Ismailia Part 14

After dinner and a pipe, the usual arrangements were made for the night.

There were many servants, male and female, on board; these began to suspend their mosquito curtains to the rigging and to creep beneath; the sailors, after chatting for a considerable time, dropped off to sleep--until the sentry was the only man on board who was on the alert.

I always slept on the p.o.o.p-deck, which was comfortably arranged with sofas and carpets.

The night was cold, and the moon clear and bright. Every one was wrapped up in warm blankets, and I was so sound asleep, that I cannot describe more until I was suddenly awoke by a tremendous splashing quite close to the diahbeeah, accompanied by the hoa.r.s.e wild snorting of a furious hippopotamus. I jumped up, and immediately perceived a hippo which was apparently about to attack the vessel. The main deck being crowded with people sleeping beneath their thick mosquito curtains, attached to the stairs of the p.o.o.p-deck, and to the rigging in all directions, rendered it impossible to descend. I at once tore away some of the ties, and awakened the sleepy people. My servant, Suleiman, was sleeping next to the cabin door. I called to him for a rifle. Before the affrighted Suleiman could bring the rifle, the hippopotamus dashed at us with indescribable fury. With one blow he capsized and sank the zinc boat with its cargo of flesh. In another instant he seized the dingy in his immense jaws, and the crash of splintered wood betokened the complete destruction of my favourite boat. By this time Suleiman appeared from the cabin with an unloaded gun in his hand and without ammunition. This was a very good man, but he was never overburdened with presence of mind; he was shaking so fearfully with nervousness, that his senses had entirely abandoned him. All the people were shouting and endeavouring to scare the hippo, which attacked us without ceasing with a blind fury that I have never witnessed in any animal except a bull-dog.

By this time I had procured a rifle from the cabin, where they were always kept fixed in a row, loaded and ready for action, with bags of breechloading ammunition on the same shelf.

The movements of the animal were so rapid as he charged and plunged alternately beneath the water in a cloud of foam and wave, that it was impossible to aim correctly at the small but fatal spot upon the head.

The moon was extremely bright, and presently, as he charged straight at the diahbeeah, I stopped him with a No. 8 Reilly sh.e.l.l. To my surprise, he soon recovered, and again commenced the attack.

I fired shot after shot at him without apparent effect. The diahbeeah rocked about upon the waves raised by the efforts of so large an animal; this movement rendered the aim uncertain. At length, apparently badly wounded, he retired to the high gra.s.s; there he lay by the bank, at about twenty-five yards' distance, snorting and blowing.

I could not distinguish him, as merely the head was above water, and this was concealed by the deep shadow thrown by the high gra.s.s. Thinking that he would die, I went to bed; but before this I took the precaution to arrange a white paper sight upon the muzzle of my rifle, without which, night shooting is very uncertain.

We had fallen asleep; but in about half an hour we were awoke by another tremendous splash, and once more this mad beast came charging directly at us as though unhurt. In another instant he was at the diahbeeah; but I met him with a ball in the top of his head which sent him rolling over and over, sometimes on his back, kicking with his four legs above the surface, and again producing waves which rocked the diahbeeah. In this helpless manner he rolled for about fifty yards down the stream, and we all thought him killed.

To our amazement he recovered, and we heard him splashing as he moved slowly along the river through the high gra.s.s by the left bank. There he remained snorting and blowing, and as the light of the moon was of no service in the dark shadows of the high gra.s.s, we waited for a considerable time and then went to bed, with the rifle placed in readiness on deck.

In a short time I heard louder splashing. I again got up, and I perceived him about eighty yards distant, walking slowly across the river in the shallows. Having a fair shot at the shoulder, I fired right and left with the No. 8 Reilly rifle, and I distinctly heard the bullets strike. He nevertheless reached the right bank, when he presently turned round and attempted to re-cross the shallow. This gave me a good chance at the shoulder, as his body was entirely exposed. He staggered forward at the shot, and fell dead in the shallow flat of the river.

He was now past recovery. It was very cold: the thermometer was 54 degrees Fahrenheit, and the blankets were very agreeable, as once more all hands turned in to sleep.

On the following morning I made a post-mortem examination. He had received three shots in the flank and shoulder; four in the head, one of which had broken his lower jaw; another through his nose had pa.s.sed downward and cut off one of his large tusks. I never witnessed such determined and unprovoked fury as was exhibited by this animal--he appeared to be raving mad. His body was a ma.s.s of frightful scars, the result of continual conflicts with bulls of his own species; some of these wounds were still unhealed. There was one scar about two feet in length, and about two inches below the level of the surface skin, upon the flank. He was evidently a character of the worst description, but whose madness rendered him callous to all punishment. I can only suppose that the attack upon the vessels was induced by the smell of the raw hippopotamus flesh, which was hung in long strips about the rigging, and with which the zinc boat was filled. The dead hippopotamus that was floating astern lashed to the diahbeeah had not been molested.

We raised the zinc boat, which was fortunately unhurt. The dingy had lost a mouthful, as the hippopotamus had bitten out a portion of the side, including the gunwale of hard wood; he had munched out a piece like the port of a small vessel, which he had accomplished with the same ease as though it had been a slice of toast.

I sent the boat to the English shipwrights for repair, and these capital workmen turned it out in a few days nearly as good as new.

The success of the dam was most complete. The river rose so as to overflow the marshes, which enabled us to push all the vessels up the channel without the necessity of deepening it by spade labour.

"March 14.--Should we succeed in reaching Gondokoro without serious loss, it will be the greatest possible triumph over difficulties, which no one can understand who has not witnessed the necessities of the journey.

"A diahbeeah arrived in the lake, breaking her yard in a sudden shift of wind, and giving a man a fall from aloft, which was fatal.

"The steamer and fleet are coming through the sudd as fast as the troops clear the channel.

"March 15.--The steamer arrived in the lake at 3.30 P.M.

"March 16.--Thermometer, 6 A.M., 61 degrees; noon, 82 degrees. Eleven vessels entered the lake last night. The wind has been very variable for the last few days, and the true north wind appears to have deserted us; the absence of a fair breeze delays us sadly in pushing through the narrow channels against the stream.

"Dysentery and scurvy are prevalent among the Egyptians. Four Egyptian soldiers and two Soudanis have deserted. Where these wretched fools intend to wander is quite a speculation;--they appear to have yielded to a temptation to run away upon the first dry land that they have seen for months.

"The fleet a.s.sembled in the lake. The Egyptian troops cut a pa.s.sage for fifty yards through a sudd in a channel through which the fleet must pa.s.s, as there is a shallow that will prevent them from taking the main course of the lake.

"To-morrow the whole force will turn out and cut the remaining portion of about 300 yards; there will then be no difficulty except a sudd of about three quarters of a mile between the lake and the White Nile.

"March 17.--We cut through the sudd, and all the vessels entered the broad waters of the lake and anch.o.r.ed in the evening opposite some native huts, close to the channel that we must open to-morrow. These huts are the first habitations that we have seen for more than two months;--they are now deserted by the frightened fishermen who had occupied them.

"March 18.--The diahbeeah led the way at 7.30 A.M. through the channel that is closed by gra.s.s and the Pistia Stratiotes. At 10.15 we arrived in the White Nile. There is plenty of water throughout the closed channel, but there was some heavy work to clear the vegetation.

"March 19.--All the vessels came through into the White Nile, and there was great rejoicing throughout the fleet. At length the men really believed that a country of dry land might lie before them, and that they were delivered from the horrible chaos or 'Slough of Despond' in which they had now laboured for sixty days.

"I served out new tow-ropes to the fleet, and ordered No. 13 transport to discharge and divide her cargo among other vessels, and to take on board thirty soldiers to accompany the steamer to-morrow. We remounted the steamer's paddles and tautened all the rigging of the diahbeeah; mended sails, and thoroughly repaired for a start to-morrow. No. 31 being a rotten vessel, I ordered her cargo to be divided among the lighter boats. I gave stringent orders to the officers to protect all ammunition and bales of goods with galvanized iron plates in case of rain.

"March 20.--All the vessels got away by 9 A.M. with a rattling breeze.

The steamer started at 10.8 A.M., but was delayed one hour and twenty minutes by her stupidly dragging the nogger ash.o.r.e in rounding a sharp corner.

"At 5.15 P.M. we arrived at a forest on the west bank. At 6.45 P.M. we stopped, as I was afraid we might pa.s.s the station of Wat-el-Shambi in the dark.

"March 21.--At 8.25 A.M. we started. Three natives came to the vessel and reported the zareeba to be close ahead.

"I served out fifteen rounds of snider ammunition per man to the 'Forty Thieves,' thus filling up their pouches to thirty rounds. The banks are now dry, and about two feet six inches above the river's level. The country is as usual flat, but covered with forest on the west. Cattle numerous, and bellowing in all directions.

"At 9.15 A.M. we arrived at Wat-el-Shambi. The forest is distant from the river, therefore at 10 we started with light south-east wind, and at 10.30 we returned to a good station for cutting fuel in the forest about four miles below Wat-el-Shambi.

"The few representatives of Ali Amouri, the trader at the latter station, declared that they could not supply us with cattle, they being hard up for provisions themselves. Their looks belied the excuse. Wind south all day, but changed to north at 6.30 P.M. The boat of the French trader, Jules Poncet, that had accompanied the fleet, arrived in the evening.

"A number of natives, stark naked, and smeared with wood ashes, came as usual to beg for corn. I have given strict orders that on no account shall corn be exchanged in purchases from the natives--otherwise our supply will be stolen wholesale. This order was broken through by Mustapha Ali, who therefore received a hundred lashes, as I was determined to enforce obedience.

"March 22.--Much lightning and wind from the south during the night. I fear rain. At daybreak we found Raouf Bey's vessel close up, and many others near. The north wind of last night must have aided them. The natives came in some numbers.

"March 23.--All hands yesterday and to-day busied in cutting wood for steamer.

"March 24.--Poor Jusef, one of the horsekeepers, died.

"March 25.--Started, with the steamer towing a noggur and my diahbeeah with about fifty hours' fuel on board, at 12.50 P.M.

"There has been wholesale theft of stores on No. 50 noggur. I caught and punished the captain in the act of selling our ammunition to the slave traders' people in their zareeba.

"March 26.--We travelled throughout last night; the stream is nearly three miles per hour. We lost an hour last evening in taking wood from the noggur in tow, as she leaks dangerously. I took six men and their effects from her, and placed them on the steamer, as she is quite unsafe.

"Arrived at the station of Abou Kookah at 10.25 A.M., having travelled badly against the strong south wind, and our bottom dirty. At 3.10 P.M.

we left Abou Kookah, and at 9.50 P.M. we arrived at the forest, close to the deserted mission station of St. Croix, where we halted for the night. There were vast herds of cattle and many natives on the east bank."

CHAPTER VII.

ARRIVAL AT GONDOKORO.

After the usual voyage upon the White Nile, during which we pa.s.sed the Bohr and the Shir tribes, and had excellent sport in antelope shooting when the steamer stopped at forests to cut fuel, we arrived opposite the old mission station at Gondokoro on April 15, 1871.

I found a great change in the river since my last visit. The old channel, which had been of great depth where it swept beneath the cliffs, was choked with sand-banks. New islands had formed in many places, and it was impossible for the vessels to approach the old landing-place. We therefore dropped down the stream to a spot where high ground and a few trees invited us to the east bank. At this place the traders had founded a new settlement that was now without in habitants, and was represented by half-a-dozen broken-down old huts.

"The country is sadly changed; formerly, pretty native villages in great numbers were dotted over the landscape, beneath shady clumps of trees, and the land was thickly populated. Now, all is desolate: not a village exists on the mainland; they have all been destroyed, and the inhabitants have been driven for refuge on the numerous low islands of the river; these are thronged with villages, and the people are busily cultivating the soil.

"I sent for the chief, Allorron, who, upon arrival with some other natives, explained that his country had been destroyed by the attacks of the people of Loquia at the instigation of the traders. I promised him protection if he and his people would return to the mainland and become true subjects to the Khedive. At the same time I informed him that, in return for protection, his people must cultivate corn, and build the huts required for the troops upon arrival. This he promised to do, and I arranged that he should summon a general meeting of the headmen and their people to-morrow, or as soon as possible.