But, as I have carried away the reader’s attention from the thread of the narrative, so I myself had almost forgotten where I was, and it required an admonition from my friend Abú Dáúd to induce me to look after my own safety; for already the greater part of the Shúwa had returned to the western shore, and threatened to leave us alone, and it did not seem very agreeable to be taken in the rear by the pagans, and perhaps even to be cut off by the boats. I therefore returned to the western shore, where the army was scattered about, not knowing what to do, being rather disinclined to retrace their steps without having enriched themselves with booty of some kind.
Following then the course of the river, I witnessed an interesting and animated scene,—a dozen courageous natives occupying a small elevated island, with steep banks, separated from the shore by a narrow but deep channel, setting at defiance a countless host of enemies, many of whom were armed with firearms. But African muskets are not exactly like Minié rifles, and a musketeer very often misses his aim at a distance of thirty or forty yards. It was astonishing to see that none of this small band of heroes was wounded, notwithstanding the repeated firing of a number of Kanúri people. Either the balls missed their aim entirely, or else, striking upon the shields of these poor pagans, which consisted of nothing but wickerwork, were unable to pierce this slight defence; for not only was the powder of a bad quality, making a great deal of noise without possessing any strength, but even the balls were of extremely light weight, consisting of pewter, as is generally the case here. However, it was not prudent of me to witness this scene (which was so little flattering to my friends) for too long a time; for when they saw that I had my gun with me, they called upon me urgently to fire at these scoffers, and when I refused to do so, reproached me in terms which very often fell to my lot—“ʿAbd el Kerím fáida nsé bágo,” meaning that I was a useless sort of person.
It is a remarkable fact that in almost the whole of the Músgu country, except near a few isolated granite mountains, there is not a single stone, else it would have been almost more profitable to have thrown stones at these people, than to fire at them with the pewter balls. With regard to those peculiar shields of wickerwork with which these courageous Músgu people managed to protect themselves so adroitly, I had afterwards an opportunity of examining them, and found them to be about sixteen inches broad at the top, twenty-two at the bottom, and about forty in length, but hollow. The material consists of the same kind of reed with which their huts are thatched.
About noon the army began its march homewards. Certainly it was not overburdened with spoil; for scarcely fifteen slaves had been taken, mostly decrepit old women, who either could not or would not leave their comfortable cottages. The anger and disappointment of the army was vented upon the habitations of these people; and all the cheerful dwellings which we passed were destroyed by fire. This certainly was a heavy loss to the inhabitants, not so much on account of the huts, which they might easily rebuild, as on account of the granaries, the grain having been harvested some time previously; and, as far as I became aware, there being no subterranean magazines or catamores, as I had observed with the Marghí, and the fugitives in the hurry of their escape mostly probably having only been able to save a small portion of their store. In estimating, therefore, the miseries of these slave-hunts, we ought not only to take into account the prisoners led into slavery, and the full-grown men who are slaughtered, but also the famine and distress consequent upon these expeditions, although nature has provided this peculiar tribe with innumerable shallow watercourses swarming with fish, which must tend greatly to alleviate their sufferings under such circumstances. The forest intervening between these villages consisted almost exclusively of “kindín” or talha-trees, which were just in flower, diffusing a very pleasant fragrance, while here and there they were overshadowed by isolated dúm-palms. As for déleb-palms, I did not observe a single specimen in the whole of this district; but beyond the river to the south-east, as I have mentioned above, I had seen several in the distance.
After a march of four hours, we again reached the broad ngáljam of Démmo, but at a different point from where we had crossed it in the morning with so much delay. It seemed almost providential that we had not taken this route in the morning, as the poor Músgu people would have had less time to make their escape. Leaving the main body of the cavalry behind me, I pursued my march towards my homely tent without delay; for, having been on horseback for more than twelve hours without anything to eat, I was quite ready for some repose and refreshment. But it took me full an hour and a half to cross this peculiar basin, which at present was dry in most places, and overgrown with tall rank grass, but swampy in some parts, and intersected by holes caused by the footprints of the elephant. A mile further along the north-western border of this swamp brought me to my tent, and to the several dishes which awaited me; and this was one of those rare occasions, during my travels in Negroland, on which I dined with a truly European appetite.
The vizier was very gracious, and praised my courage in having accompanied this distant expedition quite by myself; but the Kanúri, who had taken part in it, detracted from my praise, using the very terms which I have mentioned above—“Fáida nsé bágo.” Indeed, this became one of my nicknames during my stay in Bórnu, and was the reason why I was less popular with most of the people than my companion. It is very natural that the motto “Afí fáida nsé?” (“Of what use is he?”) should be the guiding principle, not only of Europeans, but barbarians and semi-barbarians.
The following day we remained on the same spot, probably for no other purpose than to give some repose to the people who had accompanied the expedition the preceding day; and the vizier, who was fully aware of my ardent desire to push further southward, at least as far as the equator, took occasion to make merry at my expense, and, to the great horror of the effeminate courtiers, suddenly proclaimed that it was his firm intention to lead the expedition into those unknown regions in the interior. At times, indeed, he could be exceedingly amiable; and he was clever enough to conceive how Europeans could be induced to undertake such hazardous journeys, although he was scarcely able to appreciate the amount of courage which such an undertaking is able to inspire. He had often spoken with me concerning my project of pushing on towards the east coast; and he thought that a troop of ten Europeans would be able to accomplish it, though he anticipated great obstructions from the quantity of watercourses in those equatorial regions; and there can be no doubt that this would be one of the greatest obstacles to such an undertaking.
In order to console me, and soothe my disappointment on finding that this was to be the furthest point of the expedition, and that we should retrace our steps from hence without even visiting the country of the Túburi, he ordered Mʿallem Jýmma to be called, in order to inform me how far the enterprising Púllo conqueror Búba had penetrated beyond Búban-jídda; but he found that I was already fully acquainted with this fact from other sources. The very interesting route of the Mʿallem Jýmma from Démmo, by the village of the Túburi to Láka and Láme, I have already communicated on a former occasion. It is to be hoped that these regions will soon become better known, when English steamers shall go annually up the river Bénuwé, and enable travellers to start afresh from thence for those inland regions.
CHAPTER XLV.
RETURN TO BÓRNU.
Wednesday, Jan. 7.—This was the day when we were to bid farewell to all projects of penetrating further towards the south or south-east. It was rather remarkable, that, early in the morning, at the very moment when the drum was beating, the moon was eclipsed; but our commander-in-chief was too much enlightened to be frightened at such a phenomenon like the Athenian general before Syracuse. He requested Mr. Overweg to explain it to him; but otherwise he was not much concerned about it.