to the negroes as well as to the Arabians of the Soudan, w ho chew the straw and so express the juice. The Bongo and the Dyoor express the pulp by means of wooden mortars, and boil it till it has the consistency of syrup. From this concoction I was able to procure a spirit which was far more palatable than what I sliould have obtained by distilling the sorghum itself. Both varieties of the common sorghum,* which here * In all descriptions of sorghum, as given by travellers, there seems to be a considerable contusion with respect to the distinctive names of this ordinary cereal. It is called promiscuously " KafHi-corn," " negro-cane," " busliel- maize," " Moorish-millo," or sometimes '' durra." Diirra is an Arabic defini- 240 THE IIRART OF AFllICA. abound in all their minor differences of colour, shape, and size of grain, yield well-nigh a dozen different descriptions for the market at Khartoom. The standard value is fixed by the F.itareetah, a pure white thin-skinned grain, which also is grown by the negroes in the Seriba. All negro races that depend upon agriculture for their subsistence consider the cultivation of sorghum most im- portant. Of the people among which I travelled, the Bongo, the Dyoor, and the Mittoo, were examples of this. On the other hand, among the southern Niam-niam and the Mon- buttoo this cereal is quite unknown. I could not help being astonislied at the length of time whicli most of the kinds take to ripen. In some fields a portion of the stubble is left intentionally ungrubbed until the next season; tliis will die down, but, after the first rain, it sprouts again from the root, and so a second gathering is made from the same stem.' No loosening of the soil is ever made, and this perhaps accounts in a degree for the tardi- ness of the growth. With the small spades, of which I have already spoken, shallow holes are sunk in the ground at intervals of about a yard : into these is dropped the corn, which then is trodden down by tlie foot. It is only during the first few months that any labour at all is given to the fields, just to remove from the surface of the soil the multi- tudes of weeds which will spring up. These weeds are gathered into heaps, and form the only manure which is em- tion, which ran ho traocrl in literature as far as the tenth century. Tlic etymolonjy of the Italian wnrd sorgho is altopjctlior uncertain. Peter do Oresccntiis, ahout the year liJOO, is tiie first author wlio ch finitely nlhidos to corn under tiiis name; wliether Pliny meant to refer to it is very douhtful. Tlin Germans in the South Tyrol, who are very limited in tiioir ac(|uaintance with cultivated cereals, call it, in their Germanised way, " Sirch," whilst tlie Sclavonians corrupt it furtiior into "Sirok." In Kp;yi)t tliis sorghum is called IJurra hdlndi, " durra of the country," to distinguish it from jiiaize, which is known as Durra Shahmi, or "Syrian durra." In Syiia itself, where the sorghum is little known, because rarely cultivated, it is simj)ly called '' durra." Tiiroughout the Soudan it lias exclusively the appellation of Aish, i. c., lir<'ad.'' LIMITATION OF GRAIN PRODUCE. 247 ployed in this lavish laboratory of nature. Never more than once is this weeding repeated ; it is done by the women and children ; and the corn is then left entirely to take its chance until it is time to gather it. On account alike of its tall growth and of its luxuriant habit, the men are careful not to plant it too thickly. The country does not offer many materials for manuring the land ; if, therefore, greater appli- cation of labour or of skill sliould succeed in doubling the yield of every stem, tliere would ultimately be no gain. The soil, which already in many places fails after the second year, would only be exhausted so much the sooner. Such being the case, every project of ameliorating the condition of this people by enlarging their crop is quite an illusion ; the land could not sustain a larger number than that which already resides upon it. In my garden I made several attempts to sow wheat, but without much success. Probably I should have prospered better if I could have obtained some European seed : mine was from Khartoom, and it is very likely that the conditions under which it had been grown, amidst the flooded fields of the Nile Valley, on a soil far more soddened than that of this district, had been very injurious to the grain. Very unwisely, not one of the Seriba governors has ever made an attempt to introduce into the district the culture of rice, for which the low marshy fields, othei-wise useless, seem very admirably adapted ; but the people are not to be taught ; vain the endeavour to initiate them even into a rational system of burning charcoal ; and as to the culture of rice, nothing throughout the whole of Nubia was known about it. On the contrary, the expeditions which have set out from Zanzibar, and which have explored districts where the cli- mate is not dissimilar to that of which we speak, have intro- duced the cultivation of rice over a very considerable area. The finger of nature itself seems to point out the propriety of not neglecting this product; in the whole district south of the Gazelle the wild rice of Senegal grows quite freely, o.iH THE HEART OF AFRICA. and this I alwavs found of a better quality than the best kinds of Damietta. During the rains the wild rice {Orijza punctata) environs many a pool with its garland of reddish ears, and seems to thrive exceedingly, but it never occurs to the sluirgish natives to gather the produce that is lost in the water; and it is only because the Baggara and some of the inhabitants of Darfoor had saved some quantity, that I contrived to get my small supply. There yet remain three kinds of corn to which a passing reference should be made in order to complete a general survey of the agriculture of this district. Next to the sorghum stands the penicillaria, or Arabian " dokhn," to which much attention is devoted, and which is cultivated here much more freely than in the northern Soudan. Sown somewhat later than the sorglium, somewhat later it comes to maturity. A second substitute on the land for sorghum is a meagre grain, the Eleusine coracana. By the Arabians it is called telaboon, and by the' Abyssinians tocusso ; it is only grown on the poorest soils and where the ground is too wet to admit of any better crop. The grain of this is very small and generally black, and is protected by a hard thick skin ; it has a disagreeable taste, and makes only a wretched sort of pap. It yields a yeast that is more fit for brewing than for baking ; in fact, not only do the Niam- niam, who are the principal growers of the Eleusine, but ihe Abyssinians as well, make a regular beer by means of it. Midway between the sorghum and the penicillaria must be reckoned the maize of the country, which only grows in moderate quantity, and is here generally cultivated as a garden vegetable in the immediate proximity of the huts. The Madi tribe of the Mittoo are the only people who seem to cultivate it to any great extent. There is one quality which pertains equally to all these varieties of grain which are grown in these torrid regions ; it AFRICAN WHEATS. 249 i.s not i^ossible from the flour wliicli they provide to malce bread in tlie way to which we are accustomed. All that can be made fiom the fermented dough is the Arabian bread, "kissere," as it i.s called — tough, leathery slices, cooked like pancakes on a frying-pan. If the fermentation has gone on far enough to make the dough rise for a good spongy loaf, when it is put into the oven it all crumples up, and its par- tiolesjwill not hold together ; if, on the other hand, the fer- mentation has not proceeded sufficiently, the result is a heavy lump, and this is the ordinary daily achievement of the natives, who pack up tlieir dough in leaves and bake it in the ashes. The wheats of the Upper Nile Valley, and even large Abyssinian kinds, have the same property, which may arise from the small proportion of soluble starch which exists in all corn of the tropics, however large the entire quantity of the starch may be. Tiie presence or absence of gluten in the grain is irrelevant, and cannot be an adequate explana- tion with regard to sorghum, of which the better kinds are richer in gluten than our wheat. Next, after the various sorts of corn, the leguminous plants play an important part amongst this agricultural population. Cultivated frequently alike by the Dinka and Dyoor is the catyang {Vigna sinensis), which is grown by the Shillooks more plentifully than by either ; but the Bongo have a great preference for the mungo- bean {FUaseolusmungo), which they call "bokwa." The pods of these contain a little hard kernel, not unlike black pepper ; in comparison with the catyang they are very poor eating. Wild representatives of both these classes of beans are almost universal throughout Africa, and demonstrate that they are indigenous to the soil. The best of all the beans is the Phaseolus lunatus, which is found of various colours, white, or brown, or yellow, and which in shape is like our own, althongli the legume is very short, and rarely contains more than two seeds. This is grown very freely by the Mittoo and the IMadi, but the Bongo and the Dinka also give it their attention. 250 'J'lIE HEART OF AFRICA. There are two kinds of these leguminous plants which are cultivated very extensively, and which fructify below the soil, that is, as the pods ripen the peduncles bend down and sink beneath the ground. These are the speckled pea-shaped voandzeia and the arachis, or earth-nut. Dispersed, now everywhere over the tropics, the proper home of these is in Africa. The first is cultivated most of all by the Bongo ; the single seed which its pod contains is metily, but cooking does not soften it, and it is consequently very indigestible. The earth-nut, on the contrary, is of an oily nature. It is seldom wanting amongst any of the tribes ; in value it is almost a rival of the sesame, to the culture of which the 13ongo give their care next to their sorghum. Another oily vegetable product of the country is the Ili/ptis sjiicigera, which the Bongo named " kendee." Once sown among cultivated plants it becomes a sort of half-wild growth, and establishes itself as an important shrub between the stubble. The Bongo and Niam-niam especially store large quantities of it. The tiny seeds, like those of a poppy-head, are brayed to a jelly, and are used by the natives as an adjunct to their stews and gravies, the taste and appearance being very similar to the hemp-pap of the Lithuanians. Just as poppy and hemp to the people of the North, so here to the natives the sesame and the hyptis appear a natural product so enjoyable that, without any prejiaration whatever, it can be eaten from the hollow of the hand, according to Boccaccio's expression, "more avium." A very subordinate place is occupied in the cultural pur- suits of these people by any of the tuberous vegetables. Various kinds of yams (Dioscorea alata, and D. or Helmia hulhifera) are found in the enclosures of the Bongo and of the Dinka, and are here and there cultivated in some mea- sure like the maize, under the eye of the proprietor. The Niam-niam and the Monbutto, who devotemore attention to the growth of tubers than of cereals, have a greater preference for the sweet potato (Batafas), the manioc, and the colocasia, AFUICAN TUBERS. 251 and other bulbs, \\lii(^li to the northern peo[)lo are quite unknown. All the yams in these parts seem to exhibit the same form, which is reckoned the most [)erfect in this production, lavished by bountiful Nature on man with so little labour on his part. The tubers of the Central African species are very long ; at their lower extremity they have a num- ber of thick protu- berances ; they are similar to a human foot, or rather (taking their size into account) to the great foot of an ele[)!iant. Some were brought to me which varied in weight froui 50 to 80 lbs. The substance of the tuber, which is easily cooked, is light, mealy, and somewhat granu- lated; it is more loose in texture than our tenderest potatoes, and decidedly preferable to them in flavour. Central African Yam. The Njitti. 'J'iie Nyitti {Ilehnia hulbifera), which are protruded from the axils of every leaf on the climbing sprouts, are in shape like a great Brazil-nut — a section of a sphere with a sharp 252 THE HEATIT OF AFRICA. edge. In their properties they correspond niiicli with onr potato, particularly as regards their taste and their bulk; but they never develop themselves into such mealy masses as the ordinary yams. Their skin is remarkably like potato- peel, and altogether their colour, sometimes yellow, some- times a thoroughly purple-brown, adds to the resemblance. Very frequently these plants grow wild, but in that condition the tubers are quite small, and have a taste so pungent that they are said by the natives to be full of a dangerous poison. To a kindred species which is found wild, and which produces a horn-shaped tuber, we shall have to allude hereafter. Just before the sorghum-harvest commenced the gourds were ripening, and came on as a Avelcome boon to the natives, who at this season were suffering from the usual scarcity. They devoured incredible quantities of them, and I saw whole caravans of bearers literally fed upon them. Of the ordinary gourds (Giicurhifa maxima) there are two kinds, the yellow and white, A\hich succeed excellently and attain a prodigious size. There is a kind of melon with a hard woody rind, which the Dyoor and the Dinka culti- vate : when half-ripe, they cook and enjoy it as a palatable vegetable ; it is generally of a cylindrical form, and about a foot in length. As it grows it assumes the diverse shape of the Cucumis chafe, the cooking-cucumber of the Egyptians, which they call "adyoor" and "abdalowy;" by its wild shapes it seems to reveal an African origin. The leaves of the gourds are boiled just like cabbages, and are used for a vegetable. The bottle-gourds do not grow anywhere here actually without cultivation, but in a sort of semi-cultivation they are found close to all the huts. From the edible kinds are made vessels, wliich are quite secure. As actual vegetables the Bongo cultivate only the baraia or waka of the Arabians (Ilihiscus esculentus) and the sab- darit'a. The calyx of the latter is very large, varying in colour I'rom a pale flesh to a dark purple, and is used as AFRICAN VEGETABLES. 253 a substitute for vinegar at meals. The bamia here is a larger variety of the Oriental vegetable ; its seed-vessels before they are ripe are gathered and boiled. Altogether unknown throughout the population of pagan negroes is the onion, which appears to have its southern limit in Kordofan and Darfoor. The equatorial climate seems to render its growth veiy difficult, and do what the Nubians Calj'x of the Hibiscus Sabduiifa. will, they are unable successfully to introduce this service- able vegetable into the districts of their Seribas. The tomato may well be considered as a cosmopolite, making itself at home in all warmer latitudes, but previously to my arrival it had not found its way into this region. For the sake of its fibres the Hibiscus canncibinus is very generally cultivated here, as it is in the Nile Valley ; but I observed that the Bongo have another plant, the crota- laria, an improvement upon the wild sort (C. intermedia), from which they make excellent string. Compared with Africa in general, this district seemed very deficient in the growth of those spices which serve as stimu- lants to give a relish and variety to dishes at meals. Eed cayenne pepper, for instance, is swallowed by Abyssinians and Nubyins in incredible quantities in their soups, but the Bongo regard it as little better than absolute poison. Although the first-comers found the indigenous pimento growing in all the enclosures, yet the Bongo reckoned it us so dangerous that they carefully kept it in guarded spots, 254 THE HEART OF AFUICA. so that their children might not be victims to the deleterious effects of its bright red berries. The natives had been accustomed to poison their arrows with pimento, and I may mention this as one of the numerous proofs which might be alleged that much of the arrow-poisoniug of Africa is quite a matter of imagination. When the natives witnessed the Nubians come and gather up the suspected berries and throw them into their food, their astonishment was unbounded ; they came at once to the conclusion that it was utterly useless to contend with a people that could gul}) down poison by the spoonful, and accordingly they submitted unconditionally to the intruders. Of all the plants which are cultivated by these wild people, none raises a greater interest than tobacco, none exhibits a more curious conformity of habit amongst peoples far remote. The tame two kinds \\hich are cultivated amongst ourselves have become most generally recognised. These kinds are the Virginian tobacco {Nicotiana tahacum) and the common tobacco {N. rustica). It is little short of a certainty that the Virginian tobacco has only made its way into the Old World within the few centuries since the discovery of America. No production more than this has trampled over every obstacle to its propagation, so that it has been kept to no limits; and it nnist be matter of surprise that even Africa (notorious as it has ever been for excluding every sort of novelty in the way of culti- vation) should have allowed the Virginian tobacco to pene- trate to its very centre. It is a great indication of the foreign origin of this plant that there is not a tribe from the Niger to the Nile which has a native word of their own to denote it. Throughout all the districts over which I travelled, the Niam-niam formed the solitary exception to this by naming the Vir- ginian tobacco "gundeh;" but the Monbuttoo, A\ho grow oidy this one kind and are as little familiar \\\{\i N. rustica as the Niam-niam, call it " l^h-tobboo." The rest of the TOBACCO. 255 people riug every kind of change upon the root word, and call it "tab, tabba, tabdeet," or "torn." The plant is re- markable here for only attaining a height of about eighteen inches, for its leaves being nearly as long as one could span, and for its blossoms being invariably white. Quite an open question I think it is, whether the N. rustica is of American origin. Several of the tribes had their own names for it. Here amongst the Bongo, in dis- tinction from the "tabba," it was known as *'masheer." The growth it makes is less than in Europe, but it is dis- tinguished by the extreme strength and by the intense narcotic qualities which it possesses. It is different in this respect from what is grown in Persia, where it is used for the narghileh or water-pipes, and whence there is a large export of it, because of its mildness and aromatic qualities. Barth* has given his opinion that the tobacco is a native of Logane (Mosgoo). At all events, the people of Africa have far surpassed every other people in inventing various con- trivances for smoking, rising from the very simplest ap])a- ratus to the most elaborate ; and thus the conjecture is tenable, that they probably favoured the propagation of the foreign growth, because smoking, either of the common tobacco (iV. rustica) or of some other aromatic weed, had in some way already been a practice amongst them. To such a hypothesis might be opposed the im})ortant fact that on all the monuments of the ancient Egyptians that afford us so clear an insight into the details of their domestic life, there has never been found a written inscription or pictorial representation that could possibly afford a proof that such a custom was known to exist. In conclusion, it deserves to be mentioned that the pagan negroes, as far as they have remained uninlluenced by Islaniisui, smoke the tobacco, whilst those who have embraced Mohammedanism prefer the chewing of the leaf to the enjoyment of a pipe. * Vol. iii., p. 215. ( 250 ) CHAPTER VII. The Bongo : Area, boundaries, and population of Boiigoland. Subjeutiou of the Bongo to the Khartooniers. Decrease of population by slave-trading. Kcd tinge of the skin. Widtli of the skull. Small growth of hair. No aridity in climate. Wild tubers as food. Races of goats and dogs. Hunt- ing-weapons. Villages and huts. Smelting furnaces. Money of the Bongo. Weajwns for display. "Wood -carving. Penates of the Bongo. Musical instruments. Character of Bongo music. Corpulence of the women. Hottentot Venus. IVIutilatiou of the teeth. Disfigurement of (he lips. Arrow-poisoning. National games. IMarriage jjremiums. Natural morality. Disposing of the dead. IMemorial erections. Mistrust of spirits. Loma, good and ill-luck. Fear of ghosts. Belief in witches. Peculiarities of language. Unity of the people of Central Africa. Extermination of the race. I PURPOSE in this chapter to describe a people wliich, though visibly on the decline, may still by its peculiarity and striking independence in nationality, language, and customs, be selected from amid the circle of its neighbours as a genuine type of African life. Belonging to the past as much as to the present, without constitution, history, or definite traditions, it is passing away, like deeds forgotten in the lapse of time, and is becoming as a drop in the vast sea of the Central African races, liut just as a biographer, by depicting the }>assions, failings, and virtues of a few individuals, may exhibit a representation of an entire c2)och in history, so we may turn with interest to scenes which have been enacted in this limited district of the great and mysterious continent, sure of finding much edifying matter in the course of our investigations. Like the rain-drop which feeds the flowing river antl goes its way to replenish COUIS'TRY OF THE BONGO. 257 the mighty ocean, every separate people, however small, has its share in the changes which supervene in the pro- gress of nations; there is not one which is witliout an abstract bearing on the condition of primitive Africa, and which may not aid us in an intelligent survey of any per- spective that may be opened into its still dark interior To the antiquary, within whose province the description may lie in a degree, the material that is offered must be in a measure attractive. A people, as long as they are on the lowest step of their development, arc far better charac- terised by their industrial products than they are either by their habits, which may be purely local, or by their own representations, which (rendered in their rude and unformed language) are often incorrectly interpreted by ourselves. If we possessed more of these tokens, we should be in a position to comprehend better than we do the primitive condition of many a nation that has now reached a high degree of culture. Of all the natives with wIkmu I had intercourse in my wanderings, the majority of those who acted as my bearers, and amongst whom I most frequently sojourned, were the IJougo. It was in their territory that I spent the greater part of my time in the interior; and thus it happened that I became intimate with many particulars of their life, was initiated into all their habits, and even to a certain extent mastered their dialect.* The present country of the Bongo lies between lat. 6° and S'^ N. on the south-westein boundary of the depression of the Ijahr-el-Ghiizal basin, and on the lowest of the terraces where the southern slopes ajtpear to make a tran- sition from the elevated ferruginous crust to the unfathomed alluvial flats which are traversed by all the affluents of * Vide ' Linguistische Ergchnissc einer Eeiscnach Central Afrika,' i)y Dr. G. Scliweinfurth. Berlin : Witgandt and Hempsel, 1873. VOL. I. « 258 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the river. In the extent of its area the land covers about the same surface as Belgium, but witli regard to popuhition, it might be more aptly compared to the plains of Siberia or the northern parts of Norway and Sweden ; it is a deserted wilderness, averaging only 11 or 12 people to the square mile. The country extends from the Roah to the Pango, and embraces the middle course of nearly all the affluents of the Gazelle; it is 175 miles long by 50 miles broad, but towards the north-west the breadth diminishes to about 40 miles. On the north it is only divided by the small Dyoor country from that of the Dinka, which, however, it directly joins upon the north-east. The south-east boundary is the Mittoo territory on the Roah ; and that on the west is the country of the Golo and Sehre on the Pango. The eastern branch of the extensive Niam-niam lands joins the Bongo on the south ; whilst, wedged between and straitly pressed, the Bellanda and the Babuckur have their settle- ments. When, eighteen years ago, the Khartoomers first set foot in Bongoland, they found the entire country divided into a number of independent districts, all in the usual anarchy of petty African communities ; there was nothing anywhere like an organised commonwealth such as may be found amongst the Dinka, where entire districts unite and form an imposing warlike tribe. Every village simply had its chief, who, in virtue of superior wealth, exercised a certain authority over the rest of the inhabitants, and who, in some cases, had an additional prestige from his skill in the art of magic. The Nubians, consequently, never had to con- tend against the unanimous hostility of a i)owerl'ul or well- disciplined people, and only in a few isolated places had to encounter much resolute opposition. Their soldiers, not merely by the tenor of their religion, conceived themselves justified in perpetrating every sort of outrage upon heathen unbelievers, but they were taught to consider their acts VASSALAGE. 259 of violence as meritorious in the sight of God: it was, therefore, an easy matter for them to fall upon the weak authorities of the country, and in the space of a few years to apportion the entire territory amongst the few ivoiy merchants in Khartoom, whose spirit of enterprise, suddenly kindled by the exaggerated reports of the profits secured on the Upper Nile by Europeans, the first explorers, had developed itself into a remarkable activity. The natives were without difficulty reduced to a condition of vassalage, and, in order tiiat they might be under the close supervision and at the service of their oppressors, they were compelled to quit their homes, and to reside near the Seribas that were established in various parts of the laud. l>y the ap})lication of this sort of feudal system, the trading companies brought about the realisation of their project for a permanent occupation of the country. Shut in by the Niam-niam on the south and by the Dinka on the north, liongoland offered a twofold advantage for the establishment of headquarters for the expeditions: in the first place, it was in close proximity to the Mesheras, or landing-places ; and, secondly, by its advanced position towards the interior, it afforded most ample opportunities for setting in operation the contemplated excursions to the prolific ivory districts of the south. The Dinka, hostile and intractable from the first, had never given the intruders the smallest chance of settling amongst them ; while the Bongo, docile and yielding, and addicted almost exclusively to agriculture, had, on the other hand, contribute d in no slight measure to maintain the Seribas. If ever, now and again, they had been roused to offer anything like a warlike opposition, they had only too soon succumbed to the motto of the conquerors, " Divide, et impera." The Dyoor, the Golo, the ]\Iittoo, and other smaller tribes, shared the fate of the Bongo, and in the short space of ten years a series of more than eighty Seribas had arisen between s 2 260 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the Rolil and the Beery. Scarcely half the population escaped slavery, and that only by emigrating; a portion took refuge amongst the Dinka on the north, and others withdrew southwards to the Niam-niam frontiers, where the isolated mountains enabled them to hold out for a while. The Khartoomers, however, were not long in pur- suing them, and gradually displaced them even from this position. During the early years of their occupation, the Nubians beyond a question treated the country most shamefully ; there are traces still existing which demonstrate that large villages and extensive plots of cultivated land formerly occupied the scene where now all is desolation. Boys and girls were carried off by thousands as slaves to distant lands ; and the Nubians, like the jxirvenu who looks upon his newly-acquired wealth as inexhaustible, regarded the territory as being permanently productive ; they revelled like monkeys in the dnrra-fields of Taka and Gedaref. In course of time they came to know that the enduring value of the possessions which they had gained depended mainly on the physical force at their disposal ; they began to understand how they must look to the hands of the natives for the cultivation of their corn, and to their legs for the transport of their merchandise. Meanwhile, alto- gether, the population must have diminished by at least two-thirds. According to a careful estimate that I made of the numbers of huts in the villages aiound the Seribas and tlie numbers of bearers levied in the several districts, I found that the population could not at most be reckoned at more than 100,000, scattered over an area of nearly 9000 square miles. On first landing from the rivers, the Khartoomers opened up an intercourse with the Dinka, who did not refuse to furnish them with bearers and interpreters for their further progress into the interior, and it was from them that they COMPLEXION OF THE BONGO. 261 learnt the names of the different tribes. In Central Africa every nation has a different designation for its neighbours than that by which they are known among themselves ; and it is the same with the rivers, which have as many names as the nations through whose territory they flow. In this way the Nubians have adopted the Diuka appellations of Dyoor for Lwoh, Niam-niam for Zandey, and Dohr for Bongo. This last people always style themselves Bongo, and the Khartoomers, since they have made their head- quarters in their territory, have discarded the Dinka name of Dohr, and now always use the native term Bongo. Ac- cording to the Arabic form of expression, the plural of Dohr is Derahn, and of Niam-niam it is Niamahniam. The complexion of the Bongo in colour is not dissimilar to the red-brown soil upon which they reside ; the Dinka, on the other hand, are black as their own native alluvium. The circumstance is suggestive of Darwin's theory of '• protective resemblance " among animals ; and although in this instance it may be purely accidental, yet it appears to be worthy of notice. Any traveller who has followed the course of the main sources of the White Nile into the heathen negro countries, and who has hitherto made acquaintance only with Shillooks, Nueir, and Dinka, will, on coming amongst the Bongo, at once recognise the commencement of a new series of races extending far onwards to the south. As trees and plants are the children of the soil from which they spring, so here does the human species appear to adapt itself in external aspect to the red ferruginous rock which prevails around. The jet-black Shillooks, Nueir, and Dinka, natives of the dark alluvial flats, stand out in marked dis- tinction to the dwellers upon the iron-red rocks, who (not- withstanding their diversity in dialect, in habit, or in mode of life) present the characteristics of a connected whole. Of this series the tribes which must be accounted the most important are the Bongo, the Mittoo, the Niam-niam, and 262 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. the Kredy, all of ^vhic•h are equally remarkable for their entire indiflferenee to cattle-breeding. The whole of these, especially the women, are distinguished for the reddish hue of their skin, ^hich in many cases is almost copper-coloured. It cannot be denied that this red-brown complexion is never entirely wanting, even amongst the darkest skins that are found in the lowlands ; but the difference between their complexion and what is ordinarily observed among the Bongo is only to be illustrated by the contrast in colour between a camellia leaf in its natural condition and after its epidermis has been removed. Although amongst every race the tint of the complexion is sure to deviate into considerable varieties of shade, yet, from a broad estimate, it may be asserted that the general tint remains unaltered, and that what may be denominated the " ground tint " constitutes a distinctive mark separating between race and race. Gustav Fritsch, in his work upon the people of Southern Africa, has bestowed great attention upon this subject, and by means of an ingenious table, ar- ranged according to the intensity of various shades of colour, has very perspicuously explained the characteristics of the Kaffirs, Hottentots, and Bochjesmen. As matter of fact, among the Bongo may be seen individuals w'ith their skin as black as ebony ; but yet this does not prevent the true ground tint of their complexions being something essentially distinct from any example that could occur among the true Ethio- pians, whether these might be light or dark. The evidence of the distinction of which I speak, I have no doubt is alto- gether very conclusive ; and I have had many opportunities of testing its reality in my observations at the various Seribas where half-castes are very numerous, being the offspring of Nubians (including Bedouins in that category) and Bongo. In taking a coloured likeness of a Bongo it is necessary to use the deep red pigment known as Bompeian red very freelv- I was once in the studio of an artist at Borne who STATURE OF THE BONGO. 263 was painting in oil the likeness of a Bongo whom I had brought to Europe. I could not help observing that he made the ground-tint of the flesh quite of a liver colour (hepatic) hue, wliilst when he was portraying natives, either of Don- gola or of Berber, or even when he was depicting the true Arabs, although their skins were equally dark, he did not make use of red at all, but employed a kind of yellow for the basis of the shades to follow. His proceeding appeared to me an involuntary attestation to the distinction which really exists. Like the Niam-niam, Mittoo, and Kredy, the Bongo rarely exceed a medium heiglit. They differ, however, in several respects from the Dinka and other people of the lowland plains. Their prominent characteristics appeared to me to consist in a more comjmct form of limb, a sharper develop- ment of muscle, a wider formation of the skull, and generally a preponderating mass in the upper part of the body. Of 83 men that I measured I did not find one who had attained a height of ft. 1 in., whilst the average height did not appear to me to be more than 5 ft. 7 in, Dinka and Bongo alike afforded very striking samples of the two great series of races which they severally lepresented, and each dis- played the principal characteristics of their particular race in their stature, their complexion, and their form of skull. I cannot recall a single instance among the Bongo where the skull was of the long but narrow shape that is all but uni- versal among the Dinka. Of many of these Bongo that I measured, I should pronounce that they would require to be classified as hardly removed from the lowest grade of the Brachycephaly. They appear themselves to be aware of this characteristic. I remember a discussion that once arose about a little boy, too young to s[)eak, as to wliether he was a Dinka or a Bongo. One of the interpreters, after minute examination of the proportions of the child's head, came to :in immediate, but decided, opinion that the boy was a Bongo, 264 THE HEART OF AFRICA. aud in answer to my inquiry as to the grounds on which he so confidently based his decision, he explained that he judged from the fact that the head was broad ; he went on, more- over, accompanying his words by corresponding gestures, to say that the Bongo women, as soon as an infant is born, press its head downwards, but the Dinka mothers, on the contrary, compress the heads of their babies from the sides. Now, although it is hardly credible that this manipulation on the part of the mothers would liave any permanent influence on the conformation of the skulls of an entire nation, yet we may accept the statement as a significant proof of the high esti- mation in which the natives hold this attribute and token of their race. It has been proved by experience that in the most diverse nations of the earth, mothers will always be ready to use external means to promote as far as they can any signs of nationality in their offspring, ignorant of the certainty that these signs would of themselves, without assistance, be manifested eventually. In order to effect an a'jtual alteration in the shape of the skull, such as may be observed amongst the IMongolian and American Indian tribes, it is necessary to employ continuous and forcible pressure, and to bind the head with straps and bandages from the earliest infancy. The hair of the Bongo offers no peculiarity, either with regard to its culture or its growth, that can be deemed of any special interest ; it is short and curly ; moreover, it is of that woolly nature at which, in default of anything better, the theorist who propounds the doctrine of the independent and yet of the mutual connection of the heathen races eagerly clutches. Corresponding to tlie numerous gradations in complexion and formation of the skull are the varieties in growth of the hair which are exhibited. Hair which is thick and frizzly is common amongst every race that has hitherto been discovered on African soil, and although there are a few unimportant excc[)tions among the Arab tribes SUPPLY OF WATER. 265 (the Sheij^ieli) who have settled in Nubia, and notwitli- stauding that the liair of the Ethiopians, as well as that of the North African people may be termed curly more appro- l)riate]y than woolly, yet straight hair is nowhere to be found. The real distinctions, therefore, in the growth of the hair in the nations of Central Africa consist in the colour and length, which vary considerably in the different races ; beards predominate with some, whilst with others they fail entirely. In common with most other peoj)le of the red soil, the Bongo have hair which is perfectly black, but in its length it is very different from that of the Niam-niam. On the Niam-niam frontiers the Bongo have often tried to imi- tate their neighbours by twisting and plaiting their hair, but their attempts have been always a foilure. Whiskers, beards, and moustaches are cultivated in very rare cases, but the hair never grows to a length much exceeding half-an-inch. Bongolaiid is traversed from south to north by five im- portant tributaries of the Gazelle. With these are associated a number of smaller rivulets which are not permanent streams ; nevertheless, from the pools which remain in their beds throughout the dry season, they furnish a sufficient supj^ly of moisture to maintain the vegetation of the country. Water for drinking never fails, although from November to the end of March a fall of rain is quite exceptional. In cases of necessity water can always be procured without much time or trouble from those pools which survive the periodicid water-courses in the marshes. Dearth as a consequence of prolonged drought appears to be a condition quite unknown ; certainly it has not occurred for the last ten years. The crops are far more frequently injured by superabundant moisture than by drought, and the continuance of wide inundations has been followed by fiimine. Everything seems to suggest the thought how easily rice might be cultivated in the country. The Bongo are essentially an agricultural people. With 2(J(3 THE HEAET OF AFRICA. the exception of some occasional hunting and some inter- mittent periods devoted to fishing, they depend entirely upon the produce of the soil for their subsistence. Their culti- vated plants have already been noticed in a previous chapter. To agriculture men and women alike apply themselves, devoting their greatest attention to the culture of their sorghum. The amount of labour they bestow upon this cereal is very large. The seed is lavishly broadcast into trenches which have been carefully prepared for its reception, and when it has germinated and made its appearance above the ground, two or three weeks are spent in thinning the shoots and in transplanting them away from the spots where they are too thick ; a system which experience has shown can very advantageously be applied to maize. Very few vegetables are cultivated, but for these the people find a variety of substitutes in the wild plants and tubers which abound. Everywhere througliout the tropics the Gynan- dropsis, the Corchorus, and the Gieseckia grow close upon tlie confines of the abodes of men, and the leaves of these, like the leaves of the gourd, are frequently used as an ingredient in soup. The fleshy leaves of the Tdlinum roseum are served up in the same way as our spinach; and the tough foliage of the Tirna-tree (Pterocajyus), as it becomes soft in the process of boiling, is employed as a vegetable, and is really sweet and tender. The fruit of the Hynienocardia, not unlike that of the maple, has an acid flavour far from unpleasant, and serves a similar purpose. During the rainy season the country is very prolilic in many varieties of funguses. The Bongo have a great fancy for them ; tliey keep them till they are on the verge of decay, and then diy and pound them. They use them for the purpose of flavouring their sauces, which in consequence are enriched by a haut gout, which without depreciation may perhaps be compared to rotten fish. Throughout the country I never saw any funguses but wliat were perfectly edible, FUNGUSES. 267 and some of them I must confess were very palatable. The natives call them all " Kahoo," while to the larger species they give the special name of " hegba-mboddoh," which is synonymous with the Low German " poggen staul," or witli the English " toad-stool." " Hegba " is the name which the Bongo give to their little carved stools, and " mboddoh " is the generic term for all frogs and toads, and the proper designation for the Biifo pandarinus in particular. This " hegba-mboddoh," which has thus suggested the same idea in very remote parts of the world, is here a gigantic Poly- porus ; not unfrequently specimens may be found of it which grow to a height of nine inches, are a foot in diameter and weigh nearly fifty pounds. In form, size, and colour they are not unlike the grey clay edifices of the Termes mordax, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. The funguses which are most common, and which moreover are the most preferred, are the different species of Coprinus, Marasmius, llhodosporus, and the tough but aromatic Lentinns. I have already mentioned the great abundance of edible, if not always palatable, fruit which is produced by the com- mon trees of the country. In clearing the woods for their tillage the Bongo are always careful to leave as many of these trees as they can, and by thus sparing them they preserve many a noble ornament to their fields, which would otherwise be as monotonous as they are flat. The Butter- tree and the Parkia are very carefully in this way saved from destruction, and form a striking feature in many of their landscapes. It is a remarkable peculiarity of the flora of this region that all the species which are not essentially shrubby or arborescent strive for a perennial existence ; and, as evidence of this, it may be observed that the roots and portions of the stem beneath the soil either develop into bulbs and tubers, or exhibit a determination to become woody. Annuals occupy a very insignificant place, and all vegetation seems to be provided with a means of withstand- 268 THE HEART OF AFRICA. iijg the annual steppe-burning, and of preserving the germs of life until tlie next period of vitality recurs. When their corn provision is exhausted, or when there is a failure in the harvest, then do the Bongo find a welcome resource in these tubers ; they subsist upon them for days in succession, and find in them the staple of their nourishment whenever they go upon their marches in the wilderness. Quite incredible is it what the Bongo are able to digest. Most of the bulbs and tubers are so extremely bitter that it is not until they have been thoroughly steeped in boiling water or have had their pungent matter mollified by being roasted at a fire, that they can be eaten at all ; they are gall to the taste. Amongst these bitter bulbs there are two which may claim a special notice ; these are the Mandibo and the Moddobehee. The Mandibo is a species of Coccinea, which is nearly everywhere very abundant ; the Moddobehee (dog's gum) is one of the Eureiandrse ; they are both Cucur- bitacea?, and both contain poisonous matter. Impregnated with the like bitterness are the rape-like roots of the Ascle- piadefB, the huge tubers of the Entada WaJilhergii, and of the Pachyrrhizus ; so also are the various kinds of Vernonia; and Flemingiae, which are dug up from a foot below tlie sur- face of the soil. The natives can make but little use of the plants which grow from any of these numerous tubers. The diminutive Drimia lifts its pretty red blossoms about a couple of inches above the rocky ground, and is a bulbous plant which be- comes edible after a prolonged boiling. Whenever a halt is made upon the marches across the wilderness, the bearers, as soon as they are liberated from their burdens, set very vigorously to work and grub up all sorts of roots from the nearest thickets. I can myself vouch for a fact, which might fairly be deemed incredible, that thirty Bongo who accompiuiicd me on my return to 8abby, at a time when I had scarcely enough to keep me from SMOKING AMONG THE BONGO. 2G9 starvation, subsisted for six consecutive clays entirely on these roots, and altliough we were huri-ying on by forced marches, they lost neither their strength nor their spirits. Their constitution was radically sound, and they seemed formed to defy the treatment of their inhospitable home. Already it has been mentioned that there is an entire deficiency of common salt throughout the district of the Gazelle. The alkali that is everywhere its substitute is obtained by soaking the ashes of the burnt wood of the Greicia mollis, a shrub common throughout Bongoland, and which is notoriously useful in another way by the quantity of bast which it produces. Tobacco is indispensable to the Bongo, and is universally cultivated. The species known as Mashirr (Nicotiana rustica) is very pungent ; its small thick leaves are pounded in a mortar, and are subsequently pressed and dried in moulds. From the cakes thus formed, the natives break off fragments as they require them, grind them into powder by means of stones, and smoke the preparation in long pipes that have very pretty clay bowls. They are addicted to smoking quite as inveterately as many of the nations that live in the polar regions, and are not content until they are utterly stupefied by its effects. I had a circumstance brought under my notice which exhibited to me the extreme to which they can carry their abuse of the narcotic : upon one of our marches a Bongo man had indulged to such excess, and had inhaled the pungent fume so long, that he fell senseless into a camp- fire, and was taken up so severely burnt that he had to bo carried by his comrades on a litter for the remainder of the journey. The Bongo fashion of smoking is even more disgusting than that which has been already described as prevalent amongst the Dinka. In the same manner as with them, tlie pipe is passed from hand to hand, but the lump of bast that intercepts the pungent oil is not placed in the receptacle of 270 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the stem, but is put in the moiitli of the smoker, and together with the pipe is passed from one person to another. The habit of chewing tobacco is adopted as much by the Bongo as by the Mohammedan inhabitants of Nubia ; but the custom is so universal that there would seem to be ample justification for the belief that it is indigenous rather than what has been acquired from foreigners. The practice in which the Bongo indulges of placing his tobacco quid behind his ear is very repulsive. It is to their indifference to cattle-breeding, like what is practised so extensively by the Dinka, that the Bongo owe their comparatively peaceful relations with the so-called " Turks." It is to the same cause that the latter are indebted for the sluggish measure of opposition shown them by their vassals. The domestic animals of the Bongo are poultry, dogs, and goats ; sheep being almost as rare as cattle. The Bongo Goat. goats are unlike those of the Dinka, but are of a breed quite common throughout these regions of Central Africa. Not only did I see them amongst the Mittoo and Madi, but like- BONGO GOATS. 271 wise among the Babuckur, and even in the country of the Monbuttoo, whither they had been brought by the equatorial nations whom the Monbuttoo simply style the " Momvoo." These goats, like the Dinka sheep, are distinguished by a hairy appendage from the breast and slioulders, and by a short stiff mane, which runs riglit along the ridge of the back to the small erect • tail. The frontal is round, and projects considerably beyond the base of the nasal bone, and the horns are very strong and but slightly curved. The ordinary colour of these pretty animals is a h'ght fawn or chamois-brown, the mane being very dark. I occasionally Short-bodied Goat of the Bongo. found the Bongo in possession of another breed which I met with nowliere else, and which is probably merely a cross • with the Uinka goat. It has a remarkably short and plump body, and is generally of a pepper-and-salt colour. The coat is somewhat longer and more shaggy than that of the other breed, and besides the mane-like appendage in iront the hind quarters are also covered with long rough liair. The Bongo dogs, with regard to size, are between the small Niam-niam race and the Dinka breed, which corresponds 272 THE HEART OF AFRICA. more nearly to the comniou pariah of Egypt. On account of the indiscriminate crossing of the races, a dog of pure Bongo breed is somewhat rare ; its chief characteristics are a reddish tan colour, short erect ears, and a bushy tail like a fox's brush. Their greatest peculiarity appeared to me to be the bristling of their hair, which at every provocation stands up along the back and neck like that of an angry cat. The bushiness of the tail distinguishes the breed from the smooth-tailed Dinka dog, and from that of the Niam-niam, of M'hich the tails are as curly as pigtails. Although the Bongo are not over choice in their food, they persistently abstain from eating dog's flesh, a practice to which their southern and south-eastern neighbours are noto- riously addicted ; in fact, they show as much abhorrence at the idea as they would at devouring human flesh itself. They liave a curious superstition about dead dogs. I was about to bury one of my dogs that had recently died, and some of the men came and implored me to desist from my intention, since the result would assuredly be that no rain would fall upon their seeds. For this reason all the Bongo simply throw their dead dogs out into the open fields. At some seasons, especially at the end of the rainy months, fishing and hunting offer productive sources for obtaining the means of subsistence. Hunting is sometimes practised by independent individuals going out separately; but at other times it takes the form of an extensive hattiie, in which the men belonging to a whole district will combine to take a share; Occasionally, too, a rich booty is obtained from the trenches and snares. Nets are used in all the hattues for game, and the Bongo devote as much attention to the con- struction of these nets as they do to the weaving of their fish-snares and basket-pots. Their fishery is principally limitel to the winter months. Elephant-hunting has for the last twelve years been among the things of the past. It is only the oldest of the I I HUNTING-SNARES. 273 men — and here the number of the men that are really old is very small — who appear to have any distinct recollection of it at all. The huge lance-heads, which are now only weapons of luxury in the possession of the wealthy, or upon some rare occasions used for buffalo-hunting, are the sole memorials of the abundance of ivory of which Petherick, as an eye-witness, has given so striking a description. The snares by which the Bongo succeed in catching the smaller kinds of game generally consist of the stem of a tree balanced horizontally by means of ropes.* A spot which the game is known to haunt is selected for the erection of these snares ; a hedge, or some sort of enclosure, is set up on each side of the tree so that the game may be obliged to run underneath ; it is arranged so that the animals as they pass tread upon a kind of noose or slip-knot which slackens the ropes by which the tree is suspended, and the falling weight crushes and Ivills the game below\ The numbers of snares of this descrip- tion which are found in the bush-thickets is a sufficient proof of their efficacy. The smaller species of antelopes, ichneu- mons, civets, genets, wild cats, servals, and caracals, are all in turn caught by this stratagem. Hunting on a minor scale is a very favourite recreation, and the children find a daily amusement in catching rats and field-mice. Tliey weave baskets in the form of long tubes, which they lay flat upon the ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the mouse-holes ; they then commence a regular hattue, w'hen the seared mice, scampering back to regain their homes, run through the stubble, and often rush into the open traps, where, like fish in a weir-basket, they are easily secured. In this way the Bongo boys catch con- siderable quantities of meriones, Mus gentilis, and M. har- harus, which they tie together by their tails in clusters of * An illustrate )U of this contrivance appears in Pctherick's 'Travels in Central Africa,' vol. i. p. 2.'35. VOL. T. T 274 THE HEART OF AFRICA. about a dozen, and barter them to each other as dainty morsels. "These are our cows," they would shout to me with great glee whenever I met them returning after their sport had been successful. Another use which is made of the mice which are captured by this simple artifice is to employ them for a bait for securing what they esteem the especial delicacy of roast cat. On the narrow paths which traverse the steppes like rifts in the long grass, they construct diminutive huts out of some twisted reeds ; by placing the mice inside these they are very often able to entice the cats into a snare. With the exception of human flesh and the flesh of dogs, the Bongo seem to consider all animal substance fit for eating, in whatever condition it may be found. The putrefy- ing remnant of a lion's feast, which lies in the obscurity of a forest and is only revealed by the kites and vultures circling in the air above, is to them a welcome discovery. That meat is "high" is a guarantee for its being tender, and they deem it in that condition not only more strengthening than when it is fresh, but likewise more easy of digestion. There is, however, no accounting for taste, certainly not with the Bongo, who do not recoil from the most revolting of food. Whenever my cattle were slaughtered, I always saw my bearers eagerly contending for the half-digested contents of the stomach, like the Esquimaux, whose only ideas of vege- tables appear to be what they obtain from the contents of the paunches of their reindeers ; and I have seen the Bongo calmly strip off the disgusting amphistoma-worms which literally lino the stomachs of all the cattle of this region, and put them into their mouths by handfuls. After tliat, it was not a matter of surprise to me to find that the Bongo reckons as game everything tliat creeps or crawls, from rats and mice to snakes, and that he is not particular what he eats, from the carrion vulture to the mangy hyaana, or from the fat earth-scorpions {Heterometrus palmatus) to the BONGO DWELLINGS. 275 caterpillars of the winged termites with their oily beetle- bodies. Having thus dilated with more minuteness than elsewhere upon the external features of Bongo life, sucli as their agri- cultm-e, hunting, and fishing, I may proceed to call attention to those arts by which, even in this low grade of develop- ment, man seeks to ameliorate and embellish his existence. First of all, the dwelling-place may demand our notice, that which binds every man more or less to the soil which affords him his subsistence — that family nucleus, from which the wide-branching tree of human society has derived its origin. In the period when the Khartoomers first made their way into the country, the Bongo, quite unlike the other tribes, inhabited extensive villages, which, similar to the present kSeribas, were encompassed by a palisade. Neither towns nor villages are now to be seen, and the districts which are occupied at all are only marked by scattered enclosures and little gatherings of huts, as in the country of the Dinka and the Niam-niam. Very rarely are more than five or six families resident in the same locality, so that it is almost an exaggeration to speak of their being villages in any sense. The communities in past times seem to have had a preference for gathering round some great tamarind, ficus, or butter- tree, which often still survives and constitutes the only relic of habitations which have long fallen to decay ; and even to the present time the Bongo appear to retain this partiality, and more often than not they may be found beneath the natural shade of a spreading roof of foliage, enjoying the light and space which are prohibited to their cramped and narrow dwellings. The ground for a considerable circuit about the huts is all well cleared and levelled, its surface being the general scene of labour on which all the women perform their ordinary domestic duties. The corn is there thrashed and winnowed ; there it is brayed in the wooden mortars T 2 276 THE HEART OF AFRICA. or pounded by the mill ; there are the leaves of the tobacco plant laid out to dry ; there stand the baskets with the loads of mushrooms or supply of fruit ; and there may be seen the accumulated store of nutritious roots. Dogs and poultry alike seem to revel in security under the ma- jestic covering, while the little children at their play com- plete the idyllic picture of life in Central Africa.* Upon the erection of their dwellings there is no people in the Gazelle district who bestow so much pains as the Bongo. Although they invariably adopt tlie conical shape, they allow themselves considerable diversity in the forms they use. The general plan of their architecture has already been sketched. Tlie materials they employ are upright tree- stems, plaited faggots, canes of the bamboo, clay from the mushroom-shaped white-ant hills, and tough grass and the bast of the Grewia. The diameter of the dwellings rarely exceeds twenty-feet, the height generally being about the same. The entrance consists of a hole so small that it is necessary to creep through in order to get inside ; and the door consists of a hurdle swung upon two posts so as to be pushed backwards and forwards at pleasure. The clay floor in the interior is always perfectly level ; it is made secure against damp as well as against the entrance of white ants by having been flattened down by the women trampling upon broad strips of bark laid upon it. The common sleeping-place of the parents and smaller children is on the floor. The bedding generally consists only of skins, the Bongo having little care for mats. For the pillow of the family they ordinarily use a branch of a tree smoothed by being stripped of its bark. In every dwelling-place is found a conical receptacle for corn, named the '• gallotoli," which is elevated on piles, vary- ing in height, so as to protect tlie provision from the damp of * For a pictoriiil ropiTSi'iitfttion uf this scene, vide vol. ii. ABU^JDANCE OF IRON. 277 the soil or from the ravages of rats or white ants. Blagazines of this kind for the reserve of corn are in general use throughout Africa, from the Rumboo of Damerghoo in the Central Soudan, right into the country of the Kaffirs and Beclnianas. All the dwellings of the Bongo, whether large or small, are marked by one characteristic, which might almost be represented as a national feature. The peak of their huts is always furnished with a circular pad of straw, very carefully made, which serves as a seat, and from which it is possible to take a survey of the country, covered with its tall growth of corn. The name of "gony"is given to this elevation, which is surrounded by six or eight curved bits of wood projecting as though the roof were furnished with horns. It is peculiar to the huts of the Bongo. Iron is found in such quantities throughout the region that naturally the inhabitants devote much of their atten- tion to its manipulation ; its very abundance ap})arently secures them an advantage over the Dinka. Although, according to our conceptions they would be described as utterly deticient in tools and apparatus, still they produce some very wonderful results, even surpassing the Dyoor in skill. With their rude bellows and a hammer which, more commonly than not, is merely a round ball of pebble-stone (though occasionally it may be a little pyramid of iron without a handle) upon an anvil of gneiss or granite, with an ordinary little chisel and a pair of tongs consisting of a mere split piece of green wood, they contrive to fabricate articles which would bear comparison with the productions of an English smith.* The season when opportunity is found for putting the iron- works in motion is after the harvest has been housed and the rains are over. Already, in a previous chapter,! iron-work, * Vide Petheriek, 'E^ypt, the Soudan,' &c., p. 395. t Vide Chap. V. {>. 20(3, seq. 278 THE HEART OF AFRICA. as produced by the Dyoor, has been noticed, but the Bongo have a system considerably more advanced, which appears worthy of a brief description. Their smelting apparatus is an erection of clay, generally about five feet in height, containing in its interior three distinct compartments.* These are all of the same size, that hi the middle being filled with alternate layers of ■fuel and ore. This centre chamber is separated from the lower by means of a kind of frame resting on a circular projection ; and it is divided from the chamber above by a narrow neck of communica- tion. The highest and lowest of the divisions are used for fuel only. Bound the base of the inferior chamber there are four holes, into which the "tewels" or pokers are introduced and to which bellows are applied to increase the intensity of the combustion ; there is a fifth hole, which can be stopped with clay as often as may be desired, and which serves to allow the metal to be raked out after it has trickled down into the cavity below the frame. The most important of the iron productions are designed for the trade that the Bongo carry on with the tribes that dwell in the north, and which some time since was very active. The raw iron is exhibited in three separate shapes : one is named " mahee," being spear-heads of one or two feet long, corresponding exactly with what has been mentioned as common with the Dyoor ; the second is known as * The woodcut represents a vertical section of one of tliese smelting- ovons. BONGO MONEY. 279 " loggoh kullutty," and is simply a lot of black, ill-formed spades; the third is called distinctively "loggoh," consisting of regular spades, which, under the market appellation of " melot," have a wide sale everywhere along the course of the Ui^per Nile. The " loggoh kullutty " is the circulating medium of the Bongo, the only equivalent which Central Africa possesses for money of any description ; but, rough-shaped as it is, it seems really to answer in its way the purpose of regular coin. According to Major Denham, who visited the Central Soudan in 1824, there were at that time some iron pieces which were circulated as currency in Loggon on the Lower Shary, answering to what is now in use among the Bongo ; but at the period of Barth's visit all traces of their use had long disappeared. The " loggoh kullutty " is formed in flat circles, varying in diameter from 10 to 12 inches. On one Iron money. Loggoh Kullutty. Loggoh melot. ed, is all they consider necessary. Now and then a tail, like a black liorse- tail, composed of the bast of the Sanseviera, is appended to the back of the girdle in a way that has already been mentioned. The rest of the body is allowed by both sexes to be entirely unclad, and no addition to the costume is ever seen, except we should reckon the feathered head-gear which is exhibited on the occasion of a feast or a ball. As a rule the hair of both men and women is kept quite short, and not unfrequently is very closely shorn, the prin- cipal exception being found in the south, where the habits of the Niam-niam have extended tlieir influence into the Bongo territory, and botli men and women wear tufts and luaids of a length approximating to that of their neighbours. It may possibly be imagined that the extremely primitive coveiing of the Bongo women irradiates them with some- thing of the charm of Para- dise ; but a very limited ex- perience will soon dispel the rapture of any illusion of the kind. All full-grown women attain such an astcmnding girth of body, and acquire such a cumbrous suj)erabun- dance of flesh, that it is quite impossible to look at them without observing tlieir dis- proportion to the men. Their thighs are very often as large as a man's chest, and their r-ns- w .mm. measurement across the hips can hardly fail to recall the picture in Cuvier's Atlas of the now famous "Hottentot Venus." Shapes developed to tliis magnitude are no longer 290 TBE HEART OF AFRICA. the exclusive privilege of the Hottentots ; day after day I saw them among the Bongo, and they may well demand to be technically described as " Steatopyga." In certain atti- tudes, as for instance when they are carrying their heavy water-jars upon their heads, they seem to assume the shape of an inverted S. To their singular appearance the long switch tail of bast very much contributes, and alto- gether the profile of a fat Bongo woman is not unlike that of a dancing baboon. I can vouch for it that women who weigh twenty stone are far from scarce. Very few are the people of Central Africa amongst whom the partiality for finery and ornaments is so strongly shown as with the Bongo. The women wear on their necks an accumulation of cords and beads, and not being fastidious like their neighbours, will put on without regard to shape or colour, whatever the market of Khartoom can provide. The men do not care much for this particular decoration, but prefer necklaces, on which they string some of those remark- able little fragments of wood which are so constantly found in every region of Africa. With the bits of wood hang fragments of roots, which are in form something like the mandrake, which, in Southern Europe, has been the subject of so strange a super- stition. Alternating with the roots and wood are the talons, of owls and eagles, the teeth of dogs, crocodiles, and jackals, little tortoise-shells, the claws of the earth-pig (Ot'yeteropus), and in short any of those objects which we are accustomed to store in the cabinets which adorn our salons. They appear to supply the j)lace of the extracts from the Koran which, wrapped in leather sheathes, the Nubians wear by dozens about their person ; anything in the shape of an amulet being eagerly craved by every African. Not unfrequently the men deck themselves out in females' ornaments. Many cover the rims of their ears with copper rings and crescents; others pierce the upper lip like the women, and insert either a round-headed copper nail or a BONGO DECORATION. 207 copper plate, or, wliat is still more general, some rings or a bit of straw. The skin of the stomach above the waist is often pierced by the men, nnd the incision filled up with a bit of wood, or occasion.dly by a good-sized peg. On the Nvrist and upper part of the arm they wear iron rings of every pattern ; some rings are cut out of elephant and buffalo hide, and look almost as though they were made of horn. The "dangabor," an ornament composed of a series of iron rings, and worn on the lower portion of the arm, has been ah-eady described. The Bongo women delight in distinguishing themselves by an adornment which to our notions is nothing less than a hideous mutilation. As soon as a woman is married the operation commences of extending her lower lip. This, at first only slightly bored, is widened by inserting into the orifice plugs of wood gradually increasing in size, until at length the entire feature is enlarged to five or six times its original proportions. The plugs are cylindrical in form, not less than an inch thick, and are exactly like the pegs of bone or wood worn by the women of JMusgoo. By this means the lower lip is extended horizontally till it projects far beyond the upper, which is also bored and fitted with a copper plate or nail, and now and then by a little ring, and some- times by a bit of straw about as thick as a lucifer-match. Nor do they leave the nose intact : similar bits of straw are inserted into the edges of the nostrils, and I have seen as many as three of these on either side. A very favourite ornament for the cartilage between the nostrils is a copper ring, just like those that are placed in the noses of buffaloes and other beasts of burden for the purpose of rendering them more tractable. The greatest coquettes among the ladies wear a clasp or cramp at the corners of the mouth, as though they wanted to contract the orifice, and literally to put a curb upon its capabilities. These subsidiary ornaments are not however found at all universally among the women, and 298 THE IIRART OF AFRICA. it is rare to see them all at once upon a single individual : the plug in the lower lip of the married women is alone a sine qua non, serving as it does for an artificial distinction of race. According to the custom of the people, there need only be a trifling projection of the skin so as to form a flap or a fold, to be at once the excuse for boring a hole. The ears are per- forated more than any part, both the outer and the inner auricle being profusely pierced ; the tip of the ear alone is frequently made to carry half-a-dozen little iron rings. There are women in the country whose bodies are pierced in some way or other in little short of a hundred different places. The Bongo women limit their tattooing to the upper part of the arm. Zigzag or parallel lines, or rows of dots, often brou<''ht into relief by the production of proud flesh after the operation has been accomplished, are the three forms which in different combinations serve as marks of individual dis- tinction. The men tattoo themselves differently, and some of them abstain from the operation altogether. At one time the lines run across the breast and stomach to one side of the body ; at another they are limited to the top of the arm, whilst it is not at all unusual for the neck and shoulder- blades to be tattooed. Besides the ornaments that I have mentioned, the toilet of a Bongo lady is incomjilete without the masses'of iron and copper rings which she is accustomed to wear on her wrists and arms, and more especially on lier ankles. These rings clank like fetters as she walks, and even from a distance the two sexes can be distinguished by the character of the sound that accompanies their movements. Tliat human patience should ever for the sake of fashion submit to a still greater mart}'rdora seems almost incredible, though hereafter we shall have suflicient proof when we delineate the habits of the Mittoo, the neighbours of the Bongo, that such is really the case. In Bongoland, as in all the iioi'thern ])arts of the territory BONGO WEAPONS. 299 that I visited, copper of late years lias attained a monetary value, and has become an accustomed medium of exchange. Glass beads are annually deteriorating in estimation, and have long ceased to be treasured up and buried in the earth like jewels or precious stones, being now used only to gratify female vanity. In former times, when the only intercourse that the Bongo held with the ]\Iohammedan world was by occasional dealings with the Baggara Arabs, through the intervention of the Dembo, a Shillook tribe connected with the Dyoor, cowrie-shells were in great request, but these also have long since fallen out of the category of objects of value. Gold and silver are very rarely used as ornaments, even in the Mohammedan parts of the Eastern Soudan ; it is there- fore hardly a matter of surprise that to the Bongo, whose soil is singularly uniform in its geological productions, they should be all but unknown. The Bongo, moreover, have but little value for brass, differing greatly in this respect from their neighbours, the Dyoor. Their weapons consist mainly of lances, bows and arrows, shields being very rarely used, and even then being appro- priated from other neighbouring nations. Although the greater part of the population is at present quite unaccus- tomed to any warlike occupation, except when any of them chance to be employed in the raids upon the Dinka or in the Niam-niam campaigns, yet they still maintain a wonderful dexterity in the use of the bow and arrow, and we shall have occasion in another place to notice their performances in this respect. The large size of their weapons is remarkable ; I saw many of their bows which were four feet in length, their arrows are rarely under three feet long, and on this account they are never made from the light reod-grass, but are cut out of solid wood. The forms of the arrow-heads also have a decided nationality stamped upon them. In the course of time I was easily able to determine at a glance the tribe to which any weapon belonged by certain characteristics, the 300 THE HEART OF AFRICA. details of which would now engross more time and space than are at our command. It may be mentioned that the Bongo, like the negroes above Fesoglu, on the Upper Blue Nile, imbue their arrows with the milky juice of one of the Euphorbic-e. This species, of which I now for the first time collected some specimens, has been erroneously represented by Tremaux in the atlas of his travels * as EupJiorhia mamil- laris, but it is in fact one of the many Cactus-euphorbiae for which the flora of Tropical Africa, and especially that of the drier regions, is distinguished, and is entirely distinct from the South African species. It is a branching, straggling shrub, varying in height from five to eight feet, at one time growing in large masses in the light woods, and then failing altogether for the space of several days' journey. Not only the larger branches, nearly two inches thick, but also the smaller boughs, are encrusted with a snowy white rind, covered with thick sj^iny protuberances, which stand singly under the eyes of the leaves. At the extremity of each bough is 'a bunch of fleshy succulent leaves, shaped like lances, and six inches in length. This species of Cactus- euphorbia {E. venejica) is termed by the Bongo " bolloh," in contradistinction to " kakoh," their name for the larger sort {E. candelahrum), which is common in the country, but of which the milky juice is far less dangerous than that of the " bolloh," for if this be applied in a fresh condition to the skin, it results in a violent inflammation. It is, however, my opinion that this juice, as it is used by the Bongo, being spread in a hard mass over the barbs and heads of the airows, can do very little harm to the wounded, as when it is once hard it is difficult to melt, and there cannot possibly be time for it to commingle with the blood after a wound has been made by an arrow. We may now turn our attention to the Bongo games, * Tremaux : ' Voyage Piltoresque au Soudan.' Tal). XIV. BONGO GAMES. 301 which are as original and primitive as their music. One of these games, as foriuiug excellent training for the chase, deserves some especial notice. A number of men are pro- vided with pointed sticks made of hard wood, which they use as lances. They form a large ring, and another man who has a piece of soft wood attached to a long string, runs round and round within the circle. The others then endeavour with their pointed sticks to hit the mark whilst it is being carried rapidly round. As soon as it is struck it falls to the ground, and the successful marksman is greeted with a loud cheer. Another game requires no less calmness and dex- terity. A piece of wood bent into a crescent has a short string attached to the middle ; this wood is then hurled by the one end of it with such violence to the earth that it goes spinning like a boomerang through the air. The players stand face to face at a distance of about twenty feet apart, and the game consists in catching the wood by the string, a performance that requires no little skill, as there is consider- able danger of receiving a sharp knock. Both games might, under some modifications, admit of being adopted into our rural sports. Turning now to the national manners, customs, and ideas, I profess that' they are subjects of which I must treat with considerable reserve, since my residence as a stranger for two years amongst these savages only gave me after all a very superficial insight into the mysteries of their inner life. Since, however, the accounts of eye-witnesses, who knew the land in its primitive condition, seem to accord with and to corroborate my own observations, as well as the information I obtained from the Bongo themselves, I am in a position to depose to some facts, of which I must leave the scientific analysis to those who are seeking to cultivate the untried soil of the psychology of nations. Elsewhere, and among other nations with whom I became acquainted, the number of a man's wives was dependent on 302 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the extent of liis possessions, but amongst tlie Bongo it seemed to be limited to a maximum of three. Here, as in other parts of Africa, a wife cannot be obtained for nothing, even the very poorest must pay a purchase price to the father of the bride in the form of a number of plates of iron ; unless a man could provide the premium, he could only get an old woman for a wife. The usual price paid for a young girl would be about ten plates of iron weighing two pounds each, and twenty lance tips. Divorces, when necessary, are regulated in the usual way, and the father is always com- pelled to make a restitution of at least a portion of the wedding-payment. If a man should send his wife back to her fathei-, she is at liberty to marry again, and with her husband's consent she may take her children with her ; if, however, her husband retains the children, her father is bound to refund the entire wedding-gift that he received. This would be the case although ten years might have elapsed since the marriage. The barrenness of a woman is always an excuse for a divorce. In cases of adultery, the husband endeavours to kill the seducer, and the wife gets a sound flogging. Whoever has been circumcised according to the Mohammedan law, cannot hope to make a good match in Bongoland. A Bongo woman, as a rule, will seldom be found to have less than five children : the usual number is six, and the maximum twelve. In childbirtli she is supported with her arms on a horizontal beam, and is in tliat position delivered of the child ; the navel-cord is cut very long with a knife, and always without a ligature. No festivities are observed on the occasion of a birth. The infants are carried on the mothers' backs, sewn up in a bag of goat's-hide, like a water-bottle. The children are kept at the breast until they have completed their second year, weaning being never thought of until they can be trusted to run about. In order to wean a child, the mother's breast is smeared with some acrid matter, and the BONGO EXEQUIES. 303 bruiserosecutions more continually being instituted against them. As matter of fact, 1 can affirm that really aged folks among the Bongo are comparatively scarce, and that the number of grey-headed people is, by contrast, surprisingly hirge amongst the neigh- bouring race of the Dyoor, who put no foith at all in any w itchcraft. The Nubians are not only open to superstitions of their own, but confirm the Bongo in all of theirs. In the Eastern Soudan, which is a Mohammedan country, the con- versation will constantly turn upon the *' Sahara" (i.e., the witches), and no comparison is more frequent than that which likens the old women to hyamas : in fact, many of the people hold hard and fast to the conviction that the wutches are capable of going out at night, and taking up their quarters inside the bodies of these detestable brutes, without any one being aware of what is happening. It chanced, during my stay in Gallabat, that I killed one out of a herd of hya3nas that was infesting the district ; my fate, in con- sequence, was to be loaded with reproaches on the part of the X 2 308 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Slieikh, wlio informed me that his mother was a " hyaena- woman," and that I might, for all I could tell, have shot her. After tin's I Mas not so surprised as might be expected when Idrees, tlie governor of Ghattas's Seriba, boasted in my pre- sence of his conflicts with witches, bragging that in one day he had had half a dozen of them executed. An occasion shoi-tly afterwards arose, when Idrees was contemplating putting two old women to death at the desire of some Bongo, and tlie only scheme I could devise to make him desist from his purpose, was by threatening him that, in the event of the women being executed, I would jioison his water-springs. But, in this dread of witches, the whole superstition of the Bongo culminates and exhausts itself; and we Europeans mav well ask what real right have we, with all our advance- ment in knowledge, to presume to reproach them ? We can- not resist the impression that these poor Bongo are infinitely more free from hundreds of superstitious fallacies than many of those who boast of their civilization ; much more so, for instance, than the Mohammedans of the Soudan, where the idlest of superstitions prevail in every household. Let nature be free, and the germs of energy in man's spirit will develop themselves, without overstepping their proper limits, in trustful dependence upon the presiding spirit which controls all thought. That the spirit of man, moreover, revolves in a circle, is demonstrated by the old man becoming again a child. A philosopher might fairly speculate (in the spirit of Bernardin de St. Pierre, when he advocated a worship of Nature) whether this land would not have been happier if the IMoslems had never set foot upon its soil. They brought a religion that was destitute of morality ; they introduced contagion rather than knowledge ; they even suppressed the true doctrines of Mohammed their prophet, which would have enfranchised the very people whom they oppressed, and have raised them to a condition of brotherhood, and of equality. BONGO SURGERY. 309 The method of proceeding among the Bongo with the sick and wounded is invariably of the very simplest character. When the disorder is internal, and the origin cannot be detected, the treatment consists merely in liberal applica- tions of very hot water. The patient is stretched upon the ground, and sprinkled by means of leafy boughs with boiling water from vessels that are placed close by. Somewhat more expert is their proceeding in the case of the wounded. It once chanced that I saw a group of sufferers brought back from one of the raids that had been made into the territory of the Dinka. The wounds had nearly all been inflicted by the lances of the adversary. With remarkable fortitude the patients all. submitted to the practice of the country, which consisted in the introduction of a number of setons, made of the strong and fibrous bast of the grewia, into the injured parts, in order to reduce the inflammation. Amongst others, I saw a knee, which was immensely swollen, subject to the operation of being pierced in every direction by setons of this sort, until it was larded like a roast hare. With the exception of red ochre the Bongo, like most of their neigh- bours, are not acquainted with any mineral which they can apply to a wound, either as a reducent or an antiseptic. As medicines to accelerate the natural processes of cure, they make use of the astringent bitter barks of certain trees like the Hymenocardia, the Butyrospermum, and the Prosopis, which are here known as the "gere," tlie "kor," and the "goU." Sypliilis, which now makes its insidious progress, was quite unknown amongst these poor savages previous to the settlement amongst them of the Nubians, and against its mischief the only specific employed is the bitter bark of the Heddo-tree {Anor/eisstts), one, however, which undoubtedly is utterly useless for the purpose. The misshapen and crippled are entirely unknown amongst these unsophisticated children of Nature. But in a country where, even with the best attention on the part of a mother, 310 THE HEART OF AFRICA. every child must be exposed to the perils which necessarily are associated with existence in a wilderness, how should it be possible for a cripple to stand out the battle of life ? As freaks of nature, every now and then there may be seen some dwarfs, and I presume that some mutes may occasionally be found, as there is a word (" mabang ") in their language to express the defect in the faculty of speech. The insane ("bindahko") are shackled hand and foot; and avowedly with the design of cooling and soothing their passions, they are thrown into the river, where they are immersed by practised swimmers. If this remedy should prove of no effect, the patient is put into confinement, nnd dieted by the relatives ; but generally the lot of a maniac is far happier than that which beftills an aged man, however innocent. To maintain the strength of invalids, certain kinds of flesh are prescribed, and a particular value is attri- buted to the flesh of the Gulhikoo (Tmetoceros ahyssinieus), a kind of rhinoceros hornbill, which has a detestable flavour, as odious as hemlock. The dialect of the people throughout the \\hole country exhibits very little diversity ; the best evidence for this is afforded by the perfect uniformity of expression in every part of the land for all natural objects whatever ; whilst even in dealing with conceptions of an abstract character, there is little fear of being misunderstood. The language altogether has a harmonious ring, abounding in the vowel sounds of a and 0, as the name of the people indicates ; it is very simple in its grammatical structure, and at the same time it presents a great variety of terms for all concrete subjects. The vocabulary that I compiled contained nearly one thousand distinct expressions. The etymology of connected words and the analysis of separate idioms afford considerable interest, and transport the student right into the ingenuous world of their natural life. The more common of our abstract ideas such as spirit, BONGO DIALECT. 311 soul, hope, and fear, appear to be absolutely wanting, but experience shows that in this respect other negro tongues are not more richly provided by nature. The labours of mis- sionaries in translating the Scriptures have notoriously intro- duced into the written language a number of elevated idioms and of metaphorical ideas which very probably in a few generations may be more or less incorporated into the tongue, but to the student of language who shall make the gleanings these introductions will be a mere refuse, and the only subject of any scientific interest will be the speech of the people as it was while it remained intact and unaffected by innovation. Instances of the indirect method which is employed on the part of tlie Bongo to express any abstract idea may here be given. The monosyllable " firr," for example used in com- bination with other words,- answers the purpose of expressing any of the following ideas: will, love, pleasure, taste, or speech. The true conception which would appear to be the original force of the little word, is first the will, and then the expression of that will by means of the tongue. The phrase for " 1 wish it," would be "firr nahamah," which is literally, " The will is in my stomach." Nor is it uninteresting to notice the various equivalents which are found of one and the same word. " Mahee " means " lance " and " meat " in general, and is a collective expres- sion for antelopes of every kind ; " attamatta " is employed equally for what is "bitter" and what is "annoying;" "dill" implies either a "shadow" or a "cloud;" "gimah" is used indifferently for either "a son" or "a boy," and "goah" for either " a pit " or " deep." " Helleleh " simply means " wind " or " air," but by reduplication " helleleh-helleleh," implies whatever is " light." Either " rain " or " the sky " may be indicated by the word " hetorro," and " ndan " not merely signifies " night," but is used for " to-day." This last mode of expression has been transferred from the African to 312 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the Arabic of the Eastern Soudan," where " fee lehle " means either " by night " or " this very day." The disposition which is ever manifested amongst the untutored children of nature to represent certain animals by imitating the sounds they utter, is extended amongst the Bono-o to describe a variety of inanimate objects. As examples of this kind of nomenclature I may mention " golongolo " as their name for a " bell," " gohi " as their name for a "cough," " kuUuluh " for a " ball," and " marongonn " for " snoring." The name they give a " cat " is " mbriow " differing little in its pronunciation from " mew." There is a kind of poetry which underlies many of their expressions, and which invests some objects with a certain charm of indefiniteness ; thus for example they call a leaf " mbillee-kaggah," " an ear of the tree," and a man's chest they name " doah kiddi," or " the capital of the veins." The speech of a people is very often indicative of the predominating character of their pursuits. By the name of " mony," which originally meant the common sorghum, which is the staple of their produce' the Bongo, being an agri- cultural people, have come to denote not so much the par- ticular corn, as eatables of any description. They have, moreover, adopted this word as the root of a verb which is conjugated. In a way corresponding to this the Niam-niam, who are mainly addicted to hunting, give a very comprehen- sive meaning to their word " push-yo," which signifies " meat." Of almost infinite variety are the names of the different individuals among the Bongo. I had opportunities of making inquiries whilst I was measuring nearly a hundred of the people, and I do not think that I found more than five names that occurred more than once. As a regular rule parents name their children after trees or animals, or some object in nature, and it is quite exceptional for any personal peculiarity tf> be associated with the appellation. fn the labyrinth of African culture it is very difficult to INTERMINGLING OF RACES. 313 disentangle the hundred threads which lead up to the centre from which they have been all unwound. Not a custom, not a superstition is found in one part which is not more or less accurately repeated in another; not one contrivance of design, not one weapon of war exists of which it can be de- clared that it is the exclusive property of any one race. From north to south, and from sea to sea, in some form or other every invention is sure to be repeated ; it is " the thing that has been." The creative hand of Nature alone produces what is new. If we could at once grasp and set before our minds facts that are known (whether as regards language, race, culture, history, or development) of that vast region of the world which is comprehended in the name of Africa, we should have before us the witness of an intermingling of races which is beyond all precedent. And yet, bewildering as the prospect would appear, it remains a fact not to be gainsaid, that it is impossible for any one to survey the country as a whole without perceiving that high above the multitude of individual differences there is throned a principle of unity which embraces well nigh all the population. Such a conclusion has been amply borne out by the pre- ceding delineation of the Bongo, who form an element in that unity. We cannot take a retrospect of the particulars which have been now detailed about them, without the question arising as to which of the other races of Central Africa most nearly resemble the Bongo. Any answer to this question that could not be invalidated would afford hints invaluable for the investigation of the latest movements among African nations ; but I must confess that 1 am only hazarding an opinion which I cannot establish, when I name the countries about Lake Tsad as being those in which the most marked similarity in habit to the Bongo might be expected, and the tribes to which I would more particularly allude are the Musgoo, the Massa, the Wandala, and the Loggon. 314 THE HEART OF AFRICA. I conclude by repeatiDg the comparison which I made at the beginning between the existence of a people and a drop of water evaporating in the sea. Ere long, the Bongo as a people will be quite foi-gotten, superseded by a rising race. The time cannot be far off when this race, so gifted and so impressionable, shall be known no more. The domination over the people which is contemplated in Egypt cannot fail to effect this result, and. it is a destiny that probably awaits all the rest of the African races. However much the Nubian may tyrannize, he still leaves the poor natives a portion of their happiness. But there is still a more distant future : after the Nubian comes the Turk, and he takes all. Truly it is not without reason that the proverb circulates in every district, " Where the Turk has been no grass will grow." ( 315 ) CHAPTER VIII. Calamities by fire. Deliverance and escape. Six women-slaves burnt. Bar- terings. Domestication of wild -cats. Plague of cockroaches. Pillen-wasps. Agamas and chameleons. Fever. Meteorology. Solar phenomenon. A festal reception with an unfortunate result. Disturbance of rest at night. j\Iiu-niuring of prayers. Jewish school. Orgies and dnmi-beating. Casting; out devils. Resolve to follow Aboo Sammat. Start towards the south. Passage of the Tondy. Character of the forest. The water-bock. Scenery by night. Shereefee's attack. Seriba Duggoo. Consequences of the steppe-burning. Seriba Daggudiloo. Burnt human bones and charred huts. Tropics in winter. Two kinds of ant-hills. Arrival in Sabby. Nocturnal festivities of the Bongo. Desolation of the country. Goat-suckers. Abund- ance of game. The zebra-ichneumon. The spectral mantis. Lions. Won- derful chase after hartebeests. Snake and antelope at a shot. So satisfactory was the condition of my health that it ap- peared to me entirely to confute the opinion entertained by Europeans that a prolonged residence in the tropics is de- structive alike of physical and moral energy. For those probably who live in indolent repose, and who are surrounded by all the appliances of domestic comfort, who, so far from undertaking the trouble of a journey, have scarcely the activity to take a walk, there may be some ground for the presumption ; and more particularly may this be the case in Mohammedan countries where slothfulness and laissez /aire are as contagious as gaping is all the world over. But nothinsr of the kind is to be found for a traveller whose elasticity is kept at all on the stretch, and who is conscious of not having a minute to spare ; the exercise of his faculties will keep them in vigour as full as though he were still on his native soil. For my own part, I could not help thinking 31G THE HEART OF AFRICA. of the coQtrast b3tvveen the rainy season wliicli I spent here and that which, in 1865, I had passed in GaUabat; now all was animated and cheerful ; life seemed free from care ; my health was unimpaired, and I enjoyed the most intimate converse with Nature; but then, on the contrary, it had been a perpetual struggle between getting well and getting ill, and I had never ceased to be haunted by the depressing influences of a weary spirit. However happily my time in the Seriba glided on, still it was not altogether free from peril. An incident full of alarm occurred to me on the night of the 22nd of May. The rain was coming down in torrents, and about two hours after midnight a tremendous storm ensued. The thunderclaps rattling through the woods sounded like an avalanche, and coming rapidly one upon another, seemed to keep pace with the lightning which gleamed through the darkness of the night. Suddenly there was a shrieking of women's voices, and at the same instant the blackness of night was changed to the light of day, as the blaze of a burning hut flared up aloft. The flaming structm-e was only separated from my own quarters by my single granary. Aroused by the outcry I sprang up ; for to be caught asleep in an edifice constructed of straw and bamboo is to be enveloped in fire, and is almost certain death. The hazard was very imminent ; in a very few minutes my hut must apparently be in flames ; the work of demolition began at once ; my powder was conveyed without delay to a place of safety ; my chests and my herbarium were then secured ; all the smaller articles of my furniture were thrown into great waterproof coverings and dragged out en masse. Perhaps about half of my property had thus been placed out of jeopardy when we observed that the wind bore the flames in a different direction, and fortunately the light framework of the burning roof gave way and it soon fell in ; saturated as the straw was with the rain it put a check to the further spreading of the flames. Now was the KILLED ?.Y LIGHTNING. 317 time to draw our breath and look around ; we could now give over our hurry and scurry, and examine the real con- dition of things. I stood almost petrified at the reflection how narrowly I had escaped coming to utter grief on this uuluclvy night ; I tliought how deplorable had been my lot if I liad been reduced to a condition of nakedness and want in this inhospitable land ; I became alive to the sense of shame with which I should have retraced my way back to Khartoom within a year, and witli my task unfinished ; I was dispirited ; I knew not what might happen, and perhaps this fire was only a prelude to yet more bitter experience. The tokkul which had been burnt down was hardly five- and-twenty paces from my very bed. There, struck by lightning, six female slaves had met their simultaneous death ; a seventh had been untouched by the electric fluid, and had contrived, half dead from burning, to effect an escape from the flaming pile. When a clearance was made on the next morning, after the ashes had been removed, the bodies of the ill-fated women were found completely charred, lying closely packed together just as they had gone to sleep in the hut around its centre support, which had been the conductor of the lightning. They formed a ghastly spectacle, at which even the native negroes could not suppress a shudder, whilst the recently imported Niam-niam slaves made no disguise of the relish with which they scented the odour of the burnt flesh, as they helped to clear away the debris. Scarcely any incident could befall a traveller more disquieting than this ; it had haunted me in my dreams all through my sojourn in the Soudan ; forebodings of it had stuck to my fancy, and now it appeared to be well-nigh on the very point of literal fulfilment. One of the Nubian soldiers had, amongst the six victims of the conflagration, to bewail the loss of his sweetheart. To such a degree did this bereavement prey upon him that he entirely lost his reason, and so gave a considerable amount of 318 THE HEART OF AFRICA. trouble to the occupants of the Seriba. An instance of affection like this never came to my knowledge elsewhere in these districts. As far as regards danger from fire, the settlement here was at a disadvantage when compared with various Seribas in which the huts are not crowded so closely together ; but in other respects, such as the more complete security of the territory itself, the abundance of provisions, the rareness of mosquitoes, and the small number of wliite ants, this Seriba had recommendations which put every other in the shade. Very advantageous was the appearance at my door, morning after morning, of the neighbouring Diiika, who brought every variety of their productions for me to purchase. In this way I was kept amply provided not only with yams and earthnuts, the purest of oil and the finest of honey, but I was able readily to obtain all the corn I required for my retinue. Moreover, it happened not unfrequently that I had some natural production offered me of considerable rarity, and thus the edge of my botanical curiosity was kept continually sharpened. In the very depth of the rainy season by getting the eggs of some geese and bustards, and even of some ostriches, I managed to counterbalance the meagre produce of my poultry-breeding. Of these opportunities of seeing considerable numbers of the natives gathered round me, I made the best use I could to obtain the measurements of their bodies, an achievement on which I had set my mind with some degree of pertinacity. At the end of one year's residence in the interior I had made a synopsis (under about forty heads) of the measurements of nearly two hundred individuals, but unfortunately very few of my memoranda are now forthcoming. During my inter- course with the natives I very often allowed what pictures I had to be exhibited, in order to satisfy their re})eated in- quiries. All they saw stirred up their unfeigned delight, and continually prompted them to ask in astonishment why they SPEKE AND BAKER'S TRAVELS. 319 had not learnt the same tilings from tlie " Turks," and to express their conviction that that must be a wonderful country where tools and guns were made. The indolent Nubians, too, would pay me visits most assiduously till I was absolutely weary of them. They would often make their appearance quite early and I could only disengage myself from them by letting them have my books and pictures about Africa to look through. The illustrations in ' Le Tour du Monde,' in Speke's 'Travels,' and in Baker's 'Hunting Adventures,' all alike furnished them with inexhaustible material for question and answer. They shouted their appro- bation aloud, and crowned their admiring estimate of any picture by crying out " bazyatoo " (the very facsimile), again and again. The name which Speke's book acquired in the Seriba was 'The History of King Kamrasi,' while they called Baker's work ' The Book of the Elephant Hunter.' In the beginning of September I was able to make a despatch to the river of my treasures I had collected, and to forward them by way of Khartoom to Europe. I had up- wards of forty packages, and to put them together and make them secure was the business of a good many days. Par- ticularly laborious was it to sew them all upon skins, and still more laborious, I do not doubt, to rip them up again when they reached their destination ; for during their transit across the parching desert, the hides are not unfrequently so dried up that they become as hard as tin. For the protection of my packages and to prevent the botanical contents being invaded by insects or gnawed by rats, I had no diJBiculty in providing the caoutchouc substance of the Carpodinus, the " Mono " of the Bongo. This I obtained in a fresh condition, when it has the ai)pearance of a well-set cream, and washed it lightly over the linen or the paper like a varnish. Not an insect found its way through this coating, and my packages all arrived thoroughly uninjured in spite of their being a twelvemonth on their way. Less adapted for the purpose 1 320 THE HEART OF AFRICA. found both tlie milky sap of the fig and of the butter tree, because it is not so uniform in its character and does not admit of being spread so readily. Tho produce of Ghattas's Company was this year four hundred loads, being somewhere about 220 cwt., which would be worth in Khartoom nearly 4000?. In order to reach this amount, certainly not less than three hundred elephants had been destroyed, and probably considerably more. Although the ants at this spot did not abound in the wholesale way in which they did in many other Seribas, there were nevertheless plenty of inconveniences in my quarters, and like every other traveller I. had to get accustomed to them as soon as I could. My want of space was a great difficulty. I was hardly at all better off in the hut where I ordinarily lived than in an old overcrowded lumber room. I had no cupboards and no small chests, and consequently I was compelled to be ever packing up and unpacking my thousand bits of property. The framework, of my own construction, which reached up into the circular roof did something to increase my accommo- dation, and I hung bags upon it containing my clothes and my linen, and a whole host of little things besides I stuck into the straw tiiatch above. Under such circumstances, no wonder that I had perpetual conflict with rats, crickets, and cockroaches, and that they were a constant source of annoyance. The only method which was really an effectual guarantee for the protection of any articles from being gnawed to bits was to hang them up ; but whenever at nightfall I had any packages which could not be suspended there was one device of which I made use, and which was tolerably successful in keeping rats at a distance. One of the commonest animals hereabouts was the wild cat of the steppes (Felis manicvr lata). Although the natives do not breed them as domestic animals, yet they catch them separately when they are quite NOXIOUS VERMIN. 321 young and find no difficulty in reconciling them to a life about their huts and enclosures, where they grow up and wage their natural warfare against the rats. I procured several of these cats, which, after they had been kept tied up for several days, seemed to lose a considerable measure of their ferocity and to adapt themselves to an indoor existence so as to approach in many ways to the habits of the common cat. By night I attached them to my parcels, which were otherwise in jeopardy, and by this means I could go to bed without further fear of any depredations from the rats. Quite helpless, liowever, did I appear with regard to the devastations of the crickets, which found their way through my stoutest chests, ate holes into all my bags, and actually fretted my very wearing-apparel and body-linen. Subse- quently I received a supply of borax, and this turned out to be an adequate security against their mischief. The encroachment of the wood-worms in tlie bamboos which composed my hut developed itself into a nuisance of a fresh sort. To myself it was a matter of great indifference whetlier the building collapsed sooner or later, but just at present it was a great annoyance to me that all day long there should be an unceasing shower of fine yellow dust^ which accumulated on everything till it lay as thick as my finger, and almost exceeded the bounds of endurance. Another noxious insect which was to be found in every hut was the Pillen-wasp (Eumenes tinctor). This was nearly two inches long, and had a habit of forming its nest in the straw right at the top of the circular roof. Associated with eight or ten others it made a huge cell, and flying in and out through the narrow doorway, which was the only avenue for light, it came into constant collision with my face. Its sting was attended by distracting agony far worse than the sting of any bee. Throughout the entire year I was baffled by these wasps, which were beautiful in colour, having wings of a fine violet blue. I made many attempts to destroy their VOL. 1, Y 322 THK IIHAKT OV AFRICA. ingeniously-constructed nest, and only succeeded after catch- ing tiiem in a butterfly-net and killing them one by one. Throughout the tropics the harmless kinds of lizards may invariably bo reckoned amongst the settlers in every house. Prettily marked skinks (Euprejjes quinquelineatus and E. ^leurostidus) enlivened my abode, whilst the graceful gecko {Hemidaeti/lus verrucalutus) clambered up and down the walls just as frequently as in Egypt and in Nubia. But more numerous than all were the sociable agamae {Agama colonorum), which kept nodding their heads in a way that was extremely irritating to the IMohammedans, who fancied that it was the devil making fun of their prayers. I had previously repeatedly seen this species of the lizard in the overhanging rocky crags of the desert valleys on the Egyp- tian coast of the Red Sea ; but here it appeared to lodge itself quite as freely in the huts as in the woods. The head of the male is of an orange-colour, and is easily detected from a considerable distance. Very ridiculous are their movements when any one approaches a tree upon which they ai-e running up and down. They betake themselves to the farther side of the stem, and keep stopping at intervals, peep- ing out cunningly first from one branch and then from another, their large eyes beaming with a most knowing expression. Their favourite resort, however, in this district was the old woodwork of the palisades, and there they mustered in thousands. I was very much surprised, at the beginning of the rainy season, at the large number of chameleons which at intervals clustered themselves upon the sprouting foliage. The common African sort grows to a very unusual size, and I saw several which could hardly be less than ten inches long. Scarcely less abundant is the smaller and slimmer species (C. Isevigatus), which does not exhibit quite to the same extent the changes of its colour, Rolling its eyes in a very remarkable manner it answered the same purpose as the VALUE OF QUININE. 323 agama, with its nodding head, of getting up a joke against the Mohammedan fanatics. " What is a chameleon like ? " I used to ask them, and not over delighted were they when they were told that the chameleon, uith its one eye up and the other eye down, was a faki looking up to God in heaven, but at the same time keeping a sharp look-out upon the dollars of earth. Thoi'oughly free, as I have said, from fever, during March and April, I persevered in taking my daily dose of ten grains or more of quinine ; but as the heat diminished, and as the rainy season at its height was not so full of miasma, I gradually diminished, and in June and July entirely gave up my uniform administration of the tonic. But quinine still remained my sole medicine, my only resort in every contingency. If ever I got a chill, if ever I was wet through, or was troubled with any symptoms of indigestion, I lost no time in using it, knowing that for any traveller in a region such as this, any indisposition whatever is simply a doorway through which fever insidiously creeps and effects its dangerous lodgment. Any sudden giddiness in the head, or any spasm between the shoulders, or any failure' in the functions of the limbs were all, I do not doubt, warnings of the ill-omened visitor, which I accepted in time to avert. Not only, as I have remarked, were fevers here quite common, but my own attendant, who had accompanied me from Alexan- dria, was prostrated some days by a very serious attack, and his condition of health was so much impaired that he had to be sent back on the next return of the boats. There were others, too, of my own people who had to endure attacks of less severity. Expecting, as I had been, a much larger fall of rain, I could not be otherwise than much surprised at the meteo- rological facts which were actually exhibited. Although the rainfall extends over a longer period, the total average fall of water is less here than it is either in Gallabat or in Y 2 324 THE PIEART OF AFFJCA. Upper Sennaar, where tbc rain lasts only from the beginning of May to the beginning of October. There the rain, almost -without exception, fell every night, and all night from sunset till daybreak ; but here it was the result of experience that the rain ordinarily was to be expected between noon and night. All travelling consequently has to be accomplished before midday, and the journeyings are necessarily shorter than in the dry winter months. It may be taken as a rule that holds good very generally throughout the tropics that if the sun rises clear or becomes clear shortly after rising, there will pretty certainly be no rain for some four or five hours. In Gallabat it was considered rather a feat to walk during the rainy season from one house to another either in slippers or in Turkish shoes, but here, day after day, such protection for the soles of the feet was quite sufficient, even where the ground was not at all rocky. European vegetables in Gallabat had generally been found to suffer from the excessive wet, and others had either run into weeds or in some way degenerated, but here, from ]\lay till August, we cidtivated many sorts successfully, and made good use of the intervals which, sometimes for four or six days together, passed without any rain whatever. To confirm what I have said, I adduce the facts that in March 1869, in the centre of Bongoland (lat. l"" 20' N.), the " Khareef " was opened by four little showers ; in April there were seven considerable pourings ; in IMay seven fall of rain, lasting several hours ; in June ten, in July eleven, and in August twelve. These must not be reckoned as days of rain, for the truth is, an entire day of uninterrupted rain never once occurred. The rainfall only up to June was attended by tempests or thunderstorms, after which date the violence of them gradually and almost entirely abated. Heuglin in 1863 had made the same observation. At the end of July there ensued an entire change of temperature, and only in exceptionally hot afternoons did the heat ever CLIMATE AND TEMPEKATUKE. 325 again reach the extreme j)oint which it had done previously ; but even at its maximum it had never exceeded 95° Fahr. ill the huts, whilst in the open air it was ordinarily 2° lower. I could now rejoice in a degree of heat scarcely above what is common in our northern zone, and seldom registered a temperature above 77° Fahr. in my own quarters. This fall in the thermometer is very beneficial and refreshing to the European, whose skin, exhausted by repeated per- spiration, is very often distressed by a perpetual nettlerash. The earliest rain which I observed this year fell while I was still at the Meshera on the 2nd of March ; and the Itjth of that month was the date on which the wind altered its course, and for tiie first time deviated from its long- prevailing north-easterly direction. The uniformity of climate in equatorial Africa contributes very much to extend the range of particular species of plants. To this may be added the absence of those moun- tain systems which elsewhere, as in Asia, traverse the con- tinent in all directions. Without let or hindrance the trade-winds exert their influence over the entire breadth of this region. Any interruption of the rainy season be- tween the two zenith positions of the sun, which in Bongo- land are some months apart, has never been authenticated. Although upon the north-west terraces of Abyssinia the rainy season might appear, through the influence of the mountains, to be obliterated or obscure, yet it could always be traced ; but nevertheless the whole aggregate of circum- stances which contribute to these precedents is not to be estimated during the transitory observations of one short sojourn. Neither during the continuation of my wanderings towards the south did I find any indication which seemed to evidence that two rainy seasons had anywhere coalesced so as to become one continuous period of rain, which sufficed through- out the year to maintain an uninterrupted renewal of vege- 326 THE HEAirr OF AFRICA. tation. Nowliere iu the equatorial districts which 1 visited (not even in the territory of the Moubuttoo, of which the lati- tude is between 3° and 4° N.) did it appear that there ever fiiiled a uniform period for foliag-e to develop itself. Apparent exceptions might be found where the condition of the soil is never otherwise than wet throughout the year ; but even in this low latitude there is a dry season and a wet season, just as decided as in Nubia, twelve degrees further to the north. Between five and six o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th of May, while I was absorbed in my writing, I was suddenly startled by the outcry of a number of my people calling me to make haste out and witness the singular appearance wliich was arresting their attention on tlie south-west horizon. Great masses of clouds were covering the declining sun, whilst all below tlie heavy cumulus the heavens gleamed with the golden shimmer of a glorious sunset. Like a pile from the mighty Alps, stern and imposing, surrounded by dazzling glaciers and by many an avalanche, the central clouds of this great gathering massed themselves in pon- derous layers which rolled majestically to the north. Starting out abruptly from the brilliant glare of the setting sun, these layers on their upper edge distinctly assumed the form of three vast swellings, while around the margin of each of these there gleamed the light of an unearthly glory ; colours of the richest hue combined to give an effect as though each of the projecting accumulations were circled by a rainbow. Midway between the vanishing violet of the bow and the sombre ridge ot" cloud streamed a flood of light which repeated itself upon the superior margin of the wondrous spectrum. In three directions (issuing not di- rectly as from the sun in the centre of the mass, but as though two parhelia besides contributed their power) there rose separately from each of the three tumescent rolls (if cloud shadowv beams of lijiht embracing' the whole CO < Q. f < X CD CO 2: o X SOLAll PHENOMENON. 327 finnament above, wliilst in addition to all this, there were secondary groups of beams diverging from the angles where the rainbow arches intersected. An appearance somewhat siniihir to these shadowed rays or streaks of alternate liglit and shade, resulting from the unequal masses of the floating clouds, has been recorded by Professor Tyndall as witnessed in Algiers. The colonr of the rainbows on their edge nearest to the sun, and in consequence approximate to the clouds, was so remarkable that it could not fail to excite my attention. Altogether it was a spectacle not to be forgotten. The rainbow-like phenomenon had not the appearance of being an ordinary arch repeated thrice, but was one scallopped bow composed of three distinct but successive limbs: it con- tinued for about five minutes, and allowed me ample time to make a sketch of its striking features.* * Tlie pheuomcnou here depicted is closely allied to those tinted hiilo3 which are seen iu so much diversity and under so many modifications around both sun and moon. In Sclinmacher's ' Astronomische Jahrbiicher' (Altona, 1823) Fraunhofer has detailed the theory of these halos, and has proved his assertions by many examples that liad fallen under iiis own observation. Wlienever the sun or the moon is surrounded by a halo, the sky is ordinarily veiled in light vaiwurs. If the phenomenon is perfect, tiie rings of this halo are seen to bo of the colours of the rainbow. Fraimhofer divides these halos into two classes : viz., halos of a small and halos of a large diameter. If th(! red tint is outside and away from the luminous body, as in the present case, he calls it a halo of the smaller kind ; but if the red is inside and next to the luminous body, it is a halo of the larger kind. This latter case is closely allied to the phenomenon of parhelia. Tlie cause of these tinted halos is to be found in a diffmetion of liglit through globules of vapour, and Fraunhofer has given proof that the light, in passing across the edges of tii ese globules, would assume an appearance of diltraction similar to that which would be caused by its passing through minute apertures. For the formation of a tinted circle it is necessary that the globules should bo equally dill'used and of an equal magnitude. If the globules were very irregular, there would be only a bright glare, because the eye would leceive rays of various colours fi-om one and the same spot in the atmosphere; then the result would be that the light would be white, as iu the case under our notice it. appeared directly round the outline of the cloud, and also beyond the outside ring of red, so that the coloured circle was bounded on each side by a rim of white light. The smaller the globules of vapour, the larger are the tinted rings, for according to the theory the dia- meters of the rings are in inverse ratio to those of the globules. According to another theory represented by Galle (Poggendorfs ' Annalen,' vol. xlix.), one 328 THE HEART OF AFRICA. During September I found an opportunity to make a third excursion to the Tondy, and had the good fortune to make some valuable additions to my botanical store, but apart from tliis my days glided on without variety, and I have no episodes of interest to relate. Fastened down as I was for the present to one spot, I had to limit my observations to its immediate neighbourhood, and accordingly with considerable perseverance and at the cost of some trouble, and, I may be permitted to add, of a good deal of soap, I went on taking the measurements of many of the natives, who I. thought might render me service. There were hundreds of bearers, and after dili- gently reckoning them up and instituting compai'isons based on written estimates and on a variety of portraits, I was able to satisfy myself as to the characteristic features of their nationality which they exhibit. I moreover devoted a considerable time to learn the dialects of the district, and found that the facility with which the different slaves had mastered Arabic in their intercourse with the Nubians was of great assistance to me in my endeavours. Now and then there would occur incidents that were somewhat ludicrous. One day a visit from the superin- tendent of a distant Seriba was announced, and Idrees was all on the alert to give his colleague a fitting reception. The arrival was expected of Ali, the Vokil of Biselli, under whose guidance ]\Iiss Tinne had passed the most memorable year of her life. In readiness for tlie entrance of Ali into the Seriba, the whole armed force was drawn up in double cause of these tinted lialos is the presence in the atmosphere of ice-crystals of microscopic minuteness ; but this hypotliosis seems confuted by the fact that similar phenomena have frequently been witnessed within the tropics (Alex, von Humlxildt, Voyage II., p. 309 '. This phenomena of tlic 18th of May, 1809, was remarkable for the form of the tinted circle, which corresponded exactly with the accidental outline of the clouds, which [)resented a threefold curve, thus ^-/"\.^ . Tlius the entire rim of the cloud became a series of luminous Huidight points formed of globules of vapoiu-, making a halo of the smaller i-la.ss, anil sending forth tli(>ir own shadows. PRAYERS OF THE PRIESTS. 320 line before the gate. Ali was not only Ali (" tall and strong") by name, but he was in feet a bead taller than any of his retinue. Full of state, with majestic mien, with the turban of the believer upon his head and the splendid hezam of Tarablus around his loins, he was just entering the military avenue when the soldiers fired their salute. The discharge was rendered, and they all mutually smothered each other in smoke. But the echoes of the salute were hardly silent, and wreaths of smoke still hovered in the air, when all of a sudden the solemnity was interrupted by the cry of " Russahs ! russahs ! " (bullets, bullets), and one of the soldiers rushed from the ranks, dashed down his musket, and seemed bereft of his senses. In truth, his vis-d-vis had forgotten to remove the charge from his rusty old gun, and the shots that had been designed for the geese in some neighbouring marsh had terribly punished the legs of his unfortunate comrade. The poor fellow applied to me for assistance, but I could not help him otherwise than by a kind word. I had not in my possession any instruments to extract the shot, and so I did the best I could to pacify by quoting mysterious texts, and by commending him to the mercy of Allah. Rarely did a week elapse without the repetition of some such mischance as this. Perpetually in peril myself of being shot, I was ever being called uj)on to exercise my surgical skill either in bandaging fractures, or in extracting balls great or small ; but as most frequently the shots found their way into the legs of the sufferers, in the legs most frequently I allowed them to remain. Although my fatigue by day made repose by night very essential to me, my rest was sadly disturbed by the habits of my people. Quite intolerable at times was the eternal babbling of their prayers, which, beginning in the evening hours, were wearily prolonged, and nothing could accustom me to the clamour which they made. They seemed at times 330 THE HEART OF AFRICA. to drive me in my impatience well-nigh to distraction. Some priests had arrived from Darfoor, who surjiassed all else in the clamour they raised. With a lot of gibberish utterly incomprehensible, through their antiquated pronun- ciation, to any of the Nubians, they proceeded to recite the verses of the Koran with the grinding monotony of a mill. My own people, however, devoted Mohammedans as they were, on these occasions took my part, and warned off the disturbers of my rest from the proximity of the hut. I cannot tell whether they were not such enthusiastic believers, or whether their animosity was excited by the bombastic erudition of the Foorians, but they set to work in earnest, and made a clearance as effectual as I had once seen accomplished by the officers of tlie liberal-tyrannical go- vernment of Muntass Bey in Suakin. That ruler, when I had last been residing in his town, had liad the unparalleled audacity to send his Khavasses into the neighbouring mosque, and to threaten to make a free use of the kurbatch if the prayers at night were not promptly stopped. He sent a message to the effect that if the priests wanted to pray they need not shriek, for Allah could hear just as well without the outcry. The daring of such an intru- sion had never been matched from the day of creation onwards. Idrees, the superintendent of the Seriba, had eleven sons all nearly of the same age, a circumstance readily explained by his plurality of wives. For these youths, whom the children of other residents were allowed to join, he had insti- tuted something like a regular Jewish school, and no one who has ever had the chance of witnessing the proceedings of such an institution can forget the sensation they left upon his ears. Four times in the course of the four-and-twenty hours, at intervals of four hours ajmrt, does the chorus of voices in these Nubian schools breakout in alternate humming, and buzzing, and shouting, occasionally varied by the didactic hammering : AN INCANTATION. 331 of the master, by tlie switcli of his rod, and the consequent screams of the youngsters, which were invariably followed by a louder and livelier articulation. There is one school time just before sunset and another very shortly after, so that every attempt at repose is certain to be thwarted. However, I could always endure this disturbance with much more equanimity than the humbug of the prayers ; for, however erroneous, according to our ideas, might be the method of instruction in school, yet its object at least was laudable Occasions there were when nightly orgies wei'e all the rage, and the idle pretext under which these were maintained was that the plague of flies permitted no rest. The Nubians, Avhen they had made themselves tipsy with their detestable merissa, had the habit of finding an outlet for their hilarity in banging on the kettle-drums which hung at the entrance of the Seriba. To me this abominable noise was a very thorn in the flesh, and as the huge drums were very near my quarters, and had broken my sleep often enough, I took the liberty of sprinkling the parchment with a sufficient quantity of muriatic acid, so that the next time they were drummed they split across. Till some new kettle-drums were provided I could slumber in peace. Another interruption to a quiet night occasionally arose from the native wizards, who practised the mystery of casting- out devils. I told them that they must be very indifferent charmers if they were unable to expel the devils by day as well as by night ; but they did not appear to see matters at all in that light. One occasion there was in which, out of pure compassion, I jiermitted the proceedings to go on, although the noise was so extreme that it would never have been tolerated in the daytime. The wife of the Dinka inter- preter in the Seriba had been long suffering under some chronic disorder, and he had undertaken a long day's journey to fetch a very celebrated conjuror or " Cogyoor " to treat her case. The incantation began in a strain which would try the 332 THE IlEAKT OF AFRICA. very stoutest of nerves : tlie strength of the wizard's hmgs ^\ as astounding, and could have won a wager against a steam- trumpets The virtue of the proceeding, however, centred upon this, and ventriloquism was called in to assist in pro- ducing a dialogue between himself and the devil which pos- sessed the patient. I say the " devil," because the Biblical expression has accustomed us to the phrase, but I dis- approve of the translation, and would ratlier say the " demon." In the most penetrating tone, something like the cackling of frightened hens, only a thousand times louder, the sorcerer began the enchantment, which consisted of several acts. The first act lasted two hours without intermission, and unless it were heard it could never be imagined. I was assured that this introduction was quite indispensable — as a means of intimidating the devil and compelling him to reply, it could not by any means be omitted from the execution of the charm. The dialogue which followed between the wizard and the devil was carried on by the artifice of ventriloquism. The wizard made all kinds of inquiries as to the devil's name, the period of his possession of the woman, his proceedings, and his whereabouts, and then went on to ask about his lineage, his kinsfolk, and acquaintances. When for an hour or more the wizard had interrogated him till he had got all the answers he wanted, he set to work to provide the real remedy. Hurrying away into the wood, he got some root or herb, which perchance in many cases contributes to a cure. It all vividly reminded me of the clap-trap which advertisers and quacks are accustomed to employ, and how it may happen that they get bold of some simple and long-known material, which, under some marvellous name, they impose as a novelty upon the public. Puffing is part of their trade, and without a good deal of noise their business will not thrive in Europe any more than in Africa. I'lic rainv season in due time came to its end. For seven JOINING ABOO SAMMAT. 333 months and a half I had now been quietly quartered in tho Seriba of Ghattas ; but a change was now impending, as I had resolved to quit ray limited range and to attach my for- tunes to the care of Aboo Sammat, whom I have already mentioned. Repeatedly he had invited me, at his own ex- pense, to visit with him the Niam-niam lands, and I had determined to follow the advice of my people, who knew his character, and to accept his offer. I discovered that he had penetrated considerably further to the south than any other, and that he had more than once crossed that problematic stream of the Monbuttoo which was said to flow quite inde- ])endently of the Nile system towards the west. The prospect of visiting- the Niam-niam would be much more restricted if I were to remain attached to the expeditions of Ghattas's Company, as they had hitherto been confined to those nearest and most northerly districts of that country of which the first knowledge in Europe had been circulated by Piaggia. I could not be otherwise than aware of the questionableness of giving up my safe quarters, and exchanging my security for the uncertain issues of a wandering life in Central Africa, but irresistible was the inducement to enlarge my acquaint- ance with the country and to find a wider field for my investigations. The season of the year was, moreover, quite in favour of pushing farther on than I had previously contem- plated. Full of expectation, therefore, I turned my hopes towards the south, in an eastern direction, towards that untra- versed region between the Tondy and the Rohl, which already is just as truly subject to the Khaitoomers as that in which I had been sojourning. In my immediate neighbourhood I had tolerably well ex- hausted the treasures of the botanical world ; after the rains were over there was a comparative barrenness in the pro- ductions of nature. I nuide, indeed, my daily excursions, but they reached only to places which I had previously inspected. A sense of irksomeness b(»gan t(j predominate, and every tree 334 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of any mao-nitiide, every ant-hill had become so familiar that they had entirely lost the charm of novelty. Aboo Saramat, in the most complimentary way, had made rae a variety of presents: by special messengers he had conveyed to me animal and vegetable curiosities of many sorts. lie once sent me the munificent offering of a flock of five-and-twenty sheep ; and at my own desire, but at his cost, he furnished me with a young interpreter to teach me the dialect of the Niam-niam. In the middle of November, on liis return from the jMeshera, he would take our Seriba on his way, and I resolved to join him. The people at Grhattas's quarters endeavoured, but to no purpose, to dissuade me ; they represented in very melan- choly colours the misery to which I should inevitably be exposed in the desert life of Aboo Sammat's district, which was every now and then threatened with starvation. There would be no lack of monuments of antiquity (" antigaht," as they called them), or of hunting, or of wild beasts, but I must be prepared for perpetual hunger. Against all this, liowever true it might be, I consoled myself with the reflec- tion that Aboo Sammat would certainly manage to keep me in food, and the difference of one more or less in number could not be very serious. Another important reason which weighed with me was, the saving of expense in the way of travelling. The mere cost of bearers for a journey through the Niam-niam lands would be some thousand dollars, which, according to contract, would go into the pocket of Ghattas : this would entirely be avoided if Aboo Sammat fulfilled his promise, and there was nothing to induce me to suppose that he was otherwise than a man of his word. Nothing now seemed longer to detain me in the Dyoor or Bongo countries : accordingly, resolved to make a start, I packed up my goods without delay, and made the Governor acquainted with my intention. A regular commotion followed PASSAGE OF THE TONDY. 335 in the Seriba : the clerks and notaries produced the contract which liad been signed at Khartoom, and attempted not only to demonstrate that Aboo Sammut had no right to receive me, but that Ghattas had the sole responsibility of my weal and woe, and must answer, at the peril of his head, for any misfortune that might befall me while I was under the tute- lage of x\.boo Sam mat. The distorted character of their logic was manifest as soon as the evidence was shown that Ghattas was under obligations to me and not I to him. After I had made all my arrangements to store the collections which had accumulated since my last despatch, I prepared to quit ray bountiful quarters and to start by way of Koolongo over the desolation of the wilderness towards the south. The baggage which I found it necessary to take, I limited to thirty-six packages. The Nubian servants, three slaves, and the interpreter, composed my own retinue, but Aboo Sammat's entire caravan, counting bearers and soldiers, consisted altogether of about 250 men. I myself joined the main body at Koolongo, where preparations had just been completed for the passage of the Tondy, which was then at high flood. The regular progress began on the 17th of November. A march of an hour brought us to the low plain of the Tondy, where four Bongo bearers were ready for me with a kind of bedstead, on which I reclined at my ease as they conveyed me upon their shoulders above the many places which were marshy or choked with rushes, till they reached the ferry that Aboo Sammat had arranged. This ferry consisted of a great raft of straw, upon which the packages were laid in separate lots, and to which most of the bearers clung while it was towed across by a number of swimmers who were accustomed to the stream. The Nubians floundered like fish in the strong current, and had some work to do in saving many a " colli," which, in the unsteadiness of the passage, was thrown out of its equilibrium. The river, by its right 336 THE IIEAET OF AFRICA. bank, was running at the rate of 120 feet a minute and was about 200 feet across. Nearly exhausted as I was by the violence of the stream, when I approaclied the further side I was grasped hand and foot by a number of the swimmers, who brought me to land as if I had been a drowning man. Beyond the river the land was less affected by any inun- dation, and after a few minutes we came to a steep rocky highland which bounded the way to the south. Rising to an elevation of little more than 200 feet, we had a fine open view of the depressed tract of land tlirough which the Tondy meanders. Its windings were marked by reedy banks ; the mid-day sun gleamed upon the mirror of various backwaters, and the distance revealed a series of wooded undulations. Tn a thin dark thread, the caravan wound itself at my feet along the green landscape, as I have endeavoured to depict it in the annexed illustration. The height on which we stood was graced by a beautiful grove, where I observed a fresh characteristic of the region, viz., the alder-like Vatica, a tree of no great size, but which now appeared in detached clumps. In the foreground of the picture are represented some of the most cliarming types of vegetation in the bushwood ; on the left is the large-leaved blue-green Anona senegdlensis ; on the right, the Grewia mollis, a shrub with long twigs that supplies an abundance of bast and string wherever it gi'ows. The little tree of the pine genus is the willow-leaved Boscia, which is a constant inliabitant of the Upper Nile district. It was getting late in the day before we had assembled our whole troop upon the plateau. Very short, consequently, was our march before we halted for the night. The spot selected for the purpose had formerly been a small Seriba belonging to Ghattas ; but in consequence of the Bongo who bad settled tliere having all deserted, and of tlie difficulty of maintaining any intercourse with other Seribas during the rainy season, it had been abandoned. It was a district of utter desolation, far awav fiom anv other settlements. DOGGOROO ElYER. 337 A brook, which in July and August becomes swollen to a considerable stream, flowed past our quarters for the night, and joined the Tondy at the distance of a few leagues. To this rivulet, which has its source in the Madi country, in lat. 5° 10' JSr., the Bongo give the name of the Doggoroo, whilst it is known as the Lehssy in the districts which divide the territories of the Bongo fiom the Niam-niam. Up the stream we followed its course for two hours, keeping along the edge of a pleasant park-like country, till we arrived at some thickets, which we had to penetrate in order to reach the banks of the stream. Sluggish here was the water's pace ; its breadth was about thirty feet, and it was sufficiently shallow to be waded through, scarcely rising above our hips ; on our return in the following year the passage involved us in considerable difficulty. Beyond the Doggoroo the ground made a gradual but decided rise, and for more than forty miles the ascent was continuous. It was the first elevation of the ground of any importance which I had yet seen any- where south of the Gazelle ; for here was a broad offshoot of the southern highlands, which, according to the statements of the natives, serve as a watershed for the coalescing streams of the Tondy and the Dyau (Roah). After we had proceeded in a south-easterly direction till we had accomplished about a third of our journey to Sabby, the Seriba of Mohammed Aboo Sammat, we had at no great distance the territory of the Dinka upon our left. The adjacent clan is called the Goak, and a large number of the Bongo have taken refuge amongst them to escape the aggres- sions and stern oppression of the Nubians. The Dinka, for their part, impressed the strange intruders with such awe that, since Malzac (the well-known French adventurer, who for several years took up his quarters on the Kohl), no one has repeated the attempt to establish a settlement in their district. It is simply their wealth in cattle that is a temp- tation to occasional raids, which are studiously accomplished VOL. I. z 338 THE HEART OF AFEIOA. as far as possible without bloodshed. On the last stage between the Tondy and the Doggoroo we repeatedly came across the traces of elephants ; but the trenches which had been designed to catch them had not as yet been a success. Elephants seem to prefer to make their way along the nar- row paths which have been already trodden by the foot of man through the high grass, notwithstanding that they are not sufficiently broad to admit a quarter of their huge bodies. After the rains are over and the steppe -burning accom- plished, the landscape reminded me very much of the late autumn-time of our own latitudes. Many trees were entirely destitute of foliage ; the ground beneath them being strewn ^^ith yellow leaves or covered with pale sere grass as far as the conflagration had spared it. One charming tree, a kind of Humboldtia, was conspicuous amidst the shadowy groves. It has seed-vessels a foot long, the seed itself being as large as a dollar, whilst its magnificent leaf is a beautiful orna- ment to the wood- scenery wherever it abounds. The gay colours of the young shoots, sprouting directly from the root, crimson, purple, brown, or yellow, contribute in a large degree to this effective display. The foliage generally is so light that it was quite easy to penetrate into these woods, which constantly and agreeably relieved the barren aspect of the region. A considerable number of antelopes from various quarters had been killed by the hour in which we encamped for the night in a forest glade. These antelopes belonged to the Waterbocks (^4. ellipsip'ijmna), of which the head is very remarkable, on account of the large excrescences which obtrude from the side of the nostrils, in the same way as in the wild buffalo. It has a fine sweeping pair of horns, which crown its brow. The hair of this species of Waterbock is extremely long and soft, and its skin is a very favourite decoration of the Niam-niam. There is but little difficulty THE WATERBOCK. 339 in getting an aim at this animal, as its white haunches soon betray it amid the gloom of the forest, where it is more fre- quently found either quite solitary or in very small groups. I very much relished the tender flesh of the kids, although it was somewhat deficient in fiit. The CJeiitial African Watcrbock. {Antiloj/e elUpsipnjmiia ) When morning dawned the only remnant of our supper was a pile of crushed bones ; for neither skin nor gristle had been spared by the greedy negroes. The beast of prey dis- dains what a voracious man will devour ; the beast rejects what is tough, and gnaws only about the soft and supple joints, whilst man in his gluttony roasts the very skin, splits the bones, and swallows the marrow. Splintered bones, there- fore, here in the lines of traffic, just as they do in the caverns of antiquity, afford a distinctive evidence of the existence of men, whilst bones that have been gnawed only attest the presence of lions, hysenas, jackals, and the like. z 2 340 THE HEART OF AFRICA, Few there are who have not read of the glory of the southern heavens ; rare is the traveller in the tropics who has not revelled in tlie splendid aspect of the great arch above when illumined by the shining of the moon. After a long hot march it may indeed happen that the traveller is far too weary and worn-out to be capable of api)reciating the charm of any such beauties ; in passive indifference, stretched upon his back, he turns a listless eye unconcerned upwards to the sky, till sleep overpowers him ; and thus unconsciously he loses the highest of poetic ecstacies. Soon the heaven bedecks itself with countless numbers of fleecy clouds, which separate as flakes of melting ice, and stand apart: the deep black firmament fills up the intervals, and gives a richer lustre to the stars ; then, circled by a rosy halo, rises the gentle moon, and casts her silver beams upon the latest straggler. Meanwhile, far in the lonely wood, there has arisen, as it were, the tumult of a market ; the gossip of the chatterers is interrupted now and then by the authoritative word of command of some superior oflScer, while many a camp-fire is kindled and illuminates the distant scene. To protect himseK against the chilly air of night, each separate bearer takes Mhat pains he can, using what ashes he can get for his covering. Wreaths of smoke hover over the encampment, a sense of burning oppresses the eyes and makes sleep all but impossible, and thus the attention is ever and again arrested by the moving orbs in the heavens above. To the traveller it well might seem as if the curtain of a theatre had been raised, and revealed a picture of the infernal world where hundreds of black devils were roasting at as many flames. Such were my nightly experiences as often as I journeyed with a large number of bearers. About noon on the third day, after marching about sixteen leagues from Koolongo, we arrived at Duggoo, the chief Seriba of Shereefee, who maintained some small settlements in this remote wilderness. Notwithstanding the almost un- SHEREEFEE. 341 limited scope with regard to space, he was on the bitterest terms of hostility with Aboo Sammat, his neighbour in the south. A regular mediaeval feud had broken out between them, tlie nominal cause of the quarrel being that one of Shereefee's female slaves had been maltreated, and, having taken refuge with Aboo Sammat, had not been restored ; but the interchange of cuffs and blows had been the actual ground of the discord. When two months previously Aboo Sammat was despatching his ivory-produce of the year, con- sisting of about 300 packages, to the Meshera, it was seized by the negroes as it was being conveyed across Shereefee's district. These negroes attacked the defenceless bearers and massacred several of them ; others they wounded with arrows and lances, till the w^hole caravan was overpowered, and every one throwing down his valuable burden made a precipitate flight. The Khartoom soldiers belonging to Aboo Sammat looked quietly on throughout the fray, for no attachment to their master would have induced them to fire a shot against any of their brethren. Aboo Sammat, with all his property, was now in the desert, 150 miles away from the boats. To enter into action against Shereefee he hastened to the west, and induced a number of the controllers of Seribas to repair to the scene of violence, and to insist upon judgment being passed at Khartoom. But to accomplish this purpose he had to travel hundreds of miles in a few weeks, during the rains, and before his task was completed the proper time for shipment had elapsed, the high waters had abated, and all his goods had to remain at the Meshera to await another season, exposed all along to the too probable attacks of the hostile Dinka. Aboo Sammat, so far from taking the law into his own hands, had proceeded in the most legitimate way to demand compensation; but Shereefee, not satisfied with the wrong he had already per- petrated, spurred on his negroes to make repeated incursions ui»on his rival's territory. Sometimes he endeavoured to 342 THE HEAET OF AFRICA. entice Aboo Sammat's Bongo people to desert, and some- times sent his own to commit all manner of outrage and depredation. Many of the poor natives, the shuttlecocks of the fray, lost their lives in the contention ; and I enriched my collection of skulls by some splendid specimens which I picked up on my way. " This was the spot," said Aboo to me, " where the thieves made their attack. You have seen for yourself, and should speak up for me." Approacliing the neighbourhood of the hostile Seriba we made a halt in the open country, about half a league away. To put a good face on the matter, and to make an impres- sion upon Shereefee's people, everybody put on their best clothes, and Aboo Sammat's soldiers came out in all the gay colours of the fresh chintz which had just been acquired from the stores of the Meshera. The Turkish cut of these gar- ments contributed in no small degree to the self-confidence of the men, and the Kenoosian could fairly pride himself upon having a trooj) who, not merely in externals, but in general discipline, were far superior to the disorderly bands which, in dirty rags, were quartered at the other Seribas. Every precaution was taken to guard against a sudden attack, and patrols were sent out to protect the flanks of our extended line. Ambushed in the thickets some armed Bongo were actually seen, but these outlying sentinels as soon as they observed there was a white man in the caravan, having heard of my presence in the country, abstained from any exhibition of hostility. Thus unmolested we drew close up to the Seriba, and Mohammed's ])arty bivouacked out in the open country. JMeauwhile I was received in the most friendly manner by Shereefee's brother, who was here in charge, and there was no disposition to act towards a Frank in any way that might involve difficulty at Khartoom. But I could not help thinking how narrowly all my baggage might be escaping attack, and what a hopeless attempt it might be to recover it. DUGGOO. 343 The whole distiict, as I have mentioned, had been gra- dually rising in terraces all the way from the Tondy ; and only just before we reached the Seriba, which was named Duggoo, alter the superintendent of the place, had we marched continuously up-hill for half a league ; no flowing water had hitherto been observed. On the south-west and south-east were visible the highlands in the distance, whilst in front of them were elevations of from 100 to 200 feet above the level of the adjacent vale. One of these elevations was very close to Duggoo in the north-east, whence from a bamboo jungle there streamed in the rainy season a brook which fell into the Dyau. The recesses and caverns in the red iron-stone reminded me of the great grotto at Koolongo, with its swarms of fluttering bats (Phjilorhinus caffra) and vast accumulation of guano. The wide stretch of country between the Tondy and the Dyoor, extending some seventy miles, had but three years since been a populous district with many huts ; now, how- ever, it had only a few scattered habitations of the Bongo, which were grou[)ed in the vicinity of either Aboo Sammat's or Shereefee's Seribas. Since the Bongo have been expelled by the Dinka, nothing but elephants and antelopes have found their pasture in those wild plains, which have once been cultivated. Occasionally the ruins of the burnt villages were still extant, rising above the rank grass. Nothing sur- vived as direct evidence of the habitation of men ; what scanty remnants of dwelling-places the first conflagration of the ste{)pes had s|)ared, either the ants or natural decay had soon destroyed. The only remaining vestiges of the occu- pation of the land are due to the richness of vegetation, and this has left its characteristic traces. I could specify some iifty or sixty plants which correspond so accm'ately with the weeds of other cultivated countries that they are significant tokens of a former presence of men. The preponderating Indian origin of all these plants is very observable, and a 344 THE HEART OF AFIIICA. better acquaiutance with the geographical facts connected with them would probably be as trustworthy an indication of the various migrations of an uncivilized people who have no history as either their dialect or tbeir pliysical development. Five leagues away from Duggoo we arrived at Dogguddoo, the second Seriba of Shereefee, Avhere he was then resident. Many a slough and many a marsh had we to traverse on our progress, the result of the rain \\hich had been falling for months. Midw^ay we paused for a rest beside the relics of a great Bongo village, where stood the ruins of a large fence of the same description as is seen around the present Seribas. In the very centre of the village had stood, as is commonly found, an exceedingly fine fig-tree (F. lutea), and there were besides, a large number of tombs constructed of blocks ot stone and ornamented with strangely-carved posts ; at some little distance was a number of handmills that had been left behind, destined for some years to come to be a memorial of the past. The spot, named after the previous governor, was called Pogao. Shortly afterwards we arrived at a charming little brook, known as the Mattyoo, which, under the shadow of a pleasant copse-wood, went babbling over its red rocky bed, making little cascades and rapids as it streamed along. In consequence of the repeated burnings of the steppes, well-nigh all vegetation was now^ blighted and impoverished : in particular the higher districts presented an appearan(;e of wretched desolation. Eepeatedly, in the winter landscape of the tropics, there are seen trees standing in full foliage in the very midst of their dismantled neighbours ; and the loss of leaf would seem to be hardly so much an unconditional consequence of the time of year as a collateral effect of locality or condition of the soil. After having fur months together explored every thicket, and day after day penetrated into the high grass on the river-banks, I could not suppress my astonishment at the absence of every description of snakes. The Khartoomers STEPPE-BURNING. 345 suggest an explanation of this circumstance which I am not disinclined to accept; they conjecture that in this stony- region there is a deficiency of that rich black soil which splits like a glacier in the dry season, and makes riding in the North-Eastorn Soudan a very dangerous proceeding; and, consequently, that there is neither a way for snakes to escape from the fires of the blazing steppes, nor any of those lurking-places which are indispensable for their resort. Incalculable in its effect upon the vegetation of Central Africa must be the influence of the annual steppe-burning, which is favoured by the dryness of the seasons. The ordinary soil becomes replaced by charcoal and ashes, which the rain, when it returns, as well as the wind, sweeps right away into the valleys. The rock is, for the most part, a very friable and weather-worn ironstone, and upon this alone has every- thing that grows to make good its footing. The distinction, therefore, as might be imagined, is very marked between vegetation imder such conditions, and vegetation as it dis- plays itself by the banks of rivers, where the abundant grass resists the progress of the fire, and where, moreover, a rich mould is formed by the decay of withered leaves. But even more than the impregnation of the soil with alkalies, does the violence of flames act upon the configuration of plants in general. Trees with immense stems, taking fire at the parts where they are lifeless through age, will die entirely ; and, where the grass is exceptionally heavy, the fresh after-growth will perish at the roots, or in other places will be either crippled or stunted. Hence arises the want of those richly- foliaged and erect-stemmed specimens which are the pride of our own forests ; hence the scarcity of trees, which are either old or well developed ; and hence, too, the abnormal irregu- larity of form which is witnessed at the base of so many a stem and at the projection of so many a shoot. Flowing without intermission all through the year, close 346 THE HEAirr OF AFRICA. by Diigguddoo, there is a brook which the Bongo have named the Tombiiroo. Its water hurries on at the rate of 170 feet per minute, its depth hardly ever exceeds three feet, while its breadth varies from 20 feet to 50. Its banks, about four feet high, were bounded by land subject to inun- dations corresponding to the measurement of the stream. At a league's distance to the east, the general elevation of the soil began afresh. The environs of the Seriba of Shereefee were only scantily cultivated, as the Nubians and the Bongo lived by preference on the j)ioduce of the plundering forages which they were accustomed to make amongst the adjacent Dinka tribes, the Ayell and the Faryahl, towards the north. Exposing itself far and wide, there was the naked rock, the barrenness of which was only interrupted at intervals by a scanty covering of human bones ! Carried off in groups, the captured slaves here succumbed to the overwrought exertions of their march. At times they died literally of starvation, as often there was no corn to be had in the barren land. TJie overland dealers in slaves make their purchases here at the most advantageous prices. In these eastern Seribas, as the result of the perpetual raids upon the Dinka, there is always a superabundance of the living black merchandise on hand, but very rarely is there an adequate supply of food for their maintenance. The traders proceed from Seriba to Seriba with their gangs, whicli they maintain on whatever prov^isions they can get on the way. Where destitution is an ordinary phase of things, it is self-evident that the traffickers, having no resources to support a length- ened journey, must, day after day, suffer considerable loss, and it is no unwonted thing for their gangs to melt away by a dozen at a time. Burnt bones of men and charred ])ali- sades of huts are too true an evidence of the halting-places of Mohammedanism, and, day by day, more and more was my imagination shocked by these horrid spectacles. In LAND-SNAILS. 347 the very Seriba there was even awaiting me afresh the miserable sight, to which no force of habit could accustom me, of a number of helpless children, perfect little pictures of distress and wretchedness, either orphans or deserted by their mothers, and who dragged on a pitiable existence, half-starved, burnt by falling into the fire in their sleep, or covered with loathsome sores. Turning short off, almost at a right angle to our previous direction, our way beyond Duggoroo, after seven leagues, over a country well-wooded and rich in game, led us to the borders of Aboo Sammat's territory. Once again the land began to rise, and appeared to be all but barren in water- courses of any kind. As we went along I picked up, in a state of perfect preservation, several of the bleached skulls of some of Aboo Sammat's bearers, who, wounded in the murderous attack by Shereefee's people, had never been able to regain their homes. In a bag, which one of my attendants constantly carried, I had a collection made of a number of the great land-snails which, after the termination of the rains, abounded in this region. The two kinds which appeared most common were LimnicoJaria nilotica and L.jiammea; of these, the former is rather more than four inches in length, the latter rather more than three. They invade the bushes and shrubs, and have a great partiality for the tender leaves of the numerous varieties of wild vine. Tiiey serve as food for a number of birds, the Ce^itrojnis monachus, the cuckoo of the climate, in particular having a keen relish for them. Their shells are as thin as paper, a circumstance which, like the brittleness in the egg-shells of hens, testifies to the deficiency of chalk in the soil. I ^vas in need of soap, and the chief object which I had in taking the trouble to collect these shells was to obtain what cretaceous matter I could, to enable me to make a supply, no other method of getting it occurring to my mind. At night we rested at a poor Seriba called IMatwoly. where we were 348 THE HEART OF AFRICA. received iu some dilapidated huts, as the place, together with all its Bongo adjuncts, for greater security against the attacks of Shereefee, was about to be abandoned. The wearisome monotony of the woods, now generally stripped of their foliage, was enlivened by the fresh green of the Combretum, which here long anticipates every other tree in putting forth its tender buds. Gaily it stands apart from the uniform grey and brown of the surrounding forest, thrown into yet higher relief by the yellow of the mass of withered grass below, and showing itself brightly from the half-shaded gloom of the w^ood beyond. Although I had now advanced an entire degree nearer to the Equator, being now in a latitude of 6^ 20' N., I still found that the landscape around had charms to offer wbich were not inferior to the winter beauties of the distant north. In the early morning I delighted to see the rimy dew that had fallen on the sprouting grass, and which frequently remained as late as nine o'clock ; over the feathery Penni- setum and the Agrostidese it fell like a white veil, and the bright drops sparkled like diamonds in the sunshine. The slender gossamer, moreover, which stretched itself over the deeps and shallows of the soil, and even over the footprints in the ground, appeared to operate as a conductor of the dew, which congealed till it was like a film of ice which crackles beneath the tread of a traveller in the autumn. Distant four and a half leagues to the south lay Aboo Sammat's head Seriba, known as Sabby, the name of its Bongo chief. Half-way upon our march we crossed a con- siderable stream, which was called the Koddy. As we forded its breadth of twenty feet, we found the water rising above our hips. Here again the candelabra-euphorbia seemed to be abundant, after having never been seen since I left the eastern bank of the river Dyoor. An essential feature of the district between the Dyoor and the Eohl is contributed by the small mushroom-shaped ant-hills which, found as they GREAT ANT-HILLS. 349 are in many a part of Tropical Africa, here cover the stony- surface with their peculiar shapes. Formed exactly like the common mushroom, the separate erections of the Termes morclax are grouped in little colonies. The main difference between the tenements of these ants and those which con- struct conical domes as tall as a man, consists in this, that they have a definite altitude, which rarely exceeds thirty inches and immediately that there is no further space they raise new turrets and form fresh colonies. The materials, too, of which this species of Termes constructs its edifice is neither grey nor of a ferruginous red, but is simply the allu- vial clay of the place: it is so closely cemented together, Mushroom-shaped wbito-ant liills. that it defies the most violent kicking to displace it, and is hardly less solid than brickwork. The natives are very glad to employ it for the construction of their huts ; they break it into fragments with their clubs, and moisten it till its sub- stance yields. By the Bongo it is called Kiddillikoo. The red ferruginous clay is the only material out of which the great ants (Termes helUcosus) construct their buildings. These are seldom found elsewhere than in a wood, where the pointed shapes are never seen. The neighbourhood of Sabby especially abounded in these monuments of animal labour, and not a few of them were fifteen feet in height. In alti- tude greater than in breadth, they reared themselves like a 350 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. large cupola surrounded by countless pillars and projecting towers. At the first commencement of tbe building it embraces only some isolated domes, which gradually are combined into one single cluster, whilst the ramifications of the interior have entirely to be reconstructed. When we reflect that the dimensions of the bodies of these toiling ants (the female neuters) are not one thousandth part so great as the structure that they upheave, we cannot refrain from com- paring their edifices with the most extensive cities which Imman hands have reared. During my previous journey, I had found several opportunities of investigating the secret habits of these wondrous creatures. The life of the traveller in Africa is one continual conflict against their aggressions. Once at the missionary station in Gallabat, for seven days did the people work away with crowbars to remove one of these erections, which had been accumulated in the middle of the courtyard, and which was not only an impediment in the way, but was a nuisance to the adjacent huts. At length they penetrated to the royal chamber, and dragged forth the queen to the daylight, from which she had carefully excluded her subjects. All the ant-hills of which I was able to make a survey were constructed upon the double- chamber system, the maze of cells being divided apparently into two separate storeys. Adequately to describe the marvellous interior of one of these haunts of the community would require a volume of itself. No labyrinth of coral could be more intricate; its walls are curiously cemented together, its chambers are most carefully arranged and most amply stored with vegetable produce, and there are magazines whicli teem with cakes and loaves. A regular series of bridges conducts from place to place, and many a cross way traverses the pile. To detail the wonders of these erections would tax the patience of the reader, and the study of a life-time would not exhaust the marvellous perfection of the organization which they present. ABOO SAMMAT'S HEAD SEllIBA. 351 As might be conjectured, there is no want amongst these woods of ant-hills such as these, Avhich have ceased to be occupied, and which consequently have been adopted as lurking-places by various kinds of animals that shun the light and lead a troglodite existence. Here skulks the aard- vark or earth-pig {Onjcteropus) ; here gropes the African armadillo (Manis) ; hither resort wild boars of many a breed ; here may be tracked the porcupines, the honey-weasel, or ratel ; here go the zebra-ichneumons and the rank civet- cats ; whilst here, perchance, may be found what in this land is rare, an occasional hyaena. Thus, after seven days' journeying over a country all but uninhabited, on the 23rd of November I found myself at the head Seriba of my friend and protector, who received me with true Oriental hospitality. First of all, he had newly-erected for my use three pleasant huts, enclosed in their own fence ; his thoughtfulness had gone so far that he had provided me with several chairs and tables ; he had sent to a Seriba, eight days' journey distant, to obtain some cows, that I might enjoy new milk every day ; and, in short, he had taken the utmost pains to insure me the best and amplest provisions that the locality could supply. My attendants, too, who, together with their slaves, made up a party of thirteen, were entertained as freely as myself: everything contributed to keep them in good mood, and they were delighted jointly and severally to throw in their lot with mine. The natives, when they saw not only their own superior, but the governors of other Seribas, treat me with such con- sideration, providing me with a palanquin for every brook, came to the conclusion that I was a magnate, and said to each other, " This white man is a lord over all the Turks " — Turks being the name by which the Nubians here wish to be known, although before a genuine Osmauli they would not have ventured to take such a title. As Aboo Sammat used jocosely to remark, they were accustomed at home to 352 THE HEART OF AFRICA. cany nmd, but here tbey carried a gim instead. It was a matter of congratulation to myself tliat the people already had arrived at some apprehension of the superiority of an European. It set me at my ease to observe that I had nothing to fear as to being mistalien by the natives for one of the same stock as the Nubian menials. Equally advan- tageous to me was it that the Fame impression prevailed amongst the Niam-niam and the distant Monbuttoo, to whose territories I was aj)proaching, and accordingly I 'entered upon my wanderings under what must be considered favour- able auspices. Situated in a depression between undulating hills which stretch from south-west to north-east, the settlement of Aboo Sammat was surrounded by numerous Bongo villages and fields. Here he centred an authority over his Bongo and Mittoo territories which stretched away for no less than sixty miles. The residence of Aboo himself was about a league away, where he kept his harem in retirement, his elder brother having the charge of the principal Seriba. After I had settled myself as conveniently as 1 could, I began afresh my accustomed rambles, so that, in the same way as I had done in Ghattas's Seriba, I might familiarise myself with all the environs. At this period, when vegetation was at a stand-still, the flora presented little novelty, and whatever I found corres- ponded very much with what I had already seen in the district between the Tondy and the Dyoor. The woody places around Sabby were generally somewhat thicker; there was neither the same expanse of low steppe-country, nor the same frequent interruption of woods by grassy plains. Cor- responding to this density of growth of the forests there was a greater variety in the fauna. Meanwhile, amidst my investigations, I did not lose sight of my projected journey to the Niam-niam, and continually made what preparation I could. I criticised very diligently the ARRIVAL IN SABBY. 353 muscles and measurements of the people, and very materi- ally enlarged my vocabulary. Although I was only half-way towards the country of the Niam-niam, I found myself brought into connection with a considerably large number of them, and subsequently I was enabled in a degree to master their dialect. The report of the feud between Mohammed Aboo Sammat and Shereefee had extended to Mohammed's outlying Seriba in the Xiam-niam country, and had grown into a rumour that all his people had been exterminated by Shereefee's agents. For the purpose of obtaining more reliable information the manager of the -Seriba, ninety miles away, had sent ten young men to Sabby, and their strange appearance very much surprised me. Everything which I had hitherto seen of the people served to strengthen my conviction that they were marked off from the other population of Africa by a distinct nationality of their own. Even the Bongo seemed liere to arouse my interest more than at Ghattas's Seriba, where, on account of their longer period of subjection, they had gra- dually lost very many habits and peculiarities of their race. I spent accordingly a good deal of my leisure in making sketches of their dwellings and their furniture, and in my numerous excursions round the villages, I persisted in inves- tigating everything, however immaterial it might seem, as though I were examining the vestiges of the prehistoric life of a palisaded colony. The three slaves who accompanied me were now indis- pensable as interpreters. Apart from them I could have prevailed very little in overcoming the shyness and mistrust towards strangers which the natives continually exhibited : an exterior survey did not satisfy me, and I persevered till I gained admittance to the inside of several of the huts, so that I could institute a regular domestic investigation. Every corner was explored, and by this means many a stiange implement was brought to light, and many an unexpected discovery revealed. VOL. I. 2 a 354 THE HEATIT OF AFRICA. The granaries of the Bongo were now quite full, as the harvest was just over : all was consequently mirth and riot in the district, and many a night's rest did I find disturbed by the noisy orgies which re-echoed from the shadowy woods. At full blast for hours together were the long wooden trumpets, the loud signal-horns, the huge trombones, and those immense drums for the construction of which the strongest timber has been selected from the forests. The powers of shrieking were put forth to the uttermost. Like the rolling of the breakers of an angry sea, the noise rose and fell: alternate screechings and bowlings reached my ears, and hundreds of men and women seemed to be trying which could scream the loudest. Incapable of closing an eye for sleep while such infernal outcry was around, I went several times to inspect the frantic scene of merriment. Nights when the moon was bright were those most frequently selected for the boisterous revelry; the excuse alleged being that the mosquitoes would not let them rest, and therefore it was necessary to dance ; but in truth, there was no nuisance of flies here worth consideration : I was not annoyed to any- thing like the same extent as upon my backward journey on the White Nile. The following may be submitted as something like an ordinary programme of these soirees musicales. Slowly and mournfully some decrepit old man, or toothless old woman, begins with broken voice to babble out a doleful recitative ; ere long first one and then another will put in an appearance from the surrounding huts, and point with the forefinger at the original performer, as if to say that this is all his fault, when suddenly, all together, they burst forth in universal chorus, taking up the measure, which they work into a wondrous fugue. At a given signal the voices rise in a piercing shriek, and then ensues a series of incredible contor- tions ; they jump, they dance, and roll themselves about as though they had bodies of indian- rubber ; they swing them- ORGIES OF THE NIGHT. 355 selves as it they were propelled with the regularity of machines; it would almost seem as if their energy were inexhaustible, and as if they would blow their trumpets till their lungs gave way, and hammer at their drums till their fists were paralyzed. All at once everything is hushed ; simultaneously they make a pause ; but it is only to fetch their breath and recover their strength, and once more the tumult breaks out intense as ever. The license of their revelry is of so gross a character that the representation of one of my interpreters must needs be suppressed. It made a common market-woman droop her eyes and called up a blush even to a poor sapper's cheek. Many of the people had iron rings about their ankles with balls attached, and these they rattled with such violence that their feet were bathed with blood. Go where I might, I found nothing but lamentation over the impoverishment and desolation of the land, yet those who complained -were themselves responsible for its comfortless aspect. Whilst, through tlie migration of the people, the country towards the north during the last three years had been changed into a wilderness, the Bongo, who clung to their homes and remained on their settlements, had not only lost their former wealth in sheep, goats, and poultry, but had even been too much driven to extremities to continue their cultivation of corn, and \\ere sufferers from what was little short of famine. The Bongo asserted that in the first year that the Khartoomers committed their depredations amongst them, they were so terrified lest all their sheep, and goats, and poultry should be carried off, that, without delay, they had them all killed, cooked, and eaten. Eye-witnesses were not wanting who told me what had been the astonishing- quantities of poultry that once had teemed in every village ; but when there ceased to be any security for any one to retain what he had, of course there ceased to be any interest in making a store. If the harvest were prolific so that the 2 A 2 350 THE HEART OF AFRICA. granaries were full, the settlers would revel in indulgence as lono- as their resources held out ; but for the greater portion of the year they had to depend upon the produce of the woods and upon the proceeds of the chase, which had often no better game to yield than cats, lizards, and field- rats. Not that there was any actual fear of starvation, because the supply of edible tubers and of wild fruits from the extensive woods was inexhaustible and not ill-adapted to a negro's digestion, and because there was an abundance of the seed of wild grasses to be collected, which replaced the scarcity of corn. In productiveness the land around Sabby was not inferior to the environs of Ghattas's Seriba. The ears of sorghum here, as frequently as there, reached to a weight of six pounds ; but at the same time the level tracts under cultivation were far less extensive, and in all the rocky places could only produce a smaller yield. The natives, however, never ventured to bring any of their grain to market, as I had been accustomed to see them : w^hatever anyone possessed, he cautiously kept out of the sight of the stranger. From all regular and systematic agriculture, the natives were as a rule debarred, because in the course of the year nearly every able-bodied man was compelled to go and do duty as a bearer, and consequently for months together was a stranger to his homestead, whilst he either plodded backwards and forwards to the Meshera, or was engaged upon the Niam-niam expeditions. Of copper, beads, and knick-knacks of every sort they managed to increase their store, but in agriculture they decidedly were retrograding. It was with them pre- cisely as with their oppressors from afar : just as in Nubia, there was a destiny of evil being fulfilled upon the land, so here was the spectacle of a region degenerating from prospe- rity into neglect and woe. Kepoaterlly in the evening hours I watched the ghost-like fluttering of a long feathered goat-sucker of the species GOAT-SUCKERS. 35? Cosmetornis Spehii Sclater, observed by Spoke * in Uganda, and which was to be recognized by the astonishing elongation of the seventh and eiglith wing-quills, tlie latter of which reaches over twenty inches in length. There was a second species of this genus, of which the male had the same kind of prolonged shaft-feathers expanded at the end and fluttering in tiie air like a peacock's tail. This was the Macrochjpterix lon^ipenms, a remarkable bird which the Arabs call the " father of four wings," because, as it chases the mice, it looks as though it had a couple of satellites in attendance. Both these make their earliest appearance about a quarter of an hour after sunset and as the twilight passes ra})idly into thorough night ; I had, therefore, only scanty opportunities of sending what were at best only stray shots to bring them down. For the purpose of catching insects they generally wheeled in circles at no great distance from the ground, but as the range of their flight was very circumscribed and its rapidity extremely great, it was somewhat difiicult to get a good aim. However, as the practice was repeated daily, I succeeded in securing a considerable number of Speke's interesting Cosmetornis. I should mention that while I had been in Ghattas's Seriba, sport of this kind had very frequently been an evening recreation. The antipathy of this aeronaut of the dusky evening to the clear light of day, seemed very remarkable : it kept itself to the seclusion of the low bushwoods, and when roused up would disappear again at the first ray of light; often it ^^ ould settle itself on the ground in a pile of leaves to which its own hue corresponded, and it might then almost be trodden upon before it could be stirred into flight. During the incessant excursions which I kept making round Sabby I was able to discriminate not less than twelve distinct species of antelopes, of which I was successful * Vide Speke's Journal, p. 462. 3.-)3 THE HEART OF AFRICA. in shooting several. Frequently met with here is the antelope {A. oreas) which is known as the Elend. During the rainy months it gathers in little groups of about half-a- dozen in the drier districts on tlie heights, but through the winter it is, like all its kindred, confined to the levels by the river-sides. Upon the steppes through which flow the brooklets in the proximity of Sabby the leucotis antelope is the most common of all game, and many is the herd I saw which might be reckoned at a hundred heads. Perhaps nowhere in the whole of North-east Africa would any one have the chance of seeing such numerous herds of antelopes collected together as travellers in the south are accustomed to depict. Assisted by a whole clan of Kaffirs, the Boers on the 24th of August, 1860, liad a hattue in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh, of which the result was that between 20,000 and 30,000 antelopes are said to have been enclosed. Of the more circumscribed district of the Nile tlie parts that are most prolific in game are on the north-west declivity of the Abyssinian highlands, on the Tacazze or Seteet, in the province of Taka : there it is not an unknown circumstance for herds to be found which exceed a total of 400 head, but they do not correspond in the remotest degree with those which are depicted in the published engravings of the South African hunt. Still poorer in num- bers of individuals are the antelopes in Central Africa proper, where the uniform diffusion of men encloses smaller wastes than those which can alone provide large lairs for game. Amongst the numerous smaller beasts of prey to which the regions that I visited gave harbourage, the zebra-iclmeu- mon was to me one of the most interesting. I was very successful in securing living specimens of this widely-scattered species, and could not suppress my astonishment at the facility with which they were domesticated in my dwelling ; if ever they get established in a house there is no getting rid of them. It is a saucy creature, and has neither fear to show nor submission to yield to the authority of man. It resembles ZEBRA-ICHNEUMON: MUCUNA URENS. 359 the wild cat of the steppes in the ease with which it can be accustomed to a home life. I found it exceedingly trouble- some on account of the pertinacious curiosity with which it peeped into all my cases and boxes, upset my pots, broke my bottles, with no apparent object but to investigate the contents. To accomplish its aim it made incessant use of its long, taper, snuffling snout as a lever. But the most vexa- tions art of which the animal was master was the skill it had in scenting out the s})ots where my hens were accustomed to lay their eggs, and of which it learnt the flavour before I had an opportunity of removing them to a place of safety. It is moreover a tricky little animal ; by whisking and wagging its tail it assumes the appearance of fawning and wheedling, but as soon as anyone touches it, he gets a good bite on his finger. When hunted out and followed by dogs, it throws itself down on its back, kicks its legs about, and grins and gnashes with its teeth. To keep clear of being bitten the best way is to pounce upon it by its tail and to let it hang dangling in the air. One morning there arrived at the Seriba from the far distant boundaries of the Bongo several wild-looking men, armed with bows and arrows. In order to satisfy myself of the effectiveness of their weapons, I set up a mark at a short distance, consisting of an earthen vessel, in front of which I placed a good thick pad of straw, and over all I threw a stout serge coat. Defying all the coverings, the arrow penetrated the coat, made its way through the straw and knocked a hole in the earthenware, which was nearly half-an- inch thick. A plant there is here which is not very likely to be for- gotten by anyone who has made many excursions into the woods : I mean the Mucuna urens. It is a sort of bean, of which the pods are enclosed in a thick rind and the leaves are covered with pungent bristles. These bristles are as brittle as fibres of glass and, broken off by the wind, are dispersed in 3G0 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. all directions over the foliage in the forests. No one who ex[)]ores the thickets can escape being punished by these tiny prickles. The natives, who are naked, go amongst them with the extremest caution. The stinging sensation they cause lasts about ten minutes, but it maybe alleviated by washing. There is a kind of Christ's Thorn {Zizyjphus Baclei) which every December yields an abundance of fruit, consisting of dry mealy berries, which have a very bitter taste. The colour of these is not unlike a chestnut ; they are quite unfit for eating, but the Bongo prepare a powder from them which they throw upon the surface of their waters, and it has the effect of stupefying the fish. In the parched steppe I repeatedly found a huge chafer belonging to the family of the Elateridae, but unfortunately the specimens which I secured, together with my other collection of insect curiosities, were all destroyed by fire; and I have now no other reminiscences of them beyond the notes I took that they were of a bright brown colour and were but little short of two inches and a half in length. Of the few larger shrubs which blow in the winter, an Echiuops, with sjjlendid purple blossoms as large as one's hand, left a deep impression on my recollection. They start out of the grass in situations where the woods are not over- dense, and rise to the height of a man. For the sake of the securityjof what has been styled a " protective resemblance," the mantis takes up its quarters amidst its boughs. Just as the leaf-frog secretes itself on the young and light green foliage, or the white ptarmigan resorts to the snowy downs of the fiozen north, so does the mantis here take up its abode on the tree as purple as itself, and there endeavour to find a world in which it may conceal its singular shape. This part of Alrica seemed to produce many species of this remarkable genus. Whenever I saw them I derived fresh confirmation for my belief that they try to adapt their places of re.sort to the specific colours of their bodies: the result of this is, that LIONS. 861 they often startle the plant-collector as if they were ghosts, and their strange shape is indeed somewhat suggestive of a harpy. At first sight the heads of the Echinops, on which they settle, look like malformations of the shrub itself, for the insect uncoils its arms, and like a suppliant lifts them to the sky. Every variety in colour seems to belong to the mantis ; I have seen them red, yellow, green, and brown ; the most remarkable of all was one of the colour of grass, which I found upon the peak of my hut in the Meshera, and which was of the surprising length of ten inches. Around Sabby the general security was so complete that, quite at my ease and entirely unarmed, I might have ranged the woods if there had been a certain immunity from being attacked by lions ; and against this I was compelled to be on my guard as I penetrated the depths of the wilderness to secure the novelties of vegetation, which could not fail to excite my curiosity. Although my vocation constrained me day after day to explore the recesses of the woods more thoroughly, and to make my way through places hitherto inaccessible, yet I never met with any untoward accident. At home I am quite aware that there are some who entertain the idea that every traveller in Central Africa is engaged in perpetual lion-fights, whilst, on the other hand, there are some who make the insinuating inquiry as to whether lions are ever really seen. In a degree both are right — both are in the avenue of truth. Lions are, in fact, universal, and may be met with anywhere ; but their numbers are not absolutely large, but only proportioned to the princely rank they hold in the scale of animal creation. Their appearance is always a proof of the proximity of the larger kinds of game. Cor- responding to the line in history, which tells that forty gene- rations of Mamelooks tyrannized over the people of Egypt, might be registered the line in the records of the animal kingdom, which might run that forty lions found subsistence in the land. 362 THE HEART OF AFRICA. It is not to be presumed that every liimting excursion in Africa is associated with adventure. Such is far from the fact, and it would be utterly wearisome for me to recount every frivolous incident of my ordinary hunt in quest of game for the table. Even in Africa a chase may be as insipid as coursing a hare in the environs of Paris. Shooting and hitting are two different things, as are also hitting and kill- ing on the spot. So great is found to be the nervous resist- ance of the larger and stronger kinds of game in Africa that the sportsman must be prepared to lose at least 70 per cent, of all that he is able to wound ; this will arise not merely from his being destitute of dogs to follow the scent, but from bis continually finding himself baffled in pursuit by the world of grass and of marshes, through which he is obliged to make liis way. When on the march, another obstacle to securing what is shot often arises from the fear of being left behind by the caravan, and the possibility of losing one's way necessitates a despatch which is unfavourable to success. One afternoon the chase after a considerable troop of hartebeests led me deep into the wood. The cunning animals watched my movements very anxiously ; by stopping re- peatedly they enticed me continually further on into the gloom, and still eluded the chance of giving me a shot. Already had 1 penetrated so far into the forest that the rays of the sun were totally lost, and everything was wrapped in the obscm-ity of twilight ; I was about to make my way over a depression in the ground, to get nearer to an elevation from wliich the antelopes were calmly surveying me, when I sud- denly stumbled over some huge shapeless object, which seemed to me to be moving. Owing to the obscurity of the place I could not distinguish anything, but I found there was an ant-hill close by, of which I endeavoured to make some use ; under the protection of this I made an attempt to get a few steps nearer to the enigmatical creature that lay before me ; from behind the mound I cautiously made WILD BOAR SHOT. 363 an investigation, and just at that instant the animal made a lurch, and revealed to me the snout of a huge wild boar, which seemed to cover the whole face like a mask, while a great pair of tusks projected from the bushy bristles of the enormous jaws '; the stolid gaze of the brute made it clear that it was not conscious of my being near, but it seemed ready to take a spring upon the first intruder that should disturb it; I approached within the shortest possible dis- tance, and then took aim, and lodged my bullet in the body of the beast. The spectacle tliat ensued was very singular. The unwieldy creature, contracte 1 like an impaled fly, turned over on to its side, and then, with another contortion, on to its back, where it writhed about and jerked its legs in every direction. Whilst I was patiently abiding my time till the beast should expire, I was taken by surprise as I observed that the hartebeests were within pistol-shot of where I stood, as if they had been spell-bound by the incident which had interposed to rescue them from their pursuer. I was ready anew to take my aim at them. I had, however, only a single- barrelled gun, and no one in attendance to hand me a second. I was just on the point of loading, when, by one of those unlucky chances that will occur, I discovered that in my pre- cipitation I had used all my bullets, and should only waste my labour in following up the pursuit. 'J'he wild boar, how- ever, was mine, and I had it brought to my quarters the same evening. I went to bed without partaking of a supper from it, for whenever there is anything to do with the detest- able flesh of a wart-hog, I am a regular Mohammedan. Accordingly, I had the greatest satisfaction in handing it over to the hungry negroes. An incident still more peculiar had occurred to me on a previous occasion when I had gone out to hunt, attended by one of my Nubians, who rode a donkey, of which the supposed oflice was to carry home ^^hatever might be the produce of my sport. I left my servant and the donkey carefully out 364 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of siglit in a spot where two rifts in the soil represented what, during the rains, was the course of two connected brooks. Proceeding to the tall grass, I was not long in sight- ing a small bush-antelope. I took a shot, and could entertain no doubt but that the animal was struck. I saw it scamper across the grass, and was every moment expecting to see it fall, when I heard a sudden bleat of anguish, and it was gone. Forcing my way through the rank grass, I made the closest scrutiny all around the place where, but a few minutes since, I had seen the wounded antelope, but my search was all in vain. I was encumbered in my movements by having to carry a couple of guns ; but, knowing that the area of the ground was bounded by the two rifts that enclosed it, I felt certain that my search would not be Nvithout success. At lengtli I discovered the antelope almost at my feet, but it was fixed immovably ; it was fastened to the ground by what seemed to me at first the filthy skirt of one of the negroes. Looking more closely, however, I soon saw that the creature had been seized by an immense serpent, that had wound itself three times round its body, leaving its head projecting and drawn down so as well nigh to touch the tail. I retreated far enough to take an effectual aim, and fired. The huge python immediately reared itself bolt upright, and made a dash in my direction, but it was able only to erect its head ; the hinder parts lay trailing on the ground, because the ver- tebral connection was destroyed. Seeing the state of things, I loaded and fired repeatedly, taking my aim almost at ran- dom, for the evolutions of a snake are as difficult to follow as the flight of the goat-sueker. I had on other occasions proved that a snake may be killed by one ordinary load of shot, if this at once breaks the vertebral column. I now completed my capture ; the return to my quarters was made in trium[)h ; the double booty formed a double burden, the snake on ojie side of the donkey and the antelope on the other, balancing each other admirably. ( 3G5 ) CHAPTER IX. Tour through the Mittoo country. Early morning in the wilderness. Soldier carried away by a lion. Dokkuttoo. Fishing in the Roah. Feeding a slave caravan. Ngnhnia. Dimindoh, the hunter's Seriba. Wounds from tlie grass. Dangidduloo. Entertainment in the Seribas. Tlie river Rolil. Reception at Awoory. Footsore. Trial of patience. People of the district. Poncet's Seriba Mvolo. Mercantile prospects for the Egyptian Government. Fantastic character of landscape. Stnicture of pile-work. Rock-rabbits. Rock-rabljits' feet. Nile cataract in miniature. The Tinnea xthiopica. Seriba Kuro on the Wohko. Reggo and its breed of dogs. Kuiraggera. Aboo Sammat's festivities. A speech of the Kenoosian. Aboo Sammat and the subjugated chiefs. Deragoh and its mountains. Kuddoo on the Roah. Fear of lions in the forest of Geegyee. Return to Sabby. The Mittoo people. Inferiority of race. Disfiguration of the lips by Mittoo women. Fetters of fashion. Love of music. I srENT December and Januaiy in a tour of considerable extent through the adjacent Mittoo country, being desirous of visiting some Seribas recently established by Aboo Sammat, and by means of which he had extended his frontiers far onwards towards the east. I obtained ten bearers for the transport of my baggage, and a Nubian captain of Aboo Sammat's company was expressly appointed to act as guide and to provide for my accommodation all along the route. I was accompanied likewise by three of my own Khartoom servants. A short journey to the north-east brought us to Boiko, where, enclosed by a dense forest, was situated xVboo Sam- mat's harem. A lady here, the first wife, a daughter of the Niam-niam chief Wando, although she did not permit herself to be seen, was near at hand to do the honours: she was so 366 THE HEART OF AFRICA. far civilized that she entertained me with coffee and several Khartoom dishes. Proceeding eastwards we reached the little river Tudyee, which, flowing past Sabby at a distance of about two leagues to the east, ultimately joins the Koah (the Nam Dyow of the Dinka) ; at this time of year it is about twenty feet deep, and murmurs along a channel from twenty to thirty feet wide ; now and then it forms deep basins, which never fail to be full of fish. We made our first night-camp near a fine tamarind, which will probably for years to come be a land- mark as conspicuous as it was at the time of my visit ; it was the usual halting-place of all caravans from east to west, and the traces of previous encampments, dilapidated straw- hats, vestiges of fires and fragments of bones bore ample testimony to the fact At this season a slight dew was perceptible towards five o'clock in the morning. The nights were calm and, in comparison with the day, were considerably cooler than in summer, when in the interior of the huts there is hardly any difference in temperature to be distinguished. Throughout the day, however, a strong north wind blew incessantly, which towards the afternoon increased almost to a hurri- cane. There is a peculiar charm in these early morning hours, and no one can wake from his repose in a night-camp in the wilderness without a sense of calm enjoyment of the delights of nature. As soon as the horizon reddens with the dawn the solitude is enlivened by a chorus of ring-doves, here the most frequent of their kind, and by the cackling of guinea-fowl. The traveller is aroused daily by their serenades, and, without much strain upon his imagination, he could almost persuade himself that he has been long resident in the same spot, so familiar does the cooing of the doves become. Aa we were preparing to continue our march, some people came to meet us with some dismal intelligence from the CARRIED OFF BY A LION. 367 neighbouring village of Geegyee. They said that on the previous niglit a Nubian soldier, who had laid himself down at the door of his hut, about five paces from the thorn hedge, had been seized by a lion, and, before he could raise an alarm had been dragged off no one knew whitlier. I now learnt, that this district had for some years been infested with lions, and that lately the casualties had been so frequent that the greater part of the inhabitants of Geegyee had migrated in consequence. The entire village would have been trans- planted long ago, but the lions had been always found to follow every change of position. At seven o'clock in the morning \\e reached the ill-omened spot, the poorest of neglected villages, surrounded by woods. A thorn hedge formed its enclosure but nowhere could we discover an entrance. Although the sun was now high, the inhabitants, terrified lest the lions should be near, were still sittino- either on the tops of their roofs or on the piles that sup- ported their granaries. Speechless and depressed with fear, my people proceeded on their journey : every one kept his gun in hand, and the bearers, listening anxiously at every rustle that broke the stillness, peered carefully after any traces of the dreaded foe. After a good day's march we arrived at Aboo Sammat's Seriba Dokkuttoo, lying on the extreme east of the frontier of the Bongo ; it was about twenty miles from the chief Seriba Sabby, being somewhat further to the south. Half a league before we reached Dokkuttoo we had crossed a considerable, though only periodical stream, called the Mokloio. It was now five feet deep, meandering over a low flat fifty feet wide to join the Roah. The Roah is a river of about the same size as the Tondy, with which it finally unites itself; it here makes a remark- able bend from south-east to north-east, but its general direction for some distance in this district is due north ; tlie stream flowed between banks twenty or thirty feet in 368 THE HEART OF AFRICA. height; its average width was full forty feet, whilst it was only three feet deep; the velocity of the current was oue hundred and twenty feet a minute. The grass flat covered by the Roah at the time of its inundation is not so wide as that covered by the Tondy at Koolongo ; it measured barely half a league across, and I therefore conclude that this river carries northward a volume of water smaller than the Tondy. The Bongo were most assiduous in securing the large supplies of fish offered by the Eoah. Across the stream iu many places was thrown a kind of weir like a clievaux de frise; this they stopped up with bunches of grass and so formed a small dam ; over the open places were set creels, and altogether a rich produce rarely failed to be obtained. Some miles up the river, where the banks are shut in by impenetrable reeds, is a favourite resort of hippopotamuses, and it was said that, two years previously, the natives had killed no less than thirty in a single day. The brutes had been driven by the low condition of the water to seek the deeper basins of the river-bed, whence all escape was impossible. We remained in Dokkuttoo for two days, of which I made the most by excursions in the neighbourhood. A small slave caravan, containing one hundred and fifty girls and children, happened to be passing through the Seriba ; it was conducted by traders coming from Ghattas's and Agahd's territory in the east. The whole party huddled together for the night in a couple of huts, several old female slaves being entrusted with the supervision of the children. I was a witness of the arrangements for the evening meal, and, contrary to my expectation, found that everything was conducted with much system and regularity. The old Bongo people of the neighbouring villages had brought fifty bowls of dokhn-groats, and as many more containing sauces prepared from sesame-oil, Hyptis-j-ap, and dried and FORCED PROVISIONS. 3G9 powdered meat or fish, and other comestibles of gourds and wild ]\[elochia. My own entertainment was well provided for, and tlie agent had an extra bullock slaughtered in order tliat my little company should not proceed without the supply of meat necessary for tlie journey. Every mouthful of food that I swallowed in this unhappy country was a reproach to the conscience, but the voice of hunger drowned every higher emotion ; even the bread that we ate had been forced from the very poorest in the season of their harvest when their joy, such as it was, was at its lieight ; they probably had neither cow nor goat, and their little children were in peril of dying of starvation and only dragged out a miserable existence by scraping up roots. The meat, in the abundance of whicli we were revelling, had been stolen from poor savages, who pay almost a divine homage to their beasts, and who answer with their blood for the stubbornness with which tliey defend their cows, which they hold dearer than wife or child. Leaving Dokkuttoo, we proceeded for three leagues to the south, passing through the light bushwood that skirted the left bank of the Koah. The woods lay close down to the river as it flowed between its rocky banks. We crossed the stream near some huts, already inhabited by Mittoo, of whicli the name of the local chief was Degbe. Further south our path again and again crossed wide meadow-flats containing water-basins almost as large as lakes, which, as they had no perceptible current, had every appearance of being ancient beds of the Roah. Several larger kinds of antelopes, water-bucks, and hartebeests appeared, and a herd of thirty leacotis challenged me to a chase. At night, at our bivouac in the forest, we enjoyed in consequence a fine feast of the savoury game. Between the Koah and tlie Eohl the previous uniformity of the rocks began to be broken by projections of gneiss and by scattered hills. About ten VOL. I. 2 b 370 THE HEART OF AFRICA. leagues from Ngahma we passed a remarkable spot of this kind, where huge blocks of stone rose in mounds from which colossal obelisks might be hewn. These elevated places alternated with extensive flats level as a table top. Ngahma was Aboo Sammat's most important settlement amongst the Mittoo. It lies in a S.S.E. direction from Dokkuttoo and derives its name from the elder of the people, who, with his twenty wives, resides at no great distance ; by the natives it is called Mittoo-mor. From Ngahma I turned nortli-east towards Dimindoh, a small settlement of elephant- hunters belonging to Ghattas's " Gebel company," as the people style his establishments on the Bahr-el-Gebel. The district was the highest elevation between the Roah and the Rohl, the country being more diversified by defiles, clefts, and periodic streams than that which I had previously traversed. Dimindoh lay on the further bank of a little river called the Wohko, which, during our march, we had repeatedly to cross. The stream flows over a course of some seventy miles with- out any perceptible increase in its dimensions, a peculiarity that I have again and again observed in many other small rivers, which seem to flow across wide tracts of country unchanged in their condition by the affluence of any spring or running brook. An excellent reception awaited me in Dimindoh. The hunting-village had been lately built of straw and bamboo at a large outlay, and there were regular straw palaces, of which the new domes and roofs gleamed with all the golden glory of Ceres. To say the very least, our rest was quite undis- turbed by rats, and the idyllic abodes still retained the pleasant aroma of the meadows. I had no cause to complain of the entertainment in any of the smaller Seribas. I was always supplied with milk and with all kinds of meal. The traditional spirit-distillery of Ghattas's people was here also in full swing, aiid they brought to me, in gourd-shells, a concoction which was not so utterly bad as that at Gurfala. TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. 371 I was, however, much bewildered by the constant solicita- tions for my medical advice. Amongst other cases they brought me a Nubian, who, on his excursions, had received such cuts from the grass that his feet had completely rotted away, leaving the tendons still hanging. These people have no rational way of treating their wounds, but when there is any inflammation they endeavour to allay it by corn-poultices and hot water, a proceeding which always aggravates the evil. I saw some who had lost several toes, and others who had the most revolting sores on the shins and insteps, and in nearly every case these had arisen from insignificant cuts which, simply from mismanagement, had terminated in disease. " It is a strange thing," I said to them, " that the grass is only bad here ; it must be something more than that ; it is a punishment from God." " But God," they answered, " does not give us such grass in Dongola ; this is a bad country." " Do you mean to say then," I replied, " that God is kind in Dongola, and unkind here ? No ; I tell you, God is Himself punishing you for all your thievery, because there is here no other ruler to look after your misdeeds." I felt that I was quite justified in talking in this fashion to a people who, under the cloak of religion, are as unscrupulous rascals as any in the world, and who, misinterpreting the mottoes on their banners which incite them to war against the infidel, consider all plunder perpetrated on defenceless savages as heroic actions bearing them onwards to the pabus of Paradise. The chief Seriba of this eastern section of Ghattas's esta- blishments lies only a league and a half to the north-east of Dimindoh, and was called Dangaddiiloo, after a certain Danga, who had been appointed the head of the Mittoo of the district. In I860 the brothers Poncet of Khartoom had ceded to Ghattas their settlements amongst the Agar, on the 2 B 2 372 THE HEART OF AFRICA. liolil, in order to found fresh establishments in the following year near the cataracts of that river, among the Lehssy. The Ao-ar, as I have already mentioned, had managed to obtain possession of a considerable quantity of firearms and ammu- nition, and had made themselves so formidable that the Khartoomers had not ventured to rebuild tbe Seriba that had been destroyed : for that reason, the settlements of Ghattas had receded southwards to the region in which I now found myself. Our road lay often across \\ ide gneiss flats, which not unfrequently exhibited the same uniformity for several hundred yards together. From the surface the stone broke off in smooth laminee, often as thin as the cover of a book, and afforded me a convenient material for pressing my packets of plants. We had crossed the Wohko for the second time at Dimiudoh, where its bed was about fifteen feet deep : its course is generally due north, but iiere it bends at a right angle to the east, as if seeking the shortest route to join the Rohl. The little river abounds in shells, especially in Anodontae, which are turned to many domestic uses by the natives, while the massive Etheria CailUaudii, not unlike the oyster, forms continuous banks in all these minor streams. In Dangadduloo I found two applicants both eager to obtain the appointment as superintendent of the Seriba. One of these had accompanied the last caravan of supplies from Khartoom, and now was not acknowledged in the Seriba by the soldiers, who reproached him for having acted fraudulently. He was a Copt, and, as far as I know, the first and last Khartoom Christian who ever ventured amongst this set of fanatics. The other agent, named Selim, was a negro over six feet high, and by birth a Diidca ; he had tlie majority of the inhabitants of the Seriba on his side, and lived in continual contention with his rival about the surrender of the stores brought from Khartoom. Both of these men received me with a great show of friendship, and each strove to outdo the other in politeness ; they con- COLD CUP. 373 sidcred that a great deal might depend upon the answer that I should give tlieir master on my return to Kliartoom, when he would probably ask my opinion of their respective merits. Each maligned the other, and almost in the same terms ; they were both, moreover, throughout the two days which I spent with them more or less in a state of intoxication. Wherever I entered a Seriba there was almost invariably brought to my hut, according to the Soudan fashion of receiving strangers, a cooling drauglit, consisting of a kind of cold cup called Abrey. It was made in the simplest manner from highly-leavened bread, dried and crumbled into water; its flavour is agreeable, and travellers can hardly say too much in its favour : it is a preparation, however, that can only be made of sorghum bread. In addition to this the people are accustomed, according to patriarchal usage, to bring water to wash the stranger's feet. When these preliminaries had been gone through, I had then to take my seat upon the " angareb " or couch, which was generally covered with an elegant Persian carpet, and to await the visits that would be made me. A succession of unknown personages ordinarily came, who made a reverent salaam and then silently and with mysterious air placed before me flasks, calabashes, and gourd-shells containing butter, milk, honey, spirits, merissa — in short, every delicacy that the country could offer. My people revelled in this abundance, and ever rejoiced at the happy thought which had impelled me to this tour, and that I had brought them from a land tlireatened with famine into this region of corn and cattle. The fact of a large number of the herds having been stolen, and that the territory was adjacent to the territoiy that had been plundered, gave rise to the risk of a nocturnal attack by way of reprisal : on this account numerous watches were set every night and the environs were patrolled, but no 374 THE HEART OF AFRICA. sooner had the sun gone down than the entire community abandoned themselves to a general intoxication, so that I should never have been astonished if the Dinka had ven- tured on a surprise, which would have had every likelihood of being crowned with success. The Mittoo of this district are called Gheree. Southwards and far to the east of the Rohl the general name of More is applied to the country, and as tribes of distinct people have settled there, it may no doubt be considered as a true geographical designation of the land itself; it is, however, the only example which came under my notice throughout the entire region of the appellation of the people and the laud not being identical. Favoured by the partial destruction of the high grass by fire, the natives were diligently setting about their great hunt. Battues, with nets, pits, and snares, were set on foot in every direction; the strong bows with curved handles, by means of which a lasso can by skill be thrown roimd a buffalo's legs, being in general use. In the villages I observe I many trophies of the chase in the shape of some splendid horns of buffaloes and eland-antelopes. As I went on due east towards the Rohl, I was obliged to be carried, on account of having a sore foot. This I foimd a matter of some difficulty, on account of the want of any suitable litter, and because the paths are all so narrow that there is no space for two persons to move abreast, while the difficulty was still further increased by the negroes re- fusing to carry the heavy angarebs in any way except upon their heads. Wherever Islamism has its sway in Africa, it appears never to be the fashion for any one to allow him- self to be carried : this arises from a religious scruple which might with advantage be applied by Europeans to nations under their protection. A strict ]\rohammedan reckons it an actual sin to emi)loy a man as a vehicle, and such a sentiment is very remarkable in a people who set no IDENTIFICATION OF ROUTE. 375 limits to their spirit of oppression. It is a kuown fact that a Mohaiuinedan, though he caunot refuse to recognise a negro, denying the faith, as being a man, has not the faintest idea of his being entitled to any rights of humanity. The country on the left bank of the Wohko appeared well cultivated, and we frequently passed through fields from which crops of Penicillaria had been gathered. Three leagues from Dangadduloo there was some low meadow land, a ad, for the first time since leaving the Dyoor, I saw an extensive range of Borassus palms, their lofty stems, 80 feet in height, crowned with waving plumes of fan-shaped leaves. Beneath tlieir shade nestled the huts of the Mittoo chief Bai, with whom we took our noonday rest. In the afternoon we retraced our steps for a couple of leagues, in order to put up for the night in the village of another chief, named Gahdy. Towards the north-east some important heights now showed themselves on the horizon beyond the Rohl, and after awhile I was able to settle certain angles so as to determine their relative bearings. By this means, for the first time, I ascertained that my route must be near the points which had been reached by former travellers, and I could with certainty identify Girkeny, relatively about 200 feet high, with the locality marked on Petherick's map. It aflforded me much amusement to watch the natives at their ordinary occupations in their pent-up dwellings, and my portfolio was enriched by the drawings of many of the household utensils, as well as of the personal orna- ments which the Mittoo women possess in great abundance. These women are the most frightful that ever yet I had seen, and the horrible manner in which they mutilate their lips contributes a great deal to increase their repulsiveness. Elsewhere this practice is generally confined to the women, but here the men were similarly disfigured, and in Gahdy 's village I was visited by a man IVom whose upper lip there 376 THE HEART OF AFRICA. hung a pendant of polished quartz more than two inches long. Just behind the village we came once more upon the Wohko, which had here more perfectly assumed the aspect of a river, being forty feet in width. It had now entered upon the wide low-lying steppe which extends to the western shores of the Eohl. "We were nearly two hours in crossing this tract, which was densely covered with grass so high that, although in my litter I was six feet above the ground, I had to raise myself to catch sight of the adjacent mountains. It is worthy of notice how all the rivers that I visited in this region, such as the Dyoor, the Paongo, the Tondy, the Koah, and the Rohl, of which the course was almost directly from south to north, in spite of the slight diminution of the velocity of the earth's rotation in these low latitudes of 6° or 8°, follow that law, exemplitied in all rivers flowing northwards, and which is dependent on the rate of rotation of the earth. The course of all alike was nearly coincident with the eastern edge of the uniform steppes that covered the districts subject to their inundations. Along the western shore of the Dyoor and Paongo the steppes in many places could not be crossed in much less than an hour, whilst those on the east could be traversed in little more than ten minutes. In the same way it takes forty minutes to cross the western flats on the Tondy near Koolongo, but those on the opposite bank are easily passed in a sixth of the time. Here, too, upon the Eohl there are no flats at all upon the right-hand shore, but the river for some distance washes past a steepish bank on which lies Ghattas's Seriba Awoory. This bank is formed by the slope of the Girkeny, only about two leagues away. The Rohl contains a much larger volume of water than the Tondy, and near Awoory its bed divides into several branches, which in the winter are separated by sandbanks VARIOUS NAMES OF THE ROHL. 377 of considerable height. In the higher parts some stagnant pools remain, which, as they evaporate, fill the lowland with swampy humour. On the 17th of December I found the width of the river to be seventy feet; its depth was only about two feet and a half, but it was overhung by sandy banks twenty feet high, which were covered with reeds ; its current moved at the moderate rate of about a hundred feet a minute. The river must offer an imposing sight in the height of the rainy season, when the plains are entirely under water ; it must, then, apparently rival the Doory, although it does not contain more than a third of the quantity of water. Marked on existing maps under the name of Kohl, it is called by the Dinka the Nam-Eohl, i. e., the river of the "Eohl," which is a tribe of the Dinka people. The Mittoo, the Madi, and other tribes along its course give it the name of Yahlo, whilst among the Bongo it is known as the Dyollebe. This is a fresh instance of what may be found throughout Africa, where the names of rivers, towns, and chiefs continually recur, and where Ronga and Mundo are almost as common as Columbus, Franklin, and Jackson in North America. The term Kaddo or Kodda, which appears on some maps, seems superfluous, since in both the Mittoo and Behl dialects the word means only " a river," or generally " water." At Awoory a reception grander than usual was prepared for me. From my elevated position I could distinguish that the ant-hills were covered with black heads and that hundreds of inquisitive natives had collected to gratify their curiosity about me. As I entered the Seriba, fifty men were drawn up before the gate, under orders to honour me by firing a salute. Something of a feeling of misgiving quivered through me, and it was a relief to recollect that I was up in the air, and so comparatively safe from the shots that were to be fired on the ground. The natives around Awoory are called Suhfy, and aio the 378 THE HEART OF AFRICA. same as the Kolil, who dwell further east. Their language ill some respects resembles those of the Mittoo and the Bongo, although there are points in which it differs ma- terially from both. In appearance and habits, the Sohfy bear a close affinity to the Mittoo. The three mountains to the north of Awooiy are also inhabited by the Sohfy ; Girkeny, the loftiest of these, is- about three leagues distant, and consists of a bright mass of gneiss, which descends abruptly towards the south in precipices 200 feet apart. Petherick's route in 1863, between Aweel and Yirri, lay across this mountain. Nearer the Seriba is a little hill, with its villages of Nyeddy, Yei, and Madoory, all of which are tributary to Ghattas. About a day's journey to the north-east there rises a lofty table-land, upon which the name of Khartoom has been conferred by the natives, in order to denote its importance and impregnability as a stronghold. Its inhabitants are respected by the people of the Seriba for their bravery in war, and are particularly renowned for their skill in archery : although they have been repeatedly attacked, the aggressors, ever unsuccessful, have been obliged to retreat with a large number of killed and wounded. A few weeks previously the population of this Mount Khartoom had attempted to surprise the Seriba, which most probably would not have escaped entire destruction, if the garrison of the neighbouring Seriba of the Poncets had not oppor- tunely come to its relief. The Nubians apply the general term of Dyoor to all the tribes on the Eohl to the south of the Dinka territory, although the tribes themselves, having nothing in common either in language, origin, or customs with the Dyoor of the west (a Shillook tribe), repudiate the definition. The desig- nation was adopted from the Diuka, who thus distinguish all tribes tliat do not devote themselves to cattle-breedino:. Petherick was in error when he imagined that the Dyoor MY FOOT INFLAMED. 370 country known to him in his earlier travels extended so far as to include the Rohl : he would have escaped his misappre- hension if he had only noted down a few of the characteristic idioms of their language. Whilst I was in Awoory ray foot became so much worse that for two days I was almost entirely incapacitated. Ex- ternally there was only a slight spot on the sole of the foot, but the entire limb had swollen witli inflammation. I had every reason to fear an outbreak of guinea-worm, and there- fore resigned myself to the cheerless prospect of being invalided for several weeks. Unable to carry out my in- tended trip to the attractive mountains of the neighbourhood, I had no alternative but to submit to my disappointment, and, without accomplishing my hopes, I was compelled to bid farewell to Awoory. For six days I had been confined to my litter, and meanwhile all search for plants, all the enticements of the chase, and all investigation of the imple- ments peculiar to the villages had to be given up. En- throned again on the heads of four sturdy negroes, I pro- ceeded on my way. Through my position, my range of vision was somewhat enlarged, so that I had a little com- pensation for my helplessness in a more extensive prospect over the pleasant country. Pain, too, was subsiding, and no longer engrossed my care. The bright sky above, the still solitude of the steppes around, the mild air of the tropical winter, and the unwonted ease of my mode of progress, all combined to lull me into gentle reverie. The slight rustle made by the footsteps of the bearers among the yielding stalks was the only sound that broke my silent contempla- tions, and I could almost imagine that I was in a light boat, being driven by an invisible power across the waves of a sea of grass. Until we passed the Kohl the road lay in a S.S.E. direc- tion, close along its right-hand bank. Inland, tlie country appeared to ascend in gently-rising terraces, but the character 380 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of the vegetation continued entirely unaltered, the bush- forest being composed of trees and shrubs of the same kind that I had observed ever since we had set foot upon the red soil. At the place of our transit the stream was undivided ; but, although it was 200 feet in breadth, the water was little more than knee-deep. The numbers of fish were quite sur- prising, and our negroes amused themselves by darting with their arrows at the swarms of little perch, never failing to make good their aim. On the opposite bank we entered the territory of another small but distinct tribe called the Lehssy, whose dialect differs from both Mittoo and Sohfy. Its narrow limits extend for a few leagues to the east of the river as far as Kirmo, which was one of the places visited by Petheriek. Beyond again are the settlements of the Bohfy, in whose territory, a day's journey to the east of Mvolo, Agahd maintains a Seriba, which is situated on the Ayi, a river which, according to Petheriek* contains less water than the Eohl and joins the Dyamid before it enters the Bahr-el-Gebel. To the north of the Bohfy dwell the Behl, who, together with the Agar and Sohfy, possess such wealth of cattle as to provoke continual raids on the part of the owners of the Seribas. Behind the Behl again, towards the Balir-el-G-ebel, are the Atwol, a peoi)le much feared for their warlike qualities, rendering the approaches to the Meshera of that river so unsafe that caravans are often in considerable danger of attack. After crossing the Eohl we proceeded a mile or two to the S.E., and arrived at Poncet's Seriba in Mvolo. The character of the scenery had now entirely changed, and large blocks of granite, at one time in solid cubes, at another in pointed obelisks, started from the gi-ound. On the north of the Seriba, and a little above the place where we forded the river in coming from Awoory, these rocky projections caused the stream to fall into rapids, which, on a reduced scale, bore a resemblance to a cataract of the Nile, This chain of THE BANNER OF ISLAM. 381 scattered rocks, which runs across the country from west to east, has been mentioned by Petlierick (' Travels in Africa,' vol. ii.) as extending to tlie south of the village of Dugwara. The agent in Mvolo, who had been for many years in the service of the brothers Poncet, received me most courteously. As I entered within the palisade of the Seriba, a hundred men saluted me after the fashion of the country, and even some shots were fired from a small piece of naval artillery that stood in the gateway. However honoured I might feel by this polite reception, I could be conscious of nothing but vexation at the sight of the blood-red banner with its crescent and extracts from the Koran. I had flattered myself in vain with the hope that here at least the cheerful waving of the tricolour — often but a mockery — would proudly assert the authority and independence of the Frank. My people had repeatedly declared that they would on no account follow under my flag, and I had no means open to me of convincing them of their error. The unfurling of the Mohammedan banner over the possessions of a Frenchman is a practical demonstration of the limited measure of authority which is really exercised by the Khartoom merchants over their de- pendents in the interior. There is not a single Christian in the settlement, so that the condition of things is not worse than might reasonably be anticipated. Such, at any rate, is my opinion, and I do not doubt but that any fellow-country- man of Poncet's would either hold his peace or pass a judgment even sterner than mine. In all these countries the slave-traffic is a fact tacitly acknowledged quite as much as the transactions of the minor speculators on our own exchanges, and the brothers Poncet had much odium to endure from being held responsible for the delinquencies of their subordinates in this respect. These accusations, combined with the difficulty of maintaining a proper control over the conduct of their people, made them hesitate to increase the number of their settlements ; their 382 THE HEAET OF AFRICA. insignificant profits, moreover, did not allow them to stand against the competition of the neighbouring companies, who shrunk from no means, however unlawful, for enriching themselves. At length the brothers Poncet had become weary of the illegitimate proceedings that went on covertly in defiance of their authority, so that a year previously they had disposed of their establishments to the Egyptian Govern- ment, stipulating for a period of three years for a payment of a percentage on the entire produce of ivory at the current rate of interest. Such were the circumstances under which the last European firm withdrew from the ivory trade, wJiich had really been originated and established in the countries of the Upper Nile by Europeans alone. The Egyptian Government had looked forward to the monopoly of the ivory traffic as so likely to be lucrative that they paid a large sum for its purchase. Mvolo was practically the nearest point to the region which was most productive of ivory, and there was a direct route from the Kohl to the Monbuttoo which avoided the hostile territory of the Niara-niam. Latterly, the Poncets had sent out two expeditious in the year instead of one, and had thus doubled their previous annual profits through having resources which were not available to any other esta- blishment. But, in spite of everything, the authorities at Kliartoom must have advised the Government very badly, for almost immediately after the discharge of the grant allowed to the Poncets the settlement passed into other hands, and Ghattas junior obtained for himself and for his heirs the whole of the productive territory. Many may think that a resolution of the Government to monopolise the ivory trade in this district would augur well for the future, and that the results would inevitably tend towards a reform of the existing club-law, but it is really very doubtful whether such a change would benefit the poor oppressed natives. It is true that by a larger outlay of SLAVE DEALING. 383 capital than the Khartoom merchants can afford the profits might be considerably increased, and many sources of produce yet undiscovered might be brought to light ; but, as I have said before, there can never be ensured a proper repre- sentative effectually to secure the interests of the Viceroy. All these enterprises are more or less involved in the slave trade, and a military occupation could not be thought of, because only Nubians can endure the climate, and Nubians would never submit to a regular discipline. Of the ineradi- cable propensity to slave-dealing which has always shown itself in every Government official, be he Turk or Egyptian, I will say nothing ; but I may venture to observe that neither a regular system of taxation nor the suppression of the slave trade in the Upper Nile countries is possible until Egypt shall have made good its footing in Darfoor, that great nucleus of the Central African slave traffic, which has hitherto been a place of refuge for all the criminals in the Egyptian Soudan, and which affords a continual loophole of retreat for every outlaw of Khartoom. The threat so often heard in the quarrels of the people, " I will murder you, and escape to Darfoor," is a striking illustration of the estimate in which the district is held. The inhabitants of Mvolo call themselves Lehssy, and in many particulars of their habits they resemble the JMittoo and Bongo. In the huts I frequently observed some singular wooden figures, the Penates of the establishment, which had been erected to the memory of a departed wife. Petherick describes the graves near Kirmo as adorned with forked boughs, and bits of wood carved into the shape of horns, exactly as I noticed them on the graves of the Bongo. The district produces plenty of corn, and with its ample opportunities for hunting and fishing supports a tolerably large population, which has every appearance of being well fed. The Lehssy generally are of a medium height, but I came across individuals of a strengtii of build such as I saw 384 THE HEART OF AFRICA. novvliere else except among tl.e Niam-niam. I was also struck by the frequent occurrence of feet and hands dispropor- tionately large. Dongolo, the native overseer of Mvolo, was, on account of his stoutness, called " bermeel," a barrel ; and another of the inhabitants was nicknamed " elephant-foot." Distinct, in some respects, from what I had already seen was this district of Mvolo. Far as the eye could reach, there extended a wide grassy plain, broken by huge stones of fantastic outline and by thickets or single trees. Graceful fan-palms waved above the groves, and the autumn tints gave a rich colouring to the scenery, every rock, with its covering of creepers, being a picture in itself. In the north could be seen the three mountains near Awoory, like purple peaks in the pale azure of the horizon. In the far distance the country had the deep blue of an Italian sky, mellowed as it came nearer into peculiar tints of grey and golden brown ; whilst close to the foreground all was bright with the varied hues of foliage, red, yellow, and olive- green alternating with the freshness of the sprouting shrubs, the Indian red of the ant-hills, and the silvery grey of the jutting rocks. The Seriba, like its environs, was unique of its kind. The formidable appearance of the confused pile-work would have spoilt the night's rest of any one who had a very sensitive imagination. Something like a picture I remember of the Antiquary's dream, only without the sea, did the complica- tion of huts stand out against the tall blocks of granite from which the fan-palms started like proud columns. The huts themselves, on their platform of clay, were like paper cones on a flat table. In front was the great farmyard, with its hundreds of cattle under the charge of Dinka servants. These neatherds erect for themselves crooked awnings on equally crooked piles, and sit huddled up on a soft bed of ashes round the ever-glowing dunghcaps, inhaling with delight their favourite fumes. These pile-works undergo ROCK-RABBITS. 385 many modifications in design, and have been imitated from the strongholds made by the natives when they were still masters of the land. The principal use of these structures is to afford places of refuge from hostile attack. Quite in keeping with the fantastic scenery and eccentric architecture is the peculiarity of the rock-rabbits that dwell among the crevices of the gneiss. Immediately after sunset, or before sunrise, they can be seen everywhere, squatting like marmots at the entrance to their holes, into which, at the approach of danger, they dart with wonderful snorts and grunts. The noise they make has caused the Nubians to bestow upon them the general name of " kako." There is, however, a great variety of species, hardly distinguishable from each other, scattered throughout the Nile countries, every district seeming to present its own special representative of the race . Not only are they found in the mountains of Abyssinia and of Upper Sennaar, but they inhabit those isolated mounds and hills which give its peculiar character to the landscape in Southern Kordofan and the province of Taka. Again, they appear in the mountains of the Bayooda steppes, and play a prominent part in Southern Africa ; whilst other species are found in Arabia, in the Sinai peninsula, and in the Syrian mountains. Those that I saw in Mvolo nearly correspond with the Abyssinian species deiticted by Bruce. They appear to feed chiefly on the bark of trees, although they occasion- ally devour young shoots and grass. Abdoo, the controller of Mvolo, was half a naturalist : as a huntsman he had done service under many Europeans, and had acquired a reputation for being a skilful stuft'er of birds. He drew my particular attention to the good sport afforded by the rock-rabbits, as they crept about in tempting proximity to the gate of the Seriba. At the same time, he asked if 1 could account for the wonderful way in which the animals managed to clamber up and down smooth rocks tliat were almost perpendicular. VOL. I. 2 C 386 THE HEART OF AFRICA. " I can't tell," lie said, " how it is, but when you have shot one of the creatures, and catch hold of it, it sticks to the rock with its feet, in its death struggles, as though it had grown there." The under part of the foot is dark and elastic as india-rubber, and has several deeply-indented cushions.* This arrange- ment, which no other mammalia or warm-blooded animals seem to possess, enables the creature, by opening and closing the centre cleft, to throw off part of its weight and to gain a firm hold upon the sraootli surface of the stone. The toes are nothing but pads of horny skin, without regular nails, the hind foot alone being furnished, on the inner toe, with one claw, which is sharply compressed. For some time I could not at all comprehend how, with such a plump foot, the rock- rabbit could climb so safely over precipitous walls of granite, or even along the polished branches of the little trees in the ravines ; but the mystery was solved when I tried to pick up an animal which I myself had wounded. The granite was as smooth as pavement, and yet, when I seized the crea- ture by the neck, it clung like birdlime to the ground, and required some force before it could be removed. Although many other species of rock-rabbits or rock- badsers have been observed bv scientific travellers, and although the animals take a conspicuous place in the fauna of Southern Africa, yet I have never come across any mention of this interesting circumstance. My observations may be discredited, but I have endeavoured to render them as accu- rately as possible, in the hope that future travellers will give further attention to the subject. The largest specimens that I killed were females with young, and they measured about ten inches in length. They were remarkably like wild rabbits, of a grey tint ; the males being mucli lightei-, and having a sharply-defined uliite stripe * Bruce (vol. v., description of plate 24) expressly mentions the circumstance of the soft flesh .'tanding up high on both sides of the inclentutinn. ANnrALS AROUND MYOLO. 387 running about two inches along the middle of the back. The females of this species produce two perfectly-developed offspring at one birth. The flesli is like that of a common rabbit, and quite as much requires an artificial dressing to make it palatable. Other interesting animals find their habitats among the rocks of Mvolo. The pretty little tan-coloured squirrels {Sciurus hucuiiibrinus), with two white stripes on either side, of a kind which is often seen on the steppes of Nnbia, are ])ere very abundant. There are also swarms of agamas, nodding their orange-coloured heads; the movements of these creatures aie anxiously watched by the rock-rabbits, which first utter a note of alarm, and then retreat as nimbly as marmots to their holes, from which tliey never venture far a\\ay. Not unfrequently have I waited half-an-hour before their heads have appeared again. The inevitable Guinea-fowl, of course, was to be found running through tlie grass, also a kind of francolin, the cocks with tails erect, like little bantams. As my good entertainment in the Seriba made me independent of the chase for my sustenance, I only killed a few speci- mens of this pretty bird. Francolins, Avhich abound in other parts of Africa, are very rare throughout the district of the Gazelle. On the third day after my arrival in Mvolo, I was once more on my feet and able to take an excur- sion to some rapids about half a league to the north-east. The river divides into three branches, and rushes impetu- ously over a bed chequered with blocks of granite. Two of the larger islands were covered with dense bush-woods, and a charming hedge of borassus-palm lined the banks. The main stream passes in equal parts through the northern and southern arms. '1 he first of these forms a precipitous fall of fifty feet, and, wildly foaming, dashes into the hollow among the rocks — the entire descent of the river at these rapids being at least a hundred feet. The river makes a bend 2 c 2 388 THE HEART OF AFRICA. round the Seriba, and a quarter of a league to the east, above the falls, it is once more flowing in its ordinary bed, which is a hundred feet witlo. The smooth blocks of stone were as clean as marble, and the water between was as clear as crystal ; the fan-palms and luxuriant bushes spread a cooling shade over the pools, and everything conspired to form a spot that might be consecrated to the wood-nymphs and to the deities of the streams. It was a place most tempting for a bath — a pleasure fi-om which I had been long debarred. The noxious properties of the waters which I had hitherto visited, as well as the dread of fever, had obliged me to forego all such pastimes; but now I thought I might indulge without fear of evil consequences. Fish are here so abundant, that whoever bathes is liable to find himself molested by their bites. I rambled about the woods on the slopes of the opposite valley, and made many an interesting discovery. In great luxuriance grew a remarkable cucumber (Cueumis Tinneanus), which is covered by curious and long appendages. Through- out the district of Mvolo a shrub, which has already been naturalised in our conservatories under the name of Tinnea asthiopica, is particularly plentiful ; its wood is used by the Nubians for pipe-stems. Its bouglis, like those of the w^eep- ing-willow, trail to the ground. I gazed with silent emotion on a plant which seemed to mourn the fate of the brave traveller by whom, with her tender appreciation of the beau- ties of nature, it had formerly been delineated. At a short distance to the north was pointed out to me the village of Dugwara, where the natives, as we could hear, were performing on their nogara. I had now reached a point at which my route, for the first time since I left the Meshera of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, came in contact with localities whose position is pretty well determined. Mvolo itself had never been actually visited by its former owners, but in 1859 Jules Poncet, during the course of his ex- tensive elephant hunts, had crossed the Eohl somewhere below DUGWARA. 389 this spot.* The route of the British Consul, J. Petherick, in 1863, lay along the opposite bank of the Kohl, and through Dugvvara. My own surveys, corresponding as they did with other routes which had preceded my own, offered very satisfactory results ; they agreed very accurately in establishing the position which had been assigned to the Meshera on Arrowsmith's mapf of Petherick's travels between 1858 and 1863, so that I had occasion hardly at all to shift the geographical position of Dugwara. On all earlier maj)s the Meshera was invariably marked too far to the west, and the Grazelle was carried half a degree beyond its actual length. The time I occupied, both on my outward and homeward journey, in the navigation of the river, allowed me ample opportunity to verify the correctness of these calculations of my own. I do not know what materials Arrow^smith had at command to authorize him in making the fortunate amend- ment ; Petherick certainly did not agree with the alterations and, according to his computation, the longitude of this section of his route on the Eohl would have been twenty miles further eastwards than on Arrowsmith's map — a posi- tion which, for various reasons, must be improbable. I had to undergo many little discomforts before leaving tliis interesting region. The black soldiers and slaves belong- ing to the Seriba thought that, because I was a white man, I must be the actual brother of the owner, and accordingly they came to me with all kinds of grievances. Contrary to the Controller's orders, a number of Niam-niam soldiers insisted on following me everywhere, and I was obliged to remon- strate with them rather sharply, to make them understand that I could not permit them to join my people, and that my retinue was large enough already. The female slaves betook * 'Le Fleuve Bkuc : Notes geographiquod do Jules roncet,' is the best publi- cation on the White Nile that I know. It gives reliable details of J Poucet's interesting journey, and specifies many characteristics, founded on some years' experience, of the diliVrent people of the district. t Journal R. G. S., vol. xxxv. 390 THE HEART OF AFRICA. themselves for refuge to my but, bringing their complaints of the rough usage they received from their angry owners, but which it was only too probable they deserved for their faith- lessness. The Nubians, on their part, were loud in demand- ing judgment from me as to their claims on some or other of these runaway women. I can only say that I was very glad to make my escape, and to find myself afresh upon my journey to the west. I was accompanied by a small herd of cows, calves, and sheep — a present from the Controller, who, moreover, forced an excellent donkey upon my acceptance. After a stiff march of seven leagues and a-half, through a district with few watering-places, and little interest beyond occasional clumps of the lofty kobbo-tree,* we were once more in the territory of the Mittoo, and had leached one of Poncet's smaller Seribas, called Legby. There was a second Seriba, named Nyoli, about three leagues to the south-east, which I did not visit, as its inhabitants were all busied with a grand battue for elands. These Seribas in the Mittoo country had only been founded in the previous year — they were on the direct road to the Monbuttoo, and had been intentionally pushed forward towards the territory of the Madi, in order to ensure advantageous quarters for elephant-hunting. The greater part of this region, which previously had been a sort of No-man's-land, had been recently appropriated to himself by a successful eoujp of the enterprising Aboo Sammat. From Legby to Ngahma was another five and one-third leagues. The road descended, in a W.N.W. direction, straight down to the Wohko, which we now crossed for the fourth time. We had also to ford two other of the rivulets that traverse the country, which is a good deal broken by hills and eminences. The ground had been quite cleared by the burning of the steppe, and although there had been no rain, a number of * A new species of Humholdtia wliich unites the diaracteiistics of tlic BfiiUnia with those uf the Crudya. THE RIVER WOHKO. 391 perennial plants were sprouting up and covering the bare surface of the soil with their variegated bloom. Many of the trees, such as the Comhreta and Butyrosperma, of which the flowers appear before the foliage, were in full blossom. Two especially attracted my attention, because they entirely fail in more northern regions — these were the Xeropetalum, with its beautiful bright-red flowers, not unlike mallows, and the Stereospermum, which bore grotesque bundles of bloom, resembling red thimbles. They were both in their full beauty, and to some extent reminded me of the floral luxuriance of the Abyssinian highlands. While in Ngahma, I heard that Aboo Sammat, with his entire fighting force, had withdrawn from Sabby, for the pur- pose of inspecting his numerous Seribas in the south. It was his first year of possession, and he had gone to feel his way, preparatory to the taxation of the country. Meanwiiile, all provisions had been exhausted in Sabby, and it' I had ventured to return thither, it would have been at the risk of being starved. I therefore myself resolved to pursue my course in a southerly direction, in order to cast in my lot with Aboo Sammat, until the time drew near for our expedi- tion to the Niam-niam country. The first halting-place at which we arrived, after a march of seven leagues, was the little Seriba Karo, in the Madi district. The road passed to the 8.S.E. by a small mound of granite, of which the sterile flats were inhabited by rock-rabbits ; we then advanced over granite flats until we reached a spot where an extensive table-land lay open to the south. Once again we crossed the Wohko, and proceeded along its right bank. The river here has all the characteristics of a periodical stream, and was now standing in lagoon-like basins. The width of the stony bed, and the deep holes washed in the huge blocks of granite, which are covered to a considerable height with the mossy Podostemmonea, are proofs of the abundance and violence of the water in the height of the raiuy season. Looking 392 THE HEART OF AFRICA. W.S.W., I was greatly surprised by the unexpected sight of some elevated rocky peaks. Amongst them, and about four leagues distant, was the point called Wohba, near Deraggo, which I afterwards visited. This isolated range extends as far as the Wohko, and there terminates in a ridge 80 to 100 feet in height. Near Karo the stream forms a defile 40 to 50 feet deep, enclosed by regular hills. The banks, which were very steep, were concealed by the impenetrable shade of magnificent trees (Hexalobus), reminding me very much of the true chestnut. The Mittoo display a remarkable tiilent for music, and construct a great variety of instruments. The most impor- tant of these is a lyre with a sounding-board, not unlike the robaba used by the people of Nubia. The soldiers in all the Seribas manifest their African origin by the zeal with which in their leisure they practise the musical art. I noticed one of the Madi with a bamboo flute of quite an European pattern, and at my request he played what was really a very pretty air, which must have cost him consider- able time and trouble to learn, so perfect were the separate modulations : when the Nubians heard him they paid him the compliment of saying that he played as well as any Frank musician in Alexandria. From Karo I went on still southwards for three leagues to Reggo, another small Seriba belonging to Poncet's company, and where the elephant-hunters were quartered. The road thither led chiefly through cultivated fields that had been }»lanted with Penicillaria. I also for the first time observed the culture of the sweet potato (Batatas), a favourite food of the Niam-niam. This had a singularly sweet taste, and a purplish rind, which occasionally deviated into white ; the largest tubers of this in the Madi country never exceed the thickness of a finger. The Poncets had founded settlements in this part of the countrv in order to hold their own against the witle incur- EECENT SCARCITY OF ELErilANTS. 393 sions wliich Aboo Sammat was makiiif^ from liis territory in the same direction. The company laid claim to the sole right of ranging the district, a demand which was only con- sistent with their original interest in the ivory produce. The hunters are called " Sayadeen," because they are armed with huge rifles, which have been gradually introduced into the coimtry from Khartoom. Only a few days previously they had killed two elephants, which represented a whole year's success. In former years the Poncets had commanded the ex[)editions in person, and tlien a corps of these hunters would in a single year secure as much ivory as would equal the largest quantity now gathered from the aggregate of the Niam-niam lands. Although the period of which I speak was not more than fourteen years ago, these large collections have become completely things of the past. In tlie present Seriba district, it is now expected to make a journey of some days before there is any likelihood of catching sight of an elephant at all ; the wary beasts, too, appear instinctively to know the regions in which they can be safe. They live to a great age, and I do not doubt but that all the oldest repre- sentatives of the elephant community have been at some time or other attacked by man, and that many have been actually under fire. In the Dinka country there are places such as I have already mentioned, in the woods of the Al- wady tribe, where elephants may be seen during the rainy season. When I asked the Khartoomers why they did not> go and get the ivory themselves, they always replied that such hunting would be a sorry failure, and that while they were shooting the elephants the natives would be shooting them. In Keggo the soldiers were fond of breeding dogs, and the Seriba literally swarmed with the fat pups of the Niam-niam breed. I found, moreover, that the people managed to do a little quiet business for themselves by bartering dogs for slaves to the Mittoo. Dog's flesh, too, they enjoyed as much as the Niam-niam, and the price given for an animal affords 394 THE HEART OF AFIHCA. a proof of the relish they have for the daiuty ; the teeth form a favourite ornament for necklaces and stomachers. The first of January, 1870, appeared, beginning a new link in the unbroken chain of time. It was the second New Year that I had commenced in Central Africa, and although for me the day passed quietly and with no rejoicing, yet I was filled with thoughts of gratitude that I had been spared so long. Although one cloud and another might appear to loom in the un- certain future, yet the con- fidence I felt in my acclima- tisation enabled me with good courage to proceed upon my wanderings. The next place that we reached was Kurragera, the most southern point of Aboo Sammat's newly - acquired territory. The march had occupied . about five hours, and on our way we had for the sixth time crossed the Wohko. Previously we had halted in the village of one of the Madi elders, who bore the melodious name of Kaf- fulukkoo ; I had also the ^&=^^ honour of an introduction to another chief, called Gog- go, of whom I was able to secure a portrait. His imposing peruke was not of his own hair, nor indeed was it hair at all, but consisted of an artificial tissue of woven threads, which were soaked with yellow (ichro and reeking with grease. Goggo, a Mitto«-Madi Cbitf. KURRAGEKA. 395 Kurragera's Seriba, like Aboo Sammat's otlier settlement?, had been entirely cleared of its soldiers, and only the local overseer of the jMadi remained to look after the corn-stores. Inside the palisade were piled thousands of the bearers' loads each neatly packed into a circular bundle, and protected by the simple and effectual coverings made by the natives from leaves and straw. These packages contained a preliminarv portion of the corn-stores. Almost every product of the soil that I have described in Chapter VI. was here to be seen, and in addition were the sweet potatoes cultivated by the Madi. Aboo Sammat at this time, with his whole available fight- ing force, was encamped on the VVohko about three leagues to the south. With the help of 250 soldiers, and more than 300 Bongo and Mittoo bearers, he had put the entire country in the south and south-east, from beyond the Rohl nearly as far as the frontiers of the so-called Makkarakkah, under contribution. The tribes in the more immediate neighbour- hood were the Madi-Kaya, the Abbakah, and Loobah, which manifestly occu})ied the same district to which, in 1863, Petherick's agent Awat made an expedition. Many chiefs submitted voluntarily to the taxation ; others remained hos- tile for a period, but afterwards surrendered all their stores to the enemy a discretion. The region was so productive that the number of bearers did not nearly suffice to carry away the goods that had been seized. The enterprise was accomplished without any loss of blood. I was compelled to stay for some days in Kurragera to await Aboo Sammat's return, and began to get somewhat wearv, as amongst the flora I could find little that was suit- able for my collection ; I had besides used up all the pencils I had brought with me, and was obliged to write with hen's blood. IMeanwhile, as in Awoory and Kgahma, I continued my study of the ]\Iittoo language, and took a great deal of pains to unravel the intricacies of the IMadi method of 396 THE HEART OF AFRICA. counting, to which I shall have another occasion to refer hereafter. The butter-trees were now in full bloom. The milky juice that exudes from the stems of these trees reminds one of gutta-percha, which is a secretion of a species of the same order of plants (Sapotacese). I often saw the children making balls with the lumps of caoutchouc, which served as universal playthings. In 1861, Franz Binder, the Transylvanian, formerly a merchant in Khartoom, brought a hundredweight of this india-rubber to Vienna, but although the material turned out very well in a technical point of view, the cost of its transport was too great for it ever to become an important article in the commerce of these lands. On the 7th of January, Aboo Sammat, with the greater number of his soldiers and bearers, returned to the Seriba. He wished to display his authority in a way that should make an impression upon me, and therefore set apait an entire day for festivities on a large scale. His people were divided according to their tribes into groups of 500, and each of these had to execute war-dances worthy of their commander. Aboo Sammat himself seemed ubiquitous ; in a way that no other Nubian would have done ^^ithout fancying himself degraded, he arrayed himself like a savage, and at one time with lance and shield, at another with bow and arrow, danced indefatigably at intervals from morning till night at the head of the several groups ; he was a veritable Nyare-Goio, i.e., master of the ceremonies ; here he was dancing as a Bongo, there as a Mittoo ; then he appeared in the coloured skin apron of the Niam-niam, and next in the costume of a Monbuttoo : he was at home everywhere, and had no difficulty in obtaining all the necessary changes of apparel. Several of the Bongo of Sabby exhibited a talent for theatrical representations, and to the great delight of the Nubians they enacted the scene of liow Aboo Sammat sur- prised and thrashed theMukhtar Sliereefee ; they improvised 4 1 SPEECH OF THE KENOOSIAN. 397 a recitative accompanied by corresponding action, the purport of which was to tell how Mukhtar was hit with a stick, and tumbled into the straw hedge crying like a Deloo-buck, " ba mi oah ! " (alas ! alas !). Then followed the refrain, " Ma- drislalla, illalla, illalla." Between the parts there was an incessant firing ; the guns were loaded witli whole handfuls of powder, so that it was several minutes before the clouds of smoke rolled away from the groups of dancers. The con- tinual noise and dust tired me far more than tlie longest day's march I had ever undertaken. On the following day the Kenoosian convoked an assembly of the newly-subjugated chiefs of the Madi, and in a long- speech impressed upon them their obligations. I was a witness of the characteristic scene, and as the interpreter freely translated sentence by sentence to the negroes, I did not lose a word of ]\Iohammed's oration. With terrible threats and imprecations he began by depicting in the blackest colours the frightful punishments that awaited them if they should disobey his orders, while at the same time he plumed himself upon his magnanimity. " Look you ! " he said ; " I don't want your wives and chil- dren, nor do I intend to take your corn, but you must attend to the transport of my provisions ; and I insist that there shall be no delay, or else the people in the Seriba will starve. You, Kurragera, must go to your villages, and gather together old and young, men and women : get all the boys who can carry anything, and all the girls who bring water from the brook, and you must order them one and all to be here early to-morrow ; every one of them will have to convey the corn to Deraggo ; the bales are of all sizes, and each may carry in proportion to his strength. But mark you this : if one of the bearers runs away, or if he throws down his load, I will tear out your eyes ; or if a package is stolen, I will have your head." And hero Mohammed lifted a huge weapon like the sword of an ancient German knight, 398 THE HEA"RT OF AFRICA. and brandished it rapidly over the head of the i\radi chief- tain. Then tuniinij: to another, he proceeded: "And I have something to say to you, Kaffulukkoo ; I know that Poncet's people have been here lately, and have carried oft' two ele- phants ; now how did they contrive to find them ? Bribed you were, bribed so that you sent messengers to inform them where the elephants might be found. And you, Goggo, why do you permit such proceedings in your district? Now listen : if Poncet's people come back, you must shoot them ; this must not happen again, or you shall pay for it with your life ; and if any one of you takes ivory to a strange Seriba, 1 will have him burnt alive. Now, I think you understand pretty well what you ought to do. But I have something else to say, just to caution you in case you may have any intention of injuring my people. Perhaps, as a Turk may be walking alone, the negroes may creep into the grass, and shoot him with their arrows : what of that ? Pats may bury themselves in the ground, and frogs and crabs may liide in their holes, but there is a way, you know, to find them out ; snakes may creep about in the straw, but to that we can set fire. Or, perhaps, you will try to burn the steppes over our heads : never mind, I can light a fii-e too, and you shall pay dearly for your treachery. Do as you did before, and run away to the caves at Deraggo, and I will shoot you there with shitata (cayenne pepper) from my elephant rifle, and you will soon be glad enough, half choked and stupefied, to come out again and beg for mercy. Or, supposing the negroes try and poison the shallow khor, and any Turks drink that water and die — don't be expecting to fly away like birds, or to escape my vengeance!" And much more tliere was in the same strain. I had sent my cattle from Ngahma direct to Sabby, and, after laying in a sufficient stock of provisions, I prepared to return as soon as I could to my head-quarters, in order to have time to complete the necessary arrangements for the DEKAGGO. 399 campaign in the Niam-niani countries. Before leaving Kurragera, I witnessed another amusing scene in Aboo Sammat's endeavours to make the chiefs understand the number of bearers he required. Like most other people of Africa, the Madi can only count up to ten, everything above that number having to be denominated by gestures. At last some bundles of reeds were tied together in tens, and then the negro, although he could not express the number, com- prehended perfectly what was required of him. Kurragera was obliged to furnish 1530 bearers, and being asked whether lie understood, made an affirmative gesture, took the immense bundle of reeds under his arm, and walked off gravely to his village. We moved on through the day in comp)any with an enormous train of 2000 bearers of both sexes and of every age. Keep)ing on continually in a northerly direction, after a march of eight leagues we reached the Seriba Deraggo. The Deraggo mountains were visible several leagues distant to the north, and afforded some desirable stations for verify- ing my route. By the side of one of the lioah tributaries, called Gooloo, which, however, we did not cross, we halted for a while, and I employed the interval in shooting guinea- fowl, ordinary poultry in this district being somewhat scarce. For the first time since I had quitted Egypt, I spent the night in Deraggo without my bedding : the servant \\ho had the charge of it had left it behind in Kurragera. On all my tours, I never failed in being extremely careful not to omit anything that without material expense could contribute to my healtli and comfort. I had learnt enough to know that the more the traveller contrives to sjmre himself exhaustion from fatigue, the more he will be able ultimately to perform, and the greater will be his security against the baneful influ- ences of the climate. A perfect, or even reliable, acclimati- sation is not to be thought of until after some years'. experi- ence, and any attempt to hasten it by rash exposure, or by unnecessary hardship, is quite unavailing. 400 THE HEART OF AFRICA. I spent one day in a visit to the neighbouring mountains, which, lying about a league to the east of the Seriba, extended for about three leagues to the north-east. The loftiest and most southerly peak is called Wohba, and is about 500 feet high : it contains some remarkable caves, which I had not time to visit ; they were the same referred to by Aboo Sammat when he threatened to drive out the Madi with pepper-dust, a hint which might be taken by any future general who may desire to smoke out the unhappy Bedouins from the caves of Algeria. I contented myself with mounting an eminence about 300 feet high, called Yongah. The western horizon and the mountains of Awoory were unfor- tunately obscured by a dense smoke from the burning of the steppe ; but the little hills between Ngahma and Karo were distinctly visible. I also noticed in the W.S.W. a mountain Icnown as Gere, which I afterwards saw again when returning from the Niam-niam countries, as I was passing along tlie basin of the Lelissy. The chain of Deraggo is formed of a bright-coloured gneiss. A valley broke in near the spot which I explored, and along tlie entrance the JMadi had dug a row of pits forty feet deep for the purpose of catching ele- phants. Hither, from a wide circuit, they hunt the animals, which, hastily rushing into the valley, fall headlong into the trenches which have been artfully concealed. The Seriba Deraggo was situated in the eastern part of a valley gently sloping towards the mountains. From the depth of this depression there issued an important brook, whose bed at this season contained a series of huge pools. We now again turned westwards towards the Roah, in order that I might visit Kuddoo, the last of Aboo Sammat's iSeribas, wliich lies exactly south of Dokkuttoo, and thirty miles higher up the river. We were obliged to make a wide detour to avoid tlie mountains, and, after a stiff march for five leagues in a W.N.W. direction, we at length reached our destination. THE ElVER ROAH. 401 The Boali Hows close by Kuddoo in a deep basin enclosed with forest, and describes a semicircle about the Seriba. The river was now from thirty to fifty feet wide ; in the rainy season it is as much as fifteen feet deep, whilst in the winter its depth rarely exceeds four or five feet. The channel of the river was here entirely overarched with verdure ; in some places the lofty trees starting from the dense woods met across the water, and formed bowers of foliage, whilst the fallen stems below made natnral bridges. Very feeble were the rays of light that penetrated to the surface of the water, and the long creepers trailed from the overhanging branches. The force of the current canght the pendants, and made the tree-tops bend and the leaves all rustle as though moved by the hands of spirits. Large monkeys found congenial habi- tation in the branches, the river vegetation offering many of the fruits on which they can subsist. At times the beauty and abundance of the blossoms surpassed anything that I had seen. Pre-eminent in splendour were the brilliant Com- hreta: the masses of bloom gleamed like torches amid the dark green of the thickets, whilst the golden sheen of the fruit intensified the marked contrast of the tints. Any attempt to give a detailed account of the beauties of Africa is entirely unavailing, and once again I refrain from w earying the reader with any further repetition of my admiration. Leaving Kuddoo, we marched for eight leagues near the left bank of the Koah, and across tlie numerous little water- courses that intersect the region, and flow down to the river on the right. At Degbe we re-entered the road along which we had travelled on our outward trip, and, passing through Uokkuttoo, we did not again quit our previous route all the way to Sabby. As we approached Geegyee, the spot noto- lious for the rapacity of the lion, my people betrayed an anxiety still greater than upon their journey thither, for in Dokkuttoo the intelligence had reached us that some lions had been again seen on the previous day, and that several VOL. I. 2d 402 TilE HEART OF AFRICA. travellers who bad come across them iu their march had only escaped by climbing up into the trees. This was a circum- stance that painted itself upon my fancy in such entertaining details, that I could not resist the desire to see it acted out for my own amusement. Accordingly, when we had reached the densest part of the formidable forest, at a spot where the pathways were most crooked and intricate, I bellowed out in the most despairing accents I could command, the cry of " A lion ! a lion ! " In an instant the bearers had flung down their burdens, and my brave Nubians scampered off to the nearest tree. Nimbly as sailors up the rigging of a foundering ship, did they clamber high into the boughs, I enjoyed my laugh as I made them see what brave fellows they were. We here saw in all directions the recent traces of numbers of elej)hants, which must have crossed our path in many places during the previous night. Our last bivouac was made on the banks of the Tudyee, where we feasted on the flesh of two hartebeests, brought down from among a num- ber that had been feeding on the tender foliage of the under- wood. On the last day but one of the march, I had more exertion than on any other of the twenty-four through which the excursion had lasted ; without once sitting down, I passed the entire day in hunting and walking. On the 15th of January I once more re-entered the hospi- table huts of Sabby, and w as welcomed by the servants I had left behind, and almost overpowered by the joyful caresses of my dogs. This tour to the east had altogether extended over 210 miles, and I had tlioroughly explored the territory of a people who had hitherto been almost unknown, even by name. I will now take a retrospect of the country I had just left, and give a brief summary of my observations on its political condition. In default of a national designation for a group of tribes speaking almost the same dialect, and whose distinctive THE MITTOO. 40a qualities appear mainly in their sliglit differences of apparel, I should prefer to follow the example of the Khartoomers, and call tliese people simply Mittoo ; this name, however, only really belongs to the most northerly of tlie grouj), who call themselves Mittoo, or Mattoo, and there are four other tribes who consider themselves equally distinct and inde- pendent, viz., the Madi,* the Madi-Kaya, the Abbakah, and the Loobah. Their collective country lies between the rivers Koah and Ivohl, and for the most part is situated between lat. 5° and 6^ N. Towards the north it stretches far as the territories of the Dinha tribes of the Ivohl and Agar ; on the south it is bounded by the eastern extremity of tlie Niam-niam, where the name of Makkaralvkah has already been adopted in our maps. But IMakkarakkah and Kakka- raklcah is a designation which the Mittoo use for the Niam- niam taken in the gross, and not the name of any single tribe. Out of their own mouth, whenever I referred to the soil upon which 1 was standing, I had every proof that the IMittoo call their land " Moro," a name which Petherick on his map has attributed to the entire district between lat. 4° 30' and G^ N., which extends eastwards from the Rohl to the Ayi. All the Mittoo tribes are able to converse with each other, as their languages present only such minor differences of dialect as might be supposed would arise from their inde- pendent political position ; the Niam-niam^ on the other baud, with just the same plurality of tribes, preserve a uniformity of language which admits of scarcely any variety. The Mittoo dialects in some of their sounds resemble that of the Bongo, but taken as a whole, like all tlie distinctive languages of the larger nations of the Gazelle, the Mittoo and the Bongo have very little in common. As far as regards * These Miidi, wlnwo name is of frequent occuneiice in Africii, luive m- eouiiexion witii the MiuU of the iipiter ii;at of the 15ulii-el-CJel)€l. 2 D 2 404 THE HEART OF AFRICA. customs, dress, and household appliances, it must be admitted tliat tlie IMittoo tribes most nearly resemble the Bongo, and it almost might seem as if, in the history of their develop- ment, they formed a transition between them and the Niam- niam. The subjection of the Mittoo to the Khartoomers must not bo dated earlier than the year preceding my visit. Although the country in a limited sense had to a certain extent been pnrtitioned amongst the arbitrary and advancing companies of the Upper Nile, and notwithstanding that its inhabitants had been in places reduced to a condition of vassaUige similar to that under which the Dyoor and Bongo had been smarting for the last ten years, yet the entire subjugation of the southern tribes, the Loobah and Abbakah in particular, might still be described as incomplete. The Abbakah hitherto have been only occasionally subject to the incursions of slave-catchers and corn-stealers, and therefore they have neither the advantages Tior the disadvantages, whatever they may be, of actunl vassals. In the scale of humanity all the Mittoo tribes are decidedly inferior to the Bongo : they are distinguished from them by a darker complexion, and by a bodily frame less adapted to sustain exertion or fatigue. During my visit to the Niam- niam countries, I had many opportunities of seeing large bodies of bearers of both races, side by side, and was then able to institute comparisons between the two. The Bongo vied with each other in their powers of endurance, and would subsist for a length of time upon mere roots without any perceptible change in their appearance, whilst the Mittoo under the same ordeal would waste almost to skeletons, and in a very short time would abandon all attempt at work. Even in their own homes I hardly ever saw them with the strongly-built frames of the sturdy Bongo. Nearly all the IMittoo who were cmjiloycd as bearers were afflicted witii the guinea-worm. An undesirable prerogative is this FERTILITY OF MITTOO COUNTRY. 405 that the race have gained, that they should nurture such a thorn in the flesh ; for the guinea-worm is lar from uni- versal, and makes selections as to what diversities of human nature it shall choose to patronise. I failed to obtain any satisfactory explanation of this debility of the Mittoo ; their land is very productive, they are diligent agriculturists, and they cultivate many a variety of cereals and tuberous plants, as well as of oily and leguminous fruits. On account of its fertility the land requires but little labour in its culture, and throughout its extent displays a productiveness which is only found for any continuance at rare intervals in the other countries that I visited. It is especially noticeable between lat. 5^ and 5° 30' N., in the districts on the upper Koah and Wohko, which are liberal stores for the sterile Nubian settlements on either hand. The district of the Mbomo, which is adjacent to that of the Nganye of the Niam-niam, between the rivers Lehssy and Roah, is also pre-eminent among its neighbours for its extensive growth of maize. Goat of the Bongo, Mittoo, Momvoo,4ind Babuckur. 406 THE HEAirr OF AFRICA. The Mittoo breed the same domestic animals as the Bongo, viz., goats, dogs, and poidtry ; they possess no cattle, and are on that account ranked by the Dinka under the con- temptuous designation of " Dyoor," which is intended to be synonymous with savages. They estimate the dog, however, in a very different way from the Bongo, and by their fondness for its flesh sliow that they are not many grades above the cannibal. Bernardin de S. Pierre, in his ' Etudes de la Nature,' gives it as his opinion that to eat dog's flesh is the first step towards cannibalism ; and certainly, when I enumerate to myself the peoples whom I visited who actually, more or less, devoured human -flesh, and find that among them dogs were invariably considered a delicacy, I cannot but believe that there is some truth in tlie hypothesis. The whole grou[) of the iMittoo exhibits peculiarities by which it may be distinguished from its neighbours. The external adornment of the body, the costume, the ornaments, the mutilations which individuals undergo — in short, the general fashions — have all a distinctive character of their own. The most remarkable of their habits is the revolting, because unnatural, manner in which the women pierce and distort their lips ; they seem to vie with each other in their muti- lations, and their vanity in this respect I believe surpasses anything that may be found throughout Africa. Not satisfied with piercing the lower lip, they drag out the upper lip as well for the sake of symmetry. * To the observations I have made before about all African tribes that in their attire they endeavour to imitate some pari of the animal creation, I may add that they seem to show a special preference for copying any individual species for which they have a particular reverence. In this way it frequently happens that their superstition indirectly influences the habits of their daily life, and that their animal-worship finds expression in their * The mutilation of both lips was also observed by Eohlfs among tlie women of Kadje, in Sogseg, between T^ake Tsad and the IJonwo. MUTILATION OF LIPS. 407 dress. It is, however, difficult to find anything in nature coUateral with the adornment of the IMittoo women ; and it surpasses all effort to understand what iileal they can have in their imagination when they extend their lips into broad bills. If our supposition be correct, the Mittoo fashion perhaps only indicates a ])artiality for the spoonbills and the shovellers with which these ladies may have some spiritual affinity. The projections of the iron-clad lips are of service to give effect to an outbreak of anger, for by means of them the women can snap like an owl or a stork, or almost as well as the Balxniceps Bex. Lory, a Mittoo Woman. Circular plates n(^arly as large as a crown piece, made variously of quartz, of ivory, or of horn, are inserted into the lips that have been stretched by the growth of years, and these often rest in a position that is all but horizontal ; and when the women want to drink they have to elevate the upper 408 TtlE HEART OF AFRrCA. AVengo, a Mittoo Woman. lip with their fingers, and to pour the draught into their moutlis. Similar in shape is the decoration which is worn by the women of Maganya ; but though it is round, it is a ring and not a fiat plate ; it is called a " pelele," and has no other object than to expand the upper lip. Some of the Mittoo women, especially the Loobah, not content with the circle or the ring, force a cone of polished quartz through the lips as though they had borrowed an idea from the rhinoceros. This fashion of using quartz belemnites of more than two inches long is in some instances adopted by the men. The women of the Madi correspond in their outward garb with the Mittoo in general; they make use of a short garment of mixed leaves and grass like the Bongo. The men adopt the same kind of skin covering for their loins as the Bongo, but they have one decoration which seems peculiar MITTOO GAltMENTS. 409 Loobah Woman. to themselves ; they wear in front something after the style of the " rahad " of the Soudan or the '* isimene " of the Kaffirs — a short appendage made of straps of leather, ornamented by rings and scraps of iron ; but it is so narrow that it lias almost the look of a cat-o'-nine-tails. There are others who buckle on to their loins a triangular skin whicli has every variety of rings and iron knick-knacks fastened round its edge. Occasionally there were to be seen some broad girdles covered with a profusion of cowries, sucli as the Niam-niam were said to wear ; but hitherto the Madi were the only people I had met with who retained any value for cowries, cone of quartz worn which for some time had ceased to be held in size). 410 TriE IIEABT OF AFIUCA. much repute in tlio Gazelle district. The mode of wearing these conchylia was to split off their con- vex backs and to fasten them on so as to display only the white orifices. Like the northern Bongo the Mittoo disdain devoting their attention to the dei'oration of their hair : men and women alike wear it quite shoi't. The portrait of Goggo has already furnished a re- presentation of one of their elaborate perukes. The plucking out of the eyelashes and the eyebrows is quite an ordinary Apron worn by the .Madi. proceeding auioug the women. The men have coverings for their head the same as the Niam-niam. The accompanying portrait of Ngahma shows such an article of headgear, suggesting the comparison either of a Russian coachman's hat, or of the cap of a mandarin. They are very fond likewise of fixing a number of iron spikes to a plate which they fasten behind the head, and to these they attach strings of beads and tufts of hair. The JMadi make also a sort of cap rather prettily ornamented with coloured beads and which fits the head tight like a skull-cap. It is only among the men that tattooing is practised on a large scale, the lines usually radiating from the belly in the direction of the shoulders like the buttons on certain uni- forms ; the women merely have a couple of parallel rows of dotted lines upon the forehead. The variety is very great of the ornaments which they construct out of iron and copper, consisting of bells, drops, small axes and anchors, diminutive rings, and platters, and trinkets of every sort. All the women "wear a host of rings in their ears. These tribes have the same liking for iron chains as the Niam-niam and the Monbuttoo. Whatever they attach to their bodies they attach by chains ; and they are very inven- MITTOO OENAMENTS. 411 five in their designs for armlets and rini>s for tlie ankles. The armlets very often have a projecting rim, which is pro- Ngalima, ;i .Mittoo Clik'f. vided with a number of sjiikes or teeth, which apparently have no other object than to make a single combat as effec- tive as possible. Even amongst these uncultured children of nature, human pride crops up amongst the fetters of fashion, which indeed are fetters in the worst sense of the word ; for fjishion in the distant ^ilds of Africa tortures and harasses poor humanity as much as in the great prison of civilisation. As a mark of their wealth, and for the purpose of asserting their station in life, both sexes of the IMittoo wear chains of iron as thick as their fingers, and of these very often four at a time are to be 412 TOR HEART OF AFRICA. noticed on the neck of tlio same individual. Necklaces of leather are not nufrequently worn strong enough to bind a lion ; these impart to the head that rigidity of attitude given by the high cravats at which we wonder so much when we look at tlie portraits of a past generation. When the mag- nates of the people, arrayed in this massive style, and reeking with oily fat, swagger about with sovereign contempt amongst their fellow mortals, they are only as grand as the slimy diplomatists, solemn and stiff, who stmt along without vouch- safing to unlock one secret from their wary lips. These necklaces are fixtures ; they are fastened so permanently in their place that only death, decay, or decapitation can remove them. I was never fortunate enough to see the mysterious operation by wdiich these circles were welded on, but I know that when the rings are soldered to the arms and ankles, fillets of wood are inserted below the metal to protect the flesh from injury. Amongst the many particulars in whi<*h tlie Mittoo are inferior to the Bongo, it may be noticed that their huts are not only smaller, but that they are very indifferently built. Many of them could be covered by a crinoline of lavish proportions. In their musical instruments, however, and in their capabilities for instrumental performances, they are far superior to any of their neighbours. Instead of the great " manyinyee," or wooden trumpet of the Bongo, they make use of long gourd flasks with holes in the side. They have also a stringed instrument which may be described as something between a lyre and a mandolin ; five strings are stretched across a bridge which is formed from the large shell of the Anodont mussel ; the sounding board is quad- rangular, covered with skin, with a circular sound-hole at each corner. The instrument altogether is extremely like the " robaba " of the Nubians, and constitutes one of many evi- dences which might be adduced that the present inhabitants of the Nile Valley have some real affinity with the tribes of MITTOO MUSIC. 413 tlie most central parts of Africa. Tlie flute is made quite on tlie European principle, and is most ex- pertly handled by the Madi, who bestow much attention on mastering particular pieces. Small signal-horns made with three apertures are in general use amongst the tribes of the district; but the slim trumpet called " don- gorah " is peculiar to the Mittoo ; it is about eighteen inches long, and resembles the " mburah " of the Bongo. Music is in high estimation amongst the tribes which com- pose this group, and it may be said of them that they alone have any genuine appre- ciation of melody, negro music in general being mere recita- tive and alliteration. I once heard a chorus of a hundred Mittoo singing together ; there were men and women, old and young, and they kept admirable time, succeeding in gradual cadence to procure some very effective variations of a well- sustained air. I^^ii^^^i^^^n The implements in general differed very little from the industrial contrivances of the Bongo. Their iron-work is rougher and clumsier ; but they take a great deal of pains in forming their arrow-tips, having scores of devices for shaping the barbs. One of their ordinary utensils is a crescent-cut ladle with a loug handle for stirring their soup. Graves, for the most part are seen like those of the Bongo ; they consist of a heap of stones supported by stakes, on which is placed the flask from which the deceased was accus- tomed to drink ; both Mittoo and Bongo too, aa might be 414 THE HEART OF AFRICA. conjectured, liave the same method of disposing of their dead, and erect tlie carved wood penates which have Leeii ah-eady mentioned. The use of the bow and arrow gives the Mittoo a certain warlike superiority over the Dinka, and among their neigh- bours they are considered to surpass the Bongo in tlieir dexterity iu archery. Their bows are four feet long, and of an ordinary form. Like the Monbuttoo, who have shorter bows, they use wooden arrows which are about three feet in length. The heads of these arrows reach to the middle of the length. The Mittoo despise the cumbrous protection ^ of a shield, but they are careful to keep a liberal supply of ' spears. ' ( ^ir> ) CHAPTEE X. rixpaiutioiis fill- Niiiiii-uiaiu caiiiijaigii. Geucrusity of Aboo Saiiiniiit. Organi- sation of the caravan. Cci-L'iuoiiie::i at starting. Banner of Islam. Travelling costume. Terminalia forest. Hartebeest chase. Ahmed the Liar. Pro- spect from Mbala Ngeea. Bivouac on the Lehssy. Camp noises at night. Story of cannibalism. Ahmed's fate. The Ibba, First meeting with Niam-niam. Growth of the popukky-grass. Elephant-hunting among the Niam-uiam. Surprise at the white man. Visit to Nganye. A chieftain's househuld. Entertaiiuuent by Nganye. Gumba. Colocasia. A Niam-niam minstrel. Beauty of the Zawa-trees. Encephalartus on the hill of Gumaugo. Cultivated districts on the Rye. Condition of hamlets and farms. Devasta- tion of Bendo's district. Contest witli the soldiers. Escape from a bullet. Identity of the Sway and the Dyoor. The law of drainage. Passage of the Manzilly, First primeval forest. Frontier wildernesses. Organisation in the geography of plants. Importance of guiuea-fowl to the traveller. Feed- ing the bearers. National diet. Three months had thus elapsed iu almost uninterrupted wanderings, but I found on my return to Sabby that I could spare only a short reprieve for recruiting. Previous to starting on the laborious expedition to the Niam-niam, to which under the guidance of niy protector I had pledged myself, there remained only a fortnight. A score of packages had to be fastened up, many a trunk had to be arranged, clothes had to be provided, implements of many sorts to be secured, ammunition and arms to be put in readiness for the pro- jected excursion into a hostile territory, where we proposed to pursue our way for six months to come. In adJition to this provision for the future, I had to make good the arrears in my diary, to get through all my correspondence for the current year, and to provide for the remittance of my valu- ables to distant Europe. All this had to be accomplished in the space of fourteen days. 416 THE nP:ART OF xVFRICA. Nor could domestic demands afford to be overlooked. My household required a vigilant supervision. The mere labour of washing our clothes was considerable, although the accumulation of two months' wear was by no means extensive. In order to perform the laundry work, it was necessary to send to the river, a league and a half distant, where the things could be rinsed out, dried, and bleached. On the evening before our de})arture for what we called " the world's end," my four-legged body-guard was suddenly enlarged by eight charming little pups of the splcn lid Shillook breed. Of my Nubian servants, Hussein was llie oldest and the most experienced, and to him I entrusted the responsibility of conveying in safety the newly-born animals, together with my correspondence and all my collections, back to Ghattas's Seriba in Dyoor-land, which I still deemed my head-quarters. The worthy fellow thus had the advantage of exchanging the pros])ect of a roving life among the Niam-niam for the friendly life of the Seriba, where, in the society of his country- men, he might pass his time in playing upon tlie robaba, in mastering the intricacies of the game of mungala, or, while the gourd-shells of merissa went merrily round, in joining in the chorus, rendered with a fine nasal twang, of " Derderoah, derderoah el yum, derderoah, derdereh, ginyatohm." By the 29th of January, 1870, every preparation had been so far advanced that the bulk of the caravan was set in motion. JMohammed Aboo Sammat himself proposed to join the party in about a fortnight, as he was compelled to go into the Mittoo district to secure some additional bearers. My own retinue consisted of lour Nubian servants, and three negroes who were engaged as intei-preters, one of them being a Bongo, the other two genuine Niam-niam ; besides these, there was a number of Bongo bearers, which at first was about thirty, but in the course of our progress was increased to forty. The whole of these were supplied to me at the sole expense of Mohammed, whose hospitality I had now MOHAMMED ABOO SAMMAT. 417 been receiving for three months, and continued to enjoy to the end of our excursion ; not only throughout the period of eight months did he entertain me and all my party whilst we were iu his settlements, but he entered most readily into all my wishes, and whenever I desired to explore any out- lying parts he would always lend me the protection of a portion of his armed force. Never before had any European traveller in Central Africa such advantageous conditions for pursuing his investigations ; never hitherto in the heart of an unknown land had there been anything like the same number of bearers at his dis- posal, and that, too, in a region where the sole means of transport is on the heads of the natives. All the museums — particularly those which are appropriated to botany — which have been enriched in any way by my joumeyings are indebted to Aboo Sammat for not a few of their novelties. Solely because I was supported by him did I succeed in pushing my way to the Upper Shary, more than 800 miles from Khartoom, thus opening fresh districts to geographical knowledge and establisliing the existence of some enigma- tical people. Everything, moreover, that Mohammed did was suggested by his own free-will. No compulsion of government was put upon him, no inducements on my part were held out, and, what is more, no thought of compensation for his outlay on myself or my party ever entered his mind. The purest benevolence manifestly prompted him — the high virtue of hospitality in its noblest sense. "Whoever is actuated by the spirit of adventure to penetrate into the heart of Africa, so as to make good his footing amongst four different peoples, is undoubtedly a man of energy ; although he may not be spurred on by any scientific purpose, and may simply be gratifying a desire to visit lands that are strange and to enjoy siglits that are rare, yet he must have succeeded in vanquishing the thoughts which suggest that there is no VOL. I. 2 E 418 THE HEART OF AFRICA. place like home, cand wliicli represent it as the merest folly to sacrifice domestic ease for the fatigues, troubles, and privations which are inseparable from the life of a wanderer. Our caravan was joined on its way by a company of Ghattas's from Dangadduloo, conducted by a stout Dinka, whose acquaintance I had already made at the Seriba where he resiiled. His party consisted of 500 bearers and 120 soldiers, and they contemplated, in conjunction with a part of A boo Sam mat's people, undertaking an expedition into the ivory district of Keefa. That district was shut out from Ghattas's by the fact of the road towards it being the pro- perty of Aboo Sammat : according to a convention entered into by the Nubians, a caravan of one company was not to traverse a region appropriated by another, unless an alliance for that purpose was made between the two. As the result of this compact, it had come to pass that no less than fifteen different roads, corresponding to the same number of different merchant houses in Khartoom, branched out towards the south and west from the localities of the Seribas into the remotest lands of the Niam-niam. Wherever two of these roadways intersect, a serious col- lision between the parties concerned is almost certain to ensue. Any conductor of an expedition is sure to endeavour to get the monopoly of all the ivory into his own hands. The various native chieftains are prohibited from disposing of their produce to any other agent than himself — a demand which is enforced by violence — and rival companies are in- timidated by threats of action for trespass ; in fi\ct, no pains are spared to assert a right as vigorously as possible. An agreement had now been made according to which the leader of Ghattas's caravan was to accompany Aboo Sammat's expedition as far as his establishments in tlie Niam-niam lands, and afterwards was to be allowed the protection of a military detachment to proceed towards the west, Aboo Sammat himself having resolved to carry on his own main MITTOO BEAREES. 419 body in tlie direction of the south. The bearers of the Ghattas party from the east were all Mittoo, a tribe that is of much weaker frame and less capable of sustaining fatigue than the Bongo, so that by the time that they had reached Sabby, altliough it was only about four days' march, they liad already a considerable number of invalids. Aboo Sam- mat's intention this year was to make his first experiment with the ]\Iittoo from the territories he had recently gained, and to try to employ them as bearers in this enterprise among the Niam-niam. To be a bearer is a serrice which demands a kind of apprenticeship, and no one without practice is fitted for the continual strain and endurance which it requires. The representations, moreover, which had been made to these inexperienced Mittoo, both about the nature of the country they would have to traverse and the cannibal propensities of the peoi)le with whom they would be brought in contact, acted so powerfully upon them that it was only under compulsion that they could be made to enter upon the service at all. While, therefore, the Bongo bearers were to be relied upon, and looked forward blithely to any fotigues that might be before them, the IMittoo had to be scrupulously watched, and by night to be carefully secured within the bounds of the palisade to prevent their effecting an escape. On the very evening before we started from Sabby a number of them ventured upon a combination to revolt, and, in fact, got free into the open country. By tlie assistance of the Bongo they were captured after an hour's hard chase, brought back into the Seriba, placed under closer guardianship, and fur a punishment were made to wear all night the yoke of the " shcyba," which is ordinarily placed on the necks of slaves. Swelling the numbers of our caravans there was a whole troop of women and female slaves, and a crowd of negro lads wlio followed the soldiers to carry their equipments. There was in addition a large herd of cattle which the Ghattas 2 K 2 420 THE HEART OF AFEICA. party had plundered from the Dinka, and which they drove with them to maintain themselves when they came to enter upon the desolation of the desert. Aboo Sammat, never rich in cattle, because he did not, in the same way as his neigh- bours, indulge in plundering the Dinka, had certainly made no superfluous provision for the needs of his people ; but for myself there was an abundant supply of calves, sheep, and goats still remaining from the liberal presents that had been made me in Mvolo during my excursion to the Rohl. Whenever an animal was killed, I invariably shared the meat with the Nubians, and they were always ready to return the favour as often as they slaughtered any of their own. My people's necessities were thus supplied, whilst per- sonally I was continually provided by Aboo Sammat with the choicest morsels as long as there was any choice to be made. But where property fails, even Csesar must forego his riglits; and days of scarcity did arrive, when for my servants there was nothing, and for myself there was next to nothing, to be had. It will readily be imagined that for a colony of nearly 800 people a start in single file was not effected in a mo- ment : it was quite midday before I commenced any move- ment at all. Several days had to elapse, and no little patience had to be tried, before things fell into anything like regularity. Of all men in the world, perhaps the Nubians are the most disorderly. Method is altogether alien to their nature; they loathe it after the unshackled freedom they are accustomed to indulge ; they have no idea of any advan- tages arising from mutual co-operation, and accordingly they look upon any approach to order only as a token of individual bondage. Amongst a body of men actuated by such sentiments, any thought of discipline, according to our ideas, is entirely out of the question. Only that master can at all hope to succeed in exercising any authority who understands liow to get MANAGING THE NUBIANS. 421 upon the weak side of tlieir character. By this means he may perchance attain what he wants in a way which a Turk, even by the extremest severity, could never accomplish. He may prevail, for instance, by slipping in at the right time an alhision to brotherhood, or by an appeal to honour and to tlie value of one's word ; or he may invoke the reli- gious sentiment by reminding the Nubian of his being a Mohammedan, "Thou art a Moslem;" or again, by holding out a bribe, such as a fresh slave or a good payment, he may reduce a cantankerous spirit to subjection ; but whatever is done has to be effected craftily and with a good deal of insinuation and gentle coaxing, No one understood all these artifices better than Aboo Sammat, who was utterly regardless of all consequences and could behave like a perfect tyrant as soon as ever he had established a control. On account of my own position amongst the Nubians I had to renounce most of these little artifices, but, nevertheless, I had my own special resources. A piece of wit, brought to bear at the right place and at the right time, very seldom failed to be of essential service. Although a capacity for appreciating wit must in a way be considered local and limited in its compass, yet it hardly admits of dispute that there is no nation of the world entirely without its sense of humour. The botanist Fortune, who made his laborious investigations in China, has left it upon record that he only succeeded by mother- wit in gaining access to a people which had previously resisted every effort towards the least familiar intercourse with them. A faculty of bantering a little may be of con- siderable service to assist the progress of a traveller; and I may, perhaps, be allowed to relate what follows as an in- stance of the mode in which I attempted to proceed, and the example, perchance, may give a trifling hint to tliose who may be disposed to follow in my wake. I will assume that there was going to be some contention or other between me and my people, as, for instance, that I 422 THE HEART OF AFRICA. had determined to go to some particular mountain, and they held it as utterly useless to go and camp in a desert while they had the chance of staying and enjoying their merissa among their fi-iends. Very rarely in Egypt do people ex- change a few words with one another w'ithout introducing the term " ya Sheikh " as a mode of allocution. Even a father talking to his son of a few years old will address him as " ya Sheikh." In Nubia the habit is not quite so general, but is common enough to be familiar and to be entirely imderstood. Now, one of my people had once taken umbrage at the word being addressed to him, and in ill-tempered pique he had repudiated the term, saying " Don't sheikh me ; I am no sheikh." I thought to myself that he should hear of this again ; and hear of it again he did. Some weeks elapsed, and by chance an occasion arose when we were discussing about a certain mountain, whether it were too far off or too high for us to ascend. One of my party was arguing and trying to satisfy the other, who was our cantankerous friend of old, and happened to begin one of his appeals to him by saying "ya Sheikh." This was my chance ; so I cried out, " don't sheikh him. Twice he has himself told me that he is no sheikh ; he is a lout. If he were a sheikh, he would go with us to the mountain ; but, because he is a lout, he likes to stay behind and sip Lis beer." A general laugh of applause followed my little sally, and the joke was hailed with a round of derision against the captious booby. This trifling circumstance, per- haps, may illustrate the mode of dealing which appeared to answer best, and 1 hope needs no excuse for the length at which it is related. Delay u^jon delay prevented our making a start, and Nubian-like we consumed the day in getting ready. When the caravan did issue from the Seriba, it proceeded, accord- ing to the usage of the country, under the conduct of a banni'r carried ahead. Tiic armed force was portioned out BANNER OF ISLAM. 423 in three divisions, each of which had its own flag. Aboo Sammat's banner was like the Turks' ; it had the crescent and the star upon a red ground : Ghattas, althougli lie was a Christian, displayed the same symbol of Islam, only red upon a white ground. At the start, two captains, Ahmed and Badry, were put in charge. Of these I had already made the acquaintance of the latter, during my excursion to the Kohl. Aboo Sammat himself, as I have mentioned, had arranged, with the third corps, to join the caravan some- what later. At the outset of any expedition, whether it be a movement to the river, a raid upon the cattle of the Dinka, or an excursion to the Niam-niam, it is deemed an indispensable preliminary that a sheep should be offered in sacrifice at the entrance of the Seriba. When this has been accomplished, the procession is prepared to start, and the standard-bearer lowers his flag over the victim, so that the border of it may just touch the blood, and afterwards there is the usual muttering of prayers. In truth, the banner of Islam is a banner of blood. Bloodthirsty are the verses which are inscribed upon its white texture ; a very garland of cruel fanaticism and stern intolerance is woven in the sentences from the Koran which, in the name of the merciful God, declare war against all who deny the faith that there is one God and that Mohammed is his prophet, and which assert that his enemies shall perish from the face of the earth. The sun was already in the zenith when we found our way to the arid steppes ; the heat was scorching, but I enjoyed having my dogs about me, barking for joy at their liberation from the confinement of the Seriba. Very memorable to me is still that day on which I took this first decisive step towards the attainment of my cherished hopes. I thought of that moonlight night as I left Khartoom, when upon the glassy mirror of the White Nile I had kept my vigil of excited interest, and now here I was making a still more 424 THE HEART OF AFRICA. decisive movement and entering upon a still more important section of my enterprise. Now, there was nothing to obstruct me from penetrating to the heart of Africa far as my feet could carry me ; now, as Mohammed said, I could advance to the "world's end," and he would convey me on till even I should acknowledge that we had gone far enough. But unfortunately my vision of hope was doomed to be dispelled. Just at the moment when curiosity was strained to its highest expectation, at the very time wdien scientific ardour was kindled to go on into the very depths of the mysterious interior, we were compelled to return. Had we only been enabled to prosecute our journey as far again towards the south, I do not enteitain a doubt but that I should have been in a condition to solve the problem of the sources of those three great rivers of the west, the Benwe, the Ogowai, and the Congo. Upon the fij-st day's march we only proceeded a few miles and camped out beside the little stream Tudyee, of which the deeply-hollowed bed was divided into two separate arms. In one of these arms a languid current was passing on, but in the other, which was perfectly dry, I took my repose for the remainder of the day, under the shade of a grateful shrub- bery which overhung its recesses. The revelry of a camp life was not wanting ; meat in abundance was boiled, roasted, and broiled, and the festivity extended far into the night. As is ever the case on the first encampment, the proximity to the settlements with their ample provisions enables it to assume the aspect of a picnic. The most valuable portion of my luggage was conveyed in twelve small portmanteaus, carefully coveied with hides : the remnant was carried in chests and baskets. The rolls of paper were wrapped in sheets of calico, which I had well soaked in fresh caoutchouc. I continued to exj)erience the great comfort of having my baggage conveyed by hand, so that I had access at any stage of our progress to whatever I TRAVELLING COSTUME. 425 required. It was hardly necessary to keep anything under lock and key, for nothing could be stolen that would not at once betray the thief. Everything was therefore open, and consequently very little time comparatively was lost in prejiaring for the daily start. There was only one thing to be guarded against, and that was the propensity of the bearers to turn the packages upside down. It was necessary in this particular to be always jogging the memory of the Bongo, who would reply " mawah," (I hear) and so every thing- would go safely along, over sloughs and brooks and marshes, and across the steppes reeking w ith dew, wherever the leader raiojlit desire. Anxious to reach the village of the Bongo sheikh Ngoly, we made a prolonged march on the next day. Proceeding through the most southerly of the districts occupied by the Bongo, we kept still in the region tliat belonged to Aboo Sammat. An hour or more before sunrise, as is usual with these caravans, a general reveil was sounded by drums and trumpets, and a meal was made on the remains of the previous night's feast, as no halt was to be allowed for breakfast. A collection of plants, however, has to be carefully handled, and while my people were strapping up the packages, and the bearers and soldiers were forming their line, I found a quiet half-hour to prepare myself a cup of tea, and to arrange all my little matters for travelling. For the European traveller no article of apparel is better adapted than an old- fashioned waistcoat, with as many pockets as possible, into which a watch, a compass, a note-book, a tinder-box with some matches, and other articles of continual use may be stowed. A coat of any sort, however light, becomes a burden upon a walking expedition ; about the arms it always uncom- fortably obstructs the perspiration. A strong felt hat with a broad brim is the best protection for the head ; it is preferable to the Turkish cap, but on account of the intense power of the rays uf the sun it cannot be worn 426 THE HEART OF AFKICA. immediately next the head. It cannot have anything below it better than the red fez, which never requires to be taken off; when rest is taken under the shade of some spreading tree, it is quite sufficient to remove merely the felt hat. The march was through a pleasant park-like country, and after crossing a considerable number of fordable rivulets, we arrived about midday at the huts of Ngoly. At Ngoly, over a surface of about eight square miles, we found various groves of the Termindlia macroptera, liaving very muvas to be accompanied by a detachment of one hundred of Aboo Sammat's soldiers, and to take its departure for what formerly had been Keefa's territories in the west and south-west, where they hoj)ed to transact a remunerative business, because, in con- sequence of the absconding of the natives, the main company of Ghattas had been left destitute of any bearers. After the reduction, an armed force of 175 was left for our protection as we proceeded on the remainder of our way to the Monbuttoo. Early on the following morning I paid Eikkete a visit at his residence in the village, and made him what I considered a handsome present of beads of a pattern superior to what had ever before been seen in this part of Africa. I, how- ever, received no present in return, but on the contrary had to pay for the simplest things with which I was supplied, whether they were sweet-potatoes, colocasiae, or poultry. The Niam-niam are an acquisitive people, and never lose an opportunity to increase their store of copper, attaching comparatively little importance to any other wealth. Once when I was complaining that in spite of my liberality I could not obtain the most trifling articles for cooking with- out giving a full price for them, I was met by the true 488 THE HEART OF AFRICA. African answer that if they took the trouble to bring me their commodities I must expect to pay for them. My visit to Kikkete over, I could not resist spending the day of our halt in an excursion. Accordingly, having enlisted the services of some natives as guides, I started off with all my people, who had to carry my heterogeneous appliances, which consisted of guns, portfolios, boxes large and small, cases, ropes, trowels, stock-shears and hoes. Crossing the Atazilly, and wading by the side of the stream through the swamps which were crowded with jungles of amomum as high as myself, and adorned with the rosy blossoms of the Melasto- maceasy I proceeded for three-quarters of a league across the steppe until I reached the stream to which I have referred already, called the Lindukoo or the Undukoo. Here there opened to my view one of the most magnificent prospects that forest scenery could afford; the gigantic measure of some of the trees was altogether surprising, but yet, on account of their various heights, their foliage lay as it were in strata, and the denseness of the ramification wove the branches into a chaos as picturesque as it was inextricable. A merry world of apes was gambolling on the topmost boughs ; two of the larger species of monkeys (Cercoptheeus) were also represented, as well as members of the Galago family, which are half-blinded by the glare of daylight. The Colobi, too, with their long silvery hair, were conspicuous as they flitted across the dark gaps that were left in the lower branches, or as they scampered along the more horizontal arms of the trees above. Numerous, however, as they were, I had no chance of securing a single specimen, as my shot, when aimed to an altitude of seventy or eighty feet, was spent in vain. The guinea-fowl, as ever, afforded prolific sport, their large grey bodies standing out distinctly against the fresh verdure ; but we lost a great many that were hit, in consequence of their falling into the midst of impenetrable masses of shrubs. IIIKKETE'S WIVES. 489 Accompanied as I was by only a small number of armed men, I could not be otherwise than sensible how completely, if they chose, I was in the power of the natives. I was encouraged, however, to believe that the engagement made was perfectly reliable, as, except under that conviction, con- sent would never have been given for the armed forces to divide. My Niam-niam guides rendered me the greatest service ; not only did they enter very heartily into my pursuits, climbing up the lofty trees without hesitation to reach the produce of the topmost boughs, but they made me acquainted with the native names of all the plants, and brought me specimens for my close inspection of what otherwise I could merely see at a distance, and in the confusion of promiscuous foliage. Though the hollow gorge of the river sank for some eighty feet, there were trees at the bottom whose crests were level with the land above. The protruding roots amid the land- slips, just as in our own mountain hollows, served as steps ; and all along, abundant as in Alj)ine clefts, there sprung up many a variety of graceful ferns. I proceeded north-west for a considerable distance up the stream, and having laboriously crossed and recrossed the swampy bed of the valley, I returned in the evening to my quarters with my portfolios enriched beyond my most san- guine expectations. Before night, I repeated my visit to Rikkete's residence, and found his wives sitting on the open area before the huts, and employed in their several domestic ways. My intrusion appeared to give the ladies great uneasi- ness, and the interpreters themselves put on a grave look of concern and were ominously silent. I was just about to transfer the scene to my sketch-book when Rikkete sud- denly appeared. He reproached me vigorously, insisted upon knowing what business I had amongst his wives, and de- manded how I presumed to go to his huts without his 490 THE HEART OF AFRICA. knowledge or permission. These Niam-niam wives for their part were very passive, and as quiet and reserved as though they had been brought up amidst the refinements of a Turkish liarem. llikkete, too, was soon appeased. He was a true son of the desert ; but his general demeanour, the reserve of his bearing, and the moderation of his tone, were worthy of him as a man of royal blood who, conscious of his superiority, could, when he pleased, converse with the most perfect self- possession. In my subsequent transactions witli the natives, I was again offered a great number of skins ; this time skins of genets, which were represented in several varieties. I dis- criminated them into three sorts, according to the number of the stripes made by the spots that ran along the body. The general colour appeared to change with the creatures' age. The ground colour varied from a light ash-grey to a deep yellowish brown, while the spots ranged from the colour of coffee to a perfect black. In consequence of these diversities zoologists have very probably been misled, and have been all in error when they have described the Viverra genetta as being of several species. In the glimmer of dawn we were aroused by the accus- tomed signals. Two of the Bongo in Mohammed's service had learnt at Khartoom how to blow their trumpets and beat their cU'ums for this important function, and they sounded the Turkish reveil admirably, giving it the full roll and proper compass. In particular, Inglery the trumpeter was superb in his execution, and the astonished woods could not too often re-echo back his clanging notes. The Niam-niam were quite delighted with the strain, and frequently could be detected humming the melody to themselves. Wando and ]\Iunza alike were never weary of urging the request that Aboo Sammat would either make them a present of his trumpeter, or allow them to purchase him at any price he might elect to name ; but Inglery was the joy and pride of NIAM-NIAM DIGNITY. 491 Mohammed, and in his way .was quite unique throughout the district of the Upper Nile as far as the banner of Islam had been borne. Our caravan was accompanied by a large number of guides and natives who were eager to show the way, as a stiff day's march was before us, and a passage over several difficult water-courses had to be accomplished. The morning toilette of the Niam-niam guides was singular enough. In order to protect themselves against the chilly damp of the early dew as they marched along the narrow pathways of the steppes, they covered the entire front of their body with some large skins, which made them look as if they wore coopers' aprons. For this purpose there is no skin that looks more picturesque than that of the bush-bock, with its rows of white spots and stripes upon a yellow ochre ground. The bearing of the Niam-niam is always chivalrous as becomes a people devoted to war and to the chase, exhibiting a very strong contrast to the unpolished nonchalance of the Bongo, the Mittoo, and even of the finicking Arabians. The Niam-niam might be introduced straight upon the stage, and would be faultless in the symmetry with which they would go through their poses. Our way took a turn beyond the Atazilly across the same steppe over which we had passed yesterday. After an hour we arrived again at the Lindukoo, which here forms a con- siderable cataract of some thirty feet deep, falling over the worn and polished gneiss. A thick bank-wood shaded the rocks, which were charmingly adorned with the rarest ferns, and a regular jungle of tangled foliage canopied the depth beneath ^^hicll the rosy blooming ginger-bushes grew as tall as a man and scented the air with their fine aroma. Just for half-an-hour we halted upon the high and dry levels that we found, and regaled ourselves with refreshment from our store of provisions. An early rest like this was quite common with us, for in the confusion of our starting at the dawn of day there was 492 THE HEART OF AFRICA. seldom any leisure at all to think of breakfast. Our leader, neither proud nor upstart, but like all Nubians, whose finest quality is their sense of equity and brotherhood, munched away amidst a circle of his more intimate associates, to which my Khartoom attendants were admitted, at some cold fowl seasoned with pimento, which was the choicest morsel that the country could supply. With the flowery yams, the sweet- potatoes, and the colocasiee, which appeared such an invaluable boon to the country, tlie Nubians could do nothing, so unaccus- tomed were they in their native place to vegetables of any sort : what they missed most was plenty of their flat cake of kissere ; quite voluntarily they renounced all meat. They carrit^d with them a supply of the capsules of the Hibiscus esculentus, dried before they were ripe, and by the aid of the indispensable red pepper and some fat or oily substance, they manufactured a slimy sauce in which they soused their kissere. They were epicures enough to carry with them in a horn their own " duggoo," which is a kind of pot-pourri composed of every condiment they can procure, being a combination of salt, pimento, fcenum grsecum, basilicum, coriander, mustard, dill, and a variety of other ingredients of the kind. But now for a time the days of kissere and sorghum-pap were over. Now for awhile they had to put up with eleusine, that tiny, scaly, black and bitter grain of which Speke declares that it is sown, because the spades, wdiich do such an amount of mischief to other seeds, leave this uninjured — the same Eleusine coracana (called teleboon in Arabic and raggi in the AVest Indies) which on account of its extreme bitter- ness was condemned by Baker as being putrid and unfit to eat. Leaving it for the people who seemed to enjoy it well enough, he made the remark that '* the lion dies of hunger where the ass grows fat." There was a general belief in magic. One day, my servant, Mohammed Ameen, would get it into his head that I liad found a plant from which I could extract gold ; on the FATALISM. 493 next day it would be some wonderful skull that I had fouud, and from which I knew how to extract the subtlest poison ; the day after and I had the hick to kill an antelope because I was in possession of some marvellous root. With plain matter-of-fact these good people cannot get on at all : that every herb must have some medicinal properties and use would appear never to have entered the minds of any but Europeans. " Knowest thou the herb that gives perpetual youth?" is the question that the Oriental asks; and mys- terious secrets are yet to be unfolded to the African. No one clings more than a Niam-niara to the superstition that the possession of certain charmed roots contributes to the success of the chase, so that the best shots, when they have killed an unusual number either of antelopes or buffa- loes are usually credited with having such roots in their keeping. The fatalism, which is exhibited just as decidedly by IMohammedans as by heathens, is such that it does not attach the least importance to the skill with which an arrow or bullet is aimed. This is a reason why the Khartoomers are never practised in the art of shooting; they do not doubt but that whatever is designed for the unbeliever is sure to hit its mark. The direction which the river Lindukoo was taking appeared to me to be exactly the reverse of that in which flowed the current of the Yubbo ; and, in spite of the posi- tiveness on the part of the guides, all their statements left my mind unconvinced, and in a state of considerable perplexity. But two months later when I had again to cross the river some distance further to the East, my presentiment was thoroughly confirmed. The formation of the land just here is very uneven and irregular; quite in contrast to what it was observed to be both previously and subsequently upon our progress. With the Lindukoo, then, I was bidding farewell to the district of the Nile. Many as there had been before who had undertaken to explore the mighty river to its 494 'I'TIE HEAKT OF AFRICA. fountain-head, liere was I, the first European coming from the north who yet liad ever traversed The Watershed of the Nile. Upon this memorable day in my life, I confess I had uo real knowledge of the significance of the soil upon which my steps were tarrying, for as yet I could know nothing of the configuration of the country before us. The revelation of the truth about this watershed only became apparent to me after I had gathered and weighed the testimony of the Niam-niam, which sufficiently demonstrated that the next river, the Mbrwole, belongs to the system of the Welle. This river noiv was an enigma to me, and to unravel the hydrographical perplexities which surrounded it, continued throughout my journey to puzzle my brain ; certainly I was satisfied it could never be brought into unison with any of the tributaries of the Sway. A little patience, and the problem was solved. With the exception of the high ridge on the north of the River Lehssy which the Niam-niam call jMbala. Ngeea, there was nowhere, along the entire line from the Gazelle to the Welle, any wide difference observable in the conformation of the land. But southwards from the Lindukoo, it was all uphill and downhill, and through defiles, hill-caps rising and falling on either side, high enough to be prominent over the undulations that were around them. These undulations were everywhere of that red hue which rendered it all but certain that they were only elevations of that crust of recent swamp- ore which is so widely diffused in Central Africa. The higher eminences that rose above Mere of a far earlier formation, being projections of gneiss, the weather-worn remnants of some primeval mountain ranges, gnawed by the tooth of time, and crumbled down from jagged peaks to smooth and rounded caps. Subsequently, on my return at the end of April, I pushed my way beyond these elevations MUTABILITY OF RIVER CHANNELS. 495 of tlie gneiss, and penetrated farther east, into tlie narrower limits of the watershed. This uniformity in geological formation of a district so immense, as far as it is known, is certainly very remarkable. The source of the Dyoor is the only exception, and presents some variety in stratification. Everything points to the fact that since the era of the formation of the swamp-ore (spreading as it does from the banks of the Dyoor to the Coanza, and from Mozambique to the Niger) there has been no alteration in the surface condition of the Land except wliat has occurred by reason of the water-courses finding new directions for themselves along the loose and yielding- deposit. And even when the elevations are taken into account which have caused whole chains of hills to arise, such for instance as those which encircle the basin of the Tondy, still I am inclined to believe that there too the existence of the valleys and depressions is to be explained by no other hypothesis than the perpetual mutability of the channels by which the streams have forced their way. Followed in our course from the Lindukoo by a side stream which discharged itself by a waterfall, we arrived at the regular w^atershed, which, judging by my aneroid, which had not varied for four years, I should estimate at 3000 feet high. Passing onwards we came to a brook called the Naporruporroo which rippled through a gorge some seventy feet deep. The stem of a great tree had been thrown across the chasm, and by means of this we were enabled to pass over without being under the necessity of making a descent. As we proceeded, the peaks of the trees which grew beneath were some way below the level of our feet. After a while, we had first to cross another, and then another of these streams which at no great distance united themselves in one common channel. The stream I have just mentioned was at the bottom of a valley some eighty feet deep, and as its banks were almost 496 THE HEART OF AFRICA. perpendicular the bearers had to make the most strenuous exertions to ascend. They had to help each other up, and the baggage therefore had to be passed on from one to another of the men, and then to be laid down awhile that they might have their hands at liberty to help them as they climbed. To accomplish this difficult passage at all with four-footed beasts of burden it would have been requisite to make a very long and arduous detour. The detention, however, to which the difficulty subjected the caravan was not in any way a loss to me ; it gave me time to stay and gather up what I would of the botanical treasures of the place, which in luxuriance seemed to me to surpass all that as yet I had seen. The valley was so deep that no ray of sunshine by any possibility could enter it. The pathway was barely a foot wide and wound itself through a mass of waving foliage. There was a kind of Brillantaisia with large violet blossoms that I found close by the way ; and I stayed to arrange in my portfolio, for future investigation, some of its leaves, waiting while our lengthy procession passed along. Squeezed up in a labyrinth of boughs and creepers, and wreathed about with leaves, I sat as though I were in a nest. These opportunities were several times repeated, in which I found I could get half an hour at my disposal, and could botanize without disturbance; then as soon as the caravan had defiled past I took advantage of the first open ground to regain my position near the front. So numerous were the hindrances and so great the obstacles which arose from the ground conformation of the watershed that our progress was necessarily slow. About four miles from Lindukoo we reached the Mbrwole, which the Nubians without further description simply call " Wando's Kiver." It was here bordered by wood, and had a breadtli of about eighty feet, though its depth did not exceed two feet, the flow of the stream being what might be described as torpid. ANONACEiE. 497 Aboo Sammat's people gave us all tlie particulars of the year's luck in luinting, and dwelt much upon the circum- stance of a chimpanzee having been killed, an event which was evidently very unusual. The woods that composed the "galleries" were dense and manifestly adapted to be a resort of these creatures. The fact was of considerable interest as relating to the watershed, because in none of the more northerly woods had I ever been able to acquire any evidence at all that the chimpanzee had been known to exist. It was remarkable that the first trace I found of this race of animals was upon my reaching tlie first river that was un- attached to the system of the Nile. It may be said of the district of Wando, where bank vegetation is most luxuriant and where tlie drainage is like a complication of veins squeezed from an overcharged sponge, that it is the region which, more than any other, is conspicuous for the abundance of the chimpanzee, which here represents the breed of the West African Troglodytes niger. Countless in diversity as were the trees and shrubs, the AnonacesB, by mere reason of their numbers, must take a very prominent place in the catalogue. A family of plants is this of which, so long as the flora of tropical Africa was unexplored, it was presumed that America w^as the chief, if not the exclusive habitat. But since our knowledge has been enlarged, and especially since my own investigations in the Niam-niam lands, it has become clear almost beyond a question that Africa is at least as prodigal in the Anonacea3 that it yields as all the tropical districts of America. Again for two hours we made a pause. The Nubians enjoyed a bright cool bath, the long column of bearers still toiling onwards with their loads. The opportunity to myself was as acceptable as ever, and I continued to secure a new abundance of botanical treasure. By way of variety, in- telligence was brought us that a gun had gone off tlirough negligence, and tliat the ball had rent a hole in the apron VOL. I. 2 k 498 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of one of tlie soldiers. Of course there was a great outcry and no end of gesticulating. The culprit took with the most passive resignation the lashing tliat was assigned him, and then all was forgotten, and something fresli had to be awaited to stir up a new excitement. The people are fatalists of the purest water, and no amount of experience can make them prudent. Farther on, a march through a fiat and open steppe led us after a few miles to a deep glen so thick with wood that it occupied us at least half an hour in crossing. Its bottom was a wide marshy streak over which there was no move- ment of the water, that seemed to be entirely stagnant. A new type of vegetation revealed itself, one never observed in the Nile lands by any previous traveller. This consisted of the thickets of Pandanus, which were to my mind an evidence of our having entered upon a new river-district altogether, the plant being an undoubted representative of the flora of the western coast. And now we had to make our first experience of the various artifices by which the transit over these marshes has to be accomplished ; not only would it be impossible for a carriage of any description or for any one on horseback to go over, but even when the baggage was conveyed by hand there was the serious risk of anyone seeing all that he most cared for, his clothes and his journals, tumbling from the bearers' heads and sinking in the filthy slime. Mouldering trunks of trees there might be, but to place the foot upon these was to find them roll like a wave in the waters ; others ■would be too smooth and slippery to allow a step to be trusted to their treacherous support; and then the deep continual holes would either be filled by water or covered with a floating vegetation which betrayed the unwary foot- steps into trouble, so that there was no alternative for the bearers but to jump from mound to mound and keep their balance as best they might : to no purpose would they try CROSSING THE MARSHES. 499 to grasp at some support ; the prickly leaves of the Pan- danus, notched and ja;^ged on the edges as a saw, made them glad to withdraw their tortured hand. For miles far away the deserts re-echoed back the shouts of the bearers as they sj^lashed through the waters ; and the air around reverberated with the outcry, with the mingled laughiug and swearing of the Nubians, and with the fluster of the women slaves as they jostled each other in carrying their dishes, gourd- flasks, and calabashes, througli the prickly hedges. Every now and then would arise a general shriek, half in merriment, half in fright, from a hundred lungs, betokening that some unlucky slave had plumped down into a muddy hole, and that all her cooking utensils had come tumbling after. I could not help being on continual tenter- hooks as to the fate whic^h would befal my own baggage, particularly my herbarium, which although it was packed up most cautiously in india-rubber, yet required to be handled very gently. My Bongo bearers, however, were picked men, and did their work well. They waded on and never once had any misadventure, so that it resulted that everything, without exception, that I had gathered in these remote districts of Central Africa, was spared alike from loss or damage. Dressing and undressing on these occasions was tiresome enough, but it was not the whole of the inconvenience. When the task of getting across had been accomplished, there still remained the business of purification; and no easy matter was it to get free from the black mud and slime that adhered tenaciously to the skin. It almost seemed as if Africa herself had been roused to spitefulness, and was exhibiting her wrath against the intruder who presumed to meddle with her secrets. With a malicious glee she ap- peared to be exulting that she was able to render the white man, at least for the time, as black as any of her own children ; nor was she content till she had sent a plague of 2 K 2 500 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. miifl-loeohos to add to his discomfort. Naked and shivering she lot him stand even in the mist and rain of a chilly dawn ; and no help for him till some friendly hand should gnide him to a pool where the water still was undefiled, and he could got a wash. And then what a scraping ! How ruefully too would his eye fall upon the ugly blood-suckers which clung about his legs! To make these relax their hold, recourse must be had to the powder-flask ; and, after all, the clothes would be saturated with the blood that had been shed in vain. As for the things that had been splashed and wetted in the turmoil of the passage, they were laid out either upon a cluster of trampled fern-leaves or upon any little spot that seemed to give them a chance of drying. The sun was already decliuing, and we had still three of these bogs to ]iass over, each with its running stream that would delay us for half an hour or more. Of these three, the second was the largest, and was known by the name of Mbangoh. Notwithstanding the vexation and harassment, to which I was unaccustomed, I found many an opportunity of gathering shrubs and plants of interest from the promis- cuous vegetation amidst which we made our way. The shades of night had gathered, when, after passing the last of the rivulets, we arrived at some forms in a cultivated spot. There was indication of rain, and a great deal of commotion ensued in taking precaution against it ; luckily, however, we escaped with only a few heavy drops, and having been relieved from anxiety by a general clearing of the weather, we enjoyed the good night's rest which our hard day's toil had earned. In order that we might arrive at Wando's residence in good time on the following day, we made our start punctually at sunrise. After we had marched for half a league over open steppe, and had effected our passage over the Dyagbe, the signal was sounded for the morning halt. Mohammed here expressed his intention of having a ABOO SAMMAT'S INTP:RVIEW WWII WANDO. 501 preliminary conference with Wando before we definitively pi tolled our camp, and borrowing my revolver, as be bad done before, be set out with the utmost composure, attended solely by bis black body-guard, the Farookb. At the head of these he burried away at a pace so fast that the lads who carried liis arms could scarcely keep up with him. It is characteristic of the Nubians that whenever they bave im- portant transactions on band they always move with extreme rapidity. Within an hour Mohammed returned, perfectly content with his interview, and proceeded at once to conduct the caravan to the station allotted to it, close to the banks of the Dyagbe, and just about tiie distance of an arrowsbot from the wall of foliage which formed the confine of the primeval forest. Taking their hatchets, the bearers entered the thickets and hewed down long stakes, with which they set to work to construct some huts, my own people mean- while busying themselves by providing some posts and props which I required equally for tlie protection of my baggage from the dampness of the ground and for placing it out of the reach of white ants. I had brought some deal boards with me from Khartoom, and by putting these upon the props a convenient arrangement was made for storing in the narrowest compass a good deal of baggage. Space in my tent was necessarily very limited. Every band was set to work, and in a very short time a number of pretty little huts were erected with no other material than tbe fresh grass; and when the baggage bad all been properly secured there commenced a brisk and very amicable commerce with the natives. Fine elephant -tusks were brought for sale, and found no lack of ready purchasers. Presents of cloth and beads were freely distributed, for tbe double purpose of putting the people into a good mood and of inducing them to disclose new resources for procuring ivory. Wando bimsclf appeared arrayed in a large shirt of figured 502 THE HEART OF AFRICA. calico, made with long sleeves, which he wore (in the same way as all the other native chieftains) solely out of compli- ment to the donor. As soon as the visitors withdrew he deemed it an attire below his dignity, and could not con- descend to trick himself out in a dress which ordinarily was reserved as a kind of curiosity for his w^ardrobe. The cannibal prince, of whom for some days we had been in such dread, looked a harmless mortal enough as he strolled through the camp arm-in-arm with Mohammed's officers ; no doubt they had enjoyed a mutual drink to each other's health. The kind of beads wliich the Niam-niam prefer wearing^ when they can procure them, is that which is known in KhartooDi commerce as "mandyoor," consisting of a long polyhedral prism, about as large as a bean and blue as lapis lazuli. Hardly any other kind retains any value at all. Cowries are still used as a decoration on the national costume, but the demand for them is not great, and for ten years past they have not formed at all an important item in the Khartoom traffic. Fashion extends its sway even as far as these remote wildernesses, which have their own special demand for "novelties." As medium of exchange, nothing here was of any value except copper and iron, which never failed to be accepted in payment. English copper, which the Khartoomers take with them in hmg bars about three-quarters of an incli thick, is most in repute ; but not unfrequently they make use of the lumps of copper which they obtain from the mines to the south of Darfoor. With any other resources for obtaining copper the inhabitants of the country through which I travelled appear to be hardly acquainted, though possibly the Congo region might, in former times, have found an outlet for its store in this direction. To provide suitable small change for their minor purchases, the expeditions to the Niam-niam always include among their bearers a certain number of smiths, who COST OF IVORY. 503 from the larger bars and ingots fabricate rings of all sizes, from the circlet to go round the arm down to the ring just large enough to fit the finger. These rings are made from quadrangular bars, the ends of which are subsequently- reduced to taper points. It may be added, by way of example, tliat for a finger ring a Niam-niam would give a chicken, although the copper material itself was not worth three farthings. Here, at its fountain-head, ivory, as might naturally be expected, may be obtained in barter at a very trifling cost. On the coast of Guinea it is necessary to part with a whole host of commodities, guns, cloth, knives, looking-glasses, and what not, for a single tusk of an elephant ; but a Niam-niam is contented if he can get half a bar of copper, which would not be worth more than four or five dollars. Not only, how- ever, would there be some additional presents of cloth or beads, but the weight and transport would have to be taken into account. The prime cost here would probably be scarcely five per cent, of the value of the ivory, which fluetuciting of course, according to quality, generally, on an average, in Europe realises two or three dollars a pound ; whilst on the other hand, the same purchase could not be made at the har- bours upon the western coasts for much less than 80 per cent, of the gross value. Through the immense outlay which is entailed upon the Khartoom merchants by the support of so many soldiers, and, in fact, from the precarious results of the expeditions, the ultimate profit is really so moderate and it is gained at so much risk, that the ivory trade on the whole is not flourishing. But how matters could practically be mended, or how the expenses of proceeding in the lands of the Upper Nile could be diminished, I confess I have no scheme to propose. The lands are not only so remote from the coast, but they are so far away even from the navigable rivers, that they can never play an important part in the traffic of the world; nor can the railway which it is in 504 THE HEART OF AFRICA. contemplation to construct between Khartoom and Egypt introduce any material change into the existing condition of things. So full of bustle was our camp life that it was not till nightfall that I had an opportunity of inquiring from Mo- hammed what had transpired during his interview with Wando. I now learnt that the revolver he had borrowed had done hira a good turn. He had hurried on in front of his escort, and had gone boldly to the chieftain to repri- mand him for his equivocal behaviour ; but he had no sooner entered the hut than he was encircled by a troop of Wando's satellites, who levelled their lances at him in a most threatening attitude. He felt himself a prisoner, but, undis- mayed, he cried out that his life should cost them a thousand lives, and, snapping the revolver, he dared them to touch him at their peril. The intimidated Niam-niam at once assumed a milder tone, and, thanks, as Mohammed said, to his temerity, everything turned out well. We remained in Wando's camp from the 2nd to the 6th of ]\[arch. The wood at Dyagbe was most luxuriant, and every day it unlocked to me new and untold treasures, which were a permanent delight. Here, too, was unfolded before my gaze the full glory of what we shall in future understand as " a gallery." My predecessor, the Italian Piaggia, whose meagre descrip- tion of the Niam-niam lands betrays, in spite of all, an acute power of observation, has designated these tracts of bank vegetation as "galleries." The expression seems to me so appropriate and significant that I cannot help wishing it might be generally adopted. I will endeavour briefly to state in what the peculiarities of these " galleries " consist. In a way that answers precisely to the description which Dr. Livingstone in his last accounts has given of the country to the west of Lake Tanganyika, and which is not adequately accounted for cither by the geological aspect of the region DUALISM OF VEGETATION. 505 or by any presumed excess of rain, there is sometimes foimd a numerical aggregate of springs which is beyond precedent. These springs result in a perpetual waterflow, which in the north would all be swallowed up by the thirsty soil of low and open plains, but Mhich here in the Niam-niam country is all restrained within deep-cut channels that form, as it were, walls to confine the rippling stream. The whole country, which is nowhere less than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, is like an over-full sponge. The conse- quence of this is, that many plants which in the north dis- appear as soon as the fall of the waters deprives them of their moisture, are here found flourishing all the year round ; so that all the vales and chinks through which the water makes its way are permanently adorned with a tropical luxu- riance. The variety of trees and the manifold developments of the undergrowth conspire to present a spectacle charming as any that could be seen upon the coast of Guinea or in the countries which are watered by the lower Niger. But, not- withstanding all this, the vegetation altogether retains its own specific character up in the higher tracts between stream and stream, and corresponds to what we have been familiar with ever since we put our foot upon the red soil of Bongo- land, being a park-like wood, of which the most conspicuous feature is the magnitude of the leaves. I have previously had occasion to mention how a dualism of the same kind marked the vegetation of the whole country south of the Hoo, where the formation of the land first changed from the monotonous alternations between low grass flats and undulated wood-terraces. It would almost seem as if the reason for the altered law which presides over the watercourses is to be sought in the increasing elevation of the soil, and in the opening of the lower plain of the swamp-ore, which, being furrowed up with a multitude of channels, allows the unfailing su[»ply of all the nuuierous springs to flow away. Trees with immense stems, and of a height surpassing all 50G THE HEART OF AFRICA. that we had elsewhere seen (not even excepting the palms of Egypt), here stood in masses which seemed unbounded except where at intervals some less towering forms rose gradually hiirher and hierher beneath their shade. In the innermost recesses of these woods one would come upon an avenue like the colonnade of an Egyptian temple, veiled in the leafy shade of a triple roof above. Seen from without, they Lad all the a})pearance of impenetrable forests, but, traversed within, they opened iuto aisles and corridors which were musical with uiany a murmuring fount. Hardly anywhere was the height of these woods less than 70 feet, and on an average it was much nearer 100 ; yet, viewed from without, they very often failed to present any- thing of that imposing sight which was always so captivating when taken from the brinks of the brooks within. In some places the sinking of the ground along which the gallery- tunnels ran would be so great that not half the wood revealed itself at all to the contiguous steppes, while in that wood (out of sight as it was) many a "gallery" might still exist. Most of those gigantic trees, the size of the stems of which exceed any of our own venerable monarchs of the woods, belong to the class either of the Sterculim or the Boswelliee, to which perhaps may be added that of the Cxsalpiniee ; the numerous Fig-trees, the ArtocmyesBy the Ewphorhiacece, and the endless varieties of the Buhiacea^y must be entirely excluded from that category, and few representatives of this grade belong to the region of the underwood. Amongst the plants of second and third rank there were many of the large-leaved varieties, and the figs again, as well as the Papilionacesti and especially the Ruhiacem had an important place to fill. There was no lack of thorny shrubberies ; and the Oncoha, the Phyllanthus, the Ce- lastrus, and the Acacia ataxacantlia, cluster alter cluster, were met with in abundance. Thick creepers climbed from bough to bough, the Modecca being the must pro- FERNS. . 507 minent of all ; but the Cissus with its purple leaf, the Coccinea, the prickly Smilax, the Helmiai, and the Dioscoreas all had their part to play. Made up of these, the whole underwood spread out its ample ramifications, its green twi- light made more complete by the thickness of the substance of the leavQs themselves. Down upon the very ground, again, there were masses, all but impenetrable, of plants of many and many a variety which contributed to fill up every gap that was left in this mazy labyrinth of foliage. First of all there were the ex- tensive jungles of the Amoma and the Costus rising full fifteen feet high, and of which the rigid stems (like the haulms of the towering grass) either bar out the progress of a traveller altogether or admit him, if he venture to force his way among them, only to fall into the sloughs of muddy slime from which they grow. And then there was the marvellous world of ferns destitute indeed of stems, but running in their foliage to some twelve feet high. Boundless in the variety of the feathery articulations of their fronds, some of them seemed to perform the graceful part of throwing a veil over the treasures of the wood ; and others lent a charming contrast to the general uniformity of the leafy scene. High above these there worked themselves the large slim-stemmed Ruhiacese {Coffese), which by regularity of growth and sym- metry of leaf appeared to imitate, and in a measure to supply the absence of, the arboraceous ferns. Of all other ferns the most singular that I observed was that which I call the ele- phant's ear. This I found up in trees at a height of more than 50 feet, in association with the AngriBca and the long grey barb of the hanging TJsnem. Whenever the stems of the trees failed to be thickly over- grown by some of these different ferns, they were rarely wanting in garlands of the crimson-berried pepper which twined themselves around. Far as the eye could reach it rested solely upon green which did not admit a gap. Tlic 508. THE HEART OF AFRICA. narrow paths that wound themselves partly through and l)artly around the growing thickets were formed by steps consisting of bare and protruding roots which retained the lio-ht loose soil togetlier. 3Iouldering stems, thickly clad with moss^ obstructed the passage at well-nigh every turn- The air was no longer that of the sunny step])e, nor that of the shady grove ; it was stifling as the atmosphere of a palm- house ; its temperature might vary from 70° to 80° Fahr., but it was so overloaded with an oppressive moisture exhaled by the rank foliage that the traveller could not feel other- wise than relieved to escape. To the European lover of his garden everything at first might seem to be as artistic in its grouping as it was abun- dant in its luxuriance ; but the screaming outcry of the birds in the branches above, the annoying activity of the insect world, and beyond all, the amazing swarms of minute ants which come showering down from every twig upon anyone wlio intrudes upon their haunts, detract very considerably from the enjoyment of this prodigality of nature. Yet for those who could persevere there was much to compensate in the general solemnity of the scene, for the sound of tlie rust- ling of the foliage above could scarcely penetrate the weird shades below. Butterflies gay and busy in countless s\\arms, with their gleaming yellow wings, gave animation to the re})ose of the eternal green, and made up for any deficiency of radiant bloom. Our encampment was but comparatively a few steps away from this unbounded storehouse of creative wealth, so that with the greatest convenience I ceuld prepare within my tent for all my explorations. That dual character of the vegeta- tion to which I have referred offers a great advantage to the bot;inist in this teeming district. In the damp almosphere of the western coasts the drying of plants is hardly ever capable of being accomplished witliout exposing them for a time before a fire, an operation which has generally the effect WANDO. 509 of inducing a l)lackness ovor tho specimens which necessarily very materially increases the difficulty of their being scien- tifically examined when they reach their destination in Europe ; but here, except upon a thoroughly wet day, tho plants will all dry just as readily as they would in a country where water is the reverse of abundant. When plants have been gathered and dried in the hot steamy atmosphere of Guinea, and corresponding plants have been gathered and dried as they are found in Nubia, the comparison of the two may assist in establishing what relations exist between the bank wood and the steppes of the different countries. I had already made the acquaintance of Wando's sons, but hardly expected the honour that Wando himself paid me by visiting me in my tent. A troop of armed men composed his retinue and arranged themselves in a circle round the tent, whilst, with all deference, I made my illustrious guest the offer of my own seat which I had brought with me from the Gazelle. Wando was somewhat below a medium height, but he could show a large development of muscle, and no insig- nificant amount of fat. His features were of so marked and well-defined a character, that in their ^^ay they might bo pronounced good, the head itself being almost perfectly round. Nothing took me more by surprise at Wando's en- trance than the perfect self-possession, which might almost be called nonchalance, with which he took the proffered seat. Savage as he was, his composure and native dignity were those of which no European when receiving homage would need to be ashamed. Crossing his arms upon his breast, he reclined one leg upon the other, and began to throw the centre of gravity of his bulky frame so far behind the perpendicular that I was in momentary fear lest the back of my chair, which creaked audibly at every movement of the Niam-niam potentate, should be faithless to its trust. It seemed to sigh beneath its burden. Wando reminded me in more than one 510 THE HF-ATiT OF AFRICA. respoot of tlie portly kinpf of Ovampo, on whom Galton with some trouble forced tlie crown tliat had been brought from the theatre. Witli the merest apology of a piece of skin to cover him, he sat in all but absolute nakedness, revealing the exuberance of fat which clothed his every limb. It was commonly said of Wando that he was the avowed enemy of all cannibalism. I was informed in various quarters that people from the neighbouring districts had come to him when they found themselves growing too fat, and had declared that they did not consider their lives were safe on account of the men-eaters by whom they were surroimded. But the sentiments of the chieftain did not appear to exercise much influence upon tlie majority of his subjects, as we only too soon became aware as we advanced farther to the south. This visit of Wando's gave me an opportunity of which I did not omit to avail myself of entering my indignant protest against the want of hospitality with which on his part we had been received. I recounted to him by way of contrast the many acts of liberality which had been shown us by the Nubians in general, assuring him that my dogs had received more care from them than I, their master, had received from him, king though he was; to sui:)ply my dogs with meat, goats had been killed, and for myself bullocks had never been spared. Wando remonstrated, saying that he had neither one nor the other ; but I made him understand that he had plenty of poultry, certainly enough, and more than enough, for me and my people. Finally, 1 proceeded to let liim know what I thought of his hostile demonstration before our arrival ; and while I spoke I dashed my fist upon the camp-tablo which stood before us, till the plates and di-iidving vessels clattered and jingled again. My personal attendants, however, Mohammed Ameen and Petherick's old servant, the travelled and experienced lliharn, knew bettei-, after all, than J A TEMPTING DISH. 511 I did, how to talce AVando to task, rointing to me, they made him comprehend that he was threatened with a most certain and speedy judgment if he suffered a Frank to come to the most trifling harm. They charged him not to forget that it was a Frank he was dealing with, and that it was quite within the power of a Frank to make the earth to yaw n and from every rent to give out flames that should consume his land. And as they spoke, tlie interjjreters explained all, word for word, to his excited understanding. Intimidated to that degree of which none but a negro is capable, and only eager to avert a miserable fate, he hurried back to fulfil his promise of sending provisions without stint or delay. Almost immediately afterwards a number of his people came teeming in, bringing not only some lean and half- fed poultry, but a lot of great black earthen pots which they laid down as offerings from their master at the opening of my tent. A revolting smell of burning oil, black soap, and putrid fish rose and stunk in the nostrils of all who were curious enough to investigate, even from a dis- tance, the contents of the reeking jars ; to those who were so venturesome as actually to peer into the vessels, there was revealed a dark-coloured stew of threads and fibres, like loosened tow floating between leather shavings and old whip- thongs. Truly it was the production of a savage, and I may say of an indigenous, cookery, such as our progenitors in their primeval forests might have prepared for tliemselves out of roast rhinoceros or mammoth-foot. There seemed a rebound in the lapse of time. As matter of fact, the caldrons were full of a burnt smoky ragoiU made from the entrails of an elephant some two hundred years old, very tough and exceedingly rank. This wonderful example of nature's earliest promptings was handed first to me by the Bongo bearers, whom I at once begged to accept for themselves the dainty dish of the savages ; but even the Nubians, not at all 512 THE HEART OF AFTIICA. too fastidious generally in anything which their religion permits them to eat, rejected the mess with the greatest disdain. It had happened some years before, as one of Ghattas's companies was making their way across Wando's territories, that six Nubians were murdered in the woods by some natives who had accompanied them to the chase, professing to be tlieir guides. As soon as the Nubians had fired away all their ammunition in shooting at their game they had no means of defence left in their power, and consequently were easily mastered. Mohammed at once sent to demand the six guns, which beyond a doubt were in the possession of Wando's people — so anxious was he to prevent the natives from becoming acquainted with the use of firearms. Wando commenced by denying his ability to meet the demand, and then resorted to procrastination ; but subsequently, pressed by Mohammed, who declared that the continuance of his friendly relations must depend upon the restitution of the guns, he surrendered four of them, asserting that the others could not be found. Any further satisfaction was not to be expected, because on the one hand there was either no getting the perpetrators into custody, and on the other, even if they could be brought from their place of refuge, no one could be bribed to give any substantial evidence against them. On the second day after our arrival at Wando's residence, attended by a considerable number of natives and a dozen soldiers, I made an excursion out for about two leagues northwards along the banks of the Dyagbe. G uereza-monkeys in merry groups were in the foliage above, but I was not fortunate enough to bring down more than a single specimen. According to the statements of my guides, who were hunters by profession, chimpanzees were numerous, but we certainly did not get a glimpse of one. Very weai-y with my exertions of tramping over the marshy ground I was rejoiced to bring THE LEAF-EATER. 513 back into camp an ample booty in tlie way of botanical rarities. During our travels I liad obtained from the Niam-niam who accompanied our caravan an epithet which I never lost in all the subsequent stages of our journey. In their own dialect these people called me " Mbarik-pa," which would be equivalent to a name amongst us of " Leaf-eater." It was a designation that reminded me very vividly of my profes- sional brother David Douglas, who fell a martyr to his devo- tion to Nature, and who was known amongst the North- American Indians as " the Grass-man." My Niam-niam interpreter Gyabir, as I learnt some time afterwards, had given his fi-iends some marvellous accounts of the way in w^hich I was accustomed to eat whatever I found growing. He used to relate that I had a habit of dismissing my attendants and getting into a dense thicket where I imagined that I was unobserved, and that then I used with great haste to gather and devour enormous quantities of leaves, and he added that this was the way in which, one day after another, I groped after my ordinary food. Others contributed their observation that I invariably came forth from the woods with an exhilarated expression and quite a satiated look, whilst they were conscious of nothing else than the cravings of hunger. After all it was very natural ; for the inspiration which is derived from con- templating Nature can elevate one far above his mortal and bodily wants. The dominant idea which seemed to be impressed upon the natives by my botanical ardour concentrated itself upon their conviction as to the character of the country where the white man has his home. According to their belief the land wherein the white men spent their lives could show neither grass nor tree, and consisted of nothing better than sandy plain and stony flat. Those amongst them who had been carried away as slaves in the ivory expeditions and had VOL. I. -2 L 514 THE HEART UF AFRICA. returned again from Khartoom had brought strange accounts of the grim desohition and utter drought of the Moslem lands over whicli they had passed ; and what, they asked, must be the condition of the still remoter countries of the Frank, of whom they only knew that lie kept the Turk supplied with cotton-stuffs and guns ? C 515 ) CHAPTER XII. Poultry-market. Votive pillars and hunting-trophies. Indirect evidence of cannibalism. The chimpanzee in Central Africa. Presents of chimpanzee skulls. New style of huts. Tlie A-Banga. Cultivation of manioc in Central Africa. The Treculia. Cam-wood and muscat nuts. Conflict with natives. Shooting-match and sham fight. Magic lucifers. Mutual interchange of blood. Botanical excursion interrupted. Gyabir wounded. Modes of ex- pressing pain. Female slaves captured. Giant lichens. Tree-termites. Monbuttoo frontier. Keception by Nembey. Northern limit of the oil-palm. Imaginary alami. Unexpected arrival of Kliartoomers. Visit of Bongwa and his wife. Cattle of the Maogoo. Cultivation of the sugar-cane. Interview with Izingerria. Arrival at the Welle. Condition of the Welle. Relations of the stream. Crossing tlie river. Monbuttoo canoes. New impressions of the heart of Africa. Arrival at Munza's residence. At sunrise, on the 6th of March, we took our departure from the abode of Wando. For our security on the way, the caravan was attended by a number of guides which the chief- tain had placed at our disposah Just before starting, the intelligence arrived of the death of Nduppo, the alienated and hostile brother of Wando. A party of armed men had been despatched by Wando, and after a short conflict they had killed the enemy. Nduppo's wives and children had taken refuge in Mohammed's Seriba, where they met with a hospitable reception and were provided with the residence and provisions that were necessary for their support. According to a custom which is generally recognised in Central Africa, whenever a caravan mistakes its way and is obliged to retrace its steps and return to a road from which it has deviated, a bough is thrown across the wrong path and a furrow is scratched in the ground by means of the feet, so 2 L 2 516 THE HEART OF AFRICA. that no sucoeeding caravans may fall into tlie same error. This duty is entrusted to the people accompanying the standard-bearer in the rear. The route of the first day led us along the right bank of the Dyagbe, past Wando's tall conical huts, and through a gallery of picturesque wood scenery. Having forded the stream which, plentifully supplied with water, resolved itself into several channels, we rested on the farther side amidst the outlying homesteads of the district. The startled inmates made a momentary escape ; but soon recovered from their alarm, and returning to their dwellings commenced a brisk business in selling poultry all along our line. The men alone, however, brought their fowls, tied up in buadles, to the market ; the women kept themselves quite aloof. After a brook of smaller dimensions had been crossed and some more groups of huts had been left behind, the caravan arrived at a stream of considerable magnitude known as the Billwey, but which so much resembled the Dyagbe in the shady character of its banks that it might very easily be mistaken for it. Then ensued two of the " gallery " imths, the first being quite small, the other somewhat larger and known by the name of Mono. The district still seemed to be fairly populous, and from all sides we were met by people who came to us partly to offer their services as guides, and partly to learn what particulars they could about the intentions of the caravan. There was a coming and going -which a Euro- pean might compare to the bustle of a general holiday at home. Without stopping, however, we continued our progress, and by noon we reached a brook called Diamvonoo, one of the gallery streams, of which the banks were enclosed by dwel- lings. Here we halted close to the huts of the superintendent of the place. The Niam-niam residences seem never to fail in having some posts which the natives erect for the purpose of dis- playing, in proof of their bravery, whatever trophies of i TOKENS OF CANNIBALISM. olT success they Iiave gained either in hunting or in war. To this practice, as established on tlie Diamvonoo, my osteolo- gical collection is indebted for some considerable additions. Attached to the projections of these memorial posts were skulls of antelopes of many a species, skulls of little monkeys and of great baboons, skulls of wild boars and of chimpan- zees, and 1 must not hesitate to add, skulls of men ! These were in some cases quite entire, whilst in others they were mere fragments. They were fastened to the erections like the presents on a Christmas-tree, but instead of being gifts for children, they were treasures for the comparative anatomist. Too decisive to be misunderstood were the evidences of the propensity to cannibalism which met our astonished gaze. Close to the huts, amongst the piles of lefuse, were human bones, which bore the unquestionable tokens of having been subjected to the hatchet or the knife; and all around upon the branches of the neighbouring trees were hanging human feet and hands more than half shrivelled into a skeleton condition, but being as yet only partially dry, and imperfectly sheltered by the leaves, they polluted the atmosphere with a revolting and intolerable stench. The prospect was not inviting, and the asylum offered to travellers was far from tempting ; but wo did not suffer ourselves to be discouraged, and made up our minds to be as comfortable as we could in our little huts. Without loss of time I betook myself naturally to the chase for trophies, Mohammed entering with so much zeal into my pursuit after the skulls of some of the chimpanzees, that he clambered up one of the votive pillars. This drew upon us the eyes of the astonished natives, and their amaze- ment seemed to be especially directed to the circumstance of our taking so much trouble into our own hands. " You have plenty of slaves," they said, " you are chieftains and have authority ; how is it that you afe not ashamed to work for vourselves in the wav vou do? " This, probably, was spoken 518 THE HEART OF AFRICA. in derision, or probably in a measure as a reproach to us for appropriating what did not belong to us. However, I put on the air of munificence, and set matters all right by a prodigal distribution of copper rings. Taking into account the large number of skulls of chim- panzees, more or less perfect, which I saw in the hamlets on the Diamvonoo, I am sure that I am quite justified in my impression that this spot must be one of the centres from which these creatures circulate their kind. Upon the Western African coasts the prevalence of the chimpanzee breed is very considerable, extending from the Gambia down to Benguela. But in the interior, on the other hand, the haunt of the chimpanzee hitherto lias been supposed to be limited to the country of the Niam-niam. Previous to my arrival the Khartoom people had been the means of securing some defective skins, which were sent to various museums, and these were quite sufficient to confirm the fact of the existence of chimpanzees in that quarter. But so great was the variety in age and kind, so marked the differ- ence in these beasts according as they came from one district or another, that a whole series, it appeared, of varying species had to be distinguished and arranged by means of material which was totally inadequate for scientific classification. Nearly all the specimens at hand were those of very young animals, and no mammal is known which as it grows older is subject to more decided changes in its external appearance than the anthropomorphic ape. I am not speaking of Dii Chaillu's gorilla. This largest of all apes is sufficiently known, and its specific stability is no longer a matter of doubt. Its range, however, is apparently very limited, as hitherto it has only been found in the delta of the Ogowai. On the other hand the chimpanzee, as it exists far and widf in the west of Africa, has, in consequence of its indi- vidual and collective features, been divideil into a long series TROGLODYTES NIGER. 519 of supposed specifs, varieties, and races, about wliicli the most skilled investigators in this branch of natural history are by no means agreed. In one point they seem to be unanimous, and all concur in recognising the Troglodytes niger, E. Geoflr., as the progenitor or the normal type of this series of anthropomorphic apes. The chimpanzee of Cential Africa, to judge from the specimens that have found their way to European museums, differs in many respects from the true Troglodytes niger, E. (leoffr., and may be accounted as a separate race which in the lapse of time has developed itself, and adapted its condition to subsistence in far out-lying regions. Professor Giglioli, of Florence has classified it as a subsidiary kind or sub-species, to which he has assigned my own name, because, in 1866, I was the first to bring any definite information about it. In a work* elaborated with the utmost care he has collected every detail that science offered to his hand. According to Giglioli the chimpanzee of the Niam-niam countries was distinguished from the Troglodytes niger of Western Africa by the large capacity of its brain chamber, which he thought could very probably not be matched by any other species. We are indebted to Professor R. Hartmann, of Berlin, for a monograph f which has collected into one view, and may be said to exhaust, all the material which has hitherto been brought to bear upon this topic. From a comparison of a very large number of specimens of very various origin, he has come to the conclusion that the Niam-niam chimpanzee has no such marked distinction as to isolate it in a systematic sense, and that notwithstanding some subordinate charac- teristics of race, it must still be reckoned as one amongst the many forms of the Troglodytes niger. In modern times there are no animals in creation which * ' Troglodytes Schwoinfiirthii Gigl. in Sturlii Craniologioi sni Cinnianze.' Geneva, 1872. t Keicht'it's and Dn Bois Raymonrl's ' Aicliiv.' Bciliii, 1872. 520 THE HEART OF AFRICA. have attractcnl a larger amount of attention from tlie scien- tific student of nature, than these great quadrumani, which are stamped with such singular resemblance to the human form as to have justified the epithet of anthropomorphic. The most distinguished zoologists and anatomists have devoted to them their best and undivided attention, and their industry has resulted in the publication of splendid ■works in illustration of their studies. The labours of Giglioli and Hartmann indicate a still further advance in these strivings after truth. These inquiries cannot fail to be as supremely interesting to man, as the crown of creation, as the prospect of the ultimate solution of the problems of ethno- graphy still hidden in the heart of the continent of Africa, must be to the civilised nations of Europe. But all investi- gation at present only leads human intelligence to a con- fession of its insufficiency ; and nowhei-e is caution more to be advocated, nowhere is premature judgment more to be deprecated, than in the attempt to bridge over the mysterious chasm which separates man and beast. Justly enough has Hartmann exi)ressed his indignation against those ephemeral writers and those dilettanti, ^\ho, incapable of scientific research and unfurnished with scientific material, have ventured to handle the topic of the" anthropo- morphic apes." These empty theorists, when they circulate their baseless, or at least their unripe, hypotheses, may perchance persuade themselves that they have mastered the doctrine either of the elevation of the ape or the deterioration of man ; but in reality they have done nothing but aggravate the bewilderment which already had turned the heads of a half-wise generation. It was getting well onwards towards night, and b}' tlio red glare of the pitch-torch which is the invariable resource for lighting the Niam-niam huts, I was getting my supper, in the simplicity of the })iimitivo times of creation, off sweetened ])lantains and tMpinco, when I was iuten-upted bv CHIMPANZEES. 521 a visit from some of the natives wlio lived close at hand. Tliey bad come to dispose of a collection of fine skulls of the chimpanzee, and I effected the ])urchase by means of some large copper rings. The people told me of the abundance of these creatures in the adjacent woods, and related a number of the adventures which had befallen them in their arduous attempts to ca[)tnre them : they ])romised, more- over, to bring me some further contributions for my collection, but unfortunately I could not wait to receive them ; Ave could not prolong our stay because of the scarcity of provi- sions, and we had to start betimes on the following morning. Altogether I made an addition of about a dozen slaills to what I had previously secured, but many interesting frag- ments I much regretted being obliged to leave behind, having no alternative on account of my limited means of transport. It was not my good fortune to witness a chimpanzee hunt. This is always an arduous imdertaking, involving many difficulties. According to the statements of the Niam- niam themselves the chase requires a party of twenty or thirty resolute hunters, who have to ascend the trees, which are some eighty feet high, and to clamber after the agile and crafty brutes until they can drive them into the snares prepared beforehand. Once entangled in a net, the beasts ore without much further diflficulty killed by means of spears. However, in some cases they will defend themselves savagely and with all the fury of despair. Driven by the huntei-s into a corner, they were said to wrest the lances from the men's hands and to make good use of them against the adver- sary. Nothing was more to be dreaded than being bitten by their tremendous fangs, or getting into the grasp of their powerful arms. Just as in the woods of the west, all manner of stories were rife as to how they had carried off young girls, and how they defended their plunder, and how they con- structed wonderful nests upon the topmost boughs of the trees — all these tales, of course, being but the purest fabrications. 522 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Amongst the Niam-niam, the chimpauzee is called " Kanya," or " Manjarooma ;" in the Arabic of the Soudan, where long ago its existence seems to have been known, it was included in the general name of " Ba-ahm." The life which the Eanya leads is very much like what is led by the ourauo-outang in Borneo, and is spent almost entirely in the trees, the woods on the river-banks being the chief resort of the animals. But in the populous Monbuttoo country, where the woodlands have been thinned to permit the extensive cultivation of plantains, the chimpanzees exhibit a great fear of man, and pass their existence in comparative solitariness. Like the gorillas, they are not found in herds, but either in pairs or even quite alone, and it is only the young which occasionally may be seen in groups. For three leagues we advanced on the next day towards the S.S.W. ; and this was the general direction, with little variation, by which we continued our progress to the Mon- buttoo. During this short interval we crossed no less than five water-brooks, each of them bounded by its " galleries," and halted at last upon the right bank of a sixth which was named the Assika. It was close to the quarters of a chief whose name was Kollo. With the exception of a slight elevation lying to the right, the whole surface of the land between the streams was level stejipe. The borders of these streams were all well-populated ; the soil was entirely under cultivation, and appeared to be very productive. We found ourselves here amidst a tribe, differing widely in habits and dialect from the Ninm-niam, and which bore the semblance of being a transition population allied to the Monbuttoo who occupied the districts in our front. This tribe is distinguished by the name of the A-Banga. They are said to have come across the wide desert, which bounds the territories of the two nations, and quite recently to have migrated into the lands of the Niam-niam, submitting themselves vohiutarily to the .^way of AVaiido. A very THE A-BANGA. 523 similar inigiation, resulting in the partial blending of the two people, seems to have occurred in the west, where the A-Madi,* driven out by over-population, their product of roots and plantains, which they obtained without toil, being inadequate for their support, resorted to the Gangarra hills of Indimma. Some chance few of the A-Madi were found intermixed with the A-Banga. Both of these could be thoroughly iden- tified with the Monbuttoo by their habits and mode of life, but with regard to dialect they would seem to have been much influenced by their intermixture with the bordering population of the Niam-niam. The last home which they occupied as a clan was the populous province which the Monbuttoo king Munza now possesses to the north of the Welle. As the greater part of the A-Banga are quite capable of speaking the Zandey (or Niam-niam) dialect, I had no difficulty by the aid of my interpreters in holding conver- sation with them ; beyond the Welle, however, there were very few with whom they were able to converse. The first hamlets of the A-Banga which we entered, made it at once clear that they adopted quite a different style of building their huts to what we had already seen. The conical form of the roofs, employed as it is in nearly every other region of Central Africa, here began to give place to the roof with a gable end which is universal farther soutli. The square huts themselves were sometimes constructed with posts and left open like sheds, and were sometimes enclosed by four walls. The dress and war equipment of the A-Banga are the same as those of the Monbuttoo. The ears of both sexes are pierced so that a good thick stick can easily be run through the aperture, and for this purpose the concave portion of the ear is cut out. As a consequence of this custom both the * The A-Madi must not be coufouuded with the Madi of the Mittoo, nor witli the Madi south of Gondokoro. In the native dialect " a " is only a plural form : e.g., " ango" means a dog ; " a-ango,'' dogs. 524 THE HEART OF AFKTCA. A-Jknga and the IMoiibiittou have acquired from the Nubians tlie name of the Gurrui^urroo (derived from the word gurgur which signifies " bored ") to distinguish them from the Niam- niam, wliich is their term to denote all cannibals. The A-Banga and Monbuttoo also practise circumcision, whilst the Niam- niam abstain entirely from any mutilation of the body. Turned up into a high chignon, the hair is worn by the women of the A-Banga without any head-covering, the men commonly adopting the mode of the Niam-niam, who wear a An A-I{aiiR;i. straw hat without a biim. Some of the men, however, as in the accompanying portrait, make a compromise between the Monbuttoo and Niam-niam fashion, wearing the hair in the ]\r<)nbuttoo style about the forehead and temples, and dis- carding the chignon for the tults worn by the Niam-niam. Tlie small apron which they wore was not, as with the Niam- niuin, made of skin, imt (roin the bark of the Ivokko fijj-tree. CL^LTIVATIOX OF MANIOC. 525 The shields did not consist of the oval wieker-uork of rotang, but were four-cornered tables of wood of a length sufficient to protect the entire body. In place of the trumbash and Niam- niaiu lance, they carried the lances, scimitars, and bows and arrows of the Monbuttoo. The women go all but entirely naked, wearing nothing but a fragment of the bark of the fig-tree. Just under the arms, in the same way as the Mon- buttoo women, they bind a stout and broad strip of some woven material, which when they sit upon their benches and low stools hangs across their lap, and serves as well for a girth in which to carry their little children. In this intermediate district between the corn-lands and the lanls in which roots or fruits w^ere cultivated, the fertility was very wonderful, and the agricultural labour that was applied was very great. Besides eleusine and maize there were many patches of penicillaria : amongst earth- products I observed yams, helmia, colocasia, manioc, and the sweet-potato ; amongst various other leguminous plants there grew the catyang or ra\A'aa-bean ( Vigna sinensis), the horse- beau (Canavalia) the voandzeia, and the Phasxolus lunatus; the oily fruits included earth-nuts, sesame, and hyptis ; whilst there still remained room for Virginian tobacco, for the sugar-cane, for the Eokko fig-tree, and for large numbers of plantations of plantains (Musa sapientium). Manioc plays an important part amongst the plants culti- vated in this region, both on account of the yield it gives and the small amount of labour required in its cultivation. Here, as in Guiana and Brazil, it seems to delight in a soil that is rather moist and somewhat shaded, and accordingly the position which is usually chosen for its culture is just on the border of the " galleries " on the open steppe. The end of April, at the real commencement of the rainy season, is the best time for planting it. The plant is of a leafy growth, it has hardly any wood, and attains a height varying from three to six feet ; the mode of i)lanting it consists simply of 526 THE HEART OF AFRICA. breaking off some pieces about a span long, and burying them in the soil wliicli has been superficially broken up. It is quite unnecessary to trench it, since the soil is naturally very light and loose, being composed principally of rotten leaves. As the manioc is a year and a half or two years before it produces strong tubers, it is customary to use the ground between the rows, by planting, as is done elsewhere, various other crops, either of maize, colocasia, or yams. One great advantage connected with the manioc is the length of time for which the tubers may be left in tlie earth after their full development : provided only the ants can be kept from them, they will remain in good condition for two or 'three years ; consequently they do not require to be housed, and their culture admits of leaving the granaries free for other provisions, in a way quite different from most tubers, which would soon perish if suffered to remain in the wet soil. The gathering is nearly as simple a process as the planting. Each single plant is pulled away from the loose earth, and the tubers are allowed to remain attached. In quality and size they differ very materially. As the death of our poor Bonjro bearer had testified, some of the varieties when eaten in a crude form are most poisonous, and even when boiled they are very injurious unless the fibrous fringes have been removed from the hearts. Scientific analysis has shown that they contain a certain proportion of prussic acid, and there is no doubt that their leaves when bruised emit the decided odour of bitter almonds. The unwholesome kinds are gene- rally of small growth, and as a rule are of very woody texture. The finer and nutritious sorts grow as large as a man's arm, and being very tender may be eaten with no more misgiving than the camanioc of Brazil, which is the form of the vegetable for which a great partiality is shown by the Monbuttoo south of the Welle. No one can have travelled much in the tropics without being tolerably acquainted with the mode commonly prac- CULTIVATION OF MANIOC. 527 tised of dressing the manioc. I will therefore only pause to mention that the method followed here of getting rid of the poisonous matter does not consist so much in expressing the juices as in cutting up the tubers into pieces, and allowing them to remain in water for more than four-and-twenty hours; the result is that they get a very tainted flavour, which, however, disappears again in the process of drying. A long boiling finally prepares the manioc for eating. The yield of starch, which is known as South American tapioca, is estimated as one third of the weight of the fresh tubers. Very probably, I should think, manioc has found its way to this extreme limit of its culture from Angola, by means of the intercourse of the people with the states under the dominion of Miwata Yamvo, many of whose customs appear to have been transferred to the Monbuttoo. But in all the northern parts of the Nile region the cultivation of manioc is still unknown, and although it has made its way into nearly all countries on the coasts within the tropics, it has not advanced towards Egypt as far as Nubia, or towards Arabia as far as Abyssinia. Thoroughly authenticated, meanwhile, stands the fact that it was originally planted by the Portuguese upon the western coasts, and first of all in Angola. An inference may very fairly be deduced tliat in this way various other plants, such as maize and tobacco, were introduced into Africa, and only became naturalised at some date subsequent to the dii>covery of America. After scrutinising this district as fully as I could, I was surprised never to find a single instance of tlie existence of the Carica pajMtja, which has now for so long become indi- genous to all the maritime tropical countries of the world. Barth speaks of its abundance in the states of Haussa, and other travellers in the tropics have made frequent mention of its growth, but I do not remember finding it in Egypt except as a garden curiosity, while in Nubia and Abyssinia I never met 528 THK IIEAirr OF AFltlCA. with it at all. I was the first to introduce tomatoes into the district of the Gazelle, and I have no doubt that ere long they will be extensively grown even in the most central localities of Africa. Cultivated so easily as they are, they nevertheless seem to be utterly wanting throughout all the wild districts that have been hitherto explored in the southern portion of the continent. On the 8th of March some ivory business on the part of Mohammed entailed the break of a day in our continued march. The respite afforded me an opportunity, which I readily embraced, of making a botanising trip to the rich galleries of the woods on the Assika. Bribed by a few copper rings, some natives willinoly came with me and were of infinite service in getting me the produce of some gigantic trees which otherwise had been quite inaccessible. Amongst these trees I may specially mention a Treculia, eighty feet high, known as the "pushyoh," one of the family of the Artocarpeae. The great globular fruit of this was larger than my head, and seemed to realise the wish of the peasant in the fable where he longed for a tree which would grow pump- kins. I stood and gazed with astonishment at the A-Banga, who seemed to have all the nirableness of monkeys. By taking hold of the boughs of the smaller trees, and bending them down sideways, and tearing down the long rope-like creepers, they contrived to climb the tallest and the smoothest stems. Some of the trees were ten feet in diameter at the base, and had a bark without a wrinkle ; not unfrequently they ran up to a height of some forty feet without throwing out a single branch, standing, as it were, like the columns of a thousand years in the piazzas of the Eternal City. I had made some chain-shot, but neither by means of this nor by the use of my heaviest single bullets could I succeed in getting any specimens of the fruit which grew on the tops of the tallest trees ; my ordinary shot, however, sufficed to bring down some detached leaves, from the examination of OPPOSITION. 520 which I was able to form an opinion as to the true scientific cliaracter of these giants of the wood. My proceedings ap- peared to confirm the impression which the natives began to form that I must be a leaf-eater. Here on the Assika I found a kind of muscat-nut (Myristica), and here too I gathered the first examples I had seen of the West African cam-wood (Pterolobium sandali- noides), which after it has been pulverised is commonly used, as a favourite rouge for the skin of the Niam-niam and Monbuttoo men. Tiie women, in both districts alike, are accustomed to stain themselves by preference with a black dye that is extracted from the pulp of the Gardenia fruity known as blippo. Here, likewise, I again saw another of the notorious towering trees of Africa, the mulberry-tree of Angola, which Welwitsch has asserted is known to grow to a height of 130 feet. Reverting for a moment to what had transpired before, 1 may mention that, on the preceding day, we liad had our first disagreement with the native population. Just before we reached the Assika we were about to halt for a few minutes' rest, when, although our caravan was accompanied by Kollo and Bakinda, the chiefs of the district through whicli we were pushing, the owner of the land came and began to inveigh against us with the most abusive language, and, brandishing his spear in defiance, opposed our intention to advance. He wanted to know what right the Turks had to come spying out his place, and declared that he would not submit to have them defile any of his quarters. An outbreak seemed imminent ; a mischievous combination was only too likely, when, acting on Kollo's advice, Mohammed managed to quiet the uproar. He proceeded without furtlier parley to set light to one of tlie straw huts which was being used as a granary ; and it would be impossible to exaggerate the fright and amazement of the natives when they saw him take the flaming fire out of his hand. One single lucifer match VOL. I. 2 m 530 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. had worked a miracle. There was no need of further measures of reprisal for our protection ; when we reached the hamlets on the Assika we found the natives quite amenable to our wishes, and ready to permit us to instal ourselves amidst their dwellings. In the evening Mohammed established a shooting match. The natives had never been made familiar with the effect of our firearms, regarding them only as clumsy lances, or, as they called them, great " iron sticks," and Mohammed felt it was desirable to inspire them with a proper respect for the weapons. Selecting one of the thickest of the wooden gate's that, according to custom, swung in front of the huts, he set it up for a target, and the general astonishment was un- bounded when it was discovered that out of fifty balls at a hundred paces, at least ten had gone clean through the wood. The Bongo bearers were then put tlu-ough an exercise of feigning an attack. With wild outcry, and still wilder boundings and jumpings, they rushed upon their imaginary foe, representing, in their way, the light cavalry dashing in after the prelude of the roar of the artillery. Then, to complete the illusion of the spectacle, they seized huge clods of earth and great clumps of grass, and so returned, a picture of troops laden with spoil, to the position from which they had started. This was but a sham fight ; but a few weeks later, and the scene had to be re-enacted in earnest. The next movement of the caravan was towards the west. Twice there were some brooks to cross, and after half a league we halted by the Yuroo. We were now in a country with a large population, the whole district being called Nabanda Yuroo, or the "villages of the Yuroo," as the names of the streams in this region always give tlieir desig- nation to the land. The stream was sliadowed in the usual way by the thickly developed growth of the gallery foliage, and took a curve in the form of a horse-shoe. Within the ENTERTAINING THE A-BANGA. 531 bend were scattered tlie ftirmsteads surrounded by large groves of plantains of which the ripe fruit had been already- housed. The preparations that were set on foot towards forming a camp without making use of the existing huts either for the shelter of our baggage or for the reception of the superiors, demonstrated at once that a residence here for some days was certainly intended. Tlie pretext alleged for the stay was to allow the Moliammedans to solemnise the anniversary of their new year. The issue, however, did not answer to the expectation. I had here to exhibit myself to a larger number of curious eyes than usual ; but I was able to obtain the measurements of the skulls of some of the A-Banga, whilst others were immortalised in my sketch-book. I had also to provide for the entertainment of the people who came to visit me, and in this respect was greatly assisted by my matches, as the marvel of my being able to produce fire at my pleasure was an inexhaustible source of interest. If ever I handed over a lucifer and allowed them to light it themselves, their rapture surpassed all bounds ; they never failed to consider that the power of producing flames resided in me, but their astonish- ment was very greatly increased when they discovered that the faculty could be extended to themselves. Giving the white man credit for being able to procure tire or rain at his own free-will, they looked upon the performances as miracles unparalleled since the dawn of creation. For myself, I sat composedly apart, as though invested with some mysterious charm; but to say the truth, I was rather bored by this conjuring, which was a stale excitement to me, as it had now entered upon its second year of per- formance. Still the wonder of the Africans seemed never to cease, and they did not flag in their delight at the in- stantanecms flame. The method of obtaining fire, practised alike by the natives of the Nile lands and of the adjacent country in the 2 M 2 532 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. Welle system, consists simply in rubbing together t^TO hard sticks at right angles to one another till a spark is emitted. The hard twio-s of the Anona senegalensis are usually selected for the purpose. Underneath them is placed either a stone or something upon which a little pile of embers has been laid ; the friction of the upper piece of wood wears a hole in the lower, and soon a spark is caught by the a'^hes, and is fanned into a flame with some dry grass, which is swung to and fro to cause a draught, the Avhole proceeding being a marvel which might well-nigh eclipse the magic of my lucifer matches. As we were now expecting a forced campaign of two days through the wilderness, on the confines my servants had to apply their attention to the provision of adequate supplies, as whatever we required would have to be carried with us. To accomplish our plan satisfactorily we were obliged to contract a treaty offensive and defensive with the natives, and nothing would suffice for this but a mutual interchange of blood. The circumstance led me for the first time to become a witness of this barbarous, but truly African custom. The words of the pledge are emphatic : " In peace we will hold together ; in war we will be a mutual defence." Osman, one of my people who had come from Berber, being a novice in the ranks of the Niam-niam campaigners, became one of the most enthusiastic adherents to this pledge. In vain I represented to him the unlawfulness of his conduct from a Mohammedan point of view ; I threatened that for the future he should be called a heretic and an unbeliever, as bad as a Kaffir ; but all to no purpose : he became a blood-drinker by profession, and so obtained from me whatever copper rings and beads were necessary for cementing the bonds of the treaty. The following day was devoted entirely to exploring the sylvan flora around ; to my heart's desire could I now wander amidst the thickets on the Yuroo, which would have been deemed inaccessible to any one but a plant-hunter. HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF 'JHE NATIVES. 533 In the mould formed by the leaves wliich had decayed beside the stream that parted itself into many a vein, I came across a number of drums, stools, and other specimens of wood-work w^hich the natives had buried in the mud, in order to give them a permanent blackness. This too is the way in which they prepare the reeds of which they weave their shields and matting. The process of rapid superficial humi- faction which takes place here, is to be attributed doubtless to the temperature being so much higher than in the tem- perate zones, where a corresponding degree of decomposition would be the work of years. Whilst botanising on the Assika we had more than once been taken by surprise at arrows from some unknown hand having fallen very near us. To bend down to pluck a remark- able plant, and to take up some whistling arrow instead, is not a common experience, even in Africa. The hostile and defiant attitude of the natives was too plainly revealed to us, when on the 11th of March the elder of my Niam-niam attendants, Gyabir, was shot in the muscle of his arm. Shrieking aloud in alarm and agony, he flung down my valuable rifle, and betook himself to flight. So dense Avas the thicket that I knew nothing of the disaster till my other attendants came running up, and terror-stricken began to shout, " They are coming ! they are coming !" After this we hurried back to the camp. I was very deeply concerned at the supposed loss of my breech-loader, which I was accustomed to call my " cook," so serviceable had it been day after day, in bringing down guinea-fowl and francolins for my table. By good fortune, however, one of the Bongo folk had caught sight of the weapon, and soon brought it back to me safe and sound. Several of the Bongo bearers had also returned wounded more or less by these insidious arrows ; none of them were very severely injured, but they came back howling in alarm. Each race seemed to have its own way of giving vent to 534 THE HEART OF AFRICA. expressions of woe. The Niam-niam outcry for pain that was sudden, was a sharp " Ow ! ow !" but for a continued pain it consisted of a prolonged "Akonn! akonn !" The Bongo cry was "Aoh ! aoh !" — that of the Dyoor was " Awai ! awai !" For suffering of every degree the Mon- buttoo seem to have a word peculiar to themselves, and on every occasion, however trivial, for a mere push or fall, they will break out into a long-drawn wail of "Nangway! nangway !" The arrows of the A-Banga and the IMonbnttoo differ from those of other tribes by being provided at tlie extremity of the shaft with two wings, which are made either of hairs from the tail of the genet, or quite as often of bits of plantain- leaves. In their points they correspond with those of the Mittoo-Madi. The points are generally iron, but occasionally they are made of wood which is almost as hard as iron. The shafts consist of the firm reedy steppe-grass, and are of about the thickness of a common lead-pencil. By a cruel refuiement of skill which might almost be styled diabolical, they contrive to i)]ace one of the joints of the reed just below the barbs, with the design that the arrow should break off short as soon as it lias inflicted the wound, making it a very diffi- cult matter to extract the barbs from the flesh. The usual method of extracting a lance-head is to take a knife and make a sufficiently large incision in the wounded muscle for the barbs to be withdrawn; but, in fact, the result generally is that very jagged and troublesome wounds are inflicted. No little excitement was stirred up in our encampment when Gyabir came back woimded. I set to work and ex- tracted the arrow by breaking off the shaft, and drawing the head out on the side of the arm opposite to that at which it had entered. All the evejiing, however, I was too much occupied in my own pursuits to have time to devote to the consultations of the Nubians. As night was drawing on there OUR WOMEN CAPTURED. 535 was a fresh uproar, and the shrieks of women in alarm revealed that some Job's post of evil tidings had arrived. Three female slaves had gone to the banks of the Yiiroo to fetch water for the camp, and had been discovered fatally wounded, whilst six otliers had disappeared and had evidently fallen into the hands of the A-Banga. A state of war then was manifestly declared ; at once a fresh supply of cartridges was distributed to the soldiers, the sentinel-watches were made doubly strong, and a detachment of Farookh was told off and ordered to keep vigilant guard all night. Water for the night was indispensable, and in order to fetch it a number of women went down to the water-side, carrying torches in their hands, and under the protection of a strong escort who fired frequent shots into the bushes. Mohammed proceeded on the following morning to distri- bute his force into several companies, and as soon as it was daylight sent them roaming over the environs, commissioned, if possible, to obtain some hostages that might be exchanged for the missing slaves. They found, however, that all the farmsteads had been deserted by their inhabitants, and with- out accomplishing their purpose they returned to the camp. All the huts and the plantain-groves were spared, but only provisionally. In the event of a thorough rupture the natives in the immediate neighbourliood had more to fear than the remoter people from the indiscriminate revenge of the Nubians, and it was hoped that their influence would avail to secure that the stolen women should be restored. In fact, several of the local chiefs did come in the middle of the day for the purpose of offering some explanation to Mohammed. Mo- hammed made them clearly understand that unless by night- fall the captives were delivered up every farm and every crop in the district should stand in flames. Tiie warning had its due effect ; the restitution was promptly made, and left us free and contented to prepare for our farther progress towards the south. 536 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. Ready enough we were next morning to turn our backs upon the inhospitable quarters, and to })Ostpone a regular warfare until the date of our return, when a conflict seemed inevitable, and we should have but a hostile reception to expect. The Bongo bearers had meanwhile taken good care to replenish their stock of provisions by laying hands on every granary they could, so as to be prepared for the transit over the desert-country which lay between us and the friendly territory of the Monbuttoo. We first passed over the Yuroo, and shortly afterwards we crossed two other streams which flowed into it, each full of water and with well-wooded banks. After marching on for about two hours till we had passed the last cultivated fields of the A-Bauga, we arrived at a rivulet which watered an open steppe, and finding some detached and spreading fig-trees, we made a halt and took our morning meal. A very obvious sinking of the land had ensued since our passage over the previous streams, the surface of the soil around being once more marked by undulations. Onward for two leagues we went over a level steppe which ■was all but void of trees, occasionally passing over some sandy eminences which had all the appearance of being the remnants of gneiss rocks decomposed by the lapse of time. Comparatively a short period will suffice to obliterate these remnants of rock as the formation of the superficial iron-stone goes on. Altogether the region througli which we w^ere passing now presented an aspect very different from the land we were leaving behind, whicli had been very profusely in- tersected by a very network of intricate watercourses all bounded by abundant woods. Here the streams all irregular and undefined, twisted their ambiguous way through marshy meadows, their banks being totally destitute of woods ; some occasional clumps of Scitaminea being the only plants to be seen. They had to be crossed as best we could at tlie spots where the herds of buffaloes had trodden down the slime into something of solidity ; but the black water was A STORM. 537 frequently as high as our necks, whilst the mud beneath our feet seemed to liave no bottom. Numerous large frogs and a quantity of laud crabs (Teljphusa Aiibryi) were wallowing in the half-dry pools on the banks. Especial })recaution had to be taken here to protect the baggage and to convey it across the swamps without injury. We had successfully accomplished the passage of two of these difficult fords, when the tokens of a gathering storm made us halt for the night upon the banks of a third before we could venture to proceed. As expeditiously as possible a tent was erected, into which as much baggage was stowed as it could contain, but it was far from being spacious enough to shelter the whole, so that for the greater part of the night the Nubians had to protect it by piling over it great ricks of grass. An entire deficiency of wood made it impossible to extemporise either huts or sheds. The tumultuous confusion, the shouting and the running, the rescuing here, the escaping there, and all amidst the crashing thunder of the tropics, and in a torrent of rain that fell as though the very sluices of the sky were open, conspired to form a study from which a painter might conceive a picture of the Deluge. The meadow-stream by which we were compelled to pass this luckless night had a direction that was easterly, and therefore contrary to that of the rivers we had previously passed ; it flowed to join the Kahpily which may be described as a river of the second magnitude, and which unites its dashing flood with the more northerly of the two sources of the Welle, the Keebaly and the Gadda. Frightfully hungry after the disturbed vigil of the night, but yet still fasting, we proceeded at dawn to take the mud- bath which crossing the stream involved. Some Bongo who were adepts in swimming had to go in front, and convey great masses of grass and Phrynia, which they let down in the deepest parts so as to cover the sinking bottom. Going on in the same southerly direction as on the day before, we passed 538 THE HEART OF AFRICA. along the sunken ground, and after a while came to a brook which once again was shaded by luxuriant gallery-woods. Tlie path that led through the thickets down to the main arm of the stream had been for so many feet encroached upon by the water, which rose high in consequence of its contracted channel, that the only means of progress was either along the unstable trunks of fallen trees, or through puddles in which it was hard to preserve one's equilibrium. The narrow rift was cut out from the entanglement of foliage, creepers, roots, and branches, as neatly and smoothly as though it had been trimmed by a knife. Never before had I seen such wonderful masses of lichens, of which the long grey garlands hung down in striking con- trast to the deep green of the foliage above. Just like the Platycerium Elephantotis, Schweinf. One-eightb of natural size. "barba cspanola" of the forests of the Missisippi, a gigantic form of our Usnea florida here adorned every tree. iJut a REACHING THE MONBUTTOO FRONTIER. 589 decoration stranger tlian all was afforded by the Platycerium, which projected in couples, like elephant's ears, from the branches of the trees ; it is one of the most characteristic of all the gallery-flora of the region. Another species of the genus which I had observed in other parts, the Platycerium stemmaria, with its bifurcate leaves, here too finds a conspi- cuous place. In these ancient woods, however, there is nothing that could more attract the attention of the naturalist than the wonders of the world of white ants. So assiduous are they in their in- dustry and so inexplicable in their work, that their proceedings might well-nigh tempt a scientific student to take up his permanent abode near their haunts. Tliey construct their nests in a shape not dissimilar to wine-casks, out of thousands and thousands of leaves, which they cement together with a slimy clay, using a strong bough for the axis of the whole, so that the entire fabric is suspended at a giddy height. This species of white ant {Termes arborum) had been already observed by Smeathman in Western Africa. They partition their buildings by means of wood-shavings and bits of bark, and in the same way as the forest-ants they make several stories, and set apart nurseries and chambers for the young. Just as the bottle-gourd of the primeval wilderness offered to a primitive people the first models for tlieir earthenware, so have the structures which the ants contrive from leaves furnished the natives of Central Africa with the general design of all their basket-work. Already I have referred to the corn-baskets of the Bongo as one of the earliest illus- trations of the fact that their weaving is but a faithful copy of the building of the ants. Coming next to a tract of bushwood, and then crossing two more galleries, on which was displayed all the wild beauty of the virgin forest, we arrived about midday at the stream which marks the boundary of the kingdom to which we were directing our way. The passage across this river occupied us 540 THE HEART OF AFRICA. more than half-an-liour, so intricate was the labyrinth of the uprooted trees over wliich it was necessary to clamber ; and the way was made still more difficult by the thorny inter- lacings of the Smilax and the obstructive jungles of the Rotang. Whether ojsen by chance or cleared by human hands, it was hard to determine, but there were spaces in the gallery- woods which were comparatively void of trees ; over these was spread an abundant growth of plantains, which had a look most perfectly in harmony with the primitive wilder- ness around. Only on the fallen trees was it possible to effect a passage amidst the confusion of the many channels ; for the network of the drooping creepers baffled every attempt to swim. At length, however, all was accomplished, and we were greeted by a view of the hospitable home of the Monbuttoo. After taking some brief repose on the frontier of the new country, followed by troops of men and women, we proceeded to the residence of Nembey, a local chieftain under King Degberra, who governs the eastern half of the Monbuttoo, whilst the western portion belongs to Munza, a sovereign who rules with a still more powerful sway. The abode of Nembey was situated on a rivulet called the Kussumbo, Avhich rolls on its crystal waters in a deeply-hollowed channel to join the Kahpily. Crossing the stream, we encamped upon some slightly undulated ground, encompassed by low bushes, where we erected some grass-huts that should be perfectly rain-proof. Immediately upon our arrival, Nembey, accom- panied by a number of his wives, paid me a visit in my tent, and brought me a present of poultry. Mohammed Aboo Sammat was an old friend and ally of the western king Munza, who was never otherwise than upon a footing of war with his neighbour and rival Degberra. Little therefore could Mohammed have expected in the way of welcome or hospitable reception from the king of the AX ALARM. 541 Eastern iMonbiittoo, if it had not chanced tliat his subordinate olficer had discovered the advantageous ivory trade which might be opened with the strangers. This is the exphmation which may be offered of the courtesy of our reception, and which accounts for the neighbourhood all round being free from any peril as far as we wore concerned. The woods on the Kussumbo I found to be an inexhaustible source of botanical treasure. Conspicuous araougst many other examples of the characteristic vegetation were the Raphia, the Elais, the bread-fruit or Artocarpus, and a species of Trumpet-tree (Ceeroj>ia) which was the first representa- tive of the American genus that I had found in the continent of Africa. The oil-palm (Elais) is here at the extreme northern limit to which cultivation has ever transferred it, as it is still utterly unknown in all the districts of the Nile. Not until we crossed the Welle did we find it planted out in groves, and to judge from appearances it had only been planted even there for purposes of experiment. Upon the day following our arrival at the residence of Nembey, I ventured out without any apprehension of harm into the semi-cultivated plantain-grounds which ran for some miles along the river-banks, passing as I went a long series of farms and fields that were under tillage, every- where observing the women and children sitting in front of their neatly-kept huts and attending to their household duties The sun was just sinking on the horizon, and we were still enveloped in the thickets shrouded in masses of manioc and plantains, when the report of firearms, volley after volley, coming from the camp, took us by surprise, and induced us without delay to hurry back ; such repeated discharges, we could not help suspecting, must too surely betoken some ao-crression on the part of the natives. We loaded our pieces, and trying to follow the direction of the sound, we started off on our return, but for a time we wandered vaguely about, hardly knowing how to get free of the plantations ; we at 542 THE HEART OF AFRICA. length managed to reach the villages, from which the way was quite direct. Together with ourselves streamed on a crowd of the residents, who came hurrying out, equipped with their shields and lances, or with their bows and arrows. As we approached the farms we heard the beating of the signal drums, and everywhere at the doors of the huts we saw the women and children, all eagerly bringing from the interior the necessary arms for their husbands and fathers, who were waiting impatiently without. Not knowing whether we were friends or foes, we pushed on all together along the road. Helpless enough 1 felt myself, as burdened with my heavy boots I tottered over the smooth tree-trunks which had been thrown across the depth of the Kussumbo ; behind and before were the excited people, equipped with arms, as frantic as wild Indians, and very naturally the thought rose to my mind, how completely, if they chose, I was within their power. It did not take long to get through the woodlands, and then again we were out upon the open. One glance at the camps before us revealed the mystery : the Nubians with their swarthy troops of bearers had been doubled in number by the arrival of another company of merchant- people from Khartoom, and in honour of the meeting the usual salvoes had been fired. The new comers were the party belonging to Tuhamy, who was an upper secretary in the divan of the Governor-General, by whose authority I was empowered to claim the hospjtality of all the Seribas. To Mohammed's soldiers the unlooked-for arrival of a number of their countrymen was a welcome occurrence which they celebrated as a holiday ; but to Mohammed himself the chance meeting was a vexation, from which ultimately, as he foresaw, various unpleasantnesses arose. The territories of Tuhamy's people were situated on the lower Kohl, their head 8eriba being at a spot named Ronga, where they had been established some years previously by the French adventurer, VISIT TO BONGWA. 5-lP> ]\ralzac. They had come direct by the way through the districts of the Mittoo and the Madi ; and at the Dianivonoo, (where I had made so large a collection of the skulls of the chimpanzees) they had had such a vigorous conflict with the Niam-niaui that for two days they were obliged to defend themselves behind an extemporised abattis against the hostilities of Wando, and had not escaped without some loss of life on their side. Suspecting no mischief, they liad arrived at the place just at the moment that our caravan had hurried away to escape the general con- flict that seemed imminent, and accordingly they had found the natives all up in arms and ready for immediate action. At midnight a heavy rain set in, which lasted till the morning ; and in the uncertainty as to what the weather would be, our departure was delayed long beyond the ordinary hour, and we were even at last obliged to start in a thick and drizzling mist. In spite of the wet, Tuhamy's party had gone on in the early morning. We were all anxious about keeping our powder dry ; but, for my part, I must own I was more concerned for the safety of my col- lectioD, which had been gathered and preserved with so much trouble. A halt was made for an hour in one of the farmsteads on our way, and the large open sheds belonging to the local superintendent were of infinite service in pro- viding immediate shelter for the baggage. Our route crossed four streams, all flowing to the south, after which we arrived at the ]\razoroody, on the banks of which the line of farms belonging to Bongwa extended a considerable way. Bongwa was a chieftain subject to pay tribute equally to Munza and to Degberra, as his possessions were contiguous to those of both these rival kings. We crossed the river, which was approached by an extensive steppe, which terminated in a declivity that led us downwards for well-nigh 200 feet, and then halting, we proceeded to erect our camp by constructing 544 THE HEART OF AFRICA. a number of huts in the best way we could out of the masses of sodden grass. Accompanied by his wife, Bongwa paid us a visit in camp, and allowed me the unusual honour of taking a sketch both of himself and of his better half. The okl lady took her seat upon a ]\ronbuttoo bench, weai-ing nothing else than the singular band, like a saddle-girth, across her lap, in the general fi\shion of all the m omen of the country. Like nearly all her race, she had a skin several shades lighter than her husband's, being something of the colour of half-roasted I'.i'iigwa's Wifo. coffee. She exhibited a singular tattooing, which apjieared to consist of two distinct characters. One of these ran in lines over the shoulders and bosom, just where our own ladies wear their lace collars ; it was apjiarently made of a number of points pricked in with a ne(,dle, and forming a pattern terminating on the shoulders and breast in large crosses. The other was a pattern traced over the whole stomach, BOXGWA'S WIFE. 545 standing out in such relief that I presume it must have been count for the circumstance, that ray cigars did not 2 N 2 548 THE HEART OF AFRICA. in the least appear to attract any notice on the part of the natives, although they were accustomed to smoke their tobacco exclusively through pipes, and were as entirely un- acquainted either with the habits of chewing tobacco or of taking snufF as any other of the African negroes who have not been contaminated in these respects by intercourse with Mohammedans and Christians. The Monbuttoo use pipes of a primitive, but really of a very serviceable description, which they make from the mid-rib of a plantain-leaf. The upper classes, however, not unfrequently have a metal tube, some five feet long, made by their smiths. The lower extremity of the pipe is plugged up, and an opening is made in the side near the end, into which is inserted a plantain-leaf, twisted up and filled with tobacco. This extemporised bowl is changed as often as requisite, sometimes every few minutes, by the slaves who are kept in attendance. The only tobacco which is known here is the Virginian (N. tdbacuin, L.). With much relish I smoked a pipe of this construction, which was altogether a novelty to me, and I found that it was a contrivance that modified the rankness of the tobacco almost as perfectly as if it had been inhaled through the water-reservoir of a narghileh. At length the attainment of my cherished hopes seemed close at hand. The prospect was held out that on the 19th of March we might expect to arrive at the Welle. The way to the river led us due south, and we went onwards through almost uninterrupted groves of plantains, from which the huts, constructed of bark and rotang very skilfully sewn together, ever and again peeped out. A march of scarcely two leagues brought us to the bank of the noble river, which rolled its deep dark flood majestically to the west, in its general aspect suggesting a resemblance to the Blue Nile. For me it was a thrilling moment that can never fade from my memory. My sensations must have been like Muugo THE WELLE. 549 Park's on the 20th of July, 1796, when for the first time he planted his foot upon the shore of the mysterious Niger, and answered once for all the great geographical question of his day — as to whether its waters rolled to the east or to the west. Here, then, I was upon the very bank of the river, attesting the western flow of the water, about which the contradictions and inconsistencies of the Nubians had kept up my unflagging interest ever since we set out from Khartoom. Whoever has any acquaintance with the indistinctness that ever attaches to the statements of those who would attempt to describe in Arabic the up-current or the down-current of a river will readily comprehend the eagerness with which I yearned to catch the first glance of the waters of which the rippling sound, as they washed their stony banks, came through the bushes to my strained and listening ear. If the river should flow to the east, why then it solved the problem, hitherto inexplicable, of the fulness of the water in Lake Mwootan ; but if, as was far more likely, it should go towards the west, then beyond a doubt it was independent altogether of the Nile system, A moment more, and the question was set at rest. Westerly was the direction of the stream, which consequently did not belong to the Nile at all ; it was in all likelihood not less than 180 miles distant from the most western coast of Lake Mwootan, and at the numerous rapids which are formed in its upper course it rises almost to the level of the lake, even if it does not attain a still higher altitude.* Very similar as I have said it looked in some respects to the Blue Nile at Khartoom, the Welle had here a breadth of 800 feet, and at this period of the year, when its waters were at their lowest, it had a depth varying from twelve to fifteen feet. The banks, like the " guefs " of the Nile, rose about twenty feet above the level of the stream, and appeared to * The measurements are given in the bkctch-map iu Vol. IL 550 THE HEART OF AFRICA. consist almost exclusively of alluvial clay and some layers of blended sand and mica ; but as far as I could investigate the exposed face of the river-wall, I could see neither pebbles nor drift, and only occasionally were the scanty remains of shells to be detected. Here, as well as on the upper part of the main stream, named the Keebaly, which we subsequently crossed, no inundation of the country seems ever to occur, although the land sank with rather a sudden fall for 100 feet down to the wood-encircled bank of the river. There was nothing remarkable about the rate at which the water flowed : on the northern bank it passed at about fifty- five or sixty feet a minute ; so that the volume of water that rolled by would be about 10,000 cubic feet a second ; but sup- posing the rate of the stream to be invariable, this volume would be nearly doubled at thQ season when the river was at its fullest height. The Welle is formed about twelve miles above this spot by the union of the Gadda and the Keebaly. About three weeks later (on the 1.3th of April) the Gadda was about 155 feet wide and two to three feet deep, whilst the Keebaly, which is the main stream, was 325 wide and at least twelve feet deep. Of the two streams just above the junc- tion, the rate of flow was fifty-seven feet and seventy-five feet respectively. Fourteen miles above its point of con- fluence with the Gadda, the Keebaly forms a series of rapids flowing over innumerable crags of gneiss, making a labyrinth of little islands which are known as Kissangah, and which part the stream into many minor channels that after they are re-united reach across in a distance of 1000 to 1200 feet from shore to shore. I made all the inquiries I possibly could about the condi- tion and fluctuations of the river from the interpreters who were attached to the expedition, and ascertained that the water was actually at this date at its lowest level. The first indication that I luid of anv rise or increase in the stream THE WELLE. 551 was when I crossed it again a little higher up, towards the east, iu the middle of April ; and to judge from what was pointed out to me then on the river-banks, I should conjec- ture that the period of the highest water would be about two months later. The Welle had all the tokens of being a mountain stream of which the source was at no remote distance, and to a cer- tainty was not in a latitude much to the south of that of the spot where we were crossing. The colour of the flood at this time of the year corresponded very remarkably with the cloudy waters of the Bahr-el-Azrek, and it is probable that when it is at its height it has that look of coffee-and-milk which the river presents at Khartoom. Moreover, there is an additional proof indicating that the river has its origin in some mountain region at no great distance, which is fur- nished by the fact of so many considerable streams (such as the Keebaly, the Gadda, the Kahpily, the Nomayo, and the Nalobey) all having their channels uniting in what is com- paratively a very limited area. The result of all my varied inquiries seemed to demonstrate most satisfactorily that to the south-west of Munza's residence the land takes a decided rise ; and the existence of certain detached groups of hills, which according to the declarations of the natives are at no very great distance, serves to confirm my belief as to the orographical character of the country. The hills and isolated mountains to which I refer would be, I imagine, none other than the western fringe of the "Blue Mountains," which Baker observed from the farther side of Lake Mwootan (the Albert Nyanza), and of which (as he saw them on the north- western confines of the lake) he reckoned that the height must be 8000 feet. From this spot also the position of the abodes of the tribe of the Maogoo was pointed out to me, and it lay between the S.B. and E.S.E. It was to me a very remarkable thing how accurately the natives of Africa, by the indication of the 552 THE HEART OF AFRICA. finger, would point to any particular locality ; they were also equally skilful in telling the hour of the day by the height of the sun, and I rarely detected an error of much more than half an hour in their representations. In wide open plains like the deserts of Nubia, where the journeys are made for many miles consecutively without the least variation in direc- tion, the precision of their estimate reaches such singular correctness, that if a lance is laid upon the ground the path to which it points will lead, with scarcely a hair's-breadth deviation, to the destination required, and the road thus indicated will accord perfectly with any direct route that may be marked upon the map. Many years ago Bruce of Kinuaird alluded to a circumstance of this kind in his travels through the Nubian desert ; and during my wanderings be- tween the Nile and the Eed Sea I had various opportunities of satisfying myself of the truth of what he states. Taking into calculation the geographical configuration of this part of Africa, and relying not so much upon the represen- tations of previous European travellers as upon the information obtained along the wide tract that extends from Lake Tsad to Kordofan and south of that line, it may be asserted that the Welle belongs to the system of the Shary. That the Welle has any connection with the Gazelle, and so ultimately with the Nile, is contradicted not merely by the general belief, but by the authenticated statements of the inhabitants who dwell upon its borders ; and more than this, it is totally inconsistent with the fact that the Welle is a stream vastly greater than the Gazelle in the volume of its waters ; for while both alike were at their lowest ebb on the 27th of April, 1863, Petherick has placed it upon record that the Gazelle had but 3042 cubic feet of water to roll on, in com- parison to 10,000 feet, which was the volume, every second, of the Welle. Perhaps I may seem to lay greater stress upon the in- formation which T gained by iny inquiries, than a rigorous THE WELLE. 553 critic, who knows what an ambiguous country I was travers- ing, may be inclined to think is fair. But let me invite his attention to the following statement. Although the entire eastern portion of the Niam-niara country from Mofio to Kanna has been repeatedly visited by companies from Khar- toom, and I have been repeatedly brought into contact with those who have taken part in the expeditions, I have never come across but one single individual who has represented that there is connection anywhere between the Welle and the Gazelle ; and in addition to this, the Monbuttoo and the Niam-niam, with an agreement that is undeviating, all repre- sent that the Welle holds on its course to the N.E. as far as they could follow it for days and days together, till it widens so vastly that the trees on its banks are not visible, and that at last there is nothing but water and sky. This repre- sentation would imply that the river issues in some inland lake. They have, moreover, their tales to tell of the in- habitants of the country on the lower part of the river, as to how they dress in white, and like the Nubians kneel upon the ground and say their prayers. Clearly, therefore, these resi- dents are Mohammedans, and the direction and the distance of their abode would seem to corroborate an impiession that they must be the inhabitants of some southern parts of Baghirmy. As I have spoken of the Welle in comparison with the Gazelle, I may now be permitted to bring it into contrast with the Shary, so far at least as the lower course of this river has been explored. According to the testimony of Major Denham, who made his observations on the 24th of June, 1824, the width of the Shary at its mouth was about half a mile, while its stream had a velocity of something under three miles an hour. This would indicate a stream three times as strong as that of the Welle, and if the average depth of the waters as they flow into Lake Tsad be reckoned at ten feet it would give a volume of 85,000 cubic feet a 554 THE HEART OF AFRICA. second, wliereas at tlie very highest reckoning the volume of the Welle is not above 20,000 cubic feet. On the otlier hand the eastern main branch of the 8hary at ]\[ele, where it was measured by Barth on the 18th of March, 1852, had a breadth of 1800 feet, and in mid-channel it had a depth of fifteen feet, while it was specially recorded as rolling on with a velocity of some three miles an hour, which, how- ever, in a way that we should not have expected, Barth says did not make him reckon the stream as particularly strong. That the Shary, so early as the month of March, should show an increase in the mass of its waters, would appear to indicate that according to theory it must be augmented by some other rivers coming from more southern latitudes than the Welle. It is a positive fact that there are no other streams of the least account that could possibly flow into it from the arid steppes of Darfoor and Wadai on the north ; the land there has no springs, and consumes for itself whatever it receives from the clouds above. If then the Welle flows neither into the Gazelle nor yet into the Shary, it might perhaps be asked whether it is not a tributary to the ample waters of the Benue, which Barth found at Yola, on the 18th of July, 1851, to be 1200 feet in width, having an average depth of 11 feet, and a periodic change of 50 feet between the highest and lowest level of its stream ; but then there would still remain the further question as to what, in that case, must be the source of the Shary, and whence it comes ; and this is a question that decides for itself the full value of the counter-evidence. It is a matter of especial interest to recollect that Barth would appear already to have announced the existence of the Welle under the name of the river of Kubanda. The people that he had about him were natives of Darfoor, who had been accustomed to carry on their expeditions for plunder ever since the year 1834. In fact he assigns the position of the river of Kubanda to the latitude of 3° N., and affixes a note to his account of it stating that "a tree, called the Kumba, is MONBUTTOO CANOES. 555 said to grow upon its banks." Now, Kumba is the Niam- niam for the abundant Mahighetta pepper {Xylojyia a/fhio2)ica) which has communicated its name to the Pepper Coast, and in the middle ages was a spice much valued and known as Habb-el-Selim (Selim's grains), and had probably been brought into the market by the people of Morocco, long before black pepper was known at all. I satisfied myself that at present this pepper is known to the Foorians as a product of the distant south. The transport of the caravan across the great river was by no means an easy matter ; by the aid, however, of the ferry- men whom Munza had provided, it was accomplished so vigorously that in the course of three hours our last man had been carried over. The passage was effected by large canoes which were hewn out of a single trunk of a tree, and which, alike in shape and solidity, were superior to what we had hitherto seen. Some of them were not less than thirty feet long and four feet broad, and sufficiently spacious to convey both horses and bullocks. So ample are their dimensions that there is no risk of their being upset, nor did they lurch in the least degree as we got into them. They were made with both ends running horizontally out into a beak, and the border lines were ornamented with carved figures. As the current was not very strong, it was found sufficient to have two boatmen, who squatted down at each extremity of the canoe ; their paddles were about five feet long, and tapered down towards the end in the shape of a narrow shovel, and to say the truth, the boatmen used them very much in shovel- fashion. I had seen the teak canoes on the Ked Sea which are called " Hoory " in Arabic, and are of a build imported from India, and many of the canoes which are in use at Suakim and Djidda, but none of these were comparable, either with respect to size or elegance, with the canoes of the Monbuttoo. It is remarkable that on the lower course of the Shary there 556 THE HEART OF AFRICA. are no ferry-boats in use except such as are made out of a number of planks fitted and fastened together ; the conclusion from this would appear to be obvious : either that there are no fine trees to be felled in that country, similar to those on the borders of the Welle, or that between the source and mouth of the Shary there are impediments to navigation which are insuperable. In the distance of about 1000 miles to Lake Tsad from the point of our passage, the stream would have fallen more than 1450 feet. Our encampment was formed about half-a-league to the south of the river ; it was encircled by the dwellings of the Monbuttoo, who had spread themselves over the declivity of a steep woody ravine. The groves in this locality yielded me every day fresh trophies in my raids upon the vegetable domains of Nature, whilst at nightfall the natives came trooping in and enlisted my curious interest. Ambassadors deputed by King Munza came to bring me his ofiicial recog- nition, and were charged at the same time to render to him what information they could about the doings and intentions of the wonderful stranger. As the messengers sent by the king were sufficiently versed in the Zandey dialect to hold conversation in it, I was enabled to make them understand the object of my visit to their country, and to all appearances tliey were thoroughly satisfied by my explanation. We were still at a little distance from the point which we had determined must be the limit of our progress for this year ; we had, however, but one clay's rest to make, and then we should proceed to make our entry into Munza's quarters. A fresh world of novelty seemed to be awaiting us in this remote region, the very kernel of the continent, equally distant from the Indian Ocean and from the Atlantic. Everything was new. The bright and clear complexion of the natives, their singular garb, their artistic furniture, the convenience of their orderly houses, and finally, the savage etiquette of the pompous court, all struck me with fresh surprise and ever renewed the feeling CHARMS OF TPIE MONBUTTOO LAND. 557 of astonishment. There was, moreover, an exuberance of strange and unexpected vegetation ; wliilst plantations, sugar- canes, and oil-palms were everywhere to be seen in plentiful luxuriance. Truly, I now found myself in the heart of Africa, realising to the letter the fascinating dreams of my early youth. Nothing could be more charming than that last day's march which brought us to the limit of our wanderings. The twelve miles which led to Munza's palace were miles enriched by such beauty as might be worthy of Paradise. They left an impression upon my memory which cau never fade. The plantain-groves harmonised so perfectly with the clustering oil-palms that notliing could surpass the per- fection of the scene ; whilst the ferns that adorned the countless stems iu the background of the landscape en- hanced the charms of the tropical groves. A fresh and invigorating atmosphere contributed to the enjoyment of it all, refreshing water and grateful shade being never far away. In front of the native dwellings towered the splendid figs, of which the spreading crowns defied the passage of the burning sun. Anon, we passed amidst jungles of Eaphia, alongside brooks crammed full of reeds, or through galleries where the Pandanus thrive 1, the road taking us uphill and downhill in alternate undulation. No less than twelve of these brooklets di I we pass upon our way, some lying in depressions of one hundred feet, and some sunk as much as two hundred feet below the summits of their bounding walls of verdant vegetation, and there were two upheaved and rounded hills of gneiss, rising to an altitude of some 300 feet, along the flanks of which we wound our path. On either hand there was an almost unbroken series of the idyllic homes of the people, who hurried to their gates, and offered us the choicest products of their happy clime. Beside the streamlet which was last but one of all we passed, we made our final halt in the shadow of a large 558 THE HEART OF AFRICA. assembly-ground that we might take our repast of phintains and baked manioc. The crowds of bearers made their camp around tlie stem of a colossal Cordia cibyssinica which stood upon the open space in front of the abode of the local chief, and reminded me of the Abyssinian villages, where this tree is specially cultivated. Von Beuermann has mentioned that he observed this tree in Kanem rendering the same service as the lindens of the German villages, and forming a cool and shady resort to which the residents might betake themselves for recreation. These trees, with their goodly coronets of spreading foliage, are the survivors from generations that are gone, and form a comely ornament in well-nigh all the villages of the ]\ronbuttoo. And then, at last, conspicuous amidst the massy depths of green, we espied the palace of the king. We had reached a broad valley, circled by plantations, and shadowed by some gigantic trees which had survived the decay of the ancient wilderness ; through the lowest part meandered a transparent brook. We did not descend into the hollow, but halting on the hither side we chose a station clear of trees, and proceeded without delay to fix our camj). We enjoyed a view in front of a sloping area, void of grass, enlivened with an endless multiplicity of huts, of which the roofs of some were like ordinary sheds, and those of others of a conical form. And there, surmounting all, with extensive courts broad and imposing, unlike anything we had seen since we left the edifices of Cairo, upreared itself the spacious pile of King Munza's dwelling. Tlie order for the halt was no sooner given than the bearers set about their wonted work, and labouring with their knives and hatchets soon procured from the jungles by the brook the supply of material sufficient for our architectural needs. Kapidly as ever our encampment was reared : hardly an hour elapsed before our place of sojourn was in order, with a gorgeous landscape opening in its front, and this time in ARRIVAL AT KING MUNZA'S PALACE. 550 view of the royal abode of an African monarch. ]My own tent, which began to exhibit only too plainly the tokens of being somewhat weather-beaten by repeated exposure, was located in the very midst of the lines of our grass-huts : not now was it erected, as often it had been, upon the bare rock of a desolate wilderness, but in the centre of a scene of surpassing beauty : for the first time I had it decorated with my flag, which waved proudly above it in honour of our arrival at the court of so distinguished and powerful a prince. The natives lost no time in crowding in and endeavouring to obtain an interview. But it suited my inclination to with- draw myself for a time. I remained in the retirement of- my tent simply because I was weary of these interviews, which always necessitated my permitting either my head to be handled, in order to convince them tliat the long straight hair was really my own, or my bosom (like Wallenstein's when he fronted his murderers) to be bared that they might admire its whiteness. I was thus induced to remain under shelter, and meanwhile the Monbuttoo magnates waited patiently or impatiently without; they had brought their benches, which they placed close to my quarters, but I con- tinued obstinate in my determination to be undisturbed, resolved to reserve all my strength and energy for the fol- lowing day, when I should have to exhibit the marvel of my existence before King Munza himself. END OF VOL. I. LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STItKET AND CIIAKrNG CROSS. I University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from w/tiicti it vwas borrowed. Date utAfi 1 4>ai D 000 288 760 2 .brary Bureau Cat. No. 1137