Ismailia

On my return to Gondokoro, I found that Meri's natives had collected a large quantity of stones, and they had sent to request a vessel to transport them. I gave them a cow, and they had a general dance. This reception seemed to delight them, and they returned to their villages, accompanied by a noggur with an officer and twenty men. I gave strict orders that no soldier should enter a native hut under any pretext.

The Bari war was over. Upon every side the natives had been thoroughly subdued. I now heard from our Bari interpreters, Sherroom and Morgian, that the Sheik Allorron was willing to sue for peace, and to declare his allegiance to the government.

Abou Saood and his people had departed; thus the evil spirit was withdrawn that had hitherto covertly incited the natives against the government, and the effect of his absence was immediately apparent.

I devoted my attention to the final preparations for the start, and to the necessary instructions for the command of the station during my absence. The officers found that it was now impossible to resist their destiny; and Raoul Bey, the colonel, who had, against orders, sent off so many troops to Khartoum who were in good health, now discovered that he would be left with a comparatively small force to hold the important position at head-quarters.

The troops who had been employed under my personal command, were very anxious to accompany me into the equatorial district.

There was no more fighting. All my hopes of peace were at length realized. The nights were always undisturbed, and the sentries might have indulged in sleep without the slightest danger. A dead calm had succeeded to the excitement of constant watchfulness.

I now employed the "Forty Thieves" in making salt. There were peculiar surface mines within a mile of my little station. These were situated upon a sandy loam on the banks of a brackish lake, that swarmed with crocodiles.

The salt always showed upon the surface after a shower of rain had been evaporated by the sun. This efflorescence, together with sand and other impurities, was scraped from the earth with large mussel shells. It was then placed in earthen-ware vessels containing about five gallons. There were pierced with holes in the bottom, which were covered with a wisp of straw as a strainer. The jars, being full of salt and sand, were watered occasionally, and the brine accordingly filtered through to a receiver. The contents were boiled, and produced the finest chloride of sodium.

The natural productions of the neighbourhood were salt, iron, tamarinds, the oil-nut tree; and the cultivation of the natives was principally Hibiscus hemp, tobacco, varieties of beans, sesame, dhurra, and dochan (millet). I endeavoured to persuade the Baris to cultivate and prepare large quantities of the Hibiscus hemp, which would be extremely valuable in the Soudan. The Baris used it for nets and fishing-lines.

The tamarinds were of two varieties, and were produced in extraordinary quantities. About two miles from head-quarters, there was an extensive portion of the forest composed almost exclusively of these magnificent trees.

The forest was also rich in the tree known by the Arabs as "heglik" This bears a fruit about the size of a date (lalobe), which is a combination of sweet, bitter, and highly aromatic. My men collected several hundredweight, as I wished to try an experiment in distilling. There was an excellent copper still in the magazine, and I succeeded in producing a delicious spirit somewhat resembling kirschenwasser.

My cotton was now ripe, and I cleaned it with a small hand gin that could be worked by two men. This greatly interested the Bari visitors, who, by my special invitation, had been residing for some time at Gondokoro.

The dry season had been very unfavourable for cotton; nevertheless, the quality was good, and proved that it would thrive in the locality. The species that was indigenous grew to a great size, and seemed to defy the drought. This bore a red blossom, and the pod was small. The native cotton was of short staple, and adhered strongly to the seed.

On 29th November, two Arabs arrived from Abou Saood's Latooka station, 100 miles east of Gondokoro: they had travelled at night, and were deserters from the vakeel. One of these fellows turned out to be my old follower during my former journey, Mohammed the camel-driver, and he literally cried with joy when he saw my wife and me again. He gave me all the news from the slave-traders' camp, which was full of slaves, and they were afraid that I might arrive, as they were aware that I knew the road. The vakeel of Latooka had received and harboured two of my Egyptian soldiers, who had deserted from Gondokoro and joined the slave-hunters under the guidance of a Bari.

On 1st December, Lieutenant Baker shot a fine bull elephant, with very large tusks; this was within four miles of head-quarters. At this season they were very numerous in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro. During my absence to the south of Regiaf, there had been a curious nocturnal alarm in the station.

Upon a fine moonlight night the sentries were astonished by the appearance of two immense bull elephants, that, having marched along the cliff, took the fort in the rear on the river side.

The fort was a redan, open at the river base; thus, unheeding the sentry, the elephants coolly walked into the centre. The sentry's musket was immediately responded to by the guard; the buglers, startled by a sharp fire of musketry, blew the alarm.

The elephants, now alarmed in their turn, rushed onwards, but upon ascending the earthwork, they were met by a deep yawning ditch, which they could not cross. The whole force turned out, and the attack on the thick-skinned intruders became general. The bullets flew so wildly that it was more dangerous for bystanders than for the elephants.

In the mean while, the panic-stricken animals charged wildly in all directions, but were invariably stopped by the ditch and rampart, until at last they happened to find the right direction, and retreated by their original entrance, most probably not much the worse for the adventure.

Mr. Higginbotham, who gave me this account, described the excitement of the troops as so intense, that they let their muskets off completely at random: and so thick were the bullets in his direction, that he was obliged to take shelter behind a white-ant hill.

I had no time to devote to elephant-shooting, otherwise I might have killed a considerable number in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro. The Baris are not good hunters, and they merely catch the elephants in pitfalls; therefore, being free from attack, these animals are exceedingly daring, and easy to approach.

They are generally attracted by the ripe lalobes, the fruit already described of the heglik (Balanites Egyptiaca). The trees, if of medium size, are frequently torn down for the sake of this small production, that would appear too insignificant for the notice of so huge an animal.

I once had an opportunity of witnessing an elephant's strength exerted in his search for this small fruit. I was in the Shir country, and one evening, accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, I strolled into the forest, about half a mile from our vessels, to watch for waterbuck (Redunca Ellipsiprymna) in a small glade where I had shot one on the previous evening.

We had not long been concealed, when I heard a peculiar noise in the thick forest that denoted the approach of elephants.

We at once retreated to some rising ground about 150 paces distant, as our small rifles would have been useless against such heavy game. In a short time several elephants appeared from various portions of the covert, and one of extraordinary size moved slowly towards us, until he halted beneath a tall, spreading heglik. This tree must have been nearly three feet in diameter, and was about thirty feet high from the ground to the first branch; it was therefore impossible for the elephant to gather the coveted fruit. To root up such a tree would have been out of the question. The elephant paused for a short time, as though considering; he then butted his forehead suddenly against the trunk. I could not have believed the effect: this large tree, which was equal in appearance to the average size of park-timber, quivered in every branch to such a degree, that had a person taken refuge from an elephant, and thought himself secure in the top, he would have found it difficult to hold on.

When the lalobes fall, they must be picked up individually and although the trouble appears disproportioned to the value of the fruit, there is no food so much coveted by elephants.

Near this spot, on the following day, I had a close adventure with a hippopotamus. I had gone to the same place where I had seen the elephants, and I was returning through the forest within a few yards of the river margin, when, upon suddenly turning round a dense thorn-bush, I came within four or five paces of a large bull hippopotamus. This animal had left the river for an evening ramble on the shore, and was munching some succulent grass with such gusto that he had not heard my approach. Unfortunately, I had come upon him exactly at right angles, which restricted my shot to the temple. This is the most difficult of penetration in the hippopotamus.

I only had the "Dutchman," and my attendant Monsoor carried a snider rifle; thus we were badly armed for so impenetrable a beast. I fired just in front of the ear, certainly within fifteen feet. The only effect produced was a shake of his head, and he appeared rather stupid, as though stunned. The left-hand barrel followed quickly upon the right. Monsoor fired with his snider. The "Dutchman," being a breechloader, was ready again, and we fired into this stupid-looking brute as though he had been a target, and with about the same effect.

Suddenly, as though we had just awakened him, he turned round and bolted into a dense mass of thorns, about thirty paces before us.

In the mean time, the troops at the vessels, that were within about 300 paces, having heard the rapid and continued firing, supposed that I had been attacked by the natives. The "Forty Thieves" rushed to the rescue. I heard the bugle, and presently the voices of the men as they approached, running through the bush at full speed. The hippopotamus had moved from his thorny retreat, and was walking slowly forward, when he was stumbled against by "The Forty," some of whom literally ran against him.

The animal appeared quite stunned and stupid, and he merely stood and stared at his new assailants. The sight was perfectly ridiculous. Every rifle was fired into him; but the hollow bullets of the sniders had no penetration, and we might as well have peppered the stone bulls of Nineveh, in the British Museum. At length, after having been the centre of a blaze of fireworks, as every man did his best to kill him during the space of about a minute, he coolly approached the edge of the cliff, which was quite perpendicular and about eighteen feet high.

A tremendous splash was the end of the encounter, as the hippo committed himself to the deep, with a clumsy jump from the midst of the disappointed soldiers.

I was constantly annoyed by the want of penetration of the Boxer hollow bullets. The "Dutchman" carried three drachms of No. 6-grain powder, which should have driven a solid bullet through a large antelope; but the hollow Boxer projectile invariably disappeared in small fragments upon striking a bone; or it expanded, and had no further penetrating power after striking a thick hide.

The sniders, although admirable military weapons, possessed a very small power of penetration. I have frequently seen the bodies of natives with only one bullet-mark; and I have extracted bullets that ought to have passed completely through.

My "Forty Thieves" were now proud of themselves as experienced in various sports, and they were terribly disgusted at the escape of the hippopotamus. They were never idle for a single day. If no other work was on hand, I practised them at the target, or they were treated to a few hours' drill.

Sometimes I took them fishing: this was always a great amusement, as the expedition was well furnished with nets.

There was a small lake near my station that abounded in fish. One of my sailors belonging to the diahbeeah was a professional fisherman, descended from a race of this calling. I had therefore intrusted him with the charge of the nets. All the sailors of the diahbeeah were good men, but the fisherman, Howarti, was the best of the picked crew. He was a Nubian, born in Khartoum, and of an exceedingly light colour. His style of beauty was rather spoiled by the loss of one eye, and altogether his personal appearance was not attractive; but he was very strong, although a small man, and in any case of emergency he was the most active and intelligent sailor. Howarti was always the first man to leap overboard with the tow rope, when it became necessary to drag the vessel against wind and stream: he was, like all Nubians, an admirable swimmer.

Our comfort had depended much upon this man throughout the expedition, as he was the only person who could properly throw a casting-net. Thus he had always supplied us with excellent fish. I often admired his perseverance, when, after twenty or thirty barren casts, he rested for a while, cleaned his net, and waded, in spite of crocodiles, to seek a more likely spot to catch fish for breakfast, at a time when this meal would depend entirely upon his success. At such times I frequently advised him as a good Mohammedan to say "Bismillah" (in the name of God) before he threw the net. On the first occasion, before I gave him this advice, he had had extremely bad luck, and he told me that "something was wrong with the fish;" as he had thrown his net for an hour without catching anything, except a few uneatable spike-fish.

I advised him to come with me in the dingy; and having rowed a short distance, we arrived at a sand-bank in the bend of the river. Here we landed, and I found fault with Howarti for omitting to say "Bismillah!"

"Will it do any good?" asked the profane Howarti. "Try," I replied; "you know the opinion of Mohammedans; now then, Howarti, say 'Bismillah,' and throw just in that hole close to the weeds. Spin your net so that it shall fall perfectly round, and advance very quietly to the edge, so that your shadow shall not disturb the fish."

"Bismillah!" ejaculated Howarti, and he crept cautiously forward to a very likely-looking hole. "Bismillah!" and with a dexterous throw, the net described an exact circle as it fell evenly upon the water.

No sooner had the fisherman commenced to tighten the crown line, when the rapid and powerful jerks showed that he had something good within his net. "Now, Howarti, look sharp! the bottom is clean sand: haul away, and don't give them time to burrow beneath the leads."

Howarti hauled away, and as the net came near the shore, there was such a splashing and jumping as he had rarely seen. The net came in upon the clean sand-bank, and we counted upwards of forty fine boulti, several of about four pounds, and the smallest about half a pound weight.

Howarti, having counted his fish, exclaimed, piously,

"Elliambd-el-Illah!" and added: "In future I shall always say 'Bismillah!'"

Howarti cleaned his net: the fish were placed in a basket, and were covered with some river-weed to keep them fresh.

Once more the fisherman arranged his net upon his arm, and cautiously approached a most inviting little nook, where some large lotus leaves floating on the surface denoted a medium depth.

"Now then, Howarti, throw very carefully, so as to spread your net in that open space among the lilies, and take care to avoid the leaf stems that would lift the leads."

"Bismillah!" away flew the net, which fell in a circle, exactly in the spot desired.

It was amusing to watch the usually stolid countenance of Howarti, that was now expressive of intense curiosity.

The crown-line jerked and tugged even more than at the first lucky throw. Howarti cleverly and cautiously landed his net. It contained a regular "miraculous draught," including a Nile carp of about nine pounds.

"That will do, Howarti," I exclaimed; "we have fish enough for all the people on the diahbeeah, as well as for the officers of 'The Forty.'" The basket would not contain them; therefore the larger fish were laid upon grass in the bottom of the boat, and we returned home.

Howarti now divided the fish according to orders, and explained to the delighted crowd the extraordinary effect of the word "Bismillah," which insured a netful at every cast.

On the following morning, at sunrise, the now pious Howarti went out as usual with his casting-net accompanied by a sailor, who carried the largest basket he could procure.

We had moved our position, and there was no sand-bank in the neighbourhood.

After an absence of about two hours, Howarti returned, together with his companion and the large basket. This contained a few small fish hardly sufficient for our breakfast.

"Ah, Howarti!" I exclaimed, "you are a bad Mussulman—you have forgotten to say 'Bismillah.'"

"Indeed," replied the dejected fisherman, "I repeated 'Bismillah' at every cast; but it's of no use saying 'Bismillah' in deep water; nothing will catch them in the deep, and I can catch them without 'Bismillah' in the shallows."

Howarti was not a fanatical Mohammedan. Poor fellow he never lived to return with us to Khartoum: his melancholy death will be described hereafter.

In fishing in the lake at Gondokoro Howarti had the usual charge of the proceedings. We dragged a boat across the neck of land from the river, and having launched it, we first laid a stop net 140 yards in length along the bank of bulrushes that grew in water about five feet deep; this was to stop the fish from running into the rushes on the advance of the drag-net.

We now dragged a portion of the lake towards the stop-net, intending to land it upon an incline where the water was extremely shallow.

The "Forty Thieves" hauled away steadily enough until the net came close in. At that moment several immense fish dashed about within the narrowed inclosure; these created such excitement, that the men rushed into the water to secure them, which ended in the escape of the greater portion of the fish.

The next haul was very successful, and after fishing for about two hours, we caught 434 fine fish, one of which weighed 40 lbs. and another 26 lbs. I sent 200 to head-quarters for the troops.

The greater number of these fish were boulti and baggera, both of which are species of perch, and are delicious eating. I have never caught a boulti larger than five pounds, but the baggera grows to an immense size, and I have seen them about 150 lbs. or more. I once weighed a baggera upwards of 130 lbs., but they are said to attain a weight of several hundreds.

I have formerly described the beauty of this salmon-coloured fish in "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia."

It is well known that in all countries the same species of fish differs in flavour and quality according to the water in which it is caught; thus the boulti and baggera are almost worthless in the lower Nile, compared with the same fish of the upper river.

Travellers may often unjustly condemn a fish as worthless, because it may have been out of season when they had the opportunity of eating it.

I never tasted any fresh-water fish superior to a boulti, slightly salted, and smoked for twelve or eighteen hours.

In hot climates all fish should be split down the back, and laid open; they should then be salted and should lie for a few hours to drain; after which they should be hung over the smoke of a dry-wood fire. This treatment renders them delicious for immediate use, but if required to keep, they must be smoked for a couple of days, and then be highly dried in the sun.

The 14th December was the Mohammedan holiday called the "Ume el Ete," on which day every person, however poor he or she may be, is supposed to dress in new clothes.

We had now been upwards of twelve months without communication with Khartoum. The soldiers' clothes were reduced to rags, as they had suffered much from hard work and fighting in thorny bush. The whole force was in despair: they were in arrears of pay, they were without clothes; the festival was close at hand, and instead of turning out in finery, they would be dirty, dingy, and ragged.

Every one was downcast. The troops could not possibly start with me to the interior, to represent the government in a state of rags or nudity.

On 13th December, the day preceding the festival, I summoned the officers to the magazine, in which I fortunately had all that could be required. The merchandise and general stores that I had purchased in England had no connection with the army clothing and stores which should have been supplied for the troops from Khartoum. This supply had been impossible owing to the state of the river.

I served out new clothing for the entire expedition. I arranged that 212 officers and men should accompany me to the interior. To these I gave scarlet flannel shirts and white trousers. The officers received all that they required, and the men were allowed to purchase from the government stores any articles that they considered necessary for themselves or their wives. (There was no cash at Gondokoro; thus, in the absence of pay, the soldiers were contented with the supplies from the magazine which furnished all their wants.)

On 14th December the cannons fired at sunrise to proclaim the holiday. I rode up to head-quarters and inspected the troops on parade, all in their new uniforms. Every man was in a good humour, and they burst out into three cheers as I completed the inspection and addressed a few words to them.

The men's wives were decked out with gaudy colours, and were happy in proportion to the amount of red and yellow.

The troops and sailors were astonished at the unfailing contents of the magazines, which established confidence that should we be positively cut off from all communication with Khartoum, we were nevertheless independent of supplies.

Everything was in order at Gondokoro. The natives were at peace; food was abundant; the station securely fortified.

I now determined to penetrate into the south, and to carry a steamer in sections to N. lat. 3 degrees 32 minutes, where she would be constructed by the Englishmen, and launched on the navigable river above the last cataracts, to open the communication with the Albert N'yanza.

All intrigues and opposition to the expedition had been overcome. Although my force was small, the men were full of confidence, and promised to follow wheresoever I might lead.

CHAPTER XIV

THE ADVANCE SOUTH

Military critics will condemn my arrangements for an advance south.

My original plans had been well laid. A line of fortified posts was to have been established throughout the country at intervals of three days' march. This would have assured an open communication with Gondokoro.

Unfortunately, my force had been 350 men short of the number stipulated; and the 1,200 men that had once been reviewed at Gondokoro had been reduced to 500.

I could not leave a smaller force at head-quarters than 340 men, including the 52 sailors; thus I was left with only 212 officers and men to commence a long and uncertain journey directly away from my base, without the power of communication in the event of unforeseen difficulty.

I had already experienced the treachery of natives, upon whom no reliance could be placed.

My intention was to leave the Englishmen, with the steamer sections, at a station to be formed at Ibrahimeyeh (Afuddo on the map) on the navigable Nile, N. lat. 3 degrees 32 minutes, together with a small garrison.

I should then endeavour to form an irregular corps of some of Abou Saood's men, who would be thrown out of employment at the expiration of the contract. This was near at hand.

An irregular corps of 600 men would, in addition to my 200, enable me to complete the annexation of the country, and to finish my work before the reinforcements should arrive from Khartoum.

On the other hand, the men of Abou Saood might refuse to enlist in government service. Already they had been rendered passively hostile by the influence of Abou Saood. They had secretly encouraged the Baris in their war against the government; they might repeat this conduct, and incite the tribes against us in the interior.