Through Timbuctu and across the great Sahara /

by A. H. W. Haywood

This mill can treat 2000 tons per annum. M. Simon proposes to import a 100-h.p. engine which will be able to deal with 2000 tons yearly. By this means he will be able to so lower the cost of his rice as to sell it at St. Louis for 180 francs per ton, instead of 210 francs, the present price. When the Thies-Kayes Railway, connecting Kayes with the coast, is finished it is thought that it will be possible for Government to reduce the freights by rail considerably, and a further fall in the price of Soudan-grown rice may be confidently looked for.

Owing to the trouble in the engine-room it was found necessary to wait at Mopti for two days. Here also there was a suitable opportunity of punishing the malefactors who were responsible for the breakdown. We were all very pleased to hear that they had been heavily fined and had had their licences taken away by the Commissioner.

The night of my arrival I dined with the French officials, and one of the dishes consisted of some excellent venison, which I was told was a haunch of wart-hog. It appeared that these beasts were plentiful in the vicinity of Mopti, so it was arranged the next day to have a shooting expedition in the wart-hog country. The animals were on the other bank of the Niger, a very early start being necessary in order to reach their haunts by daybreak. My French friends were unable to accompany me at the last moment owing to pressure of work. At 4 a.m. I started off in pitch darkness, being paddled down the river in the Government canoe by a couple of sturdy Bosos.

The air was chilly at that hour as we moved swiftly through the water. Stillness reigned around us for the first half-hour, until, about dawn, the phantom shapes of flighting duck and geese began to show themselves. At the risk of being a bit late for the wart-hog I could not resist the chance of some sport with the duck on the river, so I ordered my canoemen to paddle the craft into a sheltered nook under the reeds, where I was concealed and in a good position for the birds as they flew overhead. We were evidently at last getting into the waterfowl region, for hitherto I had seen but few on the Niger. After some pleasant sport in which I managed to collect three or four varieties of duck, besides a goose and some teal, I urged the canoe boys to hurry on to the spot where I was to land. The sun was just rising as we stepped ashore at a small village. The country was a swampy tract along the river bank, such as the wart-hog delights to roam in. On the west, as the ground became firmer, it was covered with patches of mimosa bush and low scrub, where the pig would come and feed in the early morning and evening, while during the day they made their lair in the low ground. We had not gone far when a grey object loomed up in the still, uncertain light, looking so much like the trunk of a mimosa tree that I hesitated whether or not to fire. The object was not more than seventy yards away, affording an easy shot. During that interval of uncertainty I saw the thing suddenly turn and gallop away at a good pace, settling the question of its identity once and for all! It certainly was a wart-hog, so I took a flying shot at its retreating form. It careered on however, untouched, with its tail contemptuously curled up behind it, in the ludicrous fashion adopted by these animals when frightened. I had started the morning badly, and could not help thinking I was unlikely to get another such easy chance.

Tracks there were in plenty, but it was not till I was well on my way back that I managed to shoot one. My first indication of his presence was given by hearing the peculiar grunt to which they give vent when disturbed. He only trotted a few yards off, however, before halting to stare at me, thus giving an easy chance. These animals are very stupid and curious; indeed, I think they show more inquisitiveness than antelopes. I have frequently watched a wart-hog turn round to stare at his pursuer four or five times before he gets out of range; the result is, of course, often fatal to him. The curious excrescences on the beast’s face undoubtedly make him one of the ugliest of living creatures, and the white, curling tusks projecting from his jaws tend to enhance his uncouth appearance. Wart-hog are very plentiful all along the Niger, from Mopti to Timbuctu. The “Bend” of the river is one of their favourite habitats, particularly that portion where water is plentiful, and which is generally called the lake district. I have often seen them in droves of eight or ten, and have generally found them far from being wary, so that they are easily approached. Their sight is bad, but they appear to have a fairly keen sense of smell. I do not think they have very sharp hearing.

On the way back to the canoe we made a detour through some grassy country, where I picked up a couple of lesser bustard. I also saw some greater bustard, but my efforts to approach within rifle-shot of these very cunning-birds were unavailing. Both kinds of bustard seemed to be common about here, but the greater was less common than the lesser species.

At the village on the river bank I had to wait a short while for the meat of the wart-hog to be brought in. The headman of the place asked me, with well-meant hospitality, to rest from the heat of the sun in his house, but after a glimpse inside I decided it was far cooler and pleasanter under a tree in the open air. The houses in this part of the country are made of mud, circular in shape, with roofs of grass thatch. Verandahs are unknown, and as there is but one small door, ventilation is very indifferent. The houses in the hot weather are like ovens, for I suppose the temperature in the day is well over 100 degrees inside them. At night the numerous members of a large family are all crowded together in this small space, so that I should imagine the atmosphere must be even more intolerable than by day.

On our way up the river to Mopti I saw several white egrets. These beautiful birds, which used to abound on the Upper and Middle Niger, have greatly decreased in numbers during the last few years. The reason for this is that a great trade in egret feathers used to be done by French merchants, and thousands of the creatures used to be slaughtered to supply the market. I was told of several men who had made considerable fortunes in this way. The practice was particularly cruel, as the most valuable feathers only grow during the mating season, the massacre of the birds thus tending rapidly to wipe out the whole species. The matter was, however, strongly represented to the French authorities, who took strict measures to suppress the wanton destruction of egrets on the Niger. A fine of 1000 francs is now imposed on any offender, and the result of this law has had a most salutary effect in preventing these birds from being shot, so that it is much to be hoped that in a few years they may have regained their former numbers. The best feathers are found on the back, and comparatively few can be obtained from one bird, consequently a large number of egrets must be killed to produce a fair “bag” of feathers. Besides the white egret there is also a grey egret. The latter variety is not so valuable as its white relation, but the colour is a very beautiful French grey.

At Mopti one of the merchants had a tame lioness. This beast was quite a cub when it was captured, and the story of its capture is rather an interesting one. One day when shooting near the river banks he had killed the mother of a big family of lion cubs, and was leaving the scene of the exploit when he heard a whining noise in the bush hard by. On searching in the foliage he discovered this young lioness, which refused to follow the example of its brothers and sisters who had all bolted at the report of the rifle. This little beggar appeared to be heart-broken at its mother’s death, refusing to leave the spot. She was easily captured, and has been a pet ever since. She was about twelve months old when I made her acquaintance, being kept chained up in the courtyard at the back of the trader’s house. Her owner says she is perfectly harmless, but I would not feel inclined to trust her very much—her manners were decidedly rough! She used to play with the dog when younger, and I was told they were fast companions. A beast of this description is certainly difficult and expensive to feed when it arrives at maturity. Our friend in this case used to make a meal off a big sheep or else two goats daily. She was not given a full ration, for, as the Frenchman her master explained, if she were too well fed she would grow so strong as possibly to be unmanageable. I am afraid that even now she is getting out of hand, and any day may have to be destroyed to prevent a disaster.

While at Mopti I met a young Frenchman who had been wounded in rather a strange way when on a hunting expedition. As may be gathered from the following story he was not very experienced, or such an accident could never have occurred. He and a friend had made up a shooting expedition in the same locality where I had been for wart-hog. They separated at one patch of bush, with the intention of meeting on the other side. The young fellow, thinking he would have a lark at his friend’s expense, and apparently never dreaming of the danger he might incur, made his way through the bush in the direction of his friend, halting every now and then to emit a grunt in imitation of a pig. The other sportsman, seeing a dark object half-concealed in the foliage, and thinking by the noise it made that it was a wart-hog, fired his rifle. To his horror as the object dropped it uttered an unmistakably human cry of pain. He then discovered that he had fired at his friend, wounding him severely in the leg. Under the circumstances the latter was distinctly fortunate not to suffer worse injuries. He might very easily have been killed, and, of course, no blame could have attached to his companion. The young man had been on crutches for some months at the time I saw him, but luckily the injury would not permanently affect him. Another fortunate point in the business was that the bullet was not a sporting one, but solid-nosed, and simply went straight through the leg, emerging on the other side without shattering the bone, as it unquestionably would have done had it been of a different make.