13th April.—We shall stop here in the neighbourhood of the mountain till noon. Notwithstanding the heat, I had not any rest till I made yesterday a trip to the mountain, which I always thought must be the real Defafaùngh. I had already seen by the rounded rocks in the river what kind of stone I might expect to find. A layer of gravel extends to the north from these rocks, and I soon came upon large stones of coarse-grained granite, inclined to a reddish colour, among numerous little marble stones, which I had not hitherto seen. A species of shrub-acacia covered the whole side of the path I had taken under the mountain where the gravel ceased, of which some bushes served me as a shady resting-place. Its leaves had already fallen, its bark was green, and it had short arcuate thorns. The immense number of seed-husks is a proof of the quantity of flowers it bore; they hung altogether in clusters, and I filled my pockets full with them. I saw a quantity of guinea-fowls on a rock running obliquely to the base:—the rocks of the lower mountains are not perhaps more than a quarter of an hour from the water. They became very active when they remarked us, and I ordered, therefore, my dark, half-naked, huntsman to go first, for these are more accustomed to such a sight.
I had roused a herd of gazelles standing at my left, but permitted them to withdraw in peace; for I had just found two little hills consisting of stones of inconsiderable size, evidently thrown together here. Judging from the analogy of the stone hills I had seen in Kassela, and being fully persuaded that no violent rains from the mountains above, or flood from the Nile, could have so placed them, I took them to be ancient tombs, and searched for potsherds and other memorials of buildings that might have stood here, but in vain. Negro villages and cities disappear the moment they are not inhabited, like ignited bundles of straw, and the ashes do not remain on the ground. Yet it is not likely that there were many inhabited places here, for the unprotected man of nature does not make his residence near the rocky encampments and cavities of wild beasts, and no fragments here indicated the contrary. The native of a civilised country must forget all analogies of his own land, if he wish to comprehend the meaning, custom, and possible conduct of a rude nation.
I ascended with ease the nearest fundament of the granite rock. The rain and distilling sun had produced several round holes, which appeared to have been chiselled by the hand of man, and which may frequently blow up these firm masses of stone, as if a mine were sprung underneath, when they happen to fall on a vein. I found these holes principally in those places where the rocks presented a flat, horizontal superfices, as I had remarked also previously in the granite mountains of the Land of the Troglodytes.
My huntsman—whom, however, I could not see—shot close to me, and a covey of guinea-fowls rose from behind the next block of stone, and induced me to mount in pursuit of them. I took off my shoes, and it was like walking on a red-hot oven, notwithstanding I kept on my stockings. As we ascend to the summit of this mountain-group, a dreadful destruction and piling of rocks one over the other is observed, similar to the scene on the rocks near Phile. Granite rocks, originally lying above the level of the waters, are rounded on the top into the form of pikes, cupolas, and horns. Periodical rains and a hot sun may split, rend, and break them, though only as an exception to the general rule, as I believe from the analogy of the Alps, the mountains on the Nile, and in the desert and country of Taka; they throw off, therefore, perhaps, their decayed covering, and burst forth new like an egg from the shell; and, although the layers on the side of the wind, rain, and sun, admit of no regularity of form, yet they seldom display any ghastly splits or gaps. I would assume, therefore, that these rocks also stood at one time as crags above or beneath the water, in which opinion I am supported by the rounded gravel visible here and there on the layers of rocks. I cannot certainly determine in what manner the granite rocks, projecting here into the Nile, and extending into the river bed as far as the mountains of Kordofàn, and connected with the distant mountain visible on the other side, in N. and S.E. from the mountains here, may prevent at some future times the waters of the lake from being drawn off.
I was now on the summit, where I found a human skull, and felt myself very tired, whilst evening was coming on. In order to descend by another path, I slid down, disregardless of hurting my posteriora, laying my gun on my knees, and tying two guinea-fowls I had shot round my neck; and it was fortunate for me I did so, or else the back of my head would have been stove in. I met one of Suliman Kashef’s soldiers on the lower declivity, who pointed out to me wild buffaloes and elephants at a distance, close to whom he had been. We had seen already a very large quantity of elephants’ dung. I had lost my huntsman in the rocks: he brought fowls also, but trembled dreadfully, because, just as he was aiming at the herds, a lion had presented himself at a short distance. The presence of lions was subsequently doubted; but this morning my two other servants took quite a young lion in their hands, to bring him to me; but they thought it more advisable afterwards to let him bask on in the sun. They, as well as several others, remarked also wild buffaloes and boars (Jalùff) in the neighbourhood; and they brought me, as a proof of the former animals being present here, a horn quite fresh, the owner of which, had become the prey of lions; for the marafill (the spotted hyæna), whose calcareous dung is visible in all parts of this region, never attacks buffaloes.
I repaired now to the foot of the next mountain-group, and was soon convinced that it was of the same species of stone; however, to be quite sure, I had pieces or specimens of stone brought me from the highest peak, and my servants have confirmed me in my opinion, that there are only two mountains, although Arnaud asserts that he has seen sixteen, without putting on magnifying glasses. Some of these specimens consist of pink feldspar, white albin, grey quartz, and black mica; others of dark red feldspar, but without albin, with white quartz and black mica.
I stumbled upon Suliman Kashef on my way back, who had collected his halberdiers around him, and was enthroned on a rock where he could be seen at a distance. He set out this afternoon to make observations, which he might have done yesterday evening. The heat is very great, and I bathe for the first time since a long while, having left it off from fear of catching fever. The Frenchmen think that they shew great courage by going into the water; but it is always full of men the whole day long, and no accident has happened from the crocodiles. My men had not shot any of the gazelles that appeared near the rocks, to take a hasty draught; the Baghàras, however, paid us a visit, and brought sheep; they thought that we were come to make war in their favour, yet no Dinkas dwell near here, but more up the river. Thermometer 27·30°; 32·31°.
14th April.—This morning we proceed at last with a favourable south-east wind to north, with easterly deviations; but we soon came to a flat in the Nile, formed by a granite shelf partly visible, which crosses the river. It is called Gisser—the same as wall or dam, analogous to Tschellal—and was once perhaps really a dam and breast-work, of which only the foundations remain. Who can estimate its future form, and its present ramifications! We scrape along it a little, but then all went right, and we passed in the afternoon, N. by W., the very dangerous Machada—el ans, and Machada Abu Seid mentioned in the ascent, where there was an eternal grating of the vessels, as if over a gravelly bank: first we, then the others stuck fast, and the sailors had very troublesome work. We halted at the left shore, where an incredible number of monkeys were sitting on the trees. I took my gun, and in searching through the forest, remarked a she-monkey, among numerous others, the young one sitting on the lower branches. As soon as she perceived us, she sprang quickly to her young, took it under her arm, and set herself on the highest bough of the tree. Who could shoot at the mother for the sake of getting the young? There was another monkey-like animal there which can only be taken at night; I forget the name of it.
An arm of the Nile, the ends of which are now closed, appeared to be a favourite pond of the gazelles, though not one of them fell to our lot.
The inundation rises through the entire forest, the earth is cracked far and wide, and not a spike of grass is to be seen under the sunt, of which the forest of the Shilluks consists, with few exceptions. But there lay a number of broken off branches and dead trees, that had not attained their proper age, because, when there is too much water, the trees stand too thickly, and their tops get lashed together, and these sunts, especially, spreading from top to bottom with short boughs, leave no draught, so that the centre of them is deprived of the necessary air. We remark, however, where the forest is sufficiently thin, a number of trees thrown down and withered, especially where the shores lie lower, and where, therefore, the ground can be scarcely dry at any time of the year. This may proceed perhaps from wind, for though the latter is not so violent as to tear up trees from the root, like our northern storms, yet the tender nourishing fibres are injured or torn off by the continual motion of the trees, which must be followed by a stretching and straining of the roots. The tree stands, pines away, and falls, as we have remarked previously in the country of Taka.