Through Timbuctu and across the great Sahara /

by A. H. W. Haywood

These traders were all Hausas, travelling with their wives and children. They cover about fifteen miles a day in this manner, and are so abstemious in their habits that they generally make a large profit on their transactions. They drink only water as a rule, while their diet is of the most frugal kind, helped out with a few kola nuts, of which they are exceedingly fond. The nut has rather a bitter taste, but one soon gets accustomed to it. The Hausas can exist without food for a considerable time, provided they have some kola nut to chew. There is no doubt that its sustaining properties are great, while, when water has been scarce, I have found it a first-rate plan to keep a piece of the fruit in one’s mouth and close the teeth on it.

The head of this caravan was a native merchant of some importance. Early next morning we saw him on the road preparing to start. He wore flowing white robes, and made a picturesque figure mounted on his gaily caparisoned steed. I was informed he was a regular trader by that route, and that he always personally superintended the assembly of his caravan before the morning departure. He certainly seemed to have a rather motley collection of both sexes who were under him in perfect control. At his orders they sought out, without much delay, their respective beasts from the grass where they were browsing, and loaded their charges in a most business-like manner.

This place, called Bouramaka-Yororo, was one of the few spots where I saw any full snipe. About two miles’ walk from the village there were some shallow ponds, with marshy banks, which were the homes of these snipe, besides quantities of the grey teal, which I previously described. Most of the different kinds of duck, which I had come across before, were also well represented, but in comparison to the grey teal their numbers were insignificant. The water was covered with a grey sheet of these little birds, but they were very wild, and rose in the air in dense clouds on observing our approach.

The next day we had a long march, through a very sandy region, to the western extremity of Lake Niangaye. We had now left the water system of the River Bara-Issa behind us, and the country was destitute of water until the lake was reached.

I was riding ahead of the carriers with the policeman, as my custom was, when, as we came round a bend in the track, we espied a big herd of Senegal haartebeest. The animals had evidently been down towards the lake, and on perceiving us, galloped off through the scrub to our right front. There were at least forty in the herd, and, in the hopes that they had not gone too far for pursuit, I started off on their tracks. The trail was easy enough to follow, so, leaving the police orderly with our horses, I went off alone. The ground sloped gently in front of me, so I cautiously approached the top, expecting to see the antelope grazing on the far side. Working with the wind in my face, I wended my way gradually to the ridge, and, taking cover behind a mimosa tree, I peered warily over the edge. Sure enough, about eight hundred yards away were the herd, some grazing, while others had their heads turned in the direction from which they had come, evidently not forgetful of the alarm our appearance had caused among them.

I now tried to stalk them by a flank movement, making for a hillock within two hundred yards of the game. Here I hoped to be able to select the best head, and should be within fairly good range. My manœuvring was completely successful until I neared the top of the hillock, and then, by an incautious movement, I foolishly exposed myself to view for a fraction of a second. To my disgust I had been observed, and away scampered the whole herd at a pace which I knew meant that pursuit was out of the question. I took a couple of flying shots at the one I had marked down as being the biggest bull, but they were both clean misses, and I was unable to retrieve the blunder I had made by exposing myself to view. I only saw one herd of these haartebeest as big as this one again. I fancy forty animals in a herd is nothing out of the ordinary, but in the Western Soudan, from my experience, they are generally in much smaller herds.

After the incident of the haartebeest we continued our march towards the lake. The carriers had by this time come up with me, and were eager to get to the water, as the day was hot and they had nothing to drink by the way. Accordingly we pushed on at a good pace, until suddenly a silvery gleam came into view on the horizon, being evidently the first glimpse of Niangaye. As we approached the water became more visible. Here we were near the western extremity of the lake, which extended eastward as far as the eye could reach, while the breadth must have been about three miles. The shores were sandy, and the banks covered with dried-up grass and small bushes. Occasionally a canoe could be seen speeding along under sail, propelled by a stiff breeze from the north-east. The water was a fine open expanse; there were a few clumps of reeds at times near the shores, but these were not dense enough to interfere with navigation.

The wind referred to blows almost constantly from the same quarter. It is strongest from about sunrise till 11 a.m., while in the evening it dies down altogether as a rule. It thus causes a regular tide, with a difference between high and low water of about two feet. As the lake is shallow, the bed shelving very gently, there is a considerable difference between the width of the sandy beach available as a road in the morning and afternoon. The quantity of water in the lake varies greatly with the season of the year; indeed, at the end of the dry weather, about May, it is possible to walk across the lake in several places without so much as wetting the feet.

Lake Niangaye is one of the largest, if not quite the largest, of a system of lakes and backwaters of the Niger and its affluents in the south-west corner of the “Bend” of that river. Lake Niangaye is the most easterly of this system. The whole of this large area is known as the “Lake District,” and all round these waters game of all descriptions abounds. During the season when water is abundant everywhere the game has no difficulty about drinking; it is therefore scattered all over this area, and not so easy to locate. In the dry months, from January to May, however, the case is very different. Water gets scarcer every month, and the drinking-places become more and more restricted, so that the game has to concentrate around the immediate shores of the lakes to get water. Consequently this is the best time of the year for shooting, although one disadvantage is that the heat gets very intense, and, under these conditions, tracking game becomes a very exhausting pastime. The sandy soil surrounding the lakes for many miles scorches the feet, while the sun beats mercilessly down upon the sportsman’s head. Of course, many kinds of animals retire when the sun gets up in the heavens, about nine o’clock; but this is often the best time to find such game as Senegal haartebeest and gazelle, which can be discovered resting from the heat of the day in the shade of a mimosa tree. These animals are sometimes very shy and unapproachable in the early morning or evening, and frequently one’s only chance of a shot at a beast you have been tracking for some time is during the middle of the day, when he is not so much on the alert.