The Boy Travellers in the Far East

PART FIFTH

ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS IN A JOURNEY

THROUGH AFRICA

BY

THOMAS W. KNOX

AUTHOR OF

"THE YOUNG NIMRODS IN NORTH AMERICA" "THE YOUNG NIMRODS AROUND THE WORLD"

"ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS IN JOURNEYS TO JAPAN AND CHINA—TO SIAM AND

JAVA—TO CEYLON AND INDIA—TO EGYPT AND THE HOLY LAND" ETC.

Illustrated

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE

1884

By THOMAS W. KNOX.

THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Five Volumes. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00 each. The volumes sold separately. Each volume complete in itself.

HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. Two Volumes. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $2.50 each. The volumes sold separately. Each volume complete in itself.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

☞ Any of the above volumes sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

PREFACE

With this volume the wanderings of the Boy Travellers in the Far East are brought to an end. Those enterprising and observant youths have arrived safely at home, in company with their companion and mentor, Doctor Bronson. They have seen and learned a great deal in their absence, and it has been the aim of the author to tell the story of their travels so that it would interest and instruct the school-mates and friends of Frank Bassett and Fred Bronson, together with others who have not the pleasure of their personal acquaintance.

The method followed in the preparation of the preceding volumes of the series of the Boy Travellers has been observed in the present book, as far as it was possible to do so. Though the author has visited several parts of Africa, he has never made a journey to the Equatorial Regions of the Dark Continent; consequently he has been placed under greater obligations to other writers than in his preceding works, and the personal experiences of Frank and Fred in Central Africa were not those of the compiler of the narrative. But he has endeavored to maintain the vividness of the story by the introduction of incidents drawn from many books of African travel and exploration; he has sought to confine fiction to the narrowest bounds, and to construct an account of travel and adventure that should be true in every respect save in the individual characters portrayed.

Many authorities have been consulted in the preparation of "The Boy Travellers in Central Africa," and while some have been freely drawn upon, others have been touched with a light hand. The incidents of the volume have been mainly taken from the works of African explorers of the last thirty years; a few are of older date, and some are from the stories of travellers not yet in print. During the preparation of the volume the author has been in correspondence with several gentlemen who have supplied him with information relative to the most recent explorations, and he has kept a watchful eye on the current news from the land under consideration. Though the wanderings of the Boy Travellers were confined to Central Africa, other portions of the continent were studied, as the reader will discover while perusing the following pages.

Many of the volumes consulted in the preparation of the book are named in the narrative, but circumstances made it inconvenient to refer to all. Among the volumes most freely used are the works of the following authors: Stanley's "Through the Dark Continent" and "Coomassie and Magdala;" Livingstone's "Travels and Researches in South Africa," "Expedition to the Zambesi," and "Last Journals;" Schweinfurth's "The Heart of Africa" (two volumes); Barth's "Discoveries in North and Central Africa" (three volumes); Speke's "Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile;" Burton's "The Lake Regions of Central Africa;" Long's "Central Africa;" Baker's "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia" and "Ismailïa;" Reade's "Savage Africa;" Bourne's "African Discovery and Adventure" (two volumes); Wilson's "Western Africa;" Baldwin's "Hunting in South Africa;" Cumming's "A Hunter's Life in Africa;" Silver's "Hand-book to South Africa;" Cameron's "Across Africa;" Serpa-Pinto's "Comment J'ai Traversé L'Afrique" (two volumes); Du Chaillu's "Equatorial Africa," "Ashango Land," "Wild Life Under the Equator," "My Apingi Kingdom," and "Lost in the Jungle;" Anderson's "Lake Ngami;" and lastly, several authors whose narratives have appeared in Le Tour du Monde. The publishers have kindly allowed the use of illustrations which have appeared in previous volumes relating to the African continent, in addition to those specially prepared for this work. The maps in the front and rear covers were drawn from the best authorities, and are intended to embody all recent discoveries.

With this explanation of his methods, and the acknowledgment of his indebtedness to numerous explorers and writers, the author submits the adventures of Frank and Fred in Africa to the press and public that have so kindly received the narratives of the previous travels of those youths.

T. W. K.

CONTENTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS

[CHAPTER I.]

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY.—FROM CAIRO TO KOROSKO.

"THE CARRIAGE IS READY!"

"The carriage is ready, gentlemen!"

"Has all the baggage been sent to the boat?"

"Yes, sir," was the reply; "all except the case of instruments that you wished to keep with you."

"All right!" was the cheery response. "We are ready to start, and will not keep the carriage waiting."

This conversation occurred on the veranda of a hotel at Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and once renowned as the City of the Caliphs. The first speaker was Ali, a bright boy of Abyssinian birth, and formerly a slave, while the second was Doctor Bronson, a gentleman whose name is familiar to all readers of "The Boy Travellers in the Far East." By his side were Frank Bassett and Fred Bronson, the youths who were guided through Asia by the good Doctor, and had made the journey to Egypt and the Holy Land in his company.

FRED'S QUANDARY.

Frank and Fred could hardly be called youths any longer, as Frank was quite as tall as the Doctor, while Fred was only an inch or two less in stature. The boys who set out one morning for Japan and China had now grown to be young men; but Frank insisted that they were still boys, and should so consider themselves till they had passed their majority. There had been some badinage between them relative to that momentous period in a young man's existence when he makes his first essay with a razor. Frank had depicted his cousin seated in front of a mirror, uncertain whether to shave or dye, while Fred had retorted with a caricature in which a cat and a cream-jug had prominent places. We will comply with the wishes of Frank and call them "boys" during the journey they are about commencing.

THE FIRST SHAVE.

The carriage drove rapidly along the broad street leading to Boolak, the landing-place of the Nile steamboats, and frequently called the Port of Cairo. The boys were familiar with the scenes of this busy thoroughfare and paid little attention to them, as their thoughts were occupied with the journey of which this ride was the beginning. As they passed the Museum of Antiquities, Frank recalled to Fred their first visit to that interesting place, and the delightful hours they had spent in studying the souvenirs of Ancient Egypt. "If we were not pressed for time," he added, "I would greatly like to stop there a little while, just to refresh my memory."[1]

The steamer was lying at the river-bank, and the smoke from her funnel told that she was about ready for departure. As our friends stepped on the deck of the boat they were met by their dragoman, who told the Doctor that all the heavy baggage had been stowed below, while the light articles needed on the voyage would be found in their cabins. Consequently, our friends had little to do for the half-hour that intervened before the departure of the steamer. The Doctor went to the hold to give a glance at the bales and boxes deposited there, and then, accompanied by Fred and Frank, made a tour of the cabins, to make sure nothing had been forgotten. The dragoman was a trusty servant, but Doctor Bronson had learned from practical experience that perpetual vigilance is an important requisite for travelling in wild countries.

The Nile voyage was not a new one to our friends, and as the story of their adventures has already been told in a previous volume, we will not repeat them here. As we are in the land of the Arabian Nights we will borrow the Enchanted Carpet and wish our friends at the landing-place at Korosko, about half way between the first and second Cataracts of the Nile.

"One, two, three, and here we are!"

It was early one forenoon when the steamboat stopped in front of Korosko, and the youths were permitted to step to the shore. Abdul, the dragoman, had arranged by telegraph with a merchant of Korosko for the temporary storage of the baggage of the party and for a lodging-place for the travellers, until camels could be obtained for their journey over the Desert. The merchant was at the landing to meet them, with a force of some thirty or more porters to place the baggage on shore and carry it to his warehouse, a hundred yards away. In spite of the large number of men it required several hours for landing, and storing everything. A journey into the interior of Africa is a serious affair, as the traveller requires a great many things which are not needed in most other countries.

"We are going where there are few resources," said the Doctor to his young friends weeks before, when they were making their plans for the journey, "and unless we would suffer we must be well provided at starting.

"First of all, we need money, just as we need it for travel in any other country."

"Of course we do," said Frank; "but there are no bankers in Africa, and our letters of credit will be of no use."

"But we can take plenty of gold and silver," said Fred, "and perhaps we shall want a few camel-loads of copper coin."

"Even that will not answer," replied Doctor Bronson, with a smile, "as the coin of civilized lands is unknown in Africa."

"What must we carry, then," Frank asked, "if bankers' credits are of no use, and coin does not circulate?"

"We must carry the money of Africa," was the reply, "and here it is."

Frank took the sheet of paper the Doctor held in his hand and read aloud to his cousin:

"'Beads of different kinds and colors, put up and labelled, so that the contents of each package can be known at a glance. Every tribe of negroes in Africa has tastes of its own, and beads that find ready circulation in one region are worthless in another.

"'Cotton cloths of different kinds, white, gray, striped, and in all the colors and combinations of the rainbow.

"'Gaudy handkerchiefs, and the gaudier they are the better for purposes of trade. In packing them for transportation they should be placed in the bales with the cloths, which should also be made up in assorted lots, so that when a bale is opened several kinds of goods may be displayed.

"'Pocket-mirrors, copper wire, in rolls and of different sizes; small tools, fish-hooks, cheap watches, brass jewellery, mechanical toys, sleigh-bells, knives, hatchets, and other edged tools that can be easily carried and handled.'"

"Something to amuse the natives is next on the list," the Doctor remarked, as Frank paused for a moment, "and it is often of great advantage to amuse them."

"'A dozen musical boxes of small size, and one large one, playing several tunes,'" continued Frank, reading from the paper.

"I suppose the small ones are for presents," said Fred, "and the large one is to be exhibited on great occasions, when we have company?"

"Exactly so," replied the Doctor; "it will be a convenient means of entertaining savages, especially when we cannot converse with them. You observe that I have included in the list of desirable things a magic-lantern and a telephone, with half a mile of wire and all the apparatus complete. They are easy to carry, and their performances will be as interesting as those of the music-boxes."

"'Cloth, beads, caps, tools, toys, and trinkets are what we need for traffic with the natives and paying our expenses,"' read Frank as he turned the sheet of paper. "Now we come to what we want for our own use."

CAMP AND CARAVAN.

"'Tea and coffee, in air-tight cans of not more than a pound each, so that they will not be spoiled by the climate: preserved meats and vegetables, sugar, spices, pepper, sauces, vinegar, matches, soap, candles, and a few other things, the fewer the better. Everything we carry must be enclosed in tin cases, so as to protect it from dampness, as the climate of Central Africa is ruinous to all articles that absorb moisture.

"'Rifles, shot-guns, and pistols, with plenty of ammunition. The rifles and shot-guns of the Remington system, using fixed ammunition.'"

One of the boys asked what was meant by "fixed ammunition."

"The cartridges are made up," the Doctor explained, "and are all ready for use. The powder is in a shell of copper or brass, with the explosive cap in one end and the bullet or shot firmly wedged in the other. The cartridges are impervious to water, and can be kept a long time without detriment."

"We must have a large quantity," said Frank, "and even then we might find our supply running short, with no chance of renewal."

"Certainly that might happen," was the reply, "and we can guard against it by having a few dozens of steel shells made like the copper ones, and with nipples for ordinary percussion-caps. These shells can be reloaded many times. We can carry powder in tin canisters, caps in boxes, and moulds for casting bullets, and then, with a few bars of lead in our possession, we shall be independent of fixed ammunition from the factories.

"We will have one heavy rifle, carrying a very large ball, for shooting elephants, and a special supply of ammunition to fit it. The rest of the rifles will be all alike, so that there will be no trouble about getting hold of the wrong ammunition when starting out for a day's hunt. The same will be the case with the shot-guns, and we will observe a similar rule in regard to the revolvers."

Frank next read a list of medicines intended for the maladies to which human nature is ordinarily liable. Last and greatest of all was "sulphate of quinine." The quantity seemed altogether out of proportion to the rest of the stock, and he naturally asked Doctor Bronson why he carried so much of it.

"Africa is a land of fevers," replied the Doctor, "and has a bad reputation among travellers on this account alone. The equatorial rains make the climate exceedingly moist, and the exhalations from the soil are detrimental to the health of all Europeans. We shall be likely to suffer from fevers, and you know that quinine is the great remedy for fever. It has saved many a life, and its absence has caused many a death. When we begin our journey we must each of us carry a small supply of the drug in our pockets, and be ready to use it intelligently. Each must be able to administer it to the other; and our personal servants should be instructed how to act whenever they see us suffering from the hot-blooded visitor. We will have more talk on this subject when we approach Central Africa."

Then came a list of clothing, tents, camp equipage, and kindred things that would be needed. Frank remarked that Africa must be a land of rain, or they would not require so many water-proof garments, and Fred added that it was not as hot as it was reputed to be, or they would not carry so many blankets. The Doctor explained that in the elevated regions of Africa the nights were almost always cool, even though the days might be sultry, and the traveller who ventured there without plenty of warm covering was liable to suffer.

The last entry on the paper was, that no package should weigh more than fifty pounds. Fred asked the reason for this rule, as he had understood a camel could carry seven or eight hundred pounds' burden without difficulty, provided he was in good condition and of full size.

"That is true," said Doctor Bronson, "but we can't go all the way with camels. In the interior of Africa our baggage must be carried by porters; and the load for a man is limited to sixty pounds, and ought not to exceed fifty. Of course it sometimes happens that elephants' tusks and other articles weigh more than sixty pounds, but for such burdens the strongest men are selected, and a higher price is usually paid.

A GROUP OF PORTERS.

"These porters are known as 'pagazi,' and are a necessary adjunct of every expedition in the interior of Africa. Sometimes it is impossible to procure a sufficient number, and the traveller may be delayed weeks or months while waiting for them. On the road they must be watched very carefully, to see that they do not desert with their burdens; and, in order to prevent this, the rear of a caravan must be brought up by a trusty guard. A great part of the troubles of all African explorers is due to the pagazi, and more than one expedition has been completely broken up by their misconduct.

"Sometimes they desert in a body, and the traveller who has gone to sleep, with a hundred or more porters in his employ, has risen in the morning to find his camp deserted and not a man to be found. In this dilemma he must wait till new porters can be hired, or he may be obliged to destroy a large part of his goods."

"Wouldn't it be possible for him to sell them to some of the native chiefs in such an emergency, instead of destroying them?" one of the boys inquired.

"Perhaps he could do so," the Doctor answered; "but he would obtain a very small price for them, as the chiefs would know he was in a great strait and must be rid of them. Such a practice would encourage desertions, as the local chiefs would be in collusion with the porters, and no traveller could get through in safety. It is an invariable rule with the Portuguese and Arab traders in Central Africa to destroy all goods that they are unable to carry by reason of the desertion of their pagazi. It is their only way of insuring themselves against certain loss in future journeys, and they are very particular in observing it."

Frank asked if they were to have any scientific instruments, such as were usually carried by explorers in strange countries. Doctor Bronson replied that they would certainly do so, but he had not yet made out his list of what would be wanted.

"For the first part of our journey," said the Doctor, "we shall be in a region that has been explored sufficiently, so that its principal geographical positions are known, and there will be very little occasion for instruments. But later on our route will be much like a voyage on the ocean, and we must find out 'by observation,' as the navigators say, where we are. For this purpose we can imagine that we are going on a ship, and must have the instruments that a ship usually carries."

"I understand," said Fred. "We will have a quadrant or a sextant for ascertaining the position of the sun, just as a captain does at sea. But will the irregular line of the land serve us for a horizon, as the line between sea and sky serves the mariner?"

"Certainly not," answered the Doctor, with a smile; "and to meet this difficulty we employ the artificial horizon."

"How is it made?" one of the youths inquired.

"It is a very simple affair," the Doctor answered; "it is nothing but a horizontal mirror, and is constructed in two or three ways. It may be an ordinary mirror or looking-glass, in a frame adjusted upon screws and set round with spirit-levels, so that it can be brought to the proper position, or it may be a basin of mercury. A tub of water may be made to answer in an emergency, but it is not easy to get a reflection from it of sufficient distinctness for purposes of observation. With the artificial horizon and a sextant the altitude of the sun or of a star may be readily obtained. Half the angular distance between a star and its image in the artificial horizon is equal to the altitude of a star above the real horizon."

"But there's another trouble," said Frank. "At sea the navigator knows the run of his ship by means of the log, as we learned when we crossed the Pacific Ocean in our journey to Japan and China. How are we to 'throw the log' when travelling on land?"

"That is an easy matter," was the reply. "We will have several pedometers, or instruments for counting the steps. They are about the size of an ordinary watch, and worn in the pocket in the same way. Every step taken by the wearer is registered, and by knowing the length of our steps we can get very near the distance travelled. The pedometer is only approximative, and not exact, and the same is the case with the log on a ship.

DR. SCHWEINFURTH ASCENDING THE NILE.

"A famous African explorer, Dr. Schweinfurth, once had the misfortune to lose his instruments and all the records of his journey by fire. For six months after that calamity he counted his footsteps, noting hundreds by means of his fingers, and making a stroke in his note-book on reaching five hundred. The second five hundred was recorded by making a reverse stroke on the previous one, so as to form a cross, and in this way at the end of a day's journey every thousand steps he had taken was shown by a cross. He thus made account of a million and a quarter paces in the six months that he continued the practice.

"Dr. Schweinfurth says that the steps of a man are a more accurate standard of measurement than those of an animal. The camel, when urged to its full speed, does not increase the number of his paces but their length; while those of a man, at whatever rate he walks, are about the same. He suggests that any one may satisfy himself on this point by measuring his own footsteps in moist ground. He will find them varying very little, no matter what the rate of speed. Dr. Schweinfurth says his steps varied, according to the nature of the road, from twenty-four to twenty-eight inches, and we may set this down as the average step of a man of medium height.

AN AFRICAN HORIZON.

"In addition to sextants and pedometers, we will have a complete apparatus for taking photographs, with plenty of dry plates, sensitive paper, and the other necessary materials; then we must have a stock of compasses, barometers, and thermometers; and we must not forget an anemometer, an instrument for measuring the force of the wind. One of our compasses must be an azimuth, which resembles the marine compass, but has a more accurate graduation, and is provided with vertical sights, so that the variation of the needle may be detected. This is done by observing the position of a star through the sights, and comparing its azimuth, or point on the horizon, with the direction of the needle. The position of the star being known, the computation is easy."

Doctor Bronson explained that the instruments, tents, fire-arms, and personal outfits could not be procured in Egypt, but must be ordered from London or Paris. The bulk of the provisions might be obtained in Cairo or Alexandria, but the character of the supplies could not always be relied upon. Consequently it was decided to make the list as complete as possible and ship everything from the English and French capitals, so that they would not be delayed at Cairo. Of course there would be some deficiencies, and these could be filled from the Cairo market before the date of departure. The plan was carried out without accident.

We have seen our friends on their way to Central Africa, and have now landed them safely at Korosko.

A VILLAGE IN "THE DARK CONTINENT."

[CHAPTER II.]

LEAVING KOROSKO.—EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE NILE VALLEY.

The preparations for leaving Korosko required several days. Camels were to be hired, loads distributed, and drivers and servants engaged. A great many small details consumed the time of our friends, from the hour of their arrival till their departure. Twenty camels were engaged, sixteen for baggage and four for riding purposes, three of the latter being for the Doctor and the boys, and one for the dragoman. The boy Ali was assigned to a place on one of the baggage camels, as he was considered too young to have a saddle animal all to himself.

Twenty camels make a respectable procession, and the boys were in high glee when they saw their beasts of burden drawn up in line, ready for departure. Fourteen of the baggage camels were sent away one evening, and our friends started early the following morning with the rest of the train. This included their saddle camels and the two animals that carried the things they would need on the journey from day to day.

A glance at the map of Nubia will show a great bend in the Nile between Korosko and Aboo Hamed. Boats ascending the river and following this bend often consume three or four weeks, while the ride over the Desert can be made in from six to nine days. There are three cataracts in this part of the river. They are impassable except during the rise of the Nile, and even then their ascent is a tedious and expensive affair. Consequently the principal route of travel and commerce is through the Desert.

There was no trouble in keeping the road, as it is well known to the guides and camel-drivers, and is annually traversed by great numbers of people. The dragoman, Abdul, had been over the route repeatedly, sometimes with small parties, and on two occasions with expeditions that the Egyptian Government had sent to the Upper Nile and the lake regions of Central Africa. Frank and Fred were greatly interested in the details of these expeditions, and listened eagerly to Abdul's account of them and the difficulties of transporting heavy articles over the Desert sands.

THE NATIVE AT HOME.

At their first halt on the journey from Korosko, Abdul told them of his experience with the expedition of Sir Samuel Baker, for the suppression of the slave-trade in the Soudan country, some years ago, which was about as follows:

"In 1869-70 Sir Samuel Baker was sent by Ismail Pacha, Khedive of Egypt, to suppress the slave-trade in the regions where we are now going. In order that he should do so effectively he was provided with a small army, and a suitable equipment of steamers for navigating the river, together with a large stock of goods for opening legitimate trade. Most of the slave-traders were Arab subjects of the Khedive, and their centre of business was at Khartoum."

Fred asked how many men were engaged in the business.

"As to that," said Abdul, "it is not easy to say. The merchants of Khartoum had organized a sort of military force for capturing the negroes and bringing them to market, and one of them was reported to have twenty-five hundred men in his pay. They were armed and drilled like soldiers, though not very thoroughly disciplined, and were divided into companies sufficiently strong to overpower any African village, and make prisoners of such of the inhabitants as they wished to carry to market. Altogether, it was thought that fifteen thousand subjects of the Khedive had left their honest occupations and were engaged, directly or indirectly, in the slave-trade."

"They must have occupied a great deal of country," said Frank, "for so many of them to be engaged in the traffic."

ARAB SLAVE-TRADERS.

"That is true," replied Abdul. "Every trader had a district to himself, and his men were divided into companies, with a chain of stations or military posts. They could thus hold sway over an immense area. One slave-trader named Agad controlled a region containing ninety thousand square miles, and another had a territory nearly as large.

"There was an agreement among the traders that they would not disturb each other's territory; they sometimes got into trouble and fought among themselves, but this was not often, as they had quite enough to do to kill and capture the natives. Each man in his own region could do what he chose, and the business had all the horrible features that the slave-trade has everywhere."

One of the boys asked how many slaves were taken from Central Africa every year, and where the slaves were carried.

A SLAVE-GANG ON THE ROAD.

"It was estimated by Sir Samuel Baker," replied Abdul, "that not less than fifty thousand slaves were carried every year from the interior to the sea-coast, or kept in the camps of the slave-traders. The capture of fifty or a hundred slaves means the destruction of one or more villages, and the death of fifty or a hundred innocent persons while the destruction is going on. The traders induce tribes that would otherwise be at peace to make war on each other, by agreeing to buy all the prisoners. Whole districts are depopulated, life and property are insecure, and for every slave that is brought away it is safe to say that three or four of his kindred have been killed or die of starvation. It was a noble impulse of the Khedive to put an end to this state of affairs and remove the stigma of slave-dealing from his country."

"But they still have slavery in Egypt, do they not?" inquired one of the boys.

"Yes," was the reply, "slavery exists here, as Egypt is a Moslem country, and the Koran expressly allows it. But the form is growing milder every year, as the government does not protect it. Under Ismail Pacha a man might keep slaves, but if they ran away from him he could not call the police to assist in their capture, as he formerly was able to do. If they chose to stay away they could do so, without fear of being taken back; the result was that every slave-owner was obliged to treat his human property so kindly that there would be no inducement to leave him. Traffic in slaves is not permitted, and consequently the institution is not flourishing, and will soon disappear altogether.

"The efforts of Livingstone, Stanley, and other travellers in Central Africa have done much to throw light on the slave-trade, and to persuade some of the African kings and chiefs to abandon it. The only Europeans who encourage it at all now are the Portuguese traders, who have their stations on the east coast of Africa, and even their support to it is generally given in an underhand way. The most extensive slave-dealers are the Arabs, who are not troubled by any religious scruples on the subject, and find a market for their captives among people of similar belief with themselves.

"When we get fairly into Central Africa you will probably see something of the system of slavery; so we'll drop the subject now, and I'll tell you how Baker's expedition was fitted out.

"Baker received the rank of Pacha, with absolute authority for four years, from April 1, 1869, and was instructed to subdue the countries lying south of Gondokoro, suppress the slave-trade, and introduce a system of regular commerce; open the great lakes near the equator to navigation, and establish military and commercial posts throughout the captured country.

"Baker had already been in Central Africa and travelled in the region of the lakes, and consequently he knew something of the difficulties he would encounter. He made grand preparations, which consumed so much time, and were followed by so many delays, that nearly a year elapsed before he left Khartoum for the south."

Fred asked if the expedition went up the Nile by way of Korosko, or by another route.

"Part of it went that way," said Abdul, "and the rest by Suakim, on the Red Sea. From Suakim there is a road across the Desert to Berber, in Abyssinia. Berber is on the Nile, and from there the river is navigable to Khartoum. I was with the part of the expedition that ascended the Nile, so that I am familiar with Korosko and the route to Aboo Hamed. Khartoom, at the junction of the Blue and White Nile, was selected as the point of departure, and all the supplies for the expedition were sent there.

BAKER'S EXPEDITION CROSSING THE DESERT.

"Everything had to be carried over the Desert, and it was an immense affair, I assure you. Six steamboats were sent from Cairo, and three others for navigating the lakes were brought from England, and carried in sections, so that they could be put together at the points where wanted. The boilers of the steamers were found too heavy to be transported on the backs of camels, and it was necessary to mount them on wheels, to which camels were harnessed.

"Hundreds of camels were required for carrying all this material, and when the train was on the march it covered the Desert for miles and miles. It was necessary to have many extra camels, to guard against the breaking down of any of the loaded ones, as the loss of a single piece of a boat or its machinery might render all the rest of little or no use.

"THE FORTY THIEVES."

"The military part of the expedition comprised about sixteen hundred soldiers, with two batteries of artillery; but so many of the soldiers were found unfit for duty, that half of them were sent back or left behind at Khartoum. Baker finally selected forty men to serve as a body-guard, and they proved to be excellent soldiers, and of more use than all the rest that had been sent to serve him. This small force of picked men was known as 'The Forty.' They were not of the best character, and some of their performances when off duty caused them to be called 'The Forty Thieves' by the English-speaking members of the expedition.

"It was expected that there would be much opposition among the merchants of Khartoum when they learned the object for which Baker Pacha had been sent to the Soudan. Of course it would not do for them to declare open hostility, but they could hinder the enterprise in various ways. When Baker arrived at Khartoum he found that the traders had sent away all the boatmen, as they knew the expedition could not move without boats. The police and military were employed to hunt them up, and of course much valuable time was lost in so doing.

"When they finally got away from Khartoum they had two steamers and thirty-six sailing-boats. The steamers had each a sailing-boat in tow, and on one of these boats was the commander of the expedition, accompanied by his wife, Lady Baker, and the officers of his staff.

"I was with the officers on the other boat, and the two steamers pushed along, with their tows, leaving the sailing craft to follow as fast as they could. We went up what is called the White Nile. Khartoum is at the junction of the Blue and White Nile, the landing-place being on the former stream. The Blue Nile was long supposed to be the principal branch of the river. It was explored by Bruce, who traced it to its source, and thought he had found the spot where the Nile takes its rise."

Frank remarked that one of his school-books contained a picture of Bruce standing by the side of a spring not more than a yard across, from which a rivulet was flowing.

Fred said he had read something about Bruce, and was sorry he had forgotten exactly what it was.

VIEW ON THE BAHR-EL-AZREK.

"Perhaps I can help you," responded Doctor Bronson. "James Bruce was born at Kinnaird, in Scotland, in 1730, and died there in 1794. He was educated for a lawyer, but never practised his profession. His tastes ran in the direction of Oriental languages and literature, and after studying them for some years he was appointed Consul-general for Algiers. He remained there for two years, and then travelled in Tunis, Tripoli, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, spending nearly five years in Egypt and Abyssinia in an effort to find the sources of the Nile. The Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue Nile, was then supposed to be the main stream, and Bruce followed it to its source.

"When this work was accomplished he returned to England, to tell the story of his discovery. It was published in 1790, under the title, 'Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile, in the Years 1768-73,' and was in five quarto volumes."

"He must have become famous as soon as the book appeared," one of the boys remarked.

"Unfortunately for him," replied Doctor Bronson, "his statements were questioned, and he received far more abuse than praise. Some of his accounts were set down as absolute falsehoods, and Bruce died four years later, before the imputation had been disproved. Subsequent travellers have confirmed the truth of his narrative, and given Bruce an honored place on the roll of African explorers."

"Was Bruce the first white man who ever saw the head-springs of the Blue Nile?" Frank asked.

"No," was the reply; "they were visited by the Portuguese missionary, Paez, in the sixteenth century, but no detailed account of his journey was ever published in our language. He went to Abyssinia in 1603, where he founded a mission, and remained until his death, in 1622. He was in great favor with the King, whom he accompanied on his military expeditions, and it was on one of these journeys, in 1618, that he visited the springs of the Blue Nile. The account was published in Paris, in 1667, under the title, 'Dissertation touchant l'Origine du Nil,' and may be regarded as the earliest work of an explorer of the mysterious river."

"How about Herodotus and Strabo?" said Fred.

"They can hardly be called explorers of the Nile," the Doctor answered, "as they made no attempt to ascend the river. Neither of them went beyond the first cataract, or at any rate Strabo did not, and the accounts of both writers are largely composed of what they gathered from others rather than what they saw with their own eyes. Their works are the best that have come down to us from their time, and we learned at the site of Memphis how a passage in Strabo's writings gave Mariette Bey the clew which led to the discovery, in 1860, of the Apis Mausoleum.[2]

"After Bruce," the Doctor continued, "the next traveller of note in the upper regions of the Nile was Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss professor, who was educated at Leipzig and Göttingen, and devoted the best part of his life to the exploration of Africa. He is thought to have been the first European not a Moslem to visit Mecca, and at the time of his death, at Cairo, in 1817, he was planning an expedition to the sources of the Niger. He travelled in Nubia and portions of Abyssinia, but did not penetrate so far inland as Bruce had gone before him. Much of the time he went in the disguise of an Arab, sometimes as a merchant, and sometimes as a sheikh, and he was enabled to do this by his perfect knowledge of Arabic. I think I told you something about his visit to Mecca while we were coming up the Red Sea, on our way from India to Egypt."

Both the youths recalled the brief account which the Doctor had given them of the perils of a journey to Mecca, and the names of those who had succeeded in reaching there. The mention of Mecca drew from Abdul an anecdote which illustrated the danger of attempting to travel among fanatical Moslems under the pretence of being of their religion.

"Several years ago," said he, "I was at Jeddah, the port of Mecca, at the time of the pilgrimage to the birthplace of Mohammed. A steamer from Suez brought a crowd of pilgrims, and I happened to be at the landing-place when they came on shore.

"There was a tall man among them whom I took for a Syrian Moslem, and my belief was confirmed when he spoke to me in Arabic, with just the accent I had heard at Jerusalem and Damascus. We talked a few minutes, and he then walked away, and I never suspected him to be anything but a pious Moslem, on his way to Mecca.

"As soon as he left me another pilgrim spoke to me, and said the tall man was an impostor.

"'How do you know?' I asked.

"'Because,' said the other, 'I have watched him saying his prayers on the way from Suez, and he has twice missed the proper motions of his hands when he bows toward Mecca. Once he placed his prayer-rug at least a quarter of the way round from where it should have been, and once he put his left foot down first when kneeling.'

"It was very certain the man was not a Moslem, as he would not make these mistakes if he had been brought up in the religion of the Prophet. I hastened after him, told what I had heard, and warned him of his danger. His character was already known; he would be sure to be pointed out, his deception known, and he would never return from Mecca, if, indeed, he succeeded in getting there.

"He looked astonished for a moment, and acknowledged that he was neither a Syrian nor a Moslem. He was a German traveller, who had spent several years in Moslem countries, spoke Arabic fluently, and had conceived the design of going to Mecca. With this object in view he had learned the Moslem forms of prayer, so as to pass himself off for one of 'the faithful,' but it seems he had not been sufficiently careful as to the details. He thanked me for my caution, abandoned his trip to Mecca, and concluded to go to Central Africa instead. What befell him subsequently I never knew."

From this point the conversation wandered to various subjects, until one of the party dropped asleep and another followed his example. This occurrence led to a postponement of the story of Abdul's adventures with Sir Samuel Baker, as it was advisable for all the members of the party to get all the sleep they could when the opportunity offered. They followed the native custom of travelling in the morning and afternoon, and resting during the hottest part of the day.

PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO MECCA.

[CHAPTER III.]

FROM KOROSKO TO ABOO HAMED.—THE NILE AGAIN.—ADVENTURE WITH A CROCODILE.

THE GUIDE IN THE DESERT.

The Desert journey from Korosko is not an affair to be undertaken carelessly and without thoughtful preparation. The distance is about two hundred and fifty miles, and is traversed in eight days. It is necessary to carry water in goat-skins all the way, as there is only one well or spring on the route, and the water from it is undrinkable by man, and only endurable by the powerful stomach of the camel. Of course, the supply was used very sparingly; washing, except in sand, was quite out of the question, and as none of the party had a fondness for the sand-bath, they made no ablutions till reaching the Nile once more, except to moisten their eyes in the morning. The skins of water were distributed upon the camels, and each of the travellers had a small skin hanging at his saddle-bow for a daily supply. By the advice and example of the Doctor each of the boys had an extra skin of water hidden in his baggage, and its existence was carefully concealed from the Arab drivers. These fellows are inclined to improvidence, and had they known of this private provision they would have been certain to count it as part of the regular supply, and expect to draw upon it.

The heat of the Desert and the glare of the sun incline the traveller to thirst, and perhaps the knowledge of the necessity for economy is an additional incentive to it. Human nature has curious ways, and the desire for a thing generally increases in proportion to the difficulty of procuring it. Frank and Fred found that the fact of the scarcity of water, and the necessity of limiting their use of the precious fluid, increased their longing for it. At first they yielded by taking occasional draughts, but very soon they decided upon the old expedient of chewing a bit of leather or some other hard substance, to create a flow of saliva to moisten their lips. With a little self-denial, aided by the above practice, they soon conquered their thirst, and were able to get along nearly as well as the Arabs who accompanied them. Frank intimated that the warmth of the water, and the flavor of goat-skin which it soon acquired, had a material influence in lessening his desire for it.

The dreary waste of sand was partially relieved here and there by ranges of hills or low mountains, but they were barren as the rest of the Desert, and therefore made comparatively little variation in the landscape. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun poured its blistering rays upon the travellers during all the time it was above the horizon. In the morning and evening the heat was not intense, but in the middle of the day it was like the blast of a furnace.

At first the jolting of the camels was disagreeable, but in a little while the boys became accustomed to it, and tried to believe they were enjoying themselves. The camels of easiest motion are selected for riding purposes, and the youths were fortunate in their animals, which had been chosen by Abdul. Frank had a very tall and powerful camel, while Fred was on one little more than two-thirds the size of Frank's. The two animals were friendly to each other, but not to their riders, and the boys soon abandoned the attempt to establish social relations with their beasts of burden. "You may possibly be on good terms with them after a while," said Abdul, "but you must be patient. You could hardly expect it under a fortnight, and we ought to be in Aboo Hamed before that time. Most camels hate Europeans instinctively, but are docile with Arabs, just as mules are said to dislike white men and prefer the society of negroes."

A MIRAGE IN THE DESERT.

On the second day of their journey Frank happened to look ahead, and to his great surprise saw a beautiful lake, surrounded by groves of trees.

He shouted to Frank, and then to the Doctor and Abdul, who were riding just behind them.

Abdul quickened the pace of his camel, and was soon at Frank's side.

"You told us there was no water on the road," said Frank, "and there is a lake right before us. I suppose it is filled with salt-water, and therefore doesn't count."

"Worse than salt-water," responded Doctor Bronson, who joined them. "It isn't water at all, but a mirage."

"Of course it is," Frank exclaimed, with a laugh; "I ought to have known better than be deceived by it."

"You are not the first to be deceived by it," said Abdul, "and it has been the cause of many deaths on this very route. Men have wandered from the road, confident that they were on the borders of a lake or river, and have fallen exhausted to die on the ground. Colonel Long, in his account of his travels in Central Africa, tells of a regiment on its march from Korosko across this desert. The men saw these lakes of water formed by the mirage; deceived by the illusion and maddened by thirst, they broke from the ranks, in spite of the protests of their guide, and went in search of water. They found their error too late, as most of them perished of exhaustion and thirst."

"Look at the graves along the road, and the bleaching bones of the camels," said the Doctor, "and you will understand the perils of the journey over the desert."

It was as Doctor Bronson suggested; the way was marked by thousands of skeletons of the faithful beasts of burden that had fallen in the service of their masters; and here and there, at painfully frequent intervals, were the graves of men who had perished of thirst or of the excessive heat. Even if no other landmarks existed, these would be sufficient to indicate the road.

The evening journey was continued till a late hour, and the boys were surprised to find that the desert air, so scorching during the day, was of a chilliness suggesting frost at night. Doctor Bronson recalled to them their experience in India, where there was often a sensible change of temperature in going from sunshine into shadow, and said it was a noticeable feature of the desert that it did not retain at night any appreciable portion of the heat poured upon it during the day. "It is fortunate for man that such is the case," he added, "as the coolness of the night enables us to recuperate from the exhaustion of the sweltering temperature of daytime."

SUNRISE ON THE SEA OF SAND.

The wells or springs to which allusion has been made are about half way from Korosko to Aboo Hamed. They are shallow pools of exceedingly bitter water, quite unfit for men to drink, but not injurious to camels. Doctor Bronson tasted the water, and said the bitterness was caused by sulphate of magnesia, commonly known as Epsom salts. Frank and Fred were curious to try it, but their curiosity was easily satisfied. A few drops on the tongue made a burning sensation, which did not show a disposition to go away immediately.

The tents were pitched a short distance from the wells and close to an encampment of Arabs, who were spending two or three days there to refresh their camels. Around some of the pools there was a little vegetation, but not enough to furnish a good meal for a hungry animal; there were a few stunted palms in the valley, and the lines on the sand showed that at some former time a river flowed there. The camels drank freely of the water, and evidently understood that they must lay in a supply for the rest of the journey to the Nile.

SCENE AT THE WELLS.

They left the wells early in the morning, and after a few hours found themselves on a broad, sandy plain, where the thermometer at two o'clock in the afternoon stood at 100°. It was the greatest heat they had found since leaving the Nile. Frank kept the record of the temperature, and reported to the Doctor each evening the result of his observations. In the morning it was chilly; the Arabs shivered in all their wrappings, and our friends sought shelter in their overcoats for the early part of the ride, but invariably laid them aside when the sun was a couple of hours above the horizon. By noon they were in their lightest garments, and so continued till evening, when the air grew cool again.

There was a daily variation of not far from forty degrees between the highest and lowest readings of the thermometer. The lowest record was 50°, and the highest 100°; but these did not occur on the same day. The boys were not slow to understand why the Doctor had made such a liberal provision of blankets, and were greatly obliged to him for his forethought.

As they approached the Nile, Frank and Fred vied with each other to get the first glimpse of the great river. The mirage was all around them, and the boys were several times deceived by it, until Abdul came to their assistance.

"I will give you a rule," said he, "by which you can always tell a real lake or river from an imaginary one. In a mirage the imaginary lake is of the same color as the sky above it, while the Nile is of a deeper blue. You will rarely, if ever, find the sky and water of the same hue when the sun is shining, and this is the only time when the mirage appears. With this simple rule in mind, you are not likely to be deceived."

MOUNTAIN PASS IN THE DESERT.

While they were talking Fred made good use of his eyes, and suddenly pointed ahead to a little cleft in the line of rocky hills. There was a strip of blue which did not resemble the sky in color, and he felt certain it was the Nile.

"You are right," said Abdul, "and that is the Nile. We will make our camp to-night on its banks."

Soon a fringe of palm-trees came into sight; the blue streak increased to a broad expanse of water, and the line of palms into a grove. Then they came among fields of beans and other green things, and before sunset they stood on the bank of the river, and drank freely of the water, which Ali brought them in a large bowl. It was a great improvement upon the warm and strongly flavored water which had been their only resource for eight long days, and they both declared it the sweetest draught they had ever taken.

"You can understand now, better than ever before," said the Doctor, "why the Arabs seem to worship the Nile, and why the ancient Egyptians regarded it as a divinity. Without it all this part of Africa would be like the desert we have just passed, and existence here would be impossible."

"And I understand, too," responded Fred, "why the Arab conception of Paradise abounds in rivers of never-failing water. Mohammed wrote from his own experience, as he lived among the deserts of Arabia."

An Arab merchant, with whom Abdul was acquainted, came to offer the shelter of his house to the strangers; but they preferred their tents, and told the dragoman to thank him for his offer and decline it. Frank proposed a swim in the river, which was seconded by Fred. Abdul suggested the possibility of an interview with a crocodile, and the swim was indefinitely postponed. Crocodiles are numerous in this part of the river, and in fact all the way from the second Cataract to the equatorial lakes. They are by no means timid, and the stranger should think twice before venturing into the river.

Abdul told the boys that it was not unusual for crocodiles to be counted by dozens on the sand-banks in the upper Nile; on one occasion he saw more than fifty together, and they did not show a disposition to slide into the water till he was within twenty yards of them. Sometimes, when boats were overturned in the river, the unfortunate victims of the upset were eaten by the hideous reptiles; and they occasionally came close to the bank and seized women or girls who were filling water-jars from the stream.

Of course the youths were seized with a desire to shoot a crocodile, and eagerly asked the Doctor if there would be an opportunity for a hunting expedition. Doctor Bronson said they would remain a day at Aboo Hamed, and he had no objection to their trying their skill if the game could be found.

Abdul went in search of his merchant friend, and the business was soon arranged. There was a sand-bank a little way up the river, where the crocodiles came out to sun themselves, and he thought they could get a shot or two by going there on the following morning.

Their sleep that night was disturbed by dreams of monster saurians. Frank waked with a start, under the impression that he was being swallowed feet foremost by a crocodile; he found, on coming to his senses, that the blankets had rolled away from his feet and allowed the cold air to fall on them, and it was the change of temperature that had given him the impression of being devoured. Fred dreamed of falling into the water from a boat, and finding himself where the river was full of hungry crocodiles; the reality was that he had rolled from his couch, and upset a water-jar which Ali had placed ready for his use in the morning.

After breakfast they left for the crocodile hunt, the party consisting of Frank and Fred, with Ali, the latter going as interpreter. One of the camel-drivers went along, and there were at least a dozen Arabs who followed, in the hope of earning or begging something from the young hunters.

When they reached the sand-bank a single crocodile was seen by one of the Arabs, who pointed it out to the youths. A friendly dispute followed, to determine who should have the first shot, which would probably be the only one. The choice fell upon Frank, and, as soon as it was determined, he motioned the others to remain quiet while he crept slowly in the direction of the prize.

Armed with his rifle, he went slowly along the sand till within about sixty yards of the crocodile; at this moment the creature raised his head and looked around, but as Frank lay perfectly still the proximity of danger was not discovered. The reptile settled to sleep again, and when he had been lying quiet a couple of minutes Frank advanced as before.

The eye and the shoulder are the only vulnerable points of the crocodile. As the eye was closed its position was not easy to make out, and so Frank determined on shooting at the shoulder. He took deliberate aim and fired.

The crocodile gave one convulsive motion and stretched himself on the sand. Evidently Frank's shot had been well aimed.

The youth was about to run forward to examine his game, but was restrained by a shout from Ali, telling him to wait for the Arabs. They came up at the top of their speed.

"They say you must be careful," said Ali, "as the crocodile may not be dead. He will lie quite still awhile, and when you don't expect it he thrashes his tail round and opens his jaws."

Thus cautioned, Frank went more slowly, accompanied by the rest of the party. To make the thing certain, Fred put a bullet through the crocodile's eye, and Frank added another from the opposite side. At each of these shots there was a slight movement of the creature's muscles, but nothing that appeared dangerous.

The boys told the Arabs they might do what they pleased with the carcass. It was of very little consequence, as the flesh is not fit to eat, but the skin and teeth can occasionally be sold to a traveller who desires to take home a trophy, and has not been fortunate in bagging any game of his own. While one of them went for a rope the rest sat down and waited; the boys followed their example, hoping another crocodile would show himself, and give Fred a chance to try his skill; but nothing appeared.

DRAGGING A CROCODILE TO LAND.

When the man returned with the rope the party set at work to drag their prize to the solid ground. They were very cautious in approaching him, but finally managed to get the rope around his neck. As soon as they commenced pulling, the legs and tail began to move, the tail swinging from side to side in a way that would have been dangerous to any one within its reach.

The men hauled away vigorously, and, despite the opposition of the crocodile, they soon removed him from the narrow strip of sand and had him safe on the main bank. A blow from a hatchet finished the work of the boys, and the crocodile lay dead on the ground. By means of the rope his length was ascertained, and then the youths returned to the village.

They told the story of their adventure to the Doctor, who measured the rope, and found that the crocodile was only a few inches short of fifteen feet long.

"It's a very good one," said Abdul, "but I've seen 'em eighteen or twenty feet long. The great fellows are no more dangerous than the smaller ones, as a crocodile ten feet long can drag a man under water and hold him there till he is drowned."

SECURING A SUPPER.

Abdul said that one day, while the men of Baker Pacha's party were working among some masses of reeds that the river had piled up, they felt something moving under their feet. They got away from the spot as soon as possible, and a moment afterward the head of a crocodile was thrust up from below. His body was tangled in the reeds, and before he could get free the men attacked him. He was unable to use his tail, and so was at their mercy; "and you may be sure," he continued, "nobody has any mercy for a crocodile. Besides, the men were negroes from the Soudan country, and, unlike the Arabs, they had no scruple in eating the flesh. They made short work of him, and had a good supper that night, in addition to the sport of killing their natural enemy."

Abdul said that the number of natives killed by crocodiles every year along the upper part of the Nile must be quite large. Every few days a death from this cause occurs in nearly every town or village. The careless habits of the people are greatly in the crocodile's favor, and he has no scruples about taking them as near his heart as the position of his stomach will permit. When a large crocodile is killed and dissected the proof of his misdeeds is generally discovered, in the shape of anklets and other silver ornaments worn by his unfortunate victims, and which remain of course undigested.

The crocodile does not eat his game on the spot where he captures it; his habit is to drag it to a secluded place and take his time in devouring it. In this respect he differs from his marine cousin, the shark, who bolts his prey at once, and then, like Oliver Twist, looks around for more.

[CHAPTER IV.]

BERBER AND SHENDY.—HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.—TERRIBLE REVENGE OF AN ETHIOPIAN KING.

The adventure with the crocodile had consumed the entire forenoon, and the boys were ready for a well-earned rest of a couple of hours. In the afternoon they crossed the Nile to the island of Mokrat, which lies opposite Aboo Hamed, and is about twenty miles long. The fields of cotton, beans, dourah, and other Egyptian products were in marked contrast to the desert, and the dark-green foliage of the palm and sycamore trees were a grateful sight to the eyes of the young travellers after their eight days' travel where no verdure could be seen. Frank said the only green things in the desert were themselves, but the Doctor told him the joke was old enough to be allowed to rest. "Bayard Taylor made it in 1851," he remarked, "and nearly every traveller since his time has repeated it."

While they were crossing the stream on their way to the island a crocodile showed his head close to them, but immediately disappeared from sight. Fred thought he must have heard of their slaughter of one of his kindred, and therefore showed prudence in going away. He was in no danger, as they had left their rifles at Aboo Hamed, and were quite without the appliances for capturing a fresh prize.

Abdul said they might possibly see a hippopotamus, and, in the hope of finding one, he took them to a part of the island where these amphibious beasts are said to come ashore. There were several broad tracks in the sand, and one of the natives showed where his field had been seriously injured by these disagreeable visitors.

The visit to the spot naturally led to stories of the chase of these animals. Doctor Bronson had never hunted the hippopotamus, but he informed the boys concerning the character of the beast and his place in natural history. "He is a curious product of nature," said the Doctor, "and his name comes from two Greek words meaning 'river-horse.' The name describes him very fairly, though not accurately. He makes his home in the river, but can hardly be ranked with the horse. His head reminds one of the hog, while the body resembles, to some extent, that of the ox. His motions are generally sluggish, but he possesses great strength, which he is not slow to use.

THE HOME OF BEHEMOTH.

"He lives upon vegetable food, and his feet are provided with toes instead of hoofs. In the daytime he remains concealed in the water, or among the reeds, and his depredations in search of food are committed at night. He is the 'behemoth' of the Bible, and his common name among the people where he abounds is 'sea-cow.'"

"He is more valuable than the crocodile," continued the Doctor, "and likewise he is more dangerous to pursue. The crocodile is harmless, unless you come within reach of his tail or jaws, and when attacked, his whole effort is to get away. The hippopotamus will show fight when attacked, particularly if it happens to be a mother with young."

"I'll tell you about a fight with one," said Abdul, "as soon as the Doctor has finished with his description of the animal."

"The flesh of the sea-cow resembles pork," Doctor Bronson continued. "The skin is tough and thick, and is made into those terrible whips which are called courbashes by the Arabs, and are used all over Africa. It can also be used for the soles of sandals and boots, and for helmets, shields, and other defensive things. It is not easy to send a bullet through it, and an old hippopotamus is nearly as impenetrable as the side of a locomotive engine. The teeth are valuable, as they are an excellent ivory, and for some purposes surpass the tusk of the elephant. So much for the value of the hippopotamus; and now for the story of Abdul's fight with one."

AN AFRICAN RIVER SCENE.

"Twenty years ago," said the dragoman, "there were more of these animals here than now, and there were also more crocodiles. In the neighborhood of Khartoum the river was full of them, and if you went out just at daybreak, in certain localities, you might see dozens of them in a single morning. The crocodile and the hippopotamus do not get along well together, and sometimes they have savage fights; but more frequently they mind their own business, and you may see them swimming peaceably side by side. Where both are so well able to take care of themselves they are not very likely to quarrel.

"The river full of these animals and the air full of birds made a very lively picture. Anybody who was fond of hunting could get all the sport he wanted.

"One morning I went out with an English gentleman whom I had accompanied from Cairo. He was an excellent shot, and on his way up the river had killed no less than seven crocodiles, which he secured, in addition to at least a dozen that had escaped into the water after being mortally wounded. He was anxious to kill a hippopotamus, and I promised to give him the opportunity.

"We went quietly along till we reached one of their haunts, where we brought the boat to land. Creeping through the reeds, I caught sight of a large sea-cow eating her breakfast and quite unconscious of danger. I beckoned to the gentleman, who came forward cautiously to get a good position for firing.

"He worked around till he thought he had the proper aim and then fired. His shot was not fatal, and she turned with a roar that was something like the squeal of a hog, though much deeper and louder.

"At the same moment I saw her calf, which had been lying on the ground, and then I knew she would face and fight us. If she had been without young, her first move would have been to rush for shelter in the water.

"I stumbled and fell, but was up again in an instant. Luckily for me the hippopotamus is clumsy on land though quite agile in the water, and I was getting nicely out of the way when my foot caught in a tangle of reeds and I was down again.

A NARROW ESCAPE.

"This time the animal reached me, and opened its great jaws as if to swallow me at one gulp. I thought I was lost, but at that moment another bullet from the gentleman's rifle called her attention the other way.

"Another bullet followed, and then the beast turned toward the water; but she had been struck in a vital part, and fell before getting to the river. The calf did not run away, but stayed by its mother. It was too large for us to capture alive, and so we killed it, or rather the Englishman did. We had a good deal of trouble getting the boatmen to help us carry the prizes to the bank, as they were all afraid of being attacked if they ventured away from the water.

"At another time two Englishmen went out in a boat with a negro who was to ferry them over the river. While they were crossing they wounded a calf. The little fellow bellowed at the top of his voice and his mother made a rush at the boat, dragging the stern under water and giving them a narrow escape from drowning; but in attacking the boat she raised herself half out of water, so that they had good aim at her at very close range. A couple of bullets made her loosen her hold on the boat and drop again into the river.

"In the interior of Africa," Abdul continued, "the natives hunt the hippopotamus in two or three ways. They set pitfalls for him so that a heavy spear falls on his back when he is travelling along a path in search of food. When he has found a good feeding-ground in somebody's field, and has spent the night there, he is liable to come again the next night, and so the natives feel pretty certain of securing him when they set a trap. But it has to be arranged very skilfully, as he is a cautious brute, and very apt to discover the disturbance of the bushes or trees.

HIPPOPOTAMUS SPEARS.

"Another mode of hunting them is with the spear, and for this purpose it is made with a very strong barb that will hold in the skin, and has a handle eight or ten feet long. Three or four of the natives get on a raft of reeds and float slowly along in perfect silence till they reach the spot where the hippopotamus is supposed to lie.

"The animal when undisturbed is generally found with his nose just above the water, while his body is concealed beneath it and resting on the bottom of the river. The raft drifts along till it touches the nose of the sleeper; he rises up and brings his back above the surface, so that his assailants have good aim at it.

SPEARING THE RIVER-HORSE.

"Down come the heavy spears into his thick hide; the barbs get good hold under the skin, and then the natives paddle the raft to land, and fasten the ropes of the harpoons to the nearest trees or to a strong stake hastily driven into the ground.

"The animal is their prize, as he cannot tear out the harpoons or break the ropes, and his enemies are out of his reach. They sit down and wait for him to exhaust his strength by struggling, and then he can be finished with spears and knives, as they are unprovided with fire-arms. I have seen several of these animals captured in this way; the only danger is that he may upset them before they have taken the ropes to land and made them fast."

By the time Abdul's story was ended the boat was back at the landing-place in front of Aboo Hamed, and in a few minutes the boys were once more in their tents. Their excursion had given them a keen relish for supper, which consisted of a stew of mutton from a sheep which Abdul had bought before they started for Mokrat. Whenever it was possible to obtain food by purchase they did so, and preserved their canned provisions against such times as they should need them in the heart of Africa.

They had expected to go by river from Aboo Hamed to Berber, but unfortunately there was no boat to be hired, and therefore a new bargain was made with the camel-drivers to continue the journey by land. The boys had become accustomed to the Arab mode of travel, and did not particularly regret the absence of a boat. The dragoman told the Doctor that they would get along faster and cheaper with the camels than with a boat, as there was a cataract to be passed about half way on the route, where they would be subject to delay and the inevitable demand of the natives for backsheesh. The day's halt had refreshed the camels and their riders, and early the second morning the procession wound along the road as gayly as it had departed from Korosko.

Much of the way the route was along the bank of the Nile, sometimes in the desert sands, and sometimes among rich fields where the natives were at work attending to their crops, or lying idle in the warm sun. Occasionally a bend of the stream caused the caravan to take a short cut of several hours among rocky ridges or over stretches of yellow sand that reflected a painful glare to unprotected eyes. The camp was made each night on the bank of the Nile, and generally in the neighborhood of a village. The inhabitants were miserably poor, and it was difficult to buy anything more than a few vegetables and eggs, and possibly a lean and unattractive chicken. The natives are heavily oppressed with taxation, and frequently their goods are taken from them by the Egyptian officials, and they receive no payment in return. Several times they fled as our friends approached, and it was not an easy matter to assure them they would not be harmed.

Several times the party had glimpses of gazelles that abound in this region, but have been hunted so much that they are very shy. Frank and Fred were eager for a gazelle hunt, but it was not deemed advisable to halt the caravan sufficiently long to accommodate them. Their chances of success were very slight, from the wildness of the game and their inexperience, and a very little argument induced them to postpone the chase till they were more certain of bringing something home that would make a good dinner. Abdul told them there were formerly wild asses in the Wady El-Homar; they subsisted on the hard, thorny grass that grows there, but were very fleet and shy, so that they were rarely caught except by stratagem. The wady, or valley, is a pass among the hills which come down to the river in long ridges, and are destitute of water except in the season of rains.

As they approached Berber the sterility of the scene diminished, though the travellers were not out of the desert until near the city. On the other side of the river the fields stretched away for a long distance, and Frank remarked that the picture reminded him of the delta of the Nile in the neighborhood of Cairo. They met or passed crowds of people going between Berber and the surrounding villages, many on foot, and others mounted on camels and donkeys, the latter being the most numerous. As they passed the mud walls and entered the city, the attention of our youthful friends was centred on the people rather than on the architecture of the place. The houses were not unlike those of the towns of Lower Egypt, but the inhabitants were quite different in appearance, and both Frank and Fred remarked that they were in a new country.

A BERBER ARAB.

The people were of a darker color than those they had seen farther down the river. Three-fourths of them were Nubians and Ethiopians of various tribes and kinds, and the remainder included Arabs from the desert, soldiers from Cairo and Alexandria, a few Copts and native Egyptians, and a small number of individuals whom it was very difficult to classify. Berber is the centre of a considerable trade with the Lower Nile and the coast of the Red Sea on one hand, and the Upper Nile and Central Africa on the other; consequently, its streets are the meeting-place of many tribes that roam over a large extent of country.

Abdul told the boys that Berber had a population of about twenty thousand, and was formerly the capital of the Ethiopian kingdom of the same name. It is an important military point, and the government generally keeps a garrison of not less than a thousand soldiers in the fort which commands the town. These troops are intended less for the protection of the place than as a terror to the surrounding tribes, who sometimes show signs of insubordination, and are kept in order by the military presence.

Frank thought the fort was not of much consequence, as its walls were of mud and brick, and could be battered down in a short time by a small army with artillery. Doctor Bronson said there was little probability of an army coming against it, as it was in the hands of the only military power in all that part of Africa. The fort was intended as a defence against the natives, and the few cannon they possessed were of antiquated pattern, and no match for the modern weapons of the Egyptian army.

SHEEP OF BERBER.

Outside the walls were several encampments of caravans from Suakim, on the Red Sea, and from the country to the southward. The bank of the Nile was lined with boats, some loading or unloading their cargoes, and others lying idle and waiting for patrons or crews. Negotiations were opened with the owner of one of the largest boats for the transportation of Doctor Bronson's party to Khartoum. Before any conclusion was reached the business was brought to an end by the arrival of a steamboat from up the river, and the announcement that she would return a couple of days later.

"For once we have found the Oriental policy of delay in our favor," the Doctor remarked, when telling the boys of the arrival of the steamer. "If the owner of that boat had been an Englishman or an American he would have closed the transaction in an hour or so, and we should have been obliged to go with him, or pay for breaking the contract. But he sat down and smoked his pipe, on the first interview and the second, without saying a word about business, and by the time he was ready for a third consultation I knew all about the steamboat, and had no farther need of his services."

The steamer belonged to the Egyptian government, and before the Doctor's party could be allowed to travel by it the permission of the Governor of Berber was necessary. Fortunately, they were provided with letters from the high authorities at Cairo, and the permission was easily obtained.

The baggage had been stored in the warehouse of a French merchant, to protect it from weather and thieves. As soon as the arrangements were completed for passage up the river the boxes and bales were taken to the steamboat and snugly stowed in the hold. As was naturally expected in this land of delays, the boat did not leave until a day after the appointed time, and the Doctor considered himself fortunate to get away so soon.

Aided by the wind from the north she breasted the current of the Nile, and very soon the mud walls of Berber were left behind. The banks of the river showed signs of greater fertility than our friends had seen on their ride from Aboo Hamed; groves of palm-trees were numerous, and there were many fields of grain, cotton, and other growing things. Abdul said there had been great suffering in this region at different times, owing to bad government. At one time the Governor-general of the Soudan had caused the natives to be plundered, in order that he might secure a larger taxation than usual. Many villages were abandoned, the people fleeing to the interior to escape persecution, and neglecting agriculture altogether. When he passed up the river with Baker Pacha's expedition the country was almost destitute of inhabitants, and for miles and miles where formerly were prosperous villages not a native could be seen.

The land here, like that lower down the Nile, is kept fertile by irrigation. The sakkiehs, or water-wheels, are turned by oxen, and their creaking is the reverse of musical. In some places they seem to form a continuous line along the banks, and in a distance of less than a mile Frank counted thirty-seven sakkiehs at work, besides nearly as many more lying idle. This part of the Nile might be made one of the most productive parts of Egypt, and it is to be hoped that a better government will control it than has been its ill-fortune since the days of Mohammed Ali to the present time.

VIEW IN THE ATBARA VALLEY.

Abdul called the boys to look at the Atbara River.

"It is noticeable," said the Doctor, "as the first tributary of the Nile above its entrance into the Mediterranean. For fifteen hundred miles this great river does not receive so much as the tiniest brook, a condition of things without parallel with any other river of the world."

"The Atbara rises in Abyssinia," said Abdul, "near the base of two lofty mountains called Abba-Jaret and Amba-Hai. They are not far from the coast of the Red Sea, and one of the head streams of the Atbara is said to start as though intending to reach the coast, when it suddenly turns and flows toward the Nile. It is called Atbara only in the lower part of its course; higher up it is known as the Tacazze, and it runs through a country that would be very productive if it contained people to cultivate it."

A short distance above the mouth of the Atbara they passed Damer, a town situated on the point of land between the Nile and its tributary stream. Abdul said it was not unlike Berber, but smaller, and they were not losing much in passing it without stopping.

They stopped a couple of hours at Shendy, to take in fuel for the steamboat, and the delay was utilized by our friends to obtain a glimpse of the town. As they walked through the streets, formed by rows of mud houses, with here and there a building of more pretentious character, the Doctor told his young companions of a terrible incident in its history.

"Shendy was formerly the capital of the Soudan country," said the Doctor, "and had an important trade with Darfoor and other countries of Central Africa. After the conquest of Egypt Mohammed Ali sent his son, Ismail Pacha, to demand the submission of Mek Nemr, the King of Ethiopia, who ruled at Shendy, and had received the nickname of 'The Leopard,' on account of his ferocity.

"Ismail Pacha made his camp outside the walls of Shendy, and sent for the king to come to see him. He demanded hay for his horses and camels and food for his troops. The king said it was impossible to meet the demand, as his people were poor and the season had been very bad.

"The Egyptian became angry and struck the king over the head with the stem of his chibouk. The king bowed his head, as if frightened, and said his people should bring all that was asked for, and more besides.

"All night long the king's people were busy bringing hay for the horses and camels and piling it around the camp. The largest heaps were in front of the tents of the Pacha and his officers, and they remarked that the Ethiopian king had evidently been thoroughly frightened into submission, and would hereafter be obedient to his rulers.

"At daybreak there was a change of the scene.

"Suddenly the whole circle of forage was in a blaze. Ismail Pacha and his officers and soldiers attempted to save themselves by flight. As they ran from the flames that threatened them they were met by the lances of hundreds of Ethiopian warriors, who gave them the alternative of being speared or roasted.

"Not one of all the party escaped. When Mohammed Ali heard of the death of his son he sent an army to destroy Shendy, and not leave one stone standing on another. The town was razed to the ground, but 'The Leopard' was not seized; he fled into the interior, and never fell into the hands of the Egyptians. This happened in 1822. A new town was started on the site of the old one, but it has never gained its former greatness. The capital of the country was moved to Khartoum, and that place has become the centre of trade on this part of the Nile."

The spot where Ismail Pacha met his death at the hands of the ferocious King of Ethiopia was pointed out by Abdul. The boys looked in vain for any traces of the camp, but the dragoman assured them there could be little doubt of the locality, and none as to the correctness of the story.

AN ETHIOPIAN KING.

[CHAPTER V.]

LIFE IN KHARTOUM.—DEPARTURE FOR GONDOKORO.

From Shendy to Khartoum there was little change of landscape. The country increased in fertility, and Abdul informed the travellers that they were every hour getting farther into the region of periodical rains. The grasses grew without irrigation, and, only the strip of land near the river, where beans and other garden products were raised, required artificial watering. The people keep large flocks of sheep and goats, and our friends had practical knowledge of this fact in the ease with which they could purchase mutton at the landing-places. Mountains appeared in the distance, and were a great relief to the eye after the flat and wearisome plains.

Frank and Fred were watching for the junction of the Blue and White Nile. Before coming in sight of the point where the rivers unite they became aware of its proximity by the appearance of the water. The White Nile was of a grayish color, while the other stream was several degrees darker in hue. Doctor Bronson said he was reminded of the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi, or of the latter river with the Missouri. There is an island just below the point of land where Khartoum is built, and boats may pass from one river to the other above this island. There is usually very little current through the channel, so that the actual junction is considerably farther down.

ARRIVAL AT KHARTOUM.

The man at the helm directed the steamer up the Blue Nile, and turned her prow toward a stone embankment in front of several large buildings. There were two or three groups of these buildings, and as the boat steamed onward Abdul described them to the strangers. "On the left," said he, "is the Governor's palace, and close by it are the residences of the principal officials; to the right are other government buildings, and then farther away are the habitations of the foreign consuls and other persons of distinction. The front of Khartoum is more attractive than the interior, and if you want to retain the best impression of the place you would do well not to go on shore at all."

This did not suit the desires of our young friends, and they declined asking the captain of the boat to pass Khartoum without stopping. Probably he would have laughed at the request, or gravely referred it to the commanding officer on shore.

The steamer stopped at the foot of the stone embankment, and as soon as the plank was out the three travellers mounted the steps to the top of the low bluff. Abdul and Ali remained to look after the baggage and arrange for its storage, while Doctor Bronson went to call upon Mr. Jenquel, a German merchant, to whom he had letters of introduction. Mr. Jenquel was out at the time; but his partner received the strangers kindly, and speedily arranged for their being comfortably lodged during their stay. There is no hotel at Khartoum, and travellers are obliged to hire lodgings or accept the hospitality of the few Europeans living in the place.

They took a stroll through Khartoum in company with their new-found friend, and saw many things to attract their attention. The street near the river was well shaded with palm and other trees, and they passed several gardens of citron and orange trees, whose fruit seemed to invite immediate plucking and devouring. They found the older part of the town made up of narrow and crooked streets, and had several narrow escapes from being knocked down by camels that moved along the way as if it belonged to no one but themselves. After dodging several times to avoid the ponderous beasts Frank asked where they came from, and what they were carrying.

"They are mostly from the Atmoor, or desert of Korosko," was the reply, "and their burdens consist of European goods intended for the African market."

"These goods are about the same as we are carrying for paying our way in Africa," said the Doctor. "Cotton cloths, beads, knives, small tools, and a lot of toys and gewgaws constitute the staple of African supplies. The merchants in Khartoum fit out the wandering traders, and send them into the interior for ivory, gum, ostrich feathers, and the other products of the country that will bear a high rate of transportation. The chief article is ivory, and the trade of Khartoum sometimes amounts to a million dollars a year in ivory alone. Latterly it is said to have declined, owing to the diminished number of elephants and the difficulty of capturing them.

ELEPHANTS AT HOME—SHAKING A FRUIT-TREE.

"From present indications," the Doctor continued, "the elephant seems destined to follow the fate of the buffalo in America and disappear before many years. Formerly he was pursued only by the natives, who were unprovided with fire-arms and relied upon their spears and arrows, and also on pitfalls and other rude contrivances. His sagacity enables him to elude the latter, except in rare instances, and his great strength was in favor of his safety from primitive weapons. But since the white man has entered the field, and especially since the invention of rifles that kill at long distances, and carry explosive bullets, the days of the elephant are numbered. Strength and sagacity are of little avail against modern weapons and their murderous accessories, and if the elephant survives the American bison, it is only because the African continent has been settled more slowly than our own.

"If you look on the map you will see that Khartoum is at the end of the caravan route from Kordofan and Darfoor; consequently some of the camels you have been dodging may have come from those countries as well as from the desert of Korosko. Then there is the route by the river, both south and north, and also along the Blue Nile. It is the intention of the Egyptian government to bring the Soudan railway to Khartoum, and it is not impossible that a decade or so hence we may travel in a Pullman car from Cairo to the spot where we are now standing."[3]

"Just think of it!" exclaimed Fred; "riding by railway to Central Africa, only fifteen degrees north of the equator, and in the land of elephants and crocodiles!"

His meditations were brought suddenly to an end by an encounter with another string of camels, followed by several negroes, who were closely watched by a swarthy Arab, armed with a large whip.

PROFILES OF DINKA NEGROES.

"Those men are slaves," whispered their guide; "though the Arab in charge of them would declare he knew nothing about them if you should ask him. They come from the southern country, and are of the tribe of Dinka negroes. The Dinkas are greatly liked as slaves, and bring a higher price than those from other tribes.

"You see they are not tied together, or in any way restrained; but if they should try to run away they would get some sharp blows of the whip, and the Arabs that are loitering about would hinder their escape. The police would not interfere to assist either party. The slave has few friends, while all the Arabs are interested in keeping up the commerce, and are therefore the natural enemies of the captive.

BRINGING A SLAVE TO MARKET.

"When the slave caravans are on the road the men and women are tied together, and frequently have wooden yokes around their necks, to keep them from running away. Carrying these heavy burdens, they move with difficulty, and their strength is so much exhausted that they are completely under the control of their captors."

A couple of hours among the narrow streets of the old part of Khartoum, where their nostrils were constantly assailed by vile smells from the wretched drains, were quite enough for our friends, and they returned to the river bank. Their guide told them that the city was notoriously unhealthy, owing to its bad drainage. It had been fatal to a great many Europeans, and of late years the government had endeavored to remedy the evil, but had not succeeded altogether. The population is a mixed lot of Arabs, Turks, Jews, Berbers, negroes, and Europeans. The latter are principally Greeks and Italians, engaged in selling European products to the native merchants, and some of them keep small shops for vending spirits and canned edibles.

Altogether, Khartoum has a population of about thirty thousand, and is said to be steadily increasing with the growth of trade in Central Africa. Before the destruction of Shendy it was a place of little importance; but when the capital of the Soudan was transferred to Khartoum, in 1822, it rose rapidly in importance, and has been greatly helped by its geographical position.

Returning to the establishment of Mr. Jenquel, they found that gentleman, who received them cordially, and said they must dine at his house, which was a short distance from his place of business. Dinner would be ready in an hour, and meanwhile he would show them how he lived in Khartoum.

They went to the house at once, and their host said they might take his dwelling for a fair specimen of the best class of houses in Khartoum. It stood in a yard or garden about five hundred feet square, and surrounded by a mud wall eight or nine feet high, and nearly half as thick. The house was nearly two hundred feet square, with a court-yard in the centre; the part of the building nearest the entrance was two stories high, but the remainder was only one story. Stairways are objectionable in hot countries, as the exertion of climbing is too much for human endurance, and elevators have not yet penetrated into Africa. The upper story was occupied by Mr. Jenquel and his amiable wife, while the ground-floor contained the dining-room and two or three apartments for visitors, together with the kitchen and the quarters of the servants. All the rooms were large and airy, and were fitted partly in European and partly in Arab style. There was a wide balcony surrounding the upper story, and it formed an agreeable lounging-place in the coolest hours of the day.

Mrs. Jenquel proved to be a most charming lady, who spoke German and English with equal fluency. She had been only a short time in Khartoum, and was evidently not over-charmed with the place. She said there were only two European ladies besides herself in the city. There were no theatres, balls, parties, or other amusements, and altogether there was a great deal of monotony in the life she led. It was a relief to her when strangers came to visit them, and she welcomed with delight the presence of Doctor Bronson and the intelligent youths who accompanied him.

Dinner was served in European style, the principal dish being roast mutton, preceded by soup and fish—the latter a species of salmon from the Blue Nile—and followed by a liberal supply of fruits. Among the latter were delicious oranges from the garden of the host, together with tamarinds, dates, custard-apples, and grapes. Our friends had made the acquaintance of the custard-apple in India, and found the product of Khartoum in no way inferior to that of Asia.

Abdul came to announce that their lodgings were ready, and the baggage had been carefully landed and stored as previously arranged. When the proper time arrived they said "good-night" to their kind entertainers, and followed the dragoman to the house that had been secured for them.

TREES NEAR THE RIVER.

It was not unlike the residence of Mr. Jenquel, though considerably smaller, and belonged to a merchant, who had gone to Cairo on business, and was not averse to the occupation of his house by suitable tenants during his absence. Half a dozen servants remained in charge, so that Doctor Bronson and the boys found themselves comfortably lodged, and as much at home as though the place was their own. Abdul was installed as chief manager, and the promise of a liberal backsheesh made everything right with the regular servants of the house.

The party remained nearly two weeks at Khartoum, as the preparations for departure could not be made in a hurry. They were now at the last outpost of civilization, and their next move would carry them into the wilderness. The boys readily fell into their new life, and were very soon as familiar with Khartoum as though they had resided there a decade or two.

They rose early every morning, and were generally off by sunrise for a ride in the country around Khartoum. Sometimes they were mounted on horses which Abdul had hired from a merchant who kept a large stable close to their residence, and sometimes on camels, that were readily procured from one of the encampments of the caravans. They found the horses less fatiguing than the "ships of the desert;" but occasionally they were treated to half-wild steeds, exceedingly hard on the bit, and having a strong tendency to run away with their young riders. One morning they had a lively run of nearly two hours on the broad plain south of Khartoum, their horses going at full gallop, and evidently in the mood for exercise. When they came to pull up their restive beasts they were nearly thrown from the saddles; and Frank said he could see no indications that his horse was wearied from the long race. Abdul said the horses came from Darfoor, and were anxious to get back again. They were fine animals, and worthy of all the praise bestowed by the Arabs on their favorite steeds. Fred afterward read the account which Bayard Taylor gives of his ride over this very plain, when he left his attendants far behind, though they were mounted on swift dromedaries, and made every exertion to keep close at his heels. The youth was decidedly of opinion that the animal he rode in the race with his cousin was in every respect the equal of the famous red stallion of the Austrian consul.

VIEW NEAR THE EDGE OF THE TOWN.

The middle of the day was generally passed within doors, on account of the heat; the afternoon was devoted to business and visits, if any were to be made, and to walks in the town or along the banks of the two rivers which have their place of meeting just below the city. Then there were letters and journals to be written, maps to be studied, books to be read, and in various ways the time slipped pleasantly away.

Fortunately for our friends, it happened that a government steamer was about to leave Khartoum with despatches for the Governor of the post at Gondokoro. By means of a telegram from the authorities at Cairo, and the judicious use of backsheesh in certain quarters, it was arranged that Doctor Bronson's party could take passage on this steamer. There was some difficulty about the baggage, as the captain of the boat (an Egyptian Arab) said it was impossible to carry it in addition to what was already ordered on government account.

PREPARING DINNER.

Abdul invited the captain to dine with him, and the dinner was the best that could be prepared. It lasted until a late hour. Before it was over the whole matter was arranged, and the captain said he would carry the baggage of the party, even if he was obliged to stow it in his own room. The conversation was in Arabic, and we are therefore unable to say how the business was settled; but as Abdul excused himself once during the dinner, and asked the Doctor for five hundred francs in gold, it is fair to suppose that the negotiations were not unconnected with backsheesh.

As they steamed away from Khartoum, Abdul said their solitary boat was quite a contrast to the fleet of Baker Pacha when he started from the same point for his famous expedition to suppress the slave-trade.

BAKER'S EXPEDITION LEAVING KHARTOUM.

"Baker's expedition, as I before told you," said Abdul, "had two steamers and thirty-six sailing boats; and each of the steamers had a couple of dahabeeahs, or sailing-boats, in tow. It was a grand sight as we swept past the town, the steamers leading, with their tows, and the sailing-craft driving ahead with the strong north wind. Salutes were fired from the batteries in front of the palace, and the decks of our boats were crowded with men watching till the single minaret of Khartoum was lost in the distance.

"The steamers pushed on with their tows, leaving the rest of the fleet to follow, and made the best of their way to Fashoda, the government post in the Shillook country, six hundred and eighteen miles by the river from Khartoum. Fashoda is the first place where we shall stop, except to take in wood for our engines, unless we meet with an accident that is not down in our programme."

Frank and Fred watched the example of the soldiers of Baker's expedition and kept their eyes on the minaret of Khartoum till it faded and was blended with the horizon. Then they turned to look at the country around them.

Their prow was pointed to the south, save where the windings of the river caused a temporary change of their course. The shores on either side were low, and generally flat, with here and there clumps of trees and little patches of grass. They were still in the region of the desert, but it was not altogether barren, like the great Atmoor of Korosko. Flocks of ducks and geese flew in the air or settled in the nooks along the shore; and now and then the ibis, the sacred bird of the Egyptians, showed his tall form on the sand-banks. Occasionally a crocodile lay basking in the sun, or the snort of a startled hippopotamus would be heard close to the boat.

In the night the clear sky was studded with stars, and the youths lingered long on deck, studying the various constellations. The north star was nearly sunk to the horizon behind them, while in front the Southern Cross sparkled in all its glory, and recalled memories of their voyage from Singapore into the Java Sea. Once more they were approaching the equator, but with far greater difficulties before them.

The steamboat held her course during the night, and in the morning our friends opened their eyes on a change of scene.

A VILLAGE SCENE.

The monotonous plain had been left behind, and they were in a region of hills. More than this, the region was no longer a desert. The hills were studded with trees, and on the banks of the river there was a succession of forests and cultivated fields, quite unlike the picture presented below Khartoum. Droves of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats were numerous, and the conical huts of the natives had no resemblance to the flat-roofed dwellings of Lower Egypt.

Occasionally a train of camels was visible, wending its stately way along, and making a sharp contrast to the droves of diminutive donkeys peculiar to this part of the Nile. Where the boat went close to the banks the boys several times discovered monkeys playing among the branches of the trees, and Frank would have made no objection if they had halted long enough to capture one of the amusing beasts. A mountain-range appeared in the distance; the vegetation steadily increased in luxuriance; and the boys became fully aware that they were nearing the Heart of Africa.

THE HEART OF AFRICA.

[CHAPTER VI.]

AMONG THE SHILLOOK NEGROES.—ARRIVAL AT FASHODA.—EXPLORERS OF THE NILE.

On the second day from Khartoum, Doctor Bronson told the boys they were in the country of the Shillooks. The natural inquiry that followed this announcement was,

"Who are the Shillooks?"

"They are a large tribe of negroes, living along the White Nile," replied the Doctor, "and are thought to number nearly, if not quite, three millions. For more than two hundred miles their villages are scattered along the river, forming an almost continuous line. They live partly by hunting and fishing, and formerly they made quite a revenue by selling slaves to the dealers who came from Khartoum and other parts of Egypt.

"They made war upon neighboring tribes farther back from the river, and sold their prisoners into slavery; and sometimes they sold their own people. It was not unusual for a Shillook to sell his own children when a good price was offered, especially if his family was large and his affairs were not prosperous."

Frank asked if they could land among the Shillooks and see how they lived. Doctor Bronson said it was not altogether safe to go among them, as they have been badly treated by the Turks and Egyptians, and are not specially friendly.

As the Doctor was speaking the steamer rounded the point of an island, and the dragoman called their attention to a number of conical huts of grass among the low trees near the shore. "That is a Shillook village," said Abdul, "and several of the inhabitants are standing by the edge of the river."

The boys ran below for their glasses, and were back again in a few moments. They made out the negroes to be tall, well-formed men, most of them fully six feet in height, and entirely without clothing, with the exception of two, who had strips of cloth around their waists. Abdul said the full dress of the Shillooks was a waist-cloth and a string of beads, but they were not always particular about arraying themselves.

A BIRD OF THE WHITE NILE.

Back of the village was a field of cotton and another of beans, and there was every indication that the Shillooks had a fertile soil to cultivate. Abdul said their products were the same as near Khartoum, but they had very few fruit-trees, and their gardens were not carefully tilled.

The steamer stopped near one of the villages to take wood, and after a consultation with the captain Abdul said the boys could go on shore, but must not wander from the immediate vicinity of the boat. The Shillooks are apt to be treacherous, and sometimes a lance or an arrow is sent from the bushes when there is nothing to indicate the presence of danger. When kindly treated their confidence is easily secured, but they have been subject to so much ill-usage at the hands of the slave-dealers that it is no wonder they are suspicious.

They are said to be honest in their dealings, though excellent hands at a bargain, and as ready to tell a deliberate falsehood as the most accomplished shopkeeper in London or New York. They have no manufactures, and the articles most in demand among them are cheap cotton cloths and pieces of iron, from which they make the heads of their spears. As the steamboat neared the landing several natives paddled out to meet it, and the boys were much interested in the rafts, which the Shillooks manage with a great deal of skill.

"Those rafts are made from the ambatch plant," said Abdul. "It is a reed like the bamboo, with hollow spaces between the joints, and is very light and strong. The ambatch narrows toward the top, and to make a raft of the plants all that is necessary is to fasten a couple of dozen of them together at the ends and turn the smaller extremity upward.

AN AMBATCH CANOE.

"The ambatch raft or canoe," he continued, "is in use all along the White Nile, and it would be difficult to find a more serviceable craft. It cannot be sunk, and if a man balances himself properly there is little danger of an upset."

"They are useful in war as well as in peace," remarked Doctor Bronson, who was listening to the conversation. "Dr. Schweinfurth, in the account of his travels in Africa, tells how he was pursued by a whole fleet of Shillook canoes, and had a very narrow escape. He said not less than three thousand canoes were in motion along the river and pursuing the boat on which he was travelling.

AN ADVENTURE ON THE NILE.

"The wind left them while the canoes were approaching, and for a while his position was very critical. Only the previous year five boats, coming down the river on their way to Khartoum, had stopped at the village they were passing and endeavored to buy some provisions. The natives brought fowls, honey, and other things to sell, and while the negotiations were going on a large fleet of canoes suddenly came around the point of land and attacked the strangers.

"The captain of one boat and a sailor from another managed to escape by jumping into the river and swimming to a place of concealment among the reeds. The rest of the party, some eighty in all, were killed, and the vessels were plundered and burned.

"Of course this incident was fresh in the mind of Dr. Schweinfurth, and you can imagine his despair when the wind ceased while the canoes were approaching. But 'all's well that ends well:' the wind suddenly blew again, their sail was unfurled, and they were carried out of danger in a little while. The disappointed Shillooks returned to the shore, and nothing more was seen of them.

"Bayard Taylor visited the Shillooks in his journey here in 1852," the Doctor continued. "He came from Khartoum, with a single boat, manned by half a dozen sailors, and accompanied only by his dragoman. The only arms he carried was an old pistol, and he was represented by the captain of the boat to be a son of the Sultan of Turkey, who had come on a peaceful visit to the chief of the Shillooks."

Frank asked if he was kindly received by them.

"They were very surly at first," said Doctor Bronson, "and came down to the river-bank armed with spears and clubs. After some parley their chief stepped forward and asked if he wanted to fight. Mr. Taylor declared he was anxious for peace, and for that reason had come on shore without arms. The chief was not assured of his good intentions for some time, and there was an angry controversy among the men, which threatened for a while to result in open hostility; but nothing of the kind was attempted. Mr. Taylor stayed a couple of hours on shore, and just as the Shillooks began to show a familiarity bordering on insolence he suddenly returned to his boat and steered down the river the way he had come."

"Then this was the southern limit of his journey, was it not?" Fred asked.

"Yes; he came to the island of Aba, which lies about latitude 12° north, or two hundred and fifty miles from Khartoum. He was very anxious to push on to the south, but his contract with the owner of the boat was only for a journey to this island. At that time the highest point on the Nile to which any Europeans had ascended was about latitude 4° north, or four hundred and eighty miles beyond the island of Aba. Nothing was known about the sources of the Nile, and the general impression among geographers was that the river rose at the base of Mount Kilimandjaro, in the third degree of south latitude. Some geographers had thought it possible that the Nile flowed from Lake N'yassi, but the idea was generally rejected. 'Since Columbus first looked upon San Salvador,' wrote Mr. Taylor in his journal, 'the earth has but one emotion of triumph left in her bestowal, and that she reserves for him who shall first drink from the fountains of the White Nile, under the snow-fields of Kilimandjaro.'"

"What great progress has been made since Mr. Taylor's time in the exploration of Africa!" Frank exclaimed, as the Doctor finished his last remark.

"Yes," was the reply, "the progress in the last half of the nineteenth century has been greater than in the preceding twenty centuries. From the days of Herodotus—two thousand years ago—till within the present generation exploration of the valley of the Nile had accomplished very little. Syene, at the first Cataract of the Nile, was a city in the days of the ancient dynasties of Egypt; three thousand years ago the kingdoms of Ethiopia flourished, and their rulers had a prominent place in history. Time and time again men sought in vain to solve the mystery of the source of the Nile, and it was reserved for men of our day to make the great discovery."

One of the boys asked to whom the honor belonged of ascertaining the source of the Nile.

"That question is a conundrum," replied the Doctor, with a smile, "and a conundrum that needs an explanation before answering. The honor belongs to several explorers, and not to one alone. Each has made discoveries peculiarly his own, and these discoveries have supplemented the work of the rest.

"As I have before told you, it was long supposed that the Blue Nile was the parent stream, and its sources were ascertained by James Bruce. The error of this belief was set forth after the death of Bruce, as the White Nile was found to be of greater volume than the Blue, and was explored to a point more distant from the junction of the two streams than were the springs of the Blue Nile. Mohammed Ali sent three expeditions to find the sources of the White Nile, but they failed in their efforts. Private expeditions were sent every few years, but with the same results. The heat, the fevers, the hostility of the natives, the difficulty of penetrating marshes and tropical forests, all conspired to frustrate their efforts. The first expedition of Mohammed Ali reached latitude 6° 30' north; the second went to 4° 42' north; and the third stopped at about 5° north. Dr. Knoblecher, in 1849, went to 4° 10' north, which was farther than any one else had gone. Miani, an Italian traveller, went to a point about 3° 32' north, and about the same time Dr. Schweinfurth explored the Bahr-el-Gazal, one of the tributaries of the White Nile, in the expectation that it might turn out to be the main stream. Miss Tinné, a Dutch lady, also explored that river, and spent more than a year in its valley."

"What!" exclaimed one of the youths, "a lady going on an expedition in Africa! She must have been fond of adventure. Who was she?"

"Miss Tinné was born in 1835, and was the daughter of a baroness, who had a large fortune. She was fond of travel, and in 1861 went to Cairo with her mother. She was so enamored of the East that she determined to remain there, and announced to her friends that she should not return to Europe to live. In 1862 she started from Khartoum with a steamboat, several sailing-boats, a large party of attendants, and so many beasts of burden of various kinds that the natives everywhere believed she was the daughter of the Sultan of Turkey. The only Europeans of her party were Dr. Steudner and Baron Von Henglin, and also her mother. The latter died of fever, and so did Dr. Steudner, before the return to Khartoum, which occupied some fourteen months after the departure of the expedition.

"Miss Tinné on this journey explored the Bahr-el-Gazal, and made a great many notes and observations, which have been very useful to those who followed her. She had previously visited the White Nile as far as Gondokoro, and altogether she passed nearly three years in the work of exploration. In 1869 she organized an expedition at Tripoli, intending to pass through Moorzook and Bornoo, and reach the Nile by way of Kordofan, a route which up to that time had never been followed by a European. She had fifty attendants and seventy camels on this expedition, and her only European companions were two Dutch sailors. From Moorzook she went on a side-journey to the country of the Touaregs, and was treacherously murdered by her escort. The sailors who accompanied her were also murdered, and her native attendants were sold into slavery.

"Let us return to the exploration of the White Nile," said Doctor Bronson. "While these discoverers were at work from the north others were approaching the Nile from the south, and it was from that direction the great secret was revealed. In 1856 Captains Speke and Burton, of the British army, started from Zanzibar for a journey into Africa, and on the 30th of July, 1858, Captain Speke discovered the Victoria N'yanza.

"N'yanza is a native word, meaning lake, and, reduced to English, the body of water discovered by Speke may be called the Victoria Lake of Africa. Captain Speke was alone at the time of the discovery, his companion Burton being engaged in an exploration farther to the south. Speke was of the opinion that the lake he had found was the source of the Nile, but was unable to find its outlet, and so demonstrate the correctness of his theory.

SPEKE AND GRANT IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

"In 1862 he revisited the lake, accompanied by Captain J. W. Grant, and this time he explored its northern part and found its outlet. A large river flowed northward from the lake, and at its head was a cataract, to which the explorer gave the name of Ripon Falls. The stream is now known on the maps as the Victoria Nile, or Somerset River, and may be considered the beginning of the great river of Egypt."

"Then the Nile has its beginning at the outlet of the Victoria N'yanza?" said one of the boys.

"Not exactly," was the reply. "The Somerset River, or Victoria Nile, flows northward into another lake, the Albert N'yanza, discovered in 1864 by Sir Samuel W. Baker. The Albert N'yanza is smaller than the Victoria N'yanza, and its outlet is the White Nile, on which we are now travelling.

GROUP OF GANI MEN.

"You know what the showman said when the little girl asked which were the monkeys and which the hyenas?"

"Yes," said Frank: "'Whichever you please, my dear. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.'"

"It is somewhat that way with the origin of the Nile," answered the Doctor. "If the Victoria N'yanza is the source of the great river, you can give the credit of its discovery to Captain Speke; and if the outlet of the lake is technically the head of the river, the honor is divided between Speke and Grant. If the Albert N'yanza, and not the Victoria, is the source of the Nile—since the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile, issues from it—then you must set Speke and Grant aside and award the palm of merit to Sir Samuel Baker."

"But how about the rivers that flow into the Victoria N'yanza?" said Fred. "There must be several affluents of the lake, and the largest and longest of them might be called the true source of the Nile."

"That is a matter which is not yet fully determined," was the reply. "Stanley circumnavigated the Victoria N'yanza in 1875, and found several streams flowing into it; but, as they have not all been traced to their sources, we cannot say with exactness which is the longest. Until this point is settled there will be a question in the minds of some very exact people as to the source of the Nile, but for all practical purposes the matter is determined already. To my way of thinking the Victoria N'yanza is the source of the Nile; and it is hardly worth our while to consider the streams that feed it, unless one of them should be found to be larger than all the others, as in the case of the Somerset River, flowing into the Albert N'yanza.

KARUMA FALLS, ON THE VICTORIA NILE (SOMERSET RIVER).

"There is another lake, called Tanganyika, which lies south of the Victoria N'yanza, and was discovered by Burton and Speke in February, 1858. It was supposed that this lake discharged into the Victoria N'yanza, and this supposition was sustained by Dr. Livingstone against the opinions of other geographers. It is known that the level of Tanganyika is lower than the Victoria and Albert lakes, and therefore it cannot be the source of the Nile."

The conversation came to an end as the plank was put to the shore, and the party stepped from the boat in the country of the Shillooks.

The natives straggled slowly to the landing-place, but were evidently averse to an intimate acquaintance with the strangers. The majority were in the same airy costume that the boys had observed through their glasses, but some of them had added a veneering made of a paste of ashes mixed with water. This did not enhance their beauty; but as it was a fashion among them, and they evidently considered it correct, the strangers had no business to object. A few had rubbed their faces and necks with red ashes, which gave a ferocious tinge to their countenances, and was evidently regarded as an indication of bravery.

Nearly every one wore an armlet of metal or untanned leather above the elbow, and the most of the crowd were armed with spears. Some had strings of beads around their necks, and one, who seemed to have authority, was decorated with beads larger than those of his companions.

The boys endeavored to make a trade for some of the arm-rings and spear-heads, but did not meet with much success. The natives refused to part with their spears, and the Doctor said that, like most savages, they probably had a superstition about selling their weapons, believing that by so doing they would bring misfortune upon themselves and their tribes. After some bickering, however, Frank secured an arm-ring of metal, while Fred bought one made of elephant-hide. The price in each case was a string of small beads, but the offers were refused half a dozen times before they were accepted. Trade is a slow business among people to whom time has no value.

The whistle of the steamer brought the negotiations to an end, and in a few minutes the boat was under way again. Nothing of moment occurred from this point to Fashoda, the first military post above Khartoum, and the station of a mudir, or provincial governor. It is situated on a bluff sloping gently from the river. The Egyptian portion is surrounded by a mud-wall, and contains comfortable barracks for the officers and soldiers. There is a Shillook village just outside, the conical huts forming a marked contrast to the flat roofs of the substantial buildings erected by the government.

VIEW OF FASHODA.

[CHAPTER VII.]

AN ANTELOPE HUNT.—GUINEA-WORMS, WHITE ANTS, AND GREAT SNAKES.

The steamer remained a day at Fashoda, and then proceeded on her voyage, her next halting-place being at the mouth of the Sobat, which is an affluent of the White Nile, and has its source in the mountains near the Indian Ocean. Its water is considered superior to that of the Nile for drinking purposes, and a supply was taken on board for the use of the passengers and crew.

SCENE ON THE WHITE NILE ABOVE THE SOBAT.

They now entered a succession of marshes and low ground, where the river frequently divided into several channels, and was often partially blocked with great masses of weeds and other tropical vegetation. A short distance above the Sobat, Frank and Fred had their first view of a wild elephant, or rather of a troop of half a dozen or more. They were not at all disturbed by the proximity of the steamer. One was lying comfortably on the ground, and the rest stood watching the boat while it passed up the stream a few hundred yards from them. On the opposite bank of the river was a Shillook village, and beyond it the dry grass was burning furiously and sending up a vast column of smoke. The boys were much excited over their view of the elephants, and greatly wished they could land and take a shot at the beasts. Doctor Bronson told them they would have an opportunity to hunt elephants before many days, and with this assurance they were contented.

Elephants roam the country on both banks of this part of the Nile, but they are less numerous than farther up the valley. They are hunted for their ivory by the natives, and occasionally the white man gets a chance at them. Every year they increase in scarcity and in shyness, so that the stranger's chance of sport among this huge game is not very good. Occasionally they visit the fields of the natives during the night, and do a great deal of damage by trampling down the crops and eating the growing plants. The negroes take advantage of their depredations to make pitfalls for them, and in this way a large elephant sometimes finds himself a prey to the hunter.

As they ascended the Nile above the mouth of the Sobat, Abdul pointed out the spot where the "sudd" formerly obstructed the river, and caused great inconvenience.

The sudd had been mentioned before, but only briefly, and one of the youths asked Abdul to describe it to them.

"From here to Gondokoro," said Abdul, "a distance of nearly eight hundred miles, you will find the White Nile running through a series of marshes and lowlands; in many places it spreads out over a wide area, and forms a large number of channels among islands of greater or less extent. You have already observed that the grass and reeds come drifting with the current, and occasionally masses of them form to such an extent that they take the shape of floating islands.

"This floating stuff sometimes becomes caught and imprisoned at low water, and it remains there, growing day by day, till the annual flood brings down so large a current that it is swept away. One year the flood was not sufficient to remove it, and it remained from one season till the next.

"Then it increased till it fairly drove the river from its bed, or rather caused it to spread out and form new channels. It became a bog, through which the water percolated or ran in unknown channels, and furnishing a foundation for masses of vegetation, that sprung up and flourished under the effect of tropical heat and moisture.

"This state of affairs continued for six or eight years, and the White Nile apparently ceased to exist, by reason of the great dam of reeds and other plants that choked the channel and made navigation impossible. This dam was the sudd of which we have been speaking.

HAULING A STEAMBOAT THROUGH A CANAL CUT IN THE SUDD.

"It remained here when Baker Pacha ascended the Nile on his expedition for the suppression of the slave-trade. His advance was retarded for many months by the sudd; he was obliged to cut channels through it, and then haul his boats along from one strip of open water to another. Many of his men died from exposure and hard work in passing the sudd, and there were fears at one time that it would cause a total abandonment of the expedition.

"The sudd was full of insects, that caused great suffering to all concerned, and the air at all times was thick with mosquitoes. One of the most dreaded pests was the 'guinea-worm,' that embeds itself in the feet or ankles, and produces a disagreeable and often dangerous sore. This worm is peculiar to the tropics, and is justly feared by all persons liable to its attacks. It makes a slight puncture in the skin—generally in or near the foot—and lays its eggs there. They are hatched in from two months to a year, and the puncture is so minute that its presence is not known until the eggs are developed."

One of the boys asked if the worm ever caused the death of the person attacked.

"Generally he escapes with a dreadful sore, that may be months in healing," said Doctor Bronson, who was standing near; "and not unfrequently he loses the foot or leg where the sore is developed. If the worm can be removed without breaking, and before it has created more than a small sore like a pimple, no serious harm results; but the operation is difficult, and requires great care on the part of both doctor and patient."

"How is it performed?" Frank asked.

"When the vesicle breaks," the Doctor answered, "the end of the worm shows itself and hangs outside. It is gently pulled and coiled round a piece of linen or a small stick, like a section of a toothpick, and then fastened over the wound with sticking-plaster and a compress. Twice a day the performance is repeated, and as much as possible of the worm is coiled away. It takes all the way from a fortnight to three or four months to remove a worm in this way. The worms vary from six inches to three yards in length, and their circumference is about that of small wrapping-twine. If a worm is broken in the process of extraction it is liable to cause inflammation, fever, deformities, loss of the limbs, mortification, and death. So you see it is not to be trifled with."

"What a terrible scourge!" said one of the boys. "I shall take good care not to go into the water in the region where this worm abounds."

"It has been known and mentioned in ancient as well as in modern writings," the Doctor continued; "and some authorities argue that the 'fiery serpents' which attacked the Israelites in the wilderness were in reality guinea-worms."

"How could that be?" Fred exclaimed. "They could not be anything like serpents; and, besides, the pictures we have of the events of the Exodus show that the Israelites were bitten by something larger than the little threads you have described."

"That is quite true," was the reply; "but bear in mind that the pictures in our books were not made at the time, but many centuries afterward. The words in the original Hebrew—which are translated in our version as 'fiery serpents'—refer unmistakably to something which caused an inflammatory wound, and do not describe the serpent any farther than this. By the Greeks the Filaria, or guinea-worm, was reckoned among the serpents, on account of its form as well as the results of its bite; and those who have studied the subject say that the theory is supported by the natural conditions of the country through which the Israelites passed, while the mortality among them can be accounted for by their ignorance of the proper treatment. From a scientific point of view, if not from a popular one, the subject is an interesting study."

NESTS OF WHITE ANTS.

Doctor Bronson paused, as his attention was drawn to some conical mounds on the shore near which they were passing.

"They are ant-hills," said the Doctor, after a brief survey. "They are made by the white ants, which are found in various parts of Africa, and display considerable skill in the construction of their homes."

The steamer halted for wood at a point close to several of the mounds, and thus gave the youths an opportunity to examine them. They found the ant-hills varying in height from six to ten feet, and composed of a yellowish earth, nearly as hard as brick, and quite capable of resisting the action of the rain.

Abdul said the ants used the yellow earth below the black soil on the surface. Their first move was to swallow it, and thus mix it with an albuminous matter from their bodies, so as to give it the character of cement. Then the substance was formed into the mound which rose above the level of the highest floods. When the river is low the black soil is uncovered, and the ants roam in the vicinity of the mounds; but at the time of the inundation the entire country is under water, with the exception of the mounds, which stand out like small islands.

A HERD OF ANTELOPE.

From this point the ant-hills were numerous, and at the next halting-place a group of antelopes was seen, with one of its number stationed on a mound as a sentry. Finding the boat would be there a sufficient time to permit the experiment, Doctor Bronson determined to capture the sentinel, as an addition to the table of the steamer. Armed with his rifle, he started on foot, carefully keeping several ant-hills in range of the one where the sentry was standing, and never allowing himself more than a glimpse of the creature's horns.

The sentinel did his duty thoroughly, and gave the Doctor no little trouble to approach without being discovered. Creeping slowly from hill to hill, he at last reached one about two hundred yards from that where the sentinel stood. The animal was motionless, with the exception of his head, which he turned from side to side occasionally, so as to take in the entire horizon. His side was toward his enemy, so that he offered an excellent mark. The rest of the herd was grazing near; but as the sentinel was larger and a better prize than any of his companions, the Doctor made no change of intention, and took aim at the one he had first marked as his own.

The shot had its effect. As the smoke cleared away the antelope sunk to its knees for an instant, and then rolled to the ground, where it lay, quite dead. The balance of the herd fled, and the hunter, after reloading his rifle, ran forward to survey the effect of his shot.

Mounting to the summit of the ant-hill, he waved his handkerchief three times, which had been agreed upon to announce a successful shot. As soon as the signal was seen four men were sent from the boat to carry away the game. The boys walked out to meet the Doctor and congratulate him on his morning's work, and also to see the dead antelope. Frank pronounced him "a beauty," and Fred said he was the finest animal of the kind he had ever seen.

"His scientific name is Damalis Senegalensis," said Doctor Bronson, "and he belongs to the family Antilopeæ, of which there are many varieties. Africa has more of them than the rest of the world together, and they surpass all others in beauty and numbers. There are no antelopes in Madagascar or Australia. There are a few varieties in Asia, and only one each in Western Europe and America. Look at the one I have just killed; it will weigh at least four hundred pounds when dressed, and if you measure him at the shoulder, as you would a horse, you will find he is nearly five feet high. I doubt if any one ever saw so large an antelope as this in America."

Frank made note of the fact that the prize which had fallen to the Doctor's rifle had a skin which glistened like that of a carefully-kept horse, and was in excellent condition. The face and ears were black, and there was a strip of black along the shoulder and down the back and legs. The tail was longer than that of the American antelope, and had a tuft of hair at the end.

After looking at the antelope, and seeing him dressed and quartered, the boys tried to break into one of the ant-hills, in order to examine the interior. They found it nearly as hard as stone, and as they had brought no pickaxes or other digging tools from the steamer they soon abandoned the effort. Abdul said they would find the inside full of passages, leading to a chamber in the centre, where the ants made their home during the season of floods. The ants are divided into workers, soldiers, and idlers, and thus Frank thought they evinced an affinity with the human race. Doctor Bronson told him the workers were much more numerous than the soldiers; the latter were five or six times as large as the workers, and had powerful jaws, with which they could bite severely.

Fred asked if these ants were "slave-makers." He had read of slave-making ants, and thought, naturally enough, that in the land of the human slave-hunter and slave-owner the ants might follow the example of their betters.

"These are not the slave-makers," was the reply, "or at any rate it has not been clearly demonstrated that they indulge in the practice of maintaining involuntary servants. The one known as a slave-maker is a red ant, somewhat smaller than the one before us. His habits have been studied, so that there is no doubt of his slave-holding propensities.

A SLAVE-MAKING ANT, MAGNIFIED.

"These red ants go out in large numbers and make war upon a species of black ant that lives in the same region with themselves. When they have conquered the settlement they invade the nest of their victims and carry away the eggs or cocoons containing the undeveloped young; these they transport to their own nest, and they also take along a sufficient number of the black ants to take care of the young as they are hatched. It is exactly the same as if a party of slave-hunters should invade a negro village and carry off all the infants they could find, together with enough of the negro women to feed and care for the young prisoners. The captive ants hatched in the nest become slaves as soon as they are large enough to work, and whether the old ones are retained when the children no longer require their attention has not been ascertained."

"What a curious piece of information!" exclaimed one of the boys. "It sounds like a fiction, but I suppose the naturalists have removed all doubts concerning it."

"Yes," answered Doctor Bronson; "you can read of it in any work on natural history where the habits of ants are set forth."

By the time they reached the boat she was ready to move on, and in a little while the scene of the antelope hunt was left behind.

In this part of the Nile few sailing or other boats were seen. Occasionally the natives were on the water with their canoes or their rafts of reeds, such as we have already seen, but they almost invariably propelled these diminutive craft by means of oars. Once in a while the boat of a trader from Khartoum was passed, and in one place a dozen or more of these craft were assembled in front of a native village. Abdul said they were probably waiting the arrival of a convoy of ivory from the interior, and it might be they were taking in a few slaves, in addition to the other products of the country.

But though there was a scarcity of boats and other signs of commerce there was no lack of animal life. Frank was looking out from the deck of the steamer as it turned a bend in the river; suddenly he saw a large animal not twenty yards away, standing where it had apparently been drinking, at the edge of the river. As it caught sight of the boat it sprung up the bank and disappeared in the thicket, giving vent to an angry roar as it moved away.

"That was a lion," said Abdul, who happened to be looking in the same direction, "and you will see more of his race as we proceed. Lions are quite numerous in this part of the country, and in fact all over Africa, and if you want to hunt them you can easily do so. And there are leopards and other carnivorous animals here," he continued, "and several varieties of serpents."

Fred asked if they were in the region of the huge pythons, that were said to be large enough to swallow a man.

"We are not quite far enough for that," was the reply, "but you might see some very good ones here if you went to the snaky localities. Serpents ten or fifteen feet long exist here, but you must go nearer the equator to find them of twenty feet.

"The natives say that a man should always cross his legs like a figure four when he goes to sleep at night, otherwise he is liable to be swallowed by a python. He is said to do his work so quietly that he does not wake his victim, and can only be foiled in his attempt when the man crosses his legs as I have described, and prevents both feet being taken in at once."

"If you want a good story of an adventure with a snake," said Frank, "let me tell you of Colonel Long's experience as he narrates it."

Fred agreed to be a good listener, and so Frank settled into his chair and began the thrilling tale:

COLONEL LONG'S GREAT SNAKE.

"Colonel Long says he was one day seated in his camp at Foueira, near the borders of the Albert N'yanzi, when he saw several men approaching with what he at first supposed was the trunk of a tree. It proved to be a large boa-constrictor, or python, which had just been killed close to the hut where he slept at night. It measured thirty feet in length, and in diameter was the size of a child. One of his men had said that a huge snake came every night to suck the cows in the camp; but the colonel had taken the narrative as an apocryphal 'snake-story' and given it no attention. The night before, his men were seated around the fire in the hut next his own, and suddenly fled in terror at the sight of an enormous head looking at them from an opening in the wall of the hut, and at the same time countless small serpents were gliding at their feet.

"The cause was now apparent, the colonel says: the boa had laid its eggs on the outer wall of the hut, where they were hatched by the heat of the atmosphere, and the mother had come there to meet them at the time of their hatching. A strict and somewhat nervous watch was kept through the night, but without any result. The next morning the snake was intercepted while looking for its young, and despatched with several charges of shot in its head and body. Colonel Long says that after that incident he went to bed every night with the thought of the possibility of being strangled in his sleep by one of these horrible visitors. Luckily for him, and for us, there was no intimate friend of her snakeship to pay him a call and seek revenge for her death."

Fred asked if the bite of the python was poisonous. Doctor Bronson explained that the python belonged to the family of constrictors, like the black snake of New England, and its bite was harmless. "It seizes its prey with its mouth," said the Doctor, "but only for the purpose of holding it. At the same instant it throws its folds about its victim and crushes it with the immense power of its constricting muscles. Next it proceeds to cover it with saliva, and then begins the process of swallowing, which may occupy several hours.

"The swallowing is done by the contraction of the muscles of the head and neck, aided by the teeth, which hook backward, so that when anything has once entered it cannot be withdrawn. If a serpent of this species begins to swallow anything that cannot be carried down it will choke to death, and skeletons of pythons have been found with the skeletons of deer, goats, buffalo, or other horned animals, in their jaws. The horns had caused them to stick on the way, and as the snake could not let go for a fresh hold he perished by strangulation, as a punishment for his imprudence.

"Do not confound the python with the anaconda," said the Doctor, in an explanatory tone. "The python belongs to the Old World, and the anaconda to the New; the latter is found in Central and South America, in the region of the tropics, while the former inhabits Africa and Asia. The name 'boa' belongs to the entire family; but some of the naturalists say it does not properly include the anaconda, which is amphibious in its character, while the boa is not. However, that is a point so fine that it is hardly worth our discussion, and we are not likely to become so intimate with the snakes as to pass an opinion upon it."

PYTHON SEIZING ITS PREY.

[CHAPTER VIII.]

THE DINKAS AND BARIS.—GONDOKORO.—ANNEXATION TO EGYPT.

The day after the incident of the lion Frank was looking over the country with his glasses, and discovered what he supposed to be a cluster of ant-hills of a new kind. Scanning them closely for some minutes, he finally determined that they were not ant-hills, but the huts of a village. Being somewhat uncertain on this point, he appealed to the Doctor.

"You are right," was the reply, "they are the huts of a native village."

SECTIONAL VIEW OF DINKA HUT.

"But they are different in shape from the Shillook huts we have been seeing as we ascended the river."

"Yes, they are different in shape, and they belong to another tribe of negroes. We are now in the country of the Dinkas, of whom we have already spoken.

"The Dinkas are mainly on the east bank of the Nile, and their possessions extend quite a distance into the interior. The actual area of their country is unknown, as it has never been surveyed, and only a few travellers have explored it. The Dinkas are taller and finer in appearance than the Shillooks, and are a brave, hardy people. Their faces are more intelligent than those of the Shillooks, and altogether they are superior to their neighbors. Like the Shillooks, they are fond of veneering their skins with ashes, which gives them a brownish hue, and the favorite bed of the Dinka is a pile of ashes, with a stick of wood at one end, on which his neck can rest. When the ashes are washed away their skins are of inky blackness, and the Dinka may be fairly set down as one of the darkest of his dark race."

Fred wished to know how they lived.

"As to that," replied Doctor Bronson, "their ways of life are not much unlike those of the Shillooks, except that they are more peaceful. They have large herds of cattle, and are eminently a pastoral people. They cultivate the soil to quite an extent, and they move their villages occasionally in search of pasturage for their herds.... There: observe the bank of the river with your glass and you will see one of their herds, which is evidently coming down to allow the cattle to drink."

HEAD OF A DINKA BULL.

Frank looked to where a dark spot seemed moving over the plain. As soon as he had adjusted his glasses he descried the drove that the Doctor had pointed out.

There were hundreds of cattle in the herd, which moved at a dignified pace, under the control of two or three dozen men, who were clothed only in long lances, if a lance may be called an article of wearing apparel. Frank remarked the nakedness of the Dinkas, and the Doctor informed him that among this people the wearing of clothing is considered effeminate, and only the women are dressed with anything more than oil and ashes. The Dinkas call the Nubians "women," because they wear clothing, although it is not much, and a true Dinka would allow himself to be frozen to death rather than put on a garment to keep his body comfortable. "But they do not consider it effeminate," continued the Doctor, "to seek the shelter of their huts when the cold wind blows, and in this way they get along without much suffering."

Abdul had been among the Dinkas, and said their herds of cattle would astonish the boys if they could see them. "Why," said he, "I have seen many a herd of ten thousand animals, and one of two thousand is considered small. They have large yards, or corrals, where the beasts are driven at night, to prevent their straying, and also to protect them from the attacks of wild beasts. The cattle are much like those you saw in the neighborhood of Khartoum. They live entirely on the wild grass, and in dry seasons are apt to suffer from scanty pasturage.

A DINKA CATTLE-YARD.

"A cattle-yard among the Dinkas, when the herds are driven in for the night, is an interesting and also a noisy spot. Each animal has his place, where he is tied to a strong peg driven into the ground; and the herdsmen have the same trouble as herdsmen everywhere else in managing the refractory portion of the drove. Once in a while a man is trampled under their feet or gored by their horns. The absence of clothing is in favor of these cattle-drivers, as they are able to get around with more agility than if they were encumbered with garments. The cows are milked only once a day, and their yield is surprisingly small.

A SHEEP WITHOUT WOOL.

"In addition to their horned cattle the Dinkas have great numbers of sheep and goats. But, unlike the sheep of Northern climes, they do not have any wool."

"Why should they," said Fred, "when they live in a country where they don't need it? Nature adapts herself to the conditions of the climate."

"If that is the fact," retorted Frank, "Nature has not been true to herself in some cases that I could mention. For instance, she ought to have given the natives of London, where it rains so much, a cuticle like a rubber overcoat; and if she had skinned them with regular Goodyear or Macintosh garments, pockets and all, she would have done a good thing."

"Quite right," replied his cousin; "and while she was about it she might have given the New Yorker a double covering of mosquito-netting and buffalo robes, so that he could provide for his tropical summers and his arctic winters. When you talk about the rain of England you may offset it against the terrible variations of the thermometer in New York."

"But about the Dinka sheep," said Abdul. "They have a sort of shaggy mane on the neck and shoulders, but the hair on the rest of the body, including the tail, is quite short. This style of covering makes them look like small buffaloes, and when you see one you almost require to be told that you are looking at a sheep, and not at some other animal. Their color is white or a dirty brown, and sometimes they are spotted or 'brindled.' The goats are not unlike the goats of other countries, but they grow quite large, and are usually very thin in flesh.

"It is a curious circumstance that the Dinkas do not slaughter their cattle, but have no scruple about eating beef when the animal is killed by accident or is the property of somebody else. They reckon their possessions in cattle, just as we do in money, and a man who has no horned property is indeed poor. Neither do they kill their sheep, and the goat is the only domestic animal that they slaughter for food. In their currency one cow equals thirty goats. Goats take care of themselves, and require very little attention, but the cattle must be herded and watched. Wild beasts occasionally carry off their goats, but the loss is so slight that it is not heeded.

A DINKA VILLAGE NEAR THE WHITE NILE.

"Their huts are made of thatched grass, and larger than those of the Shillooks. The people take considerable pains to keep their dwellings clean, and in this respect are rather better than the majority of the natives of Africa."

Frank thought their habit of sleeping in ashes was not an agreeable one. Abdul said the practice had at least one merit, as it drove away a good many insects that make sleeping disagreeable on many parts of African soil. "I have suffered less from fleas and other small game in the Dinkas' huts," said he, "than among the Shillooks or the other tribes that I have seen. They are a hospitable race, and their cooking is not to be despised. They live on the flesh of goats and on fish caught from the river, and they make several nice dishes of milk and farinaceous products. Their manners at table are as polite as in Europe, and their way of eating is more like yours than that of the Arabs."

"Do they have cups and saucers, plates, knives and forks, and other table things, as we do?" one of the youths asked.

"Not by any means," was the reply, "as they have few manufactures, and their dishes are principally gourds and shells. This is the way they eat at their meals:

"A large dish of cooked farina is placed on the ground, and the party sits down around it, each one having a gourd-shell full of milk or butter. When all is ready, the oldest person or the one highest in rank pours some of his milk on the farina; then with a spoon he eats as much as he likes, and passes the dish to the next. The first pours his milk only on the part he touches, and the second follows his example, and thus they take their turns till all are supplied. I think you will agree that this is a much neater way than that of the Arabs, who all sit around and thrust their fingers into the same dish, even though they are scrupulously careful to wash their hands before and after, and also several times during the meal."

"I remember reading in Dr. Schweinfurth's book," said Frank, "that he often entertained Dinka ladies of rank in his tent, and was surprised at the way they fell into European manners. He used to serve them with his foreign dishes, and they sat on his chairs; they handled his forks and spoons as though accustomed to them all their lives, and carefully washed everything when through with it and put it in its proper place."

With the study of the curious people through whose country they were passing, with frequent sights of crocodiles and river-horses, occasional shots at cranes and other birds, and a goodly amount of sleep whenever the mosquitoes would permit, the youths did not find the time hanging heavy on their hands. Finally, one afternoon they were told that Gondokoro was in sight, and their steamboat voyage was about to end.

The arrival at Gondokoro was a grateful relief from the marshes and lowlands through which our friends had travelled for nearly a thousand miles. As they approached this point they saw mountains in the distance, and found the little settlement on a bluff, or high bank, ten or twelve feet above the river. Frank hoped they had said farewell to the swarms of mosquitoes that had been pestering them for many days, but the Doctor brought him no grain of comfort in replying that the mosquito had the whole of Africa for his domain, and they could only be rid of his presence by leaving the country.

Frank asked for the history of Gondokoro, and received the following information, which he duly recorded in his note-book:

"Gondokoro is in the territory of the Bari negroes, and on the right bank of the White Nile; it is in latitude 4° 54' north and longitude 31° 46' east, and in a hot and unhealthy country. It was formerly a station of the ivory traders, and was occupied only two months in the year, during their annual visits to the Upper Nile valley. The tropical rains last about three-fourths of the year, and render the air very moist and the vegetation vigorous. The grass is so luxuriant that the buffaloes are concealed by it, and the reeds on the banks of the lagoons near the river grow to a height of twenty-five or thirty feet.

"It was formerly an important depot of the slave-traders, and when Baker Pacha came up the Nile to abolish their traffic he took possession of Gondokoro in the name of the Khedive, and annexed the country to Egypt."

"Yes," said Abdul, to whom Frank read the notes he had made, "the ceremony of annexation was very interesting.

"Baker had decided to change the name of the place to Ismailia, in honor of the Khedive, and the ceremony was fixed for the morning of May 26, 1871. A tall flag-staff had been erected for supporting the Egyptian colors on the highest point of land overlooking the river, and all the trees and bushes were cleared away, so that the ground was as smooth as a lawn.

"The troops, to the number of twelve hundred, marched from their quarters at six in the morning and formed a square near the flag-staff, one side consisting of a battery of ten guns, ready to fire a salute.

CEREMONY AT GONDOKORO ON ITS ANNEXATION TO EGYPT.

"When all was ready the official proclamation announcing the annexation of the country to the Khedive's dominions was read at the foot of the staff, and as the last sentence was uttered, the flag was run to the top of the pole and immediately fluttered in the breeze. The officers waved their swords, the soldiers presented arms, and the battery fired a royal salute. The natives had been invited to witness the ceremony, and they came in large numbers. When the artillery was fired they were greatly astonished, as few of them had ever heard anything of the kind before, and their surprise was increased when the troops indulged in a sham battle, during which they fired about ten thousand rounds of blank cartridges. They were not at all friendly to the annexation, as they had been persuaded by the slave-traders that the movement was intended for their oppression, and they would all be carried into captivity."

Frank continued his notes on the history of the place:

AUSTRIAN MISSION-HOUSE AT GONDOKORO.

"The Austrian government established a mission at Gondokoro in 1853, and built a church of bricks which were made of the clay found in the neighborhood. The mission was discontinued in 1858, and of twenty missionaries that went there to preach the Gospel to the natives thirteen died of fever, two of other diseases, and two others went away with their health so broken down that they died soon after reaching Khartoum. The natives tore down the mission church and pounded the bricks into dust, which they mixed with oil; they anointed their bodies with the paste, which they pronounced an excellent substitute for red paint. All missionary efforts were abandoned, to the great delight of the slave-traders, who had found them interfering with their business.

"From that time down to the arrival of Baker, in 1871, the town resumed its former condition and appearance, as a station of the ivory-merchants and slave-traders. There was no law in Gondokoro, and very little order, and if anybody chose to commit a crime there was hardly a probability that he would be punished for it. Everybody who went there for any purpose other than trading was regarded as a nuisance, and the merchants were not slow to excite the natives against him.

VIEW OF GONDOKORO, FROM THE RIVER.

"Baker erected a line of earthworks for the defence of the place, and built warehouses for keeping his goods and military stores. After his departure some of the buildings erected by him were pulled down, and the material became scattered and lost. The military station was made on the bank of a small stream which enters the Nile at this point, but it is too shallow to admit steamers and sail-boats, which are consequently moored to the bank of the river."

COLONEL ABD-EL-KADER.

Our friends were cordially received by the commandant of the post, Colonel Abd-el-Kader, who had served with Baker in the famous expedition, and was highly complimented by that gentleman for his zeal and efficiency. The colonel invited them to his quarters, and as soon as the greetings were over he assigned them a place where their tents could be erected. The youths were not at all sorry to exchange their quarters on the steamer for their canvas houses, whose qualities they had tested in the journey from Korosko to Berber. Frank declared he was rapidly becoming an Arab, and thought it not at all improbable that he would prefer a tent to a substantial dwelling-place for the rest of his life. Fred said he would wait a while before declaring himself, as he was a long way from renouncing the comforts of a home in New York or any other civilized city.

"Be careful about one thing," said the colonel as they left his quarters; "remember you are now in the country of the white ants, and they will eat anything except iron. They have even been known to gnaw holes in a stove-pipe, if some of my officers tell the truth, and it is currently reported that they have ruined our best grindstone. Everything not enclosed in tin or something stronger is subject to their teeth, and you must be constantly on the lookout for them."

The boys promised to be careful, and as they watched the landing of their stores they gave directions to Abdul, forgetting that he had been in the country before and knew all about it. The goods were properly stowed, those not enclosed in tin cases being hoisted on posts, to hold them clear from the ground, and the feet of the posts placed in pots of water. At night when the boys retired they were obliged to be careful of all their garments and hoist them out of reach. Of course it happened that the second night one of them forgot the necessary precaution, and left his boots on the floor of the tent. In the morning he found they had been riddled by the ants and were no longer water-proof, and their usefulness as coverings for the feet had passed away. He was more careful in future, and learned to appreciate the ants at their true value as destroyers.

Almost everything except metals yields to the teeth of these insects. Ordinary timber, carefully dried and painted, is attacked by them, and it was not unusual to find them devouring the gun-stocks of the soldiers or the wood-work of machinery and implements of daily use. One of the officers found his sword-belt had been eaten on a hook where he hung it during the night, and there was hardly a garment belonging to the men of the garrison that had not suffered in some way from the pests. Fred recalled some familiar words of 'Pinafore' relative to sisters, cousins, and aunts, and wondered if the author had the ants of the Soudan in mind when he penned the now antiquated lines.

The youths were interested in studying the natives of the country around Gondokoro, and the information they obtained was carefully recorded in their journals. We are permitted to make the following extracts, which will save us the trouble of referring to the explorers of Africa who have written about these savages:

"Gondokoro is in the country of the Baris, a race of negroes somewhat resembling the other tribes of the Nile, but differing from them in language and customs. They have large herds of cattle, like their neighbors the Dinkas, and, like them, they till the soil to some extent, though the raising of cattle is their chief occupation. Doctor Bronson says they raise a good deal of mischief as well as cattle, and have given no end of trouble to travellers and to the military expeditions that have been sent among them. The Austrian missionaries were unable to do anything with them, and their labors of several years among the Baris and the sacrifice of valuable lives did not make a single earnest convert to Christianity.

BARIS STEALING CATTLE FROM THE GARRISON AT GONDOKORO.

"They occupy a territory about ninety miles long by seventy wide, its greatest extent being from north to south. They have no king or any other person whom they recognize as a ruler. The country is divided into districts, and each district has a chief, who does not acknowledge the authority of any other. The result is they have occasional wars among themselves, but these troubles do not last long. They are implacable enemies, and famous for their treachery, and they look upon every stranger as a spy or intriguer. They have suffered considerably from the raids of the slave-traders, who plundered their villages and carried the prisoners into captivity; but when Baker Pacha came among them, with the avowed object of suppressing the slave-trade, they were hostile to him, and remained so till after his departure. They stole his cattle, attacked his camp, killed his soldiers, and did everything in their power to drive him from the country and stop the work for which he went among them.

"The country of the Baris is a fine region for grazing, and admirably adapted to the support of their herds of cattle. It is diversified with park-like stretches of grass-lands, interspersed with extensive forests of the finest timber, and occasionally rises into mountain-ranges two or three thousand feet high. Rivers rise among these mountains and flow to the Nile, and they are sufficiently numerous to give the country a good supply of water, except in the season of drought.

"Most of the soil is fertile, and produces abundantly when tilled. The mountains contain iron ore of excellent quality, which the natives reduce and work into weapons and other things. They have very skilful blacksmiths, and some of the products of their skill would be no discredit to the best workmen of an English or American shop. We have seen spear-heads, knives, arrow-points, and similar things from their hands, and they were fashioned as perfectly as though turned in a lathe or stamped by a machine.

BARI ARROWS AND ELEPHANT-SPEAR.

"Some of the arrow-points have barbs below the head, so that the weapon when driven into the flesh of an animal will have no chance of being drawn out, and there are several forms of these arrows. Then they have elephant-spears weighted with a ball of iron, so that a hunter may drop them from a tree upon the unsuspecting animal that passes beneath him. They have learned the process of hardening their iron, though they have not yet discovered how to convert it into steel. It is certainly good enough for all their uses, and the supply is inexhaustible."

"Since writing the above we have been to a Bari village about five miles from Gondokoro, and had the opportunity of inspecting their dwellings. The village consists of conical huts, which resemble those of the Dinkas in outward appearance; the inside is different, as it has an inner circle, with a low opening. We had to crawl on our knees to enter one of the huts, as the door was only two feet high. When we got through we stood up, but had to stoop again to get to the inner circle, which has an opening no higher than the door.

"Contrary to our expectation we found the inside of the huts perfectly clean, and we voted unanimously that the Bari women are good house-keepers, for they do all the work about the dwellings. The walls are of wattles, or reeds, and small withes woven together. The outside of the hut is thatched with grass, and the inside is plastered with cement made from the clay of the ant-hills mixed with ashes, and worked into a paste with water. Outside of the hut there is a little court-yard, with a fence around it, and paved with the same kind of cement that we saw on the walls. This yard is carefully swept every morning, and no dirt is allowed to gather there in the course of the day.

"Most of the huts had granaries near them, and we were told that some of the villages had large granaries in common. The granaries are made of wicker-work, plastered with cement, and standing on posts of stone or cement, so that they cannot be damaged by the white ants.

"Every village has a large zeriba, or cattle-yard, where their herds are driven at night for safety. The one we saw was made of posts of a very hard wood, much like ebony, and one of the very few woods that the white ants will not devour. The posts were six or eight inches in diameter, and sunk into the ground, so as to form a stockade about eight feet high. The spaces between the posts were interlaced with thorny bushes, and would form an admirable defence against an enemy armed with Bari weapons.

"Near the house of the sheik or chief we passed an open shed, near which a drum was suspended. Abdul said the drum belonged to the sheik, and no one is allowed to touch it except by his orders. It was shaped somewhat like an egg with a slice cut off from one end, and was evidently hollowed from a log of wood.

"Abdul explained that the Baris place great reliance on their drums, and have a system of signals for them, so that information can be readily conveyed. One kind of beat calls the fighting-men together for war, another summons them to a council, and another tells them to go in a certain direction to meet an enemy. The signal for war is sounded from one village to another, so that the whole country can be under arms in a very short time. It is not unlike a telegraph in its operations, and may be very well compared to the bugle and drum calls in a civilized army.

"Every morning the drum is beaten to give the signal for milking the cows, and when the work is done another signal sends the herds to pasture. A similar call is given for bringing them in at night, and it is said that the cattle know the different sounds of the drum just as well as their masters do.

"The dress of the Bari men is much like that of the Dinkas—a veneering of ashes, and a spear or lance. The women wear aprons of leather, but the men go quite naked, and consider clothing a mark of effeminacy. One reason of their disrespect for Europeans is the fact that the latter wear clothing, and they invariably speak of the Egyptian officers as 'Turkish ladies,' because they are clothed from head to foot."

AFRICAN DRUMS.

[CHAPTER IX.]

AN ELEPHANT HUNT.—MARCHING SOUTHWARD FROM GONDOKORO.

There was enough to do and see at Gondokoro and in the neighborhood to occupy several days, but our friends were not the less mindful of the necessity for departure. Doctor Bronson consulted Colonel Abd-el-Kader on the subject, and was soon able to lay before the youths a satisfactory plan for their future movements.

"Above here," said the Doctor, "we cannot go with the steamer, on account of the rapids in the river, that render it impassable for any but the smallest boats. The Nile becomes narrower, and the hills close in upon it so that it does not at all resemble the Nile of Lower Egypt and Nubia. It has the characteristics of a river flowing among mountains, and in the places where the fall is insufficient to create a rapid or cataract the stream is anything but a sluggish one.

THE NILE BELOW AFUDDO.

"The rapids occur at intervals for a distance of about a hundred and twenty miles above Gondokoro by land, and perhaps a hundred and fifty by the course of the stream. Then we come to a place known as Afuddo by the natives, and also by geographers, though the latter generally speak of it as 'Miani's Tree.'"

"Why does it have the latter name?" one of the youths asked.

"Because," was the reply, "it was the point reached by Miani, an Italian traveller, who explored this part of Central Africa, and was driven back by the natives through the intrigues of the slave-traders. He returned despondent to Khartoum, and subsequently undertook an exploration of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where he died. It is a great misfortune that he perished before the history of his explorations had been given to the world, as he had visited regions hitherto unexplored by any traveller.

A NYAM-NYAM GIRL.

"Miani penetrated the country of the Nyam-Nyam dwarfs, and brought away two specimens of that curious race. I happened to be in Cairo at the time of their arrival. They were sent there after Miani's death, and were subsequently forwarded by the Khedive, Ismail, to the King of Italy, the sovereign of the dead explorer. They were perfectly-formed and adult men, but little more than four feet in height. A Dinka negro who accompanied them said he had been in the country of the dwarfs, and very few of the inhabitants were taller than the ones we were examining.[4]

"Above Afuddo, or Miani's Tree," said the Doctor, "the rapids come to an end, and the Nile is navigable to its exit from the Albert N'yanza. There is one place in the rapids where the river is narrowed to a hundred yards, and the water dashes along so furiously as to threaten destruction to any craft that ventures upon it. At certain stages of the river boats may pass with the current, but it is quite impossible to make headway against it.

ENTRANCE OF THE LAKE.

"The point where the Nile becomes navigable again is in latitude 3° 32' north, near the mouth of the Asua River. It is less than a hundred miles from there to the lake, and the river flows through a beautiful and populous country.

"Suppose the Soudan railway was finished, and in operation from Wady Halfa to Khartoum, see how easily we could open navigation into the heart of Africa," said the Doctor, rising as he spoke, and pointing toward the south.

NYAM-NYAM WARRIORS.

"From Khartoum to Gondokoro the Nile is navigable, as we have just demonstrated by making the journey on a steamboat. A railway of a hundred and twenty miles, from Gondokoro to Afuddo, would bring us to the point where the Nile is navigable to the Albert N'yanza, and another railway, of less than a hundred miles, would connect the Victoria N'yanza with the Albert N'panza. Thus the interior of Africa could be opened up to travel and commerce by steam by the construction of two hundred and odd miles of railway, in addition to the Soudan line.

"But we haven't the railway along with us at present," he remarked as he resumed his chair, "and must put up with the means at our command. They are primitive in their character, but others have managed with them, and so can we."

Frank asked how their baggage would be carried from Gondokoro, as they would not be able to follow the river, on account of the rapids.

"We must have it carried by men," the Doctor answered, "and here will begin our experience with African porters."

"They have camels and elephants in abundance in Africa," said Fred, "and it seems strange that they rely upon human muscle for transporting their burdens. When camels are so abundant lower down I wonder they don't have them here; besides, we are in the land where the elephant runs wild in the woods, and is never domesticated, as he is in Asia. Is there any reason why they shouldn't use him?"

"The African elephant is much fiercer than the Asiatic," was the reply, "but there is no good reason why he should not be tamed and used like his brother in Hindostan. African elephants were domesticated in ancient times, and even in the present century they have taken kindly to captivity. The famous 'Jumbo,' which has been the delight of children in England and America, is an African elephant, and he was captured when very young. You can readily know an African elephant from an Asiatic one by his ears; they are at least three times as large, and the lower point reaches to his leg. On a large elephant of the African variety the ear will be five feet long by four in width. In South Africa it is sometimes used as a sledge, and serves its purpose admirably."

ELEPHANT COMING TO DRINK.

The conversation was interrupted by Abdul, who came to announce a herd of elephants coming down to the river, a little above the town. They had evidently been disturbed by the natives, and were endeavoring to find a place of safety.

Doctor Bronson seized his elephant rifle, which had only been unpacked the day before, and started without a moment's delay. Abdul followed with the ammunition-case, and the two boys accompanied the Doctor.

Outside the camp they were passed by Colonel Abd-el-Kader on horseback, on his way to take a shot at the huge game. The colonel dashed on ahead of them, and was at the bank of the river when they were little more than half the distance.

The soldiers came running from the camp, and the elephants took the alarm and tried to turn on their tracks; but they found themselves surrounded and their retreat cut off. Their only way of escape was by swimming the river to an island about a hundred and forty yards away. They were all fine old elephants, and each one a "tusker," so that they would be valuable prizes to their captors.

Following their leader, they dashed into the water before either of the hunters was within shooting distance. The colonel dismounted from his horse just as the last of the herd entered the river. The elephant swims so low that no vulnerable part of him is exposed, and therefore the hunters could only stand and wait till the frightened animals had reached the opposite bank.

ELEPHANTS HUNTED IN THE WATER.

Fortune was against the elephants, as the bank was so steep that they could not climb it, but were obliged to break it away by digging with their tusks and feet. They are accustomed to this sort of thing, and in a little while had broken away great masses of the earth and formed a sloping ascent up which they could climb. The delay gave the colonel and Doctor Bronson a chance to get their weapons in readiness, and as the first of the elephants emerged from the river the colonel took a shot at him.

The bullet took effect in the animal's head, causing him to turn partly around and expose his side to the Doctor. The latter took instant advantage of the position and fired. The elephant fell into the water and floated down the stream.

The second elephant that climbed the bank was served in the same way, but it took five bullets to bring him down instead of two. The distance was too far for good work, and the third elephant escaped without serious injury, as he did not present a good mark. The colonel's rifle became unserviceable on account of the sticking of a cartridge; the Doctor found his shoulder considerably bruised by the recoil, and concluded that two elephants were quite enough for one morning's work. However, he tried another shot at the third elephant, and by this time the herd had broken the bank sufficiently to allow them to mount the land and make their best paces for the woods.

Frank asked the Doctor why he did not keep on firing till the last of the herd had gone.

"Well," replied that gentleman, "an elephant rifle is no toy to handle, and two or three shots in rapid succession are about as much as one desires. Sir Samuel Baker had a similar experience with a herd of elephants, and was quite satisfied with a couple of prizes. He says that his rifle was sure to kill an elephant when fired at short range, and half kill the man that held it. Once his rifle was thrown out of his hands a distance of several yards by the force of the recoil, and an Arab hunter who tried to use it had his collar-bone broken by the blow."

The attention of the party was now turned to securing the carcasses of the slaughtered elephants. They were floating down the stream with the current, and men were sent with ropes and boats to bring them to land. This was not a work of great difficulty, though it required much expenditure of muscle, as the bodies were large and unwieldy. The body of the elephant floats on the water, while that of the hippopotamus sinks as soon as it is killed; but it rises again in a few hours, when the gases within have distended the stomach.

Crowds of natives had flocked to the river and witnessed the slaughter, and they lent ready hands to the soldiers to secure the prizes. They are very fond of the flesh of the elephant, and the work of the morning gave them sure promise of an abundant feast.

"We will have an African dinner such as you have never tasted," the Doctor remarked as they returned from the hunt.

"What is that?" one of the youths asked.

"We will have an elephant's foot roasted, à la Afrique." was the reply. "As soon as the cook is ready you may see how it is prepared."

The tusks of the elephants were secured, and also the feet. Colonel Abd-el-Kader offered two of the tusks to Doctor Bronson as his share of the proceeds of the chase, but the latter politely declined them, and said he and the boys would be content with three of the smaller teeth, which they could keep as souvenirs. The soldiers took as much of the red flesh of the animals as they desired for their cooking-pots, and then left the rest for the natives. The colonel took one of the feet, the Doctor another, and the others were given to the officers of the garrison. The Doctor explained to the boys that the foot of the elephant is considered the finest part of the animal, and regarded as a great delicacy by all African epicures.

The boys went with Abdul to witness the preparations for cooking their dinner. Herewith we give the account which Frank made of the performance:

"A hole was dug about three feet deep; over this they kindled a fire of reeds and bushes, and kept it burning at a great rate for two hours or more. By this time the hole was full of hot ashes and embers, and the ground around it was heated to a high degree. Then the foot of the elephant was thrown into the hole and some of the ashes were raked over it; another fire was kindled above it, and was kept up for two or three hours longer.

"All through the afternoon there was a mass of hot embers and ashes around and over that elephant's foot, which did as good work as the best oven ever invented. Dinner was served about five o'clock, and came smoking hot to the table. The coals and ashes were raked away, and the new style of roast joint was found to be cooked to perfection. The skin was removed by chopping with a hatchet, and revealed something resembling the interior of a game-pie, but not so dark in color. The muscles of the foot had a gelatinous character, and the action of the heat had cooked them to a condition of tenderness which made them very toothsome.

"There is no civilized dish to which we can compare it, and therefore we must adopt Fred's suggestion, to let the elephant's foot stand alone. We had some doubts at first, but have none at present; our appetites are appeased, and when we next secure an elephant in our hunting excursions we shall dine on his feet."

Over the dinner-table the consideration of the route to the south was resumed.

"The colonel tells me," said Doctor Bronson, "that a detachment of soldiers is about to leave Gondokoro for Foueira, on the banks of the Victoria Nile. We can go with it to that point, or we can stop at Afuddo, where there is a station, garrisoned by a company of soldiers, under command of a captain. You remember that when Baker Pacha came with his expedition he brought a steamer in sections, which he intended for the navigation of the Albert N'yanza.

"Owing to the impossibility of securing the necessary carriers Baker was unable to transport his steamer to Afuddo, and returned without accomplishing this part of his mission. But his successor, Colonel Gordon (Gordon Pacha), had better luck, and early in 1876 the steamer and two iron life-boats were launched on the waters of the White Nile above the last rapids. On the 8th of March of that year Mr. Gessi, one of Gordon's officers, started with the steamer and the two iron boats and ascended to the lake.

"The boat was named the Khedive, in honor of the ruler of Egypt. It was a craft of one hundred and eight tons and twenty horse power, and will ever be memorable as the first steam-propelled vessel on the lakes of Central Africa.

"With these boats Mr. Gessi explored the lake, which he reported about one hundred and forty miles long by fifty in width, containing numerous islands, and bounded by magnificent forests. It is shallow on the southern shore, where the country is flat, but on the west the land is mountainous and the water deep. The little fleet went to Magungo, on the eastern shore, where the Victoria Nile empties into the lake, twenty-two miles below Murchison Falls. Afterward the steamer ascended the river to the foot of the falls, finding plenty of water and easy navigation. The flag of Egypt was hoisted at Magungo, and the country was occupied in the name of the Khedive.

THE NAVIGABLE NILE ABOVE THE LAST CATARACTS.

"Now," the Doctor continued, "the fleet of Mr. Gessi is at the mouth of the Asua River, or rather at Afuddo, and the colonel says it is at our service, provided we pay the expenses of running the steamer. We can go with the detachment of troops that I have mentioned, and they will be necessary to protect us through the hostile country which lies between Gondokoro and Afuddo. But at that place we will not need its care any longer, as the natives are friendly, though it will be well for us to retain a small escort, to guard against accidents. He will arrange for the escort, and there is no doubt that the captain of the post at Afuddo will give us all the aid we need.

"There is one disadvantage in going with the detachment instead of venturing out alone: carriers are not easily procured in large numbers. We shall want at least a hundred for ourselves and our baggage, while the detachment of soldiers will need at least twice that number. Three hundred men are not always to be had by calling for them, while a single hundred might be easily procured. I told you before we left Cairo that the carrier question was the most troublesome one for an African explorer, and you must make your minds up to be patient and submit cheerfully to delays, if they must and will come."

Both the youths agreed that they would emulate the example of Job and refrain from grumbling, however great the provocation. With this understanding the party broke up, and its members were soon in bed. It was the fashion to retire early in Gondokoro, so as to be up with the first blush of morning and enjoy the cool hours of the day.

The colonel sent out men to hire carriers, but there were few to be had. It looked as though the travellers might be indefinitely delayed at the outset; and just as they were beginning to feel uneasy a caravan arrived from Foueira, with four hundred porters, bringing loads of ivory and other interior products.

Here was a piece of good-fortune! The porters were not wanted any longer by their employers, and it took only a short time to arrange for them to carry the baggage of the entire party to Afuddo and Foueira, after they had been allowed a couple of days to be paid off and to rest from their fatigues. The time was spent in getting the loads in readiness, and on the morning of the third day the long and mixed procession started on its way.

SADDLE-DONKEYS.

About half the soldiers were in advance, and the rest brought up the rear. Between them, and stretching over a long distance, was the line of porters with their loads, the commander of the detachment on horseback, and our three friends similarly mounted. The three horses had been bought at a high price by the Doctor, who had also secured as many donkeys. It was decided that the latter would make acceptable mounts in case of accident to the larger animals, and in the mean time they could be ridden by Abdul and Ali, or made useful for carrying baggage.

The families of the soldiers made quite a crowd by themselves. It is the custom of the soldier in Africa to be accompanied by his wife, except on the most difficult marches; and though the European officers in the Khedive's service have protested repeatedly, they have never been able to break it up. Altogether the procession extended a mile or more, and appeared powerful enough to take care of itself against any ordinary enemy.

MARCHING THROUGH THE BARI COUNTRY.

An important part of the procession was a drove of cattle. Frank called it the purse of the expedition, as the animals were intended to be used in payment of the services of the porters, as well as for supplying beef on the road. As before stated, they are the circulating medium in certain parts of Africa, and when frightened and at full speed they circulate with great rapidity. They have the faculty of disappearing as easily as the bank-notes and coins of more civilized countries, and, like them, may be regarded as blessings that brighten as they take their flight.

The cattle gave some trouble to their drivers, and not infrequently broke up the line of march by dashing across it and scattering the travellers in all directions. The horns of the beasts were not pleasant objects to contemplate, especially at the moments when there was a prospect of being impaled on them.

The country became quite rough as the column advanced, and in a few hours after their departure from Gondokoro the travellers found themselves among mountains two or three thousand feet high. Frequently they came to ravines, and it was in these places that delays were caused by the cattle, as they could not be driven rapidly. The camp was made after a march of about ten miles. The tents were pitched under some wide-spreading trees, and Frank remarked what a pity it was the trees could not be induced to march along with them, for the grateful shelter they would afford against the heat of the sun at noon.

The natives had hovered in the vicinity of the line of march in order to secure any one of the herd of cattle that might stray from its keepers. But no such good-fortune befell them, as the herd preserved its integrity during the entire day, and was driven to the temporary zeriba for protection during the night.

According to the custom of African travellers all the baggage was piled in front of the tents of the owners, and the boxes and bales were carefully counted before the porters were dismissed. This is an important requirement, and the traveller who neglects it even for a single occasion is liable to be the victim of plunder. The boxes containing the rifles, ammunition, and the most precious articles should be housed within the tents, and only the ordinary freight left outside. Even there a guard is always placed over it, and the greatest watchfulness is constantly needed.

CAMP SCENE.

[CHAPTER X.]

A FISHING EXCURSION.—ENCOUNTERING A HIPPOPOTAMUS.—THE COUNTRY OF THE NYAM-NYAMS.

The party was awake at an early hour, and there was no rest for anybody after daylight. The camp had been made close to a small lake that was said to abound in fish. One of the soldiers was an expert fisherman, and our friends were surprised to learn that they were to have fresh fish for breakfast. Frank asked Abdul how it happened, and the dragoman proceeded to enlighten him.

ONE OF THE COOKS.

"You see," said Abdul, "that the lake where these fish were caught is the head of a small stream that runs into the Nile, and when it is full of water the fish run up from the river. They stay here and grow. Some of them are large enough when they leave the Nile, but, whether large or not, they are sure to grow bigger by staying in the lake."

Fred wished to know what kind of fish they were.

"There are several kinds," was the reply, "but the most important are the boulti and the baggera. They are a species of perch, and very fine eating. The boulti rarely weighs more than five pounds, but the baggera grows to an enormous size, and often exceeds a hundred pounds in weight. The largest I ever saw tipped the scale at a hundred and fifty-two pounds, but I have heard of their reaching two hundred and more.

THE SECOND DAY'S MARCH.

"They may properly be called fishes of the Upper Nile and its tributaries. They are found in the Lower Nile, where they are hardly fit to eat. Travellers who have tasted them at Cairo and below the first cataract pronounce them worthless, but they should come here to eat them, where the flavor is delicious. The case is the same all the world over, and a fish that is excellent in one part of a river is worthless in another."

"I can give you a good illustration of that," said the Doctor. "In Oregon the salmon ascend the Columbia River from the sea. The most of the fish continue up the Columbia, and the rest turn into the Willamette, a smaller river, on which Portland is situated. The salmon of the Columbia are considered among the finest of their species in the world, while those of the Willamette are of very poor quality. It is the same on the Colorado River: the fish of the upper part are excellent, while the same species lower down the stream are worthless.

"We have an abundance for this morning, and it is a pity we cannot keep the surplus till we want it. They preserve the boulti here by splitting it down the back, salting it a few hours, and then smoking it over a wood fire. Thus prepared it will keep good a couple of days; but if it is wanted for a long time it must be smoked and dried in the sun till it is like a piece of board."

Frank was curious to know how the fish were taken, and so it was arranged that he and Fred should accompany the fisherman on the first opportunity. It happened that very evening, as there was a lake near the second camp very much like the first.

On his return Frank told Doctor Bronson how the work was performed. "The fisherman is a Nubian," said he, "and learned his business on the Lower Nile, in his own country. He can swim like a duck, and is so black that a piece of charcoal wouldn't make a mark on him. I thought he would catch the fish with a hook, or perhaps a spear, but he didn't; he used a net, and it was a pleasure to see him throw it.

"He laid his casting-net across his arm, and waded out till the water was up to his waist: he does not seem afraid of the crocodiles, though the lake is full of them. Abdul said the man had a charm that protected him; he always wore it around his neck, and as long as it was in its place he was safe.

FISHING VILLAGE IN AN AFRICAN LAKE.

"When he reached a spot which he considered favorable he threw his net so that it described an exact circle as it struck the water. The leaden weights carried it straight to the bottom, and the fish within the circle were surrounded.

"As soon as it fell the water was agitated, showing that a good cast had been made. The man hauled away as fast as possible, so as to prevent the fish from escaping by burrowing beneath the leads. The depth of water was a little more than the height of the sides of the net, so that the floats on the top were drawn under the surface.

"There was a lively splashing as the net came in toward the shore, and it seemed as though the fish would break through and get away. They didn't do it, though, as the net was strong, and the meshes were too close to allow any but the very smallest to pass through. When the net came fairly on the sand where we were standing it was a pretty sight. There were thirty-six boulti, none of them less than a pound in weight, while nearly a third weighed over four pounds apiece.

"The catch at that one throw made a good load for two men. Another throw of the net secured a dozen fishes equal to the first, and a third throw brought nothing at all. And as we thought we had done a good piece of work we came back to camp, and did not attempt to secure any more finny game.

"On our return Abdul said they had a way of fishing in a lake near Gondokoro with some nets that were brought there by Baker Pacha. They had a stop-net to keep the fish from running into the bulrushes at the end of the lake. This stop-net was nearly five hundred feet long, and fastened to stakes set at intervals of a few yards, and the ends were brought around like the points of a bow.

"After the stop-net was set the lake was swept by a drag-net, hauled by men in two boats, one at each end. As it approached the stop-net and the ends met, the fish were imprisoned, and there was a tremendous dashing in the water. The men sometimes became as excited as the fish, though in a different way; but the most of the party had their wits about them and did not lose their heads—and the fish. As many as four hundred fishes were taken in this way at a single swoop, and some of them weighed forty or fifty pounds. These big fellows were baggera, and sometimes they were almost the only fish that were caught."

STAMPEDING THE CARAVAN.

The same care was observed as on the first day's march to prevent the straying of the cattle and the dispersal of the column. There was some trouble with the animals early in the afternoon, on account of the persistence of a portion of the herd in trying to turn back to Gondokoro. One of the largest of the herd lost his temper and made a furious charge at the column of porters. For a time the march was suspended, as the porters dropped their burdens and fled, and it was not an easy matter to persuade them to return to their work. The offending beast was converted into beef, when the party halted for the evening, and in this form his presence was much more agreeable than when he was carrying himself around on the hoof.

HALTING-PLACE NEAR A POND.

About noon they halted near a little pond, which looked as though it would be a good place for a bath. Frank and Fred were desirous of trying the water, but were dissuaded by Abdul, who told them it was full of sangsues, or blood-suckers, which were not an agreeable adjunct of a bath. Frank recalled his experience in Ceylon, where he was occupied for half an hour after coming out in removing the leeches that clung to him. "And besides," he remarked, "we haven't the blood to spare, even though we don't mind the trouble of removing these African postage-stamps."

The donkeys were not so tender of skin or feelings, and walked straight to the water as soon as they were released from their work. Whether the leeches tried their skill at blood-letting on these animals we are unable to say, but if they did they probably abandoned the effort after a few trials.

The third day brought the line of march in the neighborhood of the Nile, owing to a bend which the river makes to the eastward. The old route to Foueira avoided the river altogether, but the new one followed its banks for a short distance, a circumstance by no means undesirable to the travellers. The Nile had become to them like an old friend, and Fred declared that he felt unhappy whenever he could not see it. No doubt he would recover from the feeling, just as he could become accustomed to the absence of a personal friend; but for the present he wished the Nile ran all the way through Africa, and he could follow it till their journey was at an end.

As they came near the river they saw several natives fishing from their rafts of ambatch reeds, such as we have already described. Some were lying quietly near the shore, while others were paddling about or floating with the current. Several river-horses were visible, but they were such a common sight in this part of the Nile that nobody gave them the least attention.

Frank and Fred were standing on the bank, and happened to be looking at a raft which carried two men. Evidently one of them was blind, as his eyes were closed, and he carried no oar or paddle.

Close by them was a hippopotamus of more than ordinary size, and Fred remarked that the raft seemed to be going directly for him.

"The man at the stern doesn't see the beast," said Frank, "or he wouldn't be likely to run the risk of disturbing him."

"I think so too," replied his cousin, "for they haven't anything to make a fight with, and if the 'hippo' attacks them they're in great danger."

HIPPOPOTAMUS ATTACKING A RAFT.

Just as he spoke the bow of the raft touched the back of what Fred called the "hippo," and evidently touched him with considerable force. The animal turned, as Frank had predicted, and attacked the frail vessel with his enormous jaws.

It was a brief combat, and an unequal one. The man at the bow was, as they afterward learned, stone-blind, and therefore unaware of the danger that threatened him. The beast seized him with the quickness of a flash, overturning the raft and upsetting the other man into the water. The victim of the attack was killed instantly. Other boats and rafts went to the rescue of the man struggling in the water, and he was saved from the crocodiles, with which the stream abounds.

The hippopotamus went away unmolested, as the natives had no weapons that could make an impression on his thick hide. Doctor Bronson called for his heaviest rifle, but before he secured it the monarch of the river was safe below the waters.

Abdul said that when Baker was ascending the Nile with his expedition they had considerable trouble with these animals; on several occasions they attacked the small boats at the stern of the larger ones, and seemed to regard them as personal enemies.

A NIGHT ATTACK BY A RIVER-HORSE.

"One night," said Abdul, "we were all awakened by a tremendous splashing close to the boat, and the cry arose that a hippo was about attacking us. We ran on deck as fast as we could, and saw a hippo dashing about furiously, and throwing the water in all directions. We were lying close to a mud-bank, with the dahabeeah moored stem and stern; consequently one side was exposed to the river, and the beast had full tilt at it whenever he wanted.

"He upset one of the boats as though it didn't weigh an ounce, and then he seized the other in his jaws and tried to crunch it. Mr. Baker was roused with the rest, and sent his servant for a rifle. He brought the rifle, but not the ammunition, and so the hippo had another chance at the boats while the man was gone a second time. The night was clear and the moon was up, so that the beast was distinctly visible.

"The ammunition came, and then Mr. Baker took a shot at our enemy, but the fellow dashed about so much that it was a hard matter to get good aim. The spot where you can put a bullet in is very small, and unless you strike exactly on the place your shot is wasted.

"The first ball didn't seem to stop him, and three or four more only made him more furious. He rocked the dahabeeah with his blows, and it seemed at one time that he would make a hole in her side. After six or eight shots he acted as though he didn't like the business. He went up to the bank, lay down in the mud, and his body was covered with the mud so that only his snout could be seen.

"We all thought he would die, and after waiting nearly half an hour we went to bed.

"We had just got fairly to sleep when he came at us again, as though he hadn't been hit at all. Mr. Baker gave him half a dozen bullets of the largest size, and among them were two explosive ones, that should have torn great holes in his flesh if they burst at the right moment. He went away after striking against the boat and trying to smash it, and then he came back once more, after a rest of a quarter of an hour.

"This time he got all he wanted and a trifle more. He was a determined fighter, and evidently considered our presence an intrusion on his domain. After the final shots at him he stretched himself on the bank, and died there before daylight.

"In the morning we had a council of war over the hippo, and took note of the shots it had required for settling him. Here is the result:

"Three shots in the flank and shoulder, and four in the head. One of the head shots had broken his lower jaw, another passed through his nose and, passing downward, cut off one of his tusks. Mr. Baker said his body was covered with frightful scars of wounds received in his battles with animals of his own species, and there were several wounds still unhealed. One scar was about two feet long and two inches deep, and showed that his antagonist must have given him a lively turn before the fight was over. He was the worst of his kind I ever saw or heard of, and all the party were glad he had been killed. Perhaps the other hippos in the neighborhood were not at all sorry to part with him."

In the afternoon they came to an encampment of ivory merchants, or rather to a village where several traders had a station for collecting their goods preparatory to starting for Gondokoro. The natives had brought in two or three dozen tusks of ivory, which were paid for in the usual currency of the country—beads, cloth, trinkets, and other "suc-suc," as goods for the African trade are called.

TYING UP IVORIES FOR THE MARCH.

The boys were interested in looking at the piles of ivory lying on the ground and the men engaged in tying them up for transportation. The smaller tusks were tied in bundles of two or three, generally two, placed with the large end of one against the small end of the other, and then wrapped securely with strips of bark. The large tusks were wrapped singly, as they would make a load for one man, and sometimes a tusk of medium size was wrapped with a small one. To tie a bundle two men sat on the ground, and while one held the tusks firmly in place the other affixed the wrappings.

The village consisted of a dozen or more huts, like enormous hay-cocks. They were made with a thick thatch of grass resting on a light but strong frame, and the work was so arranged that the thatch could be removed without difficulty, and leave the frame uncovered. This form of construction is found very convenient when it becomes necessary to move a village. The thatch is stripped off and thrown away, and the light frame, mounted on the heads of four or five negroes, is borne away as easily as though it were no more than a large basket.

REMOVING A VILLAGE.

A day or two later our friends met one of these moving villages, and the youths had the opportunity of seeing the Africans on their march. Four men were carrying a house; one was dragging a bundle of withes used for interlacing the framework of the dwelling; another, with a long stick, was driving a couple of cows; another drove a sheep that was held by a string to prevent its straying; while two women carrying baskets brought up the rear. These people have few possessions, and therefore their changes of residence are easily performed. Doctor Bronson said he was reminded of the migrations of the roving Indians of the western part of the United States, where a village may be transferred from one spot to another at an hour's notice and leave scarcely a trace behind, except in the places where the tents had been pitched, and the piles of ashes where fires were kindled.

One evening, while they were discussing their route and estimating the time it would take them to reach "Miani's Tree," Frank asked if they would go near the country of the Nyam-Nyams, the curious people described by the Italian explorer.

"I am sorry to say it is out of our route," replied the Doctor. "It lies far to the west of where we are going, and therefore all that we learn about it we must take from others, and not from our own observation."

"You said that the Dinka negro whom you saw at Cairo told you that the Nyam-Nyams rarely exceeded the height of the two dwarfs brought away by Miani," one of the boys remarked.

"Exactly so," was the reply; "but because the negro made that assertion is no reason why we should accept it. However truthful the negro may be in his civilized condition in America, he is not always absolutely veracious in his native wilds. For 'conspicuous inexactness' it would not be easy to find his superior.

"The same negro said it would take a year's travel from Khartoum to reach the country of the Nyam-Nyams. He certainly exaggerated considerably in that assertion, as a quarter of the time would be sufficient for the journey, provided there were no more than the ordinary delays. However, he may have included the hinderances which sometimes come from the unwillingness of a tribe to let strangers move on without a residence of a month or so among them. This is the custom in several parts of Africa, and many explorers have been greatly inconvenienced by it.

A NYAM-NYAM DOG.

"Dr. Schweinfurth travelled among the Nyam-Nyams, and, while he does not make them so small as Miani represents them, he says they are not as large as the majority of the African race. He took the measurements of many of their men, and the tallest stature he found was five feet ten and a half inches. The upper part of the figure is long in proportion to the legs, and this peculiarity gives a strange character to their movements, though it does not impede their agility in their war-dances and in athletic sports.

"He compares their complexion to the hue of a cake of chocolate. There are some variations of the color, but the ground-tint is always an earthy red in contrast to the bronze tinge of the Ethiopian races of Nubia. They are accustomed to make tattoo-marks upon their faces, and sometimes on other parts of their bodies, but do not practise this disfigurement as much as the natives of some of the South Sea Islands."

Frank asked if they were as frugal in the matter of clothing as some of the people they had seen in their journey up the Nile.

"They are not very lavish with their garments," was the reply, "but they wear more of them than do the Shillooks or the Dinkas.

"Sometimes they wear a sort of tunic made of the bark of a tree, but their usual apparel consists of the skins of animals. They are not sewn together, but suspended from a girdle at the waist, and the finest and most beautiful skins are selected in preference to those of a sombre hue. The chiefs and other persons of high rank are allowed to cover their heads with skins, but the more ordinary mortals must rely upon straw hats or their natural thatch of woolly hair.

"They devote much time and trouble to the ornamentation of their hair, and sometimes a man will spend an entire day in the arrangement of his head-dress for a grand occasion, and sit up all night to save it from derangement. The hair is braided and twisted in a variety of ways, and Dr. Schweinfurth says it would be difficult to discover any kind of plaits, tufts, or top-knots which has not already been tried by the men of the Nyam-Nyams.

SINGULAR HEAD-DRESS OF A NYAM-NYAM.

"He describes a coiffure which he pronounces the most remarkable he had ever seen. The head of the owner was encircled by a series of rays, like the glory in the picture of a saint; these rays were made of the man's own hair, which had been drawn out in little tresses and stretched over a hoop, which was ornamented around the edge with cowrie-shells. It was held in place by four wires; these wires could be removed at night, in order that the hoop might be folded back and allow the victim to lie down to sleep. The inner ends of the wires were fixed to a conical straw-hat, ornamented with a plume, and this hat was kept in its proper position by means of numerous hair-pins.

"They are fond of decorating their hair with a string of the incisor teeth of the dog; this is stretched along the forehead just at the edge of the hair, in the shape of a fringe, and the effect is not at all disagreeable even to the European eye. Then they hang on their breasts ornaments cut out of ivory in imitation of a large circle of lions' teeth, and you can readily understand that such a decoration makes a noticeable contrast with their dark skins. They care little for glass beads, and reject nearly all the varieties of those articles as worthless."

Fred wished to know how large was the country of the Nyam-Nyams, and what was their mode of life.

"The term Nyam-Nyam does not properly belong to them," said the Doctor, "but is the name by which the Dinkas describe them. It means 'eaters,' or 'great eaters,' and refers to the cannibalism which prevails among them."

"If they are cannibals," Fred remarked, "I'm not at all sorry not to form too intimate an acquaintance with them. It would be pleasant to dine with the king, but I should object to his dining with me in the fashion the cannibals have of receiving strangers."

"They are not the worst of cannibals," the Doctor continued, "and their principal sustenance is obtained from vegetable products, and from the chase. They are great hunters, and the men are supposed to be constantly occupied with hunting or fighting, while the women till the fields and perform all the labor of the house. They have generally a fertile soil, and what they raise from it is obtained with very little exertion.

"The name by which they call themselves is 'Zandey,' and, in addition to the Dinka appellation of Nyam-Nyams, they are variously called Manyanya, Madyaka, Kakkarakka, Kunda, and Babungera by their neighbors. Their country lies between the fourth and sixth degrees of north latitude, and covers an area of about fifty thousand square miles, between Darfoor and the valley of the Congo. The population is estimated at about two millions; but, of course, this is only an estimate, as they have no organized government, and never heard of taking the census.

"They are not familiar with fire-arms, their weapons being spears, knives, and clubs; and in their fighting expeditions every man carries a large shield—nearly large enough to cover him. Their only domestic animals are dogs and chickens, and both of these animals are useful as food. Dog's flesh is considered a great delicacy, and many of the wealthiest of the natives have a regular system of fattening dogs for their tables.

A NYAM-NYAM GRANARY.

"They have granaries for storing their grain, and sometimes a single family will have two or three of these warehouses. They are constructed with a wide thatch for keeping off the heavy rains that fall periodically, and are mounted on posts covered with cement, so that they will not be eaten away by insects. The houses are grouped in little villages, and generally placed with a view to being near land that is easily cultivated; they are nearly always of a conical shape, like those of the Shillooks, and provided with strong doors, to prevent attacks from wild beasts. There are small huts, with bell-shaped roofs and narrow doors, where the boys sleep at night. The door is at least three feet above the ground, so as to insure the safety of the youngsters against lions and other disagreeable visitors.

HUT FOR BOYS.

"While among the Nyam-Nyams, Dr. Schweinfurth saw a good many hunters and soldiers of the Akkas, a tribe of negroes occupying a region which he was unable to visit. He succeeded in obtaining one of these curious people, and brought him down the Nile, but, unfortunately, he died at Berber, on his way to Cairo. The Akkas are probably the smallest people of Central Africa, and are sometimes mentioned as a race of pygmies."

AN AKKA WARRIOR.

"Perhaps they are the nation of dwarfs, instead of the Nyam-Nyams," Frank observed.

"They are certainly more entitled to the name than their neighbors," was the reply. "The one which Dr. Schweinfurth brought to Berber was four feet seven inches high. Six full-grown men that he measured were only four feet ten inches, and from all he could learn a man of five feet or more was uncommon."

DR. SCHWEINFURTH'S PYGMY.

"But are there not other tribes of Africans of about the same proportions?" one of the youths asked.

"Certainly," said Doctor Bronson, "and they seem to extend nearly across the continent under the line of the equator, though not entirely so. They are not dwarfs in the ordinary meaning of the word, but simply a people of diminutive stature. They are generally of a lighter complexion than the true Ethiopian, and with some of them the body is more or less thickly covered with hair. Some travellers have described them as only three or four feet high, but their statements are unconfirmed. The Bushmen of South Africa are of the same reduced proportions as the Akkas, and the measurements we have of them are almost identical with those taken by Dr. Schweinfurth among the Akkas."

One of the boys asked Doctor Bronson what his opinion was concerning the origin of these little people. The Doctor replied that he could do no better than quote from the learned explorer from whom he had taken the account of the Nyam-Nyams:

"Scarcely a doubt can exist but that all these people, like the Bushmen of South Africa, may be considered as the scattered remains of an aboriginal population now becoming extinct; and their isolated and sporadic existence bears out the hypothesis. For centuries after centuries Africa has been experiencing the effects of many immigrations. For thousands of years one nation has been driving out another; and, as the result of repeated subjugations and interminglings of race with race, such manifold changes have been introduced into the conditions of existence that the succession of new phases, like the development in the world of plants, appears almost, as it were, to open a glimpse into the infinite."

STANDING FOR HIS PORTRAIT.

[CHAPTER XI.]

ARRIVAL AT AFUDDO.—DIVISION OF ROUTES.—FRANK'S DEPARTURE.

CROSSING A MARSH.

The weather in the early part of the march from Gondokoro was fine, but Abdul predicted that it was too beautiful to last. Sure enough, it came on to rain one morning, and Frank pronounced it the "wettest rain" he had seen for some time. It poured as though great flood-gates had been opened in the sky, and rendered the ground so soft that the feet of the horses sunk out of sight in the mud. Occasionally the way led over marshes, which were not difficult to cross in the dry season, but when soaked with water they became anything but agreeable. It was dangerous to remain on horseback, owing to the liability to stumbling of the animals, and in such places our friends were obliged to dismount and make their way on foot.

A WET ROAD.

Macintosh coats were useful, but even these garments could not keep out the moisture, which penetrated every little crevice where there was the least chance of an entrance. Luckily the rain was a warm one, and nobody suffered any inconvenience from the temperature. As long as a reasonably high temperature can be maintained there is no great suffering, beyond the liability to contract fevers and other diseases, but when the traveller has cold and wet combined his condition is pitiable. The boys maintained their spirits by laughing as they picked their way among the mud-holes, and a stranger would have thought they were enjoying the weary tramp. It was not at all pleasing; but the youths argued that "what can't be cured must be endured," and the best way of enduring the discomfort was to keep up the pretence of enjoying it.

The rain had the effect of driving the mosquitoes to shelter, so that, while drenched with the downpour, the boys were temporarily relieved from the necessity of fighting those tiny destroyers of the traveller's peace; but it brought out many leeches, especially in the marshy ground, and the porters occasionally halted to free their limbs from these annoyances. Frank asked if it would bring them a visitation of snakes, and was glad to learn from Abdul that most of the African snakes are not fond of rain, and would probably stay at home, unless called out on urgent business.

The tents were pitched on the dryest spot that could be found, and the travellers sought their shelter before all the pegs had been driven into the ground. The earth had been levelled a little, partly to form a floor, and partly to remove the moist earth of the surface, and nobody had given any attention to a hole near the roots of a bush which had been cut away in the levelling process.

Frank was busy with his toilet-bag, when he thought he felt a movement of the earth under his feet. He stepped a little to one side to see what it meant, and very soon found out.

The head of a snake appeared from beneath the ground, and a pair of eyes contemplated the youth with an expression anything but friendly. Frank then remembered the hole in the ground to which we have alluded, and was not long in concluding that they had camped over the residence of a serpent. Fortunately, he was close to the entrance of the tent, and instantly converted it into an exit.

He shouted for Abdul, and as that individual appeared the story of the intrusion was quickly narrated. The servants were called, and soon despatched the snake. Fred observed that it was not much of a snake, as it was only seven feet long, which was a tiny affair for Africa. Frank retorted that when snakes were under consideration the measurement was of little consequence, as he had an antipathy to the whole family, big and little. They unanimously decided that the location of the tent was undesirable, as the contents of the hole were unknown. "We don't want to be seeing snakes all night," said Frank, "and we shall be pretty likely to do so unless we change our base."

A SNAKE IN CAMP.

The tent was moved a dozen yards or so, and if there were any more snakes in that hole they had no occasion to complain of disturbance. Another snake was killed close to the camp, and altogether it seemed as if their lines had not fallen in pleasant places.

The snakes were not without their uses, as they were carried off by some of the black soldiers of the detachment, and soon found their way into the cooking-pot. Abdul said there were not many snake-eaters in the detachment, but enough of them to make any ordinary serpent come handy. "The flesh," said he, "is as sweet as that of a chicken, and it is only prejudice that keeps us from trying it."

Of course the incident led to anecdotes of a snaky character, and between dinner and the hour of retiring there were many wonderful narrations. The precaution of sleeping with the legs crossed or stretched wide apart was again enjoined upon the youths, in case they wanted to save themselves from pythonic deglutition. Abdul repeated a tale he had heard of a snake on the banks of Tanganyika Lake that used to swallow the natives when they paddled their rafts near his lair. He was large enough to take in man and boat at a single gulp, and the boats seemed to aid his digestion instead of injuring it.

Ali said that in his country the antelopes were so large they would be mistaken for elephants, except for their shape; and his statement was verified by another narrator, who declared that in his native place the goats were provided with trunks like elephants, while the chickens had heads and necks like serpents, and could inflict a bite which was instantly fatal. Another disciple of the marvellous told of cats larger than cows, and mice like bull-dogs, and he averred that his brother had been in a country where the flies were used as horses, and a strong fly could carry a man five or ten miles without lighting down for a rest.

The next day the weather was better, but the necessity of drying the camp equipage prevented an early start. Everybody rejoiced at the reappearance of the sun, and the horses and donkeys seemed to share in the pleasure of the return of the clear sky.

In the last camp before they reached Miani's Tree, Doctor Bronson told the youths he had a plan for their future movements which he had been carefully considering for several days, and would now unfold to them.

"It is this," said the Doctor: "from Afuddo we have a choice of two routes to the country of King M'tesa—one by land, and one by water. If the steamer is in running order we can explore the Albert N'yanza, making the circuit of the lake, and ascending the Somerset River, or Victoria Nile, to Murchison Falls, twenty-two miles above the river's mouth.

"The other route is altogether by land, through the M'rooli country, to Foueira, the station of the Egyptian troops where our detachment is going.

"Now, what I have been considering is for our party to divide, and thus cover both routes. Frank and Abdul can continue with the soldiers to Foueira, while Fred and I will go with the steamer to Murchison Falls. We can meet either at the Falls or at Foueira. In the former case Fred will come down the river to join us, and in the latter we will ascend the river route, to meet him at the station."

Both boys were delighted with the proposition. They were sorry to be separated after having travelled so long together, but they realized that the time would not be long, and they would be using their eyes to better advantage than if they both continued on one route.

"You can describe the lake," said Frank to his cousin, "and I will tell about the journey by land. Abdul and I can get along all right, I think, and we shall be well protected by the soldiers. You ought to have an escort as well as I, and I presume the Doctor will arrange all that with the commander."

SCENE NEAR AFUDDO.

The new plan was the subject of a good deal of conversation between the youths at every opportunity for the rest of the march to Afuddo. On their arrival at that point they were eager to learn if the steamer was in good condition for the voyage, and their first inquiry was concerning her.

"The steamer is all right," said the Doctor, as soon as he had delivered his letter to the officer in command of the post. "She is lying at Duflé, the point whence Mr. Gessi started for the first steam voyage on the Albert N'yanza, and we can have her ready to leave in a very short time."

There was some unwelcome intelligence concerning the land route to Foueira. The Shooli and Umiro people, through whose territory the road passes, had recently shown signs of hostility. They had attacked several trading caravans, and while some had defended themselves successfully, others had been broken up or compelled to retreat. There was a prospect that Frank and Abdul might see some fighting if they continued with the land party, and Fred suggested that it might be better to abandon that route and all go by steamer.

Frank opposed this change of plan, and said he was quite willing to take the risk of the land journey. He felt that the troops would be able to take care of themselves if they were attacked. He believed that the Remington rifle, in the hands of a soldier, would be a safe defence against a thousand native spears and arrows. He argued farther that he did not come to Africa to expect travel would be as safe as at home, and it would indicate a faint heart if he should be frightened by the mere rumor of trouble.

Doctor Bronson asked the youths to defer their decision till he could confer with the officer in command of the post at Afuddo, and also with Captain Mohammed, under whose escort they were travelling. The conference was held early the next morning, and the boys anxiously awaited the Doctor's report concerning it.

"We had a long talk over the troubles among the Shoolis and Umiros," said the Doctor as he returned to their tents, "and the reports are not encouraging. Still, I am of opinion that there is no great danger, since the soldiers are well armed and disciplined. They will not attack the natives unless seriously threatened by them, as their instructions are not to make trouble, but to act only on the defensive.

"Therefore I see no good reason why Frank should not continue as we had proposed. Perhaps Fred and I will go with him the first day's march, and if no serious intelligence comes in that time he can continue. If actual war has been declared he can turn back and accompany us by the lake route."

The question having been settled, the party at once proceeded to divide the baggage and make the necessary arrangements for the two journeys. The division was easily accomplished, as all the cases were marked and numbered according to a list, of which each of the travellers and also the dragoman had a copy. Frank took only what was needed for his journey, including a good supply of ammunition and a couple of rifles for himself and Abdul, so that they could do their share of fighting in case of necessity. All the heavy baggage, and such things as were intended for use at King M'tesa's court and after the visit to that monarch, went by the steamers, as the easiest and safest mode of transport.

The most of the day was consumed in the arrangement, and it was not till late in the afternoon that Frank and Fred had an opportunity to take a stroll around the village near which their camp had been placed.

It was a collection of huts much like those of the other villages they had seen on the route, and consequently there was nothing new for them to look at. Outside the village were a few fields and gardens, and the boys remarked how easily the region might be made to produce abundantly. The soil had an appearance of great fertility, and under the rude cultivation of the natives the fields had a luxuriant aspect. "It is a land," said Fred, quoting from Bishop Heber,

"'Where every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile.'"

"Yes," answered Frank, "and if it ever comes under European management it can be made the seat of an important commerce. All the products of the tropics flourish here; and when the natives learn to be industrious, and adopt the habits and customs of civilization, they can compete successfully with the people of similar lands in Asia."

A CARAVAN OF AN IVORY-TRADER.

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a caravan coming from the south, and straggling very irregularly along the road. Fred pronounced it the most motley crowd he had seen since leaving Gondokoro, and Frank immediately produced his note-book to take down the characteristics of the group.

"The riding animals," said he, "are oxen and donkeys, instead of horses. Each of the ox-riders has a child clinging on the rump of his steed, while the donkeys are ridden by negroes, armed with rifles and sabres. Two men on foot carry the flags of the leader, and these are unfurled whenever a band of natives is encountered. Then there are goats and cows following the procession, and the rear is brought up by the ivory porters with their burdens."

AN IVORY PORTER.

They followed the caravan, which passed close to their tents and proceeded to some huts a few hundred yards beyond. There the burdens of the porters were deposited, and for a time the scene was decidedly animated.

Abdul joined the youths as they were looking at the caravan, and explained to them that it belonged to one of the wandering traders such as we have already described. "He is the agent of one of the firms at Khartoum," said the dragoman, "and, from the number of burdens he has just brought in, he has evidently made a successful tour. The children that you saw are doubtless intended as merchandise quite as much as the ivory. Though slavery has been abolished here the merchants do not hesitate to indulge in it, and the government officials frequently connive at their so doing. But it is diminishing every year, and will dwindle steadily as the power of the government increases."

"What great risks are taken, and what hardships men undergo," said Fred, "in search of ivory! They traverse Africa, encountering its fevers, and its dangers from beasts and men and serpents; they make long journeys where there are few of the comforts of life, and suffer all kinds of privations, and all in pursuit of wealth to be derived from the tusk of the elephant. The men who bring the ivory from the African wilds are only a little less to be pitied than the huge animal that yields it."

"The difference in their case," his cousin retorted, "is, that their act is voluntary, while that of the elephant is sorely against his will. He has no desire to surrender his tusks, especially when his life must be surrendered at the same time, while they could seek some other employment."

"I have been looking up the subject of ivory," responded Fred, "and find that the elephant hasn't a monopoly of the business. The tusks of the hippopotamus, the walrus, the narwhal, and some other animals are included under the name of ivory, and have nearly the same uses."

"But not exactly the same," was the reply. "Several high authorities contend that the name only belongs properly to the product of the elephant, which has a different composition from that of other animals. A cross-section of an elephant's tusk has the appearance of circular lines, intersecting each other, so as to form lozenge-shaped figures with curved boundaries; this feature exists in no other kind of tusk, and is the distinguishing mark of elephant ivory.

"There is a vegetable ivory which is used for making small articles, but it is too soft to wear well, and tarnishes very easily. It is the kernel of a nut that grows in Peru and New Granada. The tree is a species of palm, and the ivory corresponds to the meat of the familiar cocoa-nut. Perhaps somebody will invent a process for converting the cocoa-nut into ivory, and then the article will be a good deal cheaper than it is."

"What would be the use?" said Fred. "Haven't we several imitations of ivory already? Have you forgotten celluloid?"

"Quite true," replied Frank; "but then celluloid, while greatly resembling ivory, is far from equalling it. Men who play at billiards say the balls made of celluloid have a dead sound when struck, and that the same is the case with all other imitations. However, there is no doubt that celluloid can take the place of ivory for many uses, and the elephants ought to have a mass meeting, and send a vote of thanks to the man who invented it."

"Perhaps I've got a question you can't answer," said Fred. "What is the composition of ivory?"

"I've informed myself on that point," replied Frank, with a smile. "Ivory contains twenty-four per cent. of animal matter, sixty-four of phosphate of lime, a little more than eleven per cent. of water, and the balance is carbonate of lime and other insignificant ingredients. The water and animal matter are dried away by long exposure, and for this reason ivory is apt to turn yellow and change its form. Billiard-balls require to be turned occasionally to correct these changes. They generally shrink or expand more in the direction of the width of the tusks than in that of their length, and consequently the makers of these articles are accustomed to shape them roughly at first, and then keep them for months in a warm room before finishing.

"A gentleman who has studied the statistics of the ivory trade says the total amount of ivory imported into Great Britain during the nine years from 1873 to 1881 inclusive was 5286 tons. The whole number of tusks being known, the average weight per pair can be easily ascertained. This average is put at forty pounds, which is above rather than below the true weight. Assuming this to be correct, the 5286 tons of ivory represent 296,016 pairs of tusks, and consequently the same number of elephants, that have died long ago or have been slaughtered in later times to supply the demands of luxury for the past nine years. At this rate of destruction it will be seen how rapidly this noble animal must disappear, and how surely ivory will become a thing of the past. The highest price paid at a recent sale in Liverpool for the best African ivory was at the rate of $6740 per ton, or more than three dollars per pound.

"If," concluded Frank, "you want another lecture on ivory please give me fair warning, so that I can get my information in proper shape."

They returned to camp just as dinner was announced. Of course the chief topic of conversation was the proposed exploration of the Albert N'yanza and the land journey to Foueira.

THE CENTRAL AFRICAN STEAMER "KHEDIVE."

The next morning the boys accompanied Doctor Bronson on a visit to the Khedive, the steamer in which the voyage on the Albert N'yanza was to be made. They found a handsome boat, of the dimensions already given, and propelled by a screw instead of paddles. It had two masts, so that sails could be spread in case the engines were disabled; and it had an awning extending the entire length of the deck, to shelter its passengers from the heat of the tropical sun. Below deck there were several comfortable cabins, and there were quarters for the crew, and a well-fitted galley for the cook's use. Altogether they were pleased with the boat, and Frank began to wish that he had not been so persistent about making the journey by land. But an instant's reflection drove away the thought, and he was firmer than ever in his purpose.

The Khedive was all ready for service, and only needed to be provisioned and supplied with the necessary fuel for working her engines. A Scotch engineer, named Cameron, was in charge of her, with a couple of Arab assistants. He was quite willing to be employed, and declared himself heartily weary of lying idle for six months, waiting for something to do, and constantly expecting orders that never came.

Doctor Bronson told him to get ready as soon as he liked; and in order that there could be no mistake about it he showed his authority from the government officials at Cairo, and also those from the commander of the district at Gondokoro. Mr. Cameron said he would have the provisions and fuel on board in a couple of days, provided he had the assistance of the commander of the post to compel the people to work. They needed a little urging, he said, and the best way of urging them was to put them under the guard of a file of soldiers.

Our friends were well aware that the two days would grow to four or five, as nothing is ever done in Africa in the time agreed upon. So it was decided that Frank should continue his journey with the escort, which was to leave the next day, and the Doctor and Fred would accompany him for the first day's journey, as agreed. This would cause no detention of the boat, as their baggage could be put on board in a few hours when the Khedive was in readiness.

They were off in good season in the morning, and made their camp in a pretty little valley, close by a brook that reminded the boys of a similar stream near their birthplace. The next morning the good-byes and good wishes were pronounced, and the travellers turned away from each other. There were tears in their eyes as their hands met in a farewell clasp; their utterance was so choked by the lumps in their throats that the words they forced out were indistinct. Africa is a land of dangers and uncertainties, and perhaps they were destined not to meet again.

No wonder there was sadness at the separation, or that Frank regretfully parted with friends he loved so well, and by whom he was warmly cherished. At last the windings of the road hid them from view, and he turned resolutely with his gaze directed toward the equator.

[CHAPTER XII.]

DEPARTURE OF THE TWO EXPEDITIONS.—IN THE SHOOLI COUNTRY.—ATTACKED IN AN AMBUSCADE.

The horses were sent with Frank, as they would be of no use in the steamboat journey, and it was arranged that they should be at Murchison Falls in exactly a month from the date of departure from Afuddo, if everything went well. Captain Mohammed said a month would suffice for the journey, if they had no detentions on the road. To cover contingencies, an allowance of eight days was added to the above period, so that it was agreed to meet on the thirty-eighth day, unless prevented by some unforeseen circumstance.

Fred had wondered how the Doctor and himself would return to Afuddo from their day's journey with Frank. The horses were to leave them, and he saw no alternative but a pedestrian journey, to which he was not at all inclined. Satisfied that Doctor Bronson had considered the case, and made proper provision for it, he asked no questions, though he could not help revolving the subject in mind.

The morning of their departure for the return to Afuddo solved the mystery.

A large ox, with wide horns, that suggested impalement to any one who insulted their wearer, was led up for the Doctor, and a similar beast for the youth. The animals were saddled and bridled, the bridle passing through the cartilage of the nose, which is the weak point of the bovine race, and an excellent holding-ground for a driving-rein. As Fred looked at it he remembered how he had seen savage bulls held in check by a ring through the nose, and concluded that the Africans knew what they were about when they harnessed their saddle-oxen in this way.

"I remember now," he exclaimed, "reading about Anderson and Livingstone riding on oxen in their African journeys. Anderson says he rode one ox more than two thousand miles. He became much attached to his horned steed, and declared that he preferred the ox to the horse."

WINWOOD READE'S OX AND HAMMOCK TRAIN.

"Yes," replied the Doctor; "oxen are not as fast as horses, but they will endure more, and keep fat where a horse would starve. Where there is plenty of food a horse is to be preferred, but in a country where the herbage is scant, and you must travel day after day and week after week, the ox is the superior animal. He is slow but sure in his movements, and will get over rough ground better than a horse. Winwood Reade says he is sulky and revengeful, but this is contrary to the testimony of other travellers. Mr. Reade had some saddle-oxen in his train, but his favorite mode of riding was by hammock, on the shoulders of porters.

"I had arranged for porters with hammocks to carry us back to Afuddo in case the oxen failed to arrive. But they are here all right; and as everything is ready we will mount and be off."

Early in the afternoon they were once more in their camp on the banks of the Nile, and discussing the plans for departure up the river.

As Doctor Bronson had predicted, the two days of preparation were extended to four, and it was not till the fifth day that they were ready to start. All the baggage was carried on board in the evening, and the two explorers slept on deck, beneath the awnings. The cabins were too hot for comfort, and so full of mosquitoes that several smudges and a vigorous use of brooms and switches could not expel them. The deck was much more agreeable, and it was voted that, while the cabins might be useful as dressing-rooms, they were undesirable for lodging-places.

The steamer was off about nine o'clock in the morning, and headed against the strong current of the Nile in the direction of the Albert N'yanza. Late in the afternoon a bend of the stream revealed the widening that betokened the entrance of the lake, and in a little while the Khedive was afloat on the waters of the lowest of the lakes that form the head-waters of the mysterious river of Egypt.

We will leave the Khedive and her passengers and return to Frank, whom we left on his southward travels a day beyond Afuddo. His journal will tell the story of his experiences.

"I had a sad heart all day after parting from my friends," said the youth in his note-book, "and was unable to see much beauty in the landscape. The country was well but not richly timbered, and I observed that the road ascended steadily as we moved away from the river. We passed many villages, all of the same general appearance, and I began to be weary of the succession of grass-thatched huts. The people looked at us indifferently, and sometimes came out to beg or try to sell us some of the products of their little fields. They did not display any hostility, but Abdul said we were not yet in the country where we might look for opposition.