Chapter XI: The Ford

Girls carried away by the Rapids--An amphibious Arab Girl--Search for the drowned Girl--The Corpse recovered--The Sheik lays down the Law--"The Fact is simply impossible"--The Sheik's Idea of Matrimony--The Duties of his Four Wives--The Maimed, the Halt, and the Blind--The Arab Fakeers or Priests--"All the Same with a little Difference"--The Cure for Frendeet--Arrival at Katariff--The Market Day--Scenes at the Fair--Custom of scarifying the Cheeks--The Galla Slave--Purchase her Freedom --Singular Misunderstanding--Mahomet's Explanation--Mek Nimmur invades the Frontier--Mek Nimmur's Tactics--Insecurity of the Country--Mek Nimmur sends me his Compliments--Roder Sheriff's withered Arm--The Aggageers--Mixture for Bullets--We make Arrowroot--Florian's Hunter--Arrive at Geera--Follow a Herd of Elephants--Track up the Elephants--A tremendous Crash--A critical Position--The Forehead Shot--The Half-pound Explosive Shell--Recover my old wounded Elephant--Fraternize with the Sword Hunters.

CHAPTER XII.

OLD NEPTUNE JOINS THE PARTY.

The Arab Centaurs--Wild Arab Horsemanship--Discipline of the Gun-bearers--Off goes the Gun, and its Master!--Ombrega (Mother of the Thorn)--Leopard Springs into the Camp--The Dog carried off--The Bull Elephant--The Forehead Shot fails--The Mountain Chain of Abyssinia--A Hunt after a Herd of Baboons--The Prisoners--A Course after a Tetel--The Cry of Buffaloes--We hunt and capture--The Baboons take leave--The Valley of the Settite--The Bull Buffalo--The Island Camp--Mahomet hears the Lions--Tales of the Base.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE LIONS FIND THE BUFFALO.

We seek an Introduction--The Start of the Sword Hunters--The Bull Elephant--The "Baby" screams at him--The Fight, Sword in Hand--Abou Do's Blade tastes Blood--We find the Herd--Jali leads the Party--The Forehead Shot fairly proved--The Charge of the Phalanx--My "Baby" kicks viciously--Abou Do slashes the Sinew--The Boar wounds Richarn--Old Moosa, the Sorcerer--Neptune and his Trident--The Beauty of the Settite--Borders of the River--The Hippopotamus Hunter--The Hippo is harpooned--A Cheer for Old Neptune--Death of the Hippopotamus--Character of Hippopotami--Habits of the Hippopotamus--Its Activity.

CHAPTER XIV.

A FOREBODING OF EVIL.

Jali's Thigh is broken--Abou Do saves Jali--Extraordinary Dexterity--Jungle Surgery--We lose our best Man--My Tokrooris determine to desert--A little Diplomacy is required--The Sick are dosed--"Embrace him!" cried old Moosa--We become staunch Friends--Abou Do's Weaknesses--The Baobab--The Crop of Gum Arabic--The Rhinoceros--Now for a "Tally Ho!"--The Hunt--Close to their Tails--"A Horse! a Horse! my Kingdom for a Horse!"--The last Moment--Difficulty of Hunting--Power of Scent--Horns of the Rhinoceros--Peculiarity of the Rhinoceros--Rhinoceros Snare-- Barrake poisons herself--Attractive Food for Elephants--Florian killed by a Lion--Gloomy Prediction.

CHAPTER XV.

ANTELOPES ON THE SETTITE.

The Camp at Delladila--Trionis Nilotica--Fish linked to Reptiles--Scenes on the River's Margin--The Nellut (A. Strepsiceros)--Swimming Rivers with a Horse--The Lion--The Lion Hunt--The Escape--The Bull Buffalo--Death of the Bull--The Arabs' Tit-bit--The Arab Plan for making Fire--The Mehedehet Antelope--Sauve qui peut!--Nearly caught--Fire clears the Country--Discretion the better Part of Valour--The Camp in Danger--Nearly burnt out--Crocodile harpooning--The ugly little Statue--Harpooning the Hippopotamus--The Harpoon fixed--The Hippo determines to fight--The Lances are blunted--Hor Mehetape--Geological Features--Unpleasant Report of the Spies.

CHAPTER XVI.

ABOU DO IS GREEDY.

Departure of the Aggageers--Game returning from the River--A Bull Rhinoceros--We stalk the Rhinoceros--The Death--The Aggageers poach upon my Manor--Their Prize dies--Taher Noor faces the Lion--We start fresh Game--A curious Shot--Bait for the Lions--Highly exciting--My Tokrooris don't like the Lion--The dying Lioness--Brought into Camp--Difficulty in tracking the Lions--The Lion visits our Camp--Vis a vis with a Lion--A Surprise--Tetel faces the wounded Lion--Wonderful Courage of the Horse--Lions' Claws worn as a Charm--We commence Soap-boiling-- Savon a la Bete feroce--We bury poor Barrake.

CHAPTER XVII.

WE REACH THE ROYAN.

Hor Mai Gubba--The Francolin Partridge--We watch for Game--Out with the Aggageers--The Banks of the Royan--We find a Bull Elephant--Helter- skelter--The Elephant at Bay--Roder with the withered Arm--The Sword wins the Day--The nimble Base dine cheaply--The great Whirlpool--The Royan Junction with the Settite--A Bull Rhinoceros--Bacheet has to run--Visit to Mek Nimmur--Our Arabs decline to proceed--Obliged to threaten the Camels--The Troop on a Foray--Narrow Escape--The Rifle bursts--We march from the Settite--Interesting Route--Mineral Wealth of Abyssinia--Present to Mek Nimmur--The Abyssinian Minstrel--Richard Coeur de Lion--I part with my dear Maria Theresa--The Ghost of the departed Fiddler--The "Lay of the Last Minstrel"--My Introduction to Mek Nimmur--The Reception--The poisonous Stream--Unfortunate Contretemps--Nimmur behaves like a Gentleman--Pharaoh's lean Kine.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A CAMEL FALLS, AND DIES.

Arabs consume the Raw Flesh--Arrival at the Bahr Salaam--Character of the Torrents--The Junction of the Angrab--Good Sport--Four lucky Hits--A Fall over a Cliff--We save the Camel--Narrow Escape--The Hyaena enters the Tent--Hippotragus Bakerii--The Base of the Abyssinian Alps-- Delightful Country--Follow a Herd of Elephants--Aggahr takes the Lead--Fall at the Feet of Elephants--Benighted on our Return to Camp--"All's well that ends well".

CHAPTER XIX.

SEND A PARTY TO RECONNOITRE.

Ahead of the Camels--The Maarif--View from the Peak--The Rhinoceros attacks the Horse--The Bullet saves him--Arrival of the Horses--The Rhinoceros Hunt--Ridden to bay--Arrival of Birds of Prey--Habits of Vultures--The Marabou Stork--Sight, not Scent, directs the Vulture--Abou Seen--"Last but not least"--Route to Nahoot Guddabi--Arrive at the Atbara--Last View of the Atbara--The Atbara Exploration completed.

CHAPTER XX.

ARRIVAL AT METEMMA, OR GALLABAT.

Poisonous Water--The Trade of Abyssinia--We encounter Missionaries--The theological Blacksmith--The Missionaries' Medicine-Chest--Jemma, Sheik of the Tokrooris--The Egyptians' attack upon Gallabat--Settlement of the Tokrooris--Industry of the Tokrooris--Weapons, Type, and Character--The Colonization by Tokrooris--Honey Wine of Abyssinia--All drunk last Night--Distance from an Act of Parliament--We leave Gallabat--A Row with the Tokrooris--I settle the Tokroori Champion--A real flat-nosed African Nigger--Death of Aggahr and Gazelle--Forced March to the Rahad--The River Rahad.

CHAPTER XXI.

FERTILITY OF THE COUNTRY ON THE BANKS OF THE RAHAD.

Journey along the Rahad--Rich Country--We cross over to the Dinder--Ferocity of Crocodiles in that River--Character of the Dinder--Activity of the African Elephant--Distinction of Species--Peculiarity of Form--African and Indian Elephants--Destruction of Forests--Elephant's Foot a Luxury--Preservation of Flesh and Fat for the March--Preparation of Bread for a Journey--The Bos Caffer--The most formidable Animals--Rifles for wild Countries--Sundry Hints--Bullets for large Game--Antelopes of Central Africa and Abyssinia.

CHAPTER XXII.

WE LEAVE THE DINDER.

Curious Hunting Party--Character of Abyssinian Rivers--Borassus AEthiopicus--Rufaar and the Arab Sheik--The Blue Nile--The very gentlemanly Faky--Regularly "sold"--Arrival at Khartoum--The British Lion--The Zoological Collection--The Ostriches invite themselves to Tea--I intercede for Mek Nimmur--King Theodore's Ultimatum--Climate of the Soudan--The Sageer or Water-wheel--Uncontrolled Action of the Nile--Suggestions for the Irrigation of Egypt--Why should not Science create a Delta?--A Series of Weirs upon the Nile--The Benefits to Egypt and to Civilization--Ancient Works of Irrigation in Ceylon--Industrious Population of Egypt--Capabilities for producing Cotton--The Great Sahara--The Race of Life--Prepare to discover the White Nile Source.

THE NILE TRIBUTARIES OF ABYSSINIA, AND THE SWORD HUNTERS OF THE HAMRAN ARABS.