The whole country which they passed after proceeding some way had become a complete desert, having been abandoned since the Felatahs commenced their inroads, and wild animals of all descriptions abounded in great numbers.
They heard that Kabshary had been attacked by the Munga people and burned; and news came that the Munga horse were reconnoitring all round them, and had murdered some men proceeding to join the sheikh.
One of the means the people had taken to defend themselves against the invaders, had been to dig deep holes, at the bottom of which sharp-pointed stakes were fixed, the pits being then carefully covered over with branches and grass, so as completely to conceal them. Similar pitfalls are used in many parts of Africa for entrapping the giraffe and other wild animals.
The major’s servant, Columbus, and his mule not making their appearance, he was searching for him, when he found that the animal had fallen into one of these pits, the black having by a violent exertion of strength saved himself. The poor mule was found sticking on four stakes, with her knees dreadfully torn by struggling. She was, however, got out alive.
Escaping from various dangers, they joined the sheikh on the banks of a large piece of water called Dummasak. Hearing that a caravan had arrived at Kouka from Fezzan, they were anxious to return to the capital. They sent word to the sheikh, but their communication was not delivered, and, before they could see him, he and his troops had moved off. They were, however, on their way to Kouka, when Omar Gana overtook them, entreating them to return to the sheikh, who, angry at their having gone, had struck him from his horse, and directed him to bring them to the army without delay. They had nothing to do but to obey.
Many of the spots they passed presented much picturesque beauty. In several places were groups of naked warriors resting under the trees on the borders of the lake, with their shields on their arms, while hundreds of others were in the water, spearing fish, which were cooked by their companions on shore. The margin was crowded with horses, drinking or feeding, and men bathing, while, in the centre, hippopotami were constantly throwing up their black muzzles, spouting water.
The march of the Bornou army now commenced; but little order was preserved before coming near the enemy, everyone appearing to know that at a certain point an assembly was to take place. The sheikh took the lead, and close after him came the Sultan of Bornou; who always attended him on these occasions, though he never fought. The sheikh was preceded by five flags with extracts of the Koran on them, and attended by about a hundred of his chiefs and favourite slaves. A negro boy carried his shield, a jacket of mail, and his steel skull-cap, and his arms; another, mounted on a swift mahary, and fantastically dressed with a straw hat and ostrich feathers, carried his timbrel, or drum, which it is the greatest misfortune to lose in action. In the rear followed the harem; but on such occasions the sheikh takes but three wives, who are mounted astride on trained horses, each led by a slave boy, their heads and figures completely enveloped in brown silk bournouses, with an attendant on either side. The sultan has five times as many attendants as his general, and his harem is three times as numerous.
On reaching Kabshary, the sheikh reviewed his favourite forces, the Kanemboo spearmen, nine thousand strong. With the exception of a goat or sheep’s skin, with the hair outwards, round their middles, and a few strips of cloth on their heads, they were nearly naked. Their arms were spear and shield, with a dagger on the left arm, reversed. The shield is made of a peculiarly light wood, weighing only a few pounds. Their leaders were mounted and distinguished merely by a tobe of dark blue, and a turban of the same colour.
The sheikh’s attendants were magnificently dressed, but his own costume was neat and simple, consisting only of two white figured muslin tobes, with a bournous, and a Cashmere shawl for a turban: over all hung the English sword which had been sent him. On the signal being made for his troops to advance, they uttered a fearful shriek, or yell, and advanced by troops of eight hundred to a thousand each. After striking their spears against their shields for some seconds, which had an extremely grand effect, they filed off on either side, again forming and awaiting their companions, who succeeded them in the same way.
There appeared to be a great deal of affection between these troops and the sheikh. He spurred his horse onwards into the midst of some of the troops as they came up, and