I was informed that the end of February was the best time of the year for hunting reed-rats (Aulacodus Swinderianus). Accordingly one day I arranged an excursion to the Dyoor, and engaging a number of natives who were used to the sport to bring their lances and to beat up the game, I set off under their guidance to the spot that they considered the most promising. At that season of the year, when all the grass was so thoroughly dry, it did not seem as though it could be a matter of much difficulty to kill almost unlimited numbers of these reed-rats, if only they could be got at; and so in fact it proved: in the course of the day we killed no less than ten, but nearly all of them were so damaged by the merciless use of the lances or by the teeth of the dogs that they were of no use at all for any scientific purpose. The method of hunting, it must be confessed, is somewhat rough. As soon as a spot is discovered frequented by the animals, a ring of the tall grass is set alight, so that escape is rendered impossible, and every one of the poor brutes within the circle of flame is compelled to show itself. The reed-rats invariably keep in concealment until the very last moment, and when finally they make an attempt to escape they get their feet so scorched and their coats so singed that it is very difficult to secure a perfect specimen; they are in this respect like the wild hares of the deserts, which are subject to the delusion that however close at hand then pursuers may be, they may still be safe by remaining quiet in their hiding-places; as soon as they are obliged to quit them they get killed by stones and clubs. In many parts where the grass that had survived the steppe-burning was unusually thick, the Dyoor had only to thrust in their spears at random and they had every chance of spearing one of the reed-rats. The case is pretty much the same in the various pools full of fish left by the subsidence of the river.
The Aulacodus finds a habitat in all the tropical regions of the continent; it is ordinarily found in the neighbourhood of brooks and rivers, burying itself in deep holes amidst the reeds; when, however, it is in search of its food it will wander away to a considerable distance from its place of concealment, and thus allow the hunters a chance of killing it. The larger rivers are the natural channels for the wanderings of the creature, its movements in the water being assisted by its hind feet being furnished with webs; but these webs, it is to be observed, are not perfectly developed; they do not stretch across from toe to toe in straight lines, but go in curves that vary considerably in their stretch. On account of this peculiarity Th. von Heuglin has suggested that the reed-rat found on the Gazelle River should be classified as A. semipalmatus, to distinguish it from the species of the Zambesi and Gambia, which is entirely wanting in the webbed foot.
A full-grown reed-rat is never less than twenty inches in length, but a third of this must be assigned to the rat-like tail, which is coated over with thin hair, nearly black on the top and light grey underneath. The snout, throat, breast, and belly are covered with hair almost as prickly as the bristles of a young hedgehog, light grey in colour; on the back and sides the colour is shaded down to a brownish hue, that is to say, the grey hairs are tipped with a lightish tan-brown. In February the half-grown animals shed their bristles and acquire an entirely new coat. The skin is about an eighth of an inch thick, but is quite soft, and may easily be torn; it is lined with a uniform layer of fat. The meat is excellent when roasted; it is rich, and without being sweet and insipid like that of the rock rabbit, it is free from any unpleasant flavour; in quality it is about equal to poultry, whilst in taste it may be described as being intermediate between veal and pork. As a cloven-footed animal, without horns and non-ruminant, the Nubians of course consider it to be unclean; but the Mohammedans of the steppes and deserts are not so scrupulous; to the Baggara and the Foorians a roast reed-rat is as great a delicacy as a hare is to the Bishareen and Hadendoa. Amongst the natives of the Nubian towns and Nile-valley the Far-el-boos (as the reed-rat is called in Arabic) gives rise to a good deal of mutual banter, and in times of dearth they jocosely charge one another with eating reed-rats on the sly.
Far-el-boos. (Aulacodus Swinderianus.)
THE FAR-EL-BOOS.
The food of the Aulacodus consists, I believe, of the aromatic rhizomes of certain kinds of grass that grow in the depressions of the rivers; but as I only judge from the green finely-minced particles that were contained in the stomach, I am unable to speak positively on this point. The natives esteem the contents of the stomach as a special delicacy; and my dogs, that were generally dainty enough to reject rats and mice, greedily devoured all the entrails.
Tikkitikki, armed with his bow and arrows, was an eager participator in our sport. He declared that reed-rats are never found in the land of the Monbuttoo, but are perfectly well known to all the Niam-niam, who call them “remooh,” or “alimooh.” In common with many other Africans, the Niam-niam often adopt the practice of burying their stores of ivory (either as a protection from the disasters of war or from the chance of fire) in the damp soil of the swamps, which are the haunts of the Aulacodus; the ivory forms just the substance that meets the requirements of the animal for sharpening and grinding down its front teeth, and consequently gets gnawed in every direction.
Khalil required 300 bearers to convey his stores from the Meshera, but as these could not be collected in a day, and as the prevailing scarcity made it impossible to maintain any others beyond the soldiers that were already in the Seribas, the new-comers were turned out to pick up what they could for themselves from amongst the neighbouring Dinka until the entire troop could be got together. A good many days elapsed before the great caravan was complete; and, in the meantime, the soldiers who had already started were having continual conflicts with the Dinka, who were resolved not to part with their corn without a struggle.