Thursday, Dec. 18.—Seeing that we were now entirely in the hands of the vizier, my companion and I used to present ourselves at his tent every morning, and to ride for some time near him. I, however, soon found it pleasanter to keep more in the rear of the army, a little in advance of his female slaves; and in the narrow paths in the midst of the forest, where the crowding became very disagreeable, I used to keep behind his led-horses. Of female slaves on horseback and led-horses the vizier had with him the moderate number of eight of each kind, while the sheikh had twelve; but this appeared to me a small number when I afterwards saw the king of Bagírmi returning from the expedition with a string of forty-five mounted female partners. These black damsels were all clothed in white woollen bernúses, with their faces completely veiled, and were closely watched. To-day we had a more complete specimen of that peculiar kind of shallow water which I have mentioned above; and the army, while they were winding around it on the fresh green meadow-lands, closely hemmed in on their left by a grove of fine trees, presented a highly interesting scene. From thence, passing through a thick covert, we entered the beautiful open district of Wolóje, which comprises several hamlets. Here I was amused at seeing the head man of a village successfully putting to flight, with a large branch of a tree, a troop of pilfering horsemen. A little beyond these hamlets the encampment was chosen, at some little distance from a very extensive “ngáljam.”
Our conversation with the vizier in the evening again took a geographical turn, owing to the presence of his spy or scout, who had just returned from delivering his message to the Músgu prince Ádishén. The vizier was as yet undecided in which direction to turn his steps; and we heard a native chief, of the name of Puss, or Fuss, mentioned in a manner that assured us our friends were afraid to attack him. Ádishén, the chief just mentioned, was in a certain degree subject to the rulers of Bórnu; but it seemed rather an ironical assertion that this prince would be pleased with the arrival of the expedition. While describing his reception at the court of the chief, the scout indulged in a lively description of the customs prevalent among these people, whose chief had only outwardly adopted Islám. His Majesty, he said, used to indulge in amorous intercourse with his female slaves, of whom he had two hundred, before the eyes of his people; an account which was rather confirmed by Kashélla Belál, who had been his host several times. Belál, who was a very jovial old fellow, also stated that this little prince was not jealous of the favours bestowed by his female partners upon his guests; but, on the contrary, that he himself voluntarily gave them up to them. Such a degrading custom may indeed be followed by this petty chief, who has betrayed his country in order that, by the influence of his more powerful neighbours, he might rule over his countrymen; but we need not draw a conclusion from him as to the customs of the whole tribe, although, of course, they regard the relation of the sexes in a simpler point of view than we do.
Friday, Dec. 19.—The country through which we passed, on leaving our encampment in the morning, was most charming, and of a most expansive bound, and exactly suited for pastoral tribes like the Shúwa and Fúlbe; but traces of cultivation also, and even of cotton-fields, were not wanting: while further on, the dúm-bush appeared, and was after a while succeeded by the tall fan-shaped dúm-palm itself. The country being open, and without any obstruction whatever, the “kibú,” or army, marched in an extended line of battle, “báta,” separated into groups of the most varied description in attire and appearance: the heavy cavalry, clad in thick wadded clothing, others in their coats of mail, with their tin helmets glittering in the sun, and mounted on large heavy chargers, which appeared almost oppressed by the weight of their riders and their own warlike accoutrements; the light Shúwa horsemen, clad only in a loose shirt, and mounted upon their weak unseemly nags; the self-conceited slaves, decked out gaudily in red bernúses or silken dresses of various colours; the Kánembú spearmen, almost naked, with their large wooden shields, their half-torn aprons round their loins, their barbarous head-dresses, and their bundles of spears; then, in the distance behind, the continuous train of camels and pack-oxen: all the people full of spirits, and in the expectation of rich booty, pressing onward to the unknown regions towards the south-east.
It was an exalted feeling of unrestrained liberty which animated me while, mounted on my noble charger, I rode silently along at the side of this motley host, contemplating now the fine, beautiful country, now the rich scenes of human life, which were illumined by a bright morning sun. As yet no blood had been shed by this army, and neither misery, devastation, nor the horrors of people torn from their homes, cried out against it. Every one seemed to think only of sport and amusement. Now and then a stir would be raised in the whole army when a gazelle started forth from the thicket, endeavouring to escape from her pursuers, but soon found herself hemmed in on every side, while Shúwa horsemen and Kánembú spearmen, each endeavouring to possess himself of the prize, cried out to his rivals in the pursuit, “Kólle, kólle!” (“Leave off, leave off!”) as if the prey was already his own, while others animated their companions by shouting out, “Góne, góne!” (“Chase, chase!”) the sounds re-echoing from one troop to another; or when a fat Guinea-fowl, “káji,” or a partridge, “kwíye,” roused from its secure covert, took to its wings, but, trying to fly over those widely scattered troops of hostile men, and frightened by their cries, was soon obliged to look for a moment’s respite, and, after a vain struggle, fell a prey to its pursuers, who often, while they laid hold of it, tore it actually into pieces.
The wide open country seemed to invite the traveller into the far distance; but to-day our march was only of short duration, and before eight o’clock in the morning a new encampment, upon a fresh spot, was again springing up. This whole country is still included in the extensive district of Wolóje; but the water, which was close to the side of the encampment, has the peculiar name of Kodásalé. The whole of the inhabitants of the district belong to the Shúwa tribe of the Bénesé. To the east of Kodásalé lies the place Lawári, towards the west Súggemé, beyond Úlba, and south-west of the latter Memé, and north-west Momó. All these villages are inhabited by Shúwa and Kanúri in common; beyond is the wilderness or karága.
I, too, had my little daily “nógona,” or divan, in which Kashélla Bíllama, my friend from Ádamáwa, and Háj Edrís, formed my principal courtiers, or “kokanáwa,” though occasionally other people attended. All these people I kept attached to me by presents of a few needles, with which they supplied their wants in the neighbouring villages. Bíllama informed me to-day that for three needles he had bought sufficient provision for his horse for one day; for two he had bought a wooden bowl, or “búkuru”; and for six more a good supply of meat. Thus this insignificant production of European industry became of the highest value to me; and it obtained still more value and importance, in the course of my journey to Bagírmi, when it constituted my only wealth, and in consequence procured me the noble title of “needle-prince,” (“malaríbra”). We remained here the following day, as the army had to provide itself with corn, or rather Negro grain, as we were told that we should enter upon a wild uncultivated tract, the border-region between the seats of the Mohammedans and those of the pagan tribes, which, as is generally the case in these parts of the world, has been reduced to desolation.
Each of the surrounding villages had to send two ox-loads of grain, which, however, did not benefit the army in general, but fell entirely to the share of the friends and followers of Lamíno, the remainder of this immense host being thrown upon their own resources. All the grain was carried on asses. It was in this encampment that the vizier made a present to Mr. Overweg of a small lion. He had given him, on a former occasion, a “súmmoli.” This is a very ferocious cat, of rather rare occurrence, which is said not only to attack gazelles, but young cattle or calves. It was of a light brown colour, the hind part, however, being black, and had very pointed, upright ears, “súmmo,” a circumstance from which the name has been derived. The ears, moreover, are ornamented with a black stripe. A great many curious stories are related by the people with regard to the ferocity of this animal, and from what we ourselves had an opportunity of observing, it seems to be a marvellous little creature: for, though still very young and small, it was nevertheless extremely fierce, and was quite master of the young lion. Both animals were fed with boiled milk, of which they were very fond; but the continual swinging motion which they had to endure on the back of the camels in the heat of the day, caused their death very soon.
Sunday, Dec. 21.—The crowding and thronging was excessive when we started in order to pursue our march. The wilderness at first was tolerably clear, being at times evidently a place of resort for numerous herds of elephants, as the quantity of dung, and the uninterrupted tracks of deep footprints, which gave to the soil the appearance of a colossal chessboard, amply testified. After a march of about six miles the wilderness became more thickly overgrown, and presented a fine forest scenery; but, as is generally the case on such warlike expeditions, there is no leisure to pay attention to special phenomena, especially as the Bórnu horses are in general very wild and vicious, and in the throng everybody was continually liable to come into collision with his neighbour’s horse, which, perchance, might be a furious kicker.
The general character of this jungle was this. The ground was covered with dúm-bush, which formed a thick brushwood, and here and there with rank grass, while the forest in general consisted of middle-sized trees, chiefly mimosas and kálgos, though there were other specimens, especially the kókia-tree, which I had first seen on my journey from Gezáwa to Kátsena, the trees of smaller size being separated into groups by large spreading specimens of the vegetable kingdom, mostly of the ficus kind; for monkey-bread-trees seemed to be wanting entirely, and altogether I saw few specimens of this tree in the Músgu country. Very remarkable nests of birds, suspended from the branches, were observed, not unlike a purse, with a long narrow neck hanging down and forming the entrance; or rather like a chemist’s retort suspended from the head, the shank being several inches long, and the whole beautifully fabricated with the most surprising skill. Of the skilful manufacturers of these fine dwellings we did not obtain a sight; but probably it is a species of loxia. In this thick covert, several young elephants were hunted down, and even the giraffe seemed frequent.
The place which we chose for our encampment was adorned by numerous fan-palms, which, although in general identical with the species called Chamærops humilis, nevertheless by their height appeared to be a distinct variety, and gave to the encampment a very picturesque appearance. This forest was here so dense, that only the spot where the vizier himself encamped together with his own followers was free from brushwood, while all the other people were first obliged to clear the ground with much trouble. This was the first day, since our setting out, that we made a tolerable march. The whole manner in which the expedition was conducted was an unmistakable proof of an effeminate court, especially if we take into account the principle of carrying on war in these countries, where only sudden inroads can insure any great success. In the evening there arrived a small complimentary present from Ádishén, the tributary Músgu chief, consisting of five horses and twenty oxen. But while in this manner the more influential men in the army were well supplied with food, the greater part were very badly off, and most of them were reduced to the core of the dúm-bush or ngílle, which by the Bórnu people is facetiously called “kúmbu bíllabe” (“the food of the country town”). But a good sportsman might have obtained better food for himself, and we even got a small ostrich egg from the vizier.