[45]Governor of the palace.
[46]A town near Mesurata.
CHAPTER VI.
EXCURSION TO LOGGUN, AND DEATH OF MR. TOOLE.
Jan. 1824.—We passed the night of the 24th at Angornou, and proceeded, without leaving the lake at any great distance, for two days, when we arrived at Angala, one of the ancient governments subject to Bornou. The present sultan was the first friend and supporter of El Kanemy; and, twenty-five years ago, when he was only a merchant, betrothed to him his daughter Miram in marriage, with a large dower in slaves and cattle. The sultan, a most benevolent-looking old black, received us with great kindness and hospitality; and as soon as we were lodged in the house of the delatoo (prime minister), bowls of milk, rice, flour, and honey, were brought to us; an abundance of eatables were also sent in the evening, and the next morning a very fine live sheep.
Miram (princess in the Bornou language), now the divorced wife of the sheikh El Kanemy, was residing at Angala, and I requested permission to visit her. Her father had built for her a very fine house, in which she constantly resided: her establishment exceeded sixty persons. She was a very handsome, beautifully formed negress, of about thirty-five, and had imbibed much of that softness of manner which is so extremely prepossessing in the sheikh. Seated on an earthen throne, covered with a turkey carpet, and surrounded by twenty of her favourite slaves, all dressed alike, in fine white shirts, which reached to their feet, their necks, ears, and noses thickly ornamented with coral; she held her audience with very considerable grace, while four eunuchs guarded the entrance; and a negro dwarf, who measured three feet all but an inch, the keeper of her keys, sat before her with the insignia of office on his shoulder, and richly dressed in Soudan tobes. This little person afforded us a subject of conversation, and much laughter. Miram inquired whether we had such little fellows in my country, and when I answered in the affirmative, she said, “Ah gieb! what are they good for? do they ever have children?” I answered “Yes; that we had instances of their being fathers to tall and proper men.” “Oh, wonderful!” she replied: “I thought so; they must be better then than this dog of mine; for I have given him eight of my handsomest and youngest slaves, but it is all to no purpose. I would give a hundred bullocks, and twenty slaves, to the woman who would bear this wretch a child.” The wretch, and an ugly wretch he was, shook his large head, grinned, and slobbered copiously from his extensive mouth, at this flattering proof of his mistress’s partiality.
We left Angala the following day, to the great distress of our host, the delatoo, who would have feasted us for a week. A child had been borne by one of his wives, just about the time Dr. Oudney had passed through on his visit to Showy; which, in return for his prescriptions, the delatoo had named Tibeeb, the Doctor’s travelling name. Indeed, there was a liberality of feeling and toleration about our host deserving most honourable mention; and when, on my return from Loggun, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, I really required nursing, he introduced his sister, a female of most matronly deportment, who superintended the process of shampooing, which was performed by one of her best looking and most accomplished handmaids. On my expressing my thanks to the delatoo for these unlooked-for attentions, he replied, “It grieved us all to see so great a man as yourself, so far from home, a stranger and without women; when in your own country, ‘gray hairs to you!’ you have, at least, a hundred, I dare say!”
On the 23d we reached Showy, on the banks of the river Shary: the magnitude of the stream drew from us both an involuntary exclamation of surprise; it appeared to be full half a mile in width, running at the rate of two to three[47] miles an hour, in the direction nearly of north. In the centre of the river is a beautiful island, nearly a mile in length, in front of the town. Showy forms part of the district of Maffatai, and is governed by a kaid: and this person, who treated us with great attention, proposed that we should proceed down the stream to the Tchad, according to the sheikh’s directions.
On the 2d of February we embarked, accompanied by the kaid and eight canoes, carrying ten and eleven men each: ploughing the stream with their paddles, for nearly eight hours, they brought us, by sunset, to a spot called Joggabah (or island, in the Mekkari language), about thirty-five miles from Showy. The river, full as it is of water at this season, had a highly interesting appearance: one noble reach succeeded another, alternately varying their courses by handsome sweeps, some of them three and four miles in length; the banks were thickly scattered with trees rich in foliage, and all hung over with creeping plants, bearing various coloured and aromatic blossoms, amongst which the purple convolvolus flourished in great beauty: several crocodiles, from eight to fifteen feet in length, were slumbering on the banks, which, on our near approach, rolled into the stream, and disappeared in an instant. The natives appeared to fear them but little in shallow water, but dived in with great boldness after the ducks we shot, and a large iguana that we struck while sleeping on a tamarind tree, and which fell headlong into the river. Joggabah is a beautiful feature in the scenery, as well as a prominent one; and is seen for nearly six miles in proceeding down a very wide, handsome reach, which we called Belle-vue Reach. The river is here quite as wide as at Showy, which, with this exception, I take to be the widest part.
