Ismailia

I assured him that no country could prosper without industry and a good government; that agriculture was the foundation of a country's wealth; and that war or civil disturbance, which interfered with agricultural employment, would ruin the kingdom. He replied that "Rionga was the sole cause of war; therefore it would be necessary to destroy him before any improvements could be made. If Rionga were killed and the slave-hunters expelled from the country, there might be some hope of progress; but that it was wasting breath to talk of commerce and agriculture until Rionga should be destroyed."

This was Kamrasi's old tune once more dinned into my ears. In my former journey I had been deserted by my carriers and starved for three months at Shooa Moru, simply to induce me to yield to this repeated demand: "Kill Rionga; or give me your men to assist me against him."

From what I had heard I considered that Rionga must be a very fine fellow, and much superior to either Kamrasi or his son.

In my former journey I had accomplished a long and difficult exploration without firing a shot at a human being; and I had studiously avoided meddling in native politics, which is certain to involve a traveller in difficulty. It had always been a source of great satisfaction when I looked back to my past adventures, and reflected that I had never pulled a trigger at a native; thus the arrival of a white man in these countries would be regarded without suspicion.

In my present expedition I had always endeavoured to preserve peace, but, as this work will show, I was in every instance forced to war in absolute self-defence. I was therefore determined not to attack Rionga, unless he should presume to defy the government.

In reply to Kabba Rega and his chiefs, who all had joined in the argument, I declared that I would find means to establish peace, and that Rionga would assuredly come to terms. Nothing would induce me to use force against him or any other person, unless absolutely necessary. I suggested to Kabba Rega that he should for a moment change positions with Rionga. What would his feelings be should I wantonly attack him, simply because I had been requested to do so by his enemy?

No argument was of any avail. Kabba Rega replied, "You were my father's friend and brother: your wife was the same. You drove back the slave-hunters under Wat-el-Mek by hoisting your flag. Since you left us, the slave-hunters have returned and ruined the country. My father is dead; but Rionga is still alive. Now you are my father, and your wife is my mother: will you allow your son's enemy to live?"

It was quite useless to attempt reason with this hardened young fellow, who had not an idea of mercy in his disposition. As he had murdered his own relatives by the foulest treachery, so he would of course destroy any person who stood in his way. I therefore changed the conversation to Abou Saood.

Kabba Rega and his sheiks all agreed that he had arrived here some time ago in a very miserable plight, exceedingly dirty, and riding upon a donkey. He was without baggage of any kind, and he introduced himself by giving a present to Kabba Rega of an old, battered metal basin and jug, in which he washed, together with a very old and worn-out small carpet, upon which he was accustomed to sit. With these magnificent presents he declared that he was "the son of a sultan, who had come to visit the king of Unyoro."

Kabba Rega had replied that "he did not believe it, as he had heard that he was simply a trader."

Reports had reached Unyoro that I had arrived at Gondokoro, and that I was on my way to visit Kamrasi, and to explore the Albert N'yanza; therefore Kabba Rega had questioned Abou Saood concerning me.

"Oh," Abou Saood replied, "that man whom we call 'the traveller'? Oh yes, he was a very good fellow indeed; but he is dead. He died long ago. The Pacha is a very different person; and I hope he will never be able to reach this country. If he does, it will be a bad time for YOU."

"Indeed!" replied Kabba Rega. "I heard that the Pacha and the traveller, the friend of my father, were the same person."

"You have been deceived," said Abou Saood. "The Pacha is not like the traveller, or any other man. He is a monster with three separate heads, in each of which are six eyes—three upon each side. Thus with eighteen eyes he can see everything and every country at once. He has three enormous mouths, which are furnished with teeth like those of a crocodile, and he devours human flesh. He has already killed and eaten the Bari people and destroyed their country. Should he arrive here, he will pull you from the throne and seize your kingdom. You must fight him, and by no means allow him to cross the river at Foweera. My soldiers will fight him on the road from Gondokoro, as will all the natives of the country: but I don't think he will be able to leave Gondokoro, as he has a large amount of baggage, _and I have told the Baris not to transport it:—thus he will have no carriers."

This was the actual report that Abou Saood had given to Kabba Rega, as the dragoman Umbogo had been the interpreter, in the presence of Mohammed, my old Cairo dragoman.

I laughed outright at this absurdity: at the same time it corroborated all that I had already heard of Abou Saood's treachery. I immediately asked Kabba Rega if he was satisfied now that he had seen me? He replied, "Abou Saood is a liar, and you are Kamrasi's friend, and my father: therefore you will, I am sure, assist me, and relieve me from my great enemy, Rionga. I shall then know that you are indeed my true friend."

Once more it was necessary to change the conversation. A number of buffoons that were kept about the court for the amusement of the young king now came forward. The crowd was driven back, and an open space having been thus cleared, they performed a curious theatrical scene, followed by a general fight with clubs, until one man, having knocked down all the party, remained the victor. The scene terminated with an act of disgusting indecency, which created roars of laughter from the immense crowd, who evidently considered this was the great joke of the piece.

"Kabba Rega now took leave, and retired as he had before arrived, with drums, whistles, horns, flageolets, making a horrid din . . . ."

The spot that I had selected for a station was at the southern edge of the town, from which site the land sloped into a valley about a hundred feet below. I had at once commenced clearing away the high grass, and, as usual when first settling, I had broken up a few small plots, and had already sown seeds of English cucumbers, sweet melons, &c.

The soil was wonderfully rich, at the same time it was very easily worked. When the tall rank grass was torn out by the roots, a fine surface was exposed that resembled dark chocolate. This was a vegetable loam, with a minimum of two feet thickness, resting upon a bright red quartz gravel.

The quartz was not rounded, and appeared to be only the residue of decayed rock that had never been subjected to the action of running water. When washed, a handful remained of sharp and clear white fragments.

With such a subsoil the country must be healthy, as the heaviest shower drained rapidly through the gravel.

I employed the prisoners in clearing the grass, while the soldiers commenced cultivation, and dug up the ground with a number of hoes that I borrowed from Kabba Rega.

These implements are nearly the same in shape as those in Gondokoro and throughout the Madi country, but smaller, and the iron is very brittle and inferior. They are not used like the Dutch hoe, with a long handle, but are fixed upon a piece of wood with a bend of natural growth, so the hoe can be used with a downward stroke like a pick-axe.

On 29th April I commenced building a government house and public divan.

The king of Uganda (M'tese) has envoys throughout the countries which surround his dominions. One of these chiefs, who represented M'tese at Masindi, paid me a visit, and gave me a good deal of information.

He described the M'wootan N'zige (Albert N'yanza) as forming the western frontier of Karagwe, from which point it turned westward for a distance unknown. This was a similar description to that given by Kamrasi some years ago.

I gave the envoy a red and yellow handkerchief to tie around his head.

The man was neatly dressed in Indian clothes that had arrived from Bombay via Zanzibar.

On 30th April, Kabba Rega sent a present of twelve elephants' tusks, forty-one loads of tullaboon, twelve pots of sour plantain cider, and thirty-four cows. At the same time, he complained that some of Abou Saood's people were taking slaves in the neighbourhood of Foweera and Kisoona.

The principal chiefs, together with Kabba Rega, assured me that Abou Saood's people had been in the habit of torturing people to extract from them the secret of the spot in which their corn was concealed. Throughout Unyoro there are no granaries exposed at the present time, as the country has been ravaged by civil war; thus all corn is buried in deep holes specially arranged for that purpose. When the slave-hunters sought for corn, they were in the habit of catching the villagers and roasting their posteriors by holding them down on the mouth of a large earthen water jar filled with gloving embers. If this torture of roasting alive did not extract the secret, they generally cut the sufferer's throat to terrify his companion, who would then divulge the position of the hidden stores to avoid a similar fate. This accusation was corroborated by Mohammed, the Cairo dragoman.

It is difficult to conceive the brutality of these brigands, who, thus relieved from the fear of a government, exhibit their unbridled passions by every horrible crime.

Umbogo, the interpreter, was now regularly installed in a hut within call of my tent. This man appeared to be exceedingly fond of us, and he was the main source of information.

He had a very lovely wife, a Bahooma, who was a light brown colour, with beautiful Abyssinian eyes; she had been given to him by Kabba Rega, with whom he was a great favourite.

Umbogo was very intelligent, and he took a great interest in all my plans for establishing free trade throughout the country: but he told me privately that he thought the idea would be opposed secretly by Kabba Rega, who would wish to monopolize all the ivory trade, in order to keep up the price, and to obtain the whole of the merchandise.

The great variety of goods much astonished him, and he advised me strongly to send for a large supply of soap, for which there would be a great demand, as a light complexion was greatly admired in Unyoro. He said that Mohammed, the Cairo dragoman, was several shades lighter since I had supplied him with soap; this was true, as he had been very filthy before my arrival; but Umbogo was persuaded that the difference between white and black people was caused by the fact of our ancestors having always used soap, while the blacks used only plain water. This ethnological fact having been established, I gave him a small piece, to his great delight, as he expressed his intention to become a white man.

I was always chatting with Umbogo and the various chiefs, especially with my favourite, Kittakara, who was Kabba Rega's most confidential counsellor. They gave me a graphic account of the royal funeral that had taken place a few months ago, when Kamrasi has interred.

When a king of Unyoro dies, the body is exposed upon a framework of green wood, like a gigantic gridiron, over a slow fire. It is thus gradually dried, until it resembles an over-roasted hare.

Thus mummified, it is wrapped in new bark-cloths, and lies in state within a large house built specially for its reception.

The sons fight for the throne. The civil war may last for years, but during this period of anarchy, the late king's body lies still unburied.

At length, when victory has decided in favour of one of his sons, the conqueror visits the hut in which his father's body lies in state. He approaches the corpse, and standing by its side, he sticks the butt-end of his spear in the ground, and leaves it thus fixed near the right hand of the dead king. This is symbolical of victory.

The son now ascends the throne, and the funeral of his father must be his first duty.

An immense pit or trench is dug, capable of containing several hundred people.

This pit is neatly lined with new bark-cloths.

Several wives of the late king are seated together at the bottom, to bear upon their knees the body of their departed lord.

The night previous to the funeral, the king's own regiment or body-guard surround many dwellings and villages, and seize the people indiscriminately as they issue from their doors in the early morning. These captives are brought to the pit's mouth.

Their legs and arms are now broken with clubs, and they are pushed into the pit on the top of the king's body and his wives.

An immense din of drums, horns, flageolets, whistles, mingled with the yells of a frantic crowd, drown the shrieks of the sufferers, upon whom the earth is shovelled and stamped down by thousands of cruel fanatics, who dance and jump upon the loose mould so as to form it into a compact mass; through which the victims of this horrid sacrifice cannot grope their way, the precaution having been taken to break the bones of their arms and legs. At length the mangled mass is buried and trodden down beneath a tumulus of earth, and all is still. The funeral is over.

Upon my return to Egypt I was one day relating this barbarous custom to a friend, when Mr. Kay, of Alexandria, reminded me of the curious coincidence in the description of the travels of Ibn Batuta, written A.D. 1346.

I am indebted to Mr. Kay for the following extract from the work of Ibn Batuta, which will go far to prove the extreme conservatism of Africans in all that regards their rites and customs.

On his arrival at Khan Balik (Pekin), Ibn Batuta found that the khan, or emperor, was absent. His cousin had risen against him, and had been joined by most of the ameers, who accused the khan of having broken the laws of the Yassak, and had called upon him to abdicate.

The emperor marched against the rebels at the head of an army (which, Ibn Batuta says, consisted of a million cavalry and half a million infantry). A battle was fought, in which the khan was defeated and killed.

"This news reached the capital a few days after our arrival. The city was decorated, drums and trumpets were sounded, and games and rejoicings instituted, which continued for the space of a month.

"The dead body of the khan was then brought, together with the bodies of about a hundred men, his relations and followers.

"A large vault was constructed underground. It was spread with magnificent carpets, and the body of the khan was laid in it, along with his weapons and with the gold and silver vessels that were used in his household.

"Four female slaves and six memluks were led into the vault, each provided with a drinking vessel filled with liquid.

"The entrance of the vault was walled up, and earth was heaped on the top until it resembled a large hillock.

"Four horses were then brought and made to gallop in the neighbourhood of the tomb until they stood still with fatigue. A large beam of wood was erected over the tomb, and to this the horses were attached, being impaled with wooden pales, passed longitudinally through their bodies and projecting through their mouths.

"The bodies of the khan's relatives, whom I have previously mentioned, were likewise deposited in vaults, each with his weapons and with the vessels used in his house.

"Those of highest rank were ten in number. Over each of their tombs three horses were impaled, and one horse over each of the others.

"The day was one of public solemnity, and no one abstained from its observance, neither man nor woman, Moslem nor infidel. All arrayed themselves in funeral garments—the infidels wearing white tailasans, and the Moslem white gowns.

"The empresses, wives of the khan, and his chief followers remained in the neighbourhood of the tomb for forty days, living in tents. Some prolonged their stay up to a year, and a market was established at which provisions and every other necessary were sold.

"These are practices of the existence of which among any other people in these present times I have no personal knowledge.

"The Indian infidels and the people of China burn their dead. Others bury them, but without burying living men or women along with the corpse.

"But I was informed in the Soudan, by persons upon whose word full reliance may be placed, that among certain infidels in these countries, on the death of the king, a vault is constructed in which the corpse is laid, and along with it a certain number of his courtiers and servants; as also thirty persons, sons and daughters of the most distinguished men of the country. The fore-arms of these persons are first broken, as also their legs, below the knees, and drinking vessels are deposited with them in the tomb.

"I was informed by a person, one of the chief men of the Masuffahs, who dwelt in the country of Koobar, in the Soudan, and who was a favourite with the sultan, that on the death of the latter the people wished to bury my informant's son in the tomb along with those of their own children who had been chosen for the same purpose. He added: 'I remonstrated, saying, "How can ye do this? The lad is not of your faith, neither is he one of your children." Finally, I ransomed him,' he continued, 'with a heavy payment.'". . . .

This is an interesting fact, that so long ago as the year 1346 such a practice was known to exist in Central Africa.

When the funeral rites of Kamrasi were over, Kabba Rega ascended the throne, and succeeded to all his father's wives, with the exception of his own mother. This is the invariable custom in Unyoro.

The throne is composed partly of copper and of wood. It is an exceedingly small and ancient piece of furniture, and has been handed down for many generations and is considered to be a cojoor, or talisman. There is also an ancient drum, which is regarded with reverence as something uncanny, and the two articles are always jealously guarded by special soldiers, and are seldom used.

Should the throne be lost or stolen, the authority of the king would disappear, together with the talisman, and disorder would reign throughout the country until the precious object should be restored.

CHAPTER XIX

RESTORATION OF THE LIBERATED SLAVES

The work had now fairly commenced, and Kabba Rega and his chiefs were assured of a grand reform. Already the slave-hunters had been punished: the vakeel, Suleiman, was secured in the stocks, and the slaves that had been kidnapped had been restored to their homes in Unyoro. I now determined to insist upon the restoration of all the Unyoro slaves that had been carried away from this country, and were captives in the zareebas of Fatiko, Fabbo, Faloro, and Farragenia. From the descriptions of Kabba Rega and his chiefs, I considered that these prisoners amounted to about a thousand persons—women and children.

Umbogo, the interpreter, declared that Abou Saood's companies would attack the government troops, should I insist upon the liberation of the slaves. He had lived with these slave-hunters, and he had frequently heard them declare, that, "should the Pacha ever arrive in this country, and insist upon the suppression of slavery, they would shoot him rather than lose their slaves." I treated this idea as an absurdity.

At the same time that Kabba Rega and his people were eager for the restoration of the numerous women and children that had been stolen from Unyoro, they were themselves great slave-dealers.

M'tese, the powerful King of Uganda, on the southern frontier of Unyoro, was in the habit of purchasing ivory in that country for the merchants of Zanzibar.

These purchases were made by an exchange of slaves, brass-coil bracelets, and long cotton shirts; which were either of British or Indian manufacture, that had arrived via Zanzibar.

M'tese, with his usual sagacity, did not permit the merchants of that country to enter Uganda in force, but he received from them both slaves and merchandise, which he sent into the surrounding countries for the purchase of ivory. He thus monopolized the trade, and kept the price at a minimum.

In Unyoro there was an established value for a healthy young girl. Such a person was equal to a single elephant's tusk of the first class, or to a new shirt. Thus a girl could be purchased for a shirt, and she might be subsequently exchanged for a large elephant's tusk.

In the country of Uganda, where the natives are exceedingly clever as tailors and furriers, needles are in great demand. A handsome girl may be purchased for thirteen English needles! Thus for slave-traders there existed an excellent opening for a profitable business. A girl might be bought for thirteen needles in Uganda, to be exchanged in Unyoro for an elephant's tusk that would be worth twenty or thirty pounds in England.

Abou Saood's brigands had been far too lawless even for this innocent traffic, and in default of the merchandise necessary for such profitable exchanges, they had found it more convenient to kidnap young girls, which saved much trouble in bargaining for needles and shirts.

In every African tribe that I have visited, I found slavery a natural institution of the country. I had at length discovered that it was bad policy to commence a dissertation against the slave trade generally; this attacked local interests, therefore it was more diplomatic to speak against the capture of women and children that belonged to my hearers, but to avoid a discussion upon the moral aspect of the slave trade.

The negro idea of the eighth commandment is: "Thou shalt not steal—from ME;" but he takes a liberal view of the subject when the property belongs to another.

I had been rather startled in the year of my arrival at Gondokoro, when, during the voyage, I landed and conversed with some sheiks of the Shir tribe. One of these headmen was loud in his complaints against the slave-hunters and against the slave trade in particular, from which his tribe had suffered. Many of the women and children had been carried off by a neighbouring tribe, called the Berri, on the east of the Nile. The sheik therefore proposed that I should join him with my troops and capture all the women and children that belonged to his enemies. This was natural enough, and was a simple example of the revenge that is common to uneducated human nature. The sheik and I got on famously, and I found a good listener, to whom I preached a touching sermon upon the horrors of the slave trade, which I was resolved to suppress.

The good man was evidently moved at the allusion to the forcible separation of children from their parents.

"Have you a son?" he asked.

"My sons are, unfortunately, dead," I replied.

"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "I have a son—an only son. He is a nice boy—a very good boy; about so high (showing his length upon the handle of his spear). I should like you to see my boy—he is very thin now; but if he should remain with you he would soon get fat. He's a really nice boy, and always hungry. You'll be so fond of him; he'll eat from morning till night; and still he'll be hungry. You'll like him amazingly; he'll give you no trouble if you only give him plenty to eat. He'll lie down and go to sleep, and he'll wake up hungry again. He's a good boy, indeed; and he's my only son. I'll sell him to you for a molote! (native iron spade)."

The result of my sermon on the slave trade, addressed to this affectionate father, was quite appalling. I was offered his only son in exchange for a spade! and this young nigger knave of spades was warranted to remain always hungry.

I simply give this anecdote as it occurred without asserting that such conduct is the rule. At the same time, there can be no doubt that among the White Nile tribes any number of male children might be purchased from their parents—especially in seasons of scarcity.

Girls are always purchased, if required, as wives. It would be quite impossible to obtain a wife for love from any tribe that I have visited. "Blessed is he that hath his quiver full of them" (daughters). A large family of girls is a source of wealth to the father, as he sells each daughter for twelve or fifteen cows to her suitor. Every girl is certain to marry; thus a dozen daughters will bring a fortune of at least 150 cows to their parents in all pastoral countries.