[53] ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’ vol. xxxv.
[54] “Bee,” like “ba,” in many of the dialects of Central Africa, means “river.” It was an appellation that I was surprised to find in use here, and was a confirmation of the supposed connection of these lands with Baghirmy.
CHAPTER XIX.
Division of the caravan. Trip to the east. African elk. Bamboo-forests. Seriba Mbomo on the Lehssy. Abundance of corn. Route between Kuddoo and Mbomo. Maize-culture. Harness-bushbock. Leopard carried in triumph. Leopards and panthers. The Babuckur. Lips of the Babuckur women. Surprised by buffaloes. Accident in crossing the Lehssy. Tracts of wilderness. Buffaloes in the bush. The Mashirr hills. Tamarinds again. Wild dates. Tikkitikki and the cows. The Viceroy’s scheme. Hunger on the march. Passage of the Tondy. Suggestion for a ferry. Prosperity of Ghattas’s establishments. Arrival of expected stores. A dream realised. Trip to Kurkur. Hyæna dogs. Dislike of the Nubians to pure water. Two soldiers killed by Dinka. Attempt to rear an elephant. My menagerie. Accident from an arrow. Cattle plagues. Meteorology. Trip to the Dyoor. Gyabir’s delusion. Bad news of Mohammed. Preparations for a second Niam-niam journey.
The day was far advanced when, after crossing the Tondy, we turned towards the left, and quitted the thickets in order that we might find an open grass plot sufficiently extensive to accommodate our caravan. The separate detachments were all gathered together, and then divided into two parties, as before returning to Sabby Mohammed had resolved to make an excursion eastwards as far as the borders of his Mittoo territory, so that he might fetch away what ivory he had in store there. The greater part of the bearers and soldiers were sent on direct to Sabby, and I arranged for my own bearers, under the conduct of my servant Osman Aboo Bekr, to accompany them, whilst for myself I reserved just as much baggage as was necessary, and joined the party that was proceeding to the east. It chanced that Ghattas’s corps was taking the same route, and as it led through districts which were well supplied with corn, we all marched in company.
After subduing the Mittoo who were resident close to Nganye’s territory, Mohammed Aboo Sammat, in the previous February, had founded a Seriba on the Upper Lehssy, at no great distance from the villages of Uringama, one of Nganye’s behnkys. On account of its singular fertility the district was a very favourite station for the various Rohl-companies on their way to and from the Niam-niam lands, and the sagacious Kenoosian, well aware of the advantages afforded by their frequent visits, and knowing, moreover, how numerous elephants were in the surrounding regions, had lost no time in making a settlement in the locality. The name of the local overseer of the Mittoo people was Mbomo. As the owners of the land were mutually satisfied with each other and on the best of terms, the soldiers of the Seriba lived on the most amicable footing with the neighbouring Niam-niam. The Seriba Mbomo was about twenty-one miles to the E.S.E. of the spot where we crossed the Tondy, the road by which we travelled lying almost in a straight line in that direction.
ELANDS.
Soon after starting, just as we re-entered the obscurity of the forest, the men in the van of the procession made signs that there was something stirring amongst the bushes. We came to a halt, and hurrying to the front as stealthily as I could, I made out the forms of some light-coloured animals that were lurking in the shadows of the underwood. They turned out to be five splendid elands. They appeared not to have noticed our approach, and grazed on, as peacefully as oxen, under a large tree just in front of us. Simultaneously one of the blacks and myself fired at the foremost buck that chanced to be standing full broadside in our face. The startled animals made a bound, and put their running powers to the test, their short weak legs carrying their ponderous bodies at full gallop across our path. All at once a crashing noise and a heavy fall; the wounded victim was ours: a good supper was provided for our caravan.
This antelope (A. oreas) is the largest and tallest of all the African species, occasionally measuring six feet high at the withers; it appears to be common to the entire continent, and perhaps does not fail in any equatorial region whatever. It is probable that the imposing animal owes its name of “eland” to the imagination of some well-read Boër, to whom it appeared like the mythical creature of his fables and heroic songs; for only as such could the elk have been known to the worthy Dutch colonists. But however little, as far as regards either the colour of its coat or the shape of its horns, the oreas may have in common with the elk, still I must confess that by its size it could not do otherwise than remind me of the stately game of my Livonian home; and the shaggy hair hanging in full crop from the neck, the bushy bristles on the forehead, and above all the thick black mane upon the withers, all combined to increase the resemblance. Far more striking, however, is the analogy of this animal with the zebu-races of Africa, which exhibit many points that are common to the whole antelope type. The short legs, the elevated round body, the long hanging dewlap, the hump-shaped withers, and the light bay colour of the skin are characteristics of this race that justify a comparison of the eland with them far more than with the elk.