Chapter XII (2)

The sun was just sinking on the horizon, and we were still enveloped in the thickets shrouded in masses of manioc and plantains, when the report of firearms, volley after volley, coming from the camp, took us by surprise, and induced us without delay to hurry back; such repeated discharges, we could not help suspecting, must too surely betoken some aggression on the part of the natives. We loaded our pieces, and trying to follow the direction of the sound, we started off on our return, but for a time we wandered vaguely about, hardly knowing how to get free of the plantations; we at length managed to reach the villages, from which the way was quite direct. Together with ourselves streamed on a crowd of the residents, who came hurrying out, equipped with their shields and lances, or with their bows and arrows. As we approached the farms we heard the beating of the signal drums, and everywhere at the doors of the huts we saw the women and children, all eagerly bringing from the interior the necessary arms for their husbands and fathers, who were waiting impatiently without. Not knowing whether we were friends or foes, we pushed on all together along the road. Helpless enough I felt myself, as burdened with my heavy boots I tottered over the smooth tree-trunks which had been thrown across the depth of the Kussumbo; behind and before were the excited people, equipped with arms, as frantic as wild Indians, and very naturally the thought rose to my mind, how completely, if they chose, I was within their power.

It did not take long to get through the woodlands, and then again we were out upon the open. One glance at the camps before us revealed the mystery: the Nubians with their swarthy troops of bearers had been doubled in number by the arrival of another company of merchant-people from Khartoum, and in honor of the meeting the usual salvoes had been fired. The new comers were the party belonging to Tuhamy, who was an upper secretary in the divan of the Governor-General, by whose authority I was empowered to claim the hospitality of all the Seribas. To Mohammed’s soldiers the unlooked-for arrival of a number of their countrymen was a welcome occurrence which they celebrated as a holiday but to Mohammed himself the chance meeting was a vexation, from which ultimately, as he foresaw, various unpleasantnesses arose. The territories of Tuhamy’s people were situated on the lower Rohl, their head Seriba is at a spot named Ronga, where they had been established some years previously by the French adventurer, Malzac. They had come directly by the way through the districts of the Mittoo and the Madi; and at the Diamvonoo, (where I had made so large a collection of the skulls of the chimpanzees) they had had such a vigorous conflict with the Niam-niam that for two days they were obliged to defend themselves behind an extemporized abattis against the hostilities of Wando, and had not escaped without some loss of life on their side. Suspecting no mischief, they had arrived at the place just at the moment that our caravan had hurried away to escape the general conflict that seemed imminent, and accordingly, they had found the natives all up in arms and ready for immediate action.

[Sidenote: VISIT TO BONGWA.]

At midnight a heavy rain set in, which lasted till the morning; and in the uncertainty as to what the weather would be, our departure was delayed long beyond the ordinary hour and we were even at last obliged to start in a thick and drizzling mist. Despite the wet, Tuhamy’s party had gone on in the early morning. We were all anxious about keeping our powder dry; but, for my part, I must own I was more concerned about the safety of my collection, which had been gathered and preserved with so much trouble. A halt was made for an hour in one of the farmsteads on our way and the large open sheds belonging to the local superintendent were of infinite service in providing immediate shelter for the baggage. Our route crossed four streams, all flowing to the south, after which we arrived at the Mazoroody, on the banks of which the line of farms belonging to Bongwa extended a considerable way. Bongwa was a chieftain subject to pay tribute equally to Munza and to Degberra, as his possessions were contiguous to those of both these rival kings. We crossed the river, which was approached by an extensive steppe, which terminated in a declivity that led us downwards for well-nigh 200 feet, and then halting, we proceeded to erect our camp by constructing a number of huts in the best way we could out of the masses of sodden grass.

Accompanied by his wife, Bongwa paid us a visit to camp, and allowed me the unusual honor of taking a sketch both of himself and his better half. The old lady took her seat upon a Monbuttoo bench, wearing nothing else than the singular band, like a saddle-girth, across her lap, in the general fashion of all the women of the country. Like nearly all her race, she had a skin several shades lighter than her husband’s, being something of the color of half-roasted coffee. She exhibited singular tattooing, which appeared to consist of two distinct characters. One of these ran in lines over the shoulders and bosom, just where our ladies wear their lace collars; it was made of a number of points pricked in with a needle, and forming a pattern terminating on the shoulders and breast in large crosses. The other was a pattern traced over the whole stomach, standing out in such relief that I presume it must have been done by a hot iron; it consisted of figures set in a square frames, and looked somewhat like the tracery which is sculptured on cornices and old arches. Bodkins of ivory projected from her towering chignon, which was surmounted by a plate as large as a dollar, fastened on by a comb with five teeth manufactured of porcupine-quills.

[Sidenote: BONGWA’S WIFE.]

Since Madame Bongwa only intended to pay me a short visit, she did not appear _en grande tenue_; the picture, therefore, necessarily failed in the black figures which, for full dress were painted on her ample flanks, and which would have given a double interest to the likeness. As a token of my recognition of the steadiness with which she sat during my artistic labors, I permitted her (and this was the greatest the privilege I could afford any of the natives) to put her fingers through my hair, which to her eye was so astonishingly long and sleek.

The first hours of the following morning were spent in making purchases from the natives of a supply of yams and sweet-potatoes; the day, consequently, was somewhat advanced before we could make a start. The strips of grassland, void of trees, into which the numerous rivulets parcel out the district, were here peculiarly narrow; in the course of a single league, we passed over no less than three different streams, and then came to another, the Bumba, which we had to go over twice. Whenever we came to thickets, the Raphia or wine-palm was sure to be prominent, and put every other plant into the shade. Its noble branches are used by the Monbuttoo for making their stools and the seats which they erect upon the roofs of their huts.

A very populous district was soon reached, known as the district of Eddeedy, who being within Munza’s kingdom was tributary to Izingerria, Munza’s viceroy and brother. At this spot, we came again into contact with the party of Tuhamy, which had encamped upon the river Bumba. We had for so long been unaccustomed to the sight that the prospect of grazing cattle came upon us almost as a surprise. At first we were under the impression that Tuhamy’s people must have brought the oxen with them, but the manifest deviation of the beasts from the Dinka type set us to inquire whence they had come. They were of a thicker and shorter build than those we had seen, having a different formation of the skull and very prominent humps. We were informed that they had been a present from King Munza to Eddeedy. Munza himself had some years previously received a large herd of them from the powerful ruler of some people in the south-east, with whom he had concluded an amicable alliance. The tribe who were thus referred to were called by my interpreter the Maogoo, and I imagined that through this word I could get some perception of what Sir Samuel Baker meant when he spoke of the land beyond Lake Mwootan as Ulegga, and its inhabitants as the Malegga.

Taking now a more southerly direction, the road led us over three different streams, which flowed to the west to join the Bumba. On the fourth stream from the Bumba was situated the mbanga of Izingerria. It was somewhat late in the afternoon before we made our imposing entrance, and then we found both sides of the roadway lined with crowds of astonished folks who had come to gaze at our troop. The officials appeared in full state, their hats adorned with waving plumes: they had come attended by their shield-bearers, and had ordered their indispensable benches to be brought with them, that they might receive us at their ease and observe the unusual spectacle we presented with as much convenience as possible.

We took up our encampment on the steppe just beyond the stream which divided us from the circle of huts, which was arranged around an open area, and allotted to the wives and soldiers of the prince. The plots that had been cleared near the little river were for the most part planted with sugar-canes. The canes grew to the size of a man’s arm, but I think they were generally very woody and less soft in their texture than those which grew in Egypt. Except for chewing, the natives seem to have no object in growing them, and have no notion of expressing or boiling the sap, for otherwise, they would not have been so surprised as they were at the bits of loaf-sugar which we gave them by way of putting their experience to the test. The plants thrive very well in the plantations, which are amply irrigated by the numerous ducts of the various streams, and, indeed, they grow in a half-wild condition. Had the natives only a better disposition for industry and a freer scope for traffic, there is no estimating what might be the value of the production which is here so bountifully bestowed.

[Sidenote: A VISIT TO IZINGERRIA.]

In company with Mohammed I visited Izingerria in his dwelling in the later hours of the evening, and found him sitting on his bench in the open space, surrounded by about a dozen of his satraps. Having been made acquainted with the custom of the country that all officials, all heads of families, and indeed all persons of any distinction, whenever they pay a visit, take with them their slaves to carry their benches, because it is considered unseemly to sit, like Turks or Arabs, upon the ground, I gave orders that some of my people should, on these occasions, invariably accompany me and carry my cane chair. We took our seats opposite Izingerria, and by the assistance of one of the natives, who could talk to my Niam-niam interpreter, I contrived to keep up, despite the labor of a double translation, some mutual interchange of thought till the night was far advanced. Of hospitable entertainment there was not a word; perhaps it was considered inconsistent with the dignity of a formal interview, but there was not even the offer of the usually elusive beer. The consumption of tobacco, however, was quite unrestrained. I could not help observing, without being quite able to account for the circumstance, that my cigars did not in the least appear to attract any notice on the part of the natives, although they were accustomed to smoke their tobacco exclusively through pipes, and were as entirely unacquainted either with the habits of chewing tobacco or of taking snuff as any other of the African negroes who have not been contaminated in these respects by intercourse with Mohammedans and Christians.

The Monbuttoo use pipes of a primitive, but really of a very serviceable description, which they make from the mid-rib of a plantain-leaf. The upper classes, however, not unfrequently have a metal tube, some five feet long, made by their smiths. The lower extremity of the pipe is plugged up, and an opening is made in the side near the end, into which is inserted a plantain-leaf, twisted up and filled with tobacco. This extemporised bowl is changed as often as requisite, sometimes every few minutes, by the slaves who are kept in attendance. The only tobacco which is known here is the Virginian (_N. tabacum_, L.). With much relish I smoked a pipe of this construction, which was altogether a novelty to me, and I found that it was a contrivance that modified the rankness of the tobacco almost as perfectly as if it had been inhaled through the water-reservoir of a narghileh.

At length the attainment of my cherished hopes seemed close at hand. The prospect was held out that on the 19th of March we might expect to arrive at the Welle. The way to the river led us due south, and we went onwards through almost uninterrupted groves of plantains, from which the huts, constructed of bark and rotang very skilfully sewn together, ever and again peeped out. A march of scarcely two leagues brought us to the bank of the noble river, which rolled its deep dark flood majestically to the west, in its general aspect suggesting a resemblance to the Blue Nile. For me it was a thrilling moment that can never fade from my memory. My sensations must have been like Mungo Park’s on the 20th of July, 1796, when for the first time he planted his foot upon the shore of the mysterious Niger, and answered once for all the great geographical question of his day—as to whether its waters rolled to the east or to the west.

[Sidenote: THE WELLE.]

Here, then, I was upon the very bank of the river, attesting the western flow of the water, about which the contradictions and inconsistencies of the Nubians had kept up my unflagging interest ever since we set out from Khartoum. Whoever has any acquaintance with the indistinctness that ever attaches to the statements of those who would attempt to describe in Arabic the up-current of the down-current of a river will readily comprehend the eagerness with which I yearned to catch the first glance of the waters of which the rippling sound, as they washed their stony banks, came through the bushes to my a strained and listening ear. If the river should flow to the east, why then it solved the problem, hitherto inexplicable, of the fulness of the water in Lake Mwootan; but if, as was far more likely, it should go towards the west, then beyond a doubt it was independent altogether of the Nile system. A moment more and the question was set at rest. Westerly was the direction of the stream, which consequently did not belong to the Nile at all; it was in all likelihood not less than 180 miles distant from the most western coast of Lake Mwootan, and at the numerous rapids which are formed in its upper course it rises almost to the level of the lake, even if it does not attain a still higher altitude.[50]

Very similar as I have said it looked in some respects to the Blue Nile at Khartoum, the Welle had here a breadth of 800 feet, and at this period of the year, when its waters were at their lowest, it had a depth varying from twelve to fifteen feet. The banks, like the “guefs” of the Nile, rose about twenty feet above the level of the stream and appeared to consist almost exclusively of alluvial clay and some layers of blended sand and mica; but as far as I could investigate the exposed face of the river-wall, I could see neither pebbles nor drift, and only occasionally were the scanty remains of shells to be detected.

Here, as well as on the upper part of the main stream, named the Keebaly, which we subsequently crossed, no inundation of the country seems ever to occur, although the land sank with rather a sudden fall for 100 feet down to the wood-encircled bank of the river.

There was nothing remarkable about the rate at which the water flowed: on the northern bank it passed at about fifty-five or sixty feet a minute; so that the volume of water that rolled by would be about 10,000 cubic feet a second, but supposing the rate of the stream to be invariable, this volume would be nearly doubled at the season when the river was at its fullest height. The Welle is formed about twelve miles above this spot by the union of the Gadda and the Keebaly. About three weeks later (on the 13th of April) the Gadda was about 155 feet wide and two to three feet deep, whilst the Keebaly, which is the main stream, was 325 wide and at least twelve feet deep. Of the two streams just above the junction, the rate of flow was fifty-seven feet and seventy-five feet respectively. Fourteen miles above its point of confluence with the Gadda, the Keebaly forms a series of rapids flowing over innumerable crags of gneiss, making a labyrinth of little islands which are known as Kissangah, and which part the stream into many minor channels that after they are re-united reach across in a distance of 1000 to 1200 feet from shore to shore.

I made all the inquiries I possibly could about the condition and fluctuations of the river from the interpreters who were attached to the expedition, and ascertained that the water was actually at this date at its lowest level. The first an indication that I had of any rise or increase in the stream was when I crossed it again a little higher up, towards the east, in the middle of April; and to judge from what was pointed out to me then on the river-banks, I should conjecture that the period of the highest water would be about two months later.

The Welle had all the tokens of being a mountain stream of which the source was at no remote distance, and to a certainty was not in a latitude much to the south of that of the spot where we were crossing. The colour of the flood at this time of the year corresponded very remarkably with the cloudy waters of the Bahr-el-Azrek, and it is probable that when it is at its height it has that look of coffee-and-milk which the river presents at Khartoom. Moreover, there is an additional proof indicating that the river has its origin in some mountain region at no great distance, which is furnished by the fact of so many considerable streams (such as the Keebaly, the Gadda, the Kahpilly, the Nomayo, and the Nalobey) all having their channels uniting in what is comparatively a very limited area. The result of all my varied inquiries seemed to demonstrate most satisfactorily that to the south-west of Munza’s residence the land takes a decided rise; and the existence of certain detached groups of hills, which according to the declarations of the natives are at no very great distance, serves to confirm my belief as to the orographical character of the country. The hills and isolated mountains to which I refer would be, I imagine, none other than the western fringe of the “Blue Mountains,” which Baker observed from the farther side of Lake Mwootan (the Albert Nyanza), and of which (as he saw them on the north-western confines of the lake), he reckoned that the height must be 8000 feet.

From this spot also the position of the abodes of the tribe of the Maogoo was pointed out to me, and it lay between the S.E. and E.S.E. It was to me a very remarkable thing how accurately the natives of Africa, by the indication of the finger, would point to any particular locality; they were also equally skilful in telling the hour of the day by the height of the sun, and I rarely detected an error of much more than half an hour in their representations. In wide open plains like the deserts of Nubia, where the journeys are made for many miles consecutively without the least variation in direction, the precision of their estimate reaches such singular correctness, that if a lance is laid upon the ground the path to which it points will lead, with scarcely a hair’s-breadth deviation, to the destination required, and the road thus indicated will accord perfectly with any direct route that may be marked upon the map. Many years ago Bruce of Kinnaird alluded to a circumstance of this kind in his travels through the Nubian desert; and during my wanderings between the Nile and the Red Sea I had various opportunities of satisfying myself of the truth of what he states.

Taking into calculation the geographical configuration of this part of Africa, and relying not so much upon the representations of previous European travellers as upon the information obtained along the wide tract that extends from Lake Tsad to Kordofan and south of that line, it may be asserted that the Welle belongs to the system of the Shary. That the Welle has any connection with the Gazelle, and so ultimately with the Nile, is contradicted not merely by the general belief, but by the authenticated statements of the inhabitants who dwell upon its borders; and more than this, it is totally inconsistent with the fact that the Welle is a stream vastly greater than the Gazelle in the volume of its waters; for while both alike were at their lowest ebb on the 27th of April, 1863, Petherick has placed it upon record that the Gazelle had but 3042 cubic feet of water to roll on, in comparison to 10,000 feet, which was the volume, every second, of the Welle.

Perhaps I may seem to lay greater stress upon the information which I gained by my inquiries, than a rigorous critic, who knows what an ambiguous country I was traversing, may be inclined to think is fair. But let me invite his attention to the following statement. Although the entire eastern portion of the Niam-niam country from Mofio to Kanna has been repeatedly visited by companies from Khartoom, and I have been repeatedly brought into contact with those who have taken part in the expeditions, I have never come across but one single individual who has represented that there is connection anywhere between the Welle and the Gazelle; and in addition to this, the Monbuttoo and the Niam-niam, with an agreement that is undeviating, all represent that the Welle holds on its course to the N.E. as far as they could follow it for days and days together, till it widens so vastly that the trees on its banks are not visible, and that at last there is nothing but water and sky. This representation would imply that the river issues in some inland lake. They have, moreover, their tales to tell of the inhabitants of the country on the lower part of the river, as to how they dress in white, and like the Nubians kneel upon the ground and say their prayers. Clearly, therefore, these residents are Mohammedans, and the direction and the distance of their abode would seem to corroborate an impression that they must be the inhabitants of some southern parts of Baghirmy.

As I have spoken of the Welle in comparison with the Gazelle, I may now be permitted to bring it into contrast with the Shary, so far at least as the lower course of this river has been explored. According to the testimony of Major Denham, who made his observations on the 24th of June, 1824, the width of the Shary at its mouth was about half a mile, while its stream had a velocity of something under three miles an hour. This would indicate a stream three times as strong as that of the Welle, and if the average depth of the waters as they flow into Lake Tsad be reckoned at ten feet it would give a volume of 85,000 cubic feet a second, whereas at the very highest reckoning the volume of the Welle is not above 20,000 cubic feet.

On the other hand the eastern main branch of the Shary at Mele, where it was measured by Barth on the 18th of March, 1852, had a breadth of 1800 feet, and in mid-channel it had a depth of fifteen feet, while it was specially recorded as rolling on with a velocity of some three miles an hour, which, however, in a way that we should not have expected, Barth says did not make him reckon the stream as particularly strong.

That the Shary, so early as the month of March, should show an increase in the mass of its waters, would appear to indicate that according to theory it must be augmented by some other rivers coming from more southern latitudes than the Welle. It is a positive fact that there are no other streams of the least account that could possibly flow into it from the arid steppes of Darfoor and Wadai on the north; the land there has no springs, and consumes for itself whatever it receives from the clouds above. If then the Welle flows neither into the Gazelle nor yet into the Shary, it might perhaps be asked whether it is not a tributary to the ample waters of the Benue, which Barth found at Yola, on the 18th of July, 1851, to be 1200 feet in width, having an average depth of 11 feet, and a periodic change of 50 feet between the highest and lowest level of its stream; but then there would still remain the further question as to what, in that case, must be the source of the Shary, and whence it comes; and this is a question that decides for itself the full value of the counter-evidence.

It is a matter of especial interest to recollect that Barth would appear already to have announced the existence of the Welle under the name of the river of Kubanda. The people that he had about him were natives of Darfoor, who had been accustomed to carry on their expeditions for plunder ever since the year 1834. In fact he assigns the position of the river of Kubanda to the latitude of 3° N., and affixes a note to his account of it stating that “a tree, called the Kumba, is said to grow upon its banks.” Now, Kumba is the Niam-niam for the abundant Malaghetta pepper (_Xylopia æthiopica_), which has communicated its name to the Pepper Coast, and in the middle ages was a spice much valued and known as Habb-el-Selim (Selim’s grains), and had probably been brought into the market by the people of Morocco, long before black pepper was known at all. I satisfied myself that at present this pepper is known to the Foorians as a product of the distant south.

[Sidenote: MONBUTTOO CANOES.]

The transport of the caravan across the great river was by no means an easy matter; by the aid, however, of the ferrymen whom Munza had provided, it was accomplished so vigorously that in the course of three hours our last man had been carried over. The passage was effected by large canoes which were hewn out of a single trunk of a tree, and which, alike in shape and solidity, were superior to what we had hitherto seen. Some of them were not less than thirty feet long and four feet broad, and sufficiently spacious to convey both horses and bullocks. So ample are their dimensions that there is no risk of their being upset, nor did they lurch in the least degree as we got into them. They were made with both ends running horizontally out into a beak, and the border lines were ornamented with carved figures. As the current was not very strong, it was found sufficient to have two boatmen, who squatted down at each extremity of the canoe; their paddles were about five feet long, and tapered down towards the end in the shape of a narrow shovel, and to say the truth, the boatmen used them very much in shovel-fashion.

I had seen the teak canoes on the Red Sea which are called “Hoory” in Arabic, and are of a build imported from India, and many of the canoes which are in use at Suakim and Djidda, but none of these were comparable, either with respect to size or elegance, with the canoes of the Monbuttoo. It is remarkable that on the lower course of the Shary there are no ferry-boats in use except such as are made out of a number of planks fitted and fastened together; the conclusion from this would appear to be obvious: either that there are no fine trees to be felled in that country, similar to those on the borders of the Welle, or that between the source and mouth of the Shary there are impediments to navigation which are insuperable. In the distance of about 1000 miles to Lake Tsad from the point of our passage, the stream would have fallen more than 1450 feet.

Our encampment was formed about half-a-league to the south of the river; it was encircled by the dwellings of the Monbuttoo, who had spread themselves over the declivity of a steep woody ravine. The groves in this locality yielded me every day fresh trophies in my raids upon the vegetable domains of Nature, whilst at nightfall the natives came trooping in and enlisted my curious interest. Ambassadors deputed by King Munza came to bring me his official recognition, and were charged at the same time to render to him what information they could about the doings and intentions of the wonderful stranger. As the messengers sent by the king were sufficiently versed in the Zandey dialect to hold conversation in it, I was enabled to make them understand the object of my visit to their country, and to all appearances they were thoroughly satisfied by my explanation.

We were still at a little distance from the point which we had determined must be the limit of our progress for this year; we had, however, but one day’s rest to make, and then we should proceed to make our entry into Munza’s quarters. A fresh world of novelty seemed to be awaiting us in this remote region, the very kernel of the continent, equally distant from the Indian Ocean and from the Atlantic. Everything was new. The bright and clear complexion of the natives, their singular garb, their artistic furniture, the convenience of their orderly houses, and finally, the savage etiquette of the pompous court, all struck me with fresh surprise and ever renewed the feeling of astonishment. There was, moreover, an exuberance of strange and unexpected vegetation; whilst plantations, sugar-canes, and oil-palms were everywhere to be seen in plentiful luxuriance. Truly, I now found myself in the heart of Africa, realising to the letter the fascinating dreams of my early youth.

[Sidenote: CHARMS OF THE MONBUTTOO LAND.]

Nothing could be more charming than that last day’s march which brought us to the limit of our wanderings. The twelve miles which led to Munza’s palace were miles enriched by such beauty as might be worthy of Paradise. They left an impression upon my memory which can never fade. The plantain-groves harmonised so perfectly with the clustering oil-palms that nothing could surpass the perfection of the scene; whilst the ferns that adorned the countless stems in the background of the landscape enhanced the charms of the tropical groves. A fresh and invigorating atmosphere contributed to the enjoyment of it all, refreshing water and grateful shade being never far away. In front of the native dwellings towered the splendid figs, of which the spreading crowns defied the passage of the burning sun. Anon, we passed amidst jungles of Raphia, alongside brooks crammed full of reeds, or through galleries where the Pandanus thrived, the road taking us uphill and downhill in alternate undulation. No less than twelve of these brooklets did we pass upon our way, some lying in depressions of one hundred feet, and some sunk as much as two hundred feet below the summits of their bounding walls of verdant vegetation, and there were two upheaved and rounded hills of gneiss, rising to an altitude of some 300 feet, along the flanks of which we wound our path. On either hand there was an almost unbroken series of the idyllic homes of the people, who hurried to their gates, and offered us the choicest products of their happy clime.

Beside the streamlet which was last but one of all we passed, we made our final halt in the shadow of a large assembly-ground that we might take our repast of plantains and baked manioc. The crowds of bearers made their camp around the stem of a colossal _Cordia abyssinica_ which stood upon the open space in front of the abode of the local chief, and reminded me of the Abyssinian villages, where this tree is specially cultivated. Von Beuermann has mentioned that he observed this tree in Kanem rendering the same service as the lindens of the German villages, and forming a cool and shady resort to which the residents might betake themselves for recreation. These trees, with their goodly coronets of spreading foliage, are the survivors from generations that are gone, and form a comely ornament in well-nigh all the villages of the Monbuttoo.

And then, at last, conspicuous amidst the massy depths of green, we espied the palace of the king. We had reached a broad valley, circled by plantations, and shadowed by some gigantic trees which had survived the decay of the ancient wilderness; through the lowest part meandered a transparent brook. We did not descend into the hollow, but halting on the hither side we chose a station clear of trees, and proceeded without delay to fix our camp. We enjoyed a view in front of a sloping area, void of grass, enlivened with an endless multiplicity of huts, of which the roofs of some were like ordinary sheds, and those of others of a conical form. And there, surmounting all, with extensive courts broad and imposing, unlike anything we had seen since we left the edifices of Cairo, upreared itself the spacious pile of King Munza’s dwelling.

[Sidenote: ARRIVAL AT KING MUNZA’S PALACE.]

The order for the halt was no sooner given than the bearers set about their wonted work, and labouring with their knives and hatchets soon procured from the jungles by the brook the supply of material sufficient for our architectural needs. Rapidly as ever our encampment was reared: hardly an hour elapsed before our place of sojourn was in order, with a gorgeous landscape opening in its front, and this time in view of the royal abode of an African monarch. My own tent, which began to exhibit only too plainly the tokens of being somewhat weather-beaten by repeated exposure, was located in the very midst of the lines of our grass-huts: not now was it erected, as often it had been, upon the bare rock of a desolate wilderness, but in the centre of a scene of surpassing beauty: for the first time I had it decorated with my flag, which waved proudly above it in honour of our arrival at the court of so distinguished and powerful a prince.

The natives lost no time in crowding in and endeavouring to obtain an interview. But it suited my inclination to withdraw myself for a time. I remained in the retirement of my tent simply because I was weary of these interviews, which always necessitated my permitting either my head to be handled, in order to convince them that the long straight hair was really my own, or my bosom (like Wallenstein’s when he fronted his murderers) to be bared that they might admire its whiteness. I was thus induced to remain under shelter, and meanwhile the Monbuttoo magnates waited patiently or impatiently without; they had brought their benches, which they placed close to my quarters, but I continued obstinate in my determination to be undisturbed, resolved to reserve all my strength and energy for the following day, when I should have to exhibit the marvel of my existence before King Munza himself.

FOOTNOTES:

[47] ‘Troglodytes Schweinfurthii Gigl. in Studii
Craniologici sui Cimpanze.’ Genova, 1872.

[48] Reichert’s and Du Bois Raymond’s ‘Archiv.’ Berlin,
1872.

[49] The A-Madi must not be confounded with the Madi of the
Mittoo, nor with the Madi south of Gondokoro. In the native
dialect “a” is only a plural form: _e.g._, “ango” means a
dog; “a-ango,” dogs.

[50] The measurements are given in the sketch-map in Vol.
II.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

INDEX.

A-BANGA, tribe of, i. 522;
entertaining, i. 531;
their arrows, i. 534;
trophy of their heads, ii. 176, 178;
great body of, ii. 180.

Aboo Guroon, i. 185;
repulsed by Tikkiboh, ii. 95;
visit to, ii. 287;
his death, ii. 308.

Aboo Maaref, i. 242.

Aboo Odfa, a natural monument, i. 37.

Aboo Sammat, i. 99;
his liberality, i. 333, 417;
his hospitality, i. 351;
his speech, i. 397;
his territory, i. 465;
wounded, ii. 171;
present from, ii. 277;
attacked, ii. 285.

Abrey (cold cup), i. 373.

Acacin, _spirocarpa_, i. 59;
_verugata_, i. 76;
_fistula_, i. 97.

_Adenia venenata_, i. 135.

Adimokoo the Akka, ii. 127;
his war-dance, ii. 129.

Agar, i. 225.

Ahmed, i. 434;
his death, ii. 230.

Ahmed Aga, ii. 357, 360, 369.

Akka, their country, ii. 84;
their height, complexion, and hair, ii. 140;
appearance, ii. 141;
their hands, skull, and eyes, ii. 142;
ears and lips, ii. 143;
dialect, ii. 144;
their treatment by the Monbuttoo, ii. 145.

_Albizzia serico-cephalus_, i. 144.

Algiers, ii. 435.

Allagabo the Bongo, ii. 205, 460, 487.

Aloe, not found in Egypt, i. 105;
with green blossom, ii. 203.

Alwaj district, i. 171.

Ambatch (Herminiera), i. 61;
canoes, i. 77.

Amomum, i. 468.

Analogy of rivers, i. 113.

Anonaceæ, i. 497.

_Anona Senegalensis_, i. 222.

Antelopes: _megaloceras_, i. 63;
_madoqua_, i. 188, 243; ii. 464;
_caama_, i. 195, 427;
_leucotis_, i. 196, 241, 457; ii. 233, 445;
_leucophæa_, i. 216;
_nigra_, i. 242;
_grimmia_, i. 243;
_arundinacea_, ii. 446;
_ellipsiprymna_, i. 338;
_oreas_, i. 359, ii. 248;
antelope chased by hyæna, ii. 205.

Ant-hills, i. 349; ii. 196.

Anthocleista, i. 470.

Antinori, Marquis, i. 185; ii. 80.

Ants, invasion of, ii. 227.

Apostrophe to the Nile, i. 187.

Arab nicknames, i. 82.

Arabs, true, i. 28.

Arash Kol, Mt., i. 57.

Arbab, marriage of, i. 40.

Arslan, my sheep dog, i. 56;
stung by bees, i. 74;
his death, i. 217.

Assika, the river, ii. 183.

Atoborroo, i. 457.

Awoory, i. 377.

BABUCKUR, raid on, ii. 222;
persecution of, ii. 257;
their women, ii. 258;
value as slaves, ii. 419.

Baginze, Mt., ii. 212;
its position, ii. 213;
vegetation, ii. 214.

Baggara, i. 66;
Rizegat, ii. 341, 395.

Bahr-el-Arab, its mouth, i. 122;
identity with the Bahr-el-Homr, ii. 370;
its importance, ii. 392.

Bahr-el-Ghazal, compared to the Havel, i. 115;
its importance, i. 123, 125.
(_Vide_ Gazelle.)

Bahr-el-Kooroo, ii. 353.

Baker, Sir Samuel: encounter with natives, i. 30;
his opinion of soil by the White Nile, i. 56;
suppression of slave expedition from Fashoda, i. 83;
hindered at the grass barrier, i. 106;
loss of pack-ass, i. 135;
praise of Lepidosiren, i. 136;
living on Melochia, ii. 197;
book of travels, i. 320; ii. 198;
condemns eleusine, i. 492;
statement about Lake Mwootan, ii. 162;
peremptory measures, ii. 410, 429;
indignation against, ii. 485.

_Balæniceps rex_, i. 117; ii. 472.

Bamboos (_bambusa_), i. 183;
in blossom, i. 237;
jungles, ii. 251, 253.

Bastard-gemsbock, i. 216.

Beads, i. 203, 502; ii. 235.

Beans, i. 249; ii. 254.

Bear-baboons, i. 198.

Bearers, desertion of, i. 184;
feeding them, i. 461, 475;
consideration shown to them, i. 477;
an exhausted bearer, i. 433;
three of them murdered, ii. 220.

Bedouins, town, i. 28.

Beery, the river, ii. 377.

Bees: attacked by a swarm, i. 73;
suffering from their stings, i. 75.

Bees’ wax, ii. 167.

Behnky, name for Niam-niam chieftains, ii. 22.

Bellanda, i. 200.

Berber, i. 38;
return to, ii. 485.

Bet-el-Gellahba, ii. 394.

Bishareen, i. 28;
their sheep and goats, i. 32;
ugliness of the women, i. 36.

Blessing, the missionary, ii. 482.

Blippo (_Gardenia malleifera_), i. 440;
used by Monbuttoo, ii. 104.

Boar, wild, i. 363.

Bodumoh, the river, ii. 202.

BONGO: festival of, i. 183;
their country, i. 257;
vassalage, i. 259;
population, i. 260;
complexion, i. 261;
stature, i. 263;
skull and hair, i. 264;
agriculture, i. 266;
smoking, i. 269;
goats, i. 270;
dogs, i. 271;
hunting, i. 272;
money, i. 279;
ornaments, i. 279;
graves, i. 285, 303;
music, i. 287;
weapons, i. 299;
games, i. 300;
fear of ghosts, i. 305;
belief in witches, i. 307;
singing, i. 309;
dialect, i. 311;
sauces, i. 462;
concert, ii. 404;
value as slaves, ii. 419;
chief, executed, ii. 457.

Bongwa, the chieftain, i. 543;
his wife, i. 544;
return to, ii. 153.

Boroo (or borru), ii. 32, 181.

“Bride of the Fish,” i. 16.

Bruce, the traveller, i. 113.

Buffalo, attack of a wild, i. 64;
frantic herd of them, i. 70;
African species, i. 193;
alarmed by, ii. 259;
herd of them, ii. 265;
calf killed, ii. 347.

Bunza, son of Munza, ii. 57.

Bushbock killed, ii. 255.

Bushmen, ii. 139.

Butterflies, i. 197.

Butter tree, i. 220.

CALAMUS, hedge of, i. 468.

Calotropis, ii. 343.

Cannibalism: traces of, i. 517;
amongst Niam-niam, ii. 17, 224;
amongst Monbuttoo, ii. 93.

Caraïb (_Bucerosia_), i. 22.

Caroob, i. 191.

Carpodiuus, i. 192.

Cat, wild (_Felis Maniculata_), i. 320.

Cattle-diseases, ii. 280.

Cattle-raids on Dinka, i. 227; ii. 465.

Caves of Kulongo, i. 234.

Charcoal, ignorance of, i. 208.

Chimpanzees: abundance in Wando’s district, i. 497, 518;
mode of catching, i. 521.

Chinese hand-barrows, ii. 307.

Christianity and slave-trade, ii. 432.

Christ’s thorn (_Zizyphus Baclei_), i. 360.

Cogyvor, or wizards, i. 331.

Cola-nut, ii. 49.

Coldest day, ii. 304.

Colocasia, i. 445.

Copper: taken as exchange, i. 502;
known to Monbuttoo, ii. 109;
ornaments, ii. 110;
goods obtained for, ii. 362;
mines, ii. 372.

_Cordia abyssinica_, i. 558.

Crocodiles, ii. 336.

Cussonia, ii. 212.

Cyanite, ii. 47.

DAL KURDYOOK, a Dinka chief, ii. 466.

Damury, ii. 345.

Damvo, ii. 212.

Dangabor, Bongo ornament, i. 282.

Dangadduloo, i. 372.

Dapper, ii. 136.

Dar Aboo Dinga river, ii. 390.

Dar Ferteet, district of, ii. 365, 430.

Darfoor, refuge for outlaws, i. 383;
route to, ii. 371;
its copper-mines, ii. 372.

Defafang, an extinct volcano, i. 69.

Dehms, ii. 355, 365;
Dehm Nduggo, ii. 360;
Dehm Gudyoo, ii. 380;
Dehm Bekeer, ii. 387.

Deloo antelopes, i. 245.

Depopulation of Africa, ii. 437.

Deraggo, i. 399.

Dialect: Dyoor, i. 200;
Bongo, i. 311;
Niam-niam, ii. 31;
Monbuttoo, ii. 102;
Akka, ii. 144;
Golo, ii. 350;
Kredy, ii. 368;
Sehre, ii. 396.

DINKA: territory, i. 148;
physical peculiarities, i. 149;
ornaments, i. 153;
weapons, i. 155;
cookery, i. 157;
houses, i. 159;
domestic animals, i. 160;
population, i. 167;
character, i. 169;
soil, i. 180.

Displacement of Nile vegetation, i. 69.

Djee, the river, ii. 388, 395.

Doggoroo, the river, i. 327; ii. 268.

Doggudoo (or Dokkuttoo), i. 367.

Dome-palms (_Hyphæne thebaica_), ii. 185.

Doomookoo, i. 240.

Dracænæ, i. 21.

Dualism of vegetation, i. 223, 505.

Ducks, i. 120.

Dueme, village on the White Nile, i. 59.

Duggoo, i. 343.

Dugwara, i. 389.

Duisberg, German vice-consul at Khartoom, i. 42, 45; ii. 482.

Dumburre, ii. 407.

Dyafer, Pasha, Governor-general of Khartoom, i. 44; ii. 479, 483.

Dyagbe, the river, i. 516.

Dyoor, the river, mouth of, i. 124;
old bed of, i. 125;
dimensions of, i. 186; ii. 283, 312;
fishing in, ii. 451.

DYOOR, nation; name and dialect, i. 200;
complexion and ornaments, i. 201;
women, i. 202;
slimness, i. 204;
spears and spades, i. 205;
iron-smelting, i. 206;
smelting-furnaces, i. 207;
huts, i. 209;
hunting snares, i. 211;
character, i. 211;
clay-floors, i. 212;
affection, i. 212.

EARTH-NUTS, i. 250.

Eclipse of sun, i. 11.

Egyptians, their troops, ii. 357;
their apathy, ii. 435.

Elephants: African contrasted with Indian, i. 139;
traces of, i. 457;
hunted by Niam-niam, ii. 25;
present of a young elephant, ii. 277.

Eleusine-corn, i. 248, 448, 492;
beer made from, ii. 13.

El-Sett (the grass barrier), i. 107.

El-Usher, ii. 343.

Encephalartus, i. 448; ii. 375.

Ensete (wild plantain), ii. 215.

_Entada scandens_, ii. 62.

_Eriodendron anfractuosum_, ii. 351.

Erkoweet, a summer retreat from Sunkin, i. 25.

Euphorbiæ, i. 21;
candelabra, i. 120.

Extract of meat, ii. 69, 234.

FAKI, grave of a, ii. 292;
reverence for Fakis, ii. 324;
Fakis as slave-dealers, ii. 413.

Fan, analogy with Niam-niam, ii. 19.

Fanatical priest from Kano, i. 30;
an offended, ii. 342.

Fanekama, ii. 479.

Farookh (black soldiers), ii. 182, 421.

Fashoda, limit of Egyptian government, i. 78;
return to, ii. 479.

Ferns, i. 507.

Fever, immunity from, i. 128;
deaths from, ii. 486.

Fig-trees of Monbuttoo, ii. 88;
gigantic tree in Bongo land, ii. 343;
in Seriba Moody, ii. 405.

Fire, alarm of, i. 316; ii. 461;
in Seriba, ii. 290.

Flags, i. 138.

Flies on the Gazelle, i. 115.

Fulbe, affinity of Monbuttoo with, ii. 101.

Funguses, i. 267.

GADDA, the river, ii. 251.

Gallery-forests, i. 504;
vegetation of, i. 506.

Garden, my, i. 213.

Gazelle, the river (Bahr-el-Ghazal), i. 112, 113, 123, 126; ii. 473.

Geer, the Seriba, i. 181, 230; ii. 460.

Geese, on the White Nile, i. 54.

Gellahbas (slave-dealers), i. 228; ii. 356, 360, 365, 412, 417.

Ghattas, choice of, i. 45;
contract with, i. 48;
a bird named, i. 115;
his Seribas, ii. 270, 289.

Ghetty, the river, ii. 336.

Gimsah, sulphur works at, i. 12.

Giraffes, i. 182.

Gnats, i. 115.

Gneiss-hills, i. 536; ii. 387.

Goat-suckers (_Cosmetornis Spekii Sclatei_), i. 357.

Goggo, i. 394.

Gourds, i. 252; ii. 269.

Government contract, i. 6;
troops, ii. 305.

Grass, i. 229.

Grass-barrier (El-Sett), i. 105.

Grass-huts, ii. 226.

Greenstone prevalent, i. 32.

Gresse, the river, ii. 380.

Gudyoo, Dehm, ii. 379.

Guinea-fowl, i. 460.

Guinea-hog, ii. 78.

Gumango, the hill, i. 446;
chasm, ii. 346.

Gum-arabic, i. 97.

Gun-accident, i. 88;
narrow escape from, i. 474, 497.

Gyabir, the interpreter, i. 513;
shot in the arm, i. 533;
his cowardice, ii. 284.

HABBABKUM, i. 65.

_Haliëtos vocifer_, i. 96.

Hartebeests, i. 195; ii. 231, 259, 263, 463.

Hassanieh—their cattle, i. 58;
their dogs, i. 59.

Hegelig (Balanites), i. 66.

Hellali, the swindler, ii. 266, 330, 356, 364.

Herminiera (ambatch), i. 61.

Heuglin, Theodor von, i. 129; ii. 337, 339, 344.

Hexabolus (Anonacea), i. 432.

Hibiscus, i. 253.

Hippopotamuses—in the White Nile, i. 56;
in the Keebaly, ii. 159;
in the Dyoor, ii. 314;
their fat, ii. 316;
one dying, ii. 473.

Hoo, the river, i. 456; ii. 200, 225.

Humboldt Institution, grant from, i. 4.

Humboldtia (Kobbo-tree), i. 451.

Hussīen, my Nubian servant, i. 416.

Huts, of the Dyoor, i. 209;
grass, ii. 226.

Hyæna-dogs (_Canis pictus_), ii. 274.

Hyæna-woman, i. 307; ii. 475.

Hyæna chasing an antelope, ii. 205.

Hydrographical law as affecting riverbanks, i. 54.

Hyptis, i. 250.

IBBA, the river (the Upper Tondy), i. 435.

Ibrahim Effendi, ii. 363.

Idrees (Ghattas’s plenipotentiary), i. 178;
his negligence, ii. 297.

Idrees, Wod Defter, ii. 349.

Indimma, ii. 239.

Inglery, Mohammed Aboo Sammat’s trumpeter, i. 490.

Islamism, ii. 434.

Islands of Sixth Cataract, i. 40.

Ismail Pasha, _bon mot_ of, i. 113.

Issoo, the Upper Tondy, ii. 210.

Ivory, trade in Khartoom, i. 46;
traffic unimportant, i. 175;
Europeans in ivory trade, i. 177;
cost of, i. 503.

Izingerria—visit to, i. 547.

JACKALS, i. 236.

Jewish school, i. 330.

KAHPILY, the river, ii. 155.

Kamrasi, inquiries for, ii. 67.

Kanna, ambassadors from, ii. 55;
march to, ii. 240.

Karra, the magic tuber, ii. 399.

Keebaly, the river, ii. 151;
its rapids, ii. 158;
its identity with the Upper Shary, ii. 161.

Khalil, i. 188; ii. 302, 318, 409, 453.

Khareef, i. 324.

Khartoom: merchants of, i. 5;
arrival at, i. 42;
reception in, i. 44;
ivory trade of, i. 46;
ship-building at, i. 51;
return to, ii. 481.

Khaya-tree, i. 188.

Kher, Mohammed, i. 71.

Khor-el-Renuem, ii. 353.

Kigelin, i. 140.

Kilnoky, i. 231.

Kishy, bridge over the river, ii. 203.

Kissere (Arab bread), i. 249; ii. 252.

Kites, ii. 231.

Kobbe-trees (Humboldtia), i. 431.

Kokkorokoo, the tree, i. 469.

_Kosaria palmata_, i. 220.

Krapf, ii. 138.

KREDY: their appearance, ii. 367;
boundaries, ii. 368;
huts, ii. 375;
corn-magazines, ii. 376.

Kubby, ii. 157.

Kudy, village of, i. 170; ii. 466.

Kulongo, i. 233.

Kurbatches, ii. 317.

Kurdyook, Shol’s husband, i. 133; ii. 469.

Kurragera, southern limit of Aboo Sammat’s territory, i. 395.

Kurkur, ii. 273.

Kurshook Ali, the Sandjak, ii. 265;
his death, ii. 282.

Kussumbo, woods on the, i. 541; ii. 154.

Kyatt worm, i. 166.

Kyt, _cul-de-sac_ on the Gazelle, i. 124, 127; ii. 471.

LAO, its water, i. 143; ii. 467.

Lassav (_Capparis galeata_), i. 23.

Lavargue, French vice-consul at Berber, i. 39;
his death, ii. 486.

Leopard killed, ii. 255.

Lepidosiren, i. 135.

Le Saint, i. 129.

Leucotis antelopes, i. 196.

“L’homme à queue” told on the Nile, i. 68; ii. 2.

Lightning, women killed by, i. 317.

Lindukoo, last stream of Nile-system, i. 486, 493;
cataract on, i. 491; ii. 191.

Lions: limited in number, i. 361;
carrying off a soldier, i. 367;
track of a, ii. 156;
one shot, ii. 311.

Livingstone, Dr., i. 504; ii. 99, 186.

Lizards (_Agama colonorum_), i. 322.

Lollo, the river, ii. 477.

Longo, dirt in, ii. 340.

Loobah woman, i. 409.

MADIKAMM, ii. 201.

Madoqua antelopes, i. 244.

Maia Signora, i. 107; ii. 474.

Maize, i. 248;
preparation by Niam-niam, ii. 16;
in Mbomo’s district, ii. 254.

Mabzac, i. 337.

Manatus, in the Keebaly, ii. 160.

Mandeb (_Mimosa aspirata_), i. 61.

Manioc, bearer poisoned by, i. 476;
its cultivation, i. 525.

Manzilly, the brook, i. 458.

Maogoo, cattle from the, i. 546; ii. 69;
probable identity with the Malegga, ii. 85.

Marshes, mode of crossing, i. 498.

Matamma, on the Nile, i. 39.

Mbahly: nickname for Aboo Sammat, i. 481;
Munza’s inquiries for, ii. 38;
his challenge, ii. 177.

Mbarik-pah, the leaf-eater, i. 513; ii. 202.

Mbomo, the Seriba, ii. 247, 253.

Mbrwole, the river, i. 496; ii. 188, 189.

Mehemet Ali, ii. 431.

Menagerie, a, ii. 278.

Merdyan’s Seriba, ii. 204.

Meshera, i. 48;
arrival at the, i. 124;
the mode of anchoring in, i. 130;
start from the, i. 137;
embarkation from the, ii. 469.

Mice, i. 273.

Mimosa, stranding on a, ii. 260.

Minstrels, a Niam-niam, i. 445; ii. 30, 241.

Mirakok, i. 145.

MITTOO: tour in their country, i. 367;
language, i. 403;
fertility of soil, i. 405;
ornaments, i. 411;
bearers, i. 419;
value as slaves, ii. 419.

Mofio, ii. 389, 417.

Molmul, the river, ii. 273, 301.

Momvoo: goats of the, ii. 69;
their country, ii. 83.

MONBUTTOO: pipes, i. 548;
canoes, i. 555;
charm of country, i. 557;
halls, ii. 42;
their curiosity, ii. 53, 59;
women, ii. 60, 91;
reports of territory, ii. 81, 82;
government, ii. 86;
scenery, ii. 86;
produce, ii. 87;
hunting, ii. 89;
cannibalism, ii. 92;
potentates, ii. 96;
complexion, ii. 100;
dialect, ii. 102;
coiffure, ii. 106;
weapons, ii. 107, 111;
smelting, ii. 108;
tools, ii. 112;
benches, ii. 113;
shields and seat-rests, ii. 115;
water-bottles, ii. 116;
basket-work and musical instruments, ii. 117;
architecture, ii. 118;
religion, ii. 120.

Money, iron, i. 279.

Mongolongbo, valley of, i. 429.

Mongono, ii. 348.

Monkeys, i. 488.

Morokoh, the river, ii. 251.

Mummery, Munza’s brother, ii. 72, 74;
his body-guard of Akka, ii. 131.

Mundo, of the Bongo, i. 241; ii. 258.

Mundo in Zileï Mountains, ii. 210.

Mungala, Niam-niam game, ii. 28.

Muntass Bey, Governor of Suakin, i. 24.

Munza: messengers from, i. 556;
view of his palace, i. 558;
his friendship for Mohammed, ii. 37;
summons to, ii. 39;
waiting for, ii. 41;
his ornamental weapons, ii. 43, 94;
his costume and appearance, ii. 45;
presents for, ii. 47;
his mode of smoking, ii. 48;
his oration, ii. 51;
his present to me, ii. 52;
his sister, ii. 58;
his wives, ii. 58;
his castle, ii. 63;
his arsenal, ii. 64;
his dance, ii. 75;
his sleeping apartments, ii. 77;
visits from, ii. 77;
his dish, ii. 79;
his harem, ii. 96;
his household, ii. 97;
his wardrobe, ii. 98.

Murhaga, ii. 424.

_Musa sapientium_, i. 447.

Mvolo, district of, i. 384;
animals in, i. 387.

Mwata Yanvo, ii. 99.

NABAMBISSO, the river, ii. 193.

Nalengbe, Munza’s sister, ii. 58, 95.

Names of places, i. 194.

Ndoruma, ii. 309.

Nduppo, Wando’s brother, i. 478;
his death, i. 517.

Nembey, visit from, i. 540;
arrival at, ii. 153.

_Neophron pileatus_, i. 97.

Ngama, i. 411.