The mode of carrying out these raids may be thus exemplified: On the last occasion 140 armed troops, accompanied by a recognised train of some hundred natives, followed again by a lot of people with a keen scent for cattle of any sort, had set out upon their enterprise. In this cavalcade they had proceeded exactly as though their intention was merely to reach some Seriba or other. Then, all of a sudden, when they saw that the chances were in their favour, just at nightfall (deviating to one side, or even retracing their steps), they marched on till, generally at break of day, they arrived at the devoted murah. Having surrounded it, they began to beat their gongs and to fire away vigorously. They were so alarmed at the likelihood of hitting each other in the legs (for that is the general result of their firing) that they merely discharged a lot of blank cartridges into the air. This, however, was quite sufficient to intimidate the natives, who lost no time in making their escape through the gaps which the invading party were careful to provide in their ranks. In a general way the Dinka have no larger number of servants with them at their cattle-farms than is absolutely necessary, and, as I have mentioned, they leave their wives and children in outlying huts, so that these are very rarely exposed to the rapine of the invaders.
By the help of the negroes which they bring with them, the invaders soon make themselves masters of all the herds, and hurry back covered by the protection of the soldiers. To supply the requirements of a year it is necessary that they should secure by their raid at least 2000 head of oxen. Of the plundered property two-thirds belong to the authorities, the remaining third being assigned to the soldiers, who hawk it about and dispose of it as they please. A portion, however, is first allotted to the leaders of the negroes, to the overseers of the districts, and to the chiefs, which is ever an excuse for great rejoicing. The scandalous accomplices, abettors, and receivers of this odious commerce are those professed slave-traders, the Gellahba, who have succeeded in finding snug quarters for themselves in every Seriba, where they manage, like idle drones, to enjoy the produce of the toil of the industrious. Their transactions extend to calicoes, soaps, and head-gear; they deal in firelocks, looking-glasses, and onions; they can sell a few slaves, old or young, male or female; they find a market for rings and beads; they do something in amulets and verses of the Koran; very often they have on hand some bullocks, sheep, or goats; indeed there is hardly anything which chance does not occasionally throw into their line of business. Thus it came to pass that this year they carried on a thriving cattle-trade in our settlement. From the other marauding companies, whose luck had been better, they had acquired a considerable store of cattle, and they did not miss the opportunity of turning it now to their own advantage.
When I consider the ravages that are made year after year on so large a scale upon the cattle of the Dinka, and the enormous consumption of the Nubians, I confess that it is quite an enigma to me how the supply is not exhausted. Although I am aware that they never kill their cattle, yet the murrain of flies every season decimates their herds; and, besides this, their cows very seldom ever calve more than once, and very frequently remain utterly barren. Observations of this kind somewhat assist us in forming an estimate of the vast numbers of the people, since for the mere oversight and custody of the myriads of cattle there must be multitudes of men corresponding to the hand-to-mouth population of our civilised communities.
EXCURSION TO SUBSIDIARY SERIBAS.
From the 21st of July until the 4th of August I made a tour, which gave me an opportunity of inspecting the subsidiary Seribas of Ghattas. My acquaintance with the country was thus materially enlarged. A march of about four leagues towards the south-west brought me again, by a road which I had not hitherto traversed, to Geer, where the fields of sesame were already in bloom. The sesame in this district all had white blossoms, while in the Nile country it as uniformly blooms with a pale rose-coloured flower, and this is by no means an uncommon feature in the flora of the region. I could exhibit a long list of plants which elsewhere are either red or blue, but here are invariably white; but I could not offer any satisfactory explanation of the circumstance.
Like all my other wanderings in the interior, this little excursion was made entirely on foot. To get along through the tall grass was anything but easy. The negroes tread down a sort of gutter, the width of their foot, and along these we made our way, as in a wheel-rut, as best we could. It was quite necessary to keep one’s steps verging inwards. Occasionally these gutters change their character and become water-courses, by means of which the adjacent steppes are drained. But the enjoyment of a luxuriant nature, with its perpetual change of scene, and the charms of novelty which presented themselves in the foliage, compensated richly for a little toil; and day by day practice made the trouble lighter.
This tour contributed in various ways to my stock of information. In Geer I met with the clerk from the Seriba destroyed by the Agar, who related to me the adventures which the sufferers had endured upon their flight. With a Faki from Darfoor, who had formerly visited Bornu and the Western Soudan, I had a long geographical dispute as to whether the great river of the Monbuttoo emptied itself into the Tsad, or flowed direct into the sea. The foreigner argued justly for the Shary, whilst I, on the other hand, was referring to the Benwe. I succeeded in stirring him and all the other interested listeners to a state of considerable amazement at my acquaintance with localities of which they had no knowledge except by report and which they hardly knew even by name. I told them about the whole series of states right away from Darfoor to the ocean. For about the hundredth time I had again to answer the inquiry why Europeans want so much ivory. The curiosity on their part is quite intelligible, as ivory is the unseen incentive which keeps alive the system of plunder practised by the Nubians, and I endeavoured to make them comprehend something about the handles of knives and sticks and parasols, the pianoforte keys, the billiard-balls, and the variety of other uses to which the material is applied.
From Geer, with its questions of geography, history, and political economy, I proceeded another league and a half, and came to Addai, where the whole armed force was employing itself most peaceably in the art of tailoring. In nearly all Mohammedan countries needlework is the business of the men. A short league brought me to Koolongo, past which there flows a copious stream, bordered by thick jungles 01 impenetrable bamboos, and which, not far from Addai, flows into the Tondy. The stream is singularly abundant in fish, and the Bongo were busy in securing their chief haul. They proceed very much in the European way of damming up the stream by weirs, and laying down wicker-pots of considerable size. The fishing, for the most part, is done twice in the year; first, at the commencement of the rainy season, and again when the waters begin to subside.
