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

the difference

of colour between myself and my men, as my face was brown.

 

CHAPTER IX.

 

THE TURKS ATTACK KAYALA.

 

On the 30th May, about an hour before daybreak, I was awoke by a rattle

of musketry, which continued some time in irregular volleys, and

subsided into a well-sustained and steady fire in single shots. On

leaving my hut, I found the camp of Koorshid’s people almost empty,

while my own men were climbing on the roofs of their huts to obtain a

view towards the west. Nothing was in sight, although the firing still

continued at a distance of about a mile, apparently on the other side of

a belt of trees. I now heard that Koorshid’s people had started at

between three and four o’clock that morning, by Commoro’s request, to

attack a neighbouring town that had been somewhat rebellious. The firing

continued for about two hours, when it suddenly ceased, and I shortly

saw with a telescope the Turks’ red ensign emerge from the forest, and

we heard the roll of their drum, mingled with the lowing of oxen and the

bleating of sheep. Upon nearer approach, I remarked a considerable body

of men, and a large herd of cattle and sheep driven by a number of

Latookas, while a knot of Turks carried something heavy in their arms.

 

They soon arrived, with about 2,000 head of cattle and sheep; but they

had lost one of their men, killed in the fight, and his body they

carried home for interment. It happened to be about the best man of the

party; really a very civil fellow, and altogether rather a pleasant

robber. At Commoro’s instigation, the Turks had attacked the town of

Kayala; but the Latookas had fought so well, that the Turks found it

impossible to capture the town, which was, as usual, protected by

ironwood palisades, upon which their bullets harmlessly flattened. Not

only the Latooka men had fought well, but their women broke up their

grinding-stones and defended the entrance by pelting their assailants

with the fragments; several of the Turks were wounded by the stones

thrown with such force by these brawny Amazons that some of the

gun-barrels were indented. Many of these brave women had been shot by

the dastardly Turks, and one was in the act of being carried off by the

“pleasant robber,” when a native, running to her rescue, drove his spear

through his chest and killed him on the spot. Unfortunately for the

Latookas, some of their cattle had left the town to pasture just before

the attack took place; these were captured by the Turks, but not one

hostile foot had been able to penetrate their town. On the following day

the party were busily engaged in dividing the spoil, one third belonging

to the men as a bonus, while the remainder were the property of the

traders’ establishment, or “Meri” (government), as they term the

proprietor. This portion was to be sent to Obbo as a place of security

and good pasturage, and the men were to engage in other razzias in

Latooka, and to collect a large number of cattle to be driven south to

exchange for ivory. Koorshid’s camp was a scene of continual uproar, the

men quarrelling over the division of the spoil.

 

Journal—June 2nd.—The Turks are now busy buying and selling, each man

disposing of his share of the stolen cattle according to his wants: one

exchanges a cow to the natives for corn and meat; another slaughters an

ox, and retails small portions for merissa (beer), fowls, &c., the

natives flocking to the camp like vultures scenting flesh; others

reserve their cattle for the purpose of purchasing the daughters of the

natives for slaves under the name of wives, whom they will eventually

sell in Khartoum for from twenty to thirty dollars each. My men look on

in dismay at the happiness of their neighbours: like

 

“A Peri weeping at the gate

Of Eden, stood disconsolate,”

 

so may they be seen regarding the adjoining paradise, where meat is in

profusion, sweetened by being stolen; but, alas! their cruel master does

not permit them these innocent enjoyments.

 

Everything may be obtained for cattle as payment in this country. The

natives are now hard at work making zareebas (kraals) for the cattle

stolen from their own tribe and immediate neighbours, for the sake of

two or three bullocks as remuneration to be divided among more than a

hundred men. They are not deserving of sympathy; they are worse than

vultures, being devoid of harmony even in the same tribe. The chiefs

have no real control; and a small district, containing four or five

towns, club together and pillage the neighbouring province. It is not

surprising that the robber traders of the Nile turn this spirit of

discord to their own advantage, and league themselves with one chief, to

rob another, whom they eventually plunder in his turn. The natives say

that sixty-five men and women were killed in the attack upon Kayala. All

the Latookas consider it a great disgrace that the Turks fired upon

women. Among all tribes, from Gondokoro to Obbo, a woman is respected,

even in time of war. Thus, they are employed as spies, and become

exceedingly dangerous; nevertheless, there is a general understanding

that no woman shall be killed. The origin of this humane distinction

arises, I imagine, from their scarcity. Where polygamy is in force,

women should be too dear to kill; the price of a girl being from five to

ten cows, her death is equal to the actual loss of that number.

 

Fortunately for my party, who were not cattle lifters, there was the

usual abundance of game, and I could always supply myself and people

with delicious wild ducks and geese. We never were tired of this light

food as we varied their preparation. Sometimes I was able to procure a

goat, on which occasion a grand dish was made, the paunch being arranged

as a Scotch “haggis” of wild fowls’ livers and flesh minced, with the

usual additions. My garden was flourishing; we had onions, beans,

melons, yams, lettuce, and radishes, which had quickly responded to

several invigorating showers; the temperature was 85 degrees F in the

shade during the hottest hours of the day, and 72 degrees F at night.

 

Salt is not procurable in Latooka; the natives seldom use it, as it is

excessively difficult to make it in any quantity from the only two

sources that will produce it; the best is made from goat’s dung; this is

reduced ashes, and saturated; the water is then strained off, and

evaporated by boiling. Another quality is made of peculiar grass, with a

thick fleshy stem, something like sugarcane; the ashes of this produce

salt, but by no means pure. The chief of Latooka would eat a handful of

salt greedily that I gave him from my large supply, and I could purchase

supplies with this article better than with beads.

 

On the 4th of June, Ibrahim and eighty-five men started for Obbo in

charge of about 400 cows and 1,000 goats. Shortly after their departure,

a violent thunderstorm, attended with a deluge of rain, swept over the

country, and flooded the Latooka river and the various pools that formed

my game-preserves.

 

I looked forward to good duck-shooting on the morrow, as a heavy storm

was certain to be followed by large arrivals.

 

On the morning of the 5th, I was out at an early hour, and in a very

short time I killed eight ducks and geese. There was a certain pool

surrounded by a small marsh within half a mile of my camp, that formed

the greatest attraction to the wild fowl. There were two hegleek trees

in this marsh; and it was merely necessary to stand beneath the shelter

of either to insure good sport, as the ducks continually arrived at the

pool.

 

I was just entering into the sport with all my heart, when I heard a

shot fired in the Turks’ camp, followed by loud yells, and I observed a

crowd of Latookas rushing from the camp towards their town. In a few

moments later, I heard the Turks’ drum, and I saw people running to and

fro, and the Latookas assembling from the neighbourhood with lances and

shields, as though preparing for a fray. I had only two men with me, and

being nearly half a mile from camp, I thought it advisable to hasten

towards the spot, lest some contretemps should take place before my

arrival. Accordingly I hurried over the open plain, and shortly reached

my camp. I found my wife arranging the men at their posts, fearing a

disturbance. They had seen me hastening towards them, and I now went to

the Turks’ camp, that was close by, and inquired the cause of alarm.

 

Never was I more disgusted. Already the vultures were swooping in

circles above some object outside the camp. It appeared that a native of

Kayala (the town lately attacked by the Turks) had visited Tarrangolle

to inquire after a missing cow. The chiefs, Moy and Commoro, brought him

to the Turks’ camp, merely to prove that he had no evil intention. No

sooner was it announced that he was a native of Kayala than the Turks

declared he was a spy, and condemned him to be shot. The two chiefs, Moy

and Commoro, feeling themselves compromised by having brought the man

into such danger unwittingly, threw themselves before him, and declared

that no harm should befall him, as he belonged to them. Tearing them

away by the combined force of many men, the prisoner was immediately

bound, and led forth by his bloodthirsty murderers to death. “Shoot the

spy!” was hardly pronounced, when a villain stepped forward, and placing

the muzzle of his musket close to his left breast, he fired.

 

The man dropped dead, thus murdered in cold blood. The natives rushed in

crowds from the spot, naturally supposing that a general massacre would

follow so unprovoked an outrage. The body was dragged by the heels a few

paces outside the camp, and the vultures were its sextons within a few

minutes of the death.

 

It was with difficulty that I could restrain my temper under such

revolting circumstances. I felt that at an unlooked-for moment I might

be compromised in some serious outbreak of the natives, caused by the

brutal acts of the traders. Already it was declared unsafe to venture

out shooting without ten or twelve armed men as escort.

 

A mixture of cowardice and brutality, the traders’ party became

exceedingly timid, as a report was current that the inhabitants of

Kayala intended to ally themselves to those of Tarrangolle, and to

attack the Turks in their camp. I accordingly strengthened my position

by building a tower of palisades, that entirely commanded all approaches

to my zareeba.

 

Latooka was already spoiled by the Turks: it was now difficult to

procure flour and milk for beads, as the traders’ people, since the

attack on Kayala, had commenced the system of purchasing all supplies

with either goats or beef, which having been stolen, was their cheapest

medium of exchange. Although rich in beads and copper, I was actually

poor, as I could not obtain supplies. Accordingly I allowanced my men

two pounds of beads monthly, and they went to distant villages and

purchased their own provisions independently of me.

 

On the 11th June, at 7.20 A.M., there was a curious phenomenon; the sky

was perfectly clear, but we were startled by a noise like the sudden

explosion of a mine, or the roar of heavy cannon, almost immediately

repeated. It appeared to have originated among the mountains, about

sixteen miles distant due south of my camp. I could only account for

this occurrence by the supposition that an