DT1Z3 SrcttoQ .ZZl EUGENE L. MORICE, Oriental & African Bookseller. 39, Museum Street, LONDON. W.C Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/wildtribesofsoudOOjame_0 THE LD TRIBES OF THE SOUDAN THE WILD TRIBES OF THE SOUDAN i FEB ' AN ACCOUNT OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND ADVENTURES DURING THREE WINTERS SPENT IN THAT COUNTRY CHIEFLY AMONG THE BASE TRIBE F. L. JAMES, M.A., F.R.G.S. SECOND EDITION WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ROUTES FROM WADY HALFAH TO BERBER, BY THE AUTHOR ; AND A CHAPTER ON KHARTOUM AND THE SOUDAN BY SIR SAMUEL BAKER WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS JOHN LONDON MURRAY, ALBEMARLE 1884 STREET Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh. TO E\)z fEEmorg of THE HONOURABLE JOHN CONSTABLE MAXWELL OUR COMPANION IN A PREVIOUS JOURNEY IN THE SOUDAN THIS RECORD OF OUR WANDERINGS IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. R.LP. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The favourable reception my book has met with has encouraged me to publish a new edition. I have curtailed some of the purely shooting incidents, and have added an account of the country between Wady Halfah and Berber, a country which I visited during the spring of 1878, and which is particularly interesting at the present time, when the thoughts of so many are turned to the expedition now taking place in that region. I have endeavoured to describe the tedious desert journeys from Merowi to Berber, and from Wady Halfah to Dongola, and also that by river from Dongola to Merowi. I trust that, should our troops return to Cairo by the Nile, they will not be as much retarded in their progress by contrary winds and the lowness of the Nile as we were, nor so much plagued by midges, — a plague that must be experienced to be understood ! My friend. Sir Samuel Baker, has very kindly written a prefatory chapter for me to the present Edition, on " the Political Aspect of the Soudan," and I am sure that whatever such a well-known authority on African travel has to say on a country viii PREFACE. in which he has spent so many years, will be read with great interest by all. A considerable portion of my book is taken up with a description of the Base country, the greater part of which had not been explored previous to our visit. The Base, or Kunama tribe, who inhabit this dis- trict, are far less civilised than any of the other tribes who dwell in that part of Africa ; they are of a totally different type, much blacker and more closely allied to the pure negro than any of their neighbours. To penetrate into the heart of their country had for some time been with me a cherished project ; and I had often discussed its feasibility with Egyptian officials and others in the Soudan during previous journeys made in the country, but had been invari- ably told that it was next to impossible to accomplish my desire. On all hands we were informed that the Base were most treacherous, and that although there was not much danger of their attacking so large a party as we were by day, they would not hesitate to take advantage of us during the darkness of night if an opportunity presented itself. My narrative will show that a little tact and care on our part overcame these obstacles, and we became the best of friends with the Base. Our chief difficulty was in first entering their country, and in setting their minds at rest as to our peaceable and non-political in- tentions towards them. On one occasion only, when our party was divided, we had good reason to believe PREFACE. ix that they meditated treachery, but on their discover- ing that we were apprised of their intentions they apparently gave up their project, and we never had cause to suspect them again. The only travellers I could hear of who had ever ventured into this country were a Mr. and Mrs. Powell, who, together with their child, had been treacherously murdered by the Base before they had advanced very far into their territory. I would, in conclusion, ask the indulgence of the public for this effort of one who for the first time publishes a record of his daily life and experience, and especially for the additional matter contained in the present edition which, owing to my leaving England for some months on a fresh expedition, I have been unable personally to see through the press. F. L. J. 14 Great Stanhope Street, London, W. October 25, 1884. CONTENTS. PAGE PREFATORY CHAPTER. The Political Aspect of the Soudan ..... xix CHAPTER I. We leave Cairo for the Egyptian Soudan. — The Base Country. — Egyptian Officials. — Quarantine Regulations. — Our Party. — Servants of the Party. — Ali the Cook. — Shereef the staid and stately Waiter. — Mahoom. — The Agra's Passengers . i CHAPTER n. Arrival at Souakim. — The IVa/ceel. — Thieving Propensities of Eg)'ptian Officials. — Encouragement of Slavery. — Souakim. — Caravan -routes from Souakim, — Ala-ed-Deen Pacha. — The Governor's " Palace." — Bedouin Government Prisoners. — Omnipresence of Greeks. — Dhicrra. — "Hotel du Soudan." — Curious Manner of dressing the Hair. — An African Hurling- ham. — Story of the Seven Virgins. — Departure from Souakim ......... 9 CHAPTER IH. The First Halt. — The Rainy Season. — The Camel-sheik comes for Baksheesh. — Three Caravan-routes to Cassala. — Disputes with the Camel-drivers. — Gazelles. — Management of Camels. — Halt at Siterabb.— A Piteous Tale . . . . 21 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Journey continued. — Buck Gazelle shot. — ISIore Trouble with the Camel-drivers. — A rose-breasted Shrike. — Sand-storm at Ellegua. — Jules taken ill. — Death in Camp. — Takroori Woman abandoned by her People. — \Ye divide the Camp. — Mishaps of those left behind. — Christmas Day at Wandi. — " Molly " CHAPTER V. We divide the Camp. — Part start for Cassala. — The Rest remain at Wandi. — Continued Illness of Jules. — Dhiu-raxvax's, short. — Departure from Wandi. — Khor Belag. — News of the First Party. — A Deserted Village. — Omri. — The Belgian Doctor. — Halt at Khor Rassay. — Pharaoh's Lean Kine. — Desolate Tract of Country. — Scorpions ...... 34 CHAPTER VI. Arrival at Fillik. — The Gash. — Abundance of Game. — Cassala reached. — Encampment in the Dry Bed of the Gash. — Cara- vans on the Cassala Road. — The Governor of Cassala. — Servants sent from Sanheit. — Death of Jules ... 40 CHAPTER VII. Purchase of Camels. — Expedition to the Atbara. — The Village of Naouri. — Mosconas and his Son. — White Ants. — Dinner with the Governor. — The Town of Cassala. — Hyaenas. — Pariah Dogs. — Collections for European Zoological Societies. — Departure from Cassala. — Bashi-Bazouks ... 47 CHAPTER VIII. Journey from Cassala. — Game shot by the Way. — The dog-faced Baboon. — Arrival at Haikota. — The German "Animal- catcher." — Visits from two Sheiks. — Sheik Achmed Ageer. — Attack on the Beni-Amers by the Base. — Fresh Supply of Camels. — Dinner to Sheik Achmed and the German. — Suc- cess of the Magic-Lantern ...... 56 PAGE 27 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER IX. PAGE Departure from Haikota. — Abundance of Game. — Halt at Toad- elook. — Tetel. — Adventure with a Lion on the Prowl. — A Shooting Expedition. — Fifty-seven Sand-grouse netted. — Night-watches in hopes of a Shot ..... 66 CHAPTER X. The Camp moves forward. — Scarcity of Game. — Water easily obtainable. — Baby Crocodiles. — Sheik Achmed rejoins the Travellers. — A Battue. — Mimosa - trees. — Road - cutting through the Jungle. — A Buffalo Adventure ... 72 CHAPTER XI. , Arrival at Wo Amman — First Interview with Base. — A Base Village. — Giraffe-stalking. — The Village of Koolookoo. — Deputation from the Village. — The Sheik's Son makes him- self "generally useful." — Presents for the Deputation. — The Koolookoo Villagers much interested in us. — Visit to the Village. — Women of Koolookoo . . . . .78 CHAPTER XII. Scarcity of Dhurra. — A number of Base join our Camp. — Water carriers. — Another deserted Village. — Ceremony of making Peace. — Friendliness of the Base Women. — The Mareb. — Buffaloes seen for the First Time. — More Base join the Camp. — Exciting Stalk after an Ostrich. — Game abounds. — Aylmer and I start for" Ma Ambasah, and find Water. — A Chase after Buffaloes. — Both Barrels at once. — A nasty Recoil. — A Visit from Sheik Kudul. — He departs, promising to return. — The Camp moves to Ma Ambasah. — Two Bull Buffaloes killed. — Some of the Camel-drivers sent to Amedeb for Dhiirra . . . . . . . . ,89 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. PAGE Disastrous Adventure with Abyssinians. — Akabah brings the Alarm. — Two of our Party surprised by a Hundred armed Abyssinians. — Making friends. — Treachery of the Abys- sinians. — Mahomet fearfully wounded. — The search for him. — The Dembelas Tribe. — Contemplated Expedition against the Dembelas abandoned . . . . . .105 CHAPTER XIV. We leave Ma Ambasah. — Arrival of Mahomet. — Doubts of the Base. — A Picturesque Scene. — Sport or Exploration — The Medicine -Chest. — Death of Mahomet. — Two of the Party start for Amedeb. — Difficulty of keeping Camels. — The "Guffer" Disease. — Dilatoriness of the Arabs. — Poverty of the Base. — The Barea Tribe . . . . . .114 CHAPTER XV. Our Tourney to Amedeb. — History of Sheik Said Carcashi. — The Bombashi. — Promises aid in recovering the Stolen Pro- perty. — Ras Aloula. — Town of Amedeb. — Mahomet's sister. — Return to the Mareb . . . . . . .122 CHAPTER XVI. Alarm of an Attack by the Base. — Our Camp moves on. — Inde- pendence of the Base. — Elephant-tracks. — Most of the Base leave the Camp. — A Shot at a Lion. — Difficulty of shooting while riding Camels. — The Arabs strike. — Abundance of Quail. — Return to Haikota. — Departure for the Settite. — The Village of Sogada. — Arrival at the Settite . . .127 CHAPTER XVII. The Road to the Settite. — The Everlasting Forest. — Sheik Achmed's Deception; — Fishing in the Settite. — The Camp moves on. — The Guides and Camel -drivers refuse to pro- ceed. — The Return to Khor Meheteb. — Adventure with a Crocodile. — A Scare. — Encampment at Khor Meheteb. — Good Fishing. — The Kelb-el-bahr.'' — Capture of a Baggar. — A Visit from Base of Lacatecourah. — Tracking Buffaloes. — Arab Escort sent back to Haikota. — Baboons. — Exciting Night among the Buffaloes . . . . -139 CONTENTS, XV CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE A Visit from two Hamran Sheiks. — A Shereker. — A Second Visit from Hamran Sheiks. — Three Base join the Camp. — They are attacked by the Hamrans. — Departure for Om Hagar. — Arrival at Om Hagar. — Capture of the First Hip- popotamus. — Visit from Hamran Sheik's Son. — The Last Hippopotamus. — Marabou Storks. — Purchase of a Tortoise. — A splendid Buck A^elhct shot 157 CHAPTER XIX. Extracts from Diary. — Bait set for Lions. — Mosquitoes. — Among the Buffaloes again. — Beginning of the Homeward Journey. — Journey towards Lacatecourah. — The Village of Lacate- courah. — A Boiine-Boicche. — Encampment at Abou Sellal. — A Native of the Base Settite. — A Dabergoum Sheik offers to conduct us to the Base Settite. — Base Villages on the Settite. — Capture of a Boa-constrictor. — Arrival at Haikota. — The Beni-Amer's Raid on the Base. — A Visit from Sheik Achmed Ageer . . . . . . . . . .170 CHAPTER XX. Immense Flocks and Herds. — Night Watch for Lions. — Two Panthers killed. — Two Lions bagged. — The Camp moves on, — Religion of the Base. — Origin of various African Tribes. — First Day's Journey towards Amedeb. — A False Alarm. — Arrival at Amedeb. — ^Journey continued. — Khor Baraka. — Another Watch for Lions. — Thrilling Adventure with a Lion 183 CHAPTER XXL Perilous Ascent of Tchad- Amba. — The Church. — The Monks. — We move on again. — An Old Acquaintance. — Arrival at Sanheit. — The Town of Sanheit. — A Visit to the Church and Schools at Sanheit. — We start for Massawa. — Dra's sad Story. — The Anseba Valley. — An Attempt to make India- rubber from the Qiiol-qiiol Plant. — El Ain. — Bashi-Bazouks and their Prisoners. — We encamp at the Water -course Camphor. — Occasional sudden Rising of the Water in the Kliors ...... .... 202 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. PAGE Arrival at Massawa. — Comfortable Quarters at the "Palace." — Situation of Massawa. — Water Supply of Massawa. — The Town is guarded at Night. — Camel Sale by Auction. — The Start from Massawa. — Perilous Position of Mahoom. — Ar- rival at Souakim. — A Visit to Mr. Bewley. — Our Fellow- Passengers on the "Messina." — Arrival at vSuez. — Accounts of Abyssinian Raid in English and Egyptian Press. — Sulei- man's History. — We leave Cairo for England . . . 220 CHAPTER XXIII. Berber. — Native Entertainments. — The Bazaars. — Visit to the School. — Fine Breed of Donkeys. — Population. — Start for Wady Halfah. — Pacha Gordon's Shelters. — Wells of Abou Kereet. — Pyramids of Nourri. — Ruins of Gebel Barkal. — A Sheik's Hospitality.— Voyage to Debbeh. — Plague of Midges. — Journey to Dongola by River. — Across the Desert from Merowi to Dongola. — Visits to the Mudir. — The Third Cataract. — Temple at Tolib. — Meet Caravan of Manchester Goods. — Cataracts of Dal and Tangour. — Wady Halfah. — Return to Cairo ........ 230 Index 259 LIST OF ILLUSTRAT IONS. PAGE On the March 25 Gebel Cassala ......... 42 Haikota 61 Camp at Koolookoo 83 Bed of the Mareb at Aibaro . . . . . -85 Base Women 87 Base at Aibaro . . . . . . . .128 BAsfi Hut at Koolookoo 131 BAst 137 Camp at Settite, near Khor Meheteb .... 143 The Settite, near Khor Meheteb .... 147 The Settite 149 Hamrans at Om Hagar 160 Hamrans Drying Hippopotamus Meat . . . .163 Hippopotamus and Salee 167 Sheik Achmed Ageer at Toadelook . . . .182 Lion and Lioness 189 Baobab-Tree 192 Dhoum-Palms at Gargi, Khor Baraka . . . .198 Keren (Sanheit) 207 Pass on THE Road TO El Ain 215 Map of Egypt and the Soudan . . . . End. THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDA\. The "Soudan" is a name that conveys no idea of defined frontier, or of civilised territory ; it is a vague term signify- ing "a country of blacks," which might include any portion of Africa from the Red Sea to the Atlantic. To the Egyptian understanding the Soudan commences at Assouan, and thence continues to the Equator ; while from east to west it is bounded by the ocean or the sea. An area of such enormous extent must exhibit important variations, both in soils, climate, and fauna, in addition to examples of the human race. The Egyptian Soudan is intersected from south to north by the river Nile, which divides the Nubian from the Libyan desert of the West. With the exception of the Delta, one vast stretch of sandy waste, interspersed with rocks and mountains, extends in a direct line for fifteen degrees of latitude, through which the Nile silently winds in a never-failing stream, without a tributary to increase its volume, which diminishes in its passage north by the exhaustion of intense evaporation and the absorption of burning sands. This inhospitable region is inhabited by various races of obscure origin. There are numerous tribes of Arabs speak- ing Arabic, which no doubt were successful invaders from Arabia. There are other tribes which speak a distinct language, although the type is Arab, e.g. the Hadendowa, and the inhabitants of Dongola ; those would claim a more remote descent from races which might have been aboriginal; but in the absence of written history the ethnologist may c XX THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. vainly attempt to solve the mystery of hidden ages, and must be content with the illustrations upon the temple walls of four thousand years ago, which depict the Arab tribes of that distant date precisely as they appear at the present day, even to the fashion of their hair. Although the vast extent of deserts would denote an absolute waste of the earth's surface as unsuitable for human habitation, nature has adapted the requirements of the Arabs and their animals for the wilderness of their occupation. There are at distant intervals oases of rough pasturage where coarse grasses and thorny bushes supply a sufficient nourish- ment for goats and camels. Among those solitudes the Arabs rear their flocks, and drink from the same wells which watered the herds of their ancestors five thousand years ago. The hard slabs of basalt which frame the mouths of those deep wells are scored to many inches depth around their margin, by the friction of Arab ropes which have drawn water from the same springs since the days when the shepherd kings represented the authority of Egypt. The most ancient history of Egypt recalls the chronic struggle between that country of advanced civilisation and the barbarous tribes of the surrounding deserts, which, like the wolves and hysenas of the arid mountains, made constant raids upon the valley of the Nile. It was the natural con- sequence of immediate contact between sterility and fertility ; wherever the Nile water irrigates the desert, a, green margin marks the limit of production, beyond which all is wilderness. Hunger and thirst are there confronted with a land of plenty — that land being a temptation which has ever induced pillage and invasion. It therefore became necessary to defend the long line of vegetation which fringes the channel of the Nile ; to effect this defence, offensive action was important, and as the barbarians were driven from the Nile valley, the stronger power remained master of the barren ground. From time immemorial anarchy existed throughout the deserts of Nubia and of Libya ; although the Egyptians, under the leadership of Moses, drove back the Ethiopians out of Egypt and stormed their capital (Soba) on the banks THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. xxi of the Blue Nile;^ and again the Persians followed the active enemy across their waterless deserts with fatal pre- cipitation, no power could actually subdue the various races of the Soudan until the reign of Mehemet Ali Pacha, great-grandfather of the present Khedive, his Highness Mahommed Tewfik. That great ruler of Egypt determined to suppress the chronic anarchy of the Soudan which had hitherto existed as a standing menace upon Egyptian frontiers, and to insure tranquillity by the establishment of a permanent government throughout those vast deserts which were the area of continual strife between opposing sheiks. About sixty-four years ago the first expedition started from Egypt for the conquest of the unknown Soudan. Many sharp reverses and cruel vicissitudes of warfare de- layed the progress of the conqueror, but, through slow degrees, with great courage and perseverance, the Soudan was won, and Khartoum was founded at the junction of the Blue and White Niles as a strategical point that would command the passage of both rivers. The troops employed in these arduous expeditions were composed of Turks, Albanians, with very few Egyptians, and were invariably officered by Turks and Circassians. The chief points of the new provinces had been carefully selected. Khartoum and Senaar domuiated the Blue Nile, while Shendy and Berber were the principal stations upon the margin of the main river. Dongola formed an important province to the north, and commanded the desert routes from Kordofan. Cassala, situated upon the river Gash, was a fortified position which held in subjection the wild Arabs of the Hadendowa, Beni Amer, and many others. A necessary sequence to territorial conquest in savage countries is the gradual extension that is forced upon the dominant power by events that are unforeseen and beyond control. Continual raids upon the frontier necessitate a resort to force, the enemy is driven back, and the victorious ^ Vide Josephus. xxii THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. party occupies the recently contested ground. Retreat would be construed as the result of fear, which would en- courage renewed aggression ; therefore the' result of victory is annexation, and the frontier thus continues to extend through force of circumstances. In 1861, during the reign of Said Pacha, Egypt was in the possession of Kordofan, in addition to the Soudan east of the White Nile. In 1865 the Red Sea Ports of Souakim and Massawa were trans- ferred from the Sultan to his Highness Ismail the Khedive, who thus became ruler of an unbroken line of territory throughout the western border of the Red Sea to the con- fines of Abyssinia. Boghos had been annexed, and Gella- bat, which had been an Abyssinian town on the extreme frontier, became the hmit of Egyptian possessions. In 1869 Ismail the Khedive completed his scheme of conquest by the annexation of the entire Nile basin to the Equatorial Lake Albert N'yanza, and thereby embraced the enormous area of thirty degrees of latitude from the Nile sources to the Mediterranean. The slave-hunters, having been driven from the Equatorial Provinces, had taken refuge in Darfour, and it became necessary to crush the power of the Sultan of that hitherto impenetrable country, lest a formidable combination of malcontents from the slave-hunting interests should, with the assistance of Darfour, threaten the security of the Soudan administration. Zebeehr, who had been the chief of a vast company of slave-hunters, was subsidised and employed by the government to command the forces for the subjugation of Darfour. His long experience of the country, added to the renown of his position, enabled him to collect a considerable force from those parties whose profession of slave-hunters had conferred a knowledge of rough military tactics that were eminently adapted for savage warfare. Darfour was conquered and became an Egyptian province. A study of the map will exhibit the vast territorial extent of the Khedive Ismail's dominions, and, had he remained in power, I have no doubt that by degrees the several new provinces would have been de- veloped. Unfortunately the financial position of Egypt was in confusion, which led to foreign interference and the THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxiii lamentable complications which necessarily ensued. The re- bellion of Arabi, a colonel in the Egyptian army, destroyed the power of Mahommed Tewfik, the eldest son, who had succeeded upon the abdication of his father Ismail. Eng- land interfered by force of arms to restore the authority of the lawful ruler, and after the battle of Tel el Kebir Arabi was exiled to Ceylon, while his Highness Mahommed Tewfik was re-established upon the throne. In the meantime a fanatical revolt had widened into insurrection in the Soudan, under the guidance of a holy personage named Mahomet Achmet, who had previously been well known to the authorities. In several conflicts the government forces had been destroyed, and Darfour and Kordofan were entirely lost to Egypt ; while the garrisons at the Capital Obeyd and other places were hopelessly invested by the rebels. At this critical period the rebellion was encouraged by the peculiar attitude which England had assumed in Egypt. She had interfered nominally in defence of the Khedive, but although the programme was rich in melodramatic power and philanthropic declarations, there had been an extra- ordinary contradiction in her acts which exhibited a com- plete absence of any well-considered policy. The salient facts were known to the whole world ; the Khedive Mahommed Tewfik v/as the lawful ruler. Arabi, a colonel in his army, had rebelled against him, together with power- ful confederates and the entire army. England bombarded and destroyed the forts of Alexandria, but declined to protect the city after she had destroyed all native authority \ the result was the pillage and destruction of the town, for which Egypt has to pay an indemnity of nearly five millions sterling. This was clearly the fault of England. The rebel Arabi was taken prisoner with his confederates after Tel el Kebir, and tKey were tried by the native courts, and should have suffered the extreme penalty of the law as a warning to others, and in vindication of the authority of the Khedive. Instead of this, England interfered, and arranged that a pro forma sentence of death should be passed upon Arabi and others, but that an exile to Ceylon xxiv THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. should be substituted for the extreme penalty. As Ceylon is considered to represent the Paradise of the East, a banish- ment to the land of coffee and spices, with a liberal annual allowance of money, was an extraordinary punishment for the crime of rebellion, which the Egyptians could not understand, and which certainly did not increase their respect for the authority of the Khedive, with whose pre- rogative England had directly and bluntly interfered; Eng- land at the same time declared that her troops would be almost immediately withdrawn from Egypt, and that she had no concern or responsibility for the Soudan ; but she concocted a reformed administration for Egypt which the Egyptians neither wanted nor understood. Every act on the part of England tended to destroy the authority of the Khedive, which she had interfered to re- establish, and her integrity was more than doubted by every class of the Egyptians, who witnessed the miserable position of their ruler shorn of all power, and obliged to act according to the dictation of British officers. It was ridiculous to expect that under such conditions the power of the Khedive would be restored ; at the same time that we vaunted our intention of re-establishing his authority we fettered every action when he wished to move, and we determined that no foreign material should be enhsted in his army. The Khedive was obliged to submit to the humiliation of absolute control ; although he was himself aware that no dependence could be placed upon Egyptian troops, he was prohibited from the enlistment of Albanians, who would have formed a reliable force in an emergency, and his army was officered by Englishmen entirely independent of his option. At that time a British force of 8000 men in addition to the Egypdan army of 6000 were idle in Lower Egypt, while a dangerous insurrec- tion was spreading in the Soudan. It is scarcely credible that the English Government determined upon inaction and still adhered to their extraordinary policy of non-inter- vention beyond Egypt proper — thus directly encouraging the Soudanese to rebellion. Nine thousand Egyptian troops had been destroyed in various conflicts with the rebels, and THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxv a total loss of confidence on the part of the soldiers neces- sitated the employment of British officers in command. General Hicks, together with several English and German officers of tried ability, were engaged by the Khedive to reorganise the forces in the Soudan ; they left Cairo with reinforcements of about looo men, the same which had run away from Lord Wolseley's attack at Tel el Kebir a few months before. The Egyptians in this arrangement were perplexed by the anomaly that, although England declared herself free from all responsibility in the Soudan, she nevertheless permitted British officers to command the Khedive's forces against the rebels ; at the same time that she sanctioned the employment of officers, she refused the employment of men ! The real fact was concealed ; this was the crass ignor- ance of our authorities in all that pertained to the Soudan ; they neither understood the country and its inhabitants, nor the danger or degree of the insurrection. England merely sought to shirk responsibility instead of manfully seizing the helm and boldly navigating the vessel through the storm. There could not be a more convincing proof of this ignorance upon the part of our authorities, than the deter- mination of withdrawing all British forces before the result of General Hicks' expedition had been made known. The orders had actually been given for the retirement of the British army from Egypt, and Sir Evelyn Wood had expressed his confidence in the sufficiency of the Egyptian troops to insure security, when suddenly the terrible news arrived " that General Hicks was massacred, together with his force of 1 0,000 men in the deserts of Kordofan." Panic and consternation usurped the place of ignorant false confidence. If the Khedive and his ministers had been unfettered, they would have immediately recruited an army of Turks and Albanians to march direct upon Khartoum, and thereby crush the insurrection ; instead of this, the British Government, which had declared itself determined to hold aloof from the affairs of the Soudan, now exhibited itself in the hour of peril, not as the ally and supporter of the Khedive, but as obstructor -general, xxvi THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. and most positively interfered to prevent all aid from Egypt proper to the garrisons of Khartoum and other stations. England who had arrived in Egypt in the guise of knight- errant to redress the wrongs of an unfortunate Khedive, now bound him hand and foot, preventing all action, refus- ing all support, and determined to re-establish his authority by a forcible dismemberment of his empire ! Against the protests of the Khedive and his ministry, England enforced her order that " the Soudan i7i toto, including Khartoum the capital, should be immediately abandoned." The Prime Minister Cherif Pacha, and his cabinet resigned rather than submit to this act of cowardly despotism. By this rash and panic-stricken act, England who had declared herself free from all responsibility for the affairs of Soudan, became immediately and solely responsible for everything pertaining to the Soudan. It is in vain for guilty and conscience-stricken ministers to prevaricate and protest, and to endeavour to slip through some broken mesh in the entanglements of the net around them, the whole world is both judge and jury, and they are universally condemned for a policy of panic and consternation which has entailed misery and ruin upon thousands, and disgrace and humiliation upon all Englishmen. Here was a picture of the aid and support of England to reform the administration of Egypt, and to re-establish the authority of the Khedive ! By our act Alexandria had been absolutely destroyed. We had killed many thousands of Egyptians. We had dispersed an army of mutineers, and we had created another army out of the same worthless material ; this army we had taken out of the Khedive's hands, and nevertheless we declared that in six months the British troops would be withdrawn, and the Khedive would be left to the protection of 6000 men, who had been against him to a man only twelve months before. Then, when the moment of extreme danger arrived, we not only declined to aid, but we prevented the action of the Khedive himself, and we enforced the abandonment of a Soudan Empire ; that Empire which had been won by the Great Ruler of Egypt, Mehemet Ali Pacha. THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxvii The declaration of abandonment spread like wildfire, and drove the loyal Arabs in self-preservation to the ranks of the insurgents. The Soudan was in a blaze of insurrection. It was impossible for the various garrisons to escape ; the announcement that the Soudan was to be forsaken, raised every arm against the government authorities. From the Red Sea to the remote province of Darfour, the cowardly policy of England armed every hand and sharpened every spear. The unfortunate garrisons were closely invested by a pitiless enemy. Sinkat and Tokar were starving, although , within five days of 8000 British troops in Cairo, and 6000 of the Egyptian army under Sir Evelyn Wood. i The horses "and camels had been consumed at Sinkat, where Tewfik Bey was bravely holding his position with 600 faithful troops. They were at the last mouthful, the dogs had been all eaten. Still not a regiment moved to their relief. This was the value of British support to the Khedive. That unfortunate ruler who would be held responsible by his subjects for all calamities, now in the agony of despair requested Baker Pacha to attempt the relief of Sinkat with 4000 police and ragamuffin blacks kidnapped for the service in the streets of Cairo. Upon this forlorn hope Baker Pacha started for Souakim, where every attempt against the enemy had been defeated with terrible loss to the government forces. In the meantime public opinion was exasperated in England. Parliament was about to assemble, and it was necessary that something should be done to allay the excite- ment of the British press. General Gordon, accompanied by Colonel Stewart, was sent post-haste to Khartoum, with instructions to evacuate the country and to secure the retreat of Egyptian garrisons. In hot haste those devoted officers urged their camels across the Korosko deserts upon this inglorious mission — a mission which, if fulfilled, might bring honour upon their individual names, but would assuredly add a stain to the British reputation. It was a poHcy of abandonment, and of retreat before a threatened danger. Baker Pacha's forces were cut to pieces in an xxviii THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. attempt to relieve Tokar, 2300 men being slain. Here again was consternation ! followed by contradiction and spasmodic action. It was impossible to allow the be- leaguered garrisons to perish. Every hour was all-important ; the whole world was yelling execration at the British policy and cowardice. Orders were suddenly issued for a British army to advance from Cairo to rescue the garrisons of Tokar and Sinkat. General Graham assumed the command of 4000 or 5000 British troops and started for Souakim. This was totally opposed to the British declaration that England would by no means interfere in the Soudan, and the Egyptians naturally concluded that if a British force could be despatched when too late, the same force might have been despatched at the proper time without any extra- ordinary derangement of policy. Not being sufficiently advanced in civilisation to understand the mysteries of Downing Street they imagined that a deep plan had been arranged to permit the total destruction of all Egyptian troops, in order to avoid all danger of resistance to our future occupation of their country. The troops, under General Graham, arrived at Souakim too late for the object of the expedition — Sinkat had fallen, and Tewfik Bey, with his brave garrison, had perished to a man. Tokar had surrendered to the rebels under Osman Digna, and a portion of the garrison fought the guns against the British troops in the sharply contested struggle of Teb. The battle of Tamai was fought a few days later, with a loss of 130 killed on the British side, and about 3000 of the enemy. It would have been a natural conclusion that upon this total defeat of the rebels the opportunity would have been immediately seized for an advance to Berber, which was then held by Hussein Khalifa Pacha and an Egyptian garrison. Such an advance might have been easily effected, and the route thus opened to Berber w^ould have at once assured the safety of Khartoum. Instead of this bold move the British Government fell back upon its usual policy of retreat, and General Graham had the mortification of retiring THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxix with his victorious troops to Cairo, where they began to wonder, and to ask themselves the painful question : "Was it not wilful murder to destroy some 5000 Arabs without any definite object except slaughter, especially as we had already declared the abandonment of the Soudan, and Mr. Gladstone had officially stated that the Arabs were ' rightly struggling for their freedoffi ' ? " The retreat of the British forces was naturally attributed to fear, and to the severity of their losses. A few Marines had been left to occupy the earthworks of Souakim, w^here Osman Digna quickly rallied his Arabs and insulted the garrison by a succession of night attacks. The effect of this was most damaging to the reputation of the govern- ment, and imperilled the position of Berber and Khartoum, as the Arabs concluded that the British were powerless to advance. The result was quickly visible. General Gordon was helpless at Khartoum, and in the absence of military support he was deserted by the various tribes upon whom he had reUed for aid. Common sense would suggest that a policy of abandonment and retreat must alienate friends and encourage enemies, while it would insure the contempt of all. Khartoum was menaced ; Berber was attacked, and was taken by assault, the greater portion of the garrison being massacred. This was a direct blow at Khartoum, as it destroyed the base should reinforcements be sent across the desert from Souakim. Khartoum was quickly invested, as the fall of Berber encouraged air tribes, and liberated the attacking force for action against the capital. The British envoy. General C. G. Gordon, R.E., C.B., who had heroically obeyed the summons of the government for the forlorn hope of evacuating Khartoum, where impass- able deserts would render a retreat impossible for a multi- tude, now found himself cruelly abandoned by that same government which he had assisted in its hour of need ; he w^as left to the care of Providence, together with his brave companion Colonel Stewart and a number of Europeans, including the French, Austrian, and British Consuls. The English Government adhered to their determination of XXX THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. non-intervention in the affairs of the Soudan. Although they had permitted General Hicks to march to slaughter, although they had employed General Graham to destroy 5000 Arabs, although they had despatched General Gordon and Colonel Stewart to Khartoum to enforce evacuation, still they persisted in their illogical and contemptible atti- tude, and abandoned their own Envoy to his fate. Once more public opinion became outraged, and in spite of all former assurances of non-intervention — precisely as they had acted at Souakim when General Graham was sent too late to save the garrison — Lord Wolseley was despatched with a British force of 6000 men too late., as the Nile was already falling ; and before a British regiment could reach Dongola the distressing new^s was telegraphed by Major Kitchener, R.E. (the gallant officer farthest in advance) — "That the unfortunate Colonel Stewart had perished — massacred with all his party, including the French and English Consuls — after the wreck of their steamer in the cataract north of Berber." Surely the ghosts of these victims must haunt the galleries of Downing Street ! Lord Wolseley is an able general, and I do not pretend to criticise his movements, but the distance by the river is immense, the passage against the stream is slow, and when the hostile country shall be reached, the difficulties will be increased tenfold. Nevertheless, under his guidance, there must be well-placed confidence, which means success in the endeavour to reach Khartoum. At the same time those who are experienced in the country must be well aware that the short route from Souakim to Berber would be an easy march of fourteen days, that would relieve Khartoum almost immediately if troops were despatched from Cairo without delay. The time is rapidly passing, and Gordon, if alive, must be short of ammunition and supplies. The catastrophe of Colonel Stewart's party is a proof that the Khartoum garrison was in great straits, otherwise General Gordon would not have risked the lives of Colonel Stewart and the European Consuls in an attempt to reach Dongola by steamer. With every confidence, and the best wishes for General Lord Wolseley's expedition, THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxxi we cannot forget the motto of the British Government — " Too Later Should Lord Wolseley be successful, what is to be the result of his expedition ? He has instructions to abandon Khartoum and the ' entire Soudan south of Wady Halfah ; thus Dongola, which is the gate of Egypt, is to be included in that dastardly policy' of abandonment. It is to be hoped that, if England is sufficiently base to wrest from defenceless Egypt the provinces so hardly won by the illustrious ruler Mehemet Ali Pacha, and to throw open the slave trade to the very heart of Africa, that Germany will not hesitate to occupy the deserted ground, and exhibit a wholesome contrast to our decrepit attitude. Whatever Power shall hold Khartoum will dominate Lower Egypt. That is a consideration which may not ■have occurred to her Majesty's advisers. The drainage of Abyssinia is the cause of the annual inundation of the Egyptian Delta. If any person will refer to the map, and especially to the Nile Tributaries of Abyssi?iia, published after my careful exploration of every affluent in 1861, he will find an exhaustive account of the hydrography of that region, which may be summed up in a few words. The Delta, i.e. Egypt has been created by the deposit of mud brought down from Abyssinia and the Soudan by the river Atbara, known by the ancients as the Astaboras. That river and its numerous tributaries, the Settite, Royan, Salaam, Angrab, and many smaller torrents, have cut through a vast area of rich loam, thereby widening their original channels by scooping out deep valleys in an otherwise level surface ; the cubic contents of these depres- sions have been deposited to create Egypt. The rainfall begins in May upon the mountain-ranges of Abyssinia, but the main channel of the Atbara river does not fill until the middle of June. From the middle of February until that time the bed of the Atbara is dry, from its mouth twenty-four miles south of Berber, throughout its desert course of about 260 miles. The channel in that distance is about 400 yards in width, and 30 feet in depth ; xxxii THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. it passes through flat sandy desert, the course being marked by a fringe of dome palms and mimosa upon the margin. Nothing would be easier than the construction of a dam during those months when the channel is dry, which would arrest the torrent upon its arrival at the commencement of the rains, and would divert the stream by the overflow of its banks, and disperse the waters over the absorbing surface of the deserts. The mimosa bark is used for the manufacture of immense sacks for the transport of gum- arabic and senna ; the Arabs have the materials upon the spot, also the dome palms for the necessary piles ; the construction of a dam sufficient to deflect the Atbara would be a simple engineering feat that only requires the force of many hands. It has occurred to me that the seven years of famine described in the Old Testament, when Joseph hoarded the corn of Egypt, might possibly have been occasioned by a stoppage of the Atbara river through the hostility of the Ethiopians, who were the chronic enemies of Egyptians. The Rahad and the Dinder could also be deflected in a similar manner, as their beds are dry during the summer months. The Blue Nile w^ould offer greater difficulties, as there is always water in the channel, although fordable waist-deep in March and April ; but the stoppage of the Atbara would alone be sufficient to ruin Lower Egypt. The whole system of mountain drainage of Abyssinia exhibits a struggle for the mastery between the impetuous torrents and the thirsty sands of the lower plains, which suck the productive bosoms of the hills, and exhaust the supply before it can reach the sea. Only the Nile, that one extraordinary river, can overcome the absorption of 1400 miles of sand ; that Nile depends upon the Blue Nile and the Atbara rivers, which are commanded by Khartoum ; and Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet would abandon Khartoum, at the same moment that they pretend to a paternal sympathy for the Khedive's authority. Between the course of the Atbara and the Blue Nile to Fazokle, extending throughout the south bank of the Blue Nile to Senaar, there is a vast tract of the most fertile soil. THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN, xxxiii eminently adapted for cotton cultivation and all other tropical productions. A great portion of that country is within the influence of the rainy zone, and is independent of artificial irrigation ; but, should railway communication be established from Souakim to the Nile, the whole of that immense area now in' the barren grasp of nature would become of immediate value. AVhen it is considered that the Egyptian Delta represents a mere handful of mud brought down by the rivers from this wonderful region through which they have cut their way, it appears impossible that England, having interfered for the assumed improve- ment of Egypt, should not only counsel, but enforce the abandonment of such a territory, which requires the simple development of a railway to awaken its vast resources. The British Government, when represented by Lord Dufferin in Egypt, recommended the true English policy of development ; but the same government, after the departure of their able representative, determined upon a policy of abandonment, that change of attitude being the direct result of terror, after the defeat and annihilation of the unfortunate General Hicks. The British public cannot be deluded, even by a m^agician, but after the first bewilder- ment of legerdemain they will exercise the old English property of common sense. They will look upon the contradictions of policy, which in so many quarters of the world have entailed disaster ; they will regard South Africa, and reflect upon the consequences entailed by that cowardly policy of retreat after Majuba Hill, which necessitates another costly expedition under Sir Charles Warren to retrieve a blasted reputation. They will open their eyes to the consequences of the retreat from Candahar when they see Russia advancing with rapid strides upon the Afghan frontier, while England has been lulled into a false security by Russian promises. They will also be awakened to the force of their responsibility should Germany or France claim an equal right with England to interfere in the Soudan, and to occupy the ground which we force the Khedive of Egypt to abandon. In the original instructions given to General Gordon the xxxiv THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUDAN. order was distinct, he was to evacuate the garrisofis of Khartoum and other places. There were no orders to form a government ; this is only a subterfuge raised since pubUc opinion has awakened to the monstrous iniquity of abandoning Khartoum and the Soudan to anarchy and the slave trade. If Khartoum is to be abandoned, we have no right, neither have we the power, to exercise a dog-in-the- manger policy, and to prevent the occupation of the for- saken ground by others who have a better sense of duty. I have, after nine years' experience of those countries, never changed my opinions upon their value. The wealth is there ; the treasury is the soil which has created Egypt, the infant of the great mother earth, from the womb of fertility which will produce all that the human race can desire. That treasury is like a strong locked safe that can alone be opened by its own key. That key is a railway from Souakim to the Nile, which could be made for one-third the cost of the expedition now slowly working its way against the current of the Nile in a forlorn hope to rescue the one man who has represented the ancient chivalry of England. SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. SPORT AND TRAVEL IN THE SOUDAN. CHAPTER 1. We leave Cairo for the Egyptian Soudan. — Tlie Base Country. — Egyptian Officials. — Quarantine Regulations. — Our Party. — Ser- vants of the Party. — Ali the Cook. — Shereef the staid and stately Waiter. — Mahoom. — The Agra's Passengers. Gn December i, 1881, we left Cairo for Suez, en route for the Egyptian Soudan, with the intention of exploring the Base country, a small tract lying between Taka (an Egyptian province, of which Cassala is the principal town) and Abyssinia. We were going chiefly for sport ; and, the Base country being almost if not entirely unknown to Europeans, we hoped to be successful, especially as it had not previously been shot over, and, moreover, lies in a part of Africa abounding in many different kinds of game. We knew that in all probability there would be considerable difificulty to encounter in exploring the country ; as only a small part of it, and that a part where there is little or no game, belongs to Egypt, and consequently no help could be expected, but rather hindrance, from the Egyptian officials in endeavouring to carry out our programme. They naturally dislike the possibility of sportsmen running the risk of getting into trouble with tribes bordering on their frontier. The Base are the betes noires^ moreover, of all that part of the Soudan, and have the character of being a very treacherous and unfriendly people ; so that it was not only on the part of the Egyptian officials that we expected to have obstacles thrown in our way, but we felt sure that we B AN UNPROxMISING OUTLOOK. should have considerable difficulty in getting camel-drivers and servants to undertake the journey. Then, too, the Base, dwelling as they do between Egyptian and Abyssinian territory, would naturally be jealous of any one entering their country through that of their powerful Egyptian neighbours, and might think that, instead of being bent purely on travel and sport, we were really come on behalf of the Egyptian Government to endeavour to squeeze taxes out of them, and reduce them to submission. On our arrival in Cairo we heard that we should prob- ably be delayed for some three or four weeks before we could find a steamer to take us to Souakim (the port on the Red Sea from which we wished to make our start into the interior), owing to the existing quarantine regulations. In consequence of the prevalence of cholera in India and at Aden, all steamers going from an Arabian to an African port were subjected to quarantine on their arrival. The only regular steamers calling at Souakim are those of the Khedivial Company; and they, as a rule, call at ports on both sides of the Red Sea, in their voyages up and down. The steamers of the Rubattino Company are also advertised to stop at Souakim, but they are, at the best of times, most irregular ; and when we wished to go, their " fleet " had been reduced to one steamer, the " Messina," and even she had, for the time being, been withdrawn from the service, owing to the quarantine. Most of the steamers, moreover, were keeping to the Arabian ports, while several were being done up at Alex- andria ; so that there was only one steamer, the " Zagazig," performing the service between Suez and the African ports, and she had started before we had collected our party together. In this dilemma we fortunately were able to induce the captain of the British India Company's steamer "Agra" to stop for us at Souakim on her way out to India. This was most lucky for us, as we grudged spending more of the cool weather at Cairo than we could help ; the heat in the Soudan becoming very trying by the spring. The " Agra " was delayed in the canal, and instead of OUR PARTY. 3 leaving Suez on December 2, as should have done, did not start until the 7 th; this was, however, fortunate, as one of our party (Colvin) was to join us there from Australia, and had she started on the right day he would have been too late, as he did not arrive until the 4th, running it rather fine. He had come straight from Adelaide, in the " Chim- borazo," one of the Orient line, without touching anywhere; and she had been a few days late in starting. Before embarking at Suez I may as well introduce our party to my readers. It consisted of seven, besides servants, — G. Percy V. Aylmer, R. B. Colvin, E. Lort Phillips, my two brothers, the Doctor, and myself Of these, all except Colvin and the Doctor had made an expedition together, during the previous winter, into the Bogos country, on the Abyssinian frontier ; and my brothers and myself had, four years previous to that, travelled via the Nile and Atbara Rivers, as far as the River Settite : so that we were not novices in African travel, and, moreover — a most important consideration in undertaking such an expedition — we felt that we should get on well together. As we were so large a number of Europeans, we thought that it would be prudent to have a doctor in the party. I undertook the task of finding one, and found it no sinecure. As I could not hear privately of any one willing to accom- pany our party, who seemed suitable, I considered the best thing to do was to advertise in the principal medical journals; I also put an advertisement in the Times and AthenceuiTi. The result was, I was inundated with replies. Some of these were most amusing. The evident difficulties some of my correspondents found in describing their personal qualifications may be best illus- trated by the following extracts from some of their letters, which I here subjoin. One, after stating that his age was forty-three, and that he had never had a day's illness, went on to say that he possessed "a disinfectant, unknown to the profession, for the prevention of fevers ; also, the means of curing the same without medicine." He had had more experience in the treatment of fever than most medical men in England. His concluding sentence we all thought 4 DOCTORS WHO WOULD ROUGH IT.'' delicious, and felt he was quite the man to rough it in Central Africa. I again quote from his letter : " I like a cigar after my dinner and supper, with a glass of mild ale, and meals at regular hours ; so that I call myself an abstemious man, and one to be depended upon day or night." Another applicant kindly observed : " If the ex- pedition is of a scientific character, I should not object to take professional charge, provided that I am allowed to obtain a sufficient stock of Jaborandi (?) Warburg's tincture, and other prophylactics against marsh-fever, without which it would be unsafe to venture into that country, or to permit others to do so. Furnished with these, I would, using proper precautions as regards sanitation, food, and clothing, face the Terai or the Gold Coast without fear or hesitation. I have an excellent constitution, delight in tropical climate (barring swamp), am never sea-sick, and accustomed to rough travel, and to carry my life in my hand. Like all old West- minster scholars of my time, I can cook, do any kind of rough-and-ready housework, row, fish, shoot, and, I'm sorry to didvmt, fight, if occasion demands it, and also keep my temper under almost any provocation. I have the reputa- tion of being a scholar, and I believe I may say a gentle- man. I forgot to state that I pick up languages rapidly, am a tolerable connoisseur in art and cookery, play v/hist, piquet, and chess well for an amateur, and don't drink or gamble ; and that I am a member of the Church of England, as my father's son should be." We felt that the field for this gentleman to display his taste in art as well as in cookery would be somewhat limited in the countries we proposed visiting, although his pugilistic skill might prove of value. We, however, fully appreciated the kind care he was anxious to take of us. His concluding sentence was most cheering in case of any sinister accident : "I am engaged in devising a series of tests to determine whether people are really dead before they are buried ; and Egypt is a good country to make observations of this sort in." One applicant wrote in praise of a man whom he eulogised as follows : " It will be found on inquiry, that QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES. 5 Dr. is highly and most respectably connected. He is good-looking, though unassuming, jovial yet refined, and strictly abstemious. He is about to commence practice for himself. When he does, his unpretending amenity, simplicity of manners and deportment, combined with his great acumen and high professional attainments, are sure to meet with success." We felt that this gentleman's " deportment and unpre- tending amenity " would be quite thrown away on the wild tribes of the Soudan ; and passed on to another letter in which the writer, after enumerating ever}' place marked on the most extensive map of the West Coast of Africa yet published, all of which places he stated he had visited, went on to say he had attended Ocko Jumbo's son, made the acquaintance of King Ja Ja at Opobo," and that he was "on the most intimate terms with King Ockei." We felt that this gentleman was accustomed to altogether too high society for us, and we could promise him no royal acquaintances in the part of the Soudan we were about to visit. I shall only trouble my readers with one more quotation, and that from a telegram I received from a French doctor ; in which after stating his terms, which were " quatre viille fraiics pour deux inois, payes d'avance, et tous les frais du voyage^' he went on to say that he required une diambre a part., et 7ie veut pas etre oblige de suivre ces messieurs dafis leurs excursions de chasse I " For servants we had with us George Reason, an English- man who had accompanied us during our journey into the Bogos country; and two Swiss, Jules Bardet and Anselmier; these made up the European contingent. The native servants that we took from Cairo consisted of Suleiman Daoud, our head man and a most excellent fellow ; he had been with us on our last expedition, and was for nearly five years with Sir Samuel Baker when he went as head of the Egyptian Government expedition to the White Nile and equatorial lakes ; Shereef the waiter, very staid and stately, never ruffled or put out by anything, slow, but an excellent man in his particular line, keeping the canteen, his special care, in first-rate condition throughout the entire journey ; 6 SERVANTS OF THE PARTY. Ali the cook, a native of the Soudan, a most important functionary and a very good servant. He was with us during the winter of 1877-78, and on one occasion, when at Cassala, he asked leave to get drunk, urging as his excuse that some gentlemen, with whom he had travelled several times previously, always allowed him to do so at that place ; he had consequently got to look upon it as a sort of local privilege ; a lecture was delivered to him on the sin 'of drunkenness, which I believe he regarded as a sort of permission to get drunk ; for he got very drunk, but not before he had sent us up a most excellent dinner, and, as far as I know, he never afterwards offended again in this respect : Mahoom, a coal-black negro from the White Nile, a boy of sixteen, speaking both English and Arabic. Mahoom was originally captured by some slave-traders on the White Nile, in a raid that they made against a village ; he was freed by Colonel Gordon, the late governor-general of the Soudan, and given to Dr. Felkin at Khartoum. Dr. Felkin was the medical man in charge of the Church Mis- sionary Society's expedition to Uganda, and took Mahoom with him to that place. He had returned with the doctor to England, where he had spent some months ; hearing that we were going to the Soudan, Dr. Felkin was glad that we should take the boy with us, in order that he might escape the cold of an English winter. Of these servants, the only one who did not speak English easily was Shereef On asking him, at Cairo, if he spoke English, he replied in the negative, but added that he spoke " too much French." His powers, however, in that respect, we found were very limited ; but, as most of us spoke a little Arabic, " too much French " was not required. We brought with us from England two dogs, — a setter and a fox-terrier, "Tartar." The former, when he was put in the dog-box of the train at Cairo, to go to Suez, was in perfect health and spirits ; but when we came to take him out at Zagazig, a station about half-way between the two places, where we had to change trains, he was dead. They had been poisoning a great many dogs at Cairo ; and he FELL 0 W- PASSENGERS. 7 must have been poisoned, probably, on the morning we left. "Tartar" stood the climate very well : he would run with the camels all day, and sometimes, when tired, we let him ride on some of the baggage. He would often run on ahead of us, and rest under the shade of some tree j and then, after we had passed him some distance, he would catch us up again. Once or twice we feared we had lost him. He was very fond of chasing gazelles, — which it is unnecessary to add he never caught, — and he sometimes went so far after them that we lost him for hours. Several times he reached the camp long after the last of the caravan had arrived; he had, no doubt, found and followed the scent of the camels. . Among the " Agra's " passengers we had two officers of the " Blues." They had come out to Egypt hoping to be able to make an expedition into the interior, from either Berbera or Tajourah, ports opposite Aden ; but had been obliged to give it up, and had decided on landing at Souakim. There were also three or four saloon-passengers, bound for India, who had come out in the "Agra" from England, and were not at all delighted, after their long delay in the canal, at the prospect of a further delay through going to Souakim, as it would cause them to be two days longer on their voyage to Kurrachee, to which port they were bound. We found eight or ten Persian pilgrims, deck-passengers, far more interesting than the Anglo-Indians. They were dressed in parti-coloured robes resembling dressing-gowns, and wore the high felt Persian hat ; and, though extremely dirty, were decidedly picturesque. These unfortunate men had set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca from Bushire, at the head of the Persian Gulf; and some of them had saved up their money for years with this object in view. After about a month's voyage, they had arrived at Jeddah, the port for Mecca, only to find that they might not land there. There was, at the time of their arrival at Jeddah, cholera in the Persian Gulf ; and as it had not reached the Arabian ports, they were not permitted to land. 8 LONDON V. MECCA. They consequently had to go on in the steamer ; but were not allowed to disembark either at Suez, Algiers, or Lisbon, at all of which ports they touched, and so were carried on to London. There they had spent three or four weeks ; and the British India Company had sent them to the Aquarium, Crystal Palace, and other sights, keeping them at the expense of the Company. I should say they had a far more agreeable time of it in London than they would have had at Mecca ; and surely, under the circumstances, it would help them as well on their road to paradise as though they had in reality been enabled to say their prayers at the sacred shrine, and to have drunk, at their source, the sacred waters of Zem-Zem. As the pilgrimage season was over, it was of no use for them to land at Jeddah when the " Agra " called there after leaving Souakim ; and consequently they were on their way back to Bushire. Two or three of the original band, better off than the rest, had, we were told, left London for Paris, intending to travel overland ; and one had discovered a hoiiri in London, with whom he was living in Bayswater. CHAPTER II. Arrival at Souakim. — The JVakeeL — Thieving Propensities of Egyptian Officials. — Encouragement of Slaveiy. — Souakim. — Caravan-routes from Souakim. — Ala-ed-Deen Pacha. — The Governors " Palace." — Bedouin Government Prisoners. — Omnipresence of Greeks. — DJuirra. — " Hotel du Soudan." — Curious Manner of dressing the Hair. — An African Hurlingham. — Story of the Seven Virgins. — Departure from Souakim. After a very uneventful voyage we reached Souakim about noon on December ii. The day before we had had heavy rain ; and the day we landed was very cloudy, with occa- sional heavy showers. We were much surprised at finding wet weather in that part of the world, but afterwards dis- covered, that, although rain by no means always falls at that time of year, yet it is the season of coast rains. On our arrival we called on the Wakeel, or government agent, Achmed Effendi; he offered us rooms in the "palace," which we Vv'ere very glad of, though it was decided to remain for that night on board ship. Mr. Brewster, the custom-house officer, and Mr. Bewley, were at that time the only English residents in the Soudan. The former had been there some time ; but the latter had only just come from Jeddah, where he had lived as partner in a trading firm that had set up a branch establishment at Souakim. On our return to Souakim in the spring, we found Mr. Brewster had left, and that a native had taken his place, whose pay would perhaps be less, but who would in all probability far more than make up for that by well lining his own pockets at the expense of the government. As a rule, Eg)'ptian officials, both high and low, go to the Soudan only in order to rob for themselves as much as pos- sible during the time they are there ; and, when they have 10 GORDON ON THE REBELLION. feathered their own nests as well as their opportunities allow them, they give place to others, whose ambition it is to follow them in the same noble course. It is this system of pillage and oppression that has been carried on so long in the Soudan that has caused the present rebellion. Gordon gave the country about five years of just government, — at least he did all that one most upright and honourable Englishman could do in such a country, and with such men for his lieutenants as he had to deal with. I travelled in the country both during his rule and afterwards, saw the difference that had come over the Soudan, and heard the groans of the poor people after he had left them. As Gordon himself says : " The egg of the present rebellion was laid in the three years during which I was allowed to govern the Soudan on other than Turkish principles." — (yPall Mall Gazette., 9th January 1 884.) After Gordon left the country, the people were treated as badly or worse than they were before his arrival. They felt the difference. Then came the chance for the slave-dealers ; they, wishing to regain their power and revive their trade, which both Sir Samuel Baker and General Gordon had done so much to stop, stirred up the Soudanese against their rulers, the wretched Egyptian officials, and in order the more effectually to accomplish this, pushed forward the Mahdi, if they did not actually create him. The cry rang through- out the country, a cry emanating from the slave-dealers : " Drive your wretched oppressors the Egyptians into the sea, and govern yourselves." The movement has spread, and the Mahdi, originally a dummy figure-head, is now be- lieved in by thousands. Suleiman Daoud, head servant during our last two expeditions in the Soudan, and now chief native servant to General Stephenson at Cairo, the only Egyptian of my acquaintance I can implicitly trust, writes to me at the beginning of October in the present year : " The Egyptian people are in the full belief and hope that the Mahdi is going to kill all the English people both in Egypt and the Soudan." This hatred of the English used not to be, — at least it certainly was not common among the lower classes ; lately, however, owing to our extraordinary ENCOURAGEMENT TO SLAVE TRADE. ii policy or rather want of policy in the country, a strong feeling of hostility to us as a nation has sprung up, and is growing stronger every day. Is England to reply to the cry of the slave-dealers by giving up the Soudan to all the horrors of slavery again ? In the interests of common humanity and civilisation I trust not ! To return to my narrative. We saw very little of the Wakeel Achmed Effendi, and did not hear at all a good report of him. We were told that he was doing anything but discouraging the slave trade ; that, on the contrary, he took a bribe of two napoleons for every slave that he per- mitted to leave the port, and that the chief of police took one in addition. Some slaves had been lately seized, and a great to-do made about them ; but this was because the hush-money was not forthcoming. The entrance to the harbour of Souakim is narrow and long, and steamers can only go in by daylight ; the entrance is well marked out by beacons, but there are dangerous reefs outsiae. Our captain had never been to the port before, and did not seem at all to relish taking his vessel in. There is not anchorage in the harbour for more than four or five steamers at a time. The town, v/hich is built of coral, is rather picturesque- looking, though of a glaring white ; and it boasts of one or two minarets. The carving of some of the doors and window- shutters of the houses is most elaborate, and of a different pattern from any I have seen in Cairo. I was told that there was a great deal of the same kind of work at Jeddah. The town is built on an island, which is united to the mainland by a causeway which Colonel Gordon had made when he was governor-general of the Soudan. Its popula- tion is about eight thousand ; it is the chief port of the Soudan, and the outlet of the great bulk of the trade of the White Nile and Khartoum. The great caravan route from Souakim is that which, crossing the desert^ strikes the Nile at Berber, a distance of two hundred and forty miles ; not the road to Cassala, which we followed. Its trade, however, is not increasing, owing to the present low price of gum, its chief export to Europe, 12 ROUTES ACROSS THE DESERT. and to the restrictions on jthe slave-trade. Formerly slaves could be purchased with cotton-cloth imported from Man- chester, and the slaves were made to carry ivory, ostrich- feathers, etc., to the coast; now this "branch of industry" is done away with, although more merchandise finds its way to Europe by Souakim than by the other great outlet, that via Berber and Korosko on the Nile. I made the journey up the Nile, from Cairo to Korosko, during the winter of 1877-78, and from thence across the desert to Abou Hamed, following the banks of the Nile to Berber. The desert journey from Korosko to Abou Hamed is a most severe one : the distance is two hundred and fifty miles of the worst desert imaginable, with nothing for the camels to eat, and only one well the whole way. The heat, too, during the greater part of the year, is terrific ; and the consequent mortality among the camels that make the transit very great. In crossing this desert we saw two regular slave-caravans, consisting of boys and girls, probably from the White Nile or Darfour, travelling in the direction of Korosko. They were all trudging wearily through the heavy sand, while their owners rode on camels which the slaves led. Many, doubt- less, perish on the journey. Besides the Berber and Korosko route, and that from Berber to Souakim, there is a third road much used by Soudanese traders. This road follows the banks of the Nile to Wady Halfah : it is chiefly made use of by caravans coming from Darfour and Kordofan, provinces to the west of the White Nile that produce great quantities of gum. The Nile is struck at a small village called Debbe, about latitude 18° north, whence goods are conveyed by boats as far as Dongola, where the cataracts render further naviga- tion impossible ; and then camels carry them to Wady Halfah at the second cataract. The journey is then re- sumed in boats to the first cataract, where a railway five miles in length carries the goods below the cataract to other boats waiting for Cairo or Alexandria. The Egyptian Government had just separated the Red Sea ports Souakim and Massawa, together with the country QUARTERED IN THE ''PALACE. 13 between them and Cassala, Sanheit, the town of Cassala itself, Gedariff, the Hamran country, Gallabat and neigh- bouring provinces, from the rest of the Soudan. Ala-ed- Deen Pacha, who had been for a long time governor of different parts of this country, was made supreme governor ; and Ali Reza Pacha, formerly governor of the Red Sea ports, -svas deposed. The latter was much hated by the people. Our steamer brought this news to the inhabitants of Souakim; and, Ala-ed-Deen being much liked, the people testified to their joy at this change of government by getting up an impromptu illumination, chiefly by means of little oil-lamps which they hung in front of their houses. We were very glad to be able to live in the " palace " during our stay at Souakim, instead of being obliged to live in tents, as it rained more or less every day. We were given two rooms on the first floor, in one of which we slept, while the other was assigned to our servants and luggage. Our meals we took either on the verandah — which was very broad, and looked on to the sea — or in the large passage, or rather hall, out of which our rooms opened. Although everything was open, the huge windows being without glass, but with shutters in its place, and plenty of air stirring, we found Souakim extremely hot and " muggy," and were anxious to leave it with as little delay as possible. The "palace" is built at one end of a large courtyard, one side of which faces the sea, and forms the sea-wall. On the right-hand side a double staircase led to our apart- ments ; and the courtyard was entered from the street by an imposing gateway guarded by soldiers, over which a most formidable-looking lion carved in stone held sway ; his tail, which was of extraordinary proportions, stuck out straight. I think the idea of the lion was chiefly orna- mental, though, guarding as he did the entrance to the divan, he may have been intended as a symbol of power likewise : he w^as certainly looked upon with admiration by the inhabitants. We encountered a very sad sight every time we either entered or left the courtyard. In one corner were huddled together some forty Bedouins, mostly men, with a few 14 OPFJ^ESSION B Y OFFICIALS. women and children. They were all from the neighbour- hood of Jeddah, and were government prisoners : they had chains on their legs, and were living in a state of captivity from no fault of their own. It appeared that a number of Bedouins had crossed over to Souakim with their camels, intending to settle in the neighbourhood, and breed camels. As, however, they quarrelled with the Arabs of the country, Colonel Gordon, who was then governor of the Soudan, gave them nine thousand dollars ^ compensation (they having originally obtained permission to settle where they were), and sent them back to their own country. On Colonel Gordon giv- ing up the governor-generalship of the Soudan, and leaving the country, a number of them returned, determined to try again what they could do. Ali Reza Pacha, who was then governor of Souakim, thought this an opportunity not to be lost for raising a little money. As he could only squeeze two thousand dollars out of them, and this did not satisfy him, he put them in irons. When we arrived, they had been living a year in the courtyard in this way, and, although government prisoners, w^ere obliged to provide their own food. Their camels had died off in great numbers, and many of the men also had succumbed to the bad treatment they had received. Some of them (guarded by soldiers) were allowed to live with their camels, a few miles out of Souakim, where there was food for their beasts. Achmed Effendi had actually made them lately believe that, if they would give him forty dollars, it would help towards freeing them. They subscribed this amount between them, which of course went to line the worthy Effendi's pockets, the result to the Bedouins being nil. They had no shelter from sun or rain ; and some of the poor little children were suffering from fever, which our doctor did what he could to alleviate. We left forty dollars 1 The current coin throughout the Soudan and Abyssinia is the Maria Theresa dollar, which is worth nearly four shilHngs. A large number were coined especially for the Abyssinian expedition. No gold coin is in circulation, but one occasionally comes across the Turkish medjedie, but only in the chief towns of the Soudan. GREEK TRADERS. 15 with Mr. Brewster, who promised to expend it during the winter in food, which he kindly offered to distribute among them. On our return in April he told us he had been able to buy a great deal of rice and dhurra with the money, and that the poor people had been most grateful. We were glad to find the wretched prisoners flown on our return, as the first act of Ala-ed-Deen Pacha, on his arrival in the spring, had been to set them all free, and this he had done before being an hour in the place : he had, moreover, allowed them to live somewhere to the north of the town, if they wished to do so ; and many of them availed them- selves of this permission, instead of returning to their own country. It is to be hoped that, in the many changes that have recently taken place in the country, they will not have been oppressed again. We found a number of Greek shops in the town, and the place was well supplied with meat. Greeks are to be found everywhere : there is no place too out-of-the-way for them to thrive in, and they make money wherever they go. A great many of them, besides selling bad spirits, beer, and groceries, add considerably to their incomes by lending money to the natives, of course at usurious rates of interest. No vegetables are grown, and the whole of the surround- ing country is desert. The nearest village is Tokar on Khor Baraka, two days' journey away ; and there, after the rains, a little dhiirra is grown. Dhurra (the sorghiwi vulgare of Linnaeus) is the staple article of food throughout the Soudan ; it contains a great deal of starch, and is said to be more nourishing than wheat flour. The natives cook it in a variety of ways, and add beans or onions, when obtainable, to it. Horses will; not thrive unless they get a daily supply of it, and a small quantity is of great use in keeping the riding-camels in good condition. In crossing, too, such a desert as that between Korosko and Abou Hamed, it is necessary to carry some for the baggage- camels as well : it is wonderful on how little food they can do, when pushed to it. i6 ARABS LIKE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. A Greek has set up a small shanty, which he dignifies by the title, " Hotel du Soudan," and advertises hot and cold baths. Fortunately we had no occasion to try its merits, otherwise than by sending some clothes to his wife to be washed : for these she charged us at the rate of two dollars per dozen, counting a pair of socks as two articles ; so that what they lacked in custom, they evidently tried to make up in their prices, when, as they say in America, " a stranger happened to come along." Beyond the island on which the town is built, Souakim continues for some distance in suburbs, containing a some- what extensive if not very inviting bazaar. The camel-drivers, who mostly belong to the Hadendowa tribe, live on the mainland. Most of them wear long hair standing up straight on the crown of the head, and of a fine but woolly texture, while that at the back of the head generally reaches to the shoulders, and is sometimes worn in plaits ; when properly dressed the whole is covered with fat, and a wooden skewer, by way of comb, stuck in it. We saw one or two men with their heads covered with fat that had been mixed with grated sandalwood, and presented a red -ochre appearance : these, we were informed, were about to enter the marriage-state. The hair is, with all Arabs, a source of pride ; and the men of various tribes may frequently be distinguished by httle differences in their mode of dressing it. No traveller in these parts can fail to be struck by the great similarity in physique, and general appearance, of many of the wandering tribes of Arabs, to the ancient Egyptians as depicted on the walls of their temples and tombs. The mode of wearing the hair is identical ; the curious little wooden pillows they use for their heads when sleeping are exactly of the same form and make as those which may be seen in museums containing ancient Egyptian curiosities ; as, too, are also the chairs that they use. A very intelligent Greek, whom we afterwards met in Cassala, and who had given some attention to the study of the language spoken by the Hadendowa Arabs in the neigh- bouring country, and had, moreover, some knowledge of AN ARAB'S HAIRDRESSING. 17 hieroglyphics, told us that there was often a striking simi- larity in many of their words. My brother Arthur in 1877 made the journey from Souakim to Cassala ; meeting the rest of the party, who had taken the Nile route, in the interior. He had with him a Hadendowa Arab, who had originally started as guide to the caravan from Souakim to Cassala; and this Arab accompanied him all the way to Cairo. Throughout this journey his hair was a constant source of anxiety to him. He could not dress it himself, and on leaving Cassala was soon beyond the region of his own tribe. His delight was unbounded when he met a woman of his own people on the Atbara River, who, on being rewarded for her pains by the promise of an empty beer-bottle, undertook to dress his hair — a process that occupied a good two hours. He reclined, during the process, with his head in the lady's lap ; and the crowning joy of all was anointing the plaited tresses with the musky fat of the crocodile, the horrible odour of which clung to him for days, to his great satis- faction, but to the great discomfort of our olfactory nerves. The largest building in Souakim is a storehouse and caravanserai m. one, built on the mainland. It was erected by a native for the merchants to leave their goods in while waiting for transport, and cost eighty thousand dollars. It was built almost entirely by slave-labour, otherwise it would have cost fully a third more. The builder and owner was formerly a government employe, at a hundred and fifty piastres (or about thirty-one shillings) a month. During our stay at Souakim, we were, of course, very busy arranging and re-arranging our luggage. Sir Edward Malet, H.B.M.'s consul-general in Egypt, had very kindly telegraphed from Cairo to have camels ready for us. His telegram, I have no doubt, hastened matters ; but there is always considerable delay in making a start. Sheik Attman Galani, the sheik of the camels that traverse the Cassala road — a very fine-looking Arab, with a great idea of driving a bargain — paid us several visits before we finally arranged matters. We went out fishing once or twice, but did not catch c 1 8 .9 TOR Y OF SE VEN I GINS. much — our chief capture being a ground -shark weighing eleven pounds. The amount and variety of fish in these waters are something extraordinary, and many of them are of the most gorgeous colours ; but to meet with much success it is necessary to go some httle distance outside the harbour, where we found the water often unpleasantly rough when anchored and fishing from a small boat ; and we were, moreover, so busy making preparations for our departure, that we had no time for lengthy excursions. One afternoon some of the Greeks of the place, to- gether with Mr. Bewley, went off to a sandy island to shoot sand -grouse that some Arab boys had caught. It was quite Hurlingham in Africa ; but the birds were thrown up in the air, instead of being released from traps, and very difficult shots they proved. The derivation of the word Souakim or Souakin (for it is spelt indifferently both ways) is a curious one. In the language of the country it is called Sowagin {Anglice^ "to- gether with the gin, or fairy "). The story runs that seven virgins inhabited an island in the Red Sea, where there were no nien or people of any kind except themselves. Some fishermen one day visited the island and found the women eficei?ites. Their offspring colonised the mainland and founded Souakim ; and the present inhabitants are descended from them. The ladies declared that genii were the fathers of their children. We were very glad to turn our backs on Souakim, and make a start for the interior, which we did on December 15, about two o'clock in the afternoon. We left behind the two officers of the " Blues," who had travelled with us from Suez : they were busy buying camels, always a very slow and troublesome undertaking. They got off, however, soon after we did, and by following the bed of Khor Baraka and the Anseba reached Keren. From thence they made their way to Furfur, on the borders of the Dembelas country (where we had been the previous winter), but were rather disappointed with the sport they obtained. One of them succeeded in penetrating to some of the Dembelas villages, — a feat that had only been previously HIRING AND BUYING CAMELS. 19 accomplished by the Marquis Antinori, the Italian traveller, the country being almost terra incognita : he reported it to be very hilly and impassable for camels, but found the people friendly, possessing better houses than their neigh- bours who were under Egyptian Government, and he ob- served more appearance of cultivation. He saw very little game. Most of our provisions we had brought from England, which we found more economical than getting them in Cairo. Our outnt had been chiefly obtained from Silver in Cornhill, and nearly everything we got from him proved satisfactory. We paid five dollars and a half each for our camels to Cassala, a distance of about two hundred and eighty miles. Our perso7ial property in beasts of burden, which was des- tined afterwards to increase to considerable proportions, commenced from this date. My brother Arthur bought a very good hygeen, or riding camel, at the upset price of a hundred dollars. He had formerly belonged to Ala-ed- Deen Pacha, and though slow, was very easy in gait — a great desideratum. His name was " Bellus though what " Bellus " means, I am sure I don't know. My other brother also bought a hygeen from an Arab, who rode after us with it when we had gone an hour from the town ; for this animal he gave forty dollars, and forthwith christened him "Snodgrass." These camels brought them both back eventually to the coast, but they were about done for when they arrived. Colvin and Aylmer each bought a horse, the only specimens of the equine race of which Souakim could boast ; they were wiry little animals and came from the Hamran country. Although they carried them to Cassala, they never recovered from the hardships of the long desert- journey, and one of them died soon after its arrival there. Most people, after they have once become used to them, find camels far less fatiguing to ride than horses for long desert-journeys; and they are certainly much more suitable to the country. A most uncomfortable start we made from Souakim : 20 COAST RAINS. the rain, which we had been daily favoured with, came down in torrents soon after our departure. Although in the winter months rain is unknown in the interior, at the time we landed in Africa it was the season of coast rains ; and rain might be daily expected until we could put some miles between us and the sea. CHAPTER HI. The First Halt. — The Rainy Season. — The Camel -sheik comes for Baksheesh. — Three Caravan-routes to Cassala. — Disputes with the Camel-drivers. — Gazelles. — Management of Camels. — Halt at Siterabb. — A Piteous Tale. In a regular African deluge, and wet to the skin, we pitched the tents. Some of the provisions became saturated with rain, which got, too, into our portmanteaus. The drivers were all quarrelling about their loads, and our halt for the night was made only an hour and a half's march out of the town. The camel-drivers always try to accomplish this, as they say it enables them to run back if they have forgotten anything ; it means, of course, too, a late start on the fol- lowing day. The Egyptian tents we had had made in Cairo were decidedly fine -weather tents, and, although admirably adapted to a dry climate, were not so agreeable for a wet one. Tents soon spoil if often packed up wet, as they get mildewed and rot. We consoled ourselves with the reflec- tion that the bad weather could not last long. The rain stopped before we went to bed, but came down faster than ever in the night ; and we had to jump out of bed to rescue bags and clothes, and set to work to dig trenches round our tents to drain the rain off — a precaution that had been neglected before going to bed. The natives were delighted with the rain ; for, although it was the season when they expected it, it often happens at Souakim that there is none, or next to none at all, during the whole year. The desert was carpeted with the most beautiful grass of a very vivid green ; the dwarf mimosa-bushes, of which 22 ROUTES FROM SOUAKIM TO CASS ALA. there were plenty, were bursting into leaf ; and the plain was covered with cattle, goats, and sheep, while numbers of camels wandered from bush to bush, or grazed on the fresh grass, a rare treat to all animals in these regions. The cows in these parts often prove very obstinate when they are wanted to keep quiet in order to be milked. The natives often resort to the expedient of holding a calf-skin, which the cow to be milked has previously smelt, at some little distance from her nose ; she will then keep quiet, and submit to the process of milking without any further trouble. The next day, although we rose at dawn, it was nearly noon before our camels were loaded, and a fresh start made ; more rain faUing during the process of packing. The camel-sheik, intent on baksheesh.^ arrived while we were at breakfast ; we gave him a small present, and promised him the same on our return if our camels and the men in charge of them proved satisfactory. There are three roads between Souakim and Cassala, all more or less traversed by caravans. The one we took kept close to the telegraph-wires the whole way, and is the shortest. A second follows, for the greater part of the way, Khor Baraka,^ and although considerably longer is probably more agreeable, as there is more shade and water by this route. Khor Baraka runs into the sea a little to the south of Souakim, near Taka. The third road follows almost all the way a mountain- range a little to the west of our route. The Arabs said there was more water on that road than on the one we took ; but it is rather longer, and very stony, which is trying to the camels, with their spongy feet, especially when they are laden. On our route there was scarcely any grass the whole way ; and what there was, was, of course, at the season of the year in which we travelled, completely burnt up ; it was mostly very fine in texture, and as brittle as spun-glass. The grass that had sprung up in consequence 1 Khor signifies a stream or river that only flows during the rainy season, and is quite dried up during the dry. Bahr means a flowing river that never dries up. TROUBLE WITH CAMEL-DRIVERS. 23 of the rain lasted only for twenty or thirty miles after leav- ing the town, by which time we got out of the rainy zone. The greater part of the country was sparsely covered with mimosa-bushes, mostly leafless during the dry season, and affording no shade. In some places there were bushes covered with leaves of a most brilliant green. The branches, and especially the roots of this shrub {Capparis sodatd) are much prized by the Arabs as tooth-brushes ; they are very fibrous, but I doubt if they have any special cleansing properties. The teeth of these dark-skinned people are nearly ahvays very white ; this is, no doubt, partly due to their very simple diet, and also it is certain that the strong contrast afforded by their dark skins makes them appear whiter than they are in reality. We began to have trouble with our camel -drivers on the second day's journey from Souakim. The caravan had been allowed to go on ahead, as we had stopped behind with the camel-sheik, trying to bargain for another hygee?i^ but without coming to terms ; and, on overtaking it, we found the camels were off feeding, and their loads on the ground. We were anxious to get out of the rains as quickly as possible, and had given orders that they were to make a late march. Suleiman and the other servants had done all in their power to make them continue their journey ; but the camel-drivers had insisted on stopping at four o'clock, after a march of less than five hours. On being pressed to go on, they had threatened Suleiman with their spears, which had been taken away from them, and tied together in a bundle. It was not only important that we should get out of the rains as quickly as possible, but more so, that we should let the men see, at the very outset of our journey, that we were the masters, not they, and that they were to do as they were told. Accordingly, we insisted on their loading up again, which they did very quickly ; and just at dusk w^e resumed our march, not halting until 9.15. On our right was a high range of mountains, through which led the road to Berber ; while on our left a level, 24 RATE OF PROGRESS. sandy plain covered with green grass and low scrub stretched to the sea. We experienced great difficulty in pitching our tents in the dark, as most of the men were new to the work ; and as we were only just commencing our expedition no one knew where anything was, nor what was required of him. Everything was wet, and it was very difficult to make char- coal burn; so that it was 12.30 before we had dined and could go to bed. We had seen a few gazelle [Gazella Arabica), and a herd of ariel {Gazella Dania), but all very shy. Each year they become less numerous on the caravan routes ; and my brother Arthur, the only one of the party who had made the journey before, said they were far less common than when he passed over the same road four years before. The following day we got an eight hours' march out of our camels, and without any great difficulty with the drivers : they had begun to know their loads, and the inevitable squabbling that takes place at starting was nearly over. An eight hours' march for the caravan is as much as can be accomplished with comfort. As soon as the loads are taken off at night the camels are turned out to feed ; at dusk, unless there is a moon, they must be collected in camp again, to be driven out to feed at break of day. To accomplish more in the day than eight hours, means getting up at a more than abnormally early hour, and continually hustling the camel-drivers to bring in their camels ; or it means pitching your tents in darkness and getting dinner very late. In eight hours the caravan will accomplish twenty miles, and the same distance can be got over on fair hygeens in about four or five. The start should be made in advance of the baggage-camels so as to allow plenty of time for shooting and for the mid-day halt. Besides the discomfort to the traveller if camels are constantly pressed to do more than eight hours, they do not get sufficient time to feed; as, when on the march, all they can get, of course, is a mouthful of food snatched now and then as they are travelling, and they oiight to have time given them to feed morning and evening. 26 A PITEOUS TALE. The country gradually became less green as we augmented the distance between us and the sea; heavy clouds hung about, the air was close and sultry, and we had some heavy showers. We wound through some rocky hillocks before pitching our tents, and finally encamped in the sandy bed of a k/wr at a place called Siterabb, near the first water out from Souakim, and where there were a few huts belonging to the telegraph people. The following morning a very wretched -looking old woman came to us with a piteous tale of how she had been robbed of her all — a few dollars she had saved — by the telegraph people. I gave her a dollar, and her joy was unbounded : she insisted not only on kissing my hand, but my boots ; and I began to feel that there was such a thing as excess of gratitude — at any rate, that it could be expressed in too demonstrative a manner. CHAPTER IV. Journey continued. — Buck Gazelle shot. — More Trouble with the Camel-drivers. — A rose-breasted Shrike. — Sand-storm at Ellegua. — Jules taken ill. — Death in Camp.— Takroori Woman abandoned by her People. — We divide the Camp. — Mishaps of those left behind. — Christmas Day at Wandi. — " Molly." The country, as we travelled on, was monotonous, but not unpicturesque, owing to the hills to our north and south, and the glorious tints caused by the setting sun in a tropical climate. First, we traversed a sandy stretch with no bushes grow- ing on it, only tufts of dried grass here and there ; then a patch of stony ground, covered with low mimosa -bushes without leaves, but furnished with horrible thorns ; followed by a similar waste, with the addition of very occasional nel?duk-hushes {Rhainnus lotus). This tree bears a fruit very much resembling minute apples in appearance, about the size of a hazel-nut : it is, however, not very palatable, being dry. Juicy fruit is, perhaps, too much to expect in such a burnt-up land. In some parts of the country ;z^<^^///^-bushes are extremely common : they are covered with very formidable thorns, as are most of the bushes and trees of these regions ; the leaves are always green, and, when growing thickly together, form an all but impenetrable jungle. The fruit is relished by the Arabs, as well as by guinea-fowl, monkeys, and many other animals. We saw very little game, and what we did see was very shy, and rendered additionally difficult of approach from the very open nature of the ground, which made stalking anything but an easy process. Aylmer was the first to draw blood, having shot a buck gazelle the day before. 28 MORE TROUBLE WITH CAMEL- DRIVERS. The next day we had some further trouble with our camel-drivers. We had started ahead of the caravan, and shot a couple of gazelles, when one of our native servants suddenly appeared to tell us that three of the camels were lost. . This was all nonsense in reality, and only a ruse in order to give the camels more time to feed and to let the men dawdle about. We turned back, and when we met a number of the laden camels that had just started we un- loaded some, and over-loaded others, so that we got two empty ones ; with these we returned to our late camp, and loaded them with the baggage that was left, and which belonged to the camels supposed to be lost. We started them after the others as soon as possible ; but it delayed us very much, and we only accomplished a six hours' march. The lost camels were soon found, and the baggage re-arranged. We passed some huts in the afternoon, near to which water could be obtained, although two or three miles off the road, at a place called Sankereet : accordingly a camel was left behind to bring a supply, and we travelled on some distance farther before halting for the night. Birds of a,ny kind were very scarce ; but Lort Phillips shot a rose-breasted shrike, a kind of butcher-bird I had never met with before. December 20 was a blazing hot day, and the last on which we had any rain, and that only a slight shower early in the morning. We marched rather over ten hours to make up for lost time, journeying along a plain from twelve to fif- teen miles wide, between the ranges of hills. Khofs became rather more numerous, and were wider, showing that we were nearing a country where there was a greater rainfall : otherwise it wore much the same aspect, except for occa- sional d/wn?n-]}2i\ms {^Criicifera Thebaica), a new feature in the landscape. A long halt being made in the middle of the day, dark- ness overtook us ; and, losing what there was in the way of a path, we began to think the night would be spent in the open without any dinner. Our servants lighted great fires to guide us to the tents, and fired shots, so that at last camp JULES TAKEN ILL. 29 was reached, but very late, as we had gone a considerable distance out of our way, the direct road having left the telegraph-poles some distance on its right. As a rule, the camel-path and the wire kept close together. In the night a tremendous wind got up ; and all hands were busy driving in extra tent-pegs and tightening the ropes. The sand blew about in all directions, and half smothered us. Sleep was impossible, and I never spent a more dis- agreeable night. The name of this enchanting spot was Ellegua. The following morning Jules complained of a bad attack of vomiting and diarrhoea. Our men declared that they must stop until noon to water and feed their camels, so that we did not feel that we had gained much by the long march of the previous day. The water was three miles away, in a gorge in the mountain. In order to hurry their movements, two or three of us faced the blinding storm, and went with them to the water ; and what with the heat and sand it was anything but a pleasant task. Had this operation, however, not been superintended, we should have been at Ellegua all day : as it was, we managed to get eight miles farther on our way, and pitched our tents near Khor Langeb. The sand-storm continued, and we had the greatest difficulty in finding a spot where the ground was sufficiently firm to admit of our pitching the tents : the tempest, if possible, increased during the night. Except that it was not so hot, it reminded me of my experience once in travelling by rail from Suez to Cairo. Then a violent Khamseen wind got up after we had started ; and, although all the windows were kept close, the sand on the floor was over a quarter of an inch deep. Some of the carriages ran off the rails, owing to the driving sand ; and in some places men had to go on ahead to sweep it off the rails before it was possible to proceed. The heat, too, was terrific, the thermometer in the wind marking 113° F. The sun was, of course, obscured by the sand, which rattled against the carriage-windows like hail. It is no joke to be living in tents in such a tempest, and it must be undergone to be thoroughly understood and appreciated. 30 SICKNESS AND DEATH IN CAMP. There were a great many ^/wz/w-palms near our encamp- ment : previously we had only found them in ones and twos. There were, too, plenty of tamarisk-trees, which were here met with for the first time, and which we were glad to see, as they are a very favourite food of the camel. We had to remain where we were the next day, as Jules was not well enough to go on. George, too, was unwell, and lay down all day in the tent ; and Suleiman, who was never ill, complained that "his stomach bite him plenty." The storm rather increased than decreased as the day wore on ; and we had considerable difficulty in securing the tents. To add to the general cheerfulness, a death took place in camp. A day or two previously, a small band of Takroori pilgrims, returning from Mecca, had attached themselves to our caravan. The Takrooris came originally from Darfour. They have now, however, settled in the neighbourhood of Gallabat, on the Abyssinian frontier ; and the Egyptian Government has given them some land on a number of years' lease, where they cultivate dhurra. The day before, the Takroori band had been joined by two more men of their tribe, whom we had overtaken on the road. We had not noticed them, and knew nothing of their presence, until Suleiman came to tell us about them, as one was ill. The doctor went to see what he could do for him, and found him lying on the ground, smothered in sand, and evidently in extremis. We administered brandy, and did what we could ; but he only lasted an hour. The man who was with him, and who said he was his brother, borrowed a spade from us, and buried him there and then. He had died, literally, of starvation and fatigue. It appeared that these people had walked all the way from Gallabat to the coast, a distance of some hundreds of miles. On their return from Mecca, owing to cholera at Jeddah, and in order to escape quarantine at Souakim, they had landed on the African Coast, about a hundred miles south of that port. They were entirely without funds, and had lived on what they could beg from the Arabs, who are often kind to passing strangers. Such deaths in the desert ''SEE MECCA AND DIE.'' 31 are doubtless of frequent occurrence, and are bound to be so, while these long pilgrimages are undertaken, as they often are, by old men and women almost totally unprovided with means, and frequently possessing nothing but the strong wish to see Mecca and die, which seems to bear them up, and help them through apparently insurmountable difficul- ties. The dead man's brother we looked after until our arrival in Cassala, where he left us, and continued his journey south to his home. This event brought to light a still more shocking occurrence that had taken place a few days previously. Among the Takrooris who had joined us soon after leaving the coast, were two women, one of whom was rather lame. As she could not well trudge along with the rest of the party, they simply left her behind to die in the desert ; although her husband was with her, it appeared that he was perfectly satisfied to do so. Unfortunately we knew nothing of it until so long after she had been left behind that it was impossible and quite useless to send after her. She could quite well have ridden on one of our camels : but such is the callousness to suffering, and total disregard of life among these people, that no one of the drivers had thought of asking her to do so. A similar event took place when we were crossing the Great Nubian Desert from Korosko, four years before : then it was one of the camel-drivers that had been left behind to die. We knew nothing of it for several days after ; and when we expressed our horror at what had happened they considered they had behaved in a really generous manner by leaving him a small quantity of water and d/mrra-^our. The sand-storm continued the following day, and Jules was too ill to move. We decided on leaving him behind, as we could not remain any longer at a place where there was no water, and scarcely any food for the camels ; for, though fond of tamarisk-bushes, they would not live exclus- ively upon them. Lort Phillips and the doctor remained behind with th^ invalid. After five and a half hours' march through a decidedly less sandy country, we arrived at a khor called Wandi ; 32 OUR doctor's negligence. where there was more food for the camels than at the last place, and, moreover, wells of tolerably good water. It was only the second watering-place on our direct route we had come across ; and there were a few tents there, and Arabs with sheep and goats. The next day we spent in camp, hoping that the rest of the party would overtake us. There being no signs of them, on the following day, which was Christmas Day, I started off by myself, on my camel, to see how they were getting on ; and in an hour's time I found them under a tree. They had left the camp the previous afternoon late, so as to avoid the heat of the sun. Their camel-men had deserted them, and they had lost their way ; so they slept out under a tree, w^iich was no hardship, as the nights were warm, and there was no dew. On the morning that I encountered them they had made a farther march of two hours. When we had left them at Khor Langeb, I had reminded the doctor to see that he had plenty of medicine with him, as I told him that, although the Arabs informed us water was near at hand, I knew well from former experience that they were not to be relied on to speak the truth, and that we were bound to push on to water, even if it were two days' journey distant. He had assured me that he had kept plenty with him when we parted ; and yet, thirty-six hours after our departure, all the medicine was finished. Lort Phillips had accidently discovered the presence of dysentery, and told the doctor of it ; when he found that he not only had no medicine to check it, but had none of any kind left. I remained with Lort Phillips while the doctor wxnt to the camp for medicine : it was, however, eighteen hours after the discovery that the disease had turned to dysentery, before poor Jules had any medicine whatever. In the cool of the afternoon, we went on to Wandi, where we spent the rest of anything but a "merry Christmas." Mahoom's master had presented him, before leaving England, with a plum-pudding, and requested us to let the boy. know when it was Christmas Day, in order that he MOLLYS'-' CHRISTMAS CARD, 33 might regale himself upon it. We did so ; and he devoured it with evident satisfaction, doubtless considering the con- sumption of plum-pudding on that day to be one of the religious ceremonies of the British nation, to which he was exceedingly anxious to conform. He was a perfect speci- men of the gemis heathen, trained on the lines of Exeter Hall. He had brought with him, all the way from Edin- burgh, a magnificent Christmas card, a veritable chef d' oeiivre of De la Rue's. Intent on presenting my brother with this work of an, he entered his tent about midnight on Christmas night, waking him out of a sound sleep. I fear his kind intention was not appreciated ; as, being only half awake, my brother was not able to take in what it all meant, and greeted him with language that would be anything but approved of by Exeter Hall. Poor Mahoom retired very much crestfallen \ but, the ainefide hojiorable being made the next day, he was happy again. jSIahoom was very much given to collecting wild-flowers ; and, wearing a huge straw hat minus part of the brim, and clad in what we imagined to be a complete suit of his late mistress' under- clothing, which he wore with a cord round his waist, he presented a well-dressed and decidedly original appearance, as he wandered about intent on his botanical pursuits. In consequence of the eccentricity of his attire he received the sobriquet of " Molly." D CHAPTER V. We divide the Camp, — Part start for Cassala. — The Rest remain at Wandi. — Continued Illness of Jules. — Dhiirra runs short. — De- parture from Wandi. — Khor Belag. — News of the First Party. — A Deserted Village. — Omri. — The Belgian Doctor. — Halt at Khor Rassay. — Pharaoh's Lean Kine. — Desolate Tract of Country. — Scorpions. W^E decided on splitting camps ; one-half of the party, with the bulk of the luggage, to go on to Cassala, so as to arrange, as far as possible, for another start by the time the rest arrived. On the 27th they commenced their journey; leaving Lort Phillips, my brother AVilliam, and myself behind, with the doctor, of course, and Jules. It was very dull waiting at "Wandi : the heat was very great, and the flies most troublesome. There was no game, with the exception of a chance gazelle and a few sand-grouse, which used to come for water morning and evening, when we shot a few for food. They are not very good eating, being dry and tasteless, and are grouse only in name as far as the cuisine is concerned, though true grouse from a naturalist's point of view. W^e were at our wits' end to know what to do ; some- times Jules appeared to be getting better, and then again he seemed weaker. W^e thought at one time of sending him back to Souakim with George and the doctor, but eventually decided to take him on to Cassala. W^e were about half-way between the two places ; and one objection to sending him back to England was the voyage home, as he suffered fearfully from sea-sickness. W^e felt a move would have to be made soon, as the dhurra was getting finished ; the camel-drivers, who supply their own, had exhausted their supply, and we had to give THE DOCTOR'S ADVICE. 35 them ours. The party that had preceded us to Cassala had promised to send us some as soon as they could pro- cure any ; but we knew it was not at all improbable that they would not be able to do so until they reached that town themselves. A breakdown had occurred in about the worst place where such a thing could have happened. Those that had gone on ahead had decidedly the best of it j for, although they had left us the cook and were obliged to do their own cooking, they were spared all anxiety as to what was to be done with Jules. At last, finding that we could not remain any longer where we were, and by the advice of the doctor, who con- sidered him rather better, and thought that it was important to get him to a place where such things as milk and eggs were obtainable, the order was given to continue our journey ; and we left Wandi on the 31st. We managed to purchase an angareb from an Arab. An a7igareb is a native bedstead made of wood, with strips of raw-hide stretched tightly across it. This we fastened to a camel, at right angles to the animal's back, and supported on two boxes ; Jules' bed was placed on it, so that he could lie at full length ; and, as a protection against the sun, some men we had hired at Souakim made a matting-cover stretched on sticks, and fastened it to the angareb ; doors were made in it, which could be opened or shut at will. In this way he rode as easily as a sick man could well ride over such a country. We tried hard to get him and the doctor off very early in the morning ; but the camels had been out feeding all night, and took a great deal of catching. We made a six and a half hours' march, and encamped in a khor called Belag. Jules was not as much exhausted after the journey as we expected to find him : the dysentery had nearly stopped, but he was, of course, still very weak from its effects. The country was most uninteresting and dreary, very sandy, with small hillocks covered with friable rock. We scarcely saw a living thing all day. The next day, the first of the new year, was very cool, with a high wind blowing, but no dust, a great relief after the heat we had lately been 36 NEIVS FROM THE FRONT experiencing. The country, too, although anything but beautiful, was rather less monotonous than most of that we had lately traversed. The road wound in and out between low hills, so that one could not look far ahead. This, when travelling in an unpicturesque country, is far more agreeable than journeying over a level plain where you can see miles and miles before you ; there is alw^ays the excite- ment of a turn in the road, and the traveller can indulge in wonder as to what fresh object that turn may show him, in even the tamest landscape. The post arrived from the other party, in the shape of a note fastened to a telegraph-pole, telling us where they had encamped the previous night, and that they were all well, which we were glad to hear, particularly as Colvin had been rather indisposed when he started. We saw a few gazelles, and shot three, to the great delight of our men, who had not been troubled with a plethora of food for some time. We halted awhile in the middle of the day at a place called Hadaiweb, where there was a palm-grove and water ; a most agreeable change after the country we had lately passed through. A short distance above the palm-grove, and on a slight eminence, we came upon a deserted village, or rather cluster of huts, which had evidently been inhabited at no distant date. The last occupants had left behind them cooking-pots, very neatly made mats, and chairs. These chairs were exactly like many of those made by the ancient Egyptians, to be seen in the Boulac Museum in Cairo, and which I have already mentioned. Some of the huts had holes in the ground where the women burn per- fumes, over w^hich they crouch in order to scent their bodies. We soon came to iiebbuk-hMshes, for the first time in any number ; and also came across the aloe, besides passing several kho?'s bordered with dhoum-^2L\ms. There were scarcely any birds : doves, which usually abound every- where, were conspicuous only by their absence. We made a march of nine and a half hours, and pitched our tents in a khor called Omri. There was a considerable BELGIAN TRAVELLERS. 37 difference in the temperature of the nights about this time : instead of the mercury faUing no farther than 68° to 70°, it varied from 50° to 55°, which was far from disagreeable after the hot days. On January 2, while on the march, we met a Belgian doctor returning to the coast He had been shooting with a gentleman whom he had left in the neighbourhood of Cassala, and had under his care a professional chasseur who was suffering from sunstroke, and was very anxious to return to his native " happy hunting-grounds " in Belgium. He gave us a dreadful account of the heat and mosquitoes at Cassala, and the unhealthiness of the place ; but as I had once spent a fortnight there I was not alarmed by his report. Khors increased daily in number. We crossed one very wide one called Aredey : it must have been fully two hundred yards in breadth, with a thick belt of dhoiims on either bank. As there was water a little distance from where we passed over, a camel was left behind to bring some on. We encountered a jackal that the Arabs declared every night set up an unearthly howling at the grave of a man lately dead, who had murdered a number of his fellow- creatures. After an eight and a half hours' march, we spent the night near a khor where there were more birds than we had yet met with, and we saw green paroquets for the first time. They flew about from one dhoum-\}7s\m to another, uttering the most discordant cry. They are of the species so common in India. The following day we contented ourselves with a six and a half hours' march, halting near Khor Rassay, a more than usually wide river-bed, with a perfect forest of ^//^?^;;/-palms, and wells forty feet deep, dug in the sand. Here were some huts, a few soldiers, and the Arabs about had plenty of goats, so we revelled in fresh milk — a great boon for Jules. We observed a few cattle much resembling Pharaoh's lean kine, and thinking to give our men a treat, sent Suleiman to bargain with their owners with a view to the purchase of one of them. He very soon returned 38 MONO TONO US CO UNTR Y. saying that " the black people no sell hen bulls, only men bulls, this time of year." Although of a decidedly dusky hue himself, he invariably evinced a supreme contempt for those he was fond of designating as "black people." A camel with dhurra met us here ; the driver bringing a note from my brother to say he had paid five dollars for the camel's hire, and two and a half for the dhiirra — very good pay ; but the Arabs are sharp enough in finding out when you must have things, and one sometimes has to pay accordingly. The camel had come from Fillik, the only village on the road, and about forty miles from Cassala. The day's work had been more than usually uninterest- ing. We crossed several kho?'s, the country between being as desolate as it is possible to imagine. The mountains we had left, and saw no more till we came in sight of the great mountain at the foot of which lies Cassala, and found ourselves in a wide and stony plain, with a few stunted mimosa-bushes growing here and there. The heat, too, was very great, and we saw no game. The next two days' journeys, however, were even more trying. We had thought the country could not become uglier or more monotonous to traverse ; but we soon found that it could — a perfectly level stretch of country to our right termi- nating in the horizon to our left, and in front of us a range of hillocks at a distance of some ten or twelve miles. We occasionally crossed a khor bordered with a few bushes and sickly-looking dhouni-\):i\ms ; the heat being intense, with a total absence of shade. For miles we passed over country without a bush, and covered with a perpetual mirage ; then we would come to a strip on which grew a few dwarf mimosa-bushes. In parts the desert was covered with loose stones : as we neared Cassala, however, this gave place to a fine loamy soil, which, no doubt, with rain would be very fertile. Once we passed through what had been, after the rains, a dhufra-^iQld. Of animal life, we came across a few guinea-fowl, and saw a fine buck ariel, the first of the species we had seen since passing the herd near Souakim. While the camels were being laden we observed a kind SCORPIONS. 39 of butcher-bird perch itself on the back of one of the camels, and make three darts, one after the other, for some- thing hidden between the bags with which the animal was laden ; at its third dart, the bird fished up a scorpion, with which it flew off in great satisfaction, to devour at its leisure. Although we often came across scorpions, we were fortunate in never being bitten by any of them our- selves. Some of our servants, however, who slept on the ground, were not so lucky ; and Ali the cook was so badly bitten by one that the place did not heal for weeks. On the Cassala road we found a villainously ugly lizard, that lived in dead wood, and which the natives declared to be poisonous. CHAPTER VI. Arrival at Fillik. — The Gash. — Abundance of Game, — Cassala reached. — Encampment in the Dry Bed of the Gash. — Caravans on the Cassala Road. — The Governor of Cassala. — Servants sent from Sanheit. — Death of Jules. On the 5th we arrived at Fillik, after two very long marches. This place is quite a town, or rather a collection of hamlets, built in a treeless, dusty, waterless plain ; all the water required by the inhabitants has to be fetched from wells sunk in a khor some distance off, and below FilUk. The town, or village, is composed of conical -roofed huts, thatched with dhiirra stalks. Being very straggling, it covers a great deal of ground, and is the permanent head- quarters of the Hadendowa tribe j the families of many of our camel-drivers lived there. In the distance, a long way off, we saw a range of low mountains ; the Cassala mountain was ahead, and just in sight ; to our left, and all around us, was a great dismal plain, perfectly flat and without any vegetation. We halted inside the telegraph compound. Soon after our arrival, a telegram came from the governor of Cassala, ordering the authorities to send five soldiers to Wandi to our assistance. The following day, as soon as we had seen the caravan off, we started to look for the Gash, the important kho7' on which Cassala is situated, and which, according to the map, runs very near Fillik. The ground fell a good deal for some distance after leaving the village. We soon came to a narrow khor bordered by very thick bushes and some good-sized trees ; and, as there was considerable evidence of game, we did not trouble ourselves about the Gash. The natives told us that a lion prowled about Fillik, and ABUNDANCE OF GAME. 41 had killed several people. We saw no signs of it \ but when we met the rest of our party, they told us they had heard its roar quite distinctly, having passed at dusk within a couple of hundred yards of it, but, their rifles not being handy, they had concluded that discretion was the better part of valour. There were swarms of doves of several varieties ; and although, as a rule, these birds are extremely common throughout the Soudan, I am sure we had not seen more than half a dozen since leaving the coast. Guinea-fowl were plentiful, and there were many kinds of bright-plum- aged birds — a most refreshing change. The only species of guinea-fowl we ever came across in Africa is the one with the blue comb and wattles. There were plenty of gazelles ; and we saw for the first time the beautiful Dorcas gazelle {Gazella Dorcas)^ which, throughout the remainder of our journey, was far more numerous than the common variety {^Gazella Arabica)^ which prefers the most arid desert. We saw, too, several herds of ariel, and had no difficulty in securing abundance of venison for our larder. Three Houbara bustards were shot, and on our arrival in camp we found the cook-boy had caught one in a noose: we were glad to discover sporting tendencies in our servants. I never ate a more delicious bird than the bustard. It is but too frequently the case, that the game of these countries is dry and unpalatable — at any rate, it would be thought so in civilised countries — but this bird would be a great delicacy anywhere : its flesh when cooked is dark-brown and firm, very much resembling that of a goose, and it has a flavour entirely its own. Tliose we shot were very fat, in excellent condition, and were very good eating either hot or cold. At a place called Miskenab in the kJior we found deep wells of excellent water sunk in the sand ; and we sent a camel with the water-skins to fetch some. We made a march of nine and a half hours, having an excellent day's shooting on the way. Another long day's march of eight and a half hours brought us to Cassala, which we reached on the evening CASS A LA. 43 of the yth, twenty-four days out from Souakim. If there had been nothing to delay us, the journey should not have occupied more than twelve or thirteen days. My brother had accomplished the journey in thirteen days four years before we passed through the country ; and that had allowed him a whole day's rest on the way. Jules was, of course, much exhausted after the long journey ; but the doctor declared that the dysentery had stopped, and he hoped with good food and rest he would soon begin to pick up his strength. The day we arrived we spent in looking for game to the right and left of the path, but did not meet with nearly so much success as on the previous day. The aspect of the country was different from any we had passed through : it had, in fact, become quite park-like, and was dotted with numerous dark-green bushes very like laurels, and so neat- looking that they had quite the appearance of having been trimmed, the only drawback being that they sprang from dusty soil instead of from green grass. We found the rest of our party quite well. They had been four days in Cassala, and had encamped about a mile from the town in the dry bed of the Gash, where it was some three or four hundred yards wide, close to the shade of a huge fig-tree, covered with dark- green leaves that afforded most grateful shade. We pitched a tent for Jules under it. Close by was a garden containing orange and lime-trees, watered all day long from a sakceych^ of exactly the same kind as the wheel so well known to Nile travellers by that name. The others had not been able to do any- thing towards buying or hiring camels, and of course all those we had brought from Souakim had to return to the coast : their drivers probably knew no other road, and spent their lives in going up and down. Arabs are won- derful fellows for getting into one groove and sticking to it, and are not at all fond of " fresh woods and pastures new." We had met extremely few caravans on our journey ; in fact, I never went over a beaten track in Africa and saw so little evidence of traffic or commerce. One day we met 44 DHOUM-PALM MATTING. a caravan of seventy camels laden with dhurra and mats made of the fibrous leaf of the ^/w//;;^palm. These are made by the women ; they are very cheap, and used for many different purposes. Some of our servants slept upon them. We always spread them about the floor of our tents ; but great holes were soon eaten in these by the destructive white ants, and they fell to pieces. When we stopped any length of time anywhere, and the trees did not afford us sufficient protection against the sun, we erected temporary shelters by sticking poles in the ground, on which, in a very short time, a kind of arbour could be formed by means of this matting ; this was far cooler and preferable to sitting in our own tents during the daytime. The caravan in question was accompanied by about fifty men, besides women and children, — by far the largest we en- countered. Sometimes several days elapsed during which we hardly met a camel. This was a very different state of things from what I had seen during previous visits to the country, when in travelling we frequently met long strings of a hundred, and even two hundred camels at a time. The road between Souakim and Cassala, however, though an important one, is not one of the main arteries for the commerce of the Soudan. The natives had, so far, only brought an odd baggage- camel or two for sale ; and for these, though not worth over twenty to thirty dollars apiece, they asked fifty or sixty. We had decided that, in order to visit the Base country, it would be needful to buy our own camels, as the people had such a wholesome dread of the whole tribe that we knew it would be hopeless to endeavour to hire camels and drivers to take us there. We found the governor of Cassala very polite. He was a small, insignificant-looking man, who spoke French fairly well, and seemed to give more energy to the manage- ment of his affairs than most of the Soudan officials we had previously encountered. On leaving Cairo we had telegraphed to Pere Picard, one of the priests belonging to the Roman Catholic mission at Keren (or, as the place is more usually called, Sanheit), DEATH OF JULES. 45 asking him to send to Cassala certain servants that he had found for us the winter before. On our arrival we found a small army already assembled, four being old hands, and several having accompanied them on the chance of being employed. We were glad to see Salee, a most excellent tracker, who had proved his usefulness the previous year, among the number. The Abyssinians had come down during the summer near to Keren ; and one of our old retainers had had a father, and another a brother, killed by them. The afternoon after our arrival at Cassala the doctor informed us that he considered Jules' condition to be most critical; his pulse was very feeble, and he had been obliged to give him egg, milk, and brandy, beaten up to- gether, to try and keep up his strength. This was the first intimation we received of his being in a really critical condition ; we had all hoped that, as the dysentery had stopped, he would soon regain his strength, as he was of a naturally robust constitution. We had been discussing the advisability of sending him to Sanheit with one of the European servants and the doctor, if necessary, to await our arrival there, as we knew the climate to be cool, and, moreover, were sure that he would receive every attention at the hands of the priests. The next day he was weaker, and gradually sank, dying about half-past ten on the evening of the 9th. I walked up to the town immediately afterwards, and informed the governor of what had happened, so as to make arrangements for the funeral, which we knew could not be long delayed in so hot a climate. They made a rough deal coffin, covered over with dark-blue cloth ; and our native servants carried him to the grave the next morning. A Greek merchant, long resident in Cassala, had given a piece of ground for a Christian burial-place in a corner of a palm and lime grove inside the walls of the town ; and there we laid him, covering the coffin with the British flag. The heat was terrific and the dust suffocating. To me fell the painful duty of reading the burial-service — a sad office, which I had never expected to be called upon 46 .4 FAITHFUL SERVANT. to fulfil. Two Greeks were the only people present besides our own party and servants. Jules had lived in Lort Phillips' family for over seven- teen years ; and he was greatly distressed, as we all were, at the death of an old and faithful servant, so far from his home and friends. CHAPTER VIL Purchase of Camels. — Expedition to the Atbara. — The Village of Naouri. — Mosconas and his Son. — White Ants. — Dinner with the Governor. — The Town of Cassala. — Hyaenas. — Pariah Dogs. — Collections for European Zoological Societies. — Departure from Cassala. — Bashi-Bazouks. As we found it impossible to purchase camels at Cassala, Colvin and my brother Arthur started off with Suleiman at seven o'clock on the evening of the i oth of January for the Atbara River, where they had heard plenty were to be obtained. They were back again by half-past one on the afternoon of the 15 th, having purchased a number of baggage - camels, which, taking one with another, had averaged thirty-four dollars apiece ; a rather high price, as there were some poor ones among them. The Arabs had not been at all keen to sell, and they had experienced great difficulty in coming to terms with them. They had ridden across a flat, ugly country, overgrown with mimosa-bushes, and, after following the track leading to Khartoum for about twenty miles, bore to the north-west, and encamped for the night. After a very early start the next morning they separated, and went in different directions in order to acquaint the inhabitants of the various villages with the object of their journey. This had to be done circum- spectly, and the subject introduced in the most off-hand and careless manner. After considerable time had been spent in " pow-wows " with the sheiks, or head men, of the different villages, they met again, and pitched their tent near a village called Naouri, on the edge of a cliff over- looking the River Atbara, — truly a magnificent stream, and the most important tributary of the Nile. Naouri, belong- 48 PURCHASING CAMELS. ing to the Shukreeyeh tribe, is forty-five miles from Cassala. It was a very large village when they saw it, containing some thousands of Arabs. The houses consisted of mat huts. These huts the natives take about with them ; and during the rains there would be no trace of Naouri, as the inhabitants move farther north, with all their goods and chattels, to return to the same spot the following year, when Naouri would again be called into existence. This place is only a few miles north of a large permanent village, called Kourashi, chiefly inhabited by fakirs, a kind of dervishes, who have schools there. The following day, about noon, camels and their owners began arriving from all quarters. A trade anything but brisk followed. The Arab, like all Orientals, delights in long bargainings, time being of no object to him. We had already lost a great deal of time, and were impatient to get on ; so, Colvin and my brother having given a good price for the two first camels offered for sale, it quickly opened the market : and, acting on the system of buying at once, or sending the animal away, by evening they found themselves the posses- sors of about five -and -twenty camels. Although they selected the best they could find, most had the hideous wounds on the back and hip-bones that the majority of baggage- camels have; these they at once doctored with carbolic acid. At length they came to a very fine animal, without mark or blemish, which they had purchased at an apparently reasonable price, and which they were conse- quently rather proud of. However, they noticed a derisive grin on the faces of the natives standing by ; and, on seek- ing an explanation for their mirth, were informed that the prize was an abou gamdl, or father of many camels, but being old and of no further use in that capacity, he was sold to us to do what we could with. At night a severe sand-storm arose, which nearly capsized their tent, and, of course, filled everything — beds, water, and food — with sand. The following day the purchase of camels was continued. More cripples were brought in, which their owners attempted to impose on our party, inexperienced in camel-flesh. When- \ A NIGHT JOURNEY. 49 ever an offer was made, the invariable reply, accompanied by a jerk back of the head, was " Efta Allah," literally, " God open," and so, " May God open 3^our mouth so that you may speak bigger words." However, by about mid-day they had completed their purchases, pai(4 over the money, and struck camp. They then noticed a disposition on the part of the late vendors to abstract their camels : so revolvers were drawn, the camels tied as well as possible in the usual manner — nose to tail — and the homeward march com- menced about 5 P.M. A great deal of trouble was experienced in following the track, which they occasionally missed entirely ; and it was only by observing the stars that they were enabled to keep in the right direction, as the natives, having sold their camels and having nothing further to expect, refused to render any assistance, and in all probability hoped they would lose both their way and their camels. They pushed on all night, only stopping to re-fasten the ropes, which, for the first few hours, the camels were continually breaking ; and halted for a few minutes at daybreak to allow time for eating a few biscuits and dates, and reached our camp at Cassala about two o'clock the next afternoon. After a march of over twenty hours, and having been almost without food for twenty -four, naturally they were much exhausted. During their absence we had not passed a very lively time : we had shot a few doves, and I obtained a marabou stork, the first seen. A more ugly, ungainly bird does not exist, and he is a regular scavenger ; but the beautiful white feathers that grow underneath the tail -coverts are much prized by ladies. Marabous must be endowed with marvel- lous digestive powers. An Englishman told me that when he was shooting in the Soudan he shot a lion, and soon afterwards missed his claws. He suspected some marabous that had been lurking about to be the thieves ; and, on shooting and dissecting two or three, found most of his lion's claws in their stomachs. We saw a good deal of a very intelligent Greek, named Mosconas, and his son, the latter suffering greatly from E 50 WHITE ANTS. rheumatism.'' They were endeavouring to sink some wells between Cassala and the Atbara, and also between that river and Gedariff, a town to the south-west, in the midst of a very rich district, where a great deal of dhurra as well as tobacco is grown. Although they had gone to a great depth they had not succeeded in reaching water ; and they felt that success was very doubtful. Lort Phillips made a cross of mimosa- wood, which is very hard, for Jules' grave, to remain until he could send a stone out from Egypt. All wood perishes after a short time in consequence of the white ants, which are nowhere more persistent than at Cassala. We had met with them on the road, but to no great extent, and had been able to regard them more in the light of entomological curiosities than as plagues ; here, however, we had to be very careful not to leave anything that could be injured by their attacks on the ground for any length of time. Canvas sacks, or such things as socks, they would eat through in one night, or damage so much that holes would very soon appear in them ; they were particularly partial to leather, and com- mitted great havoc among our gun-cases and portmanteaus. Before commencing their depredations they cover what- ever they intend to eat with earth, and work from inside this covering : this I believe they do in order to protect themselves from their natural enemies, the black ants, which are always to be found not far off, on the look-out for them. The longer we stayed the more persistent they became in their attacks ; and it was only by occasionally shifting our tents that we could obtain any peace. The boxes that contained our provisions, etc., had been made with little legs to rest upon, so that they had to build up these legs before they could obtain a footing inside : never- theless they ivould get in, and we often found quantities of them, and the earth they had brought, covering what- ever the boxes contained, the paper used to wrap up various things being frequently entirely destroyed. In this way, 1 This poor fellow was afterwards killed when with Baker Pasha at El Teb, and his father described to me how he identified his body on the battlefield days after his death. A STATE DINNER. 51 unless great precautions were taken, cartridges would some- times get spoilt. In many parts of the country they are so troublesome that it is found cheaper to use iron telegraph- poles instead of wooden ones, as the latter have so frequently to be renewed. One evening we dined with the governor, in Turkish fashion, eating with our fingers instead of using knives and forks, — a not very delectable form of entertainment. The dinner was served on a large brass tray placed on a circular table, round which all sat, including some Egyptian officers who had just arrived after a long march, and apparently had not fed for a considerable time. Behind us, immovable as statues and holding lamps above their heads, were some five or six White Nile slaves. The sweet and meat courses alternated throughout dinner, a rather trying ordeal for the European palate ; but, on the slightest sympton of flagging on our part, the hospitable Bey immediately insisted that we did not like our fare, upon which we were obliged to renew our efforts. We were provided with an immense number of dishes, twenty-five courses all told, including the inevitable sheep roasted whole, head and all. Once, when assisting at a similar entertainment, the attentive host gouged the sheep's eye out with his thumb and finger, and was anxious to put it in my brother's mouth, a mark of attention he had some difficulty in resisting. Cassala, next to Khartoum, is the largest town in the Egyptian Soudan, and contains a population of about fifteen thousand, besides a considerable garrison of soldiers. It is a walled town, and presents a very animated appearance every morning, when crowds of people, men and women, resort to a large open . space, where they hold a market, sitting many of them under rough booths formed of mat- ting supported on poles, as some protection against the fierce rays of a tropical sun ; here they sell various kinds of food, cooked and uncooked, beads, gum, pepper, beans, mats, etc. The province in which Cassala is situated is one of the richest in the Soudan. The country round the town is very fertile, and a certain amount of cotton of excellent 52 FERTILE COUNTRY. quality is grown, besides onions, which are very large and mild, and somewhat resemble those grown in Spain ; toma- toes also thrive w^ell, and various nondescript vegetables are cultivated. For some miles up and down the Gash there are a number of sakeeyehs, or water-wheels, of the same kind as those used so much in Egypt ; by their means a plentiful supply of water for irrigation is obtained. Anything would grow here, as the soil is very rich ; but the people are very lazy and unenterprising, and all they care about is to produce enough for their absolute neces- sities : they do not attempt to grow anything new. The great drawbacks that any one would have to contend against, who wished to try and develop the resources of the country, where such a thing as cotton, for instance, might be culti- vated to any extent, are the laziness and apathy of the inhabitants, hostility to innovation, and the cost of transit. As regards labour, I really believe it would be necessary to introduce fellaheen, a most industrious class, from Egypt ; and I understand that the experiment has been tried to a very limited extent, and with success, on the White Nile. I am afraid that very few of the agriculturists of the Soudan have studied Adam Smith carefully. A few years ago an enterprising Englishman, after great trouble and considerable expense, built a flour -mill at Cassala, with which he was able to grind dhiirra for about one-eighth the price the natives are accustomed to pay for it. However, popular superstition was too much for him ; they refused to have their dhtirra ground in his mill, as they said it was '''' affreet^' or pertaining to the devil, so, after struggling on for some time, he was obliged to give it up ; and the deserted mill now remains as a memorial to the ignorance of the inhabitants. A great deal of dhurra was growling when we were there ; and caravans ]aden with this grain constantly arrived from the south, a great deal of it being brought by the Arabs as taxes. The government often buy it, paying the Shukreeyeh Arabs, who bring it from the neighbourhood of Gallabat and Gedariff, and the Hamrans, when they send any HYAENAS. 53 from their country on the Settite River, with salt instead of money. Cassala is rich in hyaenas, chiefly the spotted variety, although we did not find them as numerous as we had done four years before ; then w^e saw one night fully a hundred quarrelling over the dead body of a donkey. Aylmer's horse died, and we dragged its body out on the sand, some little distance from our tents : we had cause to regret having done so, however, as night was rendered hideous by the frightful noises of these animals. Nothing of the horse was left by the morning. They are often very bold, and would not only come close to our tents, but one night one of them had the impudence to walk inside while we were in bed ; on another occasion, a hyaena absconded with one of a pair of hide sandals that had been left close by the tent-door. Occasionally we shot one or two, whose attentions were a little too marked, in the neighbourhood of our camp ; but we soon learnt that hyaenas were a part of the sanitary arrangements of Cassala, where the whole refuse of the town IS thrown outside the walls for these animals to devour at night. They live in holes in the ground, which they dig out for themselves ; and we frequently came across them. Although most cowardly animals, they are said sometimes to attack people either when they can take them unawares or when they are in very large numbers. A short time before we arrived in Cassala a woman and child were killed by one as they lay asleep. The pariah dogs, too, were most troublesome. One night one of them entered our camp and abstracted two sand -grouse pertaining to Ali. Suleiman caught the culprit, and begged us the next morning to allow him to " give dog kill ; " suggesting, as a means of getting rid of the animal, to give him " shield in stomach." Suleiman invariably confused a spear with a shield. Cassala has for a long time been the headquarters of several Germans, who are engaged in collecting wild animals to sell in Europe to the various zoological societies and menageries. When we were there they had captured several young lions, an ant-eater, leopards, wild-cats, and various species of antelopes, to say nothing of quite a number of 54 DEPARTURE FROM CASS A LA, giraffes, and ostriches. The giraffes used to be promenaded about the bed of the Gash very frequently for exercise. We were told they were very troublesome to get to the coast, as they had most decided wills of their own, and required several men to look after each animal. Formerly large sums were made by this trade ; but, like many others, the number of people engaged in it has increased, and the natives who catch the animals expect more for them than used to content them. A few ostriches were kept for their feathers. We saw some that had lately been plucked : they had not a feather on them, and wonderfully ugly they looked. It was the 17 th of January before we turned our backs on Cassala, and the mountain at the foot of which it lies : this mountain rises behind the town, and is a conspicuous object in the level plain for miles around. Its sides are so precipitous that I doubt the possibility of getting to the summit. On the day of our start we received two or three papers dated London, December 10 : they had arrived via the Nile and Khartoum. No mail had reached Cassala by the Red Sea route for over a month, and we expected it would be a long time before we received any news from the outside world. The governor gave us three soldiers ; and it was arranged that they were to go with us as far as Haikota, where we proposed making a zariba ^ in which to deposit what bag- gage we wished to leave behind ; and they were to remain there to guard it. We had fully determined to take no soldiers with us beyond Haikota, even if (which was more than doubtful) the Bey would have given us any for that purpose ; for we knew well, from former experience, that nothing paralysed one's movements so much as soldiers when attempting to go off the ordinary beaten track. As a rule, they are a lazy, idle, good-for-nothing set, ever quarrelling with one's camel-drivers, and greatly hated and 1 A zariba is a hedge formed of the prickly trees of the country, and is intended for a protection against wild beasts and men, should there be any of hostile intent lurking about at night. BASHI-BA ZO UKS. 55 dreaded by the independent Arabs of the country ; and no wonder, for the soldiers are perpetually bullying them, and think nothing of stealing their sheep, or anything they can lay hands upon. By far the worst soldiers in the Soudan are undoubtedly the irregulars (Bashi-Bazouks) ; and I can fully indorse the opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart in his report on the Soudan recently presented to Parliament. In pointing out the great harm done by employing the Bashi-Bazouks in the collection of the taxes, he says : " Many, if not most, of these men, are very indifferent characters. They are mostly swaggering bullies, robbing, plundering, and ill-treat- ing the people with impunity. Probably for every pound that reaches the treasury these men rob an equal amount from the people. They are a constant menace to public tranquillity. As soldiers they are valueless, having no dis- cipline; nor, except in talk, do they exhibit any extraordinary courage." CHAPTER VIII. Journey from Cassala. — Game shot by the Way. — The dog-faced Baboon. — Arrival at Haikota. — The German "Animal-catcher." — Visits from two Sheiks. — Sheik Achmed Ageer. — Attack on the Beni-Amers by the Base. — Fresh Supply of Camels. — Dinner to Sheik Achmed and the German. — Success of the Magic-Lantern. The first day from Cassala we accomplished a march of four and a half hours, travelling for some distance in the bed of the Gash ; then we crossed to its south bank, passed through some fields in which excellent crops of dhurra^ nearly ripe, were growing; and encamped in a plain at some little distance from a large village, composed of mat huts, and tenanted by numerous hungry-looking dogs, that barked savagely on our approach. Not long after starting from Cassala we found it neces- sary to disarm one of our escort, and though thereby diminishing our fighting force certainly added to our own safety. Our three Egyptian soldiers were armed with guns of a decidedly obsolete pattern, of the use of which they were almost as ignorant as a militia-man of his Martini,' but having more curiosity on the subject ; one of them, while we were on the march, desirous of exhibiting his prowess in the use of fire-arms, fired at a crow that was sitting on the ground. Owing to a slight defect in the sighting of his rifle, the bullet just missed one of our baggage-camels, and grazed George's arm, who was riding on another in the caravan. The next day we followed a regular caravan-route, which ran not far from the Gash, on its south bank. A thick grove of ^//^f^;;^-palms lined either side, and we passed one or two small villages. We came across game, and shot two ariel and a gazelle. Partridges were seen for the first time, and one or two added THE BAOBAB-TREE. 57 to the bag ; a more acceptable addition to the larder, although they were not such good eating as chickens, not- withstanding the fact that the domestic fowl, as bred in the Soudan, is a most diminutive and skinny bird. We saw, for the first time, the baobab-tree {Adaiisonia digitatd). This well-known tree, so frequently described in books of African travel, became henceforth a familiar feature in the landscape : it is most weird and elfish-looking, having a gigantic trunk, giving out branches altogether disproportionate to its size, and, at the time of year we travelled, was entirely without leaves. The fruit, which is white and dry, grows in an oval green pod, and has a rather agreeable acrid flavour, but a little goes a long way. The natives are very fond of it, and we were told that the Base frequently lived on it for a long time together ; besides eat- ing it raw, they pound it up, mix it with water, and cook it. On the third day out from Cassala, as we were breaking up camp, we noticed a caravan loaded with dhurra going by ; and soon after, hearing a great disturbance going on amongst the camel-drivers, we rushed down to the spot where the altercation was taking place, and found that the caravan had been stopped by some soldiers, who were endeavouring to levy black-mail. The camel-drivers resisted, but, although numerically superior, were no match for the soldiers, with their rifles and sword-bayonets, which they had no hesitation in using. They had already rendered one man hors de combat by a violent blow in the stomach when we interfered; and having heard all sides of the question — or rather the question from all sides, as they all spoke at once — we comprehended that the soldiers, having to support themselves when on the march as best they can, feel it incumbent on themselves to do so at the unfortunate Arabs' expense, backed by the tacit consent of the authorities ; and, consequently, the appearance of a " tarboosh " (or fez) causes the Arab to fly with his property. We gave strict orders that none of our servants were to wear the "tarboosh" while in this country. Almost immediately after leaving the camp we saw the fresh tracks of elephants, which we followed ; they took us 58 DOG- FACED BABOONS. to the Gash, where we found a good deal of water on the surface where the bed was rocky, and narrower than we had previously seen it. This was the only place between Cassala and Haikota where the water in the Gash rose to the surface of its own accord — what the natives, in their peculiar Arabic, call moieh sarkit. Moieh is the ordinary Arabic for water ; but it is difficult to find an English equivalent for the word sarkit^ an expression only made use of in the Soudan, and employed in a great variety of ways. For instance, when we once stood a chance of being lost in crossing a desert, by nearly taking what ap- peared to be a path, but which in reality was not one, and led miles away into the Sahara — on asking where the sup- posed path led, Ave were told atjuooi' sarkit^ that is, " only to the desert." Again, on starting off alone anywhere, you would be asked if you were going sarkit ; meaning by yourself, without taking any one with you. Some natives, watering their goats, informed us that a herd of elephants had drunk there the day before ; their marks led in the direction of the Settite River. These animals travel great distances, and when disturbed on the Gash usually make for the Settite, and vice versa. I never saw more sand-grouse than at this place ; the ground was literally covered with them, packed so closely together that it appeared impossible for another bird to wedge itself in. When they rose, as we approached, the air was fairly rent with their peculiar guttural cry. The Arabs call them gatta^ and this word is supposed to sound like the noise they make when on the wing. There were baboons, too, sitting on the rocks, the Cynocephalus or dog-faced variety [Cynocephalus hamadryas\ hideous animals, which one frequently sees depicted in the ancient Egyptian sculptures. There are two kinds in North-Eastern Africa, one much rarer than the other. In the spring of 1881 an Austrian travelled with us in the same steamer from Massawa to Suez, who had with him sixty-five of the rarer species alive ; he was taking them to Hamburg, where he made a large sum by their sale. He told us it was the first time that any had been brought alive to PATRIDGES. 59 Europe. Both kinds are very savage in confinement : in a wild state they are not very shy, and often approach pretty close to the traveller. They appear to be regular in their habits, visiting the same localities every day and at much the same time in quest of food ; and sleeping every night at the same place, usually on rocks in most inac- cessible places, to be out of the reach of leopards or other enemies. We occasionally came across the pretty little green monkey {Cercopithecus griseo-viridis)^ generally met with only in thick jungle and near the banks of rivers. We had bought several in Cairo some years before, and taken them to England, where they proved most amusing pets. • Two which I had thrived very well for three winters in a stable, after which I gave them to the Zoological Society in Regent's Park, where they very soon died. The country gradually gave more promise of game, the trees became more numerous, and the covert thicker. To our right was a range of mountains clothed to their summits with trees, among them baobabs, as well as other varieties, some of considerable size. We spent our third night in the dry bed of the Gash, close to a large encampment of mat huts, belonging to the Beni-Amer tribe, and called Ashbirah — a very picturesque spot. There was abundance of dry grass; and numbers of sheep and goats, as well as large herds of cattle, were grazing on it for some miles round the village. Our Arabs declared, for some reason only known to themselves, that Haikota was too far off to reach that night; and the next morning we discovered it was only three-quarters of an hour farther on, at which we were much annoyed, as it gave us the trouble of packing up our traps only to unpack them again almost immediately. Partridges were very numerous, a species of francolin ; and in the long grass and dwarf ^//-as difficult to take a good aim ; one fell dead, however ; the rest made off. As soon as it was light they searched to see if there was any sign of a blood-track, as they felt sure they must have hit one or two others, and soon found evidence of a wounded beast. Salee, who was with them, tracked the animal a long way. This man was a most extraordinary tracker, and would follow wounded game for miles when there was very little blood to be seen, and that only at long intervals, and where the country was so thick and the ground so covered with fallen leaves that it was often most difficult to find the buffaloes' footprints. Frequently, too, the ground was very hard and covered with pebbles, making it extremely difficult to follow an animal's tracks, as the heaviest beast would leave so faint an impression as often to be entirely invisible to the uneducated eye. They were just on the point of giving up the chase, as the sun was at its height and they had been tracking for five hours, when they were suddenly confronted by the wounded buffalo ; it turned to charge, when one of them dropped it by a lucky shot in the forehead. When first hit the ball had caught it in the hind-leg below the fetlock joint. The inddrif was shot by my brother Arthur, and was the first we had seen. It proved to be a small buck ; and unfortunately one of the natives cut off the head so near the horns that it was spoiled as a trophy. No amount of exhortation would make them careful in this respect ; and sometimes when an animal was shot one of them would be off like a deer after it, and spoil its head before you could stop him. We found the heat was beginning to get very trying, even the nights being hot ; but it w^as an intensely dry heat, and none of us were at all the worse for it. On the 8th Mahomet Salee returned with dhurra^ which he had obtained from a Hamran village. The next day we sent him back to Haikota, as well as Bayrumphy and the other Arabs given us by Sheik Achmed Ageer, for we were determined that he should make no more out of us than we could help, after the manner in which we had been served 154 J TROOP OF BABOONS. by him. The Base had all returned to Lacatecourah the previous day, with the exception of the three horsemen we had taken from Sogada ; these, we said, might either go or stay as they pleased, and they elected to remain with us. Very soon, however, they changed their minds, persuaded to do so, I believe, by Mahomet Salee ; for, after settling to remain with us, we found on returning from an afternoon's shooting that they had all taken their departure ; the follow- ing day, nevertheless, one of them returned by himself to our camp. As soon as we had started them off Lort Phillips and I went out with our rifles to a small klior that ran into the opposite side of the river, and where there were some pools of water. We found that animals often preferred drinking at these pools away from the river to going to the river itself, as by so doing they were less likely to be disturbed. We did not see much game. I shot an oterop^ and my com- panion a buck nellut with the finest pair of horns of any we had bagged so far. We spent some time watching a large troop of baboons. There were nearly two hundred, and one never got tired of watching them. A great many of the females carried young ones on their backs, and a great deal of screaming and sometimes fighting took place. It was wonderful to see the way in which the young ones kept their seats as their mothers, to whom they clung, were chased from rock to rock and tree to tree by other baboons, generally not in anger, but for pure fun and mischief We seldom shot any of these creatures, as none of the natives would eat them ; we took three or four skins home, however, as they make very handsome mats. On our return to camp we found that my brothers and Colvin had made another expedition up Khor Meheteb. During the night we twice heard shots in camp, the air being so still and clear that the report of a rifle could be heard for a long distance ; and we began to hope it was really the elephants this time, when at about twelve o'clock they arrived bringing a cow buffalo. They had had a most exciting night watching by the water, the first visitors to AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 155 arrive being a large herd of buffaloes, who, however, got their wind and galloped off without either drinking or allowing themselves to be seen ; next came two bulls, one of which they managed to send off wounded, and heard bellowing several times during the night. About daybreak a herd of about thirty made their appearance, two of which they wounded, but they got away. Having fortified them- selves with a hasty breakfast, they next sallied forth to look for blood-tracks, which they soon found, and after about two hours' tracking obtained a glimpse of a wounded beast ; it was only a glimpse, however, as before any of them could fire it was off at a gallop. They lost no time in continuing the chase, and had not gone far before the infuriated buffalo charged Arthur from behind a bush, where it had stopped to hide. Buffaloes are very cunning animals, and frequently when wounded, or perceiving themselves pursued, will retrace their steps, lie perdu behind some good covert, and charge the sportsman as he goes by. My brother fired both barrels, but neither shot had the desired effect of grassing the buffalo, though both hit it ; the only result being to turn the attention of the animal to Colvin, whom it charged furiously, scarcely giving him time to raise his rifle to his shoulder, his second barrel being fired when the animal was literally at the muzzle. Colvin was sent flying in one direction, his rifle in the other, while the buffalo fell between. This was a narrow escape, too close to be pleasant ; but fortunately no harm was done ; the buffalo, though, not dead, being unable to rise, as the shot had taken effect in its knee. They then took up the track of the bull buffalo which was also wounded, and following it until they found them- selves not far from the camp gave it up, as the heat was terrific, and they were rather done up after a sleepless night and a long walk in the sun with such an exciting finish. This bull, according to Salee's reading of the marks on the ground, had been attacked by no less than three lions ; they had heard the roar of two of them at night, and had seen the marks where the buffalo had turned and evidently 1 56 B UFFAL 0 A TTA CKED B V LIONS. charged his tormentors ; after a time two out of these three lions had discontinued the hunt, but the third had held on a long time before also giving up. Besides these buffaloes they discovered in the morning that a giraffe had drunk at the water, but they had seen nothing of it. CHAPTER XVIII. A Visit from two Hamran Sheiks. — A Shereker. — A Second Visit from Hamran Sheiks. — Three Base join the Camp. — They are attacked by the Hamrans. — Departure for Om Hagar. — Arrival at Om Hagar. — Capture of the First Hippopotamus. — Visit from Hamran Sheik's Son. — The Last Hippopotamus. — Marabou Storks. — Pur- chase of a Tortoise. — A splendid Buck N'ellut shot. Ox the Tith two Hamran sheiks arrived in camp. They were most anxious that we should take one of their people as a guide, which we refused to do ; they told us that there was far less to shoot in their country than there had been a few years ago, and that every year the game was decreasing. We needed no one to tell us this, as it was only too evident. There was far less game on the Settite than there had been when some of us had spent a few days on the river four years previously, and even then there was nothing like as much as there had been four or five years before our first visit. Our Hamran visitors told us that the farthest camp any European had made on the river, entering from their country, had been a few miles higher up than our last camp. They said they were friends with the Abyssinians, and that their head sheik could arrange for us to go into Wolkait by way of Cafta ; that, although they were not afraid of the Abyssinians dwelling on the Settite, neverthe- less they did not go very much farther up the river for fear of the Base. The fact was that the Haikota people would not go with us any higher up the river for fear of the Abyssinians, and that the Hamrans equally would not go for fear of the Base, so that we were checkmated either way. I, moreover, very much doubt the ability of the 158 SHEREKEKS. Hamran sheik to have made any arrangement for our going to Wolkait. A great many Beni-Amers from Haikota were encamped in Khor Meheteb. They were there chiefly for the purpose of entrapping animals, their mode of doing so being the same as that practised by the Hamrans. Most of their game they obtain by means of snares, which they place on the paths made by animals on their way to drink. They have a very ingenious invention, called shereke?'^ to for buffaloes, giraffes, and other large-footed game, they are made much larger. With a supply of sJm-ekers^ as well as running-nooses, these latter made of twisted hide, the hunter is ready to commence operations. Having found a well-beaten track near to some watering-place he digs a hole in the middle of it, about eighteen inches deep and a little smaller in diameter than the shereker he intends to use. He next cuts a branch or small tree, just large enough to check the progress of the animal, but not to stop it ; to this he makes fast the loose end of the noose ; then he places the shereker over the hole, and arranges the noose over the shereker, brushing some loose earth over all in order to conceal the snare. Any animal stepping on the pit-fall sinks down ; and, on starting back, the shereker remains fastened tight to its leg and prevents the noose from falling off, till it is so tightly drawn that its aid is no longer required. The poor beast rushes off, dragging the bush after it, prevent the noose from slip- ping off the leg before it has drawn tight. It is made in the following manner : two hoops are bound tightly to- gether, and between them sharp pieces of tough wood are driven all round, their U points just reaching the centre. Those intended for catching antelopes are about the size of a soup-plate ; but HAMRANS PURSUE OUR BASE. 159 which not only soon wearies it, but leaves behind a fatal track by which to guide the hunter, who soon overtakes it ; and the spear puts a speedy termination to its sufferings. The accompanying engraving will give a good idea of a shei'eker. Before shifting our camp from Khor Meheteb we were favoured with a second visit from some Hamrans, A sheik named Said, and another sheik, name unknown, made their appearance one evening, arriving with a number of camels from higher up the river. Soon after their departure three Base from Lacatecourah made their appearance. It was dark when they arrived, and they begged to be allowed to accompany us. We gave them permission to do so, at the same time advising them not to go far away from camp for fear of a hostile meeting with any of their enemies the Hamrans. Sheik Said and his friend returned the following morning to pay us another visit. Very soon after their departure we heard shouts, and perceived that some disturbance was going on. The Hamrans had discovered that we had Base with us, and had pursued them with their guns, threatening that they would shoot them ; but the three Lacatecourah men, together with the man from Sogada, ran away as fast as their legs would carry them — the latter leaving his horse behind with us. The Hamrans soon gave up the chase, and went a short way down the river ; on the way they met some of our Arabs, whom they informed that we should not go down the river into their country, and that if we persisted in doing so they would shoot us. We were naturally very indignant with them for their impertinence, and very angry at their having frightened away men who were living in our camp with our permission ; we of course laughed at their threats, and told them we should go where we pleased. They had a right to be annoyed at our going into their country with Haikota people and shooting their game, as by so doing any baksheesh we might distribute or wages we might pay would go to them instead of to the Hamrans, the inhabitants of the country; it was, however, a very THE BERTITON BOAT, i6i hostile method of expostulating with us about it. Had we intended shooting in the Hamran country when we left Haikota we should of course not have taken any of Sheik Achmed Ageer's people farther than to the borders of the Hamrans, but when we left we never contemplated spending any time in their country. We took no notice of their threats, but broke up our camp and rode on. Suleiman harangued them as we passed them sitting under some trees with a number of their people and they made an apology. The place where we encamped was called Om Gedat, or "mother of the guinea-fowl," so named from the im- mense number of those birds that resorted to the neighbour- hood. After a night there we moved about ten miles farther down, and pitched our tents on the left bank of the river at a spot named Om Hagar, or "mother of the rock." The Arabs on the Settite are very fond of such names. A village still farther down they term Om Brega, " mother of the thorn," also a most appropriate designation, the village being situated in a wood of >^///^7r-bushes. Lort PhilHps and Aylmer made the journey together to Om Hagar in the Berthon boat. This boat proved a most excellent institution, and was a great acquisition during our stay on the river. It was nine feet in length, and, being collapsible, was easily carried on one side of a camel, in which position it travelled the whole of the long journey without mishap ; and, notwithstanding the great heat to which it was constantly subjected, was as sound on its arrival at the coast as on its departure for the interior. As I have already mentioned, it was extremely serviceable in shooting the net and' in clearing it when foul of rocks. It moreover afforded an easy means of crossing the river, thereby saving many a weary tramp to reach the nearest ford, possibly two or three miles distant. Before leaving for Om Gedat we engaged as guides a couple of Hamrans, who turned out fairly useful. The appearance of the country between this point and Om Hagar considerably improved, and was, to a sports- man's eye, decidedly more promising. The hills that bordered the river, though still steep and stony, were less M OUR FIRST HIPPOPOTAMUS. rugged than those we were leaving behind us ; while beyond, the country opened out into a plain, interspersed with small hills on the north side of the river, and apparently bound- less to the south of it. The trees, too, that fringed the river were much greener and larger than heretofore, thereby affording more covert for the game we hoped to find. Dotted about amidst grateful shade were the giant habita- tions of the white ants (termites)^ nowhere more numer- ous or of larger size than in this part of the country. Our tents were pitched on a spot high above the river, with a grassy lawn sloping down to the water, well known to Ali our cook, who had previously spent much time in the same place. He lost no time in establishing himself under a leafy bower, to which he apparently considered that he possessed a prescriptive right by virtue of old association. On the opposite side of the river, but a little lower down, what at first appeared to be a khor ran for about a mile and a half to two miles parallel with the Settite, where it joined the river, forming when the water was high during the rains a large island. In its bed were several pools of water, favourite drinking-places for the game of the country, and often preferred to the main body of the stream on account of their retired situation. We pitched our camp at Om Hagar on March 14, where we remained until the 2 2d, from which date we considered ourselves as more or less homeward bound. Both during our stay there and at Khor Meheteb we were very success- ful in shooting buffaloes and many kinds of antelope. In the present edition of my book I have omitted many descriptions of day's shooting, which in the former and larger edition I have described at length. Not far from camp was a large zariba containing a great many goats and sheep. We arranged with their owners for a daily supply of milk during the rest of our stay at Om Hagar. A few days before our departure Aylmer secured the first hippopotamus, a fair-sized bull. His first shot had apparently half-stunned it ; but several more bullets were required before life was extinct. " Hippos " were scarce in 164 ^ VALUABLE ANIMAL. that part of the Settite, and we did not care to shoot many ; the flesh was, however, greatly appreciated by the Arabs, although we found it somewhat strong in flavour and very tough. After having gorged themselves with as much of the fresh meat as they could manage to swallow, they would cut up the remainder into strips, with which they festooned all the trees ; this, when dried, was placed in skins, and afterwards cooked and eaten from time to time. The fat, when boiled down, formed a most excellent substitute for cooking-butter, which we were very glad to get, as the only butter we could obtain in the country possessed a most disgusting taste, principally owing to the fact of its being kept in badly-cured goat-skins. Then, too, the hide is most highly prized throughout the wSoudan for the purpose of making the kooybatch, or native whip, of which we were told one skin, if carefully divided, would make upwards of two hundred. This statement, however, must be taken ciun grano, as we never put it to the test. The hide on the neck of a fine bull is fully an inch and a half in thickness. Altogether you cannot please your Arabs more than by shooting one of these useful animals. The tusks are often very fine, and were at one time extensively used by dentists in the manufacture of false teeth. I believe, however, that they have been superseded by the use of some composition. They make very nice trophies, and can be made up in various ways. At home we had some made into frames for mirrors, and they looked very well. The natives secure these animals by means of harpoons, of which Sir Samuel Baker gives a most interesting account in The Nile TrihUar-ics of Abyssinia, a book that served us as a sort of guide-book, and which we found contained a most accurate and interesting description of the country. Owing to the comparative ease with which hippopotami can be killed, they are rapidly becoming exterminated in this part of Africa. They are no longer found on the Nile farther north than the nineteenth degree of north latitude, and are nowhere plentiful north of Khartoum. Where AGRICULTURE NO SINECURE. 165 there is cultivation on the banks of the river they do a great deal of damage. Near Berber I have seen places where every night the natives sat up to protect their crops against their depredations. Along the river they stretched a rope supported on poles, from which hung numerous bells, which they pulled vigorously whenever a " hippo " made its appear- ance, in order to scare the unwelcome intruder back into the river. Agriculture in these parts is indeed no sinecure ; the husbandman has no peace night or day. All day long vast flocks of doves and small birds cause havoc amongst his crops, and necessitate perpetual vigilance. One often sees boys perched upon lofty platforms armed with slings, with which, accompanied by discordant cries, they endeavour to ward off their feathered foes. Soon after our arrival at Om Hagar we sent a quantity of dhurra to a Hamran village farther down the river to be converted into flour ; with it we sent a present of a hand- some burnous, a small quantity of gunpowder, and a letter to the chief shieik of the Hamran tribe of Arabs, who was at that time dwelling there. The result was that he sent his son to visit us, a very good-looking fellow, and well mannered, except for his begging propensities. He was very anxious that we should bestow some present upon him, and begged very hard for a gun and all kinds of things, and was very difficult to satisfy. He was profuse in his apologies for Said and the other Hamrans at Meheteb, and informed us that it was a fact that Said's father had been killed by the Base, a circumstance of which we had heard before. He declared that the Hamrans were friends with the Abyssinians, and that with their permission the Hamrans hunted elephants in their country, on the stipula- tion that any game shot in their territory was divided with them. On the same evening Mahomet Salee and one of our other old horsemen suddenly made their appearance with two camels that we had sent from Haikota to Cassala for some necessaries, such as bread, sugar, and candles. These camels had left Achmed Ageer's headquarters for Cassala ^ i66 ANOTHER HIPPOPOTAMUS SHOT. at the same time that we left for the Settite, and had been away far longer than they ought to have been. The same evening Mahomet Salee left our camp for Om Brega to purchase dJmrra on his own account, which he intended taking back with him to the Gash ; as a peace-offering he brought us the skin of a boa-constrictor, which he said he had killed on the road between Khor Meheteb and Haikota. The same day news was brought into camp that Colvin had killed a " hippo " three or four miles farther up the river. We despatched camels for the meat, and at the same time my brother William and I started with the photographic camera, intending to take its photograph. On arriving at the place we found a " hippo " in a large pool, rising, as is the habit of these animals, to the surface to breathe and quickly disappearing again. The Arabs de- clared, however, that this was another animal, and that the one Colvin had shot was lying dead at the bottom of the river, and would soon rise to the surface. We waited a long time, hoping that this would be the case ; and to pass the time I fished, but with indifferent success. I saw a number of turtles, which kept coming up to the top of the water, but could not catch one, and only managed to hook a gamoot of seven pounds. Colvin left the pool and went off with Aylmer. The latter shot a mehcdehet and a very fine buck 7iellut ; and in returning to camp in the evening Colvin obtained a snap- shot at a leopard, which he unfortunately missed ; this was the more unlucky as it was the first time any of us had had a shot at one. My brother Arthur went down to the pool where the "hippo" was, and, as there was no sign of Colvin's animal, shot our friend of the morning. Either it was the same one Colvin had fired at and not killed, or else Colvin had wounded one, which managed to keep out of our sight by remaining under the bushes which grew very thick on one bank of the river and overhung the water. At any rate we saw no signs of any other, and, in fact, saw no more hippopotami during the remainder of our stay in the country. The following morning we found my brother's " hippo " floating, and, after towing it to land, took its IVE PHOTOGRAPH HIM. 167 photograph ; it proved to be an old bull, with enormous tusks which had grown through the upper lip. It is often very difficult in shooting hippopotami to determine whether or not your shot has been successful, as, hit or miss, the animal at once sinks below the surface, to float after some two or three hours if killed : but if only HIPPOPOTAMUS AND SALEE. wounded, or missed, he will frequently select so well-con- cealed a spot for his necessary re-appearance as to baffle his pursuers. The lungs of the hippopotamus are so con- structed as to enable him to remain below the surface of the water for a period of from six to ten consecutive minutes, though when undisturbed they dehght in remaining with A GIGANTIC LAND TORTOISE. their heads entirely above water, often for a considerable length of time ; but when molested they take care to show no more than the apertures of the nostrils and their eyes, and that only for a few seconds, as they quickly fill their lungs with a fresh supply of oxygen, and sink again. The vicinity of our camp was the daily resort of numerous marabou -storks, several of which we shot for the sake of their feathers. Any one who had seen these birds in the numbers in which they occur in these parts of Africa would fully api)reciate the justice and accuracy of Mr. H. Stacy Mark's admirable picture entitled " In Convocation," which attracted so much attention at the Royal Academy two or three years ago. We purchased from some Arabs, for a trifling sum, a gigantic land-tortoise, which we had intended to have pre- sented to the Zoological Society of London ; but the fates were against us, for a journey on camel-back proved more than his constitution could bear. He weighed almost as much as a man could lift. At night we fastened him with a strong chain to a heavy provision-box, which he would frequently drag several yards in his endeavours to escape. We never could perceive that he ate or drank anything, although we tried him with everything which we thought likely to tempt his palate. Even under these adverse circumstances he nevertheless lived for some weeks, and gave no signs of fi\iling strength until one day we found him dead. Colvin, however, succeeded in conveying to England a very diminutive specimen of what appeared to be the same species. One day my brother William took his camera down to the khor to endeavour to photograph any antelopes or other animals that might come there. Both antelopes and baboons made their appearance ; but, after successive attempts, he found it impossible so to arrange the camera as to be able to expose the plate without disclosing himself ; accordingly he discarded the camera for the rifle, and had the good fortune to secure the finest buck ncUut that we obtained during the expedition. The horns of this magnificent animal measured tliirty-nine and a half inches in a direct A FINE BUCK NELLUT BAGGED. 169 line from the base to the tip, and fifty-nine inches measur- ing round the curves.^ The whole of our stay at Om Hagar was most enjoyable, and I think I cannot do better than give a few extracts from my diary of our last days there. 1 Mr. F. C. Selous in his interesting book entitled A IJimter's Wandet'ings in Africa, mentions shooting a specimen of this antelope, which he designates as perhaps the handsomest species in the world. The horns of this animal measured forty-three inches from base to tip, and sixty-four measuring round the curves. It was the largest he ever came across. CHAPTER XIX. Extracts from Diary, — Bait set for Lions. — Mosquitoes. — Among the Buffaloes again. — Beginning of the Homeward Journey. — Journey towards Lacatecourah.— The Village of Lacatecourah. — A Bonne- Boitche, — Encampment at Abou Sellal. — A Native of the Base Settite. — A Dabergoum Sheik offers to conduct us to the Base Settite. — Base Villages on the Settite. — Capture of a Boa-con- strictor. — Arrival at Haikota. — The Beni-Amer's Raid on the Base. — A Visit from Sheik Achmed Ageer. March 19. — William and I went out shooting together, and rode a long way on the south bank of the river. Saw one 7nddrtf, but miles off, and could not succeed in getting near it, and a few tetel and iicUut^ to which we paid no attention. I had a long shot at a boos {KIipspri7ige7' oreo- tragus saltatrix), which I unfortunately missed. This is the only antelope, I believe, that inhabits the part of the Soudan through which we travelled that none of us ever shot. It is decidedly scarce, is larger than a gazelle, with long reddish hair, and has, for its size, big horns. Arthur saw either two or three lions, he could not say which. The first he caught a glimpse of as it vanished into some high grass, and, although he followed it, never saw it again ; the second he saw almost at the same moment, but at the top of a hill about three hundred yards off ; and the third he saw on returning towards camp over the same ground in the afternoon, and consequently could not be sure that it was not one of those he had seen in the morning. Owing to the thickness of the covert and the hardness of the ground it was impossible to follow them for any distance. Lions are rarely to be caught in this chance way. " On our return to camp in the afternoon we found Arthur, who told us about the lions ; and we immediately MOSQUITOES. 171 started off again to endeavour to shoot an antelope, which we wished to use as a bait for them. Although usually, when we did not want them, we could obtain one or two without much difficulty, we were on this occasion obliged to return by nightfall without having even had one shot. We thought that, by leaving a dead antelope near the place where Arthur had seen the lions, one or more might visit it during the night ; in which case, on the following morning, there would be the chance of finding one not far from the carcass, gorged with its banquet. Aylmer had spent the day by the water in the khor^ and had shot a doe 7?iddrif and two fine buck nelliit ; not bad, as all had heads well worth preserving. On his arrival in camp with the spoil we sent one of the latter to what we hoped would prove the trysting-place of the lions. " To-day the atmosphere has been clear again, but the two previous days were so misty that the sun was partly in shade. The temperature both night and day has been much cooler, and we have had very strong gales at night, which tried the tent-ropes. " The mosquitoes bother us a good deal after the sun has gone down — a plague we have not experienced before this winter, except to a slight extent at Souakim. These torments need hardly enter into one's calculations in under- taking a journey into these parts during the dry season ; on the few occasions that one meets with them in any number they appear to be very local. I found them very troublesome at Sofi, a village on the banks of the Atbara, near its junction with the Settite, although we were encamped very high above the. river, and there was nothing to account for their presence in that part more than in any other. This was the place chosen by Sir Samuel Baker in which to spend the rainy season, and he mentions their extreme virulence in The Nile 7'ributaries of Abyssinia. Of course it was not to be wondered at that they should be very troublesome during the rains ; but, as I found them so great a plague there during the driest season of the year, it is very probable that they were thicker there during the rains than at other places. 172 J LION TRACKED. March 20. — Went very early to see if any lions had visited Aylmer's dead nellut^ but found no signs of its having been disturbed. We are daily supplied with milk ' by some people who have made a large zariba on the north bank of the river, and have a great number of goats. The ' proprietor ' came early this morning to inform us that last night a lion had had the impudence to jump over the zariba and carry away a goat. Colvin and I started in pursuit, hoping to be able to follow the depredator ; we soon found where he had jumped over the prickly hedge, and the marks made by the wretched goat he had dragged with him. Achmet tracked him across the river and for a long distance on the other side ; but we finally lost the marks of his footsteps in thick bushes, and were forced to abandon the pursuit. " We, however, found tracks of buffalo that had drunk last night at the river, and these we followed a long way from the Settite, and finally got up to them in a '• kittar^ forest. They were all lying down tail to tail, but rose to their feet when we got to within a hundred to a hundred and thirty yards of them. We both singled out what appeared to be big ones and fired ; the whole herd made off with a tremendous crash through the bushes, but none fell. We ran round and tried to cut them off as they made for the river. We could have fired again, but abstained from doing so as they would have been long shots that could have only wounded them. After following for some distance w^e found we had each wounded one ; they lagged behind the rest of the herd, which was evidently going slowly on their account A little farther, and the only wounded beast that left a distinct blood-track separated from the others, and we followed it for some distance, until the sun going down warned us that it was useless to go any farther that night, and we returned to camp. " William and Lort Phillips had been out together, and had followed a herd of buffaloes which had been drinking and splashing in the river opposite our camp last night. They went a long way in the Meheteb direction, and separated, as the latter was following a bull. He could WOUNDED BUFFALO ATTACKED BY HYENAS. 173 not get near it, and, having lost his reckoning, whistled, which startled the herd as William was getting near it ; and the buffaloes galloped off without his obtaining the chance of a shot. Later in the day William wounded one, but not badly ; and as the afternoon was too far advanced to allow of his following it he gave it up. Arthur watched the pool of water in the kho7'^ and was rewarded by shooting two wart-hogs and a buck nellut^ the latter of which he sent, as a bait for lions, to a spot where we frequently saw their marks. ''''March 21. — Sent George out for a day's shooting; and he got a very large tetel and a gazelle, and wounded a mehedehet^ which he lost. Arthur and William went to see if any lions had touched the iielliit^ but found no trace of any having done so. Lort Phillips watched ' the water,' and succeeded in shooting a small buck nelhit. Colvin and I took up the tracks of our wounded buffalo of yester- day, and, after going for about a quarter of a mile from where we had given up the pursuit last night, we found a place where it had evidently been careering about. Achmet at once declared that it had been attacked by hyaenas. Very soon we espied it quite dead. It was a large cow, which, in the thickness of the y^-Z/Z^zr-bushes, we had easily mistaken for a bull. " There were the marks of several hyasnas on the ground, and they had torn the poor brute's hind-quarters all to pieces. It was quite evident, from the way in which the ground was torn up by the buffalo's hoofs, that the hyaenas had attacked it while alive, and that it had made a desperate struggle to defend itself before giving in. We left a camel and some men with the carcass, and started to find the herd. We had no difficulty in taking up their tracks from where we had left them yesterday, and found, too, the blood-marks of the other wounded animal ; but these we soon lost again. Spent a very long hot day in the pursuit of this herd ; the wind was generally wrong, and it was not until after much crawling through long grass, and dodging from tree to tree, that, late in the afternoon, we either of us succeeded in obtaining a shot ; it was a long one, and the 174 MOVING HOMEWARDS. buffalo went off wounded. Again, after a short pursuit, the setting sun obHged us to desist, and we returned to camp. Ma7'ch 22, — Started early after our wounded buffalo, which we had left not far from camp ; its tracks were diffi- cult to follow, and very soon crossed those of the herd. However, we were not long in finding the wounded animal, which unfortunately proved to be another cow, a very old one, with a fine head. She had retreated into thick covert near the river, and a ball in the shoulder at fifty yards brought her to bag. A crowd of Hamrans had followed us eager for meat ; and as we had plenty in camp, and were, moreover, shifting our quarters, we gave most of it away. One piece of hide sufficient to make a shield we exchanged for some small ' hippo's ' teeth. "This is the first day of our return homewards. We marched to the water in Khor Meheteb, encamping near the place where we had previously sat up watching for game. Lort Phillips, who is very fond of fishing, tried the Settite for the last time on the expedition, and caught a gamoot weighing twenty-five pounds. Arthur shot a small crocodile. " We turned our backs on the river with many regrets ; for, although much disappointed at being baffled in our attempt to explore farther up its course, we had, neverthe- less, greatly enjoyed our stay on its banks, and had obtained better sport than we had expected in the Hamran country. " I trust some day we shall make a regular expedition into Abyssinia from Massawa, having first obtained the necessary letters from King John authorising us to do so, and that then we shall be able to shoot along the Settite farther up the river, and perhaps travel along its banks as far as we now are on Khor Meheteb. " It was dark before Colvin and I joined the others in our new camp, and we found them just sitting down to dinner." We had now to go through much the same kind of journey to get back to Haikota, that we had performed to reach the Settite ; but we were determined to pass through the Base village of Lacatecourah on our return. LACATECOURAH. 175 We reached the foot of the hill on which Lacatecourah is built at 6.45, leaving the caravan far behind. This hill, which is some four or five hundred feet high, is covered with great granite boulders ; and the village is the largest we had seen of those belonging to the Base. We saw lights from the huts above us, and after a good deal of shouting some men came down to us. The water which supplied the village was some distance farther ; but as we had plenty coming on with the caravan, and the night was very dark and trees thick, we decided on remaining where we were and waiting for the camels to overtake us. The bulk of the camels, together with Suleiman, did not make their appearance until nine o'clock the next morning, having completely lost their reckoning, as well as the apology for a path that there was ; and having wandered to the back of the hill on which the village of Lacatecourah is situated, were prevented from seeing the pyrotechnic display in which we indulged the previous evening on hearing that they were lost. We found the nights away from the river much colder, and were very glad of our blankets. In the morning we thoroughly explored the village, which was most curious. A primitive portcullis -like gate near the foot of the hill gave access to a steep path, up which we climbed ; huts were built at about half-way up to the top. There seemed to be almost a greater number of women than men ; and we greatly delighted many of them by presenting them with glass beads, khol for their eyes, and looking-glasses, while among the men we distributed a large number of knives. Some of the women's heads were remarkable objects, beads of all shapes and colours being regularly worked into the hair. The view from the top of the hill, or rock, for it is not much more, is extensive, but by no means beautiful ; a great plain covered chiefly by leafless trees does not consti- tute a lovely prospect. From one of the Base we bought a baby baboon to add to our menagerie, which already consisted of two sm.all green monkeys and a tortoise.-^ We 1 We succeeded in bringing all these animals to England alive. 176 A BON- VIVA NT. decided on moving the camp to some wells in a khor, about an hour farther on, called Abou Sellal, and remaining there for the day to allow the camels time to rest and feed. We felt we had a long journey before us to the coast, and that the camels were not in good condition, and would require great care to enable them to accomplish it. I went off with some of the party to see the place that supplied the village with water. We had sent some camels there to fetch some, but they had not returned ; and on our arrival we found they had gone on to other wells farther off, where the water was said to be better. After waiting an hour or two for them they made their appearance ; and we all went on together to the camping-ground. As an instance of what the Base will eat : while waiting at these wells for the camels we noticed one pare off bits of hide from his sandals, some of which he ate as they were ; but his friend, who was sitting by him engaged in the same occupation, and who was evidently a hon-vivaiit^ first pounded up the pieces of sandal with a stone before consuming them ! We had always been informed by the Arabs that the Base lived in holes in the ground, and at Lacatecourah we found what we imagined had given rise to this idea. The hill was covered with enormous boulders of granite, and these the Base had utilised wherever possible to form roofs and one or more sides to their dweUings, so that by creep- ing under the rocks and filling up the apertures with a lattice-work of branches and straw they were literally living in a kind of cave. We found our camping-ground, Abou Sellal, a rather picturesque spot, situated in a deep sandy khor between hills. Crowds of Base belonging to some other village were there drawing water, and did not seem at all afraid of us. I made great efforts, both at this village and especially at Lacatecourah, to endeavour to find out something more about the Base villages — their names, and whether there were really any situated on the Settite above where we had been. The information I received was most contradictory, but I give it for what it is worth. In travelling in Africa one can only feel sure of what one really sees with one's BASE VILLAGES. 77 own eyes : and " native report," that one reads so much about in African books of travel, must be taken very much cum graiio. My experience of the inhabitants of Africa I have come across is, that they will frequently lie for the mere pleasure (for to them I suppose it is a pleasure) of lying ; and they will often do so when there is apparently nothing to be gained by it. The moot-question of whether any Base have permanent habitations on the Settite or not will, I believe, never be settled by us. My impression is, however, that they have villages either close to the river or at a very short distance back from it. They always build their villages on hills ; and the country above Khor Meheteb is suitable for them in this respect, as there are hills on both banks of the river, generally close to it, besides hills standing back at some distance. It is not at all unlikely, however, that the Abyssinians have forced them to abandon some of their villages, as we were told had lately been the case. In answer to my numerous inquiries I was told that Toansar and Beergayla were both on the river. There is no doubt that there are. such places, and that they are Base villages. One man declared that the former was two days' journey from Lacatecourah ; another, five. There was a path running into ours, on our way from Khor Meheteb, which one authority said led into Abyssinia, and was used by the Abyssinians when they organised raids against Lacatecourah j another stated that it merely led to another Bas^ village now deserted, and that the inhabitants had fled to Lacatecourah on account of the too close prox- imity of Abyssinia being disagreeable for them, I told Suleiman to be on the look-out for " information " about the Base for me, and at Abou Sellal he informed me that a man had arrived on the scene from this very debatable " Base Settite." He had a long yarn to spin, and was most communicative. His story (which in part we had heard before) was to the effect that some Sogada people had stolen five women from a Base village called Dabergoum. In these countries the fair, or what I should perhaps N 178 BASE VILLAGES. term the dusky, sex are regarded as property, and are looked upon in much the same hght as so many head of cattle or sheep. Dabergoum he described as on the Settite, the nearest Base village up the river above Khor Meheteb. He told us that his father came from Haikota, but that his mother was a Sogada lady ; and that he had been sent by the Egyptian Government to endeavour to extort taxes from Sogada, Lacatecourah, and two other villages. What they could possibly pay I cannot imagine, as poorer people could not easily be found. If his story were true, which I doubt, he would probably endeavour to cajole the people into paying something by promising them various advantages if they complied with his demands, and threatening them with what would happen if they did not. He said he had sent to Dabergoum to tell them that if they would send to wSogada for them, the women would be restored to their rightful lords. We were shown a man, said to be a sheik of Dabergoum, on his way to Sogada to fetch the ladies, and who, hearing of the presents that other Base had received from us, came to make our acquaintance, and offered if we would turn back to take us to that mystic region, the "Base' Settite." He described the shooting there as good, and said that there were ten villages between the Hamran country and Abyssinia, all of which paid taxes to King John. Some of these villages he told us were on the river, others some distance off in the mountains, but all situated on the right bank. Toansar and Beergayla were absolutely on the river. Dabergoum was four days' journey from Meheteb, but there were Abyssinians dwelling half-way between. He gave me the following names of ten villages, which I give as nearly as I could catch the names and the order in which they come, beginning from Meheteb. The two first are off the river in the mountains. Dabergoum, Tola, Takerlumba, Beergayla, Ownseba, Usaba, Fora, Toansar, Kundigayla, Anala. I think this information is very likely pretty correct ; and it impressed me at the time as having the air of truth about it. Only two days before our arrival at Abou Sellal some A BOA - CONSTRICTOR KILLED. 179 elephants had passed, and one had been killed close to our camp ; there was no mistake about it, as we saw the remains of its skeleton quite fresh. The next day's march took us to Sogada, and we en- camped on the same spot we had chosen in going south. It was a long day's journey, and some of the men lagged behind with their camels and lost themselves again. We made one halt before reaching Haikota, choosing Fahncoob again as a camping-ground. On our way we came across the trail of a snake, which we followed, and after tracking it for some time we dis- covered, curled up under a /^///^r-bush, a boa-constrictor ten feet long, which we shot with a revolver. We preserved the skin. It was the only one we ever came upon, though we not unfrequently saw their marks on the ground and sometimes traced them a long way. On March 27 we were back at Haikota again for the third time. We heard full particulars of the raid made by the people of that place on the Base at Sarcelle ; and I give them as they were given to me by some of the Beni- Amers that we had with us, and who represented themselves as being present at the time. I fully believe the main details of the story. Those who told us about it considered that they had behaved in a perfectly humane and natural manner, and never doubted for a moment but that we should think so too. Sarcelle is a large village, and, like most Base villages, built on a hill. As soon as the Beni-Amers made their appearance the inhabitants retreated into a cave in the mountain, which their enemies immediately surrounded. After standing a siege of four or five days, five Base men emerged from the cave as they were getting pressed for food and water ; and these men were no sooner- seen than they were killed by spears. The next day four women and two men appeared ; the former they kept, but killed the men. As fast as any people appeared, if men, they were killed ; if women or quite young children they were made prisoners. Many died of hunger and thirst in the cave ; but between one and two hundred m.en were put to death, while upwards i8o ACHMED AGEER'S EXCUSES. of a hundred and sixty women as well as a great number of children were taken off. The women were apportioned out as slaves or wives ; what became of the children 1 did not learn ; but we saw some of the women on our return to Haikota, and others we were told had been sent off to other villages. The Base women look very strong and appear to do most of the hard work. We reached Haikota before our caravan, and while we were at luncheon in the zariba of the German, who we found had fled, Sheik Achmed Ageer arrived to pay us a visit. He endeavoured to appear as though nothing had happened to displease us, but his manner was evidently constrained. We taxed him with his duplicity, Tand told him how indignant we were with him for having deceived us. His excuses were very lame ; and he tried to throw the blame on Mahomet Salee, to whom he declared he had given instructions to take us to Lacatecourah in the first instance, and there arrange with the sheik to go on to Toansar and Beergayla. He acknowledged that these were Base villages, and that both they and other villages were on the Settite. His throwing the whole blame on ^Mahomet Salee was of course nonsense, as the latter acted under his orders, whatever they were, and dared not disregard them. The probability is that he either could not help us to travel farther up the Settite or feared to do so, but that, Arab-like, he was anxious to meet our views and make himself as agreeable as possible at the time. The two following days we spent at Haikota arranging for a start. We went out partridge shooting, but with in- different success. When we left for the Settite there had been plenty of grass about ; but on our return we found that for miles around it was all eaten up — every blade of it — by the flocks and herds of the Arabs. In this those of the Beni-Amers had been assisted by the animals of other tribes. The sheik told us he had lately been paid six hundred sheep as a tax by Sheik ^Moosa's people (the Hadendowa sheik) for allowing their sheep to graze on his land. All the camel-drivers we had brought from Cassala, as RETURN TO TOADELOOK. i8i well as the boys who had charge of the horses, declined to go any farther, and wanted to go home ; the only exception being En-noor, — a boy we had engaged at Cassala to help look after the horses, and Achmet, whom I have mentioned as being so good a tracker. Achmet had come with us all the way from Souakim, and had stuck to us when his com- panions left on our arrival at Cassala ; we promised to take him with us by sea from Massawa to Souakim, as well as En-noor, if he wished to go. Most of the camel-drivers we should have dismissed at Haikota, whether they had wished to go or not ; for a more idle incompetent set of fellows it would be difficult to find. On the 30th we moved on to Toadelook, our old quarters. From there the road turns off to Amedeb, for which place we were bound ; and, having two or three days longer to wait, we thought we could not better employ our time than by waiting there. It seemed, too, to be a last and decidedly favourable opportunity for adding a lion to our bag, as the moon was full and the Arabs declared that there were plenty of these animals in the neighbourhood attracted by the immense herds of cattle there at the time. It was long after dark before we arrived, owing to a late start ; and we pitched our tents on the old spot above the river's bed. CHAPTER XX. Immense Flocks and Herds. — Night Watch for Lions. — Two Panthers killed. — Two Lions bagged.— The Camp moves on. — Religion of the Base. — Origin of various African Tribes. — First Day's Journey towards Amedeb. — A False Alarm. — Arrival at Amedeb. — ^Journey continued. — Khor Baraka. — Another Watch for Lions. — Thrilling Adventure with a Lion. I NEVER saw anything like the numbers of flocks and herds that were in this part of the country. Cattle, sheep, and goats were there in thousands. We were told there were over five thousand head of cattle alone, and the number of sheep and goats must have been far greater. In a country like this the labour of watering these large flocks and herds is very great. W' ells have to be dug in the bed of the khor, often to the , depth of from ten to twenty feet, with the hands, for they possess no such implements as spades ; and to prevent the soft sand from falling in they have to be lined with boughs, palm-leaves, etc. "When the wells are finished a quantity of dry clay is brought from the banks ; and, after being carefully kneaded and puddled, it is finally made into huge basins with raised sides, much resembUng sponge- baths. These basins are, of course, made at the mouth of the wells, and filled with water. When the cattle and goats arrive, instead of rushing immediately in a body to quench their thirst, which would of course result in the trampling- down and destruction of these clay drinking-troughs, the animals are trained to approach the water in turn, no more being allowed to go at a time than can conveniently drink together. It was a most curious and interesting sight to watch ; and if I had not seen it with my own eyes I should be slow to believe that these vast herds could be kept under such control. The Arab shepherds, instead of driving, i84 PLANNING NIGHT WATCHES. " lead their flocks," and all carry the proverbial crook, which in their case is used to shake down the dry pods of the mimosa and the fruit of the hegleek and nebbuk-txt^?,, of all of which the sheep and goats are very fond. We heard lions roaring at night ; but as it was late and w^e were all tired we decided to wait till the morrow before going after them. The next morning we arranged that four of us should spend the night in different places on the watch for them ; and that the remaining two should pass it at a place in the mountains, called Hademdumi, where there was some water in a narrow khor^ and where we were told we should have a very good chance. None of us had ever been there, and we drew lots who should go ; the choice fell on Lort Phillips and myself We started off in a south-west direction, and, after going for some twelve or fourteen miles, found ourselves at our destination. The water was no more than a good-sized well dug by the Arabs in the bed of the khor, and filled to a level with it ; and there was plenty of tall dried grass in the neighbourhood. The Beni-Amers had not yet moved there with their flocks, but intended doing so as soon as they had exhausted the grass in the neighbourhood of Toadelook. We were disappointed at finding some Haikota people near there. They had constructed a good-sized ambush out of the leaves of the dhoHf/i-\):i\m. on the bank beneath a tree, just over the water and four or five feet above it. The previous night one of them had killed, close by the water, the largest bull buffalo I think I ever saw ; he had come down to drink. We were told that after the buflalo had been killed a lion had made his appearance, but had left without their having fired at him. We were of course far more anxious to shoot a lion than a buffalo. We saw at once that, with such a smell of flesh about, there was no chance of a buffalo or a giraffe approaching the water. They had already cut the flesh of the buffalo into strips, with which the bushes were covered. After discussing some luncheon inside the hollow trunk of an immense baobab-tree I sallied forth to try and secure an SHOTS AT UNKNOWN ANIMALS. 185 antelope as bait : after a long stalk I luckily shot a large bull tetel. This we dragged to within about forty yards of our shelter, where we proposed passing the night. Soon after dark we ensconced ourselves inside the ambush. The moon was very brilliant, and it was most exciting work watching for the lion we hoped might appear. Our first visitors con- sisted of three little jackals, and we heard them barking in the bushes, very like dogs, some time before they ventured to approach the water. When they did appear we did not disturb them ; but watched them as they drank at the well and tore at the carcass, barking all the while. When they had eaten and drunk their fill they took their departure ; and in about ten minutes more a far larger animal made its appearance. We took it to be a leopard or a panther. Lort Phillips fired, but unluckily missed ; and the animal, uttering an angry growl, scampered off into the bushes. We cursed our bad luck, and decided that next time we would both fire together. Another quarter of an hour had barely elapsed before the same animal returned. Both fired ; it stood still for a second, and we feared we had missed again. Then it made for the bank, which we could hear by its cries it was not able to ascend, and it lay all night in the khor. We felt sure that the leopard, or what- ever it might be, was mortally wounded, as we could occa- sionally hear it groan ; and we felt confident that we should secure it in the morning. Another hour of anxious watching, and what we took for a lion made its appearance. It is very difficult to judge of animals in the moonhght, as it has the effect of making them look nearly double their size. Our new friend roared, as we thought, just like a lion, and was answered by angry growls from the wounded animal by the bank. As soon as he got broadside to the carcass we both fired ; with a roar he sprang up the side into the ^//^//;;/-palm bushes, without giving us the chance of another shot. There we heard him groan every now and then throughout the night. We quite thought we had shot a lion and a lioness ; we felt sure the second was a lion, and that the first, which we had taken for a leopard, must be his mate. i86 TIVO PANTHERS BAGGED. No more beasts of the forest visited us that night ; and, as soon as day dawned, we descended from our perch to see the result of the night's work. We found the first beast was a small male panther ; and after first carefully- ascertaining that the "lion," as we felt sure it was, had not gone through the bushes and up the bank above them, we searched for traces of blood, which we soon found in abund- ance. We were not long in tracking our "lion;" which proved, to our disappointment, to be a large panther, lying quite dead in the bushes. We had both hit each panther, so we took one apiece ; and, having cleaned them, we put them on a camel that we might take them to camp as they were. On our way back I left Lort Phihips to go on with the panthers, and turned ofi" to the right, taking an Arab with me, in the hope of seeing some game. I came across the marks of several giraffes ; the country looked perfect for them — plenty of covert and any number of green trees. I had a shot at a large kind of wild -cat, which I missed ; and then climbed to the top of a hill to view the surrounding country in the hope of seeing game. I had no sooner reached the top than I espied a lion lying under the shade of a tree at about two or three hundred yards distance. Carefully taking its bearings, I lost no time in descending, in the hope of a shot ; in this, however, I was disappointed, for I never saw it again. The animal must have seen me on the hill and made off. Unluckily, the ground was so hard and stony that its feet had left no impression ; but in any case it would most likely have betaken itself to some thick covert, where I should have lost all trace of it. This was the first lion I had seen this year ; for I did not get a glimpse of those I went after with Lort Phillips and Aylmer on the Settite. The only other I saw during my travels in Africa was at Furfur, on the borders of the Dembelas country ; and on that occasion also none of us obtained a shot. Before arriving in camp I heard that the others had shot two lions ; and on getting there I was delighted to find the news was true. My brothers were the fortunate sportsmen, each having bagged one. All four of the party that had TWO LIONS BAGGED. 187 remained at Toadelook had spent the night in watching ; they had each chosen a different spot, near where they imagined, from the tracks they found, the Hons might pass on their way to drink at the water. They had made small zaribas under bushes, in which they sat, each with a native holding a spare rifle. Immediately in front of the zariba a sheep was tied as bait, to attract the game. Neither Aylmer nor Colvin were fortunate enough to see any lions, though they were roaring round themi all night. My brother Arthur posted himself near the water and William beneath a bush in an open space, to which paths frequented by lions led in all directions ; and he had, in fact, that very morning seen the tracks of five passing close by the bush he selected to sit under. It is difficult for any one who has not had personal experience of this kind of sport to realise adequately how exciting it all is. Even buffalo-shooting at night is suffici- ently attractive; but the excitement is tenfold increased when the roar of the king of beasts is heard, growing louder as he approaches the hiding-place of the watchers. Then the rifle is grasped with firmer grip, as with beating heart and finger on trigger the sportsman watches the trembling sheep tugging and straining at its rope, in vain endeavour to escape from the shadowy form and gleaming eyes, which, though hidden as yet from the eager gaze of the hunter by intervening bushes, are only too plainly visible to the intended victim. An instant of intense suspense, and then with a deep growl the lion launches himself upon his prey. Now is the supreme moment ! a quick shot followed by a cloud of dust often rendering a second impossible, and for a moment it is difficult to determine how the game is going. Is he dead or mortally wounded ? in full retreat or blindly charging his assailant, separated from him by only a few feet ? During the night my brother William saw no less than six lions, at two of which he fired ; the others made off without giving him the chance of a shot. Of these six, five paid him a visit at the same time, and this troop stood under a tree too far off for him to fire in the uncertain 88 LION SHOOTING. moonlight ; suddenly one of them, with a tremendous rush and a low roar, sprang on the sheep. He fired, and knocked it over ; but it recovered itself and made off for the I bushes, where it lay groaning. Very shortly after another lion made its appearance, and stood gazing at the sheep. Feeling that he had fired too quickly before, he determined to reserve his fire until the lion should be quite close to him. Suddenly, however, with an angry growl, the beast turned sharply round and galloped off. My brother naturally felt much annoyed that he had not fired, and feared that he would not get another chance that night. Luckily, however, in a very short time the lion returned to the very same spot, about forty yards from where he was sitting, and was evidently puzzled to make out who or what he was. Raising his rifle, my brother took a steady shot at the centre of his chest. With a roar of pain the lion made off for some dwarf ^/^^7//7;^-palm bushes close by, where both he and the other which had been wounded remained all night, and from time to time could be heard groaning. In the morning, as soon as it was daylight, the other watchers, who had heard the shots in the night, came to see what had happened. They could hear one of the lions still groaning in the bushes, and surrounded him, throwing stones to induce him to rush out. They could not move him in this way ; so, carefully advancing into the bushes, they found him just expiring. The bullet had entered the chest, and, having traversed the whole length of the body, was found embedded just underneath the skin in one of the flanks. The lion proved to be a very fine one, with a particularly long mane for that part of Africa, where, as a rule, their manes are rather scanty. He measured nine feet two inches in length. They then went in search of the other lion, and found a pool of blood, where it had been lying all night. They tracked it by its blood for some miles, and caught a glimpse of it several times. It proved to be a lioness, and once they saw it under a tree in the company of two lions. Unfortunately, all three animals got into impenetrable jungle, and were never seen again, although some of us I90 A SUCCESSFUL SHOT. went several times in pursuit. My brother Arthur had seen only two — a lion and a lioness — both at the same time. As he fired at the lioness he caught a glimpse of her companion slinking away. She passed within two yards of where he was sitting, and was not over eight yards off when he fired. In the morning he found her dead and stiff about twenty yards off, shot through the lungs and with a broken leg. His rifle had played him the same trick as before, and let off both barrels at once — not very pleasant when shoot- ing lions, as there is a decided possibility that, if the beast is not killed or disabled by the first shot, he may make for his enemy. The camels we were waiting for arrived on April i ; but, although we were all anxious not to lose much time in starting in the direction of England, we put off our departure until the 3d, in order to have another chance of sport with the lions. The heat we found considerably greater than it had been: 100° in the shade was quite common, but the nights were fortunately cold. The night after their success with the lions my brothers remained in camp, while the rest of us drew for places and spent the night ensconced behind zaribas, each one of us determined if possible to add a lion to his collection of trophies. Unfortunately, none of us were successful. One came so close to Aylmer that it actually rubbed its sides against his zariba, and then, scenting danger, took itself off without his even seeing it, although he could, of course, plainly hear it. Aylmer, on the tiptoe of expectation, vvas awaiting the moment when it should step out close to him into the open, when the native who was sitting with him, holding his second rifle and shaking with terror, coughed lowly, which alarmed the beast, and he made off at once. Aylmer had no remarks to address to that Arab gentleman afterwards ! This man's ordinary duty consisted in looking after Aylmer's horse, but on this occasion he had begged to be allowed to sit up, and had declared that he would not be in the least frightened. We did not think it well to let those Arabs who usually acted as gun-bearers, and who NIGHT WATCHING FOR LIONS. 191 had sat up the previous night, do so twice running, in case they should go to sleep when wanted ; and on this account his request had been granted. Colvin had kept awake at his post from eight o'clock until after three, and had neither heard nor seen anything. At last sleep overcame him, and for a few moments he dozed ; of course a lion seized that opportunity to make his appearance, George, who was with him, saw the animal, and quickly woke Colvin, who fired just as an immense lion sprang on the sheep. He must have missed him, as he disaj^peared into the jungle in a cloud of dust, dragging the sheep with him. He had pulled the stake to which it was tied, rope and all, out of the ground and made off with his prey. Colvin heard him crunching the poor sheep's bones as he leisurely devoured it not many yards from where he lay. In less than ten minutes a lioness made her appearance, but did not approach very near. Colvin fired and hit her. vShe made off, however, into the high grass which grew close by, and he heard her there for some time moving about and occasionally roaring. At daybreak he endeavoured to track her, but was not success- ful, and nothing more was seen of her. Lort Phillips did not even hear a lion. I heard one constantly, but it was at the back of my zariba, and I saw nothing of it. The next day none of us went far from camp. My brother photographed some vultures that had been feasting on a carcass in the river's bed, and were enjoying a siesta in a huge baobab-tree. At night I lay out in the hope of obtaining a shot at a lion, but was dis- appointed. I heard one roaring once close to me, and I was greatly excited, as at every instant I imagined he might pounce on my sheep, and was all readiness for a long time with my rifle on my knees at full cock. The wind was, however, unfortunately wrong, and the beast sneaked off. In the morning I saw his footprints quite close to my zariba, but concealed from where I lay by intervening bushes. In addition to the attraction of the sheep I had burned some flesh before taking up my position, hoping by the smell to render my bait still more attractive. I had Aylmer, in going to his place near the water about eight o'clock, disturbed one which had just drunk, or CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF THE BASE. 193 was going to do so ; but it made off before he could get a shot. On the 3d we resolved to start once more in a home- ward direction. Old Sheik Achmed Ageer again saw us an hour or two on our journey, and then left to return to Haikota. I made frequent attempts to find out if the Base had any religious belief, and every one I asked replied in the negative. The sheik, who was quite the most intelligent of his class I ever met in the Soudan, persisted in declaring they had none whatever ; he was of course a T^Iahometan himself, and both read and wrote Arabic well. He said they knew nothing whatever of a God, and he gave me the following curious account of some of their customs : When he was obliged to make peace with any of their chiefs the Base killed a black goat, and both he and the Base sheik with whom the covenant was to be made would pluck out an eye, then cut off a hind and then a fore leg, each taking his part in the ceremony. By this they believe that if either failed in the engagement they had entered into, the defaulter would lose an eye, leg, or arm. Another of their customs was, that if any of their number stole anything from his neighbour, the offender, accompanied by a numerous contingent from among his people, was brought to a tree growing near his village ; the said tree being held, as it were, sacred. In order to prove whether the accused person had really stolen anything or not, he was required to pull a piece of bark off the tree without the aid of anything except his own fingers. If he succeeded in doing this he was acquitted and held innocent; but if not, he was condemned as proved to be guilty, and punished accordingly. As the tree invariably selected for this purpose was furnished with very tough, closely growing bark, it was usually almost impossible to disengage it with the fingers alone ; and the prisoner's sentence was generally a foregone conclusion. Although I think there is very little doubt that the Base are without religion and have no God, they must, if the following custom told me by the sheik be true, have some belief in a future state. When a Base man dies, his wife, o 94 BASE SUPERSTITIONS. or other relations, place something he was fond of during his life — such as the fruit of the baobab-tree, tobacco, etc. — on his tomb. Perhaps the wind or some human agency makes away with the offering ; they then believe that the dead man has consumed it and perhaps shared it with other spirits, inhabitants of neighbouring tombs. Should these delicacies disappear faster than the donors anticipated, the attentive relations of the dead man will perhaps accuse the relict of the inhabitant of a neighbouring tomb of being lazy and inattentive in not keeping her husband properly supplied, and so compelling his neighbour to share his dainties with him. I give these stories as they were told me from notes made at the time. I told the sheik that it seemed to me that the Base were the remnants of the original inhabitants of the country, and that they were settled there before the Arabs came over from Arabia. He did not believe this, but adduced no grounds either for or against my theory. He told me there were two brothers who emigrated from Arabia into Africa, one called Base, the other Nuba. The former settled where his descendants are now found, but he knew nothing as to what part of the country the other brother had gone to. According to him, the only remnants of the original inhabitants of any part of the Soudan that he had heard anything of were reduced to twenty or thirty families in the neighbourhood of Cassala, The Hadendowas, he declared, came from Dhalak, and other Red Sea islands ; the Beni- Amers (his tribe), Dabainas, and Shukreeyehs from the Hejaz ; and the Hallangas from Yemen. Although he was intending to return to Haikota when he left us, he said he would soon move some distance farther north with his flocks and herds, in order to obtain fresh pasturage ; during the rainy season his people mostly went to higher ground than the valley of the Gash. During one rainy season some years ago he stated that there was such a heavy hailstorm near Haikota that the hail lay on the ground nearly a foot deep for seven or eight days. This statement we could hardly swallow, though very probably they have hail there sometimes. START FOR A ME DEB. 195 Our first day's journey after leaving the Gash was about eighteen miles in the direction of Amedeb, where we en- camped in the plain, away from water. The country was very much like all that part of the Soudan, very barren and hilly, but in places rather less monotonous travelling than we had usually found it to be when leaving rivers or khors such as the Gash. We crossed a number of picturesque rocky khors^ on the borders of which flourished many large and fine trees in full leaf There was a large Base village on our right, some miles from where we encamped for the night, and we could dis- tinctly see the lights. The next day we arrived at Amedeb, after a long maroh of over thirty miles. We were up at daybreak, but could not get the camels off until 7.45; and it was 11.30 P.M. before we got dinner — a long day. The country through which we had travelled was very agreeable — far more so than we had expected to find it. The road, or track rather, was easy-going for the camels, except one steep stony bit over a high hill, and proved to be an infin- itely better one for the camels than that which Lort Phillips and I had taken the first time we went to x\medeb. All day we wound between high hills, and for a long time travelled in the bed of a khor called Mogoreb. I never saw a greener one. The numbers of various brightly- plumaged birds and the general appearance of the country reminded me of the Anseba valley, which we had visited the previous year and were again to pass through on our way to the coast. In this khor we encountered two very deep wells, situated some miles apart. On this journey we enjoyed a Base scare. We had gone on some distance ahead of the caravan, and suddenly came upon two Base drawing water at a well. They were at first very much frightened at us ; but we soon made friends, and riding on ahead left them. About an hour later one of our men came running after us with the alarm- ing news that the Base had come down in great numbers from the hills and fallen on the caravan in our rear. We, of course, all turned round, and retraced our steps at our camels' best pace ; finding the whole thing, as so often 196 ANOTHER BASE SCARE. happens in these countries, a false alarm. Before en- countering the caravan, however, it seemed as though "the battle " had begun. Colvin and one of the others had got on some distance ahead of me, when suddenly I heard a shot, and did not know what to make of it. I renewed my efforts to get on as quickly as possible, and more than once ran the chance of being knocked off my camel by the boughs of overhanging trees. On regaining the caravan, the mystery of the shot was soon explained. Colvin had put an end to the sufferings of a camel which had been left behind to die. The " attack " was then explained. The Base, unseen by us, had been watching our movements from the adjacent hills, and, being unaccustomed to see so large a caravan marching through their country, and probably never having seen Europeans before, were very naturally frightened, and at the same time curious to know what it all meant, and a number of them had come down and followed after the caravan to try and discover what was up. The two men we had previously met had flourished their spears at them, shouting to them to keep back, at the same time telling them we were friends and not Turks. On seeing this Gerghis and some of the other servants had thought it necessary to point guns at them. The Base shouted out for some of our people to go back and parley with them, but this they were all afraid to do; and there certainly would have been nothing gained by so doing, as we only wished to travel quickly through the country, and had no thought of stopping there. By the time we had returned to the caravan, all we saw of them was four men watching us from a hill. Soon after we met tranquil people feeding their flocks, and a number of them drew water from a well for our horses and goats. Before reaching Amedeb we passed a great many large villages belonging to the Barea tribe. On arriving at the town we were very glad to find newspapers and letters for us. Our letters, however, contained very sad news, telling us of the death in England of the Hon. John Maxwell, who had been one of our party in the Soudan the previous SAD NEWS. 197 winter. Poor fellow, he had had some thoughts of joining us on our present expedition, but had decided not to leave England again so soon, and had died of rheumatic fever. Our latest news from England was of February 24, and it was only the second time we had had letters since leaving Suez. In the afternoon we made a start in the direction of Sanheit, and got about four miles on our road, camp- ing by some wells where there were plenty of sont -ixe.Qs, abounding in doves, a number of which we shot. The following day we made a long and very uninteresting journey of eleven and a half hours. Although we passed wells in two places, we pushed forward, encamping away from water. The Arabs objected, as usual, to our doing this, as time is no object to them, and they do not care how long they take over a journey. We went straight on past the wells, leaving a couple of camels to come on after us with a plentiful supply. We saw no game all day, travelling in a plain where there was no grass but plenty of bushes, and crossing occasional khors. On both sides of us there was a range of mountains, some of them of considerable height. We passed two villages composed of mat huts, situated a long distance from any wells, and met a number of donkeys laden with water-skins, evidently carrying the daily supply. Two more camels gave out and we presented them to some Arabs, hoping they might pick up. The work our camels had to do was not too severe, but we could not get them properly looked after. The journeys we took them were shorter, and the loads they had to carry less, than the natives would have placed on their backs ; but we found it impossible to keep them in good condition. The weather we found less hot than it had been latterly on the Gash, and the nights were cool; while in the after- noon heavy clouds would sometimes obscure the sun, render- ing travelling much pleasanter. After a four hours' march we reached a place called Gargi, situated in Khor Baraka, which we had heard a great deal about as a likely place for lions. Gargi consisted of a movable village of mat huts, placed in the bed of the khor. KHOR BARAK A. 199 Khor Baraka is one of the largest and most important in the Soudan. It runs from the Anseba to Tokar, two days' journey from Souakim. The previous winter we had spent some time on it and some of its tributaries. It is bordered by a thick fringe of dhoum-'^2\m'i, and in many places is very picturesque. We afterwards heard that the two officers of the " Blues " who had travelled with us from Suez to Souakim had shot a Hon at that very place. One of them gave a most graphic account of their adventure in Bailfs Magazine. They were sleeping out in the open air, which they preferred to a tent, not very long before we encamped in the same spot, and the night was very dark. After having been asleep about two hours in the sandy bed of the khor, they were suddenly aroused from their slumbers by a horrible shriek and loud cries of " Asad, asad .' " (lion). In a moment every one was in commotion, including the watchman, who had allowed all the fires but one to go out. Their first thought was that a goat or sheep had been carried oif by a lion ; and they perceived the shadowy form of one walking away from the camp. One of them fired two rapid shots, the result of which was an angry roar. It soon appeared that it was not a sheep or a goat that had been carried off, but one of the natives who had been asleep near the fire. The lion had seized the poor fellow by the feet and dragged him for about four yards, and then left him, disturbed no doubt by the man's own shrieks and the shouts gf his companions ; and thanks also to the plucky and determined manner in which his neighbour had held on to him. The unfortunate man had both his feet severely injured by the lion's teeth, the greater part of the sole of each being torn away, leaving the bones, however, intact. He had little faith in the European method of curing his wounds, and insisted on carrying out his own method of treatment ; this consisted in covering his wounds with wood- ashes, and placing the soles of his feet as near as possible to the fire. On examining the course taken by the lion in his peregrinations through their camp, they discovered that he had passed exactly a foot and a half from one of their beds. At daybreak they followed the tracks of the lion, 200 PANTHER SHOT. and soon perceived by marks of blood that he was wounded. They followed him into a thick clump of -palms, where they heard him groaning. He quickly sprang out at them, receiving another bullet. He again retired into the jungle ; and one of them, climbing up a palm-tree, administered the coup de grace. We all, with the exception of my brothers (who gave in to the rest of the party, as they had both shot a lion) decided to lie out at night in the hope of getting a shot at a lion. We chose places a long way from each other on the banks of the kho7\ where, hidden under the shadow of the ^//zi?//;;/-palms, we could look on the sandy bed of Khor Baraka, brilliant in the moonlight, and obtain a good view of any lion that might deign to visit our tempting bait, as each of us had a sheep tied up in front of where he sat. Colvin and I saw nothing, though we remained at our posts all night and heard one or two lions roar occasionally, but they never came near us. Lort Phillips was so much bothered by hyaenas, which would keep rushing at his sheep, that, after firing several shots at them, he left and went to bed. Aylmer thought he saw a lion, but it proved to be a fine panther, which he shot ; not, however, before it had sprung on and killed the unfortunate sheep. He also shot a young striped hyaena, which looked different from any specimen we had shot before ; it was nearly white, with very long hair. The next day we continued our journey, and a most amusing incident took place. Gerghis, who was riding in front of the caravan, saw an elephant ahead of him, which he thought was one of a herd. As we were some distance in advance he turned back and begged George, who was in the rear, to shoot it. Some of the Arabs got most excited and danced about, waving their spears in the air. Suddenly some men ran out in great excitement from behind some bushes ; and it was then discovered that the elephant over which they had been so excited was a young one that had been caught at Furfur, on the borders of the Dembelas country, and which the men had tied to a tree while enjoying a siesta. Every one of course burst out laughing, and Gerghis got greatly chaffed about it. THE CAxMEL QUESTION AGAIN. 201 We made about seventeen miles before halting for the night at Adardee in Khor Bogou. We passed wells at three different points on the road, immense flocks and herds, and a great many people. We travelled a long way in Khor Bogou, which was very pretty ; in places precipitous rocks rose to a considerable height on both banks. We saw no game with the exception of doves, which were very numerous, a number of which we shot for food. The mountains were getting higher. The only thing wanting in the landscape was more verdure \ there were scarcely any trees, though plenty of bushes ; while we regretted, for the sake of the camels, the almost total absence of grass. At Adardee we came across several of our old camel-drivers of the previous winter, and engaged one of them with his three camels to go on with us to Massawa. The camel question was constantly recurring, as one by one they dropped off. It was impossible to lighten the loads they were carrying, and we gave all the attention we could to seeing that they were properly fed ; many of them, however, unknown to us of course, must have been diseased when we bought them. CHAPTER XXL Perilous Ascent of Tchad -Amba. — The Church. — The Monks. — We move on again. — An Old Acquaintance. — Arrival at Sanheit. — The Town of Sanheit. — A Visit to the Church and Schools at Sanheit. — We start for Massawa. — Dra's sad Story. — The Anseba Valley. — An Attempt to make India-rubber from the Qiiol-qtiol Plant. — El Ain. — Bashi-Bazouks and their Prisoners. — We encamp at the Water-course Camphor. — Occasional sudden Rising of the Water in the KJiors. We passed a very curious mountain named Tchad-Amba, which we left on our right. We had accompHshed its ascent the year before, and were, I beHeve, the first white people to have done so, no Turk or Egyptian even having previously gained the summit. It is a very remarkable mountain, standing nearly alone. W'e spent some time at its foot, and were told by our Arabs that it was impossible to climb it except by one very difficult path known only to the Abyssinian monks dwelling on the top. We were not very ambitious of attempting its ascent, and had formed no plan for doing so, when one day an Abyssiniari arrived in camp with a note from Pere Picard, our missionary friend of Sanheit. He informed us in his letter that the bearer of it was one of the monks who dwelt on the top of the mountain, and that for a consideration he was willing to guide us to its summit. Pere Picard added that he strongly recommended us to embrace this opportunity of seeing what former travellers had vainly attempted to accomplish. Munzinger Pacha, a former governor of Sanheit and the surrounding country, as well as a recent Italian traveller, the Marquis x\ntinori, had offered considerable sums to be permitted to make the ascent, but their offers had been ASCENT OF TCHAD- AMBA. 203 invariably refused. Before six o'clock the next morning we started, taking with us as porters an Abyssinian servant named Butros (Peter), and four soldiers we had brought from Sanheit. We took the soldiers in preference to our Arab servants, as the latter were afraid to accompany us. Our way led us up a very steep water-course, which, at first easy enough, became more and more arduous the farther we advanced. At length the smooth boulders of rock, frequently piled one on the top of the other, became so sHppery that we gladly followed the example of our men, who, having divested themselves of their sandals, were climbing with bare feet. At last we came to an enormous slab of rock, to surmount which was like climbing up the roof of a house at a particularly sharp angle, and with as dangerous a drop in case of a fall. Here one of our water- carriers collapsed, absolutely refusing to proceed farther, as his head would not stand it, and proposed awaiting our return, as he felt sure that we could not get up much farther. After climbing for another half-hour we were startled by the fall of a large stone from above, quickly followed by others, which made us hastily seek the shelter of an over- hanging ledge ; where, from the shouts that greeted us from the top of the mountain, we immediately perceived that the fall of the rocks was not caused by accident, as we had at first imagined, but that they were being hurled at us with hostile intent. After a great deal of shouting on both sides, Butros made our assailants understand that we were Chris- tians, and wished to see their monastery. At the commencement of hostilities our guide had endeavoured to sneak off; which so enraged our soldiers that they asked our permission to shoot him on the spot, declaring he had purposely led us into an ambuscade. We quieted them, however, by telling him that we would surely shoot him if he again attempted to desert us. After a consultation as to what was to be done, we decided on continuing the ascent. We were unwilling to be beaten ; and moreover, owing to the formation of the mountain, we were less exposed- in advance than in retreat. A tedious and dangerous climb brought us near the summit 204 KINDLY RECEIVED BY THE MONKS. — which was much farther off than we had anticipated — when we perceived an old man coming down to meet us, who told us that, seeing the tarbooshes of the soldiers, we had been taken for Turks. He then showed us the best way to reach the top, and pointed out to us how far we were from the path we should have taken. What was nothing to this old man, who had lived on the mountain for forty years without having come down, was no joke to us ; and we were sincerely glad when it was all over, and the top was reached. We found, on our arrival, a huge fig-tree and a number of conical-roofed huts. The monks received 'us kindly, and gave us a hut to sleep in, some dried figs about the size of hazel-nuts, and unleavened bread to eat, with very dirty-looking water to wash it down \ for which, however, we were very thankful. Their daily fare consisted of figs and bread. We saw several large threshing-floors ; and they grew sufficient dhurra for their own use. There were eight monks, mostly aged creatures, some of whom had not been down into the valley below for over forty years. They were dressed in coarse cotton cloth, dyed yellow, with caps of the same material, and went barefooted. They took us to see their church — a round building, thatched with straw, and divided into three compartments, one inside the other ; the innermost being accessible only to the high priest. They showed us some manuscripts ; one of which, evidently held in high veneration among them, we under- stood to be a Bible. It was placed in three covers made of skin, and had handsome silver clasps. I tried to buy some of their manuscripts, but they would not sell anything. Outside the church were three large flat stones, made to serve the purpose of bells. They were suspended by leather thongs from the bough of a tree, and, when struck by a stone, gave out a pleasant, bell-like sound. Twelve or fourteen was the full complement of monks who lived on the top of Tchad-Amba, but eight of their number had gone on some mission to King John. We were informed that during the Abyssinian war a number of VIEW FROM THE MOUNTAIN. 205 valuables were placed in the care of these monks for safe- keeping. Though they were very hospitable, I am sure they were not at all glad to see us ; they told us we were the first visitors they had ever had. The night was very cold, and w^e were obliged to light a fire inside the hut. The next morning my brother took his rifle, and shot a small species of goat which the natives called a sachar {calotragiis saltatrix). Its hair was very coarse, resembling that of a reindeer. We had never met with a specimen before ; it is evidently an inhabitant of the higher mountains. It turned out that the man whose guidance might have cost us our lives was a mauvais sujet who had been expelled from the monastery some years before; and, although he brazened it out, his late brethren were evidently not enrap- tured at seeing him again, more especially as, in offering to show us the \vay to the top, he had betrayed a sacred trust, having sworn never to divulge it. The mountain is accessible only from two points. The one usuall) taken leads over a ridge so narrow that for more than a hundred yards the safest mode of progression is to sit straddle-legged and work one's self along, one foot hanging literally over one valley, and the other over another. It is on one of the highest points of the mountain. This road leads in the direction of Sanheit ; and those monks w^hose heads could not stand crossing the ridge were taken round by the way w^e had ascended, which was a good deal farther from Abyssinian territory. Before we started on our return the monks took us to a ledge of rock, from which we obtained a fine view of the surrounding country for many miles, our tents immediately beneath us appearing mere white specks. The monks told us they had frequently seen our tents and heard our shots, and wondered what we w^re doing. They started us off on our return by much the same way that we had come ; but instead this time of following the ledge, as we had been obliged to do in coming up to protect ourselves against the stones thrown by them, we went a shorter and easier way, and soon reached the place where we had received their first volley of rocks. In making the ascent we had been 2o6 ALA - ED - BEEN PASCHA. for a great part of the way in the shade ; in going down, however, towards noon, we were in the blazing sun, and hemmed in by great boulders, reflecting the terrific heat. We were obliged to take off our shoes and stockings, as in our ascent, and found clambering over the burning rocks a most painful proceeding. To return to my narrative : Leaving Adardee, our next halt was at Ashidireh, about seventeen miles distant. Although in this country villages are by no means numerous, the Arabs have names for every well, kho7% or hill. It is often, however, difficult to know their proper names, as it frequently happens that the different tribes have different names for one and the same thing. Ashidireh was merely a watering-place, and Adardee the name given to some wells in Khor Bogou. On the road we met Ala-ed-Deen Pacha, an old acquaintance, who was at Massawa last year. The govern- ment of the Soudan had been lately divided into two, and the eastern part made separate from Khartoum, Berber, the White and Blue Niles, Kordofan, and Darfour. Ala- ed-Ueen, as I have already mentioned, had just been made governor of Souakim, Massawa, Sanheit, Cassala, Gerdariff, Gallabat, and the intervening country. He w^as on his way to Amedeb, and intended visiting the various towns under his jurisdiction, making Cassala his headquarters, our old friend the Bey there having been dismissed. Ala-ed-Deen was afterwards killed with Hicks Pacha. The Ex- Khedive Ismail told me he had a very high opinion of him ; he was no doubt a man of considerable ability, and probably no worse than most other Egyptian officials. The previous winter, however, he had greatly aroused our indignation. We had engaged camels at Sanheit for some weeks' shooting in the vicinity. On our return we found a steamer was leaving Massawa for Suez, which we could only catch by taking the same camels on to the coast. Our Shukreeyeh drivers objected, saying the road to the sea was out of their country and their camels were tired — perfectly valid excuses. We offered them half as much again as UNJUST CONDUCT OF OFFICIALS. g that the the proper fare, but they still demurred, fearin governor of Massawa would take their camels, make them carry for the government, and probably never pay them. On obtaining a letter from the Bey at Sanheit, asking (as we fondly imagined) Ala-ed-Deen, who was at that time KEREN ^SANHEIT). governor of Massawa, to let them go tree, they consented to accompany us. On our arrival we presented the letter, which we found merely stated that the garrison at Sanheit was in want of salt, and he had better load up the camels with some and return them to him. Ala-ed-Deen, in spite of our indignant remonstrances, seized the chief camel-drivers, put them in prison, and sent the others out to forage for their beasts until the salt was ready, when they were sent back with it 2o8 IVHY THE SOUDANESE HAVE REBELLED. to Sanheit. They came to us with tears in their eyes to protest against this cruel conduct and beg our protection. They further stated, but whether true or not I cannot say, that the extra pay we had given had been taken from them. Is it to be Avondered at that these people have at last risen against such rulers ? The next day took us into Sanheit, which we reached on April lo. A new road, only lately finished, had been built over the mountain, decidedly the best piece of road- making I have ever seen in the country, and nearly good enough for carriages, had there been such vehicles. It was a broad, zigzag road, cut in places through the rock, the work of the soldiers at Sanheit, and due entirely to the energy of the present governor. In the summer of 1881 the Abyssinians had come down into the country between Ashidireh and this mountain-pass and driven off a great many cattle, as well as killing a number of the Sanheit people. As usual on such occasions the Egyptian soldiers at Sanheit remained in garrison, and did nothing to help them. The garrison consisted of fifteen hundred men, all negroes from the White Nile. Several wtIIs had been sunk close to the road. The air was fresh and invigorating ; and on reaching the top of the pass, and winding in and out of the hills for a short distance, we w^ere delighted to look down on Sanheit in the valley below us, surrounded by mountains, and situated over five thousand feet above sea-level. It is the healthiest and coolest town in the Egyptian Soudan, and we knew it w^ll. We had ridden on ahead of the caravan, and went straight to the mission-house, where we saw Pere Picard. We asked him if he had been able to do anything for the children of poor Mahomet, our guide, of w^hom we had written from Amedeb on our first arrival there. He replied that their family were so fanatical and afraid of the Egyptians that they would not permit them to go to Sanheit ; and con- sequently he could do nothing towards educating them, all that was possible being to send them money. Sanheit is situated in a very barren, treeless -looking plain, in what is known as the Bogos country, and used to SANHEIT. 209 be independent, until Munzinger Pacha some years ago took it for the Egyptians, and built a fort there.^ Previous to that there had been many trees, all of which he cut down. Each family, too, had its own burying-ground inclosed in high stone walls ; these he removed and used in building the present fort, and there remains scarcely a trace of these ancient sepulchres. Sanheit is usually marked on the maps as Keren, and was known by that name before the arrival of the Egyptians. It is now applied only to the part of the town built before that period, and separated from the more modern town and fort of Sanheit, which is opposite to it, by several hundred feet of arid-looking land. This arid- looking plateau, however, after the rains, which commence in June, grows a considerable quantity of tobacco ; and there are several Greeks who have been established there for many years engaged in its cultivation. We pitched our tents close to the well belonging to the mission, which was fully two hundred feet deep, and under the shadov.- of an immense fig-tree. By the aid of irriga- tion, almost anything would grow in the favourable climate of Sanheit ; the soil is rich, but water scarce. The mission- aries possess several gardens, in which with great success they grow potatoes, cabbages, lettuces, carrots, and other European vegetables, as well as vines and pomegranates. It is a pity they have never tried mangoes, which I am sure would flourish there, and, besides supplying fruit, would be most valuable for shade. We went to call on the governor, and found his divan much improved in the last year ; instead of a small, dirty- looking kind of barn, we were shown into a nice room furnished with plenty of comfortable chairs, and there were actually clean white muslin curtains to the windows ! The governor, a military man, and evidently very energetic, was ^ By the treaty between Great Britain, Egypt, and Abyssinia, signed at Adowa on June 3, 1884, Sanheit, and the whole of the Bogos country, was to be restored to King John on September i of the present year ; and when the Egyptian troops shall have left the garrisons of Cas- sala, Amedeb, and Sanheit, the buildings in the Bogos countiy, stores, and munitions of war, are also to become the property of King John. P 210 COOL NIGHTS. new to the place. He had greatly improved and strength- ened the fort, and was commencing to build a mosque, for which they were making red -burnt bricks instead of the usual sun-dried ones. We found a telegram from the English consul at Suez to say that the next two steamers would leave Massawa on the 6th and 30th inst. To make sure we telegraphed to Massawa, and received an answer to say that the next boat sailed on the 26th. Pere Picard and another brother dined with us, and afterwards a great crowd assembled to see the magic-lantern, with which all seemed to be greatly delighted. Although we were told that the hottest months in Sanheit vv^ere those of March, April, and ■May, we found the weather much cooler than any we had experienced for some time. The nights were quite cold, and all day a strong cool wind blew. We asked to see over the church and schools — the largest and best conducted thing of the kind in the Egyptian Soudan — and were greatly pleased with w^hat we saw ; so much so, that, although none of us were Roman Catholics, we all gladly subscribed to so laudable an establishment. It had been a good deal enlarged lately, and was altogether far more important than we had expected. There are seven brothers, all Lazarists ; nine sisters ; and also a bishop, a Swiss, who lives usually at Sanheit, but when we were there he was absent in Europe. They clothe, feed, and educate seventy girls and eighty boys, all of whom live in the estab- lishment. We were conducted over the dormitories, which were very airy and scrupulously clean ; each child had an angareb, with the bedclothes belonging to it neatly folded up and placed at the foot. We were shown one large room, in which was a printing-press, where religious books were being printed in the Amharic language (one of the languages of Abyssinia) by one of the fathers. We were next taken to the carpenter's shop, where cart-wheels were being made. Everything is done by the fathers themselves. There are two carts, drawn by bullocks, belonging to the mission — the only wheeled conveyances I ever saw in the Soudan. THE MISSION ESTABLISHMENT. 211 Besides the children who Uve at the mission, and who are mostly from Abyssinia, they have five hundred belong- ing to Sanheit who attend the schools daily. It not unfrequently happens that a mother will sell her child ; whenever the priests hear of such a case they go to the government authorities, who make the mother give up the money to the purchaser and hand the child over to the mission. One such child had arrived the very morning of our visit — a little boy between two and three years old ; his mother had sold him for three dollars ! The priests had christened him Lorenzo. We went inside the church — really a very good building, with a vaulted roof A native priest, an Abyssinian I believe, was engaged in baptising some fresh converts. We were told that during an earthquake some two or three years ago a great part of the roof had fallen in, and that every- thing in the church had been overturned, except the image of the Virgin and Child over the high altar. We went to see the sisters in a large airy room, open- ing out of a courtyard in which European flowers, such as geraniums, verbenas, and roses, were in bloom, and looked quite home-like. One of the sisters, a Swiss, possessed some medical knowledge, and with pardonable pride showed us her dispensary, well furnished with neat rows of bottles and drawers. Everything about the mission was comfort- able and European looking, in great contrast to its surround- ings — rooms with red-tiled floors, furnished with chairs and tables, linen-presses, a sewing-machine, etc. We saw two harmoniums ; one in the church, another in a room in which one of the sisters was holding a singing-class. Prettier children it would be difficult to find ; and all looked clean, happy, and well-cared for. We heard them sing a hymn in French in praise of the Virgin, which they did very well ; then they indulged us in a quaint Abyssinian dance. Sewing is a great part of the education of both boys and girls, and we saw a class in one room learning to sew. There are three of these mission establishments in Abyssinia belonging to the same society, but they have no 212 A SAD STORY OF DEGRADATION. sisters attached to them. At Massawa they have, however ; and I beHeve the establishment there is as large, or larger, than that at Sanheit. They have nothing to do with the missions at Khartoum or Berber, which are, I beUeve, not nearly so flourishing or well-managed. The most disheartening part of the mission was, as the fathers and sisters confessed to us, the difficulty in finding situations for their proteges after they had reared and edu- cated them. Outcast from their own people and unable to find employment amongst the Mussulman authorities, they are thrown on their own resources ; which proves more fatal to the women than to the men. At noon, on the nth, a start was made for Massawa. Some of the servants belonging to Sanheit we left behind. Gerghis, who came from the same place, and had been with us both winters, Lort Phillips decided to take with him to England. He was a smart, active boy of about seventeen, who had been brought up at the mission, where he had learnt a little French. ^ One of the best of our Sanheit servants, who had been with us during both past winters, by name Dra, a most intelligent, faithful fellow of about thirty, who could both speak and write a little French, also left us before our departure for the coast. The priests told us a most horrible story about him which we had never heard before, and which illustrates the state of degradation in which the people live. It appears that a long time back his father had stolen a cow; the theft was traced to him, and he was ordered to pay it back at once, but having disposed of it, and being without money, he could not do so, and conse- quently, according to the law among his tribe, he was con- demned to return two cows ; and this went on at a sort of compound -interest rate (he being still unable to pay the man back) until he owed one hundred cows. By the law of his tribe he then became the slave of the man from whom he had stolen ; this slavery consisting, as far as he was concerned, in his being obliged to follow his master 1 He is still (October 1884) with Lort Phillips, and has turned out very well. DEPARTURE FROM SANHEIT. 213 should he go to fight against any neighbouring tribe, and in attending the ceremonies consequent on his marriage or death. The dreadful part of it, however, was, that his wife and any daughters he might have were forced to lead im- moral hves ; and this extended to all his female descend- ants ; in consequence of which state of affairs no respectable woman would marry Dra. Dra's sister had married a European, and he had hoped that by so doing she would be free ; but her husband dying of small-pox she was forced to become a public woman. Dra's master was in prison when we were in Sanheit ; and the priests told us that nothing could be done towards freeing Dra until his term of servitude was ended, which would be in a few weeks' time. When that event took place they said his freedom could be purchased for thirty dollars, besides two dollars which must be given to a man who would go round with some noisy instrument to the various villages about, somewhat in the manner of a town- crier, and proclaim his freedom j in addition to which a dollar each would have to be given to three witnesses. Dra did not know that all this had been told to us ; and when we called him into the tent and interrogated him on the subject he became greatly excited, and evidently did not at all like our knowing about it ; he, however, confessed that it was all true. We left the requisite sum with the priests to procure his freedom, with which he was greatly pleased, though they said it would take some time to accomplish. They told us that, if we spoke to the govern- ment officials about it, they would deny the existence of such a thing ; as, although they would disapprove of it, they would be powerless to prevent it, because it was a purely tribal law, which with such people was of far more weight than any that the Egyptian authorities might endea- vour to pass. The first day out of Sanheit we accomplished only about eleven miles. We descended a considerable distance, Sanheit being about five thousand feet above the sea, and pitched our tents in the Anseba valley. For some distance we passed flourishing-looking gardens, where vegetables of 214 A PLEASANT JOURNEY. various kinds were growing ; some of the natives having followed the example of the mission. Although no water flows in the Anseba in the dry season, in many places it comes to the surface, and can always be obtained by sinking wells to no great depth \ so that irriga- tion becomes comparatively easy, and this was being taken advantage of in many places. Some three or four miles after leaving the town we passed a fort called Sobab, garrisoned with soldiers, and situated on the top of a hill commanding the approach to Sanheit. The valley of the Anseba is a most favourable ground for naturalists, many interesting and brightly-plumaged birds being found there. Partridges were extremely plentiful, and of two kinds — the Fi-ancolinus Riippelli and F. guttiiralis. We shot a good many of them, and they afforded excellent sport. AVe also shot some beautiful trogons and large yellow pigeons, besides doves of different kinds — the Columba Guinea, Turt2ir Senegalensis, and Treron Abyssinica. The trees were very numerous, large, and of many different kinds ; in fact, a pleasanter camping -ground it would be difficult to find, our only regret being that we had not more time to spend there. One tree that was very common there had long hanging tendrils, from which hung a pod-like fruit about two feet in length. The journey from Sanheit to El Ain is certainly, as far as scenery and climate are concerned, the most agreeable I ever made in the Soudan. Our next day's journey was as far as Calamet, twenty-three miles. After following the course of the Anseba for five or six miles we left it, and soon began to ascend a very steep hill, most trying for the camels, which were rapidly decreasing in number; many of them had died, some had been sold for an old song, and five given to the priests. On reaching the summit of the mountain we obtained a most extensive view. The path down the other side was longer and quite as steep as the one by which we had come up. The flora differed from anything we had yet seen : there were aloes, the castor-oil plant, cacti of many kinds, including the qiiol-quol, and bright-coloured flowers in great 2l6 THE QUO L- QUO L. profusion. The quol-quol (euphorbia Abyssiftica) contains a poisonous, white, milky juice, which is very sticky, and flows out plentifully on a sprig being wounded or broken. I believe that the Abyssinians use this juice for catching fish in the small, streams, by throwing a quantity of it into the water ; the fish become insensible, and float on the surface, when they are easily captured. A drop of this juice inadvertently getting into one's eye is said to be sufficient to cause blindness; and I have heard that the milk of the asdepia gigantea, an extremely common desert- plant throughout the Soudan, is possessed of the same charming quality. Some Frenchmen had lately taken it into their heads that the juice of the quol-quol would form a cheap substitute for India-rubber, and expected to make a large fortune by exporting it. Their expectations had been most unduly and cruelly raised by the report they had received of the first consignment sent to Europe. By some mistake their consignees had opened a case of India-rubber from Zanzibar in mistake for the quol-quol^ and immediately wrote to them to send all they could possibly obtain at the price they had named, w^hich was far lower than what Zanzibar India- rubber cost. On receiving this report they sent off a great quantity as quickly as they could, and had sent a great deal before a second letter reached them demanding what they meant by sending such rubbish. Then the whole mistake was cleared up, but not before the poor Frenchmen had lost largely by the transaction. In shape this tree re- sembles a cone reversed. It grows to a height of twenty-five to thirty feet, and bears yellow and red coloured fruit, which grow together in clusters, in much the same way as dates. We did not see much game ; but Lort Phillips shot a very fine buck nellut^ after a stalk to the top of a hill. This species of antelope is always found in very hilly dis- tricts, but does not frequent wide open plains, like gazelle, ariel, and many other varieties of antelope. Lions are sometimes seen in this country, and used to be very common. We were also told that a panther had been lately seen near Calamet. SECRETARY-BIRD SHOT. 217 Another long day's march took us to El Ain. We were descending all the time ; and often travelled in the wide, sandy bed of khors. Our road lay through a very beautiful, rocky pass, where it was difficult to believe we were in Africa ; and led through a narrow gorge, barely wide enough for two camels to pass, with towering rocks on either side, the resort of the dog-faced baboon. We passed several large burial-grounds — large, at least, to be found in such wilds — and two sheiks' tombs, which in the distance, placed as they were on prominent rocks above the path, presented quite the appearance of castles or fortresses. These Arab cemeteries are usually surrounded by a circular wall of stones, the top covered with small white pebbles, for the purpose of scaring away the wild beasts ; and even the tombs are generally covered with these pebbles, w^hich give them a decidedly neat appearance. W^e lunched under an overhanging rock in the pass, where perfect shade could be enjoyed at any time of the day. It was at the junction of a narrow gorge with the main one ; and here the rains had washed down quantities of debris^ such as leaves, grass, and twigs, which, in course of time, had become fossilised in a very curious manner ; the rock under which we sat being formed of these materials. We shot no game on this day's journey ; but saw several sachars, the kind of mountain-goat my brother had shot on Tchad- Amba. We added to our collection of birds, if not to our larder, however, by obtaining a fine secretary-bird. Two or three times during our travels we came across this singular bird, but had not been able to obtain a specimen. The Arabs call it the " Devil's horseman," from the extra- ordinary swiftness with which it runs. This bird lives almost entirely on reptiles, which it kills. Towards even- ing heavy clouds gathered, and the atmosphere appearing to be laden with moisture we expected rain ; but it fortun- ately kept off. The district known as El Ain, which means " the spring," IS a very curious one. The Arabs give that name both to the country and the stream, which, rising to the surface in the bed of a khor, flows for three or four miles and then 2l8 WART-HOGS. loses itself in the sand. The water is very clear, though slightly brackish. The country about, though picturesque, is unfortunately very feverish, and possesses a rainy season during what is the driest season in the adjacent country. After passing through a very arid tract it is curious to come suddenly on the verdure of spring. Here we found the hillsides clothed in green, and everything looking fresh and flourishing. Birds were building their nests, and the great numbers of weaver-birds, whose pendant structures hung from the boughs, particularly interested us. The air was filled with the buzz of insects, among them, unhappily, mosquitoes. We found also several chameleons. Wart-hogs (phacochcerus ocliani) are not uncommon in this valley, my brother being lucky enough to obtain a right and left ; one of those he shot had fine tusks. After a night at El Ain we resumed our journey, fortun- ately escaping the rain which fell almost every day \ on two former journeys we had not fared so well, getting a good wetting each time, on one occasion having three days of it. It seldom continued all day, however, usually commencing at three or four o'clock in the afternoon, when it would come down in torrents, and perhaps continue for half the night. Soon after starting we killed a small snake, which the Arabs declared to be very venomous ; we had met with very few of any kind throughout our travels. We overtook a detachment of Bashi-Bazouks in charge of a number of wretched-looking prisoners — Arabs who had been caught paying tribute to the Abyssinians. They marched in slave fashion, in single file, each with his neck in a heavy yoke made of the forked bough of a tree, and fastened together with ropes, rendering escape impossible. We made a long march, and after ascending for a short distance from El Ain came to an immense plain, stretching away on our right to the foot of the Abyssinian mountains, while to our left we could just perceive the sea. No halt was made until after dark, when we encamped about three miles before reaching Camphor, a considerable water-course, with a deep pool, where we indulged in the rare luxury of a swim. My brother shot a beisa antelope {oryx beisa), the MOUNTAIN TORRENTS. 219 first of its species we had met with ; it is decidedly rare in these parts, as we never heard of its existence in any other part of the Soudan through which we travelled; it is common, I believe, in South Africa. Its horns are long and straight. From Camphor a messenger was sent on to Massawa with a note to the authorities there, teUing them we were on our way, and begging them to detain the steamer until our arrival, if by chance one were just leaving port. We crossed many khors between Camphor and the coast, in some of which we found a small quantity of water in pools. During the rains a great deal of water- finds its way to the sea from the Abyssinian mountains by these channels ; and the rise is sometimes so sudden that, without any warning, a dry bed may be suddenly transformed into a raging torrent perhaps ten or twelve feet deep. The previous winter two English travellers whom we met very nearly lost their luggage in this way. They had spent the night encamped half way down the bank of one of these khors., and the following morning while at breakfast they perceived the torrent coming, and had only just time to save their effects ; in fact, they did not succeed in escaping altogether, for some of their belongings got wet and a number of their cooking-utensils were lost. After two or three hours the water subsided almost as quickly as it had risen, leaving deep pools here and there. CHAPTER XXII. Arrival at Massawa. — Comfortable Quarters at the " Palace." — Situa- tion of Massawa. — Water Supply of Massawa. — The Town is guarded at Night. — Camel Sale by Auction. — The Start from Massawa. — Perilous Position of Mahoom. — Arrival at Souakim. — A Visit to Mr. Bewley. — Our Fellow-Passengers on the "Messina." Arrival at Suez. — Accounts of Abyssinian Raid in English and Egyptian Press. — Suleiman's History. — We leave Cairo for England. Another very long march brought us to Massawa, and so, on April 15, terminated our wanderings by land. It was after dark when we arrived, having made a caravan journey of over thirteen hours. We had intended making two easy days of it ; but the messenger we had sent forward the pre- vious day met us early in the afternoon to tell us that an Italian boat of the Rubattino Company would leave the next morning, and that, if we wished to catch it, we must hurry on. This was luck, and of course we did not hesitate to take advantage of it. On the way Aylmer's servant shot a fine buck ariel, and my brother wounded a gazelle in the shoulder, but not badly. His fox-terrier, Tartar, after a long and exciting chase caught it, and so at the last moment retrieved his character, as we had come to look upon him as a useless kind of dog ; he stood the heat and journey well, and soon learned to bark if tired, when he would be placed on the back of one of the baggage-camels. We saw a large troop of baboons, which are not often observed so near the coast. On arriving at Massawa the first thing we did was to call on the governor, who was very civil, and gave us rooms in what Suleiman called the " palace." We were amused to learn from the latter that he had tacked on to a telegram we told him to send to the governor of Massawa from ''PALACE'' QUAR TERS. 221 Sanheit, "Have palace ready for us;" and his instructions had happily been carried out to the letter. It was the most comfortable place imaginable for such a climate, and proved to be far more so than our quarters at Souakim had been ; and, being built on a small island, was, comparatively speaking, cool. It consisted of a very large square house ; the living rooms were all on the first floor, the ground-floor being given up to offices, storerooms, the kitchen, etc. To reach our apartments we had to ascend a broad double flight of steps, at the top of which a massively-carved wooden door gave access to a lofty-domed hall, out of which opened four large rooms ; the only furnished one was kept as a sort of divan, and the other three were given up to our use. A broad verandah, upon which three doors opened, ran all round the house, except over the front steps. "We placed our dining-table in the centre of the hall, and there in hot weather by opening all the doors, " the four winds of heaven" could be enjoyed. Massawa, like Souakim, is built on an island, which is completely covered with houses, and is joined to another island by a causeway about two hundred yards long, on which are the • barracks, the governor's resi- dence, and a number of small houses ; to this again is joined another, on which the palace stands, but no other building. To reach the mainland it is necessary to pass the barracks and follow a very long causeway for fully three- quarters of a mile. There is no water in Massawa, and pipes are laid on from the mainland as far as the barracks ; and from there into the town may be seen a constant stream of donkeys going to and fro with the necessary supply. It is slightly brackish, but excellent water for drinking purposes is brought into the town from a distance of four or five miles. Massawa has the reputation of being about the hottest place on earth. I have been there several times, and on each occasion was singularly fortunate in not experiencing anything phenomenal. There was generally a strong sea- breeze and a good deal of cloudy weather ; still I have no doubt that at times, and for long together, the heat becomes all but unbearable. 222 MASS A IVA. At sunset the gate leading into the town was closed and guarded by soldiers, and no one admitted without a permit. The causeway to the mainland was also guarded at the other end. These precautions, we were told, were taken for fear of the' Abyssinians, who, having no port of their own, were naturally very anxious to possess Massawa. Let us hope there is a brighter future in store for Abyssinia. During Admiral Hewett's mission to that country last summer, the treaty, signed at Adowa, June 3, 1884, between Great Britain, Egypt, and Abyssinia, granted free transit through Massawa to and from Abyssinia for all goods, in- cluding arms and ammunition, under British protection. The anchorage is fairly good, and the country about very mountainous and picturesque. A few Europeans live there, engaged in trade ; and a number of Banians from India, who make their living out of the pearl-fisheries off the coast and the adjacent islands, Dhalak especially being famed for them. We have had no consul at Massawa since the time of the Abyssinian war ; and it is much to be regretted that we have had no representatives in the Soudan, as they could have done more towards suppressing the slave-trade than any one else. The number and variety of fish at Massawa is something extraordinary, and many are of great beauty. Numbers of large fish are to be seen jumping in the harbour and in the shallow water near the causeway ; among them the beautiful zebra-fish, a small species striped yellow and black, others brightest blue, and some with black bands across the back ; while that curious creature the beckoning-crab is quite common in the wet sand near the edge of the water and in marshy places ; it is bright yellow and blue, with one long claw, with which it always appears to be beckoning ; hence its name. We found them very difficult to catch, as they all had holes in the sand, down which they promptly retreated on our approach. We all bathed in the sea before breakfast — a proceeding which seemed greatly to astonish the natives. We, of course, avoided the deep water for fear of sharks ; but, all POISONOUS SEA-URCHINS. 223 the same, were informed by residents that we had done a most dangerous thing from a sanitary point of view, and one man explained that the extreme saltness of the water made bathing hurtful ! A real danger, however, most certainly existed "in the presence of vast numbers of a kind of sea-urchin, which lived at the bottom of the water, and were of a most formidable variety. They were very large, and furnished with very long, sharp spikes, which broke off on being touched, leaving their points embedded in the flesh. I think they were poisonous, for Lort Phillips got some in his hand, and suffered agonies in consequence, the painful effects of which did not wear off for some time. We sold by auction our hygeens and the camel which Shereef the waiter always rode with the luncheon when on the march : and they of course fetched very low prices, as buyers knew we were leaving and must dispose of them. Lort Phillips' fetched the highest price — forty- five and a half dollars, having cost eighty. It was a female and a wonderfully easy-goer ; in fact, I never saw a better. My beautiful animal only brought twenty-four ; he cost me forty at Cassala, and was in as good condition when I sold him as when bought. We were, of course, able to look after our own riding- camels to a considerable extent ourselves, and, moreover, told off those men we considered the most careful to take charge of them. I was very loath to part with mine ; and, had I been intending to return to the country the following winter, I should have endeavoured to make some arrangement to have kept him for me. He was fast and easy, though not so much so as Lort Phillips', which would go seven or eight miles an hour and be com- fortable to ride at that pace. My animal made scarcely any noise when I wanted to mount or dismount — a rare virtue in camels ; a slight jerk at the rope which did duty as bridle, and he would go off at a trot ; he never had a sore back ; and his coat was wonderfully clean, not covered with ticks as most camels are. We had lost numbers of our camels, had given away a good many, and for those that remained on our arrival at Massawa we were offered such low prices that we gave 224 DEPARTURE FROM MASSAWA. most of them away to the more deserving of our drivers and servants. We had nine goats ; these, too, were dis- tributed in the same way ; the boy who looked after them was so lazy that he did not come in for them as he had expected to do. The year before we had given them to the man who had had charge of them, and he sold them and purchased a camel with the proceeds ; the boy had heard of this and entirely reckoned his chickens before they were hatched, as he had to take his departure without any present. We had promised our Arabs the present of a bullock on which to feast themselves on their arrival at Massawa, and had entrusted Suleiman to purchase one for their benefit ; but on inquiring if he had done so, he said " No," adding, " People only bring hen cow, he no good, he make plenty shild!" Our steamer, the " Messina," put off her departure until the morning of the 17 th, when we all embarked about 8.30. The arrangements for getting on board were rather primitive, our servants and the steerage-passengers having to reach the steamer by swarming up a rope. Soon after we had got under way it was discovered that "Molly" (Mahoom) was missing. The ship was searched in vain ; when some one happening to look over the side of the vessel discovered poor " Molly," in the last stage of exhaustion and terror, hanging on to the end of the rope like grim death. Assist- ance was at hand, and he was soon placed in safety. It appeared that he was the last of the servants to come on board, and having caught hold of the rope the shore-boat rowed away, leaving him clinging to it. Climbing was not one of his accomplishments. An Italian sailor who wit- nessed his predicament hauled away at the rope in a feeble sort of way, but, finding " Molly's " weight rather too much for him, quietly let go and gave it up for a bad job, leaving him hanging over the vessel's side, a tempting bait for the voracious sharks. There were two other steamers in port at the time — the Khartoum," a gunboat, and a small Egyptian vessel. The latter was about to start for Belool, a place a little to the ARRIVAL AT SOUAKIM. 225 north of Assab Bay (the new Italian colony), where there was to be an inquiry into the massacre about a year before of seventeen ItaHans in that country ; and I beheve the Itahan consul was going about it himself. Besides the servants we had brought with us from Egypt, we were taking Achmet and the cook-boy as far as Souakim, and we make up altogether a large party ; the only first- class passenger besides ourselves was a Frenchman, M. Michel, for several years the head custom-house officer at Massawa, who had just been dismissed and his place filled by a native. Mr. Brewster, who held the same post at Souakim, had already gone ; his position too being filled by an Egyptian. I imagine the government will find the revenue from these places considerably decreased in con- sequence. During the passage to Souakim we caught seven fish by hanging out lines from the stern, the hooks being simply, dressed with white rag. Three varieties were caught, among them some small tunny and a fish very like a pike. The next afternoon, at half - past five, we arrived in Souakim, just at the right time, as, had we been a little later, we should have been obliged to spend the night outside the harbour, as it is im.possible to enter after dark. We landed the same evening, and paid Mr. Bewley a long visit. We heard that the officers of the " Blues," with whom we had travelled in going down the Red Sea, had gone to Suez in the last trip of the " Messina." We also heard that English consuls had been appointed to Souakim and Khartoum ; and none too soon, if what we heard were true — that hundreds of slaves were still being shipped from the neighbourhood of the town to Arabia. M. Elsen, the Belgian gentleman, had returned from the interior, and sailed for Europe. He had been very unfor- tunate in being ill most of the time he was in Africa, and, although he had collected a great many antelope -heads, they had mostly been destroyed, owing to their not being properly prepared. He had got no lions or elephants, but had shot one buffalo. Arriving on the afternoon of the i8th, we did not get Q 226 PASSENGERS BY THE " MESSINA.'' off again until the; morning of the 2 2d, at nine o'clock ; our time, however, was very pleasantly spent, partly in fishing, though with no great success. We had a great deal ot cargo to take on board, and they were very slow about it ; but we were told the reason was that they would have to wait some days at Suez for a boat from Italy before going south again, and so we were only too glad to take things easily. A great deal of the cargo consisted of ivory from the White Nile, and the rest was chiefly gum. The " Cosseir " arrived while we were waiting here, one of the Khedivial post-boats that had been newly done up, and was bound for Massawa, Hodeida, Aden, Zeilla, Tajurra, and Berbera. These last three ports have lately been added to these steamers' ports of call, as they are now under the Cairo government ; and I trust the country from these points will soon be opened up. A small steamer, belonging to some merchants at Aden, has also lately commenced trading with these places, which are in the Soumali country. A second steamer came into Souakim while we were there — the " Kassin Kerim," for cattle, a filthy-looking vessel, flying the Turkish flag. We little thought when leaving Souakim how soon the place would be alive with British soldiers. How utterly useless the slaughter of so many of our old friends the Hadendowa Arabs has been, and the loss, too, of our own brave soldiers ! We took several first-class passengers from Souakim, among others two Americans whom we had met at Shep- herd's Hotel before leaving Cairo. They had been sent out by the " Freedman's Aid Society " of New York, I be- lieve, to endeavour to find out suitable places for establish- ing schools and stations for this society on the White Nile and at Khartoum. It is proposed to send out educated negroes from America, both ordained and laymen ; the idea being that they will be more suited to the climate, and have more influence over their black brethren than white people possibly could have. These American gentlemen had travelled to Khartoum via the Nile and Korosko Desert, and had been up the White Nile in one of the government steamers as far as the Sobat River, seven ARRIVAL AT SUEZ. 227 hundred miles south from the junction of the Blue and White Niles. Their scheme has the sanction and approval of the Khedive, who had promised before they left Cairo to aid them in the undertaking. Then, too, we had as passenger the French consul from Khartoum, going home on leave of absence. He was taking with him a perfect menagerie of animals and birds, most of which he intended presenting to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. His collection comprised two large aboo geders (literally, father of strength) — the same species of land-tortoise we had endeavoured to take home, and of which we did succeed in bringing one diminutive speci- men, some parrots of various kinds, ducks and geese from the White Nile, and a beautiful black-and-white monkey of a kind that had never previously been brought to Europe. Another of our first-class passengers was an Egyptian official, a far better educated man than one usually meets in such out-of-the-way places. He spoke French fluently, and was reading Sainte-Beuve and Lamartine on the voyage. We were delayed in starting by some cattle we had to take on board, over a hundred, all from Khor Baraka, where they are very cheap; some of them, having got loose at night, took a walk "aft," much to the inconvenience of those passengers who were sleeping on deck. Leaving Souakim, as I have already said, on the morning of the 2 2d, after a very pleasant and not disagreeably warm voyage we reached Suez on the 26th, early enough to break- fast at the hotel. We were very glad to find a good budget of letters waiting for us. By them we learned that our friends in England had been considerably alarmed about us. Both the telegrams I sent from Amedeb had gone wrong : instead of being sent on from Cairo to the address in London v/hich I had left at the former place, they were sent by mistake to my address in London, and my house- keeper returned them with my other letters ; one I received at Massawa, the other at Suez. Meantim.e all kinds of nonsense had been put in both the Egyptian and English newspapers; in the latter we were reported to have been robbed of camels, baggage, and 228 STOR Y OF SULEIMAN. everything in the Atbara Mountains — wherever they might be — and described as making the best of our way to the coast on foot. Not exactly dressed in newspapers, but something very hke it. These veracious statements did not appear in the English papers until the end of March ; and it was on February 17 that I telegraphed to Cairo to say we were all well. Our deplorable condition had even been made the subject of a question in the House of Commons. We felt quite important at having so much interest taken in our welfare, and lost no time in telegraph- ing to our friends to say we were in a highly prosperous state and on our way home. We left Gerghis and Mahoom at Suez to go to England in a direct steamer, via the canal. Suleiman, who had been with us for two winters in the Soudan, and had proved a most excellent, trustworthy fellow, my brothers and I resolved to take to England for the summer; and, as we required his services at Cairo, we took him on there with us. The story of his life is an interesting one, and evinces far more pluck, combined with a keen desire for acquiring knowledge, than one generally meets with among Egyptians. He w^as born near Wady Halfah, at the Second Cataract ; and at the age of ten years was sent to his uncle, a baker by trade, at Alexandria. He remained there some time ; but his uncle ill-treated him, and he ran away to Cairo, where he took several situations as a domestic servant. Here he conceived a strong desire to learn to read and write ; so, having saved enough money out of his wages to purchase a native apparatus for making tea, having a small grate underneath it to burn charcoal — the Arabic name of w'hich I forget — and a sufficient quantity of the requisite articles, such as cups, tea, sugar, and fuel, he left service, hired a little garret, and became a regular attendant at one of the native schools. As soon as his lessons were over he would rush off to his room, fetch his teapot, and go the round of the carriage- stands in the European quarter, crying, Tchai ! tchai!'^ ("Tea ! tea !"), and so generally earned more than enough ARRIVAL AT SUEZ. 229 to cover the day's expenses. His relations in Cairo were at a loss to inaagine how he maintained himself ; for they knew he had left service and spent his days in school. His great delight was to go to an uncle who was a grocer, living in the native quarter, to buy provisions, and listen to the in- quiries as to how he lived, and where he got money enough to pay for his lodging and education; but he kept his secret, and never ventured into that quarter to sell his tea. At length some of his schoolfellows, meeting him on his evening rounds, told their master, who was so struck with the boy's perseverance that he gave him permission to bring his teapot into school with him ; where, in addition to what he sold in the streets, the boys bought from him and some of them, being sons of well-to-do people, would pay him a trifle more than what he asked outside. After leav- ing school he entered the service of Sir Samuel and Lady Baker, and went with them up the White Nile to the lakes, on the expedition described in Isinailiay On their return Sir Samuel obtained a place for him in the late Khedive's private dispensary ; and, on his abdication, Suleiman followed him to Naples, where he remained for some time in the same employ. At length, being, to use his own expression, "gusted" with the people in Naples, and, as a Mahometan, living in constant dread of eating pig's flesh in some form or other in his food, he returned to Cairo, and again entered into service. His master, an Englishman, was just leaving Egypt, and,' having no further need for his services, recom- mended him to us ; and we took him to the Soudan. We spent two days at Suez before going to Cairo, where we separated on 3d May, Colvin and Aylmer going to Suez, en route for Bombay, and the rest of us returning to Eng- land, Before separating, Aylmer agreed to meet us the last week of the following December in the city of Mexico. We all, except my brother Arthur, who remained in England, met there, and only a week later than the date named. Although anxious to get to England we were all very sorry to break up our pleasant party ; and all look forward to another winter in the Soudan at no very distant date. CHAPTER XXIII. Berber. — Native Entertainments. — The Bazaars. — Visit to the School. — Fine Breed of Donkeys. — Population. — Start for Wady Halfah. — Pacha Gordon's Shelters. — Wells of Abou Kereet. — Pyramids of Nourri. — Ruins of Gebel Barkal. — A Sheik's Hospitality. — Voyage to Debbeh. — Plague of Midges. — ^Journey to Dongola by River. — Across the Desert from Merowi to Dongola. — Visits to the Mudir. — The Third Cataract. — Temple at Tolib. — Meet Caravan of Manchester Goods. — Cataracts of Dal and Tangour. — Wady Halfah. — Return to Cairo. I ARRIVED for the first time at Berber on December 4, 1877. Accompanied by my brother \Villiam ; a friend, Alfred Sutton, and a doctor. We had taken a dahabeah up the Nile as far as Korosko, and had left that place on November 15, taking, as is usual, the same camels the whole distance. We had crossed the formidable Nubian desert from Korosko to Abou Hamed (a stretch of nearly 240 miles, with only one well on the entire route), without any difficulty. From Abou Hamed to Berber, a distance of 143 miles, we had for the most part followed the course of the river, and a very pleasant journey it was. Having made several previous voyages up the Nile as far as the Second Cataract, and being well acquainted with the birds found in those lati- tudes, we were greatly interested in a species new to us, and here met with for the first time. Before reaching Berber we had, moreover, come across gazelles and hippopotami, although we had only shot the former. The night before we arrived at Berber, our caravan, which preceded us, had been stopped at a place called the Khor, a village about five miles from Berber, by Sheik Achmet Khalifa, and our servants were informed that we were to be his guests for the night. He had refused our cook A NATIVE HOUSE IN BERBER. 231 wood wherewith to make a fire for our dinner, saying he wished to entertain us himself. He met us some short time after the arrival of the caravan, and took us into his house, which was large and well appointed. He was a fine- looking old man, apparently about sixty-five years of age. After telling off a number of slaves for our use he left us to our own devices. The entertainment was most sumptuous, as, in addition to an exceedingly well- cooked dinner, we were provided with English china, and even knives, forks, and spoons ; our host, however, did not favour us with his presence. We remained his guests only one night, and then started for Berber. About half-way Hamed Khalifa, Achmet's brother, met us, attended by numerous slaves and the elite of Berber. It seems, as far as I can gather from the newspapers, to be uncertain whether this man has been hostile to the Egyptian Government or not during the present crisis. General Gordon, who was at that time governor- general of the Soudan, had telegraphed to him to pay us every attention ; we certainly found him a most amiable, intelligent man, and no one could have done more for us ; from our experience he was justly noted for his hospitality to European travellers. After passing many villages we reached Berber, and went straight to Hamed Khalifa's house. We entered a large courtyard, at the end of which grew an immense lebbak tree, of the same species as those that shade the road leading from the bridge over the Nile at Cairo to the pyramids. On ascending a flight of steps we found our- selves in a verandah, sixty-three feet long, fifteen wide, and about eighteen high, with a roof which formed a good pro- tection against the sun. The whole house was built of mud, or rather sun-dried bricks, the roof supported by rafters. Off this verandah were several rooms, with large windows furnished with green shutters; the largest of these rooms was thirty feet by twenty-four, and very lofty. An enormous gilt mirror was hung at one end (how they ever transported it there was a mystery), the rest of the furniture consisted of divans, tables, and even a large iron bedstead. I have never been to Khartoum, but certainly in no other part of 232 THE BAZAARS. the Soudan in which I have travelled have I met with so civilised a native dwelling. Some verses from the Koran framed were hung on the walls, and also a large piece of paper with the following words very neatly written in large letters : " O quoi de phis beau que la douceur et la vertue de notre juste Roi Gordon FascJia." A bracket for books, and some Persian rugs on the floor, completed the furniture of this apartment. Very soon after our arrival a most elaborate meal was served us, to which, after the extensive breakfast we had been entertained with, we found it difficult to do justice. Khalifa's house is outside the town, on one side is a large garden with numerous palms, orange, lemon, and pomegranite trees, affording a most agreeable shade. Berber, in fact, abounds in these pleasant gardens. The largest belonged at that time to Halleem Bey, who entertained Sir Samuel and Lady Baker during their first visit to that town in 1861. We spent a week at Berber before leaving for a journey along the banks of the Atbara, and which we continued up to the Abyssinian frontier ; on our return in the middle of March we were again the guests of Hamed Khalifa, who for another week was most hospitable, and aided us in procuring camels for our journey. As a rule, the climate was not unpleasantly hot during our stay, owing to the strong north wind which blew nearly every day (one day in March, however, we had the thermo- meter up to 99° in the shade), but the dust-storms were frequent and most disagreeable, and we were considerably bothered by midges. So strong was the north wind that (on our return to Berber in March) we went some Httle distance up the river in a dahabeah under bare poles. The town of Berber is built of mud like the other towns in the Soudan. I should say it was larger than Assouan ; the bazaars are certainly more extensive, and better supplied. One of the merchants, who was selling cotton goods, had visited Manchester several times, and spoke a little English. There were three Greek shops of the kind usually met with in the Soudan, supplied with bad spirits, pickles, sardines, and such things ; in one we actually found Eley's central fire cartridge cases, and English gunpowder, AN UNLOOKED FOR RECOGNITION. 233 as well as shot. Iron manacles and collars for slaves were also exposed for sale. A Greek offered to sell us a boy, saying he had bought hmi cheap, but pointing out that as he had been well-fed for some time, and had had the small- pox (the evidence of which he bore on his face), he expected a good profit. As we walked through the bazaars, a tall black woman rushed at Thomas Ferranti, our Maltese ser- vant, and embraced him with great effusion ; he explained that she had once been his slave, and he had married her to a native of Berber. This INIaltese had travelled a great deal in the Soudan, having as General Gordon's servant accompanied him on many of his journeys; he had also been to Darfour with some American officers sent there by the Khedive. Among other objects of merchandise ex- posed for sale were balls of mutton -fat, each weighing almost half a pound, of a frothy appearance, caused by their having been chewed by the women. One of these balls serves as a single dressing for the hair, and is used by both men and women for this purpose. All the Bishareen Arabs, and many, though not all, of the Ababdah, smear their hair with fat. We had travelled from Korosko to Berber entirely with the Ababdah tribe. The bazaars swarmed with both Bishareen and Ababdah Arabs. Although the territory of the latter is to the north of that of the Bishareen, both tribes wander a great deal in each other's country. During our first visit to Berber we came across a number of Europeans ; Gessi (who was afterwards made governor of the Bahr el Gazal, and has since died) was there with an Italian, Dr. Matteucci, also dead. We had left them at Korosko and they arrived soon after we did. A dahabeah took them on to Khartoum which, with a strong north wind, they reached in three days ; we also met a Swede from the University ofUpsala, engaged in making a study of the Bishareen language ; several Italian Roman CathoUc mis- sionaries ; and lastly, the French Consul of Khartoum, a very garrulous German. He told us he had been in the country since 1853, only visiting Europe at long intervals, and that he had resided at Gondokoro long before Sir Samuel Baker's arrival. He was then at Berber, in consequence of the death 234 FINE BREED OF DONKEYS. of a woman known as the Sitt Miriam, an Abyssinian, and the widow of a Frenchman named Lafargue. She had made the French Consul her executor, and her house at Berber, which was very large, and was described to us as " like a palace," was to be sold to Hamed Khalifa. Madame Lafargue, we were told, had long kept what was neither more nor less than a slave-breeding establishment, consist- ing of about eighty black women. She died, leaving a large property, considering the resources of the country in which she had lived, but we did not hear the amount ; and had a son thirty-one years of age, who was an idiot, and so was his boy a child of eight ; we saw them, and pitiable objects they were. The Consul was sending them to a lunatic asylum in France. We visited the school, and were told that a large pro- portion of the boys had been slaves who had been captured from the slave traders, and it was intended to make soldiers of them. The " shipping " at Berber was not very extensive, all we saw consisted of open boats or niiggurs^ and one shabby-looking dahabeah. The Nile bank was strewn with goods of various kinds, cotton cloth, gum, and the tusks of some two hundred elephants. Ivory is a monopoly of the government which, we were told, paid for a Rantar (about loo lbs.), and sold it for ;£^37 ; and in consequence of this monopoly the trade was decreasing, there being great difficulty in inducing the natives to hunt the elephants. Formerly there was a great deal of cruelty used in obtaining ivory ; slaves were used as barter, and much was procured for a mere song from natives ignorant of its value. The bank of the river was thronged with negroes, most of them from the White Nile, women washing their clothes, nearly naked, fat and flourishing-looking, very ugly, and with bosoms fantastically tattooed. They kept up such a chattering and laughing all the time that it was like Babel broken loose ! I never saw finer donkeys than the Berber breed. Most of them are black and have a wonderfully glossy coat ; they are very high at the shoulders, most comfortable to ride, and, at the same time, quick in their paces ; they were very cheap, too, costing only from ten to twenty dollars apiece. START FOR WADY HALFAH. 235 The governor informed us that the population of the town of Berber amounted to 4000 ; but that of the district or mudirieh to 200,000. This comprised the whole of the country, extending from Abou Hamed to the cataract below Shendy, the Red Sea coast (Souakim included), and terri- tory between. A great deal of the traffic of Berber goes by way of Abou Hamed to Korosko on the Nile : from 30,000 to 40,000 camels passed annually, and the chief sheik of the Khalifa family took a tax of one dollar on each camel. In return for this tax he was responsible for the safety of all goods in transit. We frequently, during our journey across the desert, came across camel-loads of gum, Manchester cloth, etc., which their owners had been obliged to leave behind in consequence of the camels giving out on the journey, and they left their property behind feeling quite sure that it would not be touched. After a week's stay at Berber, on our return from Cassala, and much vexatious delay in procuring camels, we started for Wady Halfah. Our route lay across the desert until we reached the Nile, opposite the village of Merowi, a distance of 150 miles,^ and from that point we were to follow the course of the river partly by boat and partly by camels to Wady Halfah. Since leaving Berber for the south our party had in- creased, my brother Arthur with two friends — R. M. Courage and A. S. Dalglish — having travelled from Suez to Souakim by sea, and joined us on the Atbara. Our journey from Berber to Wady Halfah is, perhaps, best described by giving extracts from my diary, as from these it is easy to understand the distances covered from day to day. Since the expedition for the relief of Gordon was decided upon, this part of the Soudan has acquired a special interest, for through the greater of it our troops will have to pass. March 19, 1878. — We crossed the Nile in boats from 1 I carefully timed the number of hours that it took our baggage- camels to perform this journey, and found it to be exactly sixty, which, allowing the ordinary rate of travelling by caravan to be 2^ miles an hour, makes the distance exactly 150 miles. 236 PACHA GORDON'S SHELTERS. Berber, and at 3.30 p.m. started on our desert journey, halting for the night at seven by some wells, the water of which was muddy but not bad to drink, although there was very little of it. Our way lay over an undulating plain with low hillocks to right and left of our route, and plenty of dried grass and mimosa trees. March 20. — A fearfully hot day, 106° in the shade — the wind was like the blast of a furnace from blowing over so much rock and gravelly ground scorched by the sun. Some of the camels were so bad we felt sure they would never live to reach Merowi, so we left four behind with five camel- loads of luggage, and had them changed for eight others, in case we should lose any on the way. The new camels caught us up about midnight. Each morning we endeavoured to get off before daybreak ahead of the caravan and spend the hottest part of the day under shelters that Gordon had erected on the road as a protection against the sun. They were the greatest blessing to the traveller in these regions, being built of dried grass with mat roofs. Some of our men were, however, so unappreciative that we had to expostu- late on account of their dismantling them for firewood. In one of these huts we rested and allowed the caravan to overtake and get well ahead of us, each day catching it up at about dinner-time ; we did not find them " beds of roses," however, as they swarmed with camel ticks ; what these creatures can find to live on in the sand is a mystery. We frequently found numbers of them in absolutely desert spots. We had seven water barrels and twelve girbahs for ourselves, besides twelve for our men ; notwithstanding the fact that we were more than two days from water one of the camel- drivers actually cut a girbah with a knife when he wanted a drink, to save himself the trouble of untying it. There was good vegetation and many gazelle tracks, although we saw nothing of the animals themselves. Passed a range of hills composed of blocks of syenite, on our left, called by the Arabs the Blue Mountains. We occasionally came across camels feeding quite alone, sometimes only two or three together, at others forty or fifty. We were told their owners drove them off to feed a long way in the desert, and WELLS OF ABOU KEREET, 237 that after three or four days they would return of their own accord to water. Made a march of ten hours. March 2 1. — We again did ten hours ; the general aspect of the country much the same as what we had passed. An undulating plain with a few low hillocks, and a range of hills some 500 or 600 feet high on the horizon. From ten to three we rested in one of the shelters, the thermometer 104° in the shade, and during the hot blasts of wind it reached 110°. Came across the telegraph-wires on the line from Abou Hamed to Merowi ; all the posts were of iron and must have cost an immense sum of money to put up. Many of them were surrounded with branches of prickly mimosa, for the purpose, I imagine, of keeping the camels off. We met scarcely any people, and there was evidently very little traffic. Our riding-camels were good, and we easily travelled in six hours a distance it took the caravan ten to accomplish. March 22. — This day's journey was through a country fully as monotonous as the one we had already traversed — more desolate, if possible, for there was scarcely a shrub, and very little grass. We carried dhtirra for our riding- camels, but they were so thirsty they refused to eat. This was the fault of the men who had charge of them, for they had allowed them to drink too frequently before starting from the Nile, and so made it more difficult for them to go without water for any length of time. Saw two gazelles, the -first seen since leaving Berber. I came across a man who would no doubt have died of thirst had I not found him ; he was so much exhausted he could not speak, and could scarcely swallow. Our guide wished to go off with some barrels and four camels to a spring in the hills to fetch water; but we would not allow him to do so, as we had enough for everybody, and we thought he might never come back. Passed some hills on our right about 1500 feet high. Marched ten hours and three quarters. March 23. — The next day three hours and a quarter brought us to the wells of Abou Kereet, and very glad we were to reach water, and be able to indulge in a bath, after our excessively hot journey. The going for the camels 238 A COOL DELINQUENT. before reaching the wells was very bad for some miles — a plain covered with large stones, which hurt their feet. The wells at Abou Kereet are deep ; they are situated in a water- course about a hundred yards wide, running from west to east. The water seemed good, but the supply was becoming exhausted. We saw eight gazelles, and shot one. Some Arabs at the well sold us a sheep and milk. There was one dhou??i-^^\m^ a sickly-looking specimen, near the water, and plenty of mimosas. We had travelled thirty-four hours from the last wells, or about eighty-five miles. March 24. — After our rest at Abou Kereet we were quite ready for another long day, and got nine hours and a quarter out of our camels. After going half-way we passed the brackish wells of Sania ; also others in a water-course, where grew plenty of dhojims and mimosas. Country more hilly and vegetation more plentiful and varied, although it was by no means a garden of Eden. An Arab came to complain that a soldier (the Mudir of Berber had asked our per- mission to travel with us) had stolen and killed one of his sheep. We rated the delinquent well for his conduct, took the sheep ourselves, and paid its owner handsomely for his loss. The soldier saw nothing wrong in what he had done, and it was impossible to make him understand our feelings about it. He was an Albanian, and calmly said that all soldiers when travelling helped themselves in the same way ; that they were very badly paid, and often got no pay at all for a long time together. We met the Mudir of Dongola with a large following going to Berber ; he said he had been only seven- teen or eighteen days on the road from Wady Halfah. March 25. — The next day the countr}^ got worse again, scarcely a tree, but a few low hills to our right and left. Saw twenty gazelles, and imagined we espied ostriches. Marched ten hours and a quarter. March 26. — A farther march of three hours took us to the Nile, the last part of the ground being very uneven, and rocky and volcanic in character, presenting much the same appearance as a great part of the desert bordering the Nile in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. What a relief to reach the river again, and know we had no more long desert journeys PYRAMIDS OF NOURRI. 239 in prospect ! The course of the Nile here was much obstructed by rocks and rocky islands, and was decidedly picturesque ; much like parts of the Nile between Abou Hamed and Berber, but not nearly so green. We rode on along its banks to a village called Nourri, and lunched among some date-palms near the pyramids. The Arabs who inhabit this region belong to the Shaggeeh tribe, and are considered a very brave and warlike race ; the banks of the river are exten- sively cultivated, and there are many villages. We saw fields of millet and ripe barley ; cotton was also grown ; " sakias " were very numerous on both banks of the river ; and palm trees grew in abundance. In fact there was more cultivation, and the palm groves were more extensive, than at any point betw^een Assouan and the Second Cataract. The pyramids of Nourri are not very interesting, they are situated in a slightly elevated part of the desert, about two miles from the river. There are said to be traces of fifteen, of which very few are in any kind of preservation. They are not ornamented with hieroglyphics, and are so much dilapidated that almost all the original outline is lost. They are said to be as old as any ruins in the Nile valley, if they are not the oldest in existence ; but there are no inscriptions remaining to prove the truth of this assertion. From Nourri the rocky character of the country changed entirely, and gave place to deep sand. The river was unusually low for the time of year ; it w^as, however, quite navigable even for large boats — no rocks or even sandbanks to obstruct its course. We spent the night close by a village called Aboo Dhoum, exactly opposite Merowi ; the country is quite flat, no hills in sight except Gebel Barkal on the west bank of the river. Although this hill only rises 350 feet above the plain, it is very picturesque, indeed imposing, in appearance, with a flat surface somewhat resembling that of the Acropolis of Athens. Our caravan had made a march of ten hours. The following day we crossed the river in a boat to the village of Merowi opposite, and the chief man of the district, called by the Turkish appellation Katschef^ procured 240 RUINS OF GEBEL BARKAL. US donkeys on which we rode three and a half miles to the ruins of Gebel Barkal. This was the only official I heard spoken of as Katschef in the Soudan. The ruins consisted of a temple with three chambers cut in the rock : we entered them, but found no very interesting inscriptions. Close by was an almost perfect column, but one of no great height. The hill from which its material was taken was of sandstone, and this accounted for its extremely dilapidated state. The remains of a second temple were half-buried in the ground, and we noticed a large block of blue granite covered with hieroglyphics. There were, too, a number of small pyramids in a very tumbledown condition. Altogether we were greatly disappointed with what we saw, having been led to expect more extensive and remarkable remains. The antiquities below the Second Cataract, with which we are well acquainted, are on the whole far more interesting than those at Nourri. We returned through the palm groves by the river. On our way an old sheik insisted on our accompanying him to his house. We accepted his invitation, and found his residence, though not palatial, very clean and comfortable. Outside was a courtyard in which flourished a magnificent tree. He regaled us with milk and dates, and was most anxious we should taste the native " bousa " or beer, which we declined with thanks. He was. full of Gordon, who, he told us, was greatly beloved by all the people, and added that he had remitted them their taxes owing to the un- usually bad Nile. We noticed many small square -shaped buildings of mud near the villages ; these are used by the Arabs as places for prayer, and are kept exclusively for that purpose. The following day, March 29, we started for Debbeh, in three flat -bottomed boats. There were no boats with sails on that part of the Nile, as the river flows from north to south, and the prevailing wind being north, boats returning from Debbeh to Merowi have to be towed from the bank against both wind and current. Consequently very few boats navigate that portion of the river, and those that do are small flat -bottomed ones, which can be towed VOVAG£ TO DEB B EH. 241 with comparative ease. As we were anxious to spend no more time on the journey than was necessary, the doctor offered to cross the desert from Merowi to Dongola alone, and to get camels ready to take us on to Wady Halfah from that place. W e managed to make ourselves fairly comfortable ; as, by rigging up part of our tents on our own boat we made a very good awning, and by partly filling the stern of the servants' boat with sand we constructed a kitchen, and were able to have hot meals when we pleased without stopping the boats. We were off at noon, and rested for the night at 6.30 by a sandbank near the village of Baheet. Passed numbers of small villages, and endless sakias, which were worked day and night with a never-ceasing groan. We saw an enormous turtle and a number of crocodiles, but not many water-birds, which are infinitely more numerous on the Lower than the Upper Nile. We shot a few Egyptian geese, however, and saw numbers of scissor- billed terns> and the great bee-eater, which latter bird was evidently migrating, as it arrives in Lower Egypt about April, Our " crew " consisted of two bright intehigent boys, aged respectively twelve and fourteen. The former belonged to the Shaggeeh tribe, the latter was of White Nile origin, and informed us that althoijgh originally a slave he was now free ; we delighted them on our arrival at Debbeh by pre- senting them with some old shirts, in which they instantly arrayed themselves. We simply floated with the current : the navigation merely consisted in keeping the boats as much as possible in the swiftest part of the stream, and in poling them off the sandbanks, which occasionally impeded our progress. The second night we moored opposite a village called Hertan, where there are the remains of a Saracenic castle, picturesquely situated at a considerable elevation above the Nile. Close to the water's edge we came across the skull and bones of a child ; they were close to an ambush that had evidently been built by the Arabs so as to enable them to R 242 PLAGUE OF MIDGES. shoot crocodiles. We saw numbers of these reptiles, but being very shy we did not succeed in shooting many of them. The country was flat, with the exception of some hills near the river on the east bank, which only extended, for a mile or two. As we approached Debbeh the culti- vated land decreased, and bright almost orange -coloured sand frequently fringed the banks. We were greatly tormented by midges, the most horrible pest imaginable. From sunrise to sunset, when they happily went to sleep, they attacked us in swarms, and bit voraciously. Before leaving Cairo we had been warned to provide our- selves with veils, and very thankful we were we had done so. Despite the heat we tied our heads up in them, and our faces and hair soon became of a bright green colour, from the dye that came off the veils, and we did not entirely get rid of it until long after we reached Cairo. We were informed that the midges were sometimes so bad that the natives, when gathering their crops, were obliged to fasten lighted fire-brands to their heads to keep off these venomous insects. Certainly no insect pests I ever came across were half so bad as these midges, and they seemed to plague the natives quite as much as they did us. Until we reached Debbeh we only saw one boat, and that was being tracked up stream, with the exception of ferry boats that plied between viljages on opposite banks of the Nile. On April i, at 7 p.m., we reached Debbeh, where we were to change into larger boats. Debbeh, the last village of the Shaggeeh tribe, is a small place, and the point of departure of the caravans for Kor- dofan and Darfour ; there is also a road to Khartoum across the Bahionela desert. We found an immense quantity of merchandise scattered on the bank, chiefly gum and cotton cloth. There were fourteen large sailing boats, niiggurs^ as they are called, of the rudest build, but being very deep they were capable of carrying large cargoes. We selected two of the smaller ones for our journey to Dongola, for which we paid 300 tarif piastres, or a little over jQt^. We told their owners we wished them sent about a quarter of a JOURNEY TO DONGOLA BY RIVER. 243 mile lower down the river, where the boats we had arrived in were moored. The promptness in executing our orders was wonderful — in less than an hour the boats we had left were side by side with those we had just arrived in. We did not like the large boats so well as the smaller ones ; they were half-decked, and we felt the heat much more than in' the others, in which we got all the air. Unlike the boats that navigate the Lower Nile the big sail is never taken down, nor is it lowered in descending the river. They occasionally tried tacking, an operation I never saw attempted except by the smallest craft on the Lower Nile. I cannot say, however, that we made any great progress in that way. Although the country from JMerowi to Debbeh, and that between Abou Hamed and Berber, is in the same latitude, its general aspect is very different. In the former there is far more cultivated land ; wheat, barley, and extensive groves of date-palms flourish ; while in the latter the crops consist chiefly of millet, and here and there fields of dhu7'ra^ and dlioum take the place of date palms. The stretch of river from Abou Hamed to Berber is, however, far more pictur- esque. The dhoums are festooned with green creepers, bearing scarlet flowers ; numbers of sweet-scented mimosas, laden with yellow blossoms, overhang the water ; and the course of the Nile is intercepted by numbers of rocky islands : some of these are covered with grass, others with acacia trees festooned with creeping plants, while others again are cultivated. Altogether the scenery is far more tropical than that of any part of the Nile with which I am acquainted. Between Merowi and Debbeh, however, except where the date-palm fringes the river, all this luxuriant vegetation is exchanged for a few wretched- looking mimosas and scrubby tamarisk bushes. April 2. — Off by 10 a.m. and stopped for the night at an island a Httle to the south of Old Dongola. The wind was fitful and from the west ; but we managed to make fair way, and at one time were going at the rate of five or six miles an hour. The midges bothered us terribly all day. Numbers of sakias on both banks, and a good deal of 244 CONTRARY WINDS. cultivation, although the desert frequently approached the river. Old Dongola is a miserable half-deserted place, almost entirely in ruins, situated on a hill on the east bank of the Nile, but picturesque in its decay, April 3. — Did not make much way; the wind, which was from the north, came in short gusts. Our crew consisted of only two Arabs, one of them being a very old man, who was continually complaining that he had a snake in his stomach that ate all his victuals. Our only mode of pro- gression was floating with the current, which, as the river was low, was very slow work. The sailors could not row, as the boats were not provided with oars, and tacking was almost useless. Stopped for the night anchored to a sand- bank near a village called Becker. Saw very few croco- diles, and scarcely any birds. The midges gave us no peace, and in spite of veils (which were getting worn out) got into one's nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. April 4. — Owing to the strong head-wind only made ten miles. Country perfectly flat and most uninteresting ; the wretched mimosa trees that frequently lined the banks of the river were almost leafless; but there was plenty of cultivation and numerous sakias. By four o'clock the wind was blowing so hard from the north that, finding we were being carried up stream, we were obliged to moor to an island called Comi. A perfect hurricane blew all night, the strongest wind we had experienced all the winter. April 5. — The wind continued so strong all day that we were unable to move, though we made several unsuc- cessful attempts. The skeleton of a woman was found on a sandbank ; the front teeth of the lower jaw had been extracted. This is the custom with the women of some 6f the White Nile tribes ; they consider it adds to their personal attractions. April 6. — During the morning the gale prevented our moving, but late in the afternoon somewhat abated, and we managed to make about five miles. April 7. — Got off at daybreak, when the wind lulled slightly, but after making a mile or two had to "come to," between Dumbo and Handak, until nearly sunset, when we REACH DONGOLA. 245 again started, and got a little below Handak ; the men then declared there were dangerous rocks, and they could go no farther before daylight. Handak is the largest village between Debbeh and Dongola ; a great part of it, however, is now in ruins. Formerly, all this country was far more thickly inhabited than it now is, as numerous remains of towns and villages testify. April 8. — Still the north wind continued to blow violently. We resorted to tracking along the bank by means of a rope ; also tried tacking, but made little progress in that way. By sunset we were three miles south of a village called Ordee. Country flat and monotonous ; numerous sand- banks, but scarcely a bird to be seen. We amused our- selves in an india-rubber canoe we had brought from England, which sailed very well with the strong north wind. We insisted on going at night, which our men so far had always objected to doing, but we were determined to try. Between 8 p.m. and 6 the next morning we only made five miles. Nearly every night the wind was so strong that it would have been impossible to have accom- plished so short a distance as this. April 9. — Less wind, but still from the north ; we alternately drifted with the current, tracked, and tacked. Spent the night opposite an old ruined fort or castle called Hellat el Manoo. April 10. — Reached Dongola at 5.30 p.m. This town is called by the Arabs Ordee, and is marked in some maps New Dongola, to distinguish it from the ruined town of the same name. As I have already mentioned, the doctor had gone across the desert from Merowi to Dongola, by the east bank of the Nile, in order to try and save time by getting camels ready for lis. On the morning of our arrival we sent a note to him saying we were coming; he came to meet us, and at two o'clock we took him on board. Very few undertake the journey from Merowi to Dongola across the desert, the only published account I know of being in a book entitled Khartow7i and the Niles^ by George Melly, written in 185 i. Then there were actually 246 ACROSS THE DESERT FROM two English ladies in the party. The author describes the journey as hazardous, and as requiring four long days for its accomplishment. He was told that ninety guides had perished on the road, and although he considered the number exaggerated, he adds that " the difficulties and uncertainties of the path w^ere sufficient to account for a very considerable loss of life." The ladies who accompanied him, his mother and sister, w^ere the first European ladies who had ever reached Khartoum. The following is what I wrote down at the time from an account given me by our doctor of his desert journey. Although essentially " dry " reading, it may prove interesting at the present time : — There is scarcely any path the w^hole way ; the doctor had a compass and a map ; the Arabs steered by the sun during the day and by the stars at night. For the first two hours on leaving Merowi there was no path at all, for the next two an apology for one could be made out at intervals of 200 or 300 hundred yards. This first four hours' traveUing was over a desert of ravines consisting of gravel and sand. The traveller then enters on a great plain of rolling, bright, almost orange-coloured sand. For the first two or three miles an occasional stunted mimosa is seen ; beyond that distance not a vestige of any living thing, until some wells are reached, three and a quarter hours before arriving at Dongola. Far away to the left, and about eleven hours' journey from Merowi, are three serrated peaks, called Abou Syal, a conical hill named El Midreh, and on the right two others called Abou Koran. Thirty-two miles after leaving Merowi, a stony district is entered which lasts for two and a half hours' travelling, after which the route passes through great sand drifts, most trying in windy weather. Another five hours and some ridges of low hills are reached which must be traversed, and another three hours brings the traveller to the wady, in which the wells are situated, and w^here there are plenty of mimosas on which the camels can feed, but at the wells themselves there are only a few dhotwi and date palms. The wells are marked by an almost perpendicular hillock about forty feet in height. A farther march of three MEROWI TO DONGOLA. 247 and a quarter hours completes the desert journey, and the town of Dongola, partly hidden by its palms, and rising over the right bank of the Nile, suggests at least a shelter from the sun. Throughout the whole journey, which occu- pied thirty-seven hours and three-quarters, a distance of about ninety- five miles, there is no path that can be depended on. The heat was terrific, one day the ther- mometer registering 114° in the shade of a small tent. The sand was so heavy it was impossible for a riding- camel to trot, and one of the baggage animals died on the road. The doctor came across the skeleton of a man and camel lying together ; they had perished side by side. The guide informed him that some years before an Englishman and his guide had both lost their way and never been heard of since ; and on one occasion he had overtaken some Arabs reduced to such extremities from want of water that they had been compelled to kill a camel and slake their thirst with the water out of its stomach. Dongola is situated some little distance from the river, and is hidden by trees. We found the Mudir sitting in a courtyard, near one of the inevitable Greek shops ; he was an old Turk, who looked eighty, had been forty-three years in Egyptian employ. Notwithstanding his long service in the country he spoke Arabic with considerable difficulty. There was a great deal of small-pox in the town ; it had been very bad indeed, and had carried off a great many people, but was on the decrease when we arrived. At Dongola we met Colonel Mason, an American officer in the Khedive's employ, who was on his way to Cairo from the Albert Nyanza, and had been surveying the whole course of the Nile from the Second Cataract, with a view to seeing what could be done towards rendering the cataracts more navigable. His opinion was that it would be an enormously expensive undertaking to dam the Nile at the cataracts or to blast the rocks as had been proposed.-' We arranged to pay six dollars apiece for camels to Wady Halfah, a distance of over 200 miles. The ^ Colonel Mason, now Mason Pacha, at present governor of Massawa. 248 VISITS TO THE MUDIR. bazaars of Dongola we found unattractive. The govern- ment buildings are large and built round a courtyard containing some fine trees. We paid several visits to the old Mudir ; on one occasion the Mudirieh was full of people who had come to pay their taxes, some of them did not bring sufficient, and were promptly bastinadoed. Morning and evening crowds of black slaves, both men and women, might be seen filling their water-jars at the river ; many of them had heavy iron shackles on their ankles, which' were fastened together with chains. I saw women, shackled in this way, shuffling along with heavy water-jars on their heads, and not able to move more than a few inches each shuffle. As the camels were not ready on April 11, we started off in the boat we had arrived in, leaving the luggage to follow. Large boats, even in April, caii go as far as just below the Third Cataract ; but we decided on taking to camels as soon as they overtook us. We started at two o'clock, and about 9.30 moored the boat on the east bank, just above some rocks seven or eight miles to the north of Dongola. During our voyage from Merowi w^e fre- quently tried fishing, and were rewarded by occasion- ally catching a " gamoot," an uncanny -looking monster, barely eatable, and an old Atbara acquaintance. I do not think " Tommy Atkins " will do much good with the fishing-lines that are part of his outfit on the present campaign. April 12. — We were off at daybreak, and the camels overtook us about ten o'clock, having been four hours on the march from Dongola. We at once began to shift the luggage from the boat, but it was four o'clock before we finished loading the camels and were able to start. At seven we halted for the night near a village called Binne, opposite the island of Argo, a large and fertile spot with numerous palm-trees. Numbers of these trees flourished on the banks of the river. The province of Dongola, we w^ere told, was the best paying one in the Soudan, all the country south to Merowi being in the Mudiriat. We decided on travelling by the west bank, for, although THE THIRD CATARACT. 249 Colonel Mason told us it was better to go by the east, our drivers objected, and we were disposed to grudge the loss of time that would take place were we to ferry the camels across. Colonel Mason therefore travelled by the east bank alone, for his camels were already on that side of the river, and it was therefore the simpler one for him to choose. Our camel-drivers were a very wild-looking set, most of them belonging to the Kababisch tribe. They wore their hair in long broad plaits, resembling in that respect the Dabainas, with whom we had travelled along part of the Settite. In addition to the Kababisch Arabs there were others from the Mahass district, — a tract of country we were to pass before reaching Wady Halfah. April 13. — Marched eleven and a half hours, halting for the night about three miles beyond what is marked in the maps as the Third Cataract, and although we were encamped fully half a mile from the Nile we could hear the roar of the cataract. In the morning we visited it, and found that rocks had formed a weir almost across the river, which at that season of the year appeared quite impassable for boats. The Nile was, however, unusually low even for the month of April. We kept near the river the greater part of the day, where there were plenty of palms and cultivated land, and the journey therefore was a very pleasant one. Both in this and in the Merowi district a great deal of irrigation is done by sinking wells, from which water is obtained by sakias ; these wells are frequently a considerable distance from the river. The day was cloudy, but very close and hot. From Hannek, the Third Cataract, the character of the country changed from a wide sandy plain, fringed with cultivated land, to a ver)' sterile and rocky track. April 14. — After a seven hours' journey we reached what the Arabs term the Hash mel Akabah, where we spent the night at a place called Fakir Bruti, previous to crossing a long stretch of desert in order to cut off a bend of the Nile. The whole country through which we passed was barren and wretched in the extreme ; the few villages 250 TEMPLES AT TOLIB AND SUKKOOT. we passed were very small, and some of them quite deserted. Just before reaching our camping-ground we were rewarded by a really pretty view of the river, which was very broad, and somewhat resembled a lake dotted with rocky islands, on which grew palm and sont trees j and a background of mountains, purple and red in the setting sun, completed the picture. We passed several ruined buildings of considerable extent, built of sunburnt bricks, which formerly had been the residence of sheiks or meks who ruled over the country before it fell into the hands of the Egyptians. Far more of this country must at one time have been under cultiva- tion ; but the abominable Egyptian system of taxation, especially that of taxing every sakia and shadoofs has discouraged the inhabitants from endeavouring to make " the most of their resources. April 15. — This part of the country is called the dis- trict of Mahass. After a long journey across the desert, of eleven hours and three-quarters' good marching, we again struck the river at a village called Kage. All day the north wind blew violently, but as the desert was fortunately stony, it did not annoy us much. The desert was hilly, with plains two or three miles broad between the belts of hills, and the rock was evidently volcanic. The river at Kage is very wide ; there are a few palms, but very little cultivation is to be seen. Although there were a good many rocks in the river's bed it still looked navigable. April 16. — A ten and a half hours' journey brought us to a village called Hamied, opposite Say Island, a large island with plenty of palm-trees and some cultivated land. The north wind was very strong and the dust terrible. With the exception of two "akabas," of about an hour each, the road followed the course of the river. We passed two temples, Tolib and Sukkoot ; the former is well worth seeing, and is an example of the purest Egypt- ian architecture. It is situated on the edge of the desert, about a quarter of a mile from the river. There are eight entire columns standing, and the remains of another ; the MEET CARAVAN OF MANCHESTER GOODS. 251 sculptures are, however, in bad preservation, and the whole temple is surrounded by its own ruins. It is altogether the finest temple south of the Second Cataract, although, being Egyptian, it is not, in an antiquarian point of view, as interesting as the purely Ethiopian remains at Merowi. Wherever the receding river gave a chance for a crop, the natives had planted beans, often in almost ridiculously small patches. On arriving at our camping-ground for the night our drivers allowed their camels to graze on the crops, and there was a great disturbance in consequence. We were much annoyed, and paid liberally for the damage done, giving the money to the sheik of the village, with instruc- tions to divide it as he thought best. He probably kept it himself, but we could do no more, and the poor people seemed satisfied. We passed more ruins of fortresses, evidently belonging to a more prosperous past. April 17. — Met the first caravan seen since quitting Dongola ; it consisted of ninety camels carrying Manchester goods. Cairo merchants frequently hire a string of say loo camels by the year ; if any die, or become unfit for work, their owners supply others in their place. The same camels will often go all the way from Wady Halfah to Kordofan. This was a very trying day for the camels. The desert, extending to the water's edge, consisted of great billows of shifting sand, deeper and far worse going than anything we had previously experienced. Twice we found our path covered by almost perpendicular banks of sand fully forty feet high, which necessitated our going round them, and making a path for ourselves. The north wind constantly blows in these regions, and the sand is always shifting, and forming huge orange -coloured drifts, rendering travelling very tedious work. We made a march of nine hours and three-quarters, and in the whole distance scarcely saw a palm or anything green, although we were continually near the river. There were no villages, or signs of inhabitants, excepting two or three minute patches of beans, where the receding river had left a little soil. We spent the night at a place called Selib ; the Arabs have names for every rock, hill, or resting-place. 252 CATARACTS OF DAL AND TANGO UR. April 1 8. — Made a long march of thirteen hours, most of it through very heavy sand. After two and a half hours' journey, away from the river we joined it again at the Cataract of Dal, a most picturesque spot. Both banks of the Nile were bounded by a range of volcanic rocks — peaks piled in endless confusion. At the most formidable part of the Cataract there was a half-circle of rocks, extend- ing from 150 to 200 yards, over which the water boiled, and where it appeared as though one could wade across the Nile. The whole scene was wild and desolate in the extreme; numbers of rocky islands, some of them uplifting themselves fully 100 feet from the river's bed. Scarcely an inhabitant, an occasional palm or sont tree, and the wrecks of two boats that had gone on the rocks in attempting to pass the Cataract. A complete picture of desolation, but nevertheless one with an indescribable charm about it. After leaving Dal we struck again into the desert, away from the river, to cut off another of the numerous bends it makes in its course. It was even worse travelUng than on the day before ; the whole way was over hillocks of rolling sand, and our progress was of the slowest. Some- times the hills we had to traverse were so steep we preferred to dismount and lead our camels. It was 9.15 before we reached our camp, a tiny village called Okme, close to the river. Our camels began to give out — one had died in crossing the last akabah, and several others were useless. The poor brutes got scarcely anything to eat in the miser- able country we wei'e travelling through. April 19. — Rested our jaded beasts until after mid-day, and then only travelled for four hours and fifty minutes, camp- ing by the Cataract of Tangour, the whole way through heavy sand. It is absurd to talk of Hannek as the Third Cataract, the whole river between it and Wady Halfah being a succession of cataracts — I am afraid to say how many. As I have already remarked, the Nile, during the spring of 1878, was exceptionally low, and I am certain that not even small rowing-boats could have descended it. In fact, we frequently wondered how at any time large boats could be made to LOST TRAVELLERS. 253 pass some of the cataracts. Between the cataracts of Dal and Tangour is another (the name of which I have forgotten), with a finer fall than any of the others. We met a number of caravans, most of them consisting of from forty to eighty camels, carrying gum from Kordofan. April 20. — All of our party, except Courage and myself, started with the caravan across another desert akabah. In seven hours and twenty minutes they struck the Nile again, which they followed until they reached the village of Semneh, an eleven hours' march altogether. Courage and I, being weary of these long desert tramps, decided on following as much as possible the course of the Nile, although we knew that by doing so we should have to travel considerably farther. We did not, however, bargain on losing our way, and not reaching camp until 1.30 A.M. ! We followed the river for some time, plunging through and climbing over great sand drifts, until we reached a small village on an island that could be reached at low Nile by walking over some rocks. There was very little cultiva- tion, no sakias^ and but few palms. We passed two catar- acts. We procured a boy from the village to act as guide. He proved worse than useless, as the path, though very rocky, was for the greater part of the way plainly marked, and the only time that a difficulty occurred he led us wrong and then decamped, leaving us in a complete i??ipasse, to find our own way out as best we could. It was now dark, so we were obliged to wait until the moon had risen, then, retracing our steps, fortunately soon found the right road. We arrived in camp very hungry and tired, having gone without dinner, and in addition been obliged to walk a great part of the journey leading our camels, which had be- come thoroughly done up from the roughness of the ground. At Semneh there is another cataract, and on either bank a small temple of the time of the 3d Thothmes. They did not look particularly interesting, and, being so near the end of the camel part of our journey, we grudged the time it would have taken to explore them, so passed on without a visit. 254 INCIDENTS OF TRA VEL. April 2 1. — Our camels were giving out one by one from hard travelling and insufficient food ; and hear- ing that from Saras, on the opposite bank a little farther on, we might finish our journey to Wady Halfah in the train, we started ahead of the caravan to see if the news were true, and if so to endeavour to find a boat to take our luggage across the Nile. The nearer we approached Wady Halfah the worse the travelling became. After four to five hours of crawling over the most fearful desert imaginable, and being obliged to lead our camels the greater part of the way, we arrived opposite Saras. On an island in the river was a very picturesque castle ; we regretted that none of us were able to sketch. We saw a gazelle for the first time since our arrival at Merowi ; the previous day we saw an immense number of their tracks, the only time since leaving Dongola we had seen them in any quantities. Colonel Mason had reached Saras the morning we arrived at the opposite bank, and sent us a note to say the train was hourly expected ! It sounded too good news to be true. We had ridden since leaving Korosko on November 15 nearly 2000 miles on camels, and it seemed quite absurd to finish in the train ! My brothers crossed the river in the only " boat " the neighbourhood possessed. This primitive " craft " merely consisted of five logs lashed together, which two boys, regardless of crocodiles, swimming behind, pushed forward. After remaining all night at the railway station my brothers sent us a note to say that the train was delayed in consequence of a bridge having broken down, but that we had better cross the river early in the morning. Ap7'il 22. — We sent our bags, bedding, and some stores over in our india-rubber canoe, after which we crossed on the raft. Obtained no more news of the train. The railway station was built of brick, and was wonderfully neat, with waiting-rooms, etc., furnished with wooden doors and green- painted window -shutters. Colonel Mason said the esti- mate for the railway from Wady Halfah to Shendy was ;£"4, 000,000 ; that in 1877 they had spent ^90,000, and the two previous years ^300,000 each year upon it. How AN EGYPTIAN RAILWA K 255 they managed to spend such large sums with such poor results I cannot say. The whole thing, however, was done in true Egyptian style, unnecessarily large sums being spent on plant — stations, with waiting-rooms and everything complete, being evidently considered of more importance than the permanent way itself. The distance the rails were laid was 53 J kilometres, and another 50 was prepared and ready to be laid. It was proposed that trains should cross the river at Kohie, either by means of a bridge or by a ferry, as is frequently done in America. The line would then follow the west bank to somewhere near Debbeh ; thence across the Bahioudah desert to Shendy on the Nile — the intended terminus of the railway. My brother Arthur and Courage set off on donkeys, intending to see how long it would probably take to repair the bridge that had given way. They were told that it was only an hour and a half's ride off, and that Mr. Gooding (the English engineer of the line, who lived at Wady Halfah) was there. Starting at 10 a.m. they reached the bridge at 2.20. Gooding was not there ; the Arabs informed them that " Inshallah," the line would be in order for traffic in two or three days' time. Elaving got so far on their way to Wady Halfah they decided on going the whole distance, and sent a note informing us of their intention. April 23. — Our last day's camel journey ! Tired of waiting for the train we re-crossed the river, and leaving the caravan to follow started for Wady Halfah. The entire journey was through the desert, and some little distance from the river ; a great part of our path lay over firm and gravelly ground, but there were occasionally patches of shifting sand, one of which we were over an hour in pass- ing. On the opposite bank of the river there is little or no deep sand, and the road is no doubt much less fatiguing for the camels. During the middle of the day we halted near the river, sitting under the shade of a dismantled sakia, where there were two or three huts and an apology for cultivation. The shade was so tempting we remained too long, got overtaken by the darkness, and lost our way, reaching camp about 256 WADY HALF AH, ten o'clock. Our camels had marched thirteen hours, and our tents were pitched opposite the village of Wady Halfah (which is on the other bank). Nine of our camels had died since leaving Dongola, and two were unable to carry loads. A great deal of luggage was strewn about the bank. One merchant had been waiting ten months for camels to take his goods to Dongola. Gooding, who was acting as " wakeel " of Wady Halfah, as well as engineer of the railway, informed us that 6000 camels passed annually to and from Dongola. It is a very severe journey for camels, owing to the heavy sand, and in this respect is far more formidable than the desert from Korosko to Abou Hamed. On the latter road, however, there is only one well, whereas on the Dongola route there is water the whole way. My brother Arthur and Courage were with Gooding at Ancash, a village about five miles below Wady Halfah, where the workshops of the railway were situated. They were built of burnt brick, and contained a steam hammer and five engines. At the time of our visit the railway works were silent, and we felt sure that everything would soon be given up and the engines left to rust. We were informed that coal at Wady Halfah cost 65 s. a ton. April 24. — A tremendously strong north wind blew all day. Wady Halfah is well known for the frequency and violence of the north wind, which often blows much stronger there than farther down the river. It was too strong to permit of our making a start down the river. My brother and Courage arrived at Gooding's quarters at 1 1 P.M. thoroughly tired out ; they had been obliged to walk nearly all the way, as their donkeys were in such bad condition that they were unable to carry them. Ap7'il 25. — We left Wady Halfah bound for Cairo in a comfortable dahabeah, reaching Philoe, above the First Cataract, on May 5. There we changed into another dahabeah lying below the cataract at Assouan, and dropped down the river to Siout. At Kantara, a little below Assouan, and opposite a village marked Koobanieh in Keith Johnston's Map of Egypt, the channel left by the receding Nile was extremely narrow, and only three feet six RETURN TO CAIRO. 257 inches to four feet deep. In spite of all precautions we stuck fast for twenty-four hours in getting through. We saw many natives actually foj'ding the Nile., with luggage on their heads. It is to be hoped that in the event of our troops returning from the Soudan about the same time of year the Nile will not be so low, or the delays in reaching Cairo will be endless. Owing to our constantly sticking in sandbanks from the lowness of the river and the strong north wind, it was ]May 31 before we arrived at Siout, where we gladly took the train to Cairo. The dahabeah did not reach Cairo until eighteen days later. In this last chapter I have purposely given many details that I should have thought superfluous were it not for the present interest attaching to the expedition up the Nile for the relief of Gordon, and I am not without hope that there may be some who will be interested in a somewhat lengthy description of the country that our army must pass through, — a country that has not been often described, and one that is so much the subject of discussion at the present time. [As I send this second edition of my book to press, we are all, with the exception of my brother Arthur and the doctor, starting for Berberah. Thence we propose to enter the Soumali country, and there spend the wi,nter exploring parts hitherto unknown to Europeans.] s INDEX. A Abiam, good sport near, 135, Aboo Dhoum, village, 239. Abou Gumba, the, 60. Abou Hamed, 12, 230, 243. Abou Kereety, wells of, 237. Abou Sellal, 176. Abyssinia, difficulty of getting into, 144. treaty with, 222, 209. Abyssinian chief, visit from an, 66. Abyssinians, a hundred armed, 108. contemplated expedition against, 113- Dembelas tribe, 109. Achmed Ageer, Sheik, 62, 194. sends four horsemen as inter- preters, 63. accompanies the caravan, 67. takes his leave, 69. rejoins the party, 73. returns to his people, 74, again turns up, 180, 193. Achmed Effendi, the palace of, 13. Achmet, a servant, 181, 225. Achmet, Mahomet, xxiii. Adowa, Treaty of, 209, Adventure with a buffalo, 75. Adventure with a Hon, 68, .199. "Agra, "the British-India steamer, 2. Aibaro, 127. Ain, El, a halt at, 217. Akabah brings alarm of the Abys- sinians, 106. Ala-ed-Deen Pacha, supreme gover- nor, 13, 15, 206, frees the prisoners, 15. All Reza Pacha, 13, 14. AU the cook, 6, 39, 97, 115. Amdn, signification of, 91, 113. Amedeb, 125. the town of, 125. American travellers, two, 226. "Angareb," an, 35. Animal-catcher, the German, 60. Anseba Valley, the, 213. Anselmier, Swiss servant, 5. Antelope — Beisa, 218. Boos, 170. Dik-dik, 71. Mora, 78. Antinori, the Alarquis, 112. Ants, destructive white, 50, 162. Arabi, rebellion of, xxii. Trial and sentence, xxiii. Arabia, slaves shipped to, 225. Arabica gazella, 24. Arabs, action of the loyal, xxvi. Arabs, encampment, an, 145. solemn covenants of, 91. Ariel, herds of, 41. shot, 56. Ashidireh, 206. Atbara River, the, 47, 232. Attman, Galani, Sheik, 17. Avenging jackal, the, 37. B Baboons, 58, 154. Baby crocodiles, 73. Baggar-fi^, capture of a, 151. Baheet, a Nile village, 241. Baker Pacha, xxvii. Baker, Sir Samuel, 79, 141, 145, 164, 171. 26o INDEX, Baobab-iree, the, 57, 79. Baraka, Khor, 22, 229. Barea tribe, the, 121. Bas6 country, the, i, 79, 84, 175. a scare, 195. customs, 193. natives first seen, 79. people, the, i, 79, 82-88, 89-92, 95. ISO- superstitions, 194. suspect the, 115, 127. village first seen, 80. visit from a sheik, loi. Bashi-Bazouks and their prisoners, 218. Beads, fondness of the natives for, 89. Bedouin prisoners, the, 13, 14. Beer, made from dhurra, 90. Beisa antelope shot, 218. Belgian doctor, the, 37. " Bellus, " a camel, 19. Berber, xxi, 12, 230-235. Berthon boat, usefulness of the, 140, 161. Birds, scarcity of, 28. bright plumaged, 41, 195, 214. Blue Mountains, the, 236. Boa-constrictor shot, 179. Bogos country, the, 5, 208. Bogou, Khor, picturesqueness of, 201. Bokutan, Mount, 142. Bombashi, governor of Amedeb, 124. Bonne-bouche, a, 176. Both barrels at once, 99. Brewster, Mr., 9. British-India steamer, the "Agra," 2. Budget of letters from home, a, 135, 227, Buffalo -hunting, 75, 93, 98, 103, 106, 132, 155, 172, 174. c Cairo, i, 2, 229. route from Wady Halfah to, 256. Camels, 19, 24, 28, 29, 47, 119, 133, 201, 223, 236. Camel-drivers, 16, 23, 144, 181. Camel sheik demands baksheesh, 22. Camel saddle, a good, 134. Camp, first, 21. deaths in, 45, 118. Camphor, the watercourse, 218. Capsules, claret, as jewellery, 92. Caravans, slave, 12. merchant, 44. Caravan, the, 24. Carcashi, Sheik Said, 123. Cargo, a large, of ivory, 226. Cassala, the town of, xxi, i, 51. Ceremony of making peace, 91, 113. Cholera, the, 2, 7. Church, the, on Mount Tchad-Amba, 204. Climate, 37, 95, 97, 144, 153, 197, 214, 221, Col. Gordon, 6, 14. Compensation, nine thousand dollars, 14. Consul, appointed to Khartoum, 225. appointed to Souakim, 225. Consul's, the French, collection of animals, 227. Cook, Ali the, 6, 39, 97, 115. Country, the, 27, 80, 92, 237-38, 243, 249. Cows, 22. Crocodiles, 73, 145. adventure with, 145. D Dal, Cataract of, 252. Da7na, gazella, 24. Daoud, Suleiman, 5, 228. Darfour, xxiii, 12. Daro Mai, a visit from Sheik of, 91. Days, heat of, 29, 97, 132, 190. Debbeh, a small village on the Nile, 12, 240, 242, Dembelas villages, a visit to some, 18, 116. the, 18, 109-113. Desert, vegetation in the, 21. Devil's horseman, the, 217. Dews, heavy, 68, 97, 120. Dho2im-'^d\m%, 28, 30, 44, 56. baskets, 90. Dhu?-ra, staple article of food, 15. beer made from, 90. INDEX. Diary, extracts from, 170-174, 235- 257- Dik-dik antelope, 71. Doctor, the, 3, 32, 35, 43, 45. Dongola, province of, xxi. Mudir of, 238, 247. (Ordee), town of, 245. Donkeys, Berber breed of, 234. Dorcas, Gazella, 41. Doves, several varieties of, 41, 214. Dra's sad story, 212. Dufferin, Lord, xxxiii. E Effendi Achmed, palace of, 9. Eg\'ptian Government, the, 12. officials, 9, 227. Soudan, the, i. tents, 21. El Ain, 217. El Belad, a visit from the Sheik, 62. Elephants, 58, 59, 130, Ellegna, the sand-storm at, 29. Elsen, M, , 225. English consuls, appointment of, 222. En-noor, the servant, 181. Equatorial lakes, the, 5. Everlasting forest, the, 139. Explorations, Capt. Gascoigne's, 112, F Fahncoob, halt, at, 136, 179. Felkin, Dr., 6. Fillik, headquarters of the Haden- dowa tribe, 40. Fish, a haul of, 148, 151. abundance of, 18, 151, 222, captiire of a baggar, 151. Fishing, good, 148. Flocks, large, 183. Forest, everlasting, the, 139. Fox-terrier "Tartar," the, 6, 7, 220. Freedman's Aid Society, the, 226. G Galani, Attman, Sheik, 17. Gallabat, xxii, 13. Game, 72. Gargi, the village of, 197. Gascoigne's, Capt. , explorations, 112. Gash, the khor on which Cassala is built, xxi, 40, 43, 56, 68. Gazella Arabic a, 24. Da ma, 24. Dorcas, 41. Gazelles, three shot, 36. Gebel Barkal, 239, 240. Gedariff, 13, 50. George, the English servant, 6, 173. Gerghis, Mr. Lort Phillips's servant, 200, 228. German animal-catcher, the, 60. Giraffes, 80, 97. Giraffe-stalking, 87. Gordon, Col., 10, 11, 14, 231, 236. Government, Egyptian, the, 12. agent, Wakeel, the, 11. of the Soudan, division of the, 12, 206. Governor of Cassala, the, 44. dinner with the, 51. gives military escort, 54. Graham, General, xxviii. Grass, dearth of, 22, 78. eaten up, 180. Greek shops, 15, 232. Greeks, omnipresence of, 15. Green paroquets, seen for the first time, 37, Grooms, the, give warning, 181. Gudgeon, contrivance for catching, 150. Guffer, the disease among camels, 119. Guides, dupHcity of the, 139, 253. Guide, the, a mauvais sujet, 205. Guinea-fowl, 40, 41, 67, 78. Gumba, Abou, the, 30. Gimi, large cargo of, 226. H Hadaiweb, halt at, 36. Hadendowa tribe, headquarters of the, 40, Hadendumi, two of the party start for, 184. Haikota, the village of, 60, 135, 180. 262 INDEX. Halfah, Wady, route to, 12. Hamed Abou, 12, 230, 243. Hamran country, the, 13, 140, 165. Handak, Nile village, 245. Hawartis, the, 142. Heat, intensity of, 29, 38, 97, 132, 190. Hegleek-ixtes, rich in potash, 78. Herds, immense number of, 183. Hicks, General, xxv, 206. Hippopotami, 142. Hippopotamus, the first shot, 162. the last, 166. Holloway's pills, popularity of, 117. Home, letters from, 135, 227, Homeward journey, beginning of the, 174. Horseman, the Devil's, 217. Hotel du Soudan, 16, Household gods, hidden for fear of enemies, 86. Hush-money, 11. Hyaena, a new species killed, 200. I Illuminations in honour of the new governor, 13. India-rubber made from the qzwl- quol plant, 216. India, saloon passengers bound for, 7. Ismail, Khedive, xxii, 206, Ivor}', a large cargo of, 226. J Jackal, the avenging, 37. Jackals, three appear, 185. James, W., shoots a splendid buck nellut, 168. Jeddah, arrival of pilgrims at, 7. Jewellery, claret capsules as, 92, Journey, a long and tiresome, 139. Jules, Swiss servant, 5. illness of, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 43. death of, 45. funeral of, 45. his grave, 50. Jungle, road-making through the, 75. K Kage, village of, 250. Kelb-el-bahr, capture of a, 150. Khalifa, Sheik Achmet, 230. Hamed, 231. Khartoum, English consul appointed to, 225. Khartoum, xxi, xxix, xxxi, xxxiv. Khedive Ismail, xxii, Mahommed Tewfik, xxiii, xxvii. Khor Baraka, 15, 199. Belag, 35. Langeb, 29. Omri, 36. Rassay, 37. Wandi, 31. Khors, 22, 28, 37, 38, 76. Koolookoo, at the village of, 82. Kordofan, xxi, xxiii. Kudul, Sheik, 101, 113, 115. L Lacatecourah, village of, 174-175. Lakes, the equatorial, 5. Leopard, shot at a, 166. Letters from home, 135, 227. Lions, 68, 133, 135, 155, 186-191, 199. two shot, 187. London, arrival of pilgrims in, 8. Longay, 84, 91, 127, 129, 130. M Ma Ambasah, Khor, 98, 102, iii. Mddrif shot, 152, 171. Magic-lantern, the, 65, 92, 210. Mahomed, the servant, speared, 110. death of, 118. Mahomet, Salee, 139, 141, 154, 165. Mahommed Tewfik, xxiii, xxvii. Mahoom, negro from the White Nile, 6, 32, 224. Christmas plum-pudding, 32. Mai-Daro, visit from Sheik, 91. Maieedah, signification of, 90. Malet, Sir Edward, consul-general, 17. Mareb, the, 92, 95. Mason, Col., 247. Massawa, the town of, 220-224. INDEX. 263 Mativais sujet, a, 205. Mecca, pilgrimage to, 7, 30. Medicine-man, the, held in awe, 117. MdkMehet, or water -buck, shot, 94, 173, 166. Meheraet Ali, Pacha, xxi. Meheteb Khor, 136, 179. Merowi, Nile \dilage, 239, 243. to Dongola, desert route, 246. Midges, pest of, 242-243. Mimosa, a fresh variety of the, 74. Monastery, a mountain, 204. Monks of Mount Tchad- Amba, 204. Mora, seen for the first time, 78. Mosconas and his son, 49. Mosquitoes prove troublesome, 171. Mother, a, sells her son for three dollars^ 211. Mountain, ascent of the Tchad- Amba, 202-204. Motmt Bokutan, 142. Munzinger Pacha, 202, 209. N Naouri, the village of, 47. Nebbuk-hvtshes {rhamnus lotus), 27. Negroes as schoolmasters, 226. Nellut shot, 69, 166, 168. News, budget of, from the Settite, 177. Nights, temperature ot the, 97, 190. Night-watch, an exciting, for buffa- loes, 155. Night-watches in hopes of a shot, 70. Nile, numerous cataracts on the, 252. Nile, the, route to Soudan, 12. Nourri, Nile \illage, 239. pyramids of, 239. o Ojnelette a I'autriche, 70, Om Brega, "mother of the thorn," | 161. ; Om Gedat, ' ' mother of the guinea- ' fowl," 161, \ Om Hagar, "mother of the rock," ! 161. I Ostrich, exciting chase after an, 95. I P Pacha Ala-ed-Deen, supreme gover- nor, 15, 206. frees prisoners, 15. Pacha, Ali Reza, 13, 14, Palace of Achmed Effendi, 13. Palms, dhou?n, 28, 30, 44, 56. Panther killed, 186, 200. Paroquets, green, first appearance of, 37. Partridges, good sport among the, 59. 74. 130. 214. Party of travellers, a, leave Cairo for the Egyptian Soudan, i. Peace, ceremony of making, 91, 108, 113- Pere Picard, 44, 204, 208. Pilgrimage to Mecca, 7, 30. Pilgrims, Persian, a party of, 7. Takrooris, a band of, joins the caravan, 30. Pills, popularity of, among the natives, 117. Political aspect of the Soudan, xix- xxxiv. Potash, hegleek-lreQS rich in, 78. Press, alarming account in the Eng- Hsh and Egyptian, 227, Provisions taken from England, 19. Q Quails appear, 60, 74. abundance of, 80, 135. Quol-quol plant, attempt to make India-rubber from, 216. R Raid, horrible accoimt of a, 179. Railway, a, five miles long, 12. Rains, coast, 9, 20. Ras Aloula, 124. Reefs, dangerous, 11. Rhamnus lotus, nebbukAsK)^&s, •Z'j, River Atbara, the, 3, 47. Road-making through the jungle, 75, Rose-breasted shrike shot, 28. 264 INDEX, Routes to Wady Halfah, 235. to Dongola, 246. from Wady Halfah to Cairo, 256. s Said Carcashi, Sheik, 123, 126. Salee, a tracker, 45, 106, 153, 155. Mahomed, 114, 139, 141, 180. Sand-grouse shooting, 18, 34, 58, 70. Sand-tempest, effects of a, 29, 30, 31. Sanheit, 206, 208-209. often called Keren, 45, 207. Roman Catholic church and schools at, 210-212. Savage, African, fondness for medi- cine, 117. Say Island, 250. Scare, a, 195. Scenery, monotony of the, 27, 121, 142. Schools, good management of, at Sanheit, 210. Scorpions, 39. Secretary-bird shot, 217. Seine fishing-net, success of the, 141, 148. Sellal, Abou, the camp moves to, 176. Senaar, xxi. Settite, the, 140. budget of news from the, 177. fishing in the, 140, 148-151. the travellers bid adieu to the, 174. Sheiks, a visit from two Hamran, 157. offer to take the travellers to the Bas6 Settite, 178. try to shoot the Bas^, 159. Shendy, xxi. Shereef, the staid and stately waiter, 5. Shereker, the, 158. Shrike, rose-breasted, shot, 28. Siterabb, 26. Slave-trade, the, 11, 222, 234. caravans, 12. Snake, venomous, killed, 179. "Snodgrass, " a camel, 19. Sogada, village of, 136, 179. Souakim, port on the Red Sea, 2, 9, 12. Souakim, curious washing-bill at, 16. derivation of the word, 18. English consuls appointed to, 222. party of Bedouins come to, 13. routes from, to Cassala, 22. Soudan, the, 9-1 1, 206. abandonment, xxvi. ancient history, xx. boundaries, xix. British interposition, xxiii. Egyptian possessions in, xxii. insurrection, xxvii. political aspects of the, xix-xxxiv. prospective resources, xxxi-xxxiv. rebellion, xxiii. rebels defeated, xxviii, signification, xix. subjugation by Eg>'pt, xxi. various races in, xix. Soumali country, three new ports added to the ports of call, 226. Sport at Abiam, 135. Steamers, various, 2. Stewart, Col. , xxvii, xxx. Stork, the ^Marabou, 49, 140. Suez, arrival at, i, 227. Sukkoot, temple at, 250. Suleiman, history of, 5, 228. Surprise, a, 107. Swiss servants, two, 5. T Takrooris, the, 30, Tamai, battle of, xxviii. Tamarind -trees, seen for the first time, 73. Tamarisk-trees, favourite food of the camel, 30. "Tartar," a fox-terrier, 6-7, 220. Tchad-Amba mountain, ascent of, 202, Telegrams sent to England, fate of the, 125, 228. Temperature, change of, 67, 97, 120, Tdtil found for the first time, 68. abundance of, 78. shot, 69, 185. Tewfik, Bey, xxvii. Ticks, black, 74. INDEX. 265 Toadelook, halt at, 68-69, 181, Toadwan, halt at, 72, Tokar, nearest village to Souakim, 15- Tolib, temple at, 250. Tomatoes, discovery of wild, 97. Tortoise, purchase of a big, 168. Tracker, Salee, a, 45, 106, 153, 155. Tracks of hippopotami, 142. Trappers, Beni-Amer, 158. Travellers nearly lose their way, 28. Travellers encamp up the Settite, 142. a scarcity of, on the road, 44. Tribe, the Barea, 121. U Uganda, 6. V Valley, the Anseba, 213. Vegetation, scantiness of, 38. Village, a deserted, 36, of Gargi, 197. Villages, visit to some Dembelas, 18, 112. Koolookoo, 82, 84, 130. Lacatecourah, 174-175. Naouri, 47. Nourri, 239. paying taxes to King John, 112, Sogada, 136, 179. Virgins, story of the seven, 18. Vultures, iii. w Wady Halfah, routes to, 12, 235. arrival at, 256. route from, to Cairo by river,*256. Wakeel, the government agent, 9. Walkait minstrel, 68, Wandi, Christmas Day at, 32. Wart-hog, the, loi, 173, 218. Watch, the night, 70. Water-buck, Mdhidehet, shot, 94. Watercourse, Camphor, 218-219. Water, digging for, 68, 72, 74, 183. White ants, 50, 162. Wild tomatoes, discovery of, 97. Wo Ammar, halt at, 78. Wolseley, Lord, xxx-xxxi. Woman, the old, who had been robbed, 26. z Zariba, a, 54, 107, Zebechr conquers Darfour, xxii. Zem-Zem, sacred waters of, 8. Zoological societies, collections for, 53- THE END. Printed by R. & R, Clark, Ediiihirgh. MR. MURRAY'S Series of POPULAR TRAVELS & ADVENTURES. Consisting of established Works, well printed on good Paper. Each Complete in One Volume, Post 8vo, price 7s. 6d. LORD DUFFERIN'S LETTERS FROM HIGH LATI- TUDES: An Account of a Yacht Voyage to Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitz bergen. With 24 Illustrations, SIR HENRY LAYARD'S NINEVEH AND ITS RE- MAINS : Researches and Discoveries at Nineveh in 1845-47. Map and 112 Illustrations. SIR HENRY LAYARD'S NINEVEH AND BABYLON : Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Ruins of Assyria, 1849-51. Map and 150 Illustrations. 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