CHAPTER IV.
The "Khedive," towing the flotilla, resumed her onward course; and, except the sailors on watch, everybody on board was sound asleep. Madame de Guéran had retired to her cabin, and her three companions, enveloped from head to foot in coverings to protect them from the mosquitoes, lay stretched at full length on the poop.
Miss Poles alone, indefatigable as ever, walked up and down the deck. She passed in review the occurrences of the night, called to mind the exploits of MM. de Morin and Périères, and debated within herself as to the one on whom she should bestow her still wavering heart.
Daybreak found her still in suspense, but her attention was then attracted to the sights surrounding her. A few yards from the steamer were numbers of hippopotami, who saluted the dawn by wallowing in the Nile; long lines of crocodiles basked in the first rays of the rising sun; herds of huge buffaloes, with outstretched necks and lowered heads, were drinking at the stream. In the distance, already lit up, forests of mimosas and flowering soonts were seen surrounding a village of the Baggara tribe, those hardy horsemen and bold bandits who give only a grudging allegiance to the Egyptian Government. Soon the river itself became animated; quite a fleet of light canoes, hollowed out of the trunks of the tamarind trees, crowded round the steamer, manned by fishermen of the Shillook tribe, who possess an immense extent of territory on the western bank of the Nile. In subjection to Egypt, this numerous, compact tribe, whose villages form an unbroken line along the river, musters more than twelve hundred thousand souls.
If civilization should ever penetrate into these territories, if the innumerable river-side tribes would unite together in one common interest, would obey one sole will, what tremendous power their ruler would possess, what weighty influence would be brought to bear upon the world by the African nation, now held in such contempt that even the most insignificant of European kingdoms would scorn to be named in the same breath with it! But the variety of religions, multiplied ad infinitum, or, to speak more correctly, the diverse beliefs and so-called religious superstitions will ever hold these tribes apart. The Mahomedans have a horror, either instinctive or instilled, of all these people, whom they stigmatise as pagans, and the latter, in their turn, loath the very name of Islamism, a name which to them means their own subjection and enslavement. Thanks to our missionaries, Christianity, and it alone, may one day perhaps succeed in uniting these scattered souls, and may replace ignorance and superstition by knowledge and faith.
The passengers on board the "Khedive" saw nothing during the whole day but the vanguard of the Shillooks, for the Baggaras were denizens of the soil through which they were then passing. But on the morrow, villages succeeded the fishermen's canoes, and as the flotilla hove to for the purpose of laying in a stock of wood and durra, those on board were not sorry to have an opportunity of inspecting a village and making the acquaintance of its inhabitants.
A European who, without any transition stages, preparatory lessons, or preliminary studies, might suddenly find himself in Africa proper, in a Shillook village, would have some difficulty in persuading himself that he was awake, and might feel induced to ask whether he had not been transported, during sleep or by sudden death, to another planet. Imagine a collection of comical mud huts, looking like a large field of button mushrooms; round the majority of the huts a cordon of dried dung, set on fire at night by the natives, for the purpose of keeping the mosquitoes at a distance and frightening the hippopotami and the lions; in the centre of the village, a species of square with one shady spot, furnished by a solitary tree on which are hung the drums, beaten, in case of alarm, to summon the inhabitants to arms. In this square, on mats and buffalo skins, spread out here and there, lie or squat the Shillooks, in utter laziness, sleeping or slowly inhaling the smoke from large pipes with bowls of clay. They are completely naked, but their bodies are encrusted with a thick coating, either of cowdung, or cinders, intended to protect them from the attacks of insects. Some are greyish in colour; these are the poor people, who cannot afford any other covering than the cinders of their own particular hearths. Others, the wealthy owners of a few cattle, make use of dung, and are a dirty red. Even their faces do not escape, every feature being hidden under the layers of filth which, as far as appearances go, seem natural to their skin.
But, nevertheless, they are not entirely without the desire to please, and, if they neglect their bodies, if coats of dirt take the place of coats of cloth, they take the greatest pains with their hair, devoting whole days to the adornment of it, and are quite capable, on this score, of giving any number of points to the most conceited of civilized beings. The hair, rendered stiff by the application of clay or grease, is dressed in the shape of a fan, or a top-knot, or a helmet above the head. The bird kingdom evidently furnishes them with models, and, in this case, cocks and guinea fowls take the place of the wax heads in vogue amongst Parisian hairdressers.
The women, occupied in household affairs, obliged to nurse the babies, who may be seen grovelling in all the mud in the village, and entrusted with the care of the cattle, for which they have a prodigious respect, devote less time to their hair, contenting themselves with a little frizzing or a curl here and there. By way of making up for this, they pay a certain amount of respect to their bodies, and they fasten round their waists, before and behind, pieces of calf's skin, which hang down as far as their knees, forming thus a garment something like a pair of bathing drawers, but permitting a complete side view of their thighs and legs. This covering, incomplete though it be, is only used by the married women. The young girls remain quite naked until their marriage, and that, for certain reasons which will be explained, is frequently deferred until late in life. Amongst the Shillooks the man alone provides the dowry, consisting of a number of cattle, varying according to his means, which become the property of his father-in-law. If the wife is sent back by her husband or leaves him, her father has to repay the dowry, and it is consequently to his interest to prevent all squabbles, if possible, and, if not, to bring about a speedy reconciliation. The introduction of this custom into France might possibly have its advantages. At all events our Parisian mothers-in-law, instead of fanning the flame, would exert themselves to put it out. In the meanwhile, until this suggested reform is carried out, we may congratulate the Shillook ladies on their primitive mode of dress. We shall very soon come to lands where man alone is clothed, and woman, whether girl, wife, or widow, young or old, ugly or pretty, never by any chance puts anything on.
None of the Shillooks, however rich in cattle, thought of offering even a cup of milk to the Europeans. Their laziness, stronger than their curiosity, chained them to the spot where they had first been seen. They opened their large eyes, scanned the strangers from head to foot, but remained unmoved. Enveloped in their dirt, of one sort or another, their inert bodies might have been taken for abandoned corpses, or mummies of ancient Egypt.