There can be no doubt that in the abstract of people's rights, any annexation of the territory of another is an infringement. Had this principle been adhered to throughout the history of the world, there would have been no progress. Savages of all countries are prone to strife; and a state of chronic warfare with neighbouring tribes is the example of African politics. A strong government is a necessity.
I had always expected trouble with the Baris, as I had known them during my former journey as a tribe of intractable savages. The Austrian missionaries had abandoned them as hopeless, after many efforts and a great expenditure of money and energy.
The natives had pulled down the neat mission house, and they had pounded and ground the bright red bricks into the finest powder, which mixed with grease formed a paint to smear their naked bodies. Thus the only results of many years' teaching were the death of many noble men, the loss of money, the failure of the attempt; and instead of the enterprise leaving a legacy of inward spiritual grace to these "men and brethren," the missionary establishment itself was converted into an external application for the skin: the house of God was turned into "pomade divine." This was a result that might have been expected by any person who had practical experience of the Baris.
The extent of country occupied by this tribe was about ninety miles in length from north to south, and seventy in width. Although the people who inhabited this district were all Baris, there was no cohesion among them. They were divided into numerous small chiefdoms, each governed by its sheik or head man. Thus Allorron represented Gondokoro, while every petty district was directed by a similar sheik. The Bari country was thickly inhabited. The general features of the landscape were rolling park-like grass lands;—very little actual flat, but a series of undulations, ornamented with exceedingly fine timber-forests of considerable extent, and mountains rising to about 2,500 or 3,000 feet above their base. From these mountains numerous streams drained to the Nile: these were generally dry in the summer season. The soil was poor in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro, but at a distance from the river, the country was fertile; the rocks were throughout granitic; the mountains yielded the finest iron ore, especially those of Belinian, twelve miles from Gondokoro, where the natives were expert black smiths. Cultivation was carried on to a large extent throughout the country; the corn generally used was the common dhurra (Sorghum vulgare). This was usually the dark-red variety, which, being rather bitter, has a chance of escape from the clouds of small birds which ruin the crops. Sesame was common throughout all portions of Central Africa, and throve well upon the poor and light soil of Gondokoro.
The Baris were exceedingly neat in their dwellings, and their villages were innumerable. Each hut was surrounded by a small court composed of cement made from the clay of the white-ant hills mixed with cow-dung and smeared with ashes: these courts were always kept scrupulously clean. The Bari hut differs from that of other tribes, as it contains an inner circle, which can only be used by creeping on the hands and knees-first through the entrance, which is only twenty-four inches high, and secondly from the passage formed by the inner circle. The inner walls are formed of wattles and clay neatly smeared or plastered with cement. They are quickly attacked by the white ants, which destroy the wattles, but the clay is sufficiently tenacious to form a wall when the wood or reeds may have disappeared.
The granaries are formed of wicker-work supported upon upright pedestals of either hard wood or of stone, to resist the white ants; the wicker-work is smeared with clay and cow-dung, and the roof is thatched in a manner similar to the house.
The Baris are a great pastoral people, and possess immense herds of cattle. These are generally small active animals with humps; white is the prevailing colour. The sheep are small and the mutton is good; but although the fine pasturage of the Bari country is eminently adapted for sheep and goats, these animals are delicate, and require much attention during the heavy rains, at which time they are always kept beneath a roof at night, with fires composed of dry cow-dung to create a smoke that will drive away flies or mosquitoes.
Like most of the tribes of the White Nile, the Baris have a strong objection to sell their cattle; thus you may be surrounded by plenty, but you may starve in the midst of beef.
Their large herds are confined at night within zareebas or kraals. These are formidable defences. The cattle zareeba is a circular stockade formed of a hard wood called by the Arabs abou-noos or abdnoos (ebony). This is an intensely hard black wood somewhat resembling ebony. Piles as thick as a man's thigh are sunk in the earth, so as to leave a fence or stockade of about eight feet high above the surface; these piles are placed as close as possible together, and interlaced by tough hooked thorns, which when dry and contracted bind the stockade into a very compact defence. The entrance to this fort is only sufficiently large to admit one animal at a time; thus the herd can be easily counted. Within the stockade are several houses, in addition to a few large circular sheds for the protection of young calves. The sheep and goats are kept in a separate zareeba.
All the operations of the Baris are conducted by signals given by the drum, precisely as our military movements are directed by bugle-calls. The great drum that belongs to the headman or sheik, is suspended beneath an open shed, so that it is always protected from weather, and at the same time the sound could travel unchecked. These drums are cut and scooped with great labour from a peculiar wood, which is exceedingly tough and will not easily split. The Bari drum is exactly the shape of an egg with a slice taken off the thicker end. Some of these instruments are very large, and as much as two men could carry on a pole. Both ends are hollowed through and secured with hide; but the broad end forms the actual drum. This is beaten with two short sticks of hard wood. In the early morning, shortly before sunrise, the hollow sound of the big drum is always heard giving the signal by a certain number of beat's for the milking of the cows. The women and young men then commence, and when the operation is completed, the drum beats again, and the large herds are driven to pasturage. The signal is repeated in the evening. Should an enemy attack the country, the sheik's big drum gives the alarm by a peculiar series of beats, which if once heard can easily be remembered. In a few seconds this loud alarm will be re-echoed by every drum throughout the numerous villages, and the news of the attack will thus spread by signal as fast as sound can travel. A certain beat of the sheik's big drum is the call for a general assembly, in which case, should an enemy appear, the whole forces of the district can be concentrated in one point.