THE RECEPTION OF THE EXPLORER AT EL FASHER
The governor of the Darfur Province and his staff welcome the explorer to the capital of the province
We stopped at Um Buru for two days. Abdel Rahman Jeddu, wakil of Mohammedin, the head of the Zaghawa tribe, visited me and brought sheep and chicken as diafa. On the second day we were given an official welcome, the wakil coming with a retinue of retainers on horseback beating drums. Mohammedin’s family, in the absence of the master of the household, sent a lunch of asida, vegetables, merissa, and pastry.
The next stage of our journey was a five days’ trek to Kuttum, 129 kilometers to the southward. The weather was generally good, though hot, with an occasional shower. We traveled as usual in the early morning and late afternoon. There was a beaten track with fairly good going, through hilly country covered with dry grass and small trees. At intervals there were patches which had been burnt in preparation for being cultivated.
On the third day my messenger to El Fasher arrived, with two companions, but it was a disappointing meeting. It had taken him five days instead of four to reach his destination, and he had not brought the answer to my letter back with him. It was waiting for me, he said, in the possession of a soldier at Mutarrig Well, twelve hours’ journey from where we were. The soldier also had provisions for us, but they did us little immediate good at that distance.
There was little for dinner when we camped that night. After dinner I sent our guide off post-haste with orders to ride all night and until he reached Mutarrig. There he was to tell the soldier to come to us as fast as he could.
We started before four the next morning, and in an hour the men came rushing to me with the news that there was a soldier ahead on a camel. In a few minutes I had a letter from Charles Dupuis, acting Governor of Darfur, in the absence of Saville Pasha who had resigned from the service, and a small supply of rice, flour, tea, and sugar. I was especially pleased to be handed a supply of cigarettes.
I had not smoked since soon after leaving Erdi. At Ouenat I had suddenly realized that there were only a few cigarettes left. I then laid down a strict rule for myself: one cigarette a day after dinner. It was hard work waiting all day for that brief smoke, but it was worth it when the moment came. I would get into a sheltered corner, light the precious cigarette, and shield it carefully from any breath of wind that might make it burn ever so slightly faster. When the few cigarettes were gone, there was nothing left but memories and expectation. Now at last the expectation was gratified with a vengeance, for I smoked until my throat was sore.
Bukara, with a handful of the newly arrived cigarettes, put on his long-tasseled red tarboosh, got on the guide’s horse, and did a little fantasia of joy. But it was when we camped at the government rest-house at Marahig that general rejoicing broke loose with singing and dancing. The corporal, looking on while the men set the sugar-loaf on the ground and executed a wild dance about it, thought us all a little mad.