Chapter XIV (2)

I paid repeated visits to the king, sometimes finding him in his granaries engaged in distributing provisions to his officers, and sometimes in the inner apartments of his own special residence. One afternoon I received permission, in company with Mohammed, to inspect all the apartments of the royal castle. The master of the ceremonies and the head-cook escorted us round. Mohammed was already familiar with all the arrangements, and was consequently able to call my attention to anything worthy of particular notice. What I call “the castle” is a separate group of huts, halls, and sheds, which are enclosed by a palisade, and which may be entered only by the king and by the officers and servants of the royal household. All official business is transacted in the outer courts. Trees were planted regularly all round the enclosure, and contributed to give a comfortable and homelike aspect to the whole. Not only did the oil-palms abound, but other serviceable trees were planted round the open space, and declared the permanency of the royal residence, in contradistinction to the fluctuating and unsettled dwelling-places of the Niam-niam chieftains.

I was next brought to a circular building with an imposing conical roof, which was appropriated as the arsenal, and was full of weapons of every variety. Sword-blades and lances were especially numerous, and I was at liberty to make my selection out of them, as the king had chosen in this way to make his return for the presents he had received from me. The superintendents and keepers of the armoury did all in their power to interfere with the freedom of my choice, and as often as I showed my fancy for any piece that was particularly rare, they hesitated before surrendering it, and made a condition that the express consent of the king must be secured before a specimen so _recherché_ could be given up. As the result of this exchange of presents, I found my tent loaded with an immense assortment of knives, scimitars, lances, spears, bows, and arrows. At the subsequent conflagration all the wooden portions of these were destroyed, but the metal work was safely remitted to Europe as a proof of the artistic taste and industry of the people.

The same day I had the opportunity of seeing the splendid oxen which Munza had received from the friendly king in the south-east, and to which I have already had occasion to refer.[16] A representation of one of these animals is now introduced, showing the great fat hump, which is larger than any that I had hitherto seen.

All attempts to elicit any information about the country to the south of their own were quite unavailing; the people were silent as the tomb. Nor did I succeed much better when I came to inquire of King Munza himself. Every inquiry on my part was baffled by the resolute secrecy of African state policy, and the difficulties of the duplicate interpretation gave Munza just the pretext he wanted for circumlocution and evasive replies.

[Sidenote: PIAGGIA’S LAKE.]

I was most anxious to obtain correct information as to whether the great inland lake to which Piaggia had referred had any real existence in the district or not, and I satisfied myself by positive testimony that the natives had no actual knowledge about it. But it was really very difficult to convey to them any notion whatever of what was intended; there was an utter absence of any simile by which the idea of a lake, a great inland expanse of fresh water, could be illustrated, and the languages of the interpreters (Arabic and Zandey), however copious they might be, were yet inadequate in this particular matter. Neither in Egypt nor in the Egyptian Soudan is there a proper term for a lake. There are indeed the terms “birket,” “foola,” and “tirra,” but these only signify respectively a pond, a rainpool, and a marsh; and Piaggia, who, as I have pointed out, did not actually reach Keefa, spoke only from hearsay, either from the reports of the Nubians, to whom probably some vague information of Baker’s discoveries had reached, or by an erroneous conception of the explanation of the natives when they described the “great water,” which in reality was the river flowing past Keefa’s residence. Monbuttoo and Niamniam alike are entirely incapable of comprehending what is meant by an ocean. Anything contrary to this statement which may have been spread abroad by Khartoom adventurers[17] I do not think I need hesitate to describe as sheer nonsense or as idle fancy. The tales of steamers and of ships with crews of white men, which are said to have been described by the natives as having come along their rivers, and the stories that pictures of these ships have been found in their dwellings, are doubtless circulated amongst travellers to the Niam-niam lands, but without any assignable grounds.

After much demurring and waiving the question, the king’s interpreter did affirm that he knew of such standing water in the country: be pointed towards the direction of the W.S.W., and said its name was “Madimmo,” and that it was Munza’s own birthplace. The place was called “Ghilly” by the Niam-niam; but when I inquired more accurately, and began to investigate its extent, I received an answer which set my mind entirely at rest that it was as large as Munza’s palace!

I nurtured the silent hope that by mentioning certain names that perchance might be known to the Monbuttoo, I should succeed in breaking down their reserve. I asked the king if he knew anything of the land of Ulegga and of its king Kadjoro, or whether he knew King Kamrasi, whose dominions were beyond the “great water,” and behind the mountains of the Malegga; and I pointed at the same time towards the S.E. Then I mentioned Kamrahs, repeating the word and saying “Kamrahs, Kamrahs,” in the way that the Nubians are accustomed to do, but both Munza and his interpreter were silent, or proceeded to speak of other matters. But while this conversation was going on, a significant look that Munza gave his interpreter did not escape my notice, and very much confirmed my suspicion that he was not altogether unacquainted with Kamrasi.

[Sidenote: AN EXCHANGE.]

Some time afterwards Munza, in the most off-hand way, complained that I had not given him enough copper. Knowing the general expectations of an African king, I was only surprised that he had not urged his demand before. He reminded me of the quantity of copper that Mohammed had given him: “Mohammed,” he said, “is a great sultan; but you are also a great sultan.” When I reminded him that I did not take any of his ivory, he seemed to acquiesce in my excuse; but he very shortly afterwards sent me some messengers to request that I would make him a present of the two dogs which I had brought with me. They were two common Bongo curs of very small growth, but by contrast with the mean breed of the Monbuttoo and the Niam-niam they were attractive enough to excite the avidity of Munza. He had never seen dogs of such a size, and did not want them as dainty morsels for his table, but really wished to have them to keep. However, he had long to beg in vain; I assured him that the creatures had grown up with me till I was truly fond of them; they were, as I told him, my children; I was not disposed to part with them at any price, and might as well be asked to give the hair off my head. But my representations had no effect upon Munza; he had made up his mind to have the dogs, and did not pass a day without repeating his request, and enforcing it by sending fresh relays of presents to my tent. Nothing, however, moved me. At last some slaves, both male and female were sent, and the sight of these suggested a new idea. I resolved to give way, and to exchange one of my dogs for a specimen of the little Akka people. Munza acceded at once, and sent me two of them. He could not suppress his little joke. “You told me,” said he, “not long since, that the dogs were your children; what will you say if I call these my children?”

I accepted the smallest of the Akka, a youth who might be about fifteen years of age, hoping to be able to take him to Europe as a living evidence o£ a truth that lay under the myth of some thousand years. I shall give a fuller account of this little specimen of humanity in the chapter that will be devoted to the subject of the Pygmies.

It had, moreover, become high time for me to give way, and not to put the cannibal ruler’s patience to too severe a test. The exchange which had been effected restored me to the royal favour, and a prohibition which had been issued to the natives, warning them not to have any transactions with me by selling me produce or curiosities, was withdrawn. I received now such quantities of ripe plantains that I was able to procure an abundance of plantain-wine, an extremely palatable and wholesome drink, which is obtained after being allowed to ferment for twenty-four hours.

During this time Mohammed had began to find that the supply of provisions was growing inadequate, and that he would find some difficulty in meeting the necessities of his numerous bearers and of his heterogeneous caravan. He accordingly resolved to make a division of the entire company, and to send a detachment back to Izingerria beyond the Welle, where they might get corn and other supplies. In my own case, I was obliged to do without proper bread; no eleusine was to be had, and I was reduced to a flat tough cake made of manioc and plantain-meal.

[Sidenote: GOATS OF THE MOMVOO.]

As no cattle-breeding is practised among the Monbuttoo, I should have been fastened down to a uniform diet of vegetables if I had not happened to be aware that in the last raid against the Momvoo a very considerable number of goats had been driven into the country. I induced the king to become my agent for getting me some of them, and sent him three large copper bracelets, weighing about a pound, for every goat that he would let me have. In this way I gradually obtained about a dozen fat goats, and more beautiful creatures of the I kind had never seen since I had left Khartoom. They were of two different breeds: one of them was singularly like the Bongo race, which has been before described, and which are remarkable for the long hair that hangs from their neck and shoulders; the other differed from any type that I had previously seen in having an equally-distributed drooping fleece, which serves as a covering for its short-haired extremities, and in its nose being very considerably arched. The ordinary colour of these graceful animals is a uniform glossy black. They are fed almost exclusively upon plantain leaves, a food which makes them thrive admirably. When I had got half-a-dozen of them together I had them all killed at once. I had the flesh all taken off the bones, the sinews carefully removed, and then made my bearers, who had no other work to do, mince it up very fine upon some boards. The entire mass was next thrown into great vessels and boiled; it was afterwards strained, and when it had got cold it was freed from all fat and finally steamed until it was a thick jelly. The extract of meat obtained in this way had to serve throughout our return journey, and in the sequel proved a very remunerative product. It was not liable to decomposition, and its keeping so well made it an excellent resource in time of want and postponed the evil day of our actual suffering from hunger.

Besides the company of Mohammed Aboo Sammat, there were two other companies that for some years had been accustomed to carry their expeditions into the Monbuttoo country, namely, Agahd’s and that of the Poncets, which was afterwards transferred to Ghattas. It was a matter of arrangement that these should confine their operations to the eastern districts, where Degberra was king. At their departure they always left a small detachment in charge to look after their business interests and to prevent any competition. Agahd’s and Poncet’s soldiers had been left in the garrisons in the districts that were under the control of Degberra’s generals, Kubby and Benda, and they were only too glad to embrace the present chance (as we were only distant a two days’ journey) of coming to see their friends and acquaintance from Khartoom and to hear the news.

[Sidenote: AFRICAN CAUTION.]

To all appearance the Monbuttoo air agreed excellently with them all, which is more than can be said of those who reside in some of the northern Seribas. They had wives and families in the country, and made no other complaint than that their life was somewhat lonely and monotonous and their food so different to what they had been accustomed to; but what the fanatical Mohammedans had most readily to avow was that they really held the natives in admiration and respect, notwithstanding their intense detestation of the cannibalism which was attributed to them. Mohammed also left some of his people in the neighbourhood of Munza; and these strangers had permission to erect Seribas and to plant their environs with sweet-potatoes, manioc, and plantains. Their prerogative extended no further than this, and they had no authority at all over the natives; however small might be their number in any place (sometimes not a score of men altogether) they were sure to be sufficient to restrain the inhabitants from any attempt at surprise. The African savages are not like the American Indiana, who are always prepared to see a few of their party killed at the outset, provided that they can only make sure of ultimate success and can get their plunder at last; not that the Africans underrate the advantage they possess in the superiority of their numbers, nor that they entertain too high an estimate of the bravery of the Nubians, but they are conscious that no attack could be ventured without one or two of them having to pay the penalty of their lives. No one is ready for his own part to run the risk of his own being the life that must be sacrificed; and thus it happens that the prospect of a few deaths is sufficient to deter them, though they might be reckoned by thousands, from making that outbreak which their numerical strength might guarantee would be finally successful.

As soon as Mohammed became aware that he had got to the end of the king’s store of ivory he began to think of his ways and means, and contemplated pushing on farther to the south and opening a new market for himself. With the greatest enthusiasm I entered into his design, and taking up his cry, “To the world’s end!” I added, “Now’s the time, and onward let us go!” But, unfortunately, there were insuperable obstacles in the way. In the first place, there was the decided opposition of the king, who entertained the very natural belief that the farther progress of the Khartoomers to the south would interfere with his monopoly of the copper trade; and in the next place there was the impossibility of Mohammed being able, without Munza’s co-operation, to procure sufficient provisions for so arduous an undertaking. To put the former difficulty to the test, Mohammed despatched his nephew with the conduct of an expedition just sufficiently large to venture the attempt. For three days this expedition pressed on, until upon the River Nomayo, an affluent of the Welle, they reached the residence of one of Munza’s sub-chieftains, whose name was Mummery. Halfway upon their route they had rested at the dwelling-place of another chieftain, named Nooma. Both Mummery and Nooma, it should be said, were Munza’s own brothers; but neither of them would venture to open commercial transactions of any kind without the express orders of the king, and consequently the expedition had to return at once and leave its object unaccomplished.

The disappointment was very keen: it was a bitter grief to see one’s most cherished projects melt thus thoroughly away. Nor was it a much smaller matter of regret that Mohammed felt himself obliged to curtail even our few weeks’ residence with Munza; he might propose, indeed, to advance to the south from the eastern portion of the Monbuttoo country, but that was a project that was little likely to be accomplished.

For a long period I held fast to my intention of remaining behind alone in Munza’s country with the soldiers who would be left in charge of the Seriba; and I indulged the fascinating hope that I should find an opportunity of penetrating into that farther south which I longed so earnestly to investigate; but my protector would not acquiesce in this for a moment, nor did any of my own people show an inclination to support my wishes. It was very doubtful if we could be relieved during the next year, or the year after, if at all; my resources even now were hardly enough to take me home again; the wherewithal for further enterprise was altogether wanting; if I should entrust my collection, which I had so laboriously gathered, to the care of others, there was every risk of its becoming wet and even spoiled; the prospect, too, of penetrating into the interior under the escort of the Monbuttoo themselves was not altogether inviting: I should only have accompanied their plundering raids, where I should have been compelled to be a daily witness of their cruelties and cannibalism; thus upon serious deliberation I was driven to the conviction that my scheme was not feasible.

[Sidenote: WANT OF A GOLDEN KEY.]

No doubt a very different vista would have opened itself before me into the untraversed interior of the continent if I had chanced to be one of those favoured travellers who have unlimited command of gold. But fortune and money appear, with regard to African travel, to stand very much in the same relation to one another as force and time in physics; what you gain in one, you lose in the other. The fortunate and healthy travellers, like Karl Mauch and Gerhard Rohlfs, have generally been very limited in their means; whilst rich travellers, such as the Baron von der Decken and Miss Tinné, have succumbed to difficulties, sickened, or died. Any expedition that was fitted out with a liberality proportioned to that of Speke’s would have been capable of advancing from Munza’s to the south, defiant of opposition; enough copper would have neutralised the resistance of the king; if force could be opposed by force, and threats could be met by threats, the native princes would all declare themselves to be friends, and, like Mtesa and Kamrasi, would meet them with open arms. But, as I say, the resources must be adequate. With two hundred soldiers from Khartoom, not liable to fever, and capable of existing upon food of any sort, and who were up to all the dodges and chicaneries of the African chieftains, any one could penetrate as far as he chose. If I had possessed 10,000 dollars in my purse, or had them invested properly in Khartoom, I would have guaranteed to bring my leader on to Bornoo. The sum would have sufficed to keep his soldiers up to their duty; and under those circumstances I should have been master of the situation, and Mohammed would have had means to get as much ivory as he could desire.

These intimations may suffice to show that, in my opinion, with the aid of the Khartoom merchant companies, access could be had to the remotest parts of the continent without any exorbitant outlay of money; but conditions so favourable for prosecuting the work as those which then fell to my lot, I fear may be long before they occur again.

Munza’s visits made a diversion in our camp life. The finest entertainment, however, which chanced to occur was the celebration of the victory which Mummery had obtained over the Momvoo. As the produce of his successful raid, Mummery brought the due contributions of ivory, slaves, and goats, to lay before the feet of the king, and the occasion was taken to institute a festival on the grandest scale. In consequence of Munza’s establishment being already taxed with the entertainment of so many strangers, Mummery only stayed for a single night. The morning after his arrival was appointed for the feast.

The early part of the day was cold and rainy; but quite betimes, the shouts and cheers that rang around the camp told us that the rejoicing already had begun. Towards midday the news was brought that the excitement was reaching its climax, and that the king himself was dancing in the presence of his numerous wives and courtiers. The weather was still chill and drizzly; but, putting on a long black frock-coat as being the most appropriate costume for the occasion, I bent my steps to the noble saloon, which resounded again with the ringing echoes of uproarious cheers and clanging music. The scene that awaited me was unique. Within the hall there was a spacious square left free, around which the eighty royal wives were seated in a single row upon their little stools, having painted themselves in honour of the occasion with the most elaborate care; they were applauding most vigorously, clapping their hands with all their might. Behind the women stood an array of warriors in full accoutrement, and their lines of lances were a frontier of defence. Every musical accompaniment to which the resources of the court could reach had all been summoned, and there was a _mêlée_ of gongs and kettle-drums, timbrels and trumpets, horns and bells. Dancing there in the midst of all, a wondrous sight, was the king himself.

[Sidenote: MUNZA’S DANCE.]

Munza was as conspicuous in his vesture as he was astounding in his movements. It is ever the delight of African potentates on occasions of unusual pomp to present themselves to their subjects in some new aspect. Munza’s opportunities in this way were almost unlimited, as he had a house full of skins and feathers of every variety: he had now attired his head in the skin of a great black baboon, giving him the appearance of wearing a grenadier’s bearskin; the peak of this was dressed up with a plume of waving feathers. Hanging from his arms were the tails of genets, and his wrists were encircled by great bundles of tails of the guinea-hog. A thick apron, composed of the tails of a variety of animals was fastened round his loins, and a number of rings rattled upon his naked legs. But the wonder of the king’s dress was as nothing compared to his action. His dancing was furious. His arms dashed themselves furiously in every direction, though always marking the time of the music; whilst his legs exhibited all the contortions of an acrobat’s, being at one moment stretched out horizontally to the ground, and at the next pointed upwards and elevated in the air. The music ran on in a wild and monotonous strain, and the women raised their hands and clapped together their open palms to mark the time. For what length of time this dance had been going on I did not quite understand; I only know that I found Munza raving in the hall with all the mad excitement which would have been worthy of the most infatuated dervish that had ever been seen in Cairo. Moment after moment it looked as if the enthusiast must stagger, and, foaming at the mouth, fall down in a fit of epilepsy; but nervous energy seems greater in Central Africa than among the “hashishit” of the north: a slight pause at the end of half an hour, and all the strength revived; once again would commence the dance, and continue unslackened and unwearied.

So thoroughly were the multitude engrossed with the spectacle that hardly any attention at all was given to my arrival, and a few who noticed it did not permit themselves to be diverted from the enjoyment of their pleasure. I had an opportunity, therefore, of transferring the scene to paper, and of finishing a sketch which embraces its prominent features.

But above the tumult of men was heard the tumult of the elements. A hurricane arose, with all the alarming violence of tropical intensity. For a little while the assembly was unmoved and disposed to take no notice of the storm; but soon the wind and pelting rain found their way into the openings of the hall; the music ceased, the rolling drum yielding to the thunder; the audience in commotion rose, and sought retreat; and in another instant the spectacle was over; the dancing king was gone.

The floods of rain compelled me to remain upon the spot, and I took advantage of the opportunity to make an undisturbed inspection of the other and larger hall, which was situated just opposite to the one in which I was. A low doorway led into the edifice, which was 150 feet long and not less than fifty feet high; it was lighted only by narrow apertures, and the roof was supported on five rows of columns. On one side of it was a wooden partition which divided off from the spacious edifice a small apartment, where the king was accustomed, according to the imperial wont of altering the sleeping-place, occasionally to pass the night. An enormous erection, ponderous enough to support an elephant, served as a bedstead; on each side of this were several posts each encircled by forged iron rings that could not weigh less than half a hundredweight. In this royal bedchamber I noticed a large number of barbarous decorations, and I observed that the pillars and the timberwork were rudely painted with numerous geometrical designs, but that the artists seem to have had only three colours at their command; blood-red, yellow-ochre, and the white from dogs’ dung (_album græcum_).

[Sidenote: A VISIT FROM THE KING.]

Munza twice honoured our camp with a visit. His majesty’s approach was announced long beforehand by the outcries of the teeming people that thronged along his way. On entering the encampment he found the German flag waving from a tall flagstaff that I had erected in the immediate proximity of my tent; he was curious to know what it meant, and had to be initiated into the object of a national symbol, and to be informed of the tragical experiences of King Theodore in Abyssinia. It was a great relief to me that he did not require to enter either into my tent or into a large grass-shed which had been recently erected for me. Altogether the monarch displayed much less covetousness than I had reason to expect. Recognising this moderation on his part, I endeavoured to entertain him by showing him my collection of pictures, and amongst others I submitted to him the one of himself in the copper habiliments which he had worn on the day of our first audience. They were the only portraits he had ever seen, and his astonishment was very great; the play of the muscles of his face displayed the interest he took, and, according to the custom of the land, he opened his mouth quite wide, and covered it with his open hand, betraying thereby his surprise and admiration. I had afterwards to open my bosom for his inspection, and when I turned up my shirt-sleeves, he could not suppress a cry of amazement. The interview ended, as such visits generally did, by his expressing a wish, with which I had not the least intention to comply, that I would take off my boots.

The date of our departure was now drawing near, and yet neither my promised chimpanzee nor guinea-hog[18] had appeared. About the chimpanzee the truth was that not one could be found in the district, which was far too densely populated, and where the woods upon the river-banks were very light and traversed by frequent pathways; but with regard to the guinea-hog it was quite different; they were to be found in the nearest environs of the royal residence, and, if only Munza had been inclined, he could have redeemed his promise and secured me a specimen without difficulty. He left me, consequently, to get one, if I could, for myself; but this, to a novice in the chase, was more easily said than done, and I had to ramble in the thickets, rifle in hand, under the vain hope that I might secure a specimen.

Only once, and that was just when evening was coming on to close a cloudy day, and a drizzling mist was giving obscurity to the woods, I caught sight of one of these animals. Its red bristly head and long pointed ears peered out from behind the prostrate stem of a great tree, and I was just concluding that it was within gunshot, when at the very instant two of my native attendants were seen beside it rolling on the ground and bleeding at the nose. My people were not remarkable for pluck, and nothing would induce them to a second venture with the beast. Thus I was compelled to renounce my hope of getting a guinea-hog.

[Sidenote: WASHING DAY.]

During the earlier hours of the morning and the later hours of the afternoon, I spent the time, day after day, in continual excursions, which enabled me to add to the novelties of my collection. The middle of the day I devoted to the necessary supervision of my household. The periodic washing day had come, and I was at a loss to find a washing-tub that could contain the accumulated linen. Mohammed’s ingenuity came once more to my aid. He borrowed King Munza’s largest meat-dish for my use. A lordly dish it was; more like a truck than an article for the table. It was five feet long, and hewn from a single block.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] This palm is found in every bank-forest in the
Monbuttoo country, and its leaves vary from 25 to 35
feet in length: the midrib of the leaf (rhachis) is of
a bright brown colour, and furnishes the most popular
building material throughout Central Africa.

[12] I had obtained these little works of art from my
Venetian friend Miani, to whom they had been presented
some years previously by his fellow-citizens, when
he was preparing to undertake a new expedition. The
enterprise had failed from no other cause than from
the jealousy shown by the Egyptian Government.

[13] According to Liebig the cola-nut contains more
coffeine than the most potent coffee berries.

[14] It may interest the reader to learn that in the
Shamane prayers “brrr——” is synonymous with “hail,”
and I have little doubt that it here meant some sort
of applause, as it was always the signal for the
repetition of the hymn in celebration of the glories
of Munza.

[15] A similar contrivance is used on the river Gabon on
the West Coast.

[16] _Vide_ vol. i. chap. xiii.

[17] Compare Dr. Ori’s letter to the Marquis Antinori in
the ‘Bolletino della Soc. Geogr. Ital.,’ i. p. 184.

[18] The Guinea-hog (_Potamochœrus penicillatus_) is called
“Napezzo,” or “fat,” by the Monbuttoo, and its flesh
is considered very choice. These animals, which are
not nearly so wild as the wart-hogs (the blabark of
the South African Boërs), and are indeed capable
of being partially tamed, are found throughout the
tropical regions of Africa, from the west coast to
Zanzibar. Burton met with them in Ugogo. In early
times they were already introduced into Brazil.