The Discovery of the Source of the Nile Part 27

Its import was, that we must defer the march, as it was reported the refractory brother Rionga harboured designs of molesting us on the way, and therefore the king conceived it prudent to clear the road by first fighting him. Without heeding this cunning advice, we made a short march across swamps, and through thick jungle and long gra.s.ses, which proved anything but pleasant--wet and labouring hard all the way.

It was a rainy day, and we had still to toil on fighting with the gra.s.ses. We marched up the wet margin of swamp all day, crossing the water at a fork near the end. The same jungle prevails on all sides, excluding all view; and the only signs of man's existence in these wilds lay in the meagre path, which is often lost, and an occasional hut or two, the temporary residence of the sporting Kidi people.

After toiling five miles through the same terrible gra.s.ses, and crossing swamp after swamp, we were at last rewarded by a striking view. The jungles had thinned; we found ourselves unexpectedly standing on the edge of a plateau, on the west of which, for distance interminable, lay apparently a low flat country of gra.s.s, yellowed by the sun, with a few trees or shrubs only thinly scattered over the surface; while, from fifteen to twenty miles in the rear, bearing south by west, stood conspicuously the hill of Kisuga, said to be situated in Chopi, not far from the refractory brothers. But this view was only for the moment; again we dived into the gra.s.ses and forced our way along. Presently elephants were seen, also buffalo; and the guide, to make the journey propitious, plucked a twig, denuded it of its leaves and branches, waved it like a wand up the line of march, muttered some unintelligible words to himself, broke it in twain, and threw the separated bits on either side of the path.

Immediately after starting, the guide ran up on an ant-hill and pointed out to us all the glories of the country round. In our rear we could see back upon Wire and the hill of Kisuga; to the west were the same low plains of gra.s.s; east and by south, the jungles of Kidi; and to the northward, over downs of gra.s.s, the tops of some hills, which marked the neighbouring village of Koki, which we were making for. Its appearance in the distance warned us that we were closing on the habitations of men, and we were told that Bombay had drunk pombe there. Then plunging through gra.s.s again over our heads, and crossing constant swamps, we arrived at a stream which drains all these lands to westward, and rested a while that the men might bathe, and also that they might set fire to the gra.s.s as a telegraph to the settlement of Koko, to apprise the people of our advance, and be ready with their pombe ere our arrival.

Shortly after, towards the close of the day's work, as a solitary buffalo was seen grazing by a brook, I put a bullet through him, and allowed the savages the pleasure of despatching him in their own wild fashion with spears.

It was a sight quite worthy of a little delay. No sooner was it observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with springing bounds, the men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till, as they neared the maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to meet his a.s.sailants with the best charge his exhausted body could muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he knew his disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water,--the worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank above him soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained their victory. Now, what was to be done with this huge carca.s.s? No one could be induced to leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe on reaching camp; but no, the buffalo was bigger than a cow, and must be quartered on the spot; so, to gain our object, we went ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus saving a cow in rations, for we required to slaughter one every day.

By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the same downs of tall gra.s.s with occasional swamps. We saw a herd of hartebeest, and reached at night a place within easy run of Koki in Gani.

The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the habitations of men--a collection of conical huts on the ridge of a small chain of granitic hills lying north-west. As we approached the southern extremity of this chain, knots of naked men, perched like monkeys on the granite blocks were anxiously awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the usages of the country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and look out for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were visitors from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and forward us to our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty welcome; for Chongi had been appointed governor by Kamrasi of this district, which appears to have been the extreme northern limit of the originally vast kingdom of Kittara. All the elite of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair, charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and invited us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us--one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a little twig.

Chongi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the ground in front of his a.s.sembled visitors. After this ceremony had been also repeated by the familiar, Chongi then took the gourd and twig, and sprinkled the contents all over us; retired to the Uganga, or magic house--a very diminutive hut--sprinkled pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a cow-skin under a tree, bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making many apologies that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had reduced his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!!

Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress consisted of bead, iron, or bra.s.s ornaments, with some feathers or cowrie-beads on the head. Even the women contented themselves with a few fibres hung like tails before and behind. Some of our men who had seen the Watuta in Utambara, declared these savages to resemble them in every particular, save one small specialty in their costume, alluded to in the description of the Zulu Kafir's dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same fantastic fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it rode on its mother's back. They also, like the Kidi people, whom they much fear, carry diminutive stools to sit upon wherever they go.

Their habitat extends from this to the Asua river, whilst the Madi occupy all the country west of this meridian to the Nile, which is far beyond sight. The villages are composed of little conical huts of gra.s.s, on a framework of bamboo raised above low mud walls. There are no sultans here of any consequence, each village appointing its own chief.

The granitic hills, like those of Unyamuezi, are extremely pretty, and clad with trees, contrasting strangely with the gra.s.sy downs of indefinite extend around, which give the place, when compared with the people, the appearance of a paradise within the infernal regions. From the site of Koki we saw the hills behind which, according to Bombay, Petherick was situated with his vessels; and we also saw a nearer hill, behind which his advanced post of elephant-hunters were waiting our arrival.

I tried to ascertain if there were any prefixes, as in the South African dialects, by which one might determine the difference between the people and the country; but I was a.s.sured that both here and in the adjacent countries these people saw Chopi, Kidi, Gani, Madi, Bari, alike for person and place, though Jo in their language is the equivalent for Wa in South Africa, and Dano takes the place of Mtu. All the words and system of language were wholly changed--as for example, Poko poko wingi bongo, means "we do not understand"; Mazi, "fire"; Pi, "water"; Pe, "there is none"; Bugra, "cow." In sound, the language of these people resembles that of the Tibet Tartars. Chongi considers himself the greatest man in the country, and of n.o.ble descent, his great-grandfather having been a Mhuma, born at Ururi, in Unyoro, and appointed by the then reigning king to rule over this country, and keep the Kidi people in check.

30th.--We halted at the earnest solicitation of Chongi, as well as of the Chopi porters, who said they required a day to lay in grain, as the Wichwezi, or mendicant sorcerers--for so they thought fit to designate Petherick's elephant-hunters--had eaten up the country all about them, and those who went before with Bombay to visit their camp could get no food.

1st.--We halted again at the request of all parties, and much to the delight of old Chongi, who supplied us with abundant pombe, promised a cow, that we should not be put to any extra expense by stopping, and said that without fail he would furnish us with guides who knew a short cut across country, by which we might reach the Wichwesi camp in one march, instead of going by the circuitous route which Bombay formerly took. The cow, however, never came, as the old man did not intend to give his own, and his officers refused to obey his orders in giving one of theirs.

We left Koki with difficulty, in consequence of the Chopi porters refusing to carry any loads, leaving the burden of lifting them on the country people, as they said, "We have endured all the trouble and hardships of bringing these visitors through the wilderness; and now, as they have visited you, it is your place to help them on." The consequence was, we had to engage fresh porters at every village, each in turn saying he had done all the work which with justice fell to his lot, till at last we arrived at the borders of a jungle, where the men last engaged, feeling tired of their work, pleaded ignorance of the direct road, and turned off to the longer one, where villages and men were in abundance, thus upsetting all our plans, and doubling the actual distance.

To pa.s.s the night half-way was now imperative, as we had been the whole day travelling without making good much ground. From the Gani people we had, without any visible change, mingled with the Madi people, who dress in the same naked fashion as their neighbours, and use bows and arrows.

Their villages were all surrounded with bomas (fences), and the country in its general aspect resembled that of Northern Unyamuezi. At one place, the good-natured simple people, as soon as we reached their village, spread a skin, deposited a stool upon it, and placed in front two pots of pombe. At the village where we put up, however, the women and children of the head man at first all ran away, and the head man himself was very shy of us, thinking we were some unearthly creatures.

He became more reconciled to us, however, when he perceived we fed like rational beings; and, calling his family in by midnight, presented us with pombe, and made many apologies for having allowed us to dine without a drop of his beer, for he was very glad to see us.

Chapter XX. Madi

Junction of the Two Hemispheres--The First Contact with Persons Acquainted with European Habits--Interruptions and Plots--The Mysterious Mahamed--Native Revelries--The Plundering and Tyranny of the Turks--The Rascalities of the Ivory Trade--Feeling for the Nile--Taken to see a Mark left by a European--Buffalo, Eland, and Rhinoceros Stalking--Meet Baker--Petherick's Arrival at Gondokoro.

After receiving more pombe from the chief, and, strange to say, hot water to wash with--for he did not know how else to show hospitality better--we started again in the same straggling manner as yesterday. In two hours we reached the palace of Piejoko, a chief of some pretensions, and were summoned to stop and drink pombe. In my haste to meet Petherick's expedition, I would listen to nothing, but pushed rapidly on, despite all entreaties to stop, both from the chief and from my porters, who, I saw clearly, wished to do me out of another day.

Half of my men, however, did stop there, but with the other half Grant and I went on; and, as the sun was setting, we came in sight of what we thought was Petherick's outpost, N. lat. 3 10' 33", and E. long. 21 50' 45". My men, as happy as we were ourselves, now begged I would allow them to fire their guns, and prepare the Turks for our reception. Crack, bang, went their carbines, and in another instant crack, bang, was heard from the northerners' camp, when, like a swarms of bees, every height and other conspicuous place was covered with men. Our hearts leapt with an excitement of joy only known to those who have escaped from long-continued banishment among barbarians, once more to meet with civilised people, and join old friends. Every minute increased this excitement. We saw three large red flags heading a military procession, which marched out of the camp with drums and fifes playing. I halted and allowed them to draw near. When they did so, a very black man, named Mahamed, in full Egyptian regimentals, with a curved sword, ordered his regiment to halt, and threw himself into my arms, endeavouring to hug and kiss me. Rather staggered at this unexpected manifestation of affection, which was like a conjunction of the two hemispheres, I gave him a squeeze in return for his hug, but raised my head above the reach of his lips, and asked who was his master? "Petrik," was the reply. "And where is Petherick now?" "Oh, he is coming." "How is it you have not got English colours, then?" "The colours are Debono's." "Who is Debono?"

"The same as Petrik; but come along into my camp, and let us talk it out there;" saying which, Mahamed ordered his regiment (a ragam.u.f.fin mixture of Nubians, Egyptians, and slaves of all sorts, about two hundred in number) to rightabout, and we were guided by him, whilst his men kept up an incessant drumming and fifing, presenting arms and firing, until we reached his huts, situated in a village kept exactly in the same order as that of the natives. Mahamed then gave us two beds to sit upon, and ordered his wives to advance on their knees and give us coffee, whilst other men brought pombe, and prepared us a dinner of bread and honey and mutton.

A large shed was cleared for Grant and myself, and all my men were ordered to disperse, and chum in ones and twos with Mahamed's men; for Mahamed said, now we had come there, his work was finished. "If that is the case," I said, "tell us your orders; there must be some letters." He said, "No, I have no letters or written orders; though I have directions to take you to Gondokoro as soon as you come. I am Debono's Vakil, and am glad you are come, for we are all tired of waiting for you. Our business has been to collect ivory whilst waiting for you." I said, "How is it Petherick has not come here to meet me? is he married?" "Yes, he is married; and both he and his wife ride fore-and-aft on one animal at Khartum." "Well, then, where is the tree you told Bombay you would point out to us with Petherick's name on it?" "Oh, that is on the way to Gondokoro. It was not Petherick who wrote, but some one else, who told me to look out for your coming this way. We don't know his name, but he said if we pointed it out to you, you would know at once."

4th.--After spending the night as Mahamed's guest, I strolled round the place to see what it was like, and found the Turks were all married to the women of the country, whom they had dressed in clothes and beads.

Their children were many, with a prospect of more. Temporary marriages, however, were more common than others--as, in addition to their slaves, they hired the daughters of the villagers, who remained with them whilst they were trading here, but went back to their parents when they marched to Gondokoro. They had also many hundreds of cattle, which it was said they had plundered from the natives, and now used for food, or to exchange for ivory, or other purposes. The scenery and situation were perfect for health and beauty. The settlement lay at the foot of small, well-wooded granitic hills, even prettier than the outcrops of Unyamuezi, and was intersected by clear streams.

At noon, all the rear troops arrived with Bombay and Piejoko in person.

This good creature had treated Bombay very handsomely on his former journey. He said he felt greatly disappointed at my pushing past him yesterday, as he wished to give me a cow, but still hoped I would go over and make friends with him. I gave him some beads and off he walked.

Old Chongi's "children," who had escorted us all the way from Kamrasi's, then took some beads and cast-off clothes for themselves and their father, and left us in good-humour.

This reduced the expedition establishment to my men and Kidgwiga's. With these, now, as there was no letter from Petherick, I ordered a march for the next morning, but at once met with opposition. Mahamed told me that there were no vessels at Gondokoro; we must wait two months, by which time he expected they would arrive there, and some one would come to meet him with beads. I said in answer, that Petherick had promised to have boats there all the year round, so I would not wait. "Then," said Mahamed, "we cannot go with you, for there is a famine at this season at Gondokoro." I said, "Never mind; do you give me an interpreter, and I will go as I am." "No," said Mahamed, "that will not do, as the Bari people are so savage, you could not get through them with so small a force; besides which, just now there is a stream which cannot be crossed for a month or more."

Unable to stand Mahamed's shifting devices with equanimity any longer, I accused him of trying to trick me in the same way as all the common savage chiefs had done wherever I went, because they wished me to stop for their own satisfaction, quite disregarding my wishes and interest; so I said I would not stop there any longer I would raft over the river, and find my way through the Bari, as I had through the rest of the African savages. We talked and talked, but could make nothing of it. I maintained that if he was commissioned to help me, he at least could not refuse to give me a guide and interpreter; when, if I failed in the direct route, I would try another, but go I must, as I could not hold out any longer, being short of beads and cows. I had just enough, but none to spare. He told me not to think of such a thing, as he would give me all that was needful, both for myself and my men; but if I would have patience, he would collect all his officers, and the next morning would see what their opinions were on the subject.

5th.--I found that every one of Mahamed's men was against our going to Gondokoro. They told me, in fact, with one voice, that it was quite impossible; but they said, if I liked they would furnish me guides to escort me on ten marches to a depot at the further end of the Madi country, and if I chose to wait there until they could collect all their ivory tusks together and join us, we would be a united party too formidable to be resisted by the Bari people. This offer of immediate guides I of course accepted at once, as to keep on the move was my only desire at that time; for my men were all drunk, and Kidgwiga's were deserting. Once more on the way, I did not despair of reaching Gondokoro by myself. In the best good-humour now, I showed Mahamed our picture-books: and as he said he always drilled his two hundred men every Friday, I said I would, if he liked, command them myself. This being agreed to, all the men turned out in their best, and, to my surprise, they not only knew the Turkish words of command, but manoeuvred with some show of good training; though, as might have been expected with men of this ragam.u.f.fin stamp, all the privates gave orders as well as their captains.

When the review was over, I complimented Mahamed on the efficiency of his corps, and, retiring to my hut, as I thought I had him now in a good-humour, again discussed our plans for going ahead the next day.

Scarcely able to look me in the face, the humbugging scoundrel said he could not think of allowing me to go on without him, for if any accident happened he would be blamed for it. At the same time, he could not move for a few days, as he expected a party of men to arrive about the next new moon with ivory. My hurry he thought was uncalled for; for, as I had spent so many days with Kamrasi, why could I not be content to do so with him?

I was provoked beyond measure with this, as it upset all my plans.

Kidgwiga's men were deserting, and I feared I should not be able to keep my promise to Kamrasi of sending him another white visitor, who would perhaps do what I had left undone, when I did not follow up the connection of the Little Luta Nzige with the Nile. We battled away again, and then Mahamed said there was not one man in his camp who would go with me until their crops were cut and taken in; for whilst residing here they grew grain for their support. We battled again, and Mahamed at last, out of patience himself, said, "Just look here, what a fix I am in," showing me a hut full of ivory. "Who," he said, "is to carry all this until the natives have got in their crops?" This, I said, so far as I was concerned, was all nonsense. I merely had asked him for a guide and interpreter, for go I must. In a huff he then absconded; and my men--those of them who were not too drunk--came and said to me, "For G.o.dsake let us stop here. Mahamed says the road is too dangerous for us to go alone; he has promised to carry all our loads for us if we stop; and all Kamrasi's men are running away, because they are afraid to go on."

6th.--Next morning I called Kidgwiga, and begged him to procure two men as guides and interpreters. He said he could not find any. I then went at Mahamed again, who first said he would give me the two men I wanted, then went off, and sent word to say he would not be visible for three days. This was too much for my patience, so I ordered all my things to be tied up in marching order, and gave out that I should leave and find out the way myself the following morning. Like an evil spirit stirred up, my preparations for going no sooner were heard of than Mahamed appeared again, and after a long and sharp contest in words, he promised us guides if I would consent to write him a note, testifying that my going was against his expressed desire.

This was done; but the next morning (7th), after our things were put out for the march, all Kidgwiga's men bolted, and no guides would take service with us. It was now obvious that, even supposing I succeeded in taking Kidgwiga to Gondokoro, he would not have a sufficient escort to come back with, unless, indeed, it happened that Englishmen might be there who might wish to carry out my investigations by penetrating to the Little Luta Nzige, and to pay a visit to Kamrasi. I therefore called Kidgwiga, and after explaining these circ.u.mstances, advised him to go back to Kamrasi. He was loth to leave, he said, until his commission was fully performed; but as I thought it advisable, he would consent. I then gave him a double gun and ammunition, as well as some very rich beads which I obtained from Mahamed's stores, to take back to Kamrasi, with orders to say that, as soon as I reached Gondokoro or Khartum, I would send another white man to him--not by the way I had come through Kidi, but by the left bank of the Nile: to which Kidgwiga replied, "That will do famously, for Kamrasi will change his residence soon, and come on the Nile this side of Rionga's palace, in order that he may cut in between his brother and the Turks' guns."

After this, I gave a lot of rich beads to Kidgwiga for himself, and a lot also for the senior officers at the Chopi and Kamrasi's palaces, and sent the whole set off as happy as birds. When these men were gone, I tried to get up an elephant-shooting excursion due west of this, with a view to see where the Nile was, for I would not believe it was very far off, although no one as yet, since I left Chopi, either would or could tell me where the stream had gone to.

8th. Mahamed professed to be delighted I had made up my mind to such a scheme. He called the heads of the villages to give me all the information I sought for, and went with me to the top of a high rock, from which we could see the hills I first viewed at Chopi, sweeping round from south by east to north, which demarked the line of the Asua river. The Nile at that moment was, I believed, not very far off; yet, do or say what I would, everybody said it was fifteen marches off, and could not be visited under a month. [25] It would be necessary for me to take thirty-six of Mahamed's men, besides all my own, to go there, which, he said, I was welcome to, but I should have to pay them for their services. This was a damper at once.

I knew in my mind all these reports were false, but, rather than be out of the way when the time came for marching, I agreed to wait patiently, write the history of the Wahuma, and make collections, till Mahamed was ready, trusting that I might find some one at Gondokoro who would finish what I had left undone; or else, after arriving there, I might go up the Nile in boats and see for myself. The same evening I was attracted by the sound of drums to a neighbouring village, where, by the moonlight, I found the natives were dancing. A more indecent or savage spectacle I never witnessed. The whole place was alive with naked humanity in a state of constant motion. Drawing near, I found that a number of drums were beaten by men in the centre. Next to them was a deep ring of women, half of whom carried their babies; and outside these again was a still deeper circle of men, some blowing horns, but most holding their spears erect. To the sound of the music both these rings of the opposite s.e.xes kept jumping and sidling round and round the drummers, making the most grotesque and obscene motions to one another.

9th to 14th.--Nothing of material consequence happened until the 14th, when eighty of Rionga's men brought in two slaves and thirty tusks of ivory, as a present to Mahamed. Of course, I knew this was a bribe to induce Mahamed to fight with Rionga against Kamrasi; but, counting that no affair of mine, I tried to induce these men to give me some geographical information of the countries they had just left. Not one of them would come near me, for they knew I was friends with Kamrasi; and Mahamed's men, when they saw mine attempting to converse with them, abused them for "prying into other men's concerns." "These men,"

they said, "are our friends, and not yours; if we choose to give them presents of cloth and beads, and they give us a return in ivory, what is that to you?" Mysterious Mahamed next came to me, and begged for a blanket, as he said he was going off for a few days to a depot where he had some ivory; and he also wanted to borrow a musket, as one of his had been burnt.

My suspicions and even apprehensions, were now greatly excited. I began to think he had prevailed on me to stop here, that I might hold the place whilst he went to fight Kamrasi with Rionga's men; so I begged him to listen to my advice, and not attempt to cross the Nile, "else,"

I said, "all his guns would be taken from him, and his pa.s.sage back cut off." At once he saw the drift of my thought, and said he was not going towards the Nile, but on the contrary, he was going with Rionga's men in the opposite direction, to a place called Paira. "If that is the case,"

I said, "why do you want a gun?" "Because there are some other matters to settle. I shall not be long away, and my men will take care of you whilst I am gone." I gave him the blanket after this, but was too suspicious of his object to lend him a gun.

15th to 20th.--I saw Mahamed march his regiment out of the place, drums and fifes playing, colours flying, a hundred guns firing, officers riding,--some of them on donkeys and others--yes, actually on cows!

whilst a host of the natives, Rionga's men included, carrying spears and bows and arrows, looked little like a peaceful caravan of merchants, but very much resembled a band of marauders. After this I heard they were not going to Rionga himself, but were going to show Rionga's men the way that they made friends with old Chongi of Koki. In reality, Chongi had invited Mahamed to fight against an enemy of his, in whose territories immense stores of ivory were said to be buried, and the people had an endless number of cattle--for they lived by plunder, and had lifted most of old Chongi's; and this was the service on which the expedition had set off.

21st to 31st.--I had constantly wondered, ever since I first came here, and saw the brutal manner in which the Turks treated the natives, that these Madi people could submit to their "Egyptian taskmasters," and therefore was not surprised now to find them pull down their huts and march off with the materials to a distant site. Every day this sort of migration continued, just as you see in the picture; and nothing more important occurred until Christmas-day, when an armadillo was caught, and I heard from Mahamed's head wife that the Turks had plundered and burnt down three villages, and in all probability they would return shortly laden with ivory. This was a true antic.i.p.ation; for, on the 31st, Mahamed came in with his triumphant army laden with ivory, and driving in five slave-girls and thirty head of cattle.

1st to 3d.--I now wished to go on with the journey, as I could get no true information out of the suspicious blackguards who called themselves Turks; but Mahamed postponed it until the 5th, by which time he said he would be able to collect all the men he wanted to carry his ivory.

Rionga's men then departed, and Mahamed showed some signs of getting ready by ordering one dozen cows to be killed, the flesh of which was to be divided amongst those villagers who would carry his ivory, and the skins to be cut into thongs for binding the smaller tusks of ivory together in suitable loads.

4th and 5th.--Another specimen of Turkish barbarity came under my notice, in the head man of a village bringing a large tusk of ivory to Mahamed, to ransom his daughter with; for she had been seized as a slave on his last expedition, in common with others who could not run away fast enough to save themselves from the Turks. Fortunately for both, it was thought necessary for the Turks to keep on good terms with the father as an influential man; and therefore, on receiving the tusk, Mahamed gave back the girl, and added a cow to seal their friendship.

6th to 10th.--I saw this land-pirate Mahamed take a blackmail like a negro chief. Some men who had fled from their village when Mahamed's plundering party pa.s.sed by them the other day, surprised that he did not stop to sack their homes, now brought ten large tusks of ivory to him to express the grat.i.tude they said they felt for his not having molested them. Mahamed, on finding how easy it was to get taxes in this fashion, instead of thanking them, a.s.sumed the air of the great potentate, whose clemency was abused, and told the poor creatures that, though they had done well in seeking his friendship, they had not sufficiently considered his dignity, else they would have brought double that number of tusks, for it was impossible he could be satisfied at so low a price.

"What," said these poor creatures, "can we do then? for this is all we have got." "Oh," says Mahamed, "if it is all you have got now in store, I will take these few for the present; but when I return from Gondokoro, I expect you will bring me just as many more. Good-bye, and look out for yourselves."

Tired beyond all measure with Mahamed's procrastination, as I could not get him to start, I now started myself, much to his disgust, and went ahead again, leaving word that I would wait for him at the next place, provided he did not delay more than one day. The march led us over long rolling downs of gra.s.s, where we saw a good many antelopes feeding; and after going ten miles, we came, among other villages, to one named Panyoro, in which we found it convenient to put up. At first all the villagers, thinking us Turks, bolted away with their cattle and what stores they could carry; but, after finding out who we were, they returned again, and gave us a good reception, helping us to rig up a shed with gra.s.s, and bringing a cow and some milk for our dinner.

12th.--To-day I went out shooting, but though I saw and fired at a rhinoceros, as well as many varieties of antelopes, I did not succeed in killing one head. All my men were surprised as well as myself; and the villagers who were escorting me in the hope of getting flesh, were so annoyed at their disappointment, they offered to cut my fore-finger with a spear and spit on it for good-luck. Joining in their talk, I told them the powder must be crooked; but, on inspecting my rifle closer, I found that the sights had been knocked on one side a little, and this created a general laugh at all in turn. Going home from the shooting, I found all the villagers bolting again with their cattle and stores, and, on looking towards Faloro, saw a party of Turks coming.