The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, Samuel White Baker [inspirational novels .TXT] 📗

>slung from the neck, apparently to contain any presents they may

receive, everything being immediately pocketed. Course S.S.E.

 

Jan. 14th.-All day occupied in repairing the yard; the buffalo hide of

the animal that killed Sali Achmet being most serviceable in lashing.

Sailed in the evening in company with a boat belonging to the Austrian

mission. River about 120 yards of clear water; current about two miles

per hour. Found quantities of natron on the marshy ground bordering the

river.

 

Had a turkey for dinner, a “cadeau” from Koorshid Aga, and, as a great

wonder, the kisras (a sort of brown pancake in lieu of bread) were free

from sand. I must have swallowed a good-sized millstone since I have

been in Africa, in the shape of grit rubbed from the moorhaka, or

grinding-stone. The moorhaka, when new, is a large flat stone, weighing

about forty pounds; upon this the corn is ground by being rubbed with a

cylindrical stone with both hands. After a few months’ use half of the

original grinding-stone disappears, the grit being mixed with the flour;

thus the grinding-stone is actually eaten. No wonder that hearts become

stony in this country!

 

Jan. 15th.-We were towing through high reeds this morning, the men

invisible, and the rope mowing over the high tops of the grass, when the

noise disturbed a hippopotamus from his slumber, and he was immediately

perceived close to the boat. He was about half grown, and in an instant

about twenty men jumped into the water in search of him, thinking him a

mere baby; but as he suddenly appeared, and was about three times as

large as they had expected, they were not very eager to close. However,

the reis Diabb pluckily led the way and seized him by the hind leg, when

the crowd of men rushed in, and we had a grand tussle. Ropes were thrown

from the vessel, and nooses were quickly slipped over his head, but he

had the best of the struggle and was dragging the people into the open

river; I was therefore obliged to end the sport by putting a ball

through his head. He was scored all over by the tusks of some other

hippopotamus that had been bullying him. The men declared that his

father had thus misused him; others were of opinion that it was his

mother; and the argument ran high, and became hot.

 

These Arabs have an extraordinary taste for arguments upon the most

trifling points. I have frequently known my men argue throughout the

greater part of the night, and recommence the same argument on the

following morning. These debates generally end in a fight; and in the

present instance the excitement of the hunt only added to the heat of

the argument. They at length agreed to refer it to me, and both parties

approached, vociferously advancing their theories; one half persisting

that the young hippo had been bullied by his father, and the others

adhering to the mother as the cause. I, being referee, suggested that

“perhaps it was his UNCLE.” Wah Illahi sahe! (By Allah it is true!) Both

parties were satisfied with the suggestion; dropping their theory they

became practical, and fell to with knives and axes to cut up the cause

of the argument. He was as fat as butter, and was a perfect godsend to

the people, who divided him with great excitement and good humour.

 

We are now a fleet of seven boats, those of several traders having

joined us. The “Clumsy’s” yard looks much better than formerly. I cut

off about ten feet from the end, as it was topheavy. The yard of this

class of vessel should look like an immense fishing-rod, and should be

proportionately elastic, as it tapers gradually to a point. Course S.E.

I hear that the Shillook tribe have attacked Chenooda’s people, and that

his boat was capsized, and some lives lost in the hasty retreat. It

serves these slave-hunters right, and I rejoice at their defeat. Exodus

xx. 16: “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found

in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”

 

Jan. 16th.—A new dish! There is no longer mock-turtle soup—REAL

turtle is MOCK HIPPOPOTAMUS. I tried boiling the fat, flesh, and skin

together, the result being that the skin assumes the appearance of the

green fat of the turtle, but is far superior. A piece of the head thus

boiled, and then soused in vinegar, with chopped onions, cayenne pepper,

and salt, throws brawn completely in the shade. My men having revelled

in a cauldron of hippopotamus soup, I serve out grog at sunset, all

ships being together. Great contentment, all appetites being satisfied.

The labour of towing through swamps, tugging by the long grass, and

poling against a strong current, is dreadful, and there appears to be no

end to this horrible country. “On dit,” that during the dry season there

is plenty of game near the river, but at present boundless marshes

devoid of life, except in the shape of mosquitoes, and a very few

water-fowl, are the only charms of the White Nile. The other day I

caught one of the men stealing the salt; Richarn having been aware of

daily thefts of this treasure, and having failed to report them, the

thief received twenty with the coorbatch, and Richarn is reduced to the

ranks, as I anticipated. No possibility of taking observations, as there

is no landing-place. Jan. 17th.-As usual, marshes, mosquitoes, windings,

dead flats, and light winds; the mosquitoes in the cabin give no rest

even during the day. Stream about two miles per hour. Course S.E.; the

river averaging about one hundred and ten yards in width of clear water.

Jan. 18th.-Country as usual, but the wind brisker. In company with

Koorshid Aga’s boats. I have bound the stock of Oswell’s old gun with

rhinoceros hide. All guns made for sport in wild countries and rough

riding, should have steel instead of iron from the breech-socket,

extending far back to within six inches of the shoulder-plate; the

trigger-guard should likewise be steel, and should be carried back to an

equal distance with the above rib; the steel should be of extra

thickness, and screwed through to the upper piece; thus the two, being

connected by screws above and below, no fall could break the stock.

 

Jan,. 19th.-At 8 A.M. we emerged from the apparently endless regions of

marsh grass, and saw on the right bank large herds of cattle, tended by

naked natives, in a country abounding with high grass and mimosa wood.

At 9.15 A.M. arrived at the Zareeba, or station of Binder, an Austrian

subject, and White Nile trader; here we found five noggurs belonging to

him and his partner. Binder’s vakeel insisted upon giving a bullock to

my people. This bullock I resisted for some time, until I saw that the

man was affronted. It is impossible to procure from the natives any

cattle by purchase. The country is now a swamp, but it will be passable

during the dry season. Took equal altitudes of sun producing latitude 7

degrees 5′ 46″. The misery of these unfortunate blacks is beyond

description; they will not kill their cattle, neither do they taste meat

unless an animal dies of sickness; they will not work, thus they

frequently starve, existing only upon rats, lizards, snakes, and upon

such fish as they can spear. The spearing of fish is a mere hazard, as

they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds; thus, out of three or

four hundred casts, they may, by good luck, strike a fish. The harpoon

is neatly made, and is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet

long, secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a monster, as

there are varieties of fish which attain a weight of two hundred pounds.

In the event of harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is the

result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs out the entire length

of line; they then swim after him, holding their end of the line, and

playing him until exhausted. The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a

leopard-skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white beads, with

a crest of white ostrich-feathers; but the mantle was merely slung over

his shoulders, and all other parts of his person were naked. His

daughter was the best-looking girl that I have seen among the blacks;

she was about sixteen. Her clothing consisted of a little piece of

dressed hide about a foot wide slung across her shoulders, all other

parts being exposed. All the girls of this country wear merely a circlet

of little iron jingling ornaments round their waists. They came in

numbers, bringing small bundles of wood to exchange for a few handfuls

of corn. Most of the men are tall, but wretchedly thin; the children are

mere skeletons, and the entire tribe appears thoroughly starved. The

language is that of the Dinka. The chief carried a curious tobacco-box,

an iron spike about two feet long, with a hollow socket, bound with

iguana-skin; this served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger.

Throughout the whole of this marshy country it is curious to observe the

number of white ant-hills standing above the water in the marshes: these

Babel towers save their inmates from the deluge; working during the dry

season, the white ants carry their hills to so great a height (about ten

feet), that they can live securely in the upper stories during the

floods. The whole day we are beset by crowds of starving people,

bringing small gourd-shells to receive the expected corn. The people of

this tribe are mere apes, trusting entirely to the productions of nature

for their subsistence; they will spend hours in digging out field-mice

from their burrows, as we should for rabbits. They are the most pitiable

set of savages that can be imagined; so emaciated, that they have no

visible posteriors; they look as though they had been planed off, and

their long thin legs and arms give them a peculiar gnat-like appearance.

At night they crouch close to the fires, lying in the smoke to escape

the clouds of mosquitoes. At this season the country is a vast swamp,

the only dry spots being the white ant-hills; in such places the natives

herd like wild animals, simply rubbing themselves with wood-ashes to

keep out the cold.

 

Jan. 20th.—The river from this spot turns sharp to the east, but an

arm equally broad comes from S. 20 degrees E. to this point. There is no

stream from this arm. The main stream runs round the angle with a rapid

current of about two and a half miles per hour. The natives say that

this arm of dead water extends for three or four days’ sailing, and is

then lost in the high reeds. My reis Diabb declares this to be a mere

backwater, and that it is not connected with the main river by any

positive channel.

 

So miserable are the natives of the Kytch tribe, that they devour both

skins and bones of all dead animals; the bones are pounded between

stones, and when reduced to powder they are boiled to a kind of

porridge; nothing is left even for a fly to feed upon, when an animal

either dies a natural death, or is killed. I never pitied poor creatures

more than these utterly destitute savages; their method of returning

thanks is by holding your hand and affecting to spit upon it; which

operation they do not actually perform, as I have seen stated in works

upon the White Nile. Their domestic arrangements are peculiar. Polygamy

is of course allowed, as in all other hot climates and savage countries;

but when a man becomes too old to pay sufficient attention to his

numerous