The Central African Waterbock.
(Antilope ellipsiprymna.)
When morning dawned the only remnant of our supper was a pile of crushed bones; for neither skin nor gristle had been spared by the greedy negroes. The beast of prey disdains what a voracious man will devour; the beast rejects what is tough, and gnaws only about the soft and supple joints, whilst man in his gluttony roasts the very skin, splits the bones, and swallows the marrow. Splintered bones, therefore, here in the lines of traffic, just as they do in the caverns of antiquity, afford a distinctive evidence of the existence of men, whilst bones that have been gnawed only attest the presence of lions, hyænas, jackals, and the like.
Few there are who have not read of the glory of the southern heavens; rare is the traveller in the tropics who has not revelled in the splendid aspect of the great arch above when illumined by the shining of the moon. After a long hot march it may indeed happen that the traveller is far too weary and worn-out to be capable of appreciating the charm of any such beauties; in passive indifference, stretched upon his back, he turns a listless eye unconcerned upwards to the sky, till sleep overpowers him; and thus unconsciously he loses the highest of poetic ecstacies. Soon the heaven bedecks itself with countless numbers of fleecy clouds, which separate as flakes of melting ice, and stand apart: the deep black firmament fills up the intervals, and gives a richer lustre to the stars; then, circled by a rosy halo, rises the gentle moon, and casts her silver beams upon the latest straggler.
Meanwhile, far in the lonely wood, there has arisen, as it were, the tumult of a market; the gossip of the chatterers is interrupted now and then by the authoritative word of command of some superior officer, while many a camp-fire is kindled and illuminates the distant scene. To protect himself against the chilly air of night, each separate bearer takes what pains he can, using what ashes he can get for his covering. Wreaths of smoke hover over the encampment, a sense of burning oppresses the eyes and makes sleep all but impossible, and thus the attention is ever and again arrested by the moving orbs in the heavens above. To the traveller it well might seem as if the curtain of a theatre had been raised, and revealed a picture of the infernal world where hundreds of black devils were roasting at as many flames. Such were my nightly experiences as often as I journeyed with a large number of bearers.
SHEREEFEE.
About noon on the third day, after marching about sixteen leagues from Kulongo, we arrived at Duggoo, the chief Seriba of Shereefee, who maintained some small settlements in this remote wilderness. Notwithstanding the almost unlimited scope with regard to space, he was on the bitterest terms of hostility with Aboo Sammat, his neighbour in the south. A regular mediæval feud had broken out between them, the nominal cause of the quarrel being that one of Shereefee’s female slaves had been maltreated, and, having taken refuge with Aboo Sammat, had not been restored; but the interchange of cuffs and blows had been the actual ground of the discord. When two months previously Aboo Sammat was despatching his ivory-produce of the year, consisting of about 300 packages, to the Meshera, it was seized by the negroes as it was being conveyed across Shereefee’s district. These negroes attacked the defenceless bearers and massacred several of them; others they wounded with arrows and lances, till the whole caravan was overpowered, and every one throwing down his valuable burden made a precipitate flight. The Khartoom soldiers belonging to Aboo Sammat looked quietly on throughout the fray, for no attachment to their master would have induced them to fire a shot against any of their brethren.
Aboo Sammat, with all his property, was now in the desert, 150 miles away from the boats. To enter into action against Shereefee he hastened to the west, and induced a number of the controllers of Seribas to repair to the scene of violence, and to insist upon judgment being passed at Khartoom. But to accomplish this purpose he had to travel hundreds of miles in a few weeks, during the rains, and before his task was completed the proper time for shipment had elapsed, the high waters had abated, and all his goods had to remain at the Meshera to await another season, exposed all along to the too probable attacks of the hostile Dinka. Aboo Sammat, so far from taking the law into his own hands, had proceeded in the most legitimate way to demand compensation; but Shereefee, not satisfied with the wrong he had already perpetrated, spurred on his negroes to make repeated incursions upon his rival’s territory. Sometimes he endeavoured to entice Aboo Sammat’s Bongo people to desert, and sometimes sent his own to commit all manner of outrage and depredation. Many of the poor natives, the shuttlecocks of the fray, lost their lives in the contention; and I enriched my collection of skulls by some splendid specimens which I picked up on my way. “This was the spot,” said Aboo to me, “where the thieves made their attack. You have seen for yourself, and should speak up for me.”
Approaching the neighbourhood of the hostile Seriba we made a halt in the open country, about half a league away. To put a good face on the matter, and to make an impression upon Shereefee’s people, everybody put on their best clothes, and Aboo Sammat’s soldiers came out in all the gay colours of the fresh chintz which had just been acquired from the stores of the Meshera. The Turkish cut of these garments contributed in no small degree to the self-confidence of the men, and the Kenoosian could fairly pride himself upon having a troop who, not merely in externals, but in general discipline, were far superior to the disorderly bands which, in dirty rags, were quartered at the other Seribas. Every precaution was taken to guard against a sudden attack, and patrols were sent out to protect the flanks of our extended line. Ambushed in the thickets some armed Bongo were actually seen, but these outlying sentinels as soon as they observed there was a white man in the caravan, having heard of my presence in the country, abstained from any exhibition of hostility. Thus unmolested we drew close up to the Seriba, and Mohammed’s party bivouacked out in the open country. Meanwhile I was received in the most friendly manner by Shereefee’s brother, who was here in charge, and there was no disposition to act towards a Frank in any way that might involve difficulty at Khartoom. But I could not help thinking how narrowly all my baggage might be escaping attack, and what a hopeless attempt it might be to recover it.
DUGGOO.
The whole district, as I have mentioned, had been gradually rising in terraces all the way from the Tondy; and only just before we reached the Seriba, which was named Duggoo, after the superintendent of the place, had we marched continuously up-hill for half a league; no flowing water had hitherto been observed. On the south-west and south-east were visible the highlands in the distance, whilst in front of them were elevations of from 100 to 200 feet above the level of the adjacent vale. One of these elevations was very close to Duggoo in the north-east, whence from a bamboo jungle there streamed in the rainy season a brook which fell into the Dyan. The recesses and caverns in the red iron-stone reminded me of the great grotto at Kulongo, with its swarms of fluttering bats (Phyllorhinus caffra) and vast accumulation of guano.