Chapter V

Reception at the
Seriba—Population—Fertility—Salubrity—Management—Poor
prospects of the ivory trade—Failure of European
firms in Khartoom—Idrees, the chief agent—Domestic
arrangements—Beauties of spring—The daughter Seriba Geer—Bit
of primeval forest—Giraffe-hunt—Bamboo jungle—Negro
festival and music—Trip to the Dyoor and to Wow—Desertion
of bearers—Good entertainment—Marquis Antinori and
Vayssière—Old servant of Petherick’s—Hornblend—Height
of the water of the Dyoor—Apostrophe to the river—A
model Seriba—First acquaintance with Niam-niam—Trader
from Tunis—The Wow River—Seriba Agahd in Wow—Edible
fruits of the country—Wild buffaloes—Instability
of dwellings—Caama and Leucotis antelopes—Numerous
butterflies—Bear-baboons—Pharaoh palms—Daily life of the
Dyoor—Their race—Iron-smelting—Formation of huts—Idyll of
village life—Hunting with snares—Women’s work—Graves—Care
of young and old 172

CHAPTER VI.

Laying out a garden _à l’Européenne_—Hunting adventure
with a bastard Gems-bok—Death of Arslan—Physiognomy
of the vegetation—Character of the soil—Geography
of plants—Destruction of a Seriba by natives—Seriba
law—Cattle-raids on the Dinka—Tour round Ghattas’s
Seribas—Geography at Geer—Fish of the Tondy—Fear of
ghosts in Kulongo—Caves of Gubbehee—Central African
jackal—Bamboos in blossom—Triumph of Nature over her
traducers—Joint-stock distillery in Gurfala—Nubian love
of drink—Petherick’s Mundo—Unsuccessful chase in the
long grass—Two bush-antelopes—Cultivated plants of the
district—Cereals—Large growth of sorghum—Leguminous
fruits—Oily fruits—Tubers—Vegetables—Tobacco—Smoking
in Africa 213

CHAPTER VII.

THE BONGO: Area, boundaries, and population of Bongoland—
Subjection of the Bongo to the Khartoomers—Decrease of
population by slave-trading—Red tinge of the skin—Width of
the skull—Small growth of hair—No aridity in climate—Wild
tubers as food—Races of goats and dogs—Hunting-weapons—
Villages and huts—Smelting furnaces—Money of the
Bongo—Weapons for display—Wood-carving— Penates of the
Bongo—Musical instruments—Character of Bongo music—
Corpulence of the women—Hottentot Venus—Mutilation of the
teeth—Disfigurement of the lips—Arrow-poisoning—National
games—Marriage premiums—Natural morality—Disposing of the
dead—Memorial erections—Mistrust of spirits—Loma, good
and ill-luck—Fear of ghosts—Belief in witches—
Peculiarities of language—Unity of the people of Central
Africa—Extermination of the race Page 256

CHAPTER VIII.

Calamities by fire—Deliverance and escape—Six women-slaves
burnt—Barterings—Domestication of wild-cats—Plague of
cockroaches—Pillen wasps—Agamæ and chameleons—Fever—
Meteorology—Solar phenomenon—A festal reception with an
unfortunate result—Disturbance of rest at night—Murmuring
of prayers—Jewish school—Orgies and drum-beating—Casting
out devils—Resolve to follow Aboo-Sammat—Start towards the
south—Passage of the Tondy—Character of the forest—The
water-bock—Scenery by night—Shereefee’s attack—Seriba
Duggoo—Consequences of the steppe-burning—Seriba
Dagguddoo—Burnt human bones and charred huts—Tropics in
winter—Two kinds of ant-hills—Arrival in Sabby—Nocturnal
festivities of the Bongo—Desolation of the country—
Goat-suckers—Abundance of game—The zebra-ichneumon—The
spectral mantis—Lions—Wonderful chase after hartebeests—
Snake and antelope at a shot 315