Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa

by Heinrich Barth

In this pleasant spot we remained encamped the following day, while part of the army was sent out in a southerly direction towards our former encampment, Kákala, which was only at a few miles’ distance, in order to try their fortune thereabouts; but the pagans being upon their guard, they returned empty-handed in the evening. Our food to-day was varied, to our great satisfaction, by an excellent fish of considerable size, which we obtained from the neighbouring pond. Fish seems to be plentiful in this quarter; but whether the number of small ridges and channels which we observed on our march the following day were intended for catching fish, which might enter them at the highest level of the inundation, or for preparing the fields for cultivation, I am not quite sure; but the former seemed to be the case, there being no signs whatever of the fields being brought under labour. Dense forest and open pasture-ground alternated, the forest, consisting of middle-sized acacias, interrupted now and then by the kálgo-tree, with its ash-coloured leaves and its dark red pods, or by the kókia.

The country, however, became exceedingly interesting and pleasant when we reached one of the numerous watercourses of these African Netherlands, an open and clear river about seventy yards broad, which being fringed on each bank with a border of slender deléb-palms, or kamelútu, in the clear magnificent morning sky, afforded a most picturesque view. We here crossed this water, and passed a village on our left, and, keeping along the fresh turf of the western bank a mile further on, reached a spot where another branch, running eastward apparently, though no current is visible, and fringed likewise by palms of the same description, joins the main channel. The country being without any perceptible inclination, it is extremely difficult, nay almost impossible, to decide about the direction of these watercourses, except during the period of their highest inundation. But the fertile and picturesque landscape beyond this narrow sheet of water, which stretched along in a regular line like an artificial canal, did not seem at all to be deserted, natives being seen in every direction. The commander of the expedition therefore ordered a short halt, the army presenting their front to the enemy, and preventing the stragglers from crossing the river, which, owing to their greediness for spoil, they seemed to have not a little inclination to do. But the great men of Bórnu at the present day do not like any unusual exertion; and it was decided to await the arrival of the camels, to encamp at ease, and to take luncheon. We then turned off a little to the westward, entered a village, and encamped in the stubble-fields.

Suddenly, just about noon, without my having any previous knowledge of it, the vizier and his officers mounted on horseback, in order to attack the pagans on the other side of the water; but these poor people, to whom had been given full opportunity of estimating the strength of the army, had thought it prudent to make use of the leisure thus afforded them, not by the mercy, but by the cowardly disposition of their enemies, to convey their families and property into a place of safety; for the river of Logón passed at a distance of only four miles from this place, and in its present state was capable of affording perfect security to the persecuted natives, their pursuers having no boats. But although the army did not go to a great distance, and returned after an absence of three hours, I was rather sorry for having neglected this opportunity of obtaining a sight of the river of Logón again at another place, and likewise of visiting once more that picturesque district, so rich in deléb-palms, which was evidently one of the finest in the whole country. Mr. Overweg, who had received previous information of the intention of the vizier, was this time more fortunate than myself, and afterwards informed me that they had been obliged to keep first along the smaller river, in order to reach the ford where we had crossed it in the morning. The great river, which they reached about three miles beyond, exhibited a single bed, and was not fordable.

While remaining behind in the empty encampment, I lamented the misery of accompanying such an expedition; for nothing can be more disheartening to the feelings of a traveller who is desirous of knowledge, than to visit these beautiful countries under such circumstances, when the original inhabitants are either exterminated, or obliged to seek their safety in flight, when all traces of their cheerful life are destroyed, and the abodes of human happiness converted into desolation, when no one is left to acquaint him with all the significant names which the various characteristic features of the country must necessarily bear, especially those numberless creeks, swamps, and rivers which intersect this country in all directions. The stranger who intrudes upon the natives in this hostile manner is scarcely able to make out a few dry names of the principal dwelling-places, and, being placed under such disadvantageous circumstances, is at least justified in speaking more emphatically of the endless misery into which the finest and most populous regions of this continent are plunged by these slave-hunting expeditions of their merciless Mohammedan neighbours. This fertile district, which is enclosed by the river of Logón on the east, and by the narrow channel-like watercourse on the west side, seems to be that very dominion of “Fúss,” the power of which, as I have related before, was greatly dreaded by our friends.

This was the coolest day we had as yet experienced on our expedition, the thermometer, in the cool shade of a tree, at half-past one o’clock in the afternoon, indicating only 84°. This was probably attributable to the fresh northerly breeze which sprung up about noon; for during the night it was not so cold as we felt it afterwards, the thermometer during this time indicating, at sunrise, between 56° and 59°, and at sunset between 74° and 77°.

Wednesday, Jan. 14.—We made a longer march than usual, while the character of the country changed entirely, and not, as it seemed, to its advantage; for instead of a fertile landscape, clothed with rich verdure, we entered upon bleak alluvial plains scantily overgrown with stunted mimosas, and to all appearance almost unfit for producing grain. It was one of those remarkable days in January which, in the whole of Central Africa, form a distinct season by themselves. A thick fog enveloped the whole country, and excluded any distant view, and, while subsequently it helped to increase the dismal character of the country, in the beginning of our march it prevented us from enjoying once more the rich scenery of the preceding day; for we had first to return to the bank of that beautiful clear sheet of water along which our march had led the day before. Its banks here also were quite flat, but the sheet of water was wider than at the place where we had seen it before. Proceeding a little in advance of the army, I obtained a sight of a river-horse just at the moment when it raised its immense head above the surface of the watery element.

But as soon as we left this fine clear sheet of water the character of the country changed entirely, assuming an exceedingly sombre aspect, and we passed a hamlet more cheerless and miserable than any I had seen in the whole of this country. Not a single trace of cultivation was seen on the bleak, black, argillaceous soil; and it was evident that the inhabitants of this hamlet subsisted solely on the fish which they were able to catch; and these may be abundant, as the whole configuration of the ground evidently shows that this entire tract is reached by the inundation during the rainy season.

The country preserved the same aspect as we proceeded onwards; and the hamlets which we passed were not of a more inviting appearance than the first. Only now and then an isolated deléb-palm, or kamelútu, raised its magnificent tuft into the air, and served, by the contrast it afforded, to make this spot appear more gloomy. A large piece of ground was entirely covered with aghúl (Hedysarus alhajji) which seemed to me not a little remarkable, as I did not remember to have seen this plant, which is so much liked by the camel, since I had left Taganáma.

The country assumed more and more the appearance of a swamp at present dry; and we were even obliged to change our direction frequently, in order to avoid spots where the bog had not dried up, while everywhere we observed the same kind of small ridges which I have mentioned before. Further on, the ground became a little drier, but presented only a monotonous waste, with detached bunches of rank grass, overshadowed now and then by scanty and stunted karáge-trees scarcely fifteen feet high, while we had been accustomed, in the Músgu country, to see this kind of tree assume the size of the most magnificent specimens of the vegetable kingdom, with an elevation of from seventy to eighty feet, and a crown of not less diameter. As far as the eye could reach, the character of the country presented the same poor appearance; but, as I have mentioned before, the sky was not very clear, and the view was therefore rather limited. The bush of the fan-palm seemed to be quite solitary, without there being a full-grown specimen to be seen.