May 21.—Ever since my return from Mandara, an expedition, to be commanded by the sheikh in person, had been in agitation against a numerous people to the west called Munga. These people had never thoroughly acknowledged the sheikh’s supremacy, and the collecting of their tribute had always been attended with difficulty and bloodshed. They had, however, now thrown off all restraint, and put to death about one hundred and twenty of the sheikh’s Shouaas, and declared they would be no longer under his control, as the sultan of Bornou was their king; and headed by a fighi of great power, had begun to plunder and burn all the sheikh’s towns near them. It was reported, and with some truth, that they could bring 12,000 bowmen into the field; by far the most efficient force to be found in the black country. To oppose these, the sheikh assembled his Kanemboo spearmen (who had accompanied him from their own country, and assisted him in wresting Bornou from the hands of the Felatahs), to the amount of between eight and nine thousand. These, with about five thousand Shouaas and Bornou men, composed the force with which he meant to subdue these rebels. Another complaint against the Mungowy was, “That they were kaffering[28], and not saying their prayers! the dogs.” This is, however, a fault which is generally laid to the charge of any nation against whom a true Musselman wages war, as it gives him the power of making them slaves. By the laws of Mohammed, one believer must not bind another.
Rhamadan, the period generally chosen for these expeditions, had commenced, since the 13th May; and on the 8th, meaning to take the town of Yeou, with the many others on the banks of the river of that name in his way, both for the purpose of collecting forces and tribute[29], the sheikh left Kouka for Dowergoo, a lake about six miles distant, his women, tents, &c. having preceded him in the morning.
Dr. Oudney and myself accompanied him outside the gates; and at our request, he left Omar Gana, one of his chief slaves, to be our guide to the old city of Bornou, which we were anxious to see; and from whence we were to proceed to Kabshary, still farther to the west, on the Gambarou, or Yeou, and there await his arrival.
May 22.—We left Kouka with five camels and four servants for Birnie, halting in the middle of the day, and making two marches, of from ten to fourteen miles, morning and evening. The country all round Kouka is uninteresting and flat, the soil alluvial, and not a stone of any kind to be seen, but thickly scattered with trees, mostly acacias. We sometimes came to a few huts, and a well or two of indifferent water; and a mess of rice from our stores was our usual supper.
On the 24th, about noon, we arrived at the river Yeou, and halted at a rather large nest of huts called Lada. We were now seventy miles from Kouka. The river here makes a bend resembling the letter S, the water extremely shallow, and a dry path over the bed of the river appeared close to our halting-place, although the banks were high, and capable of containing a very large stream. I walked out, following the easterly course of the stream in search of game; but within four hundred yards of the banks, the ground was so choked with high grass and prickly underwood, that I was obliged to take a path more inland, where a partial clearance had been made for the sake of some scanty cotton plantations. Pursuing some Guinea fowl across one of these, I was assailed by the cries of several women and children, who having thrown down their water-jugs, were flying from me in the greatest alarm. I however went on, but had not proceeded above a quarter of a mile, when my negro pointed out several men peeping from behind some thick bushes, and evidently watching our motions. I desired him to be on his guard, as he carried a carbine loaded with slugs; and we called repeatedly to them without any effect. They had been alarmed by the women, who had represented us to be Tuaricks, of whom they are constantly in dread, as their country is not more than seven days distant from where these marauders are often seen; and the extreme points of the Bornou dominions they visit without fear. The inhabitants of these wilds cannot be induced to quit their present homes; and they patiently submit to have their flocks and children taken from them, and their huts burnt, rather than seek a more secure residence in the larger towns. They have, however, a manner of defending themselves against these cruel invaders, which often enables them to gratify their revenge: the ground is covered by the high grass and jungle close to the banks of the rivers, and they dig very deep circular holes, at the bottom of which are placed six or eight sharp stakes, hardened by the fire, over the top of which they most artfully lay the grass, so as to render it impossible to discover the deception. An animal with its rider stepping on one of these traps is quickly precipitated to the bottom, and not unfrequently both are killed on the spot.
In returning to the tents with the people whom I had alarmed, and who cautioned me not to proceed farther in that direction, I quite trembled at the recollection of the various escapes I had had, as some of these blaqua, as they are called, were not a yard distant from the marks of my former footsteps.
The country near the banks of the river to the west is ornamented by many very large tamarind and other trees, bearing a fruit resembling a medlar, green and pleasant to the taste, and many of the Mimosa tribe flourished in uncontrolled luxuriance. The Googooroo, or Jujube, abounded; and these varieties of green gave a life to the landscape that was quite new to us. The wild fruits even were palatable; and selecting those on which the monkeys were feeding, we devoured them fearlessly and eagerly,—their freshness supplying the want of either flavour or sweetness. The monkeys, or as the Arabs say, “men enchanted,”—“Ben Adam meshood,” were so numerous, that I saw upwards of one hundred and fifty assembled in one place in the evening. They did not at all appear inclined to give up their ground, but, perched on the top of the bank some twenty feet high, made a terrible noise; and rather gently than otherwise, pelted us when we approached to within a certain distance. My negro was extremely anxious to fire at them; but they were not, I thought, considering their numbers, sufficiently presuming to deserve such a punishment.
May 25.—About two miles from Lada, we left the river, and halted at noon near a small still water. Here were several flocks of geese, and some of the species of bird called adjutant. These mid-day halts, with only partial shade, were dreadfully sultry and oppressive. We moved on in the afternoon, and passing another lake of the same description, by nine in the evening came to one much larger, called Engataranaram. Nothing could be more wild than the country we had passed through this day; and compared with the sterile plains I had lately been accustomed to, seemed rich and picturesque: it was one continued wood, with narrow winding paths, to avoid the overhanging branches of the prickly tulloh. The frequent foot-marks of lions, the jackal, and hyena, gave us a pretty good idea of the nature of the inhabitants; and their roarings at night convinced us that they were at no great distance.
We had this morning met a kafila from Soudan, consisting of about twenty persons, and bringing one hundred and twenty slaves; and some hours after we saw the place where they had passed the preceding night. They had lit their fires in the very centre of the path, and made a good fence all round them of large branches of trees and dry wood. This fence is sometimes set fire to, when their four-footed visitors are numerous, and approach too near. Camels and animals of every description are placed in the centre, and should one stray in the night, he is seldom again recovered. Kafilas never travel after dusk, particularly those on foot; and our negroes had such a fright during the latter part of this day’s march, that they declared on coming up with the camels, that their lives were in danger from such late marches, an immense lion having crossed the road before them only a few miles from where we halted. There can be little doubt, that by their singing and number they had disturbed the lion from his lair, as we must have passed within ten paces of the foot of the tree from which he broke forth on their approach: they said that he had stopped, and looked back at them, and if they had not had presence of mind sufficient to pass on without at all noticing him, or appearing alarmed, some one of the party would have suffered.
