m 1! KING MUNZA IN FULL DRESS. THE HEART OF AFRICA. THREE YEARS' TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN THE UNEXPLORED REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. from: 186S TO 1871. By dr. GEORG SCHWEINFURTH. translated by ellen e. frewer. with an introduction by^ winwood reade. IlSr TTVO VOLTJIVIES. Vol. II. WITH MAPS AND WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS. ^J^^^^^>V NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1874. S^ CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XIII. The NiAM-NiAM — Signification of the name — General characteristics — Distinct nationality — Complexion and tattooing — Time spent on hair- dressing — Frisure a la gloire — Favourite adornments — Weapons — Soldierly bearing — A nation of hunters — Women agriculturists — The best beer in Africa — Cultivated plants — Domestic animals — Dogs — Preparation of maize — Cannibalism — Analogy with the Fans of the West Coast — Architecture — Power of the princes — Their households — Events during war — Immunity of the white man — Wanton de- struction of elephants — Bait for wild-fowl — Arts and manufactures — Forms of gi-eeting — Position of the women — An African pastime — Musical taste — Professional jesters and minstrels — Praying-machine — Auguries — Mourning for the dead — Disposal of the dead — Genea- logical table of Niam-niam princes ,. • Page 1 CHAPTEE XIV. Mohammed's friendship for Munza — Invitation to an audience — Solemn escort to the royal halls — Waiting for the king — Architecture of the halls — Grand display of ornamental weapons — Fantastic attire of the sovereign — Features and expression — Stolid composure — Oflerinc gifts — Toilette of Munza's wives — The king's mode of smoking — Use of the cola-nut — Musical performances — Court fool — Court eunuch — Munza's oration — Monbuttoo hymn — Munza's gratitude — A present of a bouse — Curiosity of natives — Skull-market — Niam-niam envoys — Fair complexion of natives — Visit from Munza's wives — Triumphal procession — A bath under surveillance — Discovery of the sword-bean — Munza's castle and private apartments — Eeserve on geographical sub- jects — Non-existence of Piaggia's lake — My dog exchanged for a pygmy — Goats of the Momvoo — Extract of meat — Khartoomers' stations in Monbuttoo country — Mohammed's plan for proceeding south- wards — Temptation to penetrate farther towards interior — Money and good fortune — Great festival — Cajsar dances — Munza's visits — The Guinea-hog — My washing-tub 37 yir\oo/rQ CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. The MoNBUTTOo — Previous accounts of the Monbuttoo — Population — Surroundins nations — Neglect of -agriculture — Products of the soil — Produce of the chase — Forms of greeting — Preparation of food — Uni- versal cannibalism — National pride and warlike spirit — Power of the sovereign — His habits — The royal household — Advanced culture of tlic Monbuttoo — Peculiarities of race — Fair hair and complexion — Analogy to the Fulbe — Preparation of bark — Nudity of the women — Painting of the body -^ Coiffure of men and women — Mutilation not practised — Equipment of warriors — Manipulation of iron — Early knowledge of copper — Probable knowledge of platinum — Tools — Wood-carving — Stools and benches — Symmetry of water-bottles — Large halls — Love of ornamental trees — Conception of Supreme Being Page 80 CHAPTER XVI. The Pygmies — Nubian stories — Ancient classical allusions — Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle — My introduction to Pygmies — Adimokoo the Akka — Close questioning — War-dance — Visits from many Akka — Mummery's Pygmy corps — My adopted Pygmy — Nsewue's life and death — Dwarf races of Africa — Accounts of previous authors : Battel, Dapper, Kolie — Analogy of Akka with Bushmen — Height and com- plexion — Hair and beards — Shape of the body — Awkward gait — Graceful hands— Form of skull — Size of eyes and ears — Lips — Gesticulations — Dialect inarticulate — Dexterity and cunning — Mun- za's protection of the race 122 CHAPTER XVII. Return to the North — Tikkitikki's reluctance to start — Passage of the Gadda — Sounding the Keebaly — The riVer Kahpily — Cataracts of the Keebaly — Kubby's refusal of boats — Our impatience — Crowds of hippopotamuses — Possibility of fording the river — Origin and con- nection of the Keebaly — Division of highland and lowland — Geo- graphical expressions of Arabs and Nubians — Mohammedan perversions — Return to Nembey — Bivouac in the border-wilderness — Eating wax — The Niam-niam declare war — Pariey with the enemy — My mistrust of the guides — Treacherous attack on Mohammed — M(>- hammed's dangerous wound — Open war — Detruncated heads — Effect CONTENTS. V of arrows — Mohammed's defiance — Attack on the abattis — Pursuit of the enemy — Inexplicable appearance of 10,000 men — Waudo's unpro- pitious omen — My Niam-niam and their oracle — Mohammed's speedy cure — Solar phenomenon — Dogs barbarously speared — Women cap- tured — Niam-niam affection for their wives — Calamus — Upper course of the Mbrwole — Fresh captive — Her composure — Alteration in scenery — Arrival at the Nabambisso Page 147 CHAPTEE XVIII. Solitary days and short provisions — Productive ant-hill — Ideal plenty and actual necessity — Attempt at epicurism — Expedition to the east — Papyrus swamp — Disgusting food of the Niam-niam — Merdyan's Seriba — Hyaiua as beast of prey — Losing the way — Reception in Tuhamy's Seriba — Scenery of Mondoo — Gyabir's marriage — Dis- covery of the source of the Dyoor — iMount Baginze — Vegetation of mountain — Cyanite gneiss — Mohammed's campaign against Mbeeoh — Three Bongo missing — Skulls Nos. 36, 37, and 38 — Indifference of Nubians to cannibalism — Horrible scene — Change in mode of living — Invasion of ants — Peculiar method of crossing the Sway — Bad tidings — Successful chase — Extract of meat — Return of long absent friends — Adventures of Mohammed's detachment — Route from Rikkete to Kanna — Disappointment with Niam-niam dog — Limited authority of Nganye — Suspension-bridge over the Tondy 194 CHAPTER XIX. Division of the caravan — Trip to the east — African elk — Bamboo-forests — Seriba Mbomo on the Lehssy — Abundance of corn — Route between Kuddoo and Mbomo — Maize-culture — Harness-bushbock — Leopard carried in triumph — Leopards and panthers — The Babuckur — Lips of the Babuckur women — Surprised by buffaloes — Accident in crossing the Lehssy — Tracts of wilderness — Buffaloes in the bush — The Mashirr hills — Tamarinds again — Wild dates — Tikkitikki and the cows — The Viceroy's scheme — Hunger on the march — Passage of the Tondy — Suggestion for a ferry — Prosperity of Ghattas's establishments — Arrival of expected stores — A dream realised — Trip to Kurkur — Hysena dogs — Dislike of the Nubians to pure water — Two soldiers killed by Dinka — Attempt to rear an elephant — My menagerie — Accident from an arrow — Cattle plagues — Meteorology — Trip to the Dyoor — Gyabir's delusion — Bad news of Mohammed — Preparations for a second Niam-niam journey 246 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XX. A disastrous day — Failure to rescue my effects — Burnt Seriba by night — Comfortless bed — A wintry aspect — Rebuilding the Seriba — Cause of the fire — Idrees's apathy — An exceptionally wet day — Bad news of Niam-niam expedition — Measuring distance by footsteps — Start to the Dyoor — Khalil's kind reception — A restricted wardrobe — Tem- perature at its minimum — Corn requisitions of Egyptian troops — Slave trade carried on by soldiers — Suggestions for improved transport — Chinese hand-baiTows — Defeat of Khartoomers by Ndoruma — Nu- bians' fear of bullets — A lion shot — Nocturnal disturbance — Mea- surements of the river Dyoor — Hippopotamus hunt — Habits of hippo- potamus — Hippopotamus fat — Nile whips — Recovery of a manuscript — Character of the Nubians — Nubian superstitions — Strife in the Egyptian camp Page 289 CHAPTEE XXI. Fresh wanderings — Dyoor reYnedy for wounds — Crocodiles in the Ghetty — Former residence of Miss Tinne — Dirt and disorder — The Baggara- Rizegat — An enraged fanatic — The Pongo — Frontiers of the Bongo and Golo — A buffalo-calf shot — Idrees Wod Defter's Seriba — Golo dialect — Corn magazines of the Golo — The Kooroo — The goats' brook — Increasing level of land — Seebehr's Seriba Dehm Nduggoo — Discontent of the Turks — Visit to an invalid — Ibrahim Effendi — Establishment of the Dehms — Nubians rivals to the slave-deaiers — Population of Dar Ferteet — The Kredy — Overland route to Kordofan — Shekka — Copper mines of Darfoor — Raw copper 332 CHAPTEE XXII. Underwood of Cycade^e — Peculiar mills of the Kredy — Wanderings in the wilderness — Crossing the Beery — Inhospitable reception at Man- goor — Numerous brooks — Huge emporium of slave-trade — Highest point of my travels — Western limit — Gallery- woods near Dehm Gudyoo — Scorbutic attack — Dreams and their fulfilment — Courtesy of Yumma — Remnants of ancient mountain ridges — Upper course of the Pongo — Information about the far west — Great river of Dar Aboo Dinga — Barth's investigations — Primogeniture of the Bahr-el-Arab — First giving of the weather — Elephant-hunters from Darfoor — The Sehre — Wild game around Dehm Adlan — Cultivated plants of the Sehre — Magic tuber — Deficiency of water — A night without a roof — Irrepressible good spirits of the Sehre — Lower level of the land — CONTENTS. vii A miniature mountain-rauge — Norway rats — Gigantic fig-tree in Moody — The " evil -eye " — Little steppe-burniug — Eeturn to Khalil's quarters 373 CHAPTEE XXIII. Katherine II.'s villages — Goods bartered by slave-traders — Agents of slave-traders — Baseness of Fakis — Horrible scene — Enthusiasm of slave-dealers — Hospitality shown to slave-dealers — Three classes of Gellahbas — Intercourse with Mofio — Price of slaves — Eelative value of races — Private slaves of the Nubians — Voluntary slaves — Slave- women — The murhaga — Agricultural slave-labour — Population of the district — Five sources of the slave-trade — Eepressive measures of the Government — Slave-raids of Mehemet Ali — Slow progress of humanity — Accomplishment of half the work — Egypt's mission — No co-operation from Islamism — Picgeneration of the East — Depopu- lation of Africa — Indignation of the traveller — Means for suppressing the slave-trade — Commissioners of slaves — Chinese immigration — Foundation and protection of great States Page 410 CHAPTEE XXIV. Tidings of war — Two months' hunting — Yolo antelopes — Eeed-rats — Habits of the Aulacodus — Eiver-oysters — Soliman's arrival — Ad- vancing season — Execution of a rebel — Eeturn to Ghattas's Seriba — Disgusting population — Allagabo — Alarm of fire — Strange evolutions of hartebeests — Nubian cattle-raids — Traitors among the natives — Eemains of Shol's huts — Lepers and slaves — Ambiguous slave-trading — Down the Gazelle — The Bal^eniceps again — Dying hippopotamus — Invocation of saints — Disturbance at night — False alarm — Taken in tow — The Mudir's camp — Crowded boats — Confiscation of slaves — Surprise in Fashoda — Slave-caravans on the bank — Arrival in Khartoom — Telegram to Berlin — Seizure of my servants — Eemon- strance with the Pasha — Mortality in the fever season — Tikkitikki's death — GdXarra, daXarra 443 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. (ENGRAVED BY J. D. COOPER.) King Munza in full dress Remarkable head-dress of the Niam-niam .. Knives, scimitars, trum bashes, and shield of the Niam-niam Niara-uiam warrior Niam-niam warriors Clay pipes of the Niam-niam . . Niam-niam dog Niam-niam granary Bamogee : or hut for the boys Niam-niam handicraft Munza's residence Breed of cattle from the IMaoggoo country . . Goat of the Momvoo .. King Munza dancing before his wives King Munza's dish Monbuttoo warriors Monbuttoo woman Weapons of the Monbuttoo .. Spear-heads Hatchet, spade, and adze, of the Monbuttoo Wooden kettle-drum .. Single seat used by the women Seat-rest Water-bottles .. Bongo Woman. Dinka Woman Bomby the Akka Nsewue the Akka Dinka pipe View on the Keebaly, near Kubby . . Frontispiece 10 11 to face 12 14 15 . 20 .. 21 .. 26 to face 63 .. 64 .. 69 to face 74 .. 79 .. 103 .. 105 .. 107 .. Ill .. 112 .. 113 .. 114 .. 115 .. 116 .. 121 .. 130 .. 134 .. 146 to face 158 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. A pvllciy-t'firost Miiluiinmiil (Ufies liis enemies ( >ur (liiily life in camp.. Suspension-bridge over the Tondy Horns of Central African Eland Golo woman Corn-magazine of the Golo Krcdy hut Interior of Kredy liut . . " Knrra," the magic tuber A liongo concert Slave-traders from Kordofan liabuckur slave . . Slave at work . . Hunting reed-rats Far-cl-boos. (Aulacodus Swinderianm) Bongo village, near Geer PACK to face 166 to face 111 to face 194 to face 244 249 350 352 375 376 399 404 to face 410 420 424 447 449 to face 461 1i rontilaJr Eji»i of G u jii i ct SO lUjiTer ,\. bn-rJier.t. .\>>r ii'J*- LithT.CKorb»eweit. Berlin. THE HEART OF AFRICA. CHAPTER XIII. The NiAM-yiAM. Signification of the name. General characteristics. Distinct nationality. Complexion and tattooing. Time spent on hair- dressing. Frisure a la gloire. Favourite adornments. Weapons. Soldierly bearing. A nation of hunters. Women agriculturists. The best beer in Africa. Cultivated plants. Domestic animals. Dogs. Preparation of maize. Cannibalism. Analogy with the Fans of the West Coast. Architecture. Power of the princes. Their households. Events during war. Immunity of the white man. Wanton destruction of elephants. Bait for wild-fowl. Arts and manufactures. Forms of greeting. Position of the women. An African pastime. Musical taste. Professional jesters and minstrels. Pray- ing machine. Auguries. Mourning for the dead. Disposal of the dead. Genealogical table of Niam-niam princes. Long before Mehemet Ali, by despatching his expeditions up the White Nile, had made any important advance into the interior of the unknown continent — before even a single sailing vessel had ever penetrated the grass-barriers of the G-azelle — at a time when European travellers had never ventured to pass the frontiers of that portion of Central Africa which is subject to Islamism — whilst the heathen negro countries of the Soudan were only beginning to dawn like remote nebulae on the undefined horizon of our geo- graphical knowledge — tradition had already been circulated about the existence of a people with whose name the Mo- hammedans of the Soudan were accustomed to associate all the savagery which could be conjured up by a fertile imagination. The comparison might be suggested that just as 2 THE HEART OF AFRICA. at the present day, in civilised Europe, questions concerning the descent of men from apes form a subject of ordinary con- versation, so at that time in the Soudan did the Niam-niam (under tlie supposition that they were graced with tails) serve as common ground for all ideas that pertained to the origin of man. This people, whose existence was evoked from the mysterif us hordes of witches and goblins, might have va- nished amidst the dim obscurity of the primeval forests if it had not been that Alexandre Dumas, in his tale of ' I'Hoinme Ti Queue,' so rich in its charming simplicity, had, exactly at the right moment, raised a small memorial which contributed to its preservation. To lift in a measure the veil which had enveloped the Niam-niam with this legendary and magic mystery fell to the lot of my predecessor Piaggia, that straightforward and intrepid Italicm who, animated by the desire of opening up some reliable insight into their real habits, had resided alone for a wliole year amongst them.* I reckon it my own good fortune that I was so soon to follow him into the very midst of this cannibal population. It was indeed a period of transition from the age of tradition to that of positive knowledge, but I have no hesitation in asserting that these Niam-niam, apart from some specialities which will always appertain to the human race so long as it hangs unconsciously upon the breast of its great mother Nature, are men of like passions with ourselves, equally subject to the same sentiments of grief and joy. I have interchanged with them many a jest, and I have participated in their child-like sports, enlivened by the animating beating of their war-drums or by the simple strains of their man- dolins. * In the ' BoUetino della Soc. Geogr. Italiana,' 1868, pp. 91-168, the Marquis 0. Antinori ha?, from the verbal communications of the traveller himself, most fi.Dscientiously collected Piaggia's experiences and observations in the country of the Niam-niam during his residence. APPELLATIONS OF THE NIAM-NIAM. 3 The name Niam-niam * is borrowed from the dialect of the Dinka, and means " eaters," or rather " great eaters," mani- festly betokening a reference to the cannibal propensities of the people. This designation has been so universally incor- porated into the Ai'abic of the Soudan, that it seems unad- visable to substitute for it the word " Zandey," the name by which the people are known amongst themselves. Since among the Mohammedans of the Soudan the term Niam- niam (plur. Niamah-niam) is principally associated with the idea of cannibalism, the same designation is sometimes applied by them to other nations who have nothing in common with the true Niam-niam, or " Zandey," except the one characteristic of a predilection for eating human flesh. The neighbouring nations have a variety of appellations to denote them. The Bongo on the north sometimes call them Mundo, and sometimes Manyanya ; in the country behind these are the Dyoor, wlio uniformly speak of them as the 0-]\radyaka ; the tribe of the Mittoo on the east give them the name of the Makkarakka, or Kakkarakka; the Golo style them Kunda ; whilst among the Monbuttoo they are known as Babungera. The greater part of the Niam-niam country lies between the fourth and sixth parallels of north latitude, and a line drawn across the centre from east to west would correspond with the watershed between the basins of the Nile and Tsad, My own travels were confined exclusively to the eastern portion of the country, which, as far as I could understand, is bounded in that direction by the upper course of the Tondy ; but in that district alone I became acquainted with as many as thirty-five independent chieftains who rule over the portion of Niam-niam territory that is traversed by the trading companies from Khartoom. Of the extent of the country towards the west I was unabk- * It should again be mentioned that the word Niam-niam is a dissyllable, and l.as the Italian pronunciation of Gnam-gnam 4 THE HEART OF AFRICA. to gain any definite information; but as far as the land is known to the Nubians it would appear to cover between five and six degrees of longitude, and must embrace an area ol about 48,000 square miles. The population of the known regions is at least two millions, an estimate based upon the number of armed men at the disposal of the chieftains through whose territory I travelled, and upon the corre- sponding reports of the fighting force in the western districts No traveller could possibly find himself for the first time surrounded by a group of true Niam-niam without being almost forced to confess that all he had hitherto witnessed amongst the various races of Africa was comparatively tame and uninteresting, so remarkable is the aspect of this savage people. No one, after observing the promiscuous inter- mingling of races which (in singular contrast to the unifor- mity of the soil) prevails throughout the entire district of the Gazelle, could fail to be struck by the pronounced characteristics of the Niam-niam, which make them capable of being identified at the first glance amidst the whole series of African races. As a proof of this, I may introduce a case in point. I was engaged one day in taking the measure- ments of a troop of Bongo bearers, when at once I detected that the leader of the band had all the characteristics of the Niam-niam type. I asked him how it happened that he was a " nyare," i.e., a local overseer, among the Bongo, when the mere shape of his head declared him, beyond a doubt, to be a Niam-niam. To the amazement of all who were present he replied that he was born of Niam-niam parents, but that it had been his fate when a child to be conveyed into the country of the Bongo. This is an example which serves to demonstrate how striking are the distinctions which enable an observer to carry out the diagnosis of a negro with such certainty, and to arrive at conclusions which ordinarily could only be conjectured by noticing his apparel or some external and accidental adornments. APPEARANCE OF THE NIAM-NIAM. 5 I propose in the present chapter to give a brief summary of the characteristics of this Niam-niam people, and shall hope so to explain the general features of their physiological and osteological aspect, and so to describe the details of their costume and ornaments, that I may not fail in my desire tc» convey a tolerably correct imj^ression of this most striking race. The round broad heads of the Niam-niam, of which the proportions may be ranked among the lowest rank of brachy- cephaly, are covered with the thick frizzly hair of what are termed the true negroes; this is of an extraordinary length, and arranged in long plaits and tufts flowing over the . shoulders and sometimes falling as low as the waist. The eyes, almond-shaped and somewhat sloping, are shaded with thick, sharply-defined brows, and are of remarkable size and fulness; the wide space between them testifies to the unusual width of the skull, and contributes a mingled expression of animal ferocity, warlike resolution, and inge- nuous candour. A flat square nose, a mouth of about the same width as the nose, with very thick lips, a round chin, and full plump cheeks, complete the countenance, which may be described as circular in its general contour. The body of the Niam-niam is ordinarily inclined to be fat, but it does not commonly exhibit much muscular strength. The average height does not exceed that of Europeans, a stature of 5 feet 10^ inches being the tallest that I measured. The upper part of the figure is long in proportion to the legs, and this peculiarity gives a strange character to their movements, although it do^s, not impede their agility in their war dances. The skin in colour is in no way remarkable. Like that of the Bongo, it may be compared to the dull liue of a cake of chocolate. Among the women, detached instances may be found of various shades of a copper-coloured complexion, but the ground-tint is always the same — an earthy red, in contrast to the bronze tint of the true Ethiopian (Kushitic) Vol. II.— 2 C THE HEART OF AFRICA. races of Nubia. As marks of nationality, all the "Zandey " score themselves with three or four tattooed squares filled up with dots ; they place these indiscriminately upon the forehead, the temples, or the cheeks. They have, moreover, a figure like the letter X under the breasts; and in some exceptional cases they tattoo the bosom and upper parts of the arm with a variety of patterns, either stripes, or dotted lines, or zigzags. No mutilation of the body is practised by either sex, but this remark must be subject to the one ex- ception that they fall in with the custom, common to the whole of Central Africa, of filing the incisor teeth to a point, for the purpose of effectually griping the arm of an adver- sary either in wrestling or in single combat. On rare occasions, a piece of material made from the bark of the Urostigma is worn as clothing ; but, as a general rule, the entire costume is composed of skins, which are fastened to a girdle and form a picturesque drapery about the loins. The finest and most variegated skins are chosen for this pur- pose, those of the genet and colobus being held in the highest estimation ; the long black tail of the quereza monkey (Colobus) i-s also fastened to the dress. Only chieftains and members of royal blood have the privilege of covering the head with a skin, that of the serval being most generally designated for this honour. In crossing the dewy steppes in the early morning during the rainy season, the men are accustomed to wear a large antelope hide, which is fastened round the neck, and, falling to the knees, effectually protects the body from the cold moisture of the long grass. A covering, which always struck me as very graceful, was formed from the skin of the harness bush-bock (^4. scri^ta), of which the dazzling white stripes on a yellowish ground never fail to be very effective. The sons of chieftains wear their dress looped up on one side, so that one leg is left entirely bare. The men take an amount of trouble in arranging their hair which is almost incredible, whilst nothing could be more HEAD-DEESS OF THE NIAM-NIAM. 7 simple and unpretending than the ordinary head-gear of the women. It woukl, indeed, be a matter of some difficulty to discover any kind of plaits, tufts, or top-knots whicli has not already been tried by the Niam-niam men. The hair is usually parted right down the middle ; towards the forehead it branches off, so as to leave a kind of triangle ; from the fork which is thus formed a tuft is raised, and carried back to be fastened behind ; on eitlier side of this tuft the hair is Remarkable head-dress of the Niam-niam. arranged in rolls, like the ridges and crevices of a melon. Over the temples separate rolls are gathered up into knots, from which hang more tufts, twisted like cord, that fall in bunches all round the neck, three or four of the longest tresses being allowed to go free over the breast and shoulders. The women dress their hair in a simpler but somewhat similar manner, omitting the long plaits and tufts. The most peculiar head-gear that I saw was upon some men who 8 THE HEART OF AFRICA. came from the territory of Keefa, and of this a representa- tion is given in the accompanying portrait. These people reminded me very much of the description given by Living- stone of the Balonda, that people of Londa, on the Zambesi, which he came across during his first journey. The head is encircled by a series of rays like the glory which adorns the likeness of a saint. This circle is composed entirely of the man's own hair, single tresses being taken from all parts of the head and stretched tightly over a hoop, which is orna- mented with cowries. The hoop is fastened to the lower rim of a straw hat by means of four wires, which are drawn out before the men lie down to sleep, when the whole arrangement admits of being folded back. This ela- borate coiffure demands great attention, and much time must be devoted to it every day. It is only thp men who wear any covering at all upon their head : they use a cyhndrical hat without any brim, square at the top and always ornamented with a waving plume of feathers ; the hat is fastened on by large hair-pins, made either of iron, copper, or ivory, and tipped with crescents, tridents, knobs, and various other devices. A very favourite decoration is formed out of the incisor teeth of a dog strung together under the hair, and hanging along the forehead like a fringe. The teeth of different rodentia likewise are arranged as ornaments that resemble strings of coral. Another ornament, far from uncommon, is cut out of ivory in imitation of lions' teeth, and arranged in a radial fashion all over the breast, the effect of the white substance in contrast with the dark skin being very striking. Altogether the decoration may be considered as imposing as the pointed collar of the days of chivalry, and is quite in character with the warlike nation who find their pastime in hunting. Glass beads are held in far less estimation by the Niam-niam than by the neighbouring races; and only that lazuli blue sort which I have men- TRUMBASHES. 9 tioned as known iu the Khartoom market by the name of "mandyoor" finds any favour at all amongst them. Cowries are often used to trim the girdles as well as the head-gear. The principal weapons of the Niam-niam are their lances and their trumbashes. The word "trumbash," whicli has been incorporated into the Arabic of the Soudan, is the term employed in Sennaar to denote generally all the varieties of missiles that are used by the negro races ; it should, however, properly be applied solely to that sharp flat projectile of wood, a kind of boomerang, which is used for killing birds or hares, or auy small game : when the weapon is made of iron, it is called " kulbeda." The truni- bash of the Niam-niam * consists ordinarily of several limbs of iron, with pointed prongs and sharp edges. Iron missiles very similar in their shape are found among the tribes of the Tsad basin; and a weapon constructed on the same principle, the "changer manger," is in use among the Marghy and the Musgoo. The trumbashes are always attached to the inside of the shields, which are woven from the Spanish reed, and are of a long oval form, covering two-thirds of the body; they are ornamented with black and white crosses or other devices, and are so light that they do not in the least impede the combatants in their wild leaps. An expert Niam-niam, by jumping up for a moment, can protect his feet from the flying missiles of his adversary. Bows and arrows, which, as handled by the Bongo, give them a certain advantage, are not in common use among the Niam-niam, who possess a peculiar weapon of attack in their singular knives, that have blades like sickles. The Monbuttoo, who are far more skilful smiths than the Niam- niam, supply them with most of these weapons, receiving * The accompanying illustration (page 10) gives examples of five difl'erent forms of trumbash. 10 THE HEART OF AFRICA. iu return a heavy kind of lance, that is adapted for the elephant and buffalo chase. Knivps, pcimitnrs, trumbashes. and shield of the Xiam-niam. (The shield is represented in three different positions.) NIAM-NIAM WARRIOE. 11 Such are the details with which I present the reader with my portrait of the Niam-niam in his full accoutrement of war. With his lance in one hand, his woven shield and trumbash in the other — with his scimitar in his girdle, and his loins encircled by a skin, to which are attached the tails of several animals — adorned on his breast and on his fore- head by strings of teeth, the trophies of war or of the chase— his long hair floating freely over his neck and slioulders — his large keen eyes gleaming from beneath his in THE HEAKT OF AFllICA. heavy brow— liis white and pointed teeth shining -from between his parted lips — he advances with a firm and defiant bearing, so that tlie stranger as he gazes upon him may- well behold, in this true son of the African wilderness, every attribute of the wildest savagery that may be con- jured up by the boldest flight of fancy. It is therefore by no means difficult to account for the deep impression made by the Niam-niam on the fantastic imagination of the Soudan Arabs. I have seen the wild Bishareen and other Bedouins of the Nubian deserts; I have gazed with admi- ration upon the stately war-dress of the Abyssinians; I have been riveted with surprise at the supple forms of the mounted Baggara : but nowhere, in any part of Africa, have I ever come across a people that in every attitude and every motion exhibited so thorough a mastery over all the circum- stances of war or of the chase as these Niam-niam. Other nations in comparison seemed to me to fall short in the perfect ease — I might almost say, in the dramatic grace — that characterised their every movement. In describing this people, it is hard to determine how far they ought to be designated as a nation of hunters, or one of agriculturists, the two occupations apparently being equally distributed between the two sexes. The men most studiously devote themselves to their hunting, and leave the culture of the soil to be carried on exclusively by the women. Occasionally, indeed, the men may bring home a supply of fruits, tubers and funguses from their excursions through the forests, but practically they do nothing for the support, of their families beyond providing them with game. The agriculture of the Niam-niam, in contrast with that of the Bongo, involves but a small outlay of labour. The more limited area of the arable land, the larger number of inhabitants that are settled on every square mile, the greater productiveness of the soil, of which in some districts the exuberance is unsurpassed — all combine to make the ELEUSINE BEER. 13 cultivation of the country supremely easy. The entire land is pre-eminently rich in many spontaneous products, animal and vegetable alike, that conduce to the direct maintenance of human life. The Eleusine coracana (the " raggi " of the East Indies), a cereal which I had found only scantily propagated among the people that I have hitherto described, is here the staple of cultivation ; sorghum in most districts is quite unknown, and maize is only grown in inconsiderable quantities. Here, as in Abyssinia (where its product is called tocusso), eleusine affords a material for a very palatable beer.* In the Mohammedan Soudan the inhabitants, from cold fer- mented sorghum-dough, extract the well-known merissa ; and by first warming the dough, and exercising more care and patience in the process, is made the bilbil of the Takareer ; neither of these beverages, however, to our palate would be much superior to sour pap : even the booza of Egypt, made though it is from wheat, is hardly in any respect superior in quality. But the drink which by tlie Niam-niam is prepared from their eleusine is really capable, from the skill with which it is manipulated, of laying a fair claim to be known as heer. It is quite bright ; it is of a reddish-pale brown colour, and it is regularly brewed from the malted grain, without the addition of any extraneous ingredient; it has a pleasant, bitter flavour, derived from the dark husks, which,, if they were mixed in their natural condition with the dough, would impart a twang that would be exceedingly unpalatable. How large is the pro- portion of beer consumed by the Niam-niam may be estimated by simply observing the ordinary way in which they store their corn. As a regular rule, there are three granaries allotted to each dwelling, of which two are made * The brewing of beer from malted eleusine is practised in many of the heathen negro countries; and in South Africa the Makalaka, a branch of the great Bantoo race, are said to devote a considerable attention to it. 14 THE HEART OF AFRICA. to suffice for the supply which is to contribute the meal necessary for the household; the other is entirely devoted to the grain that has been malted. Manioc, sweet potatoes, yams, and colocasiae are cultivated with little trouble, and rarely fail to yield excellent crops. Plantains are only occasionally seen in the east, and from the districts in which I travelled, I should judge that they are not a main support of life at any latitude higher than 4° N. Sugar-canes and oil-palms entirely failed in this part of the land, but I was informed that they were as plentiful in Keefa's territory as they are among the IMon- buttoo. Clay pipes of the Niam-niani. All the Niam-niam are tobacco-smokers. Their name for the Nicotiana tahacum is " gundey," and they are the only people of the Bahr-el-Ghazal district that have a special designation for the plant. The other sort, N. rustica, wliich, on the contrary, has a local appellation in nearly every dialect of the neighbouring nations (apparently denoting NTAM-NIAM DOGS. 15 that the plant is indigenous to Central Africa) is utterly unknown throughout the country. The people smoke from clay pipes of peculiar form, consisting of elongated bowls without stems. Like other negro races that remain un- tainted by Islamisra, they abstain from ever chewing the tobacco. Niam-niam Dog. In broad terms, it may be stated that no cattle at all exists in the land ; the only domestic animals are poultry and dogs. The dogs belong to a small breed resembling the wolf- dog, but with short sleek hair ; they have ears that are large and always erect, and a short curly tail like that of a young pig. They are usually of a bright yellowish tan colour, and very often have a white stripe upon the neck ; their lanky 16 THE HEART OF AFRICA. muzzle projects somewhat abruptly from an arched fore- head ; their legs are short aud straight, thus demonstrating that tlie animals have nothing in common with the terrier breed depicted upon the walls of Egyptian temples, and of which the African origin has never been proved. Like dogs generally in the ISile district, they are deficient in the dew- claws of the hind-feet. They are made to wear little wooden bells round their necks, so that they should not be lost in the long steppe grass. After the pattern of their masters they are inclined to be corpulent, and this propensity is> encouraged as much as possible, dogs' flesh being esteemed one of the choicest delicacies of the Niam-niam. Cows and goats are familiar only by report, although it may happen occasionally that some are brought in as the result of raids that have been perpetrated upon the adjacent territories of the Babuckur and the Mittoo. ■ There would hardly seem to be any specific words in the language to denote either sheep, donkeys, horses, or camels, which, according to common conception, would all come very much under the category of fabulous animals. Although the Niam-niam have a few carefully-prepared dishes of which they partake, in a general way they exhibit as little nicety or choice in their diet as is shown by all the tribes (with the remarkable exception of the Dinka) of the Bahr-el-Ghazal district. The most palatable mess that I found amongst them was composed of the pulp of fresh maize, ground while the grain is still soft and milky, cleansed from the bran, and prepared carefully so that it was not burnt to the bottom of the pot. The mode of preparation is rather ingenious. A little water having been put over the fire till it is just beginning to boil, the raw meal, which has previously been rolled into small lumps, is very gently shaken in, and, having been allowed to simmer for a time, the whole is finally stirred up together. The acme, however, of all earthly enjoyments would seem EEPUTED CANNIBALISM. 17 to be meat. " Meat ! meat ! " is the watchword tliat resounds in all their campaigns. In certain places and at particular seasons the abundauce of game is very large, and it might readily be imagined that the one prevailing and permanent idea of this people would be how to chase and secure their booty ; but, as I have remarked before, there is no greater evidence of the real difference between the disposition of nations than that which is afforded by their general expression for food. As, for example, the Bongo verb " to eat " is " mony," which is their ordinary designation of sorghum, their corn ; so the Niam-uiam word is identical with " pushyoh," which is their common name for meed. Just as in his investigation of the animal and vegetable kingdoms the naturalist is attracted to the very lowest organizations because they contain the germs of the higher and more complicated, in the same degree does the interest of the traveller centre upon the simplest development of culture, because he knows that it is the embryo of the most advanced civilization. The accuracy of the report of the cannibalism which has uniformly been attributed to the Niam-niam by every nation which has had any knowledge at all of their existence, would be questioned by no one who 'had a fair opportunity of investigating the origin of my collection of skulls. To a general rule, of course, there may be exceptions here as elsewhere ; and I own that I have heard of other travellers to the Niam-niam lands who have visited the territories of Tombo and Bazimbey, lying to the west of my route, and who have returned without having witnessed any proof of the practice. Piaggia, moreover, resided for a considerable time in those very districts, and yet was only once a witness of anything of the kind ; and that, as he records, was upon the occasion of a campaign, when a slaughtered foe was devoured from actual bloodthirstiness and hatred. From my own knowledge, too, I can mention chiefs, like Wando, who 18 THE HEART OP AFRICA. vehemently repudiated tlie idea of eating human flesh, al- though their constant engagement in war furnished them with ample opportunity for gratifying their taste if they desired. But still, taking all things into account, as well what I heard as what I saw, I can have no hesitation in asserting that the Niam-niam are anthropophagi ; that they make no secret of their savage craving, but osten- tatiously string the teeth of their victims around their necks, adorning the stakes 'erected beside their dwellings for the exhibition of their trophies with the skulls of the men whom they have devoured. Human fat is universally sold. When eaten in considerable quantity, this fat is presumed to have an intoxicating effect ; but although I heard this stated as a fact by a number of the people, I never could discover the foundation upon which they based this strange belief. In times of war, people of all ages, it is reported, are eaten up, more especially the aged, as forming by their helpless- ness an easier prey to the rapacity of a conqueror ; or at any time should any lone and solitary individual die, un- cared for and unheeded by relatives, he would be sure to be devoured in the very district in which he lived. In short, all who witli ourselves would be consigned to the knife of the anatomist would here be disposed of by this melancholy destiny. I have already had occasion to mention how the Nubians asserted that they knew cases in which Bongo bearers who had died from fatigue had been dug out from the graves in which they had been buried, and, according to the state- ments of Niam-niam themselves — who did not disown their cannibalism — there were no bodies rejected as unfit for food except those which had died from some loathsome cutaneous disease. In opposition to all this, I feel bound to record that there are some Niam-niam who turn with such aversion from any consumption of human flesh that they would ANALOGY WITH THE FAN. 19 peremptorily refuse to eat out of the same dish with any one who was a cannibal. The Niam-niam may be said to be generally particular at their meals, and when several are drinking together they may each be observed to wipe the rim of the drinking vessel before passing it on, Of late years our knowledge of Central Africa has been in many ways enlarged, and various well-authenticated reports of the cannibalism of some of its inhabitants have been circulated ; but no explanation which can be offered for this unsolved problem of psychology (whether it be considered as a vestige of heathen worship, or whether it be regarded as a resource for supplying a deficiency of animal food) can mitigate the horror that thrills through us at every repe- tition of the account of the hideous and revolting custom. Among all the nations of Africa upon whom the imputation of this odious custom notoriously rests, the Fan, who dwell upon the equatorial coasts of the west, have the repute of being the greatest rivals of the Niam-niam. Eye-witnesses agree in affirming that the Fan barter their dead among themselves, and that cases have been known where corpses already buried have been disinterred in order that they might be deyoured. According to their own accounts, the Fan migrated from the north-east to the western coast. In various particulars they evidently have a strong affinity with the Niam-niam. Both nations have many points of resem- blance in dress and customs : alike they file their teeth to sharp points ; they dress themselves in a material made from bark, and stain their bodies with red wood ; the chiefs wear leopard skins as an emblem of their rank ; and all the people lavish the same elaborate care upon the arrangement of their tresses. The complexion of the Fan is of the same copper-brown as that of the Niam-niam, and they indulge in similar orgies and wild dances at the period of every full moon; they moreover pursue the same restless hunter life. They would appear to be the same of whom the old YOL. II. — 3 20 THE IIEAPtT OF AFPJCA. Portuguese writers have spoken under the name of " Yagas," and who are said, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, to have laid waste the kingdom of Loango. No regular towns or villages exist throughout the Niam- niam country. The huts, grouped into little hamlets, are scattered about the cultivated districts, which are separated from one another by large tracts of wilderness many miles in extent. The residence of a prince differs in no respect from that of ordinary subjects, except in the larger number of huts provided for himself and his wives. The hareem collectively is called a " bodi- moh." * The architecture of the eastern Niara-niam corre- sponds very nearly with what may be seen in many other parts of Central Africa. The conical roofs are higher and more pointed than those of the Bongo and Dinka, having a projection beyond the clay walls of the hut, which affords a good shelter from the rain. This projection is supported by posts, which give the whole building the semblance of being surrounded by a veran- dah. The huts that are used for cooking have roofs still more pointed than those which serve for sleeping. Other little huts, with bell-shaped roofs, erected in a goblet-shape upon a substructure of clay, and furnished with only one Niam-niam Gr.inary. -■' "Boilimob," in the Zandey dialect, has ako the miauinj; of ''papyrus. KEVENUE OF THE CHIEFTAINS. 21 small aperture, are called " bamogee," and are set apart, as being secure from the attacks of wild beasts, for sleeping- places of the boys, as soon as they are of an age to be separated from the adults. Every sovereign prince bears the title of " Bya," which is pronounced very- much like the French word hien. His power is limited to the calling to- gether of the men who are capable of bearing arms, to the execution in person of those condemned to death, and to determining whether there shall be peace or war. Except the ivory and the moiety of elephant's flesh, he enjoys no other revenue ; for his means of subsistence he depends upon his farms, which are worked either by his slaves or more generally by his numerous wives. Towards the west, where a flourishing slave-trade is driven to the cost of the oppressed inhabitants wlio are not true Zandey, a portion of the tribute is raised by a conscription of young girls and boys, a part of the purchase-money paid by the Darfoor traders to the chief being handed over to the parents who are thus robbed of their children. Although a Niam-niam chieftain disdains external pomp and repudiates any ostentatious display, his authority in one respect is quite supreme. Without his orders no one would for a moment entertain a thought either of opening war or concluding peace. The defiant imperious bearing of the chiefs alone constitutes their outward dignity, and there are Bamogee : or hut for the boys. . 22 THE HEART OF AFRICA. some who in majestic deportment and gesture might vie with any })otentate of the earth. The dread with which they inspire their subjects is incredible: it is said that for the l)Ui-pose of exhibiting their power over life and death they will occasionally feign fits of passion, and that, singling out a victim from the crowd, they will throw a rope about his neck, and with their own hands cut his throat with one stroke of their jagged scimitar. This species of African " Caesarism " vividly recalls the last days of Theodore, King of Abyssinia. The eldest son of a chief is considered to be the heir to his title and dignity, all the other sons being entrusted with the command of the fighting forces in separate districts, and generally being assigned a certain share of the hunting booty. At the death of a chief, however, the firstborn is frequently not acknowledged by all his brothers; some of them perchance will support him, whilst others will insist upon their right to become independent rulers in the districts where they have been acting as " behnky." Contentions of this character are continually giving rise to every kind of aggression and repeated deeds of violence.* Notwithstanding the general warlike spirit displayed by the Niam-niam, it is a very singular fact that the chieftains very rarely lead their own people into actual engagement, but are accustomed, in anxious suspense, to linger about the environs of the " mbanga," ready, in the event of tidings of defeat, to decamp with their wives and treasures into the most inaccessible swamps, or to betake themselves for con- cealment to the long grass of the steppes. In the heat of combat each discharge of lances is accompanied by the loudest and wildest of battle-cries, eveiy man as he hurls his * Of the thirty-five chieftains who rule over these 48.000 square miles of territory, comparatively few in any way merit the designation of king. The most powerful are Kanna and Mofio, whote donanions are in extent equal to iibout a dozen of the others. EMBLEMS OF WAR. 2?. weapon shouting aloud the name of his chief. In the inter- vals between successive attacks the combatants retire to a safe distance, and mounting any eminence that may present itself, or climbing to the summit of the hills of the white ants, which sometimes rise to a height of 12 or 15 feet, they proceed to assail their adversaries, for the hour together, in the most ludicrous manner, with every invective and every epithet of contempt and defiance they can command. During the few days that we were obliged to defend our- selves by an abattis against the attacks of the natives in Wando's southern territory, we had ample opportunity of hearing these accumulated opprobriums. We could hear them vow that the " Turks " should perish, and declare that not one of them should quit the country alive ; and then we recognised the repeated shout, "To tlie caldron with the Turks ! " rising to the eager climax, " Meat ! meat ! " It was emphatically announced that there was no intention to do any injury to the white man, because he was a stranger and a new-comer to the land ; but I need hardly say that, under the circumstances, I felt little inclination to throw myself upon their mercy. It is in a measure anticipating the order of events, but I may here allude to the remarkable symbolism by which war was declared against us on the frontiers of Wando's territory when we were upon our return journey. Close on the path, and in full view of every passenger, three objects were suspended from the branch of a tree, viz. an ear of maize, the feather of a fowl, and an arrow. The sight seemed to recall the defiant message sent to the great King of Persia, when he would penetrate to the heart of Scythia. Our guides readily comprehended, and as readily explained, the meaning of the emblems, which were designed to signifv that whoever touched an ear of maize or laid his grasp upon a single fowl would assuredly be the victim of the arrow. Without waiting, however, for any depredations on our part, 24 THE HEART OF AFKICA. the Niam-niam, with tlie basest treachery, attacked us on the following day. In hunting, the Niam-niam employ very much the same contrivances of traps, pits, and snares as the Bongo; but their haftues for securing the larger animals are conducted both more systematically and on a more extensive scale. In close proximity to each separate group of hamlets, and more frequently than not at the threshold of the abodes of the local chieftains known as the " borrumbanga," or " chief court," there is always a huge wooden kettledrum, made of a hollow stem mounted upon four feet. The sides of this are of unequal thickness, so that when the drum is struck it is capable of giving two perfectly distinct sounds. According to the mode or time in which these sounds are rendered, three different signals are denoted, the first being the signal for war, another that for hunting, and the third a summons to a festival. Sounded originally in the mbanga of the chief, these signals are in a few minutes repeated on the kettledrums of the "borrumbangas" of the district, and in an incredibly short space of time some thousands of men, armed if need be, are gathered together. Perhaps the most frequent occasions on which these assemblages are made ai'ise from some elephants having been seen in the adjacent country. As soon as the force is collected, the elephants are driven towards some tracts of dense grass that have been purposely spared from the steppe burning. Provided with firebrands, the crowd surrounds the spot; the conflagration soon extends on all sides, until the poor brutes, choked and scorched, fall a helpless prey to their destroyers, who despatch them with their lances. Since not only the males, with their large and valuable tusks, but the females also with the young, are included in this wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter, it may easily be imagined how year by year the noble animal is fast being exterminated. The' avarice of the chiefs, ever desirous of NIAM-NIAM HANDICRAFT. 25 copper, and the greediness of the people, ever anxious for flesh, make them all alike eager for the chase. I constantly saw the natives returning to their huts with a large bundle of what at first I imagined was firewood, but which in reality was their share of elepliant-meat, which after being cut into strips and dried over a fire had all the appearance of a log of wood. The thickets along the river-banks abound in many kinds of wild fowl, which the natives catch by means of snares. The most common are guinea-fowl and francolins, which are caught by a bait that is rather unusual in other places. Instead of scattering common corn in the neighbourhood of the traps, the people make use of fragments of a flesh v Stapelia. This little succulent grows on the dry parts of the steppe, and is frequently found about the white ant- hills; it is likewise naturalised in Arabia and Xubia, and in a raw condition is sometimes eaten as human food. Birds are very fond of it, and so approved is it as a bait that I not unfrequently found it growing beside tlie huts, where it was planted for this particular purpose. Tlie handicraft of the Niam-niam exhibits itself chiefly in ironwork, pottery, wood carving, domestic architecture, and basket-work ; of leather-dressing they know no more than others in this part of Central Africa. Their earthenware vessels may be described as of blameless symmetry. They make water-flasks of an enormous size, and manufacture pretty little drinking-cups. They lavish extraordinary care on the embellishment of their tobacco-pipes, but they have no idea of the method of giving their clay a proper con- sistency by washing out the particles of mica and by adding a small quantity of sand. From the soft wood of several of the Eubiacese they carve stools and benches, and produce great dishes and bowls, of wliicli the stems and pedestals are very diversified in pattern. I saw specimens of these wliieh were admirable works of ait, and the designs 26 THE HEART OF AFIHCA. 15. Niam-niam handicraft. 1. WoodPii signal drum. 2 and 3. Jlandolins. 4. Bedstead. 6. Iron bell. 6. Carved head for the neck of ] 9, 10, 11,12,13. Wooden dishes. a mandolin. 14. Mungala-board. 1. Carved signal-pipe. ! 15. Wooden stool. 8. Wooden doc;-bell. GREETINGS. 27 of which were so complicated that they must have cost the inventor considerable thought. As every Niam-niam soldier carries a lance, trumbash, and dagger, the manufacture of these weapons necessarily employs a large number of smiths, who vie with each other in producing the greatest variety of form. The dagger is worn in a sheath of skin attached to the girdle. The lance- tips differ from those of the Bongo in having a hastate shape, to use once more the botanical term which distinguishes the folia liastata from the folia lanceolata. Every weapon bears so decidedly the stamp of its nationality that its origin is discoverable at a glance. All the lances, knives, and dagger- blades are distinguished by blood-grooves, which are not to be observed upon the corresponding weapons of either the Bongo or Dyoor. Mutual greetings among the Niam-niam may be said to be almost stereotyped in phrase. Any one meeting another on the way would be sure to say " rnuiyette ;" but if they were indoors, they would salute each other by saying " mooke- note " or " mookenow." Their expression for farewell is " minahpatiroh ;" and when, under any suspicious circum- stances, they wish to give assurance of a friendly intention, they make use of the expression " badya, badya, muie " (friend, good friend, come hither). They always extend their right hands on meeting, and join them in such a way that the two middle fingers crack again ; and while they are shaking hands they nod at each other with a strange move- ment, which to our Western ideas looks like a gesture of repulse. The women, ever retiring in their habits, are not accustomed to be greeted on the road by any with whom they are not previously intimate. No wooing in this country is dependent, as elsewhere in Africa, upon a payment exacted from the suitor by the father of the intended bride. When a man resolves upon matrimony, the ordinary rule would be for him to apply to 28 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the reigning prince, or to tbe sub-chieftain, who would at once endeavour to procure him such a wife as might appear suitable. In spite of the prosaic and matter-of-fact pro- ceeding, and notwithstanding the unlimited polygamy which prevails throughout the land, the marriage-bond loses no- thing of the sacredness of its liabilities, and unfaithfulness ]s generally punished with immediate death. A family of children is reckoned as the best evidence and seal of con- jugal affection, and to be the mother of many children is always recognised as a claim to distinction and honour. It is one of the fine traits of this people that they exhibit a deep and consistent affection for their wives, and I shall have occasion in a future chapter to refer to some touching instances of this feature in their character. The festivities that are observed on the occasion of a marriage are on a verj' limited scale. There is a simple procession of the bride, who is conducted to the home of her future lord by the chieftain, accompanied by musicians, minstrels, and jesters.* A feast ensues, at which all partake in common, although, as a general rule, the women ai'e accustomed to eat alone in their own huts. The domestic duties of a housewife consist mainly in cultivating the home- stead, preparing the daily meals, painting her husband's body, and dressing his hair. In this genial climate children require comparatively little care or attention, infants being carried about everywhere in a kind of band or scarf. The Niam-niam have one recreation which is common to nearly the whole of Africa. A game, known by the Nubians as " mungala," is constantly played by all the people of the entire Gazelle districts, and although perhaps it is not known by the Monbuttoo, it is quite naturalised among all the negroes as far as the West Coast. It is sinsrular that this * Among the Kaffirs tlie ceremony of conducting a bride to her new home is observed with mucli formality. GAME OF MUNGALA. 29 pastime should be so familiar to the Mohammedan Nubians, who only within the last twenty years have had any inter- course at all with the negroes of the south ; but in all likeli- hood they received it in the same way as the guitar,* as a legacy from their original home in Central Africa. The Peulhs devote many successive hours to the amusement, which requires a considerable facility in ready reckoning ; they call it " wuri." The game is played likewise by the Foolahs, the Yolofs, and the Mandingo, on the Senegal. It is found again among the Kadje, between the Tsad and the Benwe. The recurrence of an object even trivial as this is an evidence, in its degree, indirect and collateral, of the essential unity that underlies all African nations. The " muugala " itself f is a long piece of wood, in which two parallel rows of holes are scooped out. Nubian boards have sixteen holes, the Niam-niam have eighteen. Each player has about two dozen stones, and the skill of the game consists in adroitly transferring the stones from one hole to another. In default of a board the game is frequently played upon the bare ground, in which little cavities are made for the purpose. Having thus detailed their warlike demeanour, their do- mestic industry, and their common pastime, I would not omit to mention that the Niam-niam are no strangers to enjoyments of a more refined and ideal character than battles and elephant-hunts. They have an instinctive love of art. Music rejoices their very soul. The harmonies they elicit from their favourite instrument, the mandolin, seem almost to thrill through the chords of their inmost nature. The pro- longed duration of some of their musical productions is very surprising. Piaggia, before me, has remarked that he be- lieved a Niam-niam would go on playing all day and all night, without thinking to leave off either to eat or to drink ; * Vide vol. i. chap. ix. t A mungala board iri represented in Fig. 14 of the plate illustrating Niam- niam handicraft. 30 THE HEART OF AFRICA. and although I am quite aware of the voracious propeu si- ties of the people, I am half-inclined to believe that Piaggia was right. One favourite instrument there is, which is something between a harp and a mandolin. It resembles the former in the vertical arrangement of its strings, whilst in common with the mandolin it has a sounding-board, a neck, and screws for tightening the strings. The sounding-board is constructed on strict acoustic principles. It has two aper- tures ; it is carved out of wood, and on the upper side is covered by a piece of skin ; the strings are tightly stretched by means of pegs, and are sometimes made of fine threads of bast, and sometimes of the wiry hairs from the tail . of the giraffe. The music is very monotonous, and it is very difficult to distinguish any actual melody in it. It invariably is an accompaniment to a moaning kind of re- citative, which is rendered with a decided nasal intonation. I have not mifrequently seen friends marching about arm-in- arm, wrapt in the mutual enjoyment of their performance, and beating time to every note by nodding their heads. There is a singular class of professional musicians, who make their appearance decked out in the most fantastic way with feathers, and covered with a promiscuous array of bits of wood and roots and all the pretentious emblems of magical art, the feet of earth-pigs, the shells of tortoises, the beaks of eagles, the claws of birds, and teeth in every variety. Whenever one of this fraternity presents himself, he at once begins to recite all the details of his travels and experiences in an emphatic recitative, and never forgets to conclude by an appeal to the liberality of his audience, and to remind them that he looks for a reward either of rings of copper or of beads. Under minor differences of aspect, these men may be found nearly everywhere in Africa. Baker and some other travellers have dignified them with the romantic name of " minne-singers," but the designation of " hashash " (buf- ZANDEY DIALECT. 31 foons) bestowed upon them by the Arabs of the Soudan would more fairly describe their true character. The Niam- uiam themselves exhibit the despicable light in which they regard them by calling them " nzangah," * which is the same term as that by which they designate those abandoned women who pollute Africa no less than every civilized country. The language of the Niam-niam (or, to speak more pro- perly, the Zandey dialect), as entirely as any of the dialects which prevail throughout the Bahr-el-Ghazal district, is an upshoot from the great root which is the original of every tongue in Africa north of the equator, and is especially allied to the Nubio-Lybian group. Although the pronunciation is upon the whole marked and distinct, there are still certain sounds which are subject to a considerable modification, even when uttered by the same individual. The nasal tone which is given to the open sounds of a and e as they rise from the throat fix a character upon tlie articulation that is quite distinct from that of the i-5ongo, and altogether the dialect is poorer in etymological construction, being deficient in any separate tenses for the verbs; it is, moreover, far less vocalised, and has a cumbrousness which arises from the preponderance of its consonants. The language is undoubtedly very wanting in expressions for abstract ideas. For the Divinity I found that many interpreters would employ the word " gumbah," which signi- fies "lightning," whilst, in contrast with this, other inter- preters would make use of the term " bongbottumu ;" but I imagine that this latter expression is only a kind of a peri- phrasis of the Mohammedan "rasool" (a prophet, or messenger of God), because "mbottumu" is their ordinary term by which they would designate any common messenger or envoy. * In Loango all exorcists and conjurors are called "gauga," an appella- tion which would nppear to have the same derivation as this Zaudey word •• nzangah." The " Griots " in Seuegambia are held in the same contempt as the Niam-niam minstrels. 32 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Although none of the natives of the Gazelle district may be credited with the faintest conception of true religion, tlie Niam-niam have an expression of their own for " prayer " as an act of worship, such as they see it practised by th«^ Mohammedans. This word is " borru." When, however, the expression is examined, it is found really to relate to the auf>-ury which it is the habit of the people to consult before they enter upon any important undertaking. The augury to which I have thus been led to refer is consulted in the following way. From the wood of the Sarcocephalus Bussegeri, which they call " damma," a little four-legged stool is made, like the benches used by the women. The upper surface of this is rendered perfectly smooth. A block of wood of the same kind is then cut, of which one end is also made quite smooth. After having wetted the top of the stool with a drop or two of water, they grasp the block and rub its smooth part backwards and forwards over the level surface with the same motion as if they were using a plane. If the wood should glide easily along, the conclusion is drawn that the undertaking in question will assuredly prosper ; but if, on the other hand, the motion is obstructed and the surfaces adhere together — if, according to the Niam-niam expression, a score of men could not give free, movement to the block — the warning is unmistakable that the adventure will prove a failure. Now, since they also use this term " borru " to describe .the prayers of the Mohammedans, there seems some reason- able evidence for supposing that they actually regard this rubbing as akin to a form of w^orship. As often as I asked any of the Niam-niam what they called prayers, they in- variably replied by referring to this practice and by making the gesture which I compare to working with a plane. This praying-macthine is concealed as carefully as may be from the eyes of the Mohammedans. It was, however, frequently resorted to during tlie subsequent brief period of warfare, NIAM-NIAM AUGURIES. 33 whea my own Niam-niam attendants diligently consulted the oracle, and, as the result was uniformly satisfactory, it contributed not a little to confirm their confidence in my reputation for good luck. There are other ordeals common to the Niam-niam with various negro nations, and which are considered as of equal or still greater importance. An oily fluid, concocted from a red wood called " bengye," is administered to a hen. If the bird dies, there will be misfortune in war ; if the bird sur- vives, there will be victory. Another mode of trying their fortune consists in seizing a cock, and ducking its head repeatedly under water until the creature is stiff and senseless. They then leave it to itself. If it should rally, they draw an omen that is favourable to their design; whilst if it should succumb, they look for an ad- verse issue. A Niam-niam could hardly be induced to go to war without first consulting the auguries, and his reliance upon their revelations is very complete. For instance, Wando, our inveterate antagonist, although he had succeeded in rousing two districts to open enmity against us, yet personally abstained from attacking our caravan, and that for no other reason than that his fowl had died after swallowing the " bengye " that had been administered. We awaited his threatened attack, and were full of surprise that he did not appear. Shortly afterwards, "we were informed that he had withdrawn in fear and trembling to an inaccessible retreat in the wilderness. Our relief was considerable. It might have fared very badly with us, as all our magazines were established on his route ; but, happily, he had gone, and the Niam-niam with whom we were brought in contact stoutly maintained that it was the death of his fowl alone which had deterred him from an assault and had rescued us from entire destruction. These au2;uries are consulted likewise in order to ascertain 34 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the guilt or innocence of any that are accused, and suspected witches are tried by the same ordeal. The same belief in evil spirits and goblins which prevails among the Bongo and other people of Central Africa is found here. Tlie forest is uniformly supposed to be the abode of the hostile agencies, and the rustling of the foliage is imagined to be their mysterious dialogue. Superstition, like natural religion, is a child of the soil, and germinating like the flowers of the field it unfolds its inmost secrets. Beneath the dull leaden skies of the distant North there are believed to be structures haunted by ghosts and spectres. Here the forest, with its tenantry of owls and bats, is held to be the abode of malignant spirits ; whilst betwixt both are the Oriental nations, who, without forests, and exposed to the full strength of a blazing sun, fear nothing so much as " the evil eye." Truly it may be averred that the development of superstition is dependent upon geographical position. In thus recapitulating the general characteristics of the Niam-niam, this chapter necessarily has exhibited some measure of repetition. I will proceed to conclude it, in the same manner as the record of the Bongo, by a few remarks upon the customs of this people with regard to their dead. Whenever a Niam-niam has lost any very near relative the first token of his bereavement is shown by his shaving his head. His elaborate coiffure — that which had been his pride and his delight, the labour of devoted conjugal hands — is all ruthlessly destroyed, the tufts, the braids, the tresses being scattered far and wide about the roads in the recesses of the wilderness. A corpse is ordinarily adorned, as if for a festival, with skins and feathers. It is usually dyed with red wood. Men of rank, aiter being attired with their common aprons, are interred either sitting on their benches, or are enclosed in a kind of coffin, which is made from a hollow tree. According to the prescriptions of the law of Islam, the NIAM-NIAM GRAVES. 35 earth is not thrown upon the corpse, which is placed in a cavity that has been partitioned off at the side of the grave. This is a practice mentioned before, and which is followed in many heathen parts of Africa. Like the Bongo, the Niam-niam bury their dead with a scrupulous regard to the points of the compass ; but it is remarkable that they reverse the rule, the men in their sepulture being deposited with their faces towards the east, the women towards the west. A grave is covered in with clay, which is thoroughly stamped down. Over the spot a hut is erected, in no respect differing externally from the huts of the living, and being equally perishable in its construction, it very soon either rots away through neglect or is destroyed in the annual conflagration of the steppe-burning. Vol. II.— 4 w THE HEART OF AFRICA. 8 y.?'^ ;:3 03 3 ^ e. ^_ s t» Ji.S !3 '"^ '^ ^ 1 m - &■ — >. =; § ^; -= ;:2 Sj ^ M fq CQ :^ ^^ o fi; fq p^ CHAPTER XIV. Mohammed's friendship for Munza. Invitation to an audience. Solemn escort to the royal halls. Waiting for the King. Architecture of the halls. Grand display of ornamental weapons. Fantastic attire of the sovereign. Features and expression. Stolid composure. Offering gifts. Toilette of Munza's -wives. The king's mode of smoking. Use of the cola-nut. Musical performances. Court fool. Court eunuch. Munza's oration. Monbuttoo hymn. Munza's gratitude. A present of a house. Curiosity of natives. Skull-market. Niam-niam envoys. Fair complexion of natives. Visit from Munza's wives. Triumphal procession. A bath under sur- veillance. Discovery of the sword-bean. Munza's castle and private apart- ments. Reserve on geographical subjects. Non-existence of Piaggia's lake. My dog exchanged for a pygmy. Goats of the Momvoo. Extract of meat. Khartoomers' stations in Monbuttoo country. Mohammed's plan for proceeding southwards. Temptation to penetrate farther towards interior. Money and good fortune. Great festival. Caisar dances. Munza's visits. The Guinea-hog. My washing-tub, MuNZA was impatiently awaiting the arrival of the Khar- toomers. His storehouses were piled to the full with ivory, the hunting booty of an entire year, which he was eager to exchange for the produce of the north or to see replaced by new supplies of the red ringing metal which should flow into his treasury. This was Mohammed's third visit to the country, and not only interested motives prompted the king to receive him warmly, but real attachment ; for the two had mutually pledged their friendship in their blood, and called each other by the name of brother. During his absence in Khartoom, Mohammed had entrusted the command of the expedition of the previous year to his brother Abd-el-fetah, a Mussulman of the purest water and a hypocritical fanatic, who had greatly offended y-A tf-^ #~ft *^ O 38 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the king by his arrogance and unsympathetic reserve. He considered himself defiled by contact with a " Kaffir," and would not allow a nigger to approach within ten steps of his person ; he refused to acknowledge either African king or prince, and always designated the ladies of the court as slaves. But Mohammed was entirely different. By all the natives he was known by his unassuming title of " Mbahly," i.e., the little one, and in all his dealings with them he was urbanity itself. He won every heart by adopting the national costume, and attired in his native rokko-coat and scarlet plume, he would sit for hours together over the brimming beer-flasks by the side of his royal confrere, recounting to him all the wonders of the world and twitting him with his cannibal propensities. No wonder then that Munza's daily question to Mohammed's people had been : " When will Mbahly come ?" and no wonder that, as we were preparing to cross the great river, his envoys had met us with a cordial greeting for his friend. Nor was the attachment all on Mnnza's side. Immediately on our arrival, Mohammed, leaving the organization of our encampment entirely to the discretion of his lieutenants, had gathered up his store of presents, and hastened to convey them to the king. The greater part of these offerings consisted of huge copper dishes, not destined, however, in this remote comer of the globe to be relegated to the kitchen, jjut to be employed for the far more dignified office of furnishing music for the royal halls. The interview was long, and our large encampment was complete and night was rapidly approaching before Mohammed returned to his quarters. He came accompanied by the triumphal strain of horns and kettle-drums, and attended by thousands of natives bearing the ample store of provisions which, at the king's commands, had been instantly forthcoming. He announced that I was invited to an audience of the king on the following morning, and that a state re- ception was to be prepared in honour of my visit. It need SUMMONS TO THE KING. 39 hardly be said that it was with feelings of wonder and curiosity that I lay down that night to rest. The 22nd of March, 1870, was the memorable date on which my introduction to the king occurred. Long before I was stirring, Mohammed had once more betaken himself to the royal quarters. On leaving my tent, my attention was immediately attracted to the opposite slopes, and a glance at the wide space between the king's palace and the houses of his retinue was suflScient to assure me that unusual animation prevailed. Crowds of swarthy negroes were surging to and fro ; others were hurrying along in groups, and ever and anon the wild tones of the kettle-drum could be heard even where I was standing. Munza was assembling his courtiers and inspecting his elephant-hunters, whilst from far and near streamed in the heads of households to open the ivory- mart with Mohammed, and to negotiate with him for the supply of his provisions. Somewhat impatiently I stood awaiting my summons to the king, but it was already noon before I was informed that all arrangements were complete, and that I was at liberty to start. Mohammed's black body-guard was sent to escort me, and his trumpeters had orders to usher me into the royal presence with a flourish of the Turkish reveille. For the occasion I had donned a solemn suit of black. I wore my unfamiliar cloth-coat, and laced up the heavy Alpine boots, that should give importance to the movements of my light figure ; watch and chain were left behind, that no metal ornament might be worn about my person. With all the solemnity I could 1 marched along ; three black squires bore my rifles and revolver, followed by a fourth with my inevitable cane-chair. Next in order, and in awestruck silence, came my Nubian servants, clad in festive garments of unspotted whiteness, and bearing in their hand the offerings that liad been so long and carefully reserved for his Monbuttoo majesty. 40 THE HEAET OF AFRICA. It took us half an hour to reach the royal residence. The path descended in a gentle slope to the wooded depression of the brook, then twisted itself for a time amid the thickets of the valley, and finally once more ascended, through extensive plantain-groves, to the open court that was bounded by a wide semicircle of motley dwellings. On arrival at the low parts of the valley we found the swampy jungle-path bestrewn with the stems of fresh-hewn trees and a bridge of the same thrown across the water itself. The king could hardly have been expected to suggest such peculiar attention of his own accord, but this provisionary arrangement for keeping my feet dry was made in compliance with a kindly hint from Mohammed, who, knowing the nature of my boots, and the time expended in taking them off and on, had thus thought- fully insured my ease and comfort; moreover, these boots were unique in the African world, and must be preserved from mud and moisture. Unfortunately all these arrange- ments tended to confirm the Monbuttoo in one or other of their infatuated convictions, either that my feet were like goats' hoofs, or, according to another version, that the firm leather covering was itself an integral part of my body. The idea of goats' feet had probably arisen from the comparison of my hair and that of a goat ; and doubtless the stubborn- ness with which I always refused to uncover my feet for their inspection strengthened them in their suspicion. As we approached the huts, the drums and trumpets were sounded to their fullest powers, and the crowds of people pressing forward on either hand left but a narrow passage for our procession. We bent our steps to one of the largest huts, which formed a kind of palatial hall open like a shed at both ends. Waiting my arrival here was one of the officers of state, who, 1 presume, was the master of the ceremonies, as I afterwards observed him presiding over the general festivities. This official took me by the right hand, And without a word conducted me to the interior of the hall. WAITING FOR THE KING. 41 Here, like the audience at a concert, were arranged according to their rank hundreds of nobles and courtiers, each occupy- ing his own ornamental bench and decked out with all his war equipments. At the other end of the building a space was left for the royal throne, which differed in no respect from the other benches, except that it stood upon an out- spread mat ; behind this bench was placed a large support of singular construction, resting as it seemed upon three legs, and furnished with projections that served as props for the back and arms of the sitter : this support was thickly studded with copper rings and nails. I requested that my own chair might be placed at a few paces from the royal bench, and there I took up my position with my people standing or squatting behind me, and the Nubian soldiers forming a guard around. The greater number of the soldiers had their guns, but my black squires, who had never before been brought face to face with so mighty a potentate, subsequently confessed to me that their hearts beat fast, and that they could not help trembling to think how a sign from Munza could have brought all our limbs to the spit. For a considerable time I had to sit waiting in expectation before the empty throne. My servants informed me that Munza had attended the market in his ordinary costume, but that he had been seen to hasten home to his private apart- ments, where he was now imdergoing a process of anointing, frizzling, and bedizening at the hands of his wives, in order that he should appear before me in the imposing splendour of his state attire. I had thus no other alternative than patiently to abide my time ; for what could be more flattering to a foreign guest than for a king to receive him in his costliest toilet ? In the interval of waiting there seemed a continuous up- roar. The fitful beating of kettle-drums and the perpetual braying of horns resounded through the airy building until it shook again, and mingling with the boisterous strains rose the voices of the assembled courtiers as they whiled away 42 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the time in loud and eager conversation. There was no doubt that I was myself the main cause of their excitement ; for although I sat with my back to the majority, I could not be otherwise than quite aware that all eyes were intently fixed upon me. All, however, kept their seats at a respectful distance, so that I could calmly look about me and note down my observations of what I saw. The hall itself was the chief object that attracted my atten- tion. It was at least a hundred feet in length, forty feet high, ;ind fifty broad. It had been quite recently completed, and the fresh bright look of the materials gave it an enlivening aspect, the natural brown polish of the wood-work looking as though it were gleaming with the lustre of new" varnish. Close by was a second and more spacious hall, which in height was only surpassed by the loftiest of the surrounding oil-palms ; but this, although it had only been erected five years previously, had already begun to show symptoms of decay, and being enclosed on all sides was dark, and there- fore less adapted for the gathering at a public spectacle. Considering the part of Africa in which these halls were Ibund, one might truly be justified in calling them wondert? of the world ; I hardly know with all our building resources what material we could have employed, except it were whale- bone, of sufficient lightness and durability to erect structures like these royal halls of Munza, capable of withstanding the tropical storms and hurricanes. The bold arch of the vaulted roof was supported on three long rows of pillars formed from perfectly straight tree-stems ; the countless spars and rafters as well as the other parts of the building being composed entirely of the leaf-stalks of the wine-palm {Raphia vinifera)* The floor was covered with a dark red clay plaster, as firm * This palm is found in every bank-forest in the Moubuttoo country, ami ita leaves vary from 25 to 35 feet in length: the midrib of the leaf (rhachis) is of a bright brown colour, and furnishes the mo^t popular building material throughout Central Africa. THE ROYAL APPROACH. 43 and smooth as asphalt. The sides were enclosed by a low breastwork, and the space between this and the arching roof, which at the sides sloped nearly to the ground, allowed light and air to pass into the building. Outside against the breastwork stood crowds of natives, probably the* "great unwashed" of the Monbuttoo, who were unable to obtain places within, and contented themselves with eagerly gazing through this opening at the proceedings. Officials with long sticks went their rounds and kept order among the mob, making free use of their sticks whenever it was necessary ; all boys who ventured uninvited into the hall being vigor- ously beaten back as trespassers. I had probably been left for an hour, and was getting lost in the contemplation of all the wonders, when a louder sound of voices and an increasing clang of horns and kettle-drums led me to suppose that there was an announcement of the approach of the king ; but, no, this was only a prelude. The sovereign was still being painted and beautified by the hands of his fair ones. There was, however, a fresh and increasing commotion near the entrance of the hall, where a number of ornamental weapons was being arranged. Posts were driven into the ground, and long poles were fastened horizontally across them ; then against this extemporized scaffolding were laid, or supported crosswise, hundreds of ornamental lances and spears, all of pure copper, and of every variety of form and shape. The gleam of the red metal caught the rays of the tropical noontide sun, and in the symmetry of their arrangement the rows of dazzling lance-heads shone with the o-low of flaming torches, making a backgroimd to the royal throne that was really magnificent. The display of wealth, which according to Central African tradition was incalculable, was truly regal, and surpassed anything of the kind that I liad conceived possible. A little longer and the weapons are all arranged. The expected king has left bis home. There is a running to and 44. THE HEART OF AFRICA. fro of heralds, marshals, and police. The thronging masses flock towards the entrance, and silence is proclaimed. The kin"- is close at hand. Then come the trumpeters flourishing away on their huge ivory horns ; then the ringers swinging their cumbrous iron bells ; and now, with a long firm stride, looking neither to the right nor to the left, wild, romantic, picturesque alike in mien and in attire, comes the tawny Caesar himself! He was followed by a number of his favoured wives. Without vouchsafing me a glance, he flung himself upon his unpretending chair of state, and sat with his eyes fixed upon his feet. Mohammed had joined the retinue of his royal friend, and took up his position opposite me on the other side of the king on a stool that was brought for his accommodation. He also had arrayed himself in a suitable dress in honour of the occasion, and now sat in the imposing uniform of a commander of Arnauts. I could now feast my eyes upon the fantastic figure of the ruler. I was intensely interested in gazing at the strange weird-looking sovereign, of whom it was commonly reported that his daily food was human flesh. With arms and legs/ neck and breast, all bedizened with copper rings, chains, and other strange devices, and with a great copper crescent at the top of his head, the potentate gleamed with a shimmer that was to our ideas unworthy of royalty, but savoured far too much of the magazines of civic opulence, reminding one almost unavoidably of a well-kept kitchen ! His appearance, however, was decidedly marked with his nationality, for ever)' adornment that he had about him belonged exclusively to Central Africa, as none but the fabrications of his native land are deemed worthy of adorning the person of a king of the Monbuttoo. Agreeably to the national fashion a plumed hat rested on the top of his chignon, and soared a foot and a half above his head ; this hat was a narrow cylinder of closely-plaited reeds ; it was ornamented with three layers of red parrots' feathers, THE ROYAL COSTUME. 45 and crowned with a plume of the same ; there was no brim, but the copper crescent projected from the front like the vizor of a Norman helmet. The muscles of Munza's ears were pierced, and copper bars as thick as the finger inserted in the cavities. The entire body was smeared with the native unguent of powdered cam-wood, which converted the original bright brown tint of his skin into the colour that is so conspicuous in ancient Pompeian halls. With the exception of being of an unusually fine texture, his single garment differed in no respect from what was worn throughout the country ; it consisted of a large piece of fig bark impregnated with the same dye that served as his cosmetic, and this, falling in graceful folds about his body, formed breeches and waistcoat all in one. Eound thongs of buffalo-hide, with heavy copper balls- attached to the ends, were fastened round the waist in a huge knot, and like a girdle held the coat, which was neatly-hemmed. The material of the coat was so carefully manipulated that it had quite the appearance of a rich Tuoire antique. Around the king's neck hung a copper ornament made in little points which radiated like beams all over his chest ; on his bare arms were strange-looking pen- dants which in shape could only be compared to drumsticks with rings at the end. Halfway up the lower part of the arms and just below the knee were three bright, horny-look- ing circlets cut out of hippopotamus-hide, likewise tipped with copper. As a symbol of his dignity Munza wielded in his right hand the sickle-shaped Monbuttoo scimitar, in this case only an ornamental weapon, and made of pure copper. As soon as the king had taken his seat, two little tables, beautifully carved,, were placed on either side of his throne, and on these stood the dainties of which he continually par- took, but which were carefully concealed by napkins of fip- bark ; in addition to these tables, some really artistic flasks of porous clay were brought in, full of drinking water. 46 THE HEART OF AFKICA. Such was Miinza, the autocrat of the Monbuttoo, with whom I was now brought face to face. He appeared as the type of those half-mythical potentates, a species of Mwata Yanvo or Great Makoko, whose names alone have penetrated to Europe, a truly savage monarch, without a trace of anything European or Oriental in his attire, and with nothing fictitious or borrowed to be attributed to him. He was a man of about forty years of age, of a fair height, of a slim but powerful build, and, like the rest of his cojintrymen, stiff and erect in figure. Although belonging to a type by no means uncomely, his features were far from prepossessing, but had a Nero-like expression that told of ennui and satiety. He had small whiskers and a tolerably thick beard ; his profile was almost orthognatic, but the perfectly Caucasian nose offered a remarkable contrast to the thick and protruding negro lips. In his eyes gleamed the wild light of animal sensuality, and around his mouth lurked an expression that I never saw in any other Mon- buttoo, a combination of avarice, violence, and love of cruelty that could with the extremest difficulty relax into a smile. No spark of love or affection could beam forth from such features as his. A considerable time elapsed before the king looked directly at the pale-faced man with the long hair and the tight black clothes who now for the first time appeared before him. I held my hat in my hand, but no greeting had as yet taken place, for, observing that everyone kept his seat when the king entered the hall, I had done the same, and now waited for him to address me. The wild uproar of the cannibals still continued, and Munza, sitting in a careless attitude, only raised his eyes now and then from their fixed stare upon the ground as though to scan the whole assem- blage, but in reality to take stray glances at my person, and in this way, little by little, lie satisfied his curiosity. I could THE ROYAL EECEPTION. 47 not help marvelling at the composure of this wild African, and wondering where in the world he could have learnt his dignity and self-possession. . At length the monarch began to ask me some questions. They were fluently translated into the Zandey dialect by the chief interpreter, who always played a principal part in our intercourse with the natives. The Niam-niam in their turn i^ndered the sense to me in Arabic. The conversation, however, was of the most commonplace character, and re- ferred neither to the purpose of my coming nor to the country from which I came. Munza's interr6gations brought to my mind the rough reception afforded to Keinhold Forster, the companion of the renowned Captain Cook, by Frederick the Great, who bluntly asked him if he had ever seen a king ? " Yes, your Majesty," was the answer, " several ; two tame and three savage." Munza appeared extremely anxious to keep lip to an Oriental measure the principle of nil admirari ; nothing could disturb his com- posure, and even at my subsequent visits, where there was no state ceremonial, he maintained a taciturnity nearly as resolute. My servants now brought forth the presents I had brought and spread them at the king's feet. These consisted, in the first place, of a piece of black cloth, a telescope, a silver platter, and a porcelain vase ; the silver was taken for white iron, and the porcelain for carved ivory. The next gift was a real piece of carved ivory, brought as a specimen to show the way in which the material is employed ; there was a book with gilt edges, a gift which could not fail to recall to my mind the scene in which Speke describes Kamrasi's first lesson in the Bible ; then came a double mirror, that both magnified and reduced what it reflected; and last, though by no means least, was a large assortment of beads of Venetian glass, including thirty necklaces, composed of thirty distinct pieces, so that Munza was in possession of more than 48 THE HEART OF AFRICA. a tliousand separate beads.* The universal principle fol- lowed by the Nubians forbade that any presents of firearms should be made to native rulers. Munza regarded all these offerings with great attention, but without committing him- self to any audible expression of approval. Not so his fifty wives, who were seated on stools arranged behind his throne ; they gave frequent half-suppressed utterances of surprise, and the double mirror was passed admiringly from hand to hand, its contortions eliciting shouts of delight. There were fifty of these ladies present : they were only the most intimate, or wives of the first rank, the entire number of court ladies being far larger. Except in the greater elegance of their attire, they departed in no way from the fashion of the country, the description of which must be deferred for the present. After a time Munza turned his attention to his refresh- ments. As far as 1 could distinguish them, they consisted of lumps of plantain-meal and tapioca piled on leaves, of dried plantains, and of a fruit which to my surprise I immediately recognised as the cola-nut of the west. From this rosy- shelled kernel the king cut a few slices, and chewed them in the intervals of smoking his tobacco. His pipe, in the shape of an iron stem six feet long, was handed to him by a ehibbukchak, who was in attendance for that purpose. Very remarkable was the way in which Munza smoked. To bring himself into the correct position he threw himself far back in his seat, supported his right elbow on the arm-rest, put one leg across the other, and with his left hand received the pipe-stem. In this attitude he gravely took one long inhala- tion, then, with a haughty gesture, resigned his pipe to the * I hatl obtained these little works of art from my Venetian friend Miani, to whom they bad been presented some years previously by his fellow-citizens, when he was preparing to undertake a new expedition. The enterprise had failed from no other cause than from the jealousy shown by the Egyptian Government. THE ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT. 49 hands of his attendant and allowed the smoke slowly to re- issue from his mouth. It is a habit among Turks of rank to smoke thus by taking only two or three inhalations from a pipe handed to them by their servants ; but where, again, may I ask, could tliis cannibal prince have learnt such a custom ? To my request for a cola-nut the king responded by graciously passing me a specimen with his own hand. Turning to Mohammed, I expressed my surprise at behold- ing this fruit of the far west amongst the Monbuttoo ; I told him of its high value* as a spice in Bornoo, where it is worth its weight in silver, and I went on to say that it confirmed my impression that the Welle was identical with the river of Baghirmy, called the Shary, and that this nut accordingly came to me like a key to a problem that I was seeking to solve. Then again addressing Munza, I made him understand that I knew the fruit, and pointing in the direction of Lake Tsad, I told him that there it was eaten by the great people of tlie country. I hoped in this way to induce him to give me some information on the subject; but he had made up his mind to be astonished at nothing, nor could I ever even on future occasions draw him into a geographical discussion. All that I could learn was that the cola-nut grew wild in the country, and that it was called *' nangweh " by the natives, who were accustomed to chew it in the intervals of their smoking. The performances that had been prepared for our enter- tainment now commenced. First of all a couple of horn- blowers stepped forward, and proceeded to execute solos upon their instruments. These men were advanced pro- ficients in their art, and brought forth sounds of such power, compass, and flexibility tliat they could be modulated from sounds like the roar of a hungry lion, or the trumpeting of * According to Liebig the cola-nut contains more cofFeiue than the most potent coffee berries. 60 THE HEART OF AFRICA. an infuriated elephant, down to tones which might be compared to the sighing of the breeze or to a lover's whisper. One of them, whose ivory horn was so huge that he could scarcely hold it in a horizontal position, executed rapid passages and shakes with as much neatness and decision as though he were performing on a flute. Next appeared a number of professional singers and jesters, and amongst them a little plump fellow, who acted the part of a pantomime clown, and jumj)ed about and turned somersaults till his limbs looked like the arms of a windmill ; he was covered from head to foot with bushy tufts and pigtails, and altogether his appearance was so excessiveh- ludicrous that, to the inward delight of the king, I burst into a hearty fit of laughter. I called him a court fool, and in many respects he fully deserved the title. I hardly know why the Nubians should have drawn my attention, as though to something quite new, to the wooden Monbuttoo scimitar that he wore in his girdle. His jokes and pranks seemed never- ending, and he was permitted to take liberties with every one, not excepting even Munza himself; and amongst other tricks he would approach the king with his right hand extended, and just as Munza had got hold of it, would start backwards and make off with a bound. A short time before he appeared, some freshly baked ears of maize, the first of the season, had been laid before me; of this delicacy the fool, with the most comical gestures, made me comprehend that he wished to partake ; I therefore took up some detached grains, and threw them, one by one, into his open mouth ; he caught them with a snap, and devoured them with such comical grimaces, that the performance called forth a roar of applause from the whole assembly. The next episode consisted of the performances of a eunuch, who formed a butt for the wit of the spectators. How Munza had come into possession of this creature, no one seemed to know, and I could only learn that he was employed THE ROYAL ORATION. 51 in the inner parts of the palace. He was a fat grotesque- looking figure, and when he sang looked exactly like a grunting baboon ; to add to the oddity of his appearance, Munza, as though in mockery of his Nubian guests, had had him arrayed in a red fez, and thus he was the only one in all the immense concourse of natives who had anything foreign in his attire. But the most important part of the programme was reserved for the end : Munza was to make an oration. AVhilst all the audience remained quietly seated on their stools and benches, up jumped the king, loosened his coat, cleared his throat, and commenced his harangue. Of course I could not understand a single word, and a double interpretation would have been worse tlian useless : but, from what I could see and hear, it was evident that Munza endeavoured to be choice and emphatic in his language, as not only did he often correct himself, but he made pauses after the sentences that he intended to be impressive, to allow for the applause of his auditors. Then the shout of " Ee, ee, tchupy, tchupy, ee, Munza, ee," resounded from every throat, and the musical instruments caught up the strain, until the uproar was truly demoniacal. Several times after this chorus, and as if to stimulate the tumult, Munza uttered a stentorian " brrr - - " * with a voice so sonorous that the very roof vibrated, and the swallows fled in terror from their nests in the eaves. The kettle-drums and horns now struck up a livelier and more rhythmical strain, and IMunza assumed a new character and proceeded to beat time with all the solemnity of a conductor. His hdton was something like a baby's rattle, and consisted of a hollow sphere of basket-work filled with pebbles and shells, and attached to a stick.j * It may interest the reader to learii that in the Shamane prayers " brrr — " is synonymous with " hail,' and I have little doubt that it here meant some sort of applause, as it was always the signal for the repetition of the hymn in celebration of the glories of Munza. t A similar contrivance is used on the river Gabon on the West Coast. Vol. n.— 5 62 THE HEART OF AFRICA. The discourse lasted full lialf an hour, during which time I took the portrait of the king that forms the frontispiece to this book. Hunger at length compelled me to take my leave of the sovereign and retrace my steps to the camp. At parting Munza said to me, " I do not know what to give you in return for all your presents ; I am sorry I am so poor and have nothing to offer you." Fascinated by his modesty and indulging the idea that it was only a preface to a muni- ficent gift worthy of royalty, I replied, " Don't mention that : I did not come for what I could get ; we buy ivory from the Turks, and pay them with yellow lead and white iron, and we make white stuffs and powder and guns for ourselves. I only ask for two things : a pig (Potamochoerus) and a chimpanzee." " You shall certainly have them," said Munza ; but I was thoroughly deceived, and, in spite of my repeated reminders, neitlier pig nor chimpanzee ever appeared. As I left the hall the king commenced a new oration. As for mj-feelf, I was so thoroughly fatigued with the noise and tumult, that I was glad to spend the remainder of this memorable day quietly in my tent. Early on the following morning I was aroused by ray people, who begged me to come out and see what the king was sending me. Looking down the road I perceived a group of Monbuttoo, who with a good deal of shouting were lugging up the hill something that I could not make out. Mohammed presently hurried up with the surprising an- nouncement that he had made Munza comprehend that my valuables were all lying out in the open air and exposed to the rain, and that the king was now sending me a house as his first present. I thought at first that he was jesting, but a few minutes sufficed to convince me of the truth of his statement. I then became aware that about twenty natives were carrying on their shoulders the substructure of a small quadrilateral house, wliile others were following with the MONBUTTOO VISITORS. 53 roof. A very short time elapsed before they had mounted the hill and placed the erection in close juxtaposition to my tent. The light structure, woven together with the Spanish reed, looked exactly like a huge hamper, with the roof for a lid. It was about twenty feet long, and sufficiently com- modious to contain all my goods, and was especially useful for protecting my paper packets. I was thus elevated to the rank and enjoyed the rights of a householder among the Monbuttoo, and my intercourse with the natives became more intimate every day. My tent was continually besieged by a host of curious spectators, of whom the more well-to-do brought their benches, and, ranged in rows before the opening, watched in silent eager- ness my every movement. Their chiefest interest seemed absorbed in contemplating my person, although many of the utensils and implements that surrounded me must have been quite as strange and incomprehensible to them. These frequent visitors at first afforded me great amusement, and I received them with friendly gestures, and combed my hair and shaved in conspsdu omnium. Nor wa& the wonder all on their side ; every moment revealed some novelty to myself, and I found full employment in sketching and taking notes. The great difficulty to our intercourse was in not understanding one another's language. Now and then, however, I managed to get hold of some people who could speak the Zandey dialect ; and then, with the help of my Niam-niam interpreters, I could ask them questions and get my wishes conveyed to the general multitude. " Bring your weapons," I would say ; " bring your weapons, and the produce of your handicraft, your ornaments and tools, and I will give you beautiful things in return ; bring the fruits of your forests, and the leaves of the trees on which they grow : bring the skins and skulls of animals ; but above all brino; the human skulls that remain over from 54 THE HEART OF AFRICA. your meals : thoy are of no use to you — bring them, and I will give you copper in exchange." I hatl rarely occasion to repeat my request, but almost before my wish was uttered there was opened a regular curiosity mart ; goods were bartered, and a flourishing trade was done. The stock of bones that was thus brought to me in one day was quite astonishing, and could not do otherwise than remove any lingering hesitation I might have in believing the cannibal propensities of the people. There were piles of every kind — fragments of skulls, and lower jaw-bones from which the teeth had been extracted to serve as ornaments for the neck. The belief seemed to be that I had no inten- tion of dealing otherwise than wholesale. Proofs enough were before me ; sufficient, I should suppose, to silence even the most stubborn scepticism. It cost me some trouble to convince the people that my requirements only extended to such skulls as were perfectly uninjured, and that for such only could I be content to pay. For a perfect skull I pro- mised an armlet of copper, but I found that nearly all that were brought to me had been smashed for the purpose of extracting the brains. Out of the two hundred skulls that were produced, I was able to select no more than forty, each of which I carefully labelled for consignment to Europe. The people who brought them professed to give full parti- culars about them, as to where they had come from, and whether they were male or female — details which of course enhanced the value of the collection. The want "of these particulars detracts very much from the worth of manv collections of skulls, for, as regards the purposes of com- parative ethnology, not much information is to be derived from a skull of which the only explanation is that it came from Brazil or East Africa. The great majority of those which the Monbuttoo brought me had been procured from the people who inhabited the districts south of their own CONTRIBUTION OF SKULLS. 55 land, and were the result of the raids that had been made upon them ; hardly any were the skulls of the Monbuttoo themselves. The condition in which I received many of the fragments afforded indubitable proof that thev hfd been boiled in water and scraped with knives; and some, I suspect, came straight from the platters of the natives, inasmuch as they were still moist, and had the odour of being only just cooked. A good many had all the appearance of being raked out of old dust-heaps, whilst some few had been found, in the streams, and had manifestly been laved by the water. To those who brought the skulls, I thought it expedient to explain that we wanted them, so that in our far-off country we could learn all about the people who dwelt here, and that we were able, from the mere shape of the head, to tell all about people's tempers and dispositions, their goad qualities and their bad ; and that for this purpose we gathered skulls together from every quarter of the globe. When the Khartoomers saw that the collection was now going on for a second year, they were only the more con- firmed in their belief that I submitted them to a certain process by which I obtained a subtle poison. From the more dense and stupid natives, the idea could not be eradi- cated that I wanted all the bones for my food. To save the honour of Europe, and in love for the science of which I was the representative, I lavished on these errors an incense unbefitting the doctrine of Gall's phrenology. Among those who day after day entered the camp to pay me a visit, were several who had come from a great distance, and amongst them the ambassadors of the neighbouring Niam-niam king, Kanna, whose territories lie to the west and north-west of the Monbuttoo. The district had been part of the kingdom of Keefa, a powerful prince, whose enormous stores of ivory had ever constituted a great attrac- tion for the expeditions of the Khartoomers, though they 5G THE HEART OF AFRICA. seldom travelled as far as his dominions. Keefa, whose sm*- name was Ntikkima, about two years before our arrival, had lost his life in a campaign against the Mabode, a black negro people to the south-west of the Monbuttoo. His four eldest sons had partitioned his extensive power between them, aifc the largest share of land had fallen to the lot of Kanna, who now sent the deputation to invite Mohammed to visit his country. Mohammed, meanwhile, had already determined that the land of Kanna should be the limit of the southward march of a corps that he detached ; but time would not per- mit us ourselves to make so wide a detour. It would occupy the space of several months. From these Niam-niam envoys I derived several scraps of information about the western regions, which threw some light upon the lower course of the Welle, and of that other stream to the north of it, which, from the union of several streams that rise in the district of Wando, appears very soon to become a large and copious river. Between these two rivers (the Welle and the so-called Bahr-el -Wando, which joins it in Kanna's district) was situated the residence of the deceased Keefa, which, owing to its position, was described in the Arabic way as being on an island. It was represented as being to the N.N.W. of Munza's residence, from which, according to their accounts, it was distant some forty miles. I made inquiries amongst them about the white man Piaggia, whom the Nubians had brought into the country, and who was afiSrmed to have visited Keefa's residence ; but my respondent replied that, though they had heard of him by report, he had never been into the country ; and this cor- responded exactly with what had been told me by Ghattas's company that had brought Piaggia as far as Tombo. All that Piaggia communicated about the Niam-niam was very interesting, and remains uncontested ; but he lies open to the reproof of making fictitious routes. It is evident, THE KING'S SON. 57 moreover, that he arranges the Niam-niam princes in a false order; for example, he makes Keefa follow immediately after Malingde or Malindo ; and he only assigns a period of two days for a journey which Antinori, the editor of his reports, has simply stated to be sixty-five miles, I should congratulate a company that could get a party of refractory bearers to accomplish more than a dozen leagues a day, where they would have to cross a dozen brooks and marshes, many of them taking half an hour to accomplish. Not a word, moreover,. does he utter about the strange people who reside to the south of the Niam-niam. At Indimma, the population is a very intermingled race, the Niam-niam scarcely making up one-half, and in Keefa's region scarcely making up a minority. Elsewhere Piaggia's observations seemed acute enough, but here he has nothing to remark. Many as were the visitors that I received at my tent, none awakened greater interest than one of the sons of Munza. The name of this distinguished personage was Bunza, and he was about the lightest-skinned individual that I had here beheld. His complexion could not have been fairer if he had been a denizen of Central Egypt. His hair was equally pale and grizzly ; his tall chignon being not unlike a bundle of hemp, and standing in marked contrast to the black tresses which were stretched across the brow. As the hair about the temples does not grow sufficiently long for this purpose, the Monbuttoo are accustomed to use false hair ; and as fair heads of hair are somewhat uncommon, false hair to match the original is difficult to purchase. This young man, of whom I was successful in taking a deliberate sketch, exhibited all the characteristics of pronounced albinism, and in truth to a degree which can be often seen in a fair individual of the true Semitic stock, either Jew or Arabian. The eyes seemed painfully affected by light, and had a constant objectless leer; the head, sup- ported on a shrivelled neck, kept nodding with an involun- 68 THE HEART OF AFRICA. tary movement, and whenever it rested it was sure to be in some extraordinary position. Bunza reminded me very vividly of some white twins that I once saw on the Red Sea: they were iishermen of Djidda, and looked as like each other as eggs from one nest. I do not know that I am warranted in drawing any definite inferences from my observation ; but I cannot suppress the remark, that to my mind the Monbuttoo have the tokens of a Semitic origin most thoroughly impressed upon their countenance, to which in particular the nose (which does not at all approach to the common negro outline) very much contributes. Bunza's nose was a regular hawk's-bill. Of the other members of the royal family, several of Munza's wives and his eldest sister came to inspect our camp. This latter woman was repulsive-looking enough, and did not appear to possess any of the warlike virtues attributed to one of her sisters named Nalengbe, who is since dead, but who had once arrayed herself in a man's dress, and entered into personal conflict with the Nubians. This weak woman's vanity made her the laughing-stock of stran- gers and acquaintances alike ; she perambulated the camp, displaying the grossest familiarity with the soldiers. She begged me to make her a present of some lead, which the Nubians from motives of policy had withheld. Lead was still in this region as much of a rarity as though it was just discovered, and produced among them for the first time. Munza's sister used to hammer bright ear-rings out of what- ever musket-balls she could procure. One morning about thirty of the royal ladies came, all together, into the camp to receive the presents which Mohammed had provided for them. They all had comely, youthful, well-knit figures, and were for the most part tall, but much cannot be said in favour of their expression. They emulated each other in the extent of their head-gear and in the profusion with which they adorned the body. Two of INTRUDERS. 59 them submitted to have their portraits taken ; the whole party sat in a circle, taking up their position during the time that I was sketching the likenesses on the little single- stemmed stools which they had brought with them ; when they took their seats they threw their bands across their laps. Some of the group stood .out in marked contrast to the rest by their light complexion and fair hair, whilst others approximated very nearly to the colour of cafe-au-lait. When I had finished my drawing, I was anxious to show my appre- ciation of the ladies' patience, and accordingly oifered to present them with some beads, but they at once begged to refuse the proffered necklace, explaining that they were not at liberty to accept presents from anyone but "Mbahly" (Aboo Sammat). These they had come to fetch, but they had had no orders to receive anything from " Mbarik-pah ;" it might arouse suspicion, and suspicion with Munza, the interpreters insisted, was tantamount to death. However interested I might be, just at first, in the vivacious movements of the people as they thronged around me, it did not take long to make me feel that they were a weariness and a nuisance. On the very next day after our arrival I was obliged to encircle my tent with a thorn-hedge to keep off the press of the inquisitive crowds ; full many, however, there were who would not be deterred by any obstacle of this kind ; regardless of the obstruction, they penetrated right into my presence. I ' was interrupted at every moment by these intrusions. My next resource was to have a lot of water dashed over the encroaching rabble, and finding that fail, I fired some trains of gunpowder, and, in the hopes of alarming the natives, I proceeded to set light to a few shells ; but even the explosions of these did not take much effect. It seemed as if nothing could keep the curious crowds at a distance, and, at my wits' end what to do, I applied to Mohammed for assistance. He assigned me a guard of men ; but even this scheme only partially succeeded ; 60 THE HEAET OF AFEICA. it answered very well as long as I kept within the bounds of my asylum, but I had only to venture beyond, and I found my retinue as large as ever. The majority of those who harassed me in this way were women, who, by keeping up with me step by step, thoroughly baffled me in all my attempts to botanize; and if perchance I managed to get away into the wood, they would find me out, and trample down the rare flowers I had laboriously collected, till I was almost driven to despair. When thus escorted by about a hundred women I was marching down to the streams in the depth of the valleys, I might indulge the fancy that I was at the head of a triumphal procession, and as often as our path led us through villages and farms the numbers in the train were swollen prodigiously. Sometimes I was in a better mood, and indulged in a little joke. I had picked up some of their words, and when I shouted one of these out loud it was taken up merrily by the whole party, and passed on from mouth to mouth. Their word " hosanna," for instance, means " it is not," and on one occasion having happened to shout out this, I proceeded for a quarter of an hour while the women around me paused not a moment in making the air resound with the cry " Hosanna." Not unfrequently I would try them with some hard crack- jaw German word, in order to enjoy their conscientious endea- vours to reproduce it ; but perhaps best of all for producing a characteristic scene was the choice of one of their imitative names of animals, where the appellation is derived from the sounds uttered by the creatures themselves. A goat is in this way called *' memmeh." I once seated myself in the centre of a concourse of women, and drew a picture of a couple of goats, and the keynote being given, every time a fresh woman came up she found herself greeted with the universal bleating cry of " Memmeh, memmeh — eh ? " " What's the row ? What's up ?" would be her question. " Memmeh, memmeh " (a goat, a goat), would be all the answer. INQUISITIVENESS. 61 These Monbuttoo women, who were so intolerably obtrusive whilst I was amongst other folks, were reserved enough about themselves ; however much I might be anxious to investigate their domestic habits, I had but to present myself at the entrances of their huts, and off they were in an instant to the interior, and their doors barred against all intrusion. There were delicious places where, encircled by the luxuriance of a tropical vegetation, the clear and sparkling pools invited me to the enjoyment of a safe and refreshing bath, an irresistible attraction after the numberless mud baths of the Niam-niam country. Everything seemed to conspire to render the scenery perfect in its bewitching grace ; each winding of the brook would be overarched by a magnificent canopy of gorgeous foliage ; the waving pendants of the blooming shrubs would shadow the secluded stream ; a fantastic wreath of elegant ferns growing up amongst the goodly leaves of the aroideae and the ginger-plants would adorn the banks ; gigantic stems, clothed with accumulated moss, would rise upwards in majestic height and reach down like steps in romantic beauty to the bathing-place. But, alas ! even this nook, where the delights of paradise seem almost to be perpetuated, may not be secure from the torment of humanity. It happens here according to the teaching of the poet, that — " every prospect pleases. And only man is vile." Nature is only free and perfect where man comes not with his disturbing foot. In my romantic bathing, this disturbance, ever and again, would come in the shape of some hideous and inquisitive Monbuttoo woman, who had posted herself on the overlooking heights, either to enjoy the picturesque contrast of light and shade, or to gratify her curiosity by getting a peep at my figure through the openings of the foliage as I emerged from the dim obscurity of the wood. A day seldom passed without my making some addition to 62 THE HEART OF AFRICA. my botanical store. Beside a pathway in the wood I chanced to come upon the great seeds of a legumen which hitherto was quite unknown to me ; the natives, when I showed them to them, told me that the name of the plant which bore them was the " morokoh ;" after a while I succeeded in getting an entire pod, and recognised it as the produce of the Entada seandens, known in the West Indies as the sword-bean. These seed-vessels attain a length of five feet, and are about as wide as anyone could span, the seeds themselves being flat, and having their corners rounded off, and (with the exception of the produce of some palms) are the largest that are known, their flattened sides not unfrequently measuring three square inches. Their size gives them a great capability for resisting the influence of the sea, and they retain their germinating power for many months, so that, carried over by the ocean- currents, they are borne to every quarter of the globe. They have been observed in the arctic regions and on the northern shores of Nova Zembla, and within the tropics they have found their way to both the Indies and to many islands of the Pacific. These enormous beans bear signal witness to the course of the Gulf Stream. Their proper home would seem to be the tropical regions of Africa, as their occurrence in the Monbuttoo lands, equally distant from either ocean, manifestly witnesses. Anxious to investigate where the " morokoh " could really be found, I devoted a special excursion to the search, and went out for a couple of leagues or more in a south-westerly direction from the camp. Crossing several brooks and passing through many a grove of oil-palms, we reached some farmsteads that were erected in a welcome shade. All along our steps we were followed by a group of people who continually fell out and squabbled with the Bongo and other natives belonging to our caravan, but who towards myself personally were as courteous and amiable as could be wished. It might be expected that my bean-pods, five feet long, would be found upon some enormous trees of THE KOYAL CASTLE. 63 corresponding growth, but in truth the Entada scandens is a weak deciduous creeper, which climbs along the underwood that abounds in the depressions of the brooks. The twenty days of our residence in this interesting spot slipped away only too quickly. There was, however, a series of fresh surprises awaiting me. How I made acquaintance with the Pygmies is a tale that must be told in a later chapter. High festivities in the court of the king— the general summons of the population to take their share in the hunt as often as either buffaloes or elephants came within sight — the arrival of vassals conveying their tribute and making a solemn entrance with their attendant warriors — all these events succeeded each other in rapid order, and gave me ample opportunity of studying the peculiarities of the people from many a different point of view. T paid repeated visits to the king, sometimes finding him in his granaries engaged in distributing provisions to his officers, and sometimes in the inner apartments of his own special residence. One afternoon I received permission, in company with Mohammed, to inspect all the apartments of the royal castle. The master of the ceremonies and the head- cook escorted us round. Mohammed was already familiar with all the arrangements, and was consequently able to call my attention to anything worthy of particular notice. What I call " the castle " is a separate group of huts, halls, and sheds, which are enclosed by a jialisade, and which may be entered only by the king and by the officers and servants of the royal household. All official business is transacted in the outer courts. Trees were planted regularly all round the enclosure, and contributed to give a comfortable and home- like aspect to the whole. Not only did the oil-palms abound, but other serviceable trees were planted round the open space, and declared the permanency of the royal residence, in contradistinction to the fluctuating and unsettled dwelling- places of the Niam-niam chieftains. (54 THE HEART OF AFRICA. I was next brought to a circular building with an imposing conical roof, which was appropriated as the arsenal, and was full of weapons of every variety. Sword-blades and lances were especially numerous, and I was at liberty to make my selection out of them, as the king had chosen in this way to make his return for the presents he had received from me. The superintendents and keepers of the armoury did all in their power to interfere with the freedom of my choice, and as often as I showed my fancy for any piece that was particularly rare, they hesitated before surrendering it, and made a condition that the express consent of the king must be secured before a specimen so recherche could be given up. As the result of this exchange of presents, I found my tent loaded with an immense assortment of knives, scimitars lances, spears, bows, and arrows. At the subsequent confla- gration all the wooden portions of these were destroyed, but the metal work was safely remitted to Europe as a proof of the artistic taste and industry of the people. The same day I had the opportunity of seeing the splendid oxen which Munza had received from the friendly king in Breed of cattle from the Maoggoo countiy. PIAGGIA'S LAKE. 65 in the south-east, and to which I have already had occasion to refer.* A representation of one of these animals is now- introduced, showing the great fat hump, which is larger than any that I had hitherto seen. All attempts to elicit any information about the country to the south 'of their own were quite unavailing; the people were silent as the tomb. Nor did I succeed much better when I came to inquire of King Munza himself. Every inquiry on my part was baffled by the resolute secrecy of African state policy, and the difficulties of the duplicate interpretation gave Munza just the pretext he wanted for circumlocution and evasive replies. I was most anxious to obtain correct information as to whether the great inland lake to which Piaggia had referred had any real existence in the district or not, and I satisfied myself by positive testimony that the natives had no actual knowledge about it. But it was really very difficult to con- vey to them any notion whatever of what was intended ; there was an utter absence of any simile by which the idea of a lake, a great inland expanse of fresh water, could be illustrated, and the languages of the interpreters (Arabic and Zandey), however copious they might be, were yet inade- quate in this particular matter. Neither in Egypt nor in the Egyptian Soudan is there a proper term for ■ a lake. There are indeed the terms "birket," "foola," and "tirra," but these only signify respectively a pond, a rainpool, and a marsh; and Piaggia, who, as I have pointed out, did not actually reach Keefa, spoke only from hearsay, either from the reports of the Nubians, to whom probably some vague information of Baker's discoveries had reached, or by an erroneous conception of the explanation of the natives when they described the " great water," which in reality was the river flowing past Keefa's residence. Monbuttoo and Niam- * Vide vol. i. chap. xiii. YoL. IL— 6 66 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. niam alike are entirely incapable of comprehending,' what is meant by an ocean. Anything contrary to this statement which may have been spread abroad by Khartoom adven- turers * I do not think I need hesitate to describe as sheer nonsense or as idle fancy. The tales of steamers and of ships with crews of white men, which are said to have been de- scribed by the natives as having come along their rivers, and the stories that pictures of these ships have been found in their dwellings, are doubtless circulated amongst travellers to the Niam-niam lands, but without any assignable grounds. After much demurring and waiving the question, the king's interpreter did aifirm that he knew of such standing water in the country : he pointed towards the direction of the W.S.W., and said its name was " Madimmo," and that it was Muuza's own birthplace. The place was called " Ghilly " by the Niam-niam ; but when I inquired more accurately, and began to investigate its extent, I received an answer which set my mind entirely at rest that it was as large as Munza's palace ! I nurtured the silent hope that by mentioning certain names that perchance might be known to the Moubuttoo, I should succeed in breaking down their reserve. 1 asked the king if he knew anything of the land of Ulegga and of its kino- Ixadjoro, or whether he knew King Kamrasi, whose dominions were beyond the " great water," and behind the mountains of the Malegga ; and I pointed at the same time towards the S.E. Then I mentioned Kamrahs, repeating the word and saying " Kamrahs, Kamrahs," in the way that the Nubians are accustomed to do, but both Munza and his in- terpreter were silent, or proceeded to speak of other matters. . But while this conversation was going on, a significant look that Munza gave his interpreter did not escape my notice, * Compare Dr Ori's letter to the Marquis Antiuori in the ' Bolletiuo deUa Soc. Geogr. Ital.,' i. p. 184. AN EXCHANGE. 67 and very much confirmed my suspicion that he was not altogether unacquainted with Kauirasi. Some time afterwards Munza, in the most off-hand way, complained that I had not given him enough copper. Know- ing the general expectations of an African king, I was only surprised that he had not urged his demand before. He reminded me of the quantity of copper that Mohammed had given him : " Mohammed," he said, " is a great sidtan ; but you are also a great sultan." AYhen 1 reminded him that I did not take any of his ivory, he seemed to acquiesce in my excuse ; but he very shortly afterwards sent me some messengers to request that I would make him a present of the two dogs which I had brought with me. They were two common Bongo curs of very small growth, but by contrast with the mean breed of the Moubuttoo and the Niam-niam they were attractive enough to excite the avidity of Munza. He had never seen dogs of such a size, and did not want them as dainty morsels for his table, but really wished to have them to keep. However, he had long to beg in vain ; I assured him that the creatures had grown up with me till I was truly fond of them ; they were, as I told him, my" children ; I was not disposed to part with them at any price, and might as well be asked to give the hair off my head. But my repre- sentations had no effect upon Muuza ; he had made up his mind to have the dogs, and did not pass a day without repeating his request, and enforcing it by sending fresh relays of presents to my tent. Nothing, however, moved me. At last some slaves, both male and female were sent, and the sight of these suggested a new idea. 1 resolved to give way, and to exchange one of my dogs for a specimen of the little Akka people. Munza acceded at once, and sent me two of them. He could not suppress his little joke. "You told me," said he, " not long since, that the dogs were your chil- dren ; wliat will you say if I call these my children ? " I accepted the smallest of the Akka, a youth who might 68 THE HEAK^J' OF AFRICA. be about fifteen years of age, hoping to be able to take him to Europe as a living evidence of a truth that lay under the myth of some thousand years. I shall give a fuller account of this little specimen of humanity in the chapter that will be devoted to the subject of the Pygmies. It had, moreover, become high time for me to give way, and not to put the cannibal ruler's patience to too severe a test. The exchange which had been effected restored me to the royal favour, and a prohibition which had been issued to the natives, warning them not to have any transactions with me by selling me produce or curiosities, was withdrawn. I received now such quantities of ripe plantains that I was able to procure an abundance of plantain-wine, an extremely palatable and wholesome drink, which is obtained after being allowed to ferment for twenty-four hours. During this time Mohammed had begun to find that the supply of provisions was growing inadequate, and that he would find some difficulty in meeting the necessities of his numerous bearers and of his heterogeneous caravan. He accordingly resolved to make a division of the entire com- pany, and to send a detachment back to Izingerria beyond the Welle, where tliey might get corn and other supplies. In my own case, I was obliged to do without proper bread ; no eleusine was to be had, and I was reduced to a flat tough cake made of manioc and plantain-meal. As no cattle-breeding is practised among the Monbuttoo, I should have been fastened down to a uniform diet of vegetables if I had not happened to be aware that in the last raid against the Momvoo a very considerable number of goats had been driven into the country. I induced the king to become my agent for getting me some of them, and sent him three large copper bracelets, weighing about a pound, for every goat that he would let me have. In this way I gradually obtained about a dozen fat goats, and more beau- tiful creatures of the I kind had never seen since I had left GOATS OF THE MOMN'OO. 69 Khartoom. They were of two different breeds : one of them was singularly like the Bongo race, which has been before described, and which are remarkable for the long hair that hanofs from their neck and shoulders ; the other differed Goat ol' the iMumvoo. from any type that I had previously seen in having an equally-distributed drooping fleece, which serves as a covering for its short-haired extremities, and in its nose being very considerably arched. The ordinary colour of these graceful animals is a uniform glossy black. They are fed almost exclusively upon plantain leaves, a food which makes them thrive admirably. When I had got half-a-dozen of them together 1 had them all killed at once. I had the flesh all taken off the bones, the sinews carefully removed, and then made my bearers, who had no other work to do, mince it 70 THE HEART OF AFRICA. up very fine upon some boards. The entire mass was next thrown into great vessels and boiled ; it was afterwards strained, and when it had got cold it was freed from all fat and finally steamed until it was a thick jelly. The extract of meat obtained in this way had to serve throughout our return journey, and in the sequel proved a very remunerative product. It was not liable to decomposition, and its keeping so well made it an excellent resource in time of want and postjioned the evil day of our actual suffering from hunger. Besides the company of Mohammed Aboo Samraat, there were two other companies that for some years had been accustomed to carry their expeditions into the Monbuttoo country, namely, Agahd's and that of the Poncets, which was afterwards transferred to Ghattas. It was a matter of arrange- ment that these should confine their operations to the eastern districts, where Degberrg, was king. At their departure they always left a small detachment in charge to look after their business interests and to prevent any competition. Agahd's and Poncet's soldiers had been left in the garrisons in the districts that were under the control of Degberra's generals, Kubby and Benda, and they were only too glad to embrace the present chance (as we were only distant a two days' journey) of coming to see their friends and acquaintance from Khartoom and to hear the news. To all appearance the Monbuttoo air agreed excellently with them all, which is more than can be said of those who reside in some of the northern Seribas. They had wives and families in the country, and made no otlier complaint than that their life was somewhat lonely and monotonous and their food so different to what they had been accustomed to ; but what the fanatical Mohammedans had most readily to avow was that they really held the natives in admiration and respect, notwithstanding their intense detestation of the cannibalism which was attributed to them. Mohammed also left some of his people in the neighbourhood of Munza ; and these strangers AFRICAN CAUTION. 71 had permission to erect Seribas and to plant their environs with sweet-potatoes, manioc, and plantains. Their preroga- tive extended no further than this, and they had no authority at all over the natives ; however small might be their number in any place (sometimes not a score of men altogether) they were sure to be sufBcient to restrain the inhabitants from any attempt at surprise. The African savages are not like the American Indians, who are always prepared to see a few of their party killed at the outset, provided that they can only make sure of ultimate success and can get their plunder at last ; not that the Africans underrate the advantage thev possess in the superiority of their numbers, nor that they entertain too hiarh an estimate of the braverv of the Nubians but they are conscious that no attack could be ventured without one or two of them having to pay the penalty of their lives. No one is ready for his own part to run the risk of his own being the life that must fee sacrificed ; and thus it happens that the prospect of a few deaths is sufficient to deter them, though they might be reckoned by thousands, from making that outbreak whicli tlieir numerical strength miffht guarantee would be finallv successful. As soon as Mohammed became aware that he had got to the end of the king's store of ivory he began to think of his ways and means, and contemplated pusliing on farther to the south and opening a new market for himself. With the greatest enthusiasm I entered into his design, and taking up his cry, " To the world's end!" I added, " Now's the time, and onward let us go!" But, unfortunately, there were insuperable obstacles in the way. In the first place, there was the decided opposition of the Idng, who entertained the very natural belief that the farther progress of the Khar- toomers to the south would interfere with his monopoly of the copper trade ; and in the next place there was the impossibility of Mohammed being able, without Munza's co-operation, to procure sufficient provisions for so arduous 72 THE HEART OF AFRICA. an undertaking. To put the former difficulty to th(3 test, Mohammed despatched his nephew with the conduct of an expedition just sufficiently large to venture the attampt. For three days this expedition pressed on, until upon the Eiver Nomayo, an affluent of the Welle, they reached the residence of one of Munza's sub-chieftains, whose name was Mummery. Halfway upon their route they had rested at the dwelling-place of another chieftain, named Nooma. Both Mummery and Nooma, it should be said, were Munza's own brothers ; but neither of them would venture to open com- mercial transactions of any kind without the express orders of the king, and consequently the expedition had to return at once and leave its object unaccomplished. The disappointment was very keen : it was a bitter grief to see one's most cherished projects melt thus thoroughly away. Nor vsras it a much smaller matter of regret that Mohammed felt himself obliged to curtail even our few weeks' residence with Munza; he might propose, indeed, to ad- vance to the south from the eastern portion of the Monbuttoo country, but that was a project that was little likely to be accomplished. For a long period I held fast to my intention of remaining behind alone in Munza's country with the soldiers who would be left in charge of the Seriba ; and I indulged the fascinating hope that I should find an opportunity of pene- trating into that farther south which I longed so earnestly to investigate ; but my protector would not acquiesce in this for a moment, nor did any of my own people show an inclination to support my wishes. It was very doubtful if we could be relieved during the next year, or the year after, if at all ; my resources even now were hardly enough to take me home again ; the wherewithal for further enterprise was altogether wanting ; if I should entrust my collection, which 1 had so laboriously gathered, to the care of others, there was every risk of its becoming wet and even spoiled ; the WANT OF A GOLDEN KEY. 73 prospect, too, of penetrating into the interior under the escort of the Monbuttoo themselves was not altogether inviting : I should only have accompanied their plundering raids, where I should have been compelled to be a daily witness of their cruelties and cannibalism ; thus upon serious deliberation I was driven to the conviction that my scheme was not feasible. No doubt a very different vista would have opened itself before me into the untraversed interior of the continent if I had chanced to be one of those favoured travellers who have unlimited command of gold. But fortune and money appear, with regard to African travel, to stand very much in the same relation to one another as force and time in physics ; what you gain in one, you lose in the other. The fortunate and healthy travellers, like Karl Mauch and Gerhard Eohlfs, have generally been very limited in their means; whilst rich travellers, such as the Baron von der Decken and Miss Tinne, have succumbed to difficulties, sickened, or died. Any expedition that was fitted out with a liberality proportioned to that of Speke's would have been capable of advancing from Munza's to the south, defiant of opposition ; enough copper would have neutralised the re- sistance of the king; if force could be opposed by force, and threats could be met by threats, the native princes would all declare themselves to be friends, and, like Mtesa and Kamrasi, would meet them with open arms. But, as I say, the resources must be adequate. With two hundred soldiers from Khartoom, not liable to fever, and capable of existing upon food of any sort, and who were up to all the dodges and chicaneries of the African chieftains, any one could penetrate as far as he chose. If I had possessed 10,000 dollars in my purse, or had them invested properly in Khartoom, I would have guaranteed to bring my leader on to Bornoo. The sum would have sufficed to keep his soldiers up to their duty; and under those circumstances 1 74 THE HEART OF AFRICA. shonM have been master of the situation, and Mohammed would have had means to get as much ivory as he could desire. These intimations may suffice to show that, in my opinion, with the aid of the Kliartoom merchant companies, access could be had to the remotest parts of the continent without any exorbitant outlay of money ; but conditions so favour- able for prosecuting the work as those which then fell to my lot, I fear may be long before they occur again. Munza's visits made a diversion in our camp life. The finest entertainment, however, which chanced to occur was the celebration of the victory which Mummery had obtained over the Momvoo. As the produce of his successful raid, Mummery brought the due contributions of ivory, slaves, and goats, to lay before the feet of the king, and the occasion w-as taken to institute a festival on the grandest scale. In consequence of Munza's establishment being already taxed with the entertainment of so many strangers, Mummery only stayed for a single night. The morning after his arrival was appointed for the feast. The early part of the day was cold and rainy ; but quite betimes, the shouts and cheers that rang around the camp told us that the rejoicing already had begun. Towards mid- day the news was brought that the excitement was reaching its climax, and that the king himself was dancing in the presence of his numerous wives and courtiers. The weather was still chill and drizzly ; but, putting on a long black frock-coat as being the most appropriate costume for the occasion, I bent my steps to the noble saloon, which re- sounded again with the ringing echoes of uproarious cheers and clanging music. The scene that awaited me was unique. Within the hall there was a spacious square left free, around which the eighty royal wives were seated in a single row upon their little stools, having painted themselves in honour of the occasion . with the most elaborate care : thev were MUNZA'S DANCE. 75 applauding most vigorously, clapping their hands with all their might. Behind the women stood an array of warriors in full accoutrement, and their lines of lances were a frontier of defence. Every musical accompaniment to which the resources of the court could reach had all been summoned, and there was a melee of gongs and kettle-drums, timbrels and trumpets, horns and bells. Dancing there in the midst of all, a wondrous sight, was the king himself. Munza was as conspicuous in his vesture as he was astounding in his movements. It is ever the delight of African potentates on occasions of unusual pomp to present themselves to their subjects in some new aspect. Munza's opportunities in this way were almost unlimited, as he had a liouse full of skins and feathers of every variety: he had now attired his head in the skin of a great black baboon, giving him the appearance of wearing a grenadier's bearskin ; the peak of this was dressed up with a plume of waving feathers. Hanging from his arms were the tails of genets, and his wrists were encircled by great bundles of tails of the guinea-hog. A thick apron, composed of the tails of a variety of animals was fastened round his loins, and a number of rings rattled upon his naked legs. But the wonder of the king's dress was as nothing compared to his action. His dancing was furious. His arms dashed them- selves furiously in every direction, though always marking the time of the music ; whilst his legs exhibited all the contortions of an acrobat's, being at one moment stretched out horizontally to the ground, and at the next pointed ujiwards and elevated in the air. The music ran on in a wild and monotonous strain, and the women raised their hands and clapped together their open palms to mark the time. For what length of time this dance had been going 7G THE HEART OF AFRICA. Oil 1 did not quite understand; I only know that I found Munza raving in the hall with all the mad excitement which would have been worthy of the most infatuated dervish that had ever been seen in Cairo. Moment after moment it looked as if the enthusiast must stagger, and, foaming at the mouth, fall down in a fit of epilepsy ; but nervous energy seems greater in Central Africa than among the " hashishit " of the north : a slight pause at the end ol half an hour, and all the strength revived ; once again would commence the dance, and continue unslackened and un- wearied. So thoroughly were the multitude engrossed with the spectacle that hardly any attention at all was given to my arrival, and a few who noticed it did not permit them- selves to be diverted from the enjoyment of their pleasure. I had an opportunity, therefore, of transferring the scene to paper, and of finishing a sketch which embraces its promi- nent features. But above the tumult of men was heard the tumult of the elements. A hurricane arose, with all the alarming violence of tropical intensity. For a little while the assembly was unmoved and disposed to take no notice of the storm ; but soon the wdnd and pelting rain found their way into the openings of the hall; the music ceased, the rolling drum yielding to the thunder ; the audience in commotion rose, and sought retreat ; and in another instant the spectacle was over ; the dancing king was gone. The floods of rain compelled me to remain upon the spot, and I took advantage of the opportunity to make an undis- turbed inspection of the other and larger hall, which was situated just opposite to the one in which I was. A low doorwav led into the edifit*e, which was 150 feet Ions: and not less than fifty feet high ; it. was lighted only by narrow apertures, and the roof was supported on five rows of columns. On one side of it was a wooden partition which divided oli' A VISIT FEOM THE KING. 77 from the spacious edifice a small apartment, where the king was accustomed, according to the imperial wont of altering the sleeping- place, occasionally to pass the night. An enor- mous erection, ponderous enough to support an elephant, served as a bedstead; on each side of this Avere several posts each encircled by forged iron rings that could not weigh less than half a hundredweight. In this royal bed- chamber I noticed a large number of barbarous decorations, and I observed that the pillays and the timberwork were rudely painted with numerous geometrical designs, but that the artists seem to have had only three colours at their command ; blood-red, yellow-ochre, and the white from do^s' dung {cdhum grsecum). 'MwoT.Q, twice honoured our camp with a visit. His majesty's approach was announced long beforehand by the outcries of the teeming people that thronged along his way. On entering the encampment he found the German flag waving from a tall flagstaff that I had erected in the imme- diate proximity of my tent ; he was curious to know what it meant, and had to be initiated into the object of a national symbol, and to be informed of the tragical experiences of King Theodore in Abyssinia. It was a great relief to me that he did not require to enter either into my tent or into a large grass-shed which had been recently erected for me. Altogether the monarch displayed much less covetousness than I had reason to expect. Eecognising this moderation on his part, I endeavoured to entertain him by showing him my collection of pictures, and amongst others I submitted to him the one of himself in the copper habili- ments which he had worn on the day of our first audience. They were the only portraits he had ever seen, and his astonishment was very great ; the play of the muscles of his face displayed the interest he took, and, according to the custom of the land, he opened his mouth quite wide, and Ciwered it with his open hand, betraying thereby his surprise 78 THE HEART OF AFRICA. and admiration. I had afterwards to open my bosom for his inspection, and when I turned up my shirt-sleeves, he cculd not suppress a cry of amazement. The interview ended, as such visits generally did, by his expressing a wish, wit'i whicli I had not the least intention to comply, that I would take off my boots. The date of our departure was now drawing near, and yet neither my promised chimpanzee nor guinea-hog* had appeared. About the chimpanzee the truth was that not one could be found in the district, which was far too densely populated, and where the woods upon the river-banks were very light and traversed by frequent pathways ; but with regard to the guinea-hog it was quite different ; they "were to be found in the nearest environs of the royal residence, and, if only Munza had been inclined, he could have redeemed his promise and secured me a specimen without difficulty. He left me, consequently, to get one, if I could, for myself; but this, to a novice in the chase, was more easily said than done, and I had to ramble in the thickets, rifle in hand, under the vain hope that I might secure a specimen. Only once, and that was just when evening was coming on to close a cloudy day, and a drizzling mist was giving obscu- rity to the woods, I caught sight of one of these animals. Its red bristly head and long pointed ears peered out from behind the prostrate stem of a great tree, and I was just concluding that it was within gunshot, wiien at the very instant two of my native attendants were seen beside it rolling on the ground and bleeding at the nose. My people were not remarkable for pluck, and nothing would induce * The Guinea-hog (Potamochcerus penicillatus) is called "Napezzo," or "' fat," by the Monbuttoo, and its flesli is considered very choice. These animals, which are not nearly so wild as the wart-hogs (the blabark of the South African Boers), and are indeed capable of being partially tamed, are found throughout the tropical regions of Africa, from the west coast to Zanzi- bar. Burton met with them in Ugogo. In early times they were already introduced into Brazil. WASHING DAY. 70 them to a second venture with the beast. Thus 1 was com- pelled to renounce my hope of getting a guinea-hog. During the earlier hours of the morning and the later hours of the aftarnoon, I spent the time, day after day, in continual excursions, which enabled me to add to the novel- ties of u?y collection. The middle of the day I devoted to the necessary supervision of my household. The peiiodic wash- ing day had come, and I was at a loss to find a washing-tub that could contain the accumulated linen. Mohammed's ingenuity came once more to my aid. He borrowed King Munza's largest meat-dish for my use. A lordly dish it was ; more like a truck than an article for the table. It was five feet long, and hewn from a single block. King Muuza's disn. Vol. II.— 7 CHAPTER XV. The Monbcttoo. Previous accounts of the Monbuttoo. Population. Sur- rounding nations. Neglect of agriculture. Products of the soil. Pro- duce of the chase. Forms of greeting. Preparation of food. Universal cannibalism. National pride and warlike spirit. Power of the sovereign. His habits. The royal household. Advanced culture of the Monbuttoo. Peculiarities of race. Fair hair and complexion. Analogy to the Fulbe. Preparation of bark. Nudity of the women. Painting of the body. Coiffure of men and women. Mutilation not practised. Equipment of warriors. Manipulation of iron. Early knowledge of copper. Probable knowledge of platinum. Tools. Wood-carving. Stools and benches. Symmetry of water-bottles. Large halls. Love of ornamental trees. Con- ception of Supreme Being. It was in December 1868, just before starting from Khar- toom, that I received, in a somewhat circuitous way, the first intelh'gence of a people called the Monbuttoo, who were said to dwell to the south of the Niam-niam. Dr. Ori, the chief official physician at Khartoom, in a letter to the Marquis Antinori, had detailed all the most recent particulars of the ivory traffic in the remote districts south of the Gazelle, and had specially referred to the transactions of Jules Poncet. These particulars were published without much delay in the journal of the Geographical Association of Paris ; and I chanced to find Dr. Ori's letter quoted entire in the Italian Geographical Society's 'Bolletino,' which was transmitted to me by the Marquis Antinori himself just before I was setting out on my expedition. Although the intelligence conveyed by Ori and Poncet failed utterly in giving either clearness or consistency to the confused depositions of those ignorant and uninformed men NATIOXAL FEATURES OF THE MONBUTTOO. 81 wlio had been their authorities, it still had the intrinsic merit of enlarging the domain of geographical knowledge by some matters of fact which it was reserved for me individually to confirm by my own observation. It laid down as facts, first, that to the south of the Niam-niam territory there is a river flowing towards the west ;* secondly, that this river is not tributary to the Nile ; and, thirdly, that its banks are populated by a race quite distinct from the ordinary negro race, its inhabitants being of a brownish complexion, and exhibiting a grade of civilization which is considerably in advance of what is elsewhere found in Central Africa. These people were designated by the name of the Mon- buttoo, and by the ivory traders they were known as Gurru- gurroo, a definition that is derived from an Arabic word which refers to their universal habit of piercing their ears. No sooner had I really reached the district of the Gazelle than I discovered from my conversation and intercourse with the leaders of the ivory traffic that the Monbuttoo were regarded as holding a very peculiar and prominent place. Their country never failed to furnish a theme of general praise. It was declared to be prolific in ivory ; it was profuse in its natural products ; the pomp of its sovereign was unrivalled ; but, above all, the skill of its people, in the fabrication alike of their weapons for war and their utensils for peace, was assumed to be so striking that they were comparable to the denizens of the civilized west, and that in some respects the Franks themselves did not surpass them in the exercise of an aesthetic faculty. That I might succeed in making my way onwards to the territory of this problematical people, naturally became more and more my impatient and ardent desire ; and it will * Heuglin in 1863, had received intelligence of what was now proved, viz. that the same district from which issues the White Nile also gives birth tu another stream, called by him the river of Sena. 82 THE HEART OF AFRICA. readily be understood how eagerly I recognised xVboa Sammat as offered by a propitious fate to be the conductor upon whom I might rely for being introduced to a closer view of this undefined race, which might be likened in a way to a nebula in the geographical firmament. Very much I now rejoice at being in a position to submit, upon the evidence of my own observation, a somewhat detailed account of this race, who may be described as constituting a sort of remote island of humanity. Surrounded as it is by the waves of fluctuating nationalities, it is, as it were, an " ultima TJmle " of geographical research ; or perhaps still more appropriately it might be likened to a boulder thrown up from a lower formation, and exhibiting a development of indigenous cul- ture, entirely different to what can be witnessed all around. The territory of the Monbuttoo, as it lies in the heart of Africa, does not cover an area of more than 4000 square miles, but the ratio of the census of its population is hardly exceeded by any region of the entire continent. Estimating the density of the people by the districts through which we travelled, and observing that cultivated farms followed upon cultivated farms, without a barren spot between, I suppose that there are at least 250 inhabitants to the square mile, which would give an aggregate population of about a million. The position of the country is embraced very nearly between the parallels of 3° and 4° north latitude, and 28^ and 29° east longitude from Greenwich, To the north of the country there is a large river, usually copious in its stream, called the Keebaly. This is joined by the Gadda, which flows from the south-east. After the junction it is known as the Welle, and has a breadth of about 800 feet, whilst never, even in the driest season, does its depth diminish to less than fifteen feet. It proceeds to the west along the southern portion of the adjoining Niam-niam district, and being swollen by the accession of numerous tributaries from the southern districts ol the Monbuttoo, it very rapidly assumes its large dimen- MOXBUTTOO GOTEEXMEXT. 83 sious. Beyond a doubt it is the upper course of the most easterly of the two arms which, after they have united in Baghirmy, flow onwards under the name of the Shary, that river to which Lake Tsad owes its existence. There are two chieftains who, with regard to the extent of their dominions and the numerical strength of their armed forces (for their sway extends far beyond the populous districts of the Monbuttoo), may well be designated as kings. They have partitioned the sovereignty between them : the eastern division being subject to Degberra, the western division is governed by Munza, who exercises a much more powerful control; he is a son of King Tikkibob, who had once enjoyed the undivided rule over the entire Monbuttoo land, but thirteen years previously had been mui-dered by his brother Degberra. Sub-chieftains or viceroys are distributed over various sections of the country, and these are accustomed to surround themselves with a retinue and state little inferior to those of the kings themselves. In Munza's realms there are three of these dignitaries ; viz. his brothers Izingerria, Mummery, and Xooma ; subordinate to Degberra there are his four sons, Kubby, Benda, Koopa, and Tangara.' The country of the Xiam-niam constitutes the northern and north-western boundaries of the Monbuttoo. This comprises the territories of Kanna and Indimma, sons of the once powerful Keefa, and, farther on, the district of Malingde or Marindo, which approaches in an easterly direction iliore towards the territory of Wando ; each of these countries are, however, separated by wildernesses which it requires two days to cross. The southern limits of the Monbuttoo are enclosed, as it were., by a semicircle of typical negroes, whom they embrace in the comprehensive detinition of '' Momvoo," a disdainful epithet implying the extremity of their degra- dation. From this category we are possibly called upon to exclude in this quarter (as perchance in every other region 84 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of Africa) those isolated races of dwarfs, familiarly known as " Pygmies," of which the Akka, who reside in the S.S.W., and have their abodes close to the confines of the kingdom of Munza, may be quoted as examples. The bulk of this apparently thickly-peopled race is subject to independent chieftains, but there is one section Avhich is tributary to Munza in so far as this, that it makes its contributary payments to Mummery, as being Munza's vicegerent. According to the depositions of some Nubians who have been stationed for some years past in the Monbuttoo country, the language of the Babuckur is found to be spoken among the Momvoo. To support their opinion the Nubians affirm that women-slaves brought from Babuckur have always been found able to converse with the natives of the land just to the south of the Monbuttoo ; a circumstance which is not without its signification as explaining the most recent migration of nations into this part of Africa. Since the two enclaves of Babuckur on the eastern boundaries of the Niam- niani appear only to be removed from each other by an interval of sixty miles and to be hemmed in by hostile neighbours, the fact, taken in connection with the above, may serve to dercionstrate that Monbuttoo and Niam-niam alike must have been advancing in an easterly direction. Munza's neighbours towards the south-west and south of the kingdom of Kanna are the Mabohde. This is a people whom Keefa, Kanna's father (known also as Ntikkima), was accilstomed to harass in war till he met with his own death. Farther on towards the S.S.W., and separated from Munza by the Mabohde and the Akka, there lies the district of the Massanza, a tribe which is held in subjection by the formid- able hand of Kizzo. To the south and south-east are found the Nemeigeh, the Bissangah, and the Domondoo, tenanting a mountainous region, which not improbably is the western declivity of that important mountainous formation to which Baker, in describing the north-west of Lake Mwootau, has THE MONBUTTOO TERRITORY. 85 referred under the name of the Blue Mountains. The settle- ments of the Domondoo are the usual limits to which the Monbuttoo are accustomed to carry their plundering expedi- tions. Some Nubian soldiers who had been quartered in the country of Munza, and who had accompanied him in some of his marauding exploits have given a description of the general mountainous character of the land, and, moreover, have asserted that goats, which are known neither to the Niam-niam nor to the Monbuttoo, have been captured there in great numbers. The Babuckur also, notwithstanding the frequent incursions which their neighbours, ever greedy of animal diet, have made upon their over-populated and oppressed communities, are always found in possession of herds of goats so numerous that they might be described as inexhaustible. Many days' journey to the south and south- east of Munza's realms are tlie abodes of the Maoggoo, over whom a powerful sovereign exercises his authority, and who seems to have various transactions with Munza, if I may judge from the splendid cattle which had been sent him as a present. Maoggoo is not improbably the same as Malegga, the appellation of a people, which appears in Baker's map to the west of the Blue Mountains in an extensive country (Ulegga), of which it is affirmed that the king is named Kadjoro, and that the population is especially devoted to the breeding of cattle. Having thus minutely taken a survey of the surroundings of the Monbuttoo, we may in the next place proceed to observe the land itself, regarding it as the substance of the picture of which we have been thus accurately surveying the background. The Monbuttoo land greets us as an Eden upon earth. Unnumbered groves of plantains bedeck the gently-heaving soil; oii-palms, incomparable in beauty, and other monarchs of the stately woods, rise up and spread their glory over tlie favoured scene; along the streams there is a briglit 86 THE HEART OF AFRICA. expanse of charming verdure, whilst a grateful shadow ever overhangs the domes of the idyllic huts. The general altitude of the soil ranges from 2500 to 2800 feet above the level of the sea : it consists of alternate depressions, along which the rivulets make their way, and gentle elevations, which gradually rise till they are some hundred feet above the beds of the streams below. Upon the whole the soil may be described as far more diversified in character than what is observed in the eastern parts of the Niam- niam land. Like it is there, it is rich in springs, wherever there are depressions, and in a network of " desaguaderos " associated with the watercourses, and justifies the comparison that has already been suggested between the entire land and a well-soaked sponge, which yields countless streams to the pressure of the hand. Belonging to one of the most recent formations, and still in process of construction, the ferru- ginous swamp-ore is found very widely diffused over the Monbuttoo country, and indeed extends considerably farther to the south, so that the red earth appears to be nearly universal over the greater part of the highlands of Central Africa. The denser population has involved, as might be expected, more frequent clearances for the sake of establish- ing plantain groves, and promoting the culture of maize and sugar-canes, but even here in the deeper valleys trees grow to such a prodigious height, and exhibit such an enormous girth, that they could not be surpassed by any that could be found throughout the entire Nile region of the north. Be- neath the imposing shelter of these giants other forms grow up and, rising one above another, stand in mingled confusion. In its external and general aspect the country corresponds with the description which Speke has given of Uganda ; but the customs of the inhabitants of that land, their difference of race, and their seclusion from all intercourse with com- mercial nations stamp them as being of a type which is of a very contrasted character. MONBUTTOO PRODUCE. 87 It seems almost to involve a contradiction to give the title of agriculturists to a people whose existence indeed depends upon the easy securing of fruits and tubers, but who abhor the trouble of growing cereals. Sorghum and penicillaria, which are the common food of the population in nearly the whole of Central Africa, are absolutely uncared for amongst the Monbuttoo; eleusine is only grown occasionally, and maize, which is known as " Nendoh," is cultivated quite as an exception in the immediate proximity of their dwellings, where it is treated as a garden vegetable. The growth of their plantain (Musa sapientium) gives them very little trouble ; the young shoots are stuck in the ground after it has been slackened by the rain ; the old plants are suffered to die down just as they are ; and this is all the cultivation that is vouchsafed. In the propagation of these plantains, however, the Monbuttoo have a certain knack of discrimi- nation for which they might be envied by any EurojDean gardener : they can judge whether a young shoot is capable of bearing fruit or not, and this gives them an immense ad- vantage in selecting only such shoots as are'worth the trouble of planting. They are not accustomed to bestow any greater amount of attention to the planting either of the tubers of their manioc (or cassava), their sweet-potatoes, their yams (neggoo), or their colocasise. A very limited range of plants embraces the whole of what they take the pains to cultivate, and that cultivation is all accomplished in the narrowest bounds. The entire produce is summed up in their sesame (mbellemoh), their earth-nuts, their sugar-canes, and espe- cially their tobacco. The Virginian tobacco is the only kind which is seen ; it is called Eh Tobboo, its name betraying its American origin. The Nicotiana rustica, which is of such constant growth amongst the Bongo, Dyoor, and Dinka, is here entirely unknown. Very little care, moreover, is given to the sugar-cane, which may be found amid the thinned woods that line the 88 THE HEART OF AFRICA. banks of the rivers. It is grown only as a sort of delicacy, beiug found nowhere in any great quantity, and its quality is far from good. One ever-thriving supply, which is of the utmost importance for maintaining the population, is pro- vided in all the valleys by the cassava {Manihot utilissima) ; but the cultivation of the sweet-potato, equally extensive as it is, demands a somewhat more careful attention, requiring the sunny soil of the upper slopes of the valleys above the line of the plantain groves and nearest to the edge of the depressions. Both sweet-potatoes and cassava here attain the very fullest standard of perfectiou, as far as regards either size or quality. But the staple food is the plantain. This is generally gathered in a green condition, dried, ground into meal, and boiled to a pulp ; occasionally, but not so often, it is dried after it is ripe for the purpose of being kept for a longer time. Very few countries of the world have a soil and atmosphere so favourable as these for insuring the abundant produce of this serviceable plant. The fruit when dried is a very choice delicacy, but any fermented drink made from plantains I found to be almost unknown among the Monbuttoo. Owing to the thorough isolation in which the Monbuttoo have lived, holding no intercourse with Mohammedan or Christian nations, the art of weaving has not found its way amongst them, and woven material .is consequently nowhere to be seen. Their clothing, as in many other regions of Central Africa, is contributed by their fig-trees {U7'ostigrma KotscJiyana), of which the bast from the bark, with the help of some strings and shreds, is worked into a substantial and enduring fabric. Hardly a hut can be seen that is without its own fig-trees, which, however, will not grow without due care and cultivation. The people are never known to wear skins attached to their girdles after the fashion of the Niam- niam ; the only occasion when skins are worn being ^\ hen they are made into a fancy dress for dancers. MONBUTTOO HUNTING. 89 On tlie south of the Welle there is a very extensive culti- vation of the oil-palm {Elais guineends). It is a tree that, although common to the west coasts, has not hitherto been found in the Nile districts, and consequently, like the cola- .uuts, which the wealthier of the Monbuttoo are accustomed to chew, it yields a significant evidence of the western asso- ciations of the people. Eveiy kind of cattle-breeding is quite unfamiliar to them ; and if the common little dogs known as the " nessy " of the Niam-niam breed be excepted, and no account be taken of their poultry (" naahle "), the Monbuttoo may be said to be absolutely without domestic animals at all. In a half tame state they keep, as I have said, the potamochoerus, which is their only representative of the swine family. From the marauding excursions with which they harass their southern neighbours they bring back a prodigious number of goats, but they make no attempt to rear them for themselves. Their hunting expeditions supply them with meat enough for their requirements, their taste leading them to give the preference to the flesh of elephants, buffaloes, wild boars, and the larger kinds of antelopes. Although the denseness of the population precludes any such increase of game of this kind as is universal in the more northern and less cultivated regions of Central Africa, yet the yield of theh chase would be adequate for their own wants, because the abundance of their supply at certain seasons is very great, and they have the art of preserving it so that it remains fit for food for a very considerable time. With this fact capable of being substantiated, it is altogether a fallacy to pretend to represent that the Monbuttoo are driven to cannibalism through the lack of ordinary meat. To judge from Munza's accumulated store of ivory, which is the result of the com- bined exploits of all the men in his dominions capable of bearing arms, the provision of elephant's meat alone must be sufficient to keep his people amply supplied. Nor should 90 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the immense quantity of poultry be forgotten, as there is hardly a dwelling that is not conspicuous for having a con- siderable stock, in the same way as dogs are an especial subject of interest amongst the Niam-niam, who have a very decided partiality for the flesh of that animal. A bird very common in the Monbuttoo lands is the grey parrot (Psittacus erythacus), which is very eagerly sought by the natives, who not only adorn their heads with the bright red. feathers from its tail, but have a great relish for its savoury flesh. Other sport in the way of birds is very incon- siderable, guinea-fowls, francolins, and bustards being all caught by means of snares. The herb Tephrosia Vogelii* is cultivated in nearly all the villages for the purpose of poisoning fish, and the fish that is thus secured forms a very considerable addition to the supply of food. Whilst the women attend to the tillage of the soil and the gathering of the harvest, the men, except they are absent either for war or hunting, spend the entire day in idleness. In the early houi's of the morning they may be found under the shade of the oil-palms, lounging at full length upon their carved benches and smoking tobacco. During the middle of the day they gossip with their friends in the cool halls, which serve for general concourse, where they may be seen gesticu- lating vigorously to give full force to their sentiments. The action of the Monbuttoo ia speaking exhibits several singu- larities, as, for example, their manner of expressing astonish- ment by putting their hand before their open mouth, very much in the same way as a person does when he is gaping. It has been said that the North American Indians have the habit of showing their surprise in the same way. Smiths' work, of course, is done by the men, but, just as in most other parts of Africa, the pottery is exclusively made by * A kindred plant of this genus is used in the West Indies, where the practico is generally carried on by slaves. MONBUTTO) WOMEN. 91 the women. Wood-carving and basket-weaving are per- formed indifferently by either sex. Musical instruments are not touched by the women. The universal form of salutation consists in holding out the right hand, and saying, " Gassiggy," and at the same time cracking the joints of the middle fingers. The two sexes conduct themselves towards each other with an excessive freedom. The women in this respect are very different to the modest and retiring women of the Niam- niam, and are beyond measure obtrusive and familiar. Their inquisitiveness was a daily nuisance : they watched me into the depth of the woods, they pestered me by flock- ing round my tent, and it Avas a difficult matter to get a bath without being stared at. Towards their husbands they exhibit the highest degree of independence. The position in the household occupied by the men was illustrated by the reply which would be made if they were solicited to sell anything as a curiosity, " Oh, ask my wife : it is hers." Polygamy is unlimited. The daily witness of the Nubians only too plainly testified that fidelity to the obligations of marriage was little known. Not a few of the women were openly obscene. Their general demeanour surprised me very much when I considered the comparative advance of their race in the arts of civilization. Their immodesty far surpassed anything that 1 had observed in the very lowest of the negro tribes, and contrasted most unfavourably with the sobriety of the Bongo women, who are submissive to their husbands and yet not servile. The very scantiness of the clothing of the Monbuttoo women has no excuse. Carved benches are the ordinary seats of the men, but the women generally use stools that have but one foot. On the occasion of paying a visit or going to a public gather- ing the men make their slaves carry their benches for them, as it is their custom never to sit upon the ground, not even when it has been covered with mats. 92 THE HEART OF AFRICA. The care that is given to the preparation of their food is very considerable, and betokens their higher grade of culture. The unripe produce of the plantain and the manioc, that in all districts is ready at their hand without the trouble of cultivation, make good the deficiency of corn. Their mode of treating manioc is precisely the same as that which is adopted in South America for the purpose of extracting the fine flour called tapioca. For spices they make use of the capsicum, the malaghetta pepper, and the fruit of two hitherto unspecified Solanese, and for which I regret that I cannot select the name of S. anthroj^ojphagorum, because it has been already assigned to the "cannibal salad" of the Fiji Islanders. The flavour of both these is very revolting, having a detestable twang, something between a tomato and a melongena. Mushrooms are also in common use for the preparation of their sauces. All their food is prepared by the admixture of oil from the oil-palms. In its unpurified condition when first ex- pressed from the pods, this oil is of a bright red colour, and of a somewhat thick consistency ; for a few days it has an agreeable taste, which, however, soon passes off and leaves a decided rankness. By subsequently submitting the kernels to fire, a coarse, inflammable oil is obtained, which is used for the purpose of lighting their huts. Other vegetable oils in considerable abundance are obtained from earth-nuts, from sesame, and from the fruit of a forest-tree, Lophira alata. From the fat thick bodies of the male white ants they boil out a greasy substance which is bright and trans- parent, and has a taste perfectly unobjectionable. But of most universal employment amongst them is human fat, and this brings our observations to the climax of their culinary practices. The cannibalism of the Monbuttoo is the most pronounced of all the known nations of Africa. Sur- rounded as they are by a number of people who are blacker than themselves, and who, being inferior to them in culture, MONBUTTOO CANNIBALISE!. 93 are consequently held in great contempt, they have just the opportunity which they want for carrying on expeditions of war or plunder, which result in the acquisition of a booty, which is especially coveted by them, consisting of human flesh. The carcases of all who fall in battle are distributed upon the battle-field, and are prepared by drying for trans- port to the homes of the conquerors. They drive their prisoners before them without remorse, as butchers would drive sheep to the shambles, and these are only reserved to fall victims on a later day to their -horrible and sickening greediness. During our residence at the court of Munza the general rumour was quite current that nearly every day some little child was sacrificed to supply his meal. It would hardly be expected that many opportunities should be afforded to strangers of witnessing the natives at their repast, and to myself there occurred only two instances when I came upon any of them whilst they were actually engaged in preparing human flesh for consumption. The first of these happened by my coming unexpectedly upon a number of young women who had a supply of boiling water upon the clay floor in front of the doorway of a hut, and were engaged in the task of scalding the hair off the lower half of a human body. The operation, as far as it was effected, had changed the black skin into a fawny grey, and the disgusting sight could not fail to make me think of the soddening and scouring of our fatted swine. On another occasion I was in a hut and observed a human arm hanging over the fire, obviously with the design of being at once dried and smoked. Incontrovertible tokens and indirect evidences of the prevalence of cannibalism were constantly turning up at every step we took. On one occasion Mohammed and myself were in Munza's company, and Mohammed de- signedly turned the conversation to the topic of human flesh, and put the direct question to the king how it hap- 94 THE HEART OF AFEICA. pened that just at this precise time while we were in the country there was no consumption of human food. Munza expressly said that being aware that such a practice was held in aversion by us, he had taken care that it should only be carried on in secret. As I have said, there was no opportunity for strangers to observe the habits of the Monbuttoo at their meals ; the Bongo and Mittoo of our caravan were carefully excluded by them as being uncircumcised, and therefore reckoned as " savages ; " whilst the religious scruples of the Nubians prevented them from even partaking of any food in common with cannibals. Nevertheless the instances that I have men- tioned are in themselves sufficient to show that the Monbuttoo are far more addicted to cannibalism than their hunting neighbours, the Niam-niam. They do not constitute the first example of anthropophagi who are in a far higher grade of culture than many savages who persistently re- pudiate the enjoyment of human flesh (for example, the Fiji Islanders and the Caraibs). It is needless for me to recount the personal experiences of the Nubian mercenaries who have accompanied the Monbuttoo on their marauding expeditions, or to describe how these people obtain their human fat, or again to detail the processes of cutting the flesh into long strips and drying it over the fire in its pre- paration for consumption. The numerous skulls now in the Anatomical Museum in Berlin are simply the remains of their repasts which I purchased one after another for bits of copper, and go far to prove that the cannibalism of the Monbuttoo is unsurpassed by any nation in the world. But with it all, the Monbuttoo are a noble race of men; men who display a certain national pride, and are endowed with an intellect and judgment such as few natives of the African wilderness can boast ; men to whom one may put a reason- able question, and who wall return a reasonable answer. The Nubians can never say enough in praise of their faithfulness A MONBUTTOO AMAZOX. 95 in friendly intercourse and of the order and stability of their national life. According to the Nubians, too, the Monbuttoo were their superiors in the arts of war, and I often heard the resident soldiers contending with their companions and say- ing, " Well, perhaps you are not afraid of the IMonbuttoo, but 1 confess that I am ; and I can tell you they are something to be afraid of." As matter of fact the Khartoom traders, some years before, had had a definite trial of arms wnth the Monbuttoo. Shortly after his accession to power, Munza had of his own accord and by a special embassy invited Aboo Sammat to extend his transactions beyond their present limits in Nganye's and Wando's territories ; but in the year previous to that, the Nubian merchant Abderahman Aboo Guroon, having en- deavoured to penetrate from Keefa's dominions into the Monbuttoo lands, was attacked on the north of the Welle by the IMonbuttoo forces, who opposed his advances upon their territory. At that time jMunza's father, Tikkiboh, had absolute rule in the country, and the achievements of his daughter Nalengbe, a sister of the present king, are still fresh in the memory of all who were present at the engage- ment ; eye-witnesses gave me detailed accounts of the exploits of this veritable Amazon, whom I have mentioned before, and related how, in full armour, with shield and lance, and girded with the rokko apron of a man, she had with the utmost bravery led on the Monbuttoo troops, who then for the first time came in contact with firearms; and how her exertions were attended with a complete success, the adven- turous Aboo Guroon being repulsed with considerable loss, and forced to relinquish altogether his design of entering the country. In the following year, 1867, Mohammed Aboo Sammat, invited as I have said by the king himself, crossed the Welle and entered the land, thus, as the first explorer, opening the ivory trafiic under conditions of peace, which have ever since remained undisturbed. Vol. II.— 8 96 THE HEART OF AFRICA. The Monbnttoo potentates enjoy far higher prerogatives than the Niam-niam princes. Besides the monopoly of the ivory, they claim regular contributions from the products of the soil. In addition to his special body-guard, the sovereign is always surrounded by a large body of courtiers, whilst an immense number of civil officers and local overseers main- tain the regal dignity in the various districts of the land. Munza's three brothers, Izingerria, Mummery, and Nooma, perform the office of viceroys, and subordinate to these again are sub-chieftains of the second rank, who act as governors of provinces. Next in rank to the sub-chieftains, who are generally chosen from the numerous members of the blood-royal, are the principal officers of state. These are five in number : the keeper of the weapons, the master of the ceremonies, the superintendent of the commissariat stores, the master of the household to the royal ladies, and the interpreter for inter- course with strangers and foreign rulers. Munza never leaves his residence without being accom- panied by several hundred of his retinue, and, in token of his dignity, a long array of drummers, trumpeters, and couriers with great iron bells aro sent at the head of the procession. The harem, in the immediate vicinity of the palace, consists of eighty young ladies, who, with theii- attendant women slaves, occupy as many huts erected in a wide circuit within the precincts of the royal halls and private apartments. Enclosed by these huts is a smooth and ample space, where the well-trodden red soil offers a fine contrast to the deep green foliage of the groups of oil- palms, bread-fruit trees, cordise, trumpet-trees, urostigmae, and other trees by which it is overshadowed. Munza holds his councils in the great halls, and on appointed days grants audiences, and occasionally gives one of the extensive feasts, accompanied by music and dancing, such as I have already described. THE ROYAL WIVES. 97 The royal ladies are divided, according to age and seniority, into several classes. The elder matrons occupy villages built for their accommodation at some distance from the residence; their number amounts to several hundred, for, besides his own wives of the first and second rank, Munza is bound to maintain the ladies inherited from his father, and even those belonging to a deceased brother. It is a long-established African custom that at a king's death his wives should fall to the lot of his successor, who never fails to annex to their number a large addition of his own. In the sixteenth century the \\ives of the King of Loango were estimated at 7000. Whenever at night the king leaves his private apartments to visit his wives, the place re-echoes with the shouts of the courtiers, accompanied by the strains of horns and kettle- drums, and then, too, may be heard the Monbuttoo hymn, " Ee, ee, Munza, tchuppy, tchuppy, ee." Eye-witnesses state that the king spends his night in passing from one hut to another, and without favouring any with an especially long visit ; but it is all done in the strictest incognito and under cover of the darkness. Besides the courtiers, the royal household contains many officials appointed to some pecu- liar functions; there are the private musicians, trumpeters and buglers, whose productions testify to the time and labour spent upon their acquirement ; there are eunuchs and jesters, ballad-singers and dancers, who combine to increase the splen- dour of the court, and to provide general amusement for the festal gatherings. In addition to these there are numbers of stewards, who keep order at the feasts and, by a free use of their rods, restrain the over-obtrusiveness of the younger portion of tlie community. The king's private residence consists of a group of several large huts, each of which is set apart for one of his daily occupations. They are enclosed, like a Seriba, with a pali- sade, and are shaded by plantations of well-kept trees. The 98 THE HEART OF AFRICA. king's food is always prepared by one of his wives, who perform the office in turn, relieving one an other at stated intervals. Munza invariably takes his meals in private ; no one may see the contents of his dish, and everything that he leaves is carefully thrown into a pit set apart for that pur- pose. All that the king has handled is held as sacred, and may not be touched ; and a guest, though of the highest rank, may not so much as light his pipe with an ember from the fire that burns before his throne. Any similar attempt AV'ould be considered as high treason and punished with immediate death. As permission was granted me to inspect the internal arrangements of the royal palace, I was enabled to survey the whole series of huts. The king's wardrobe alone occupied several apartments. In one room I saw nothing but hats and feathers of every variety, special value being laid upon the red parrot's feathers, which are arranged in great round tufts. One hut there was in which were suspended whole bundles of the tails of civets, genets, potamochoeri, and giraffes, together with skins and thousands of the ornaments with which the king was accustomed to adorn his person. I observed also long strings of the teeth of rare animals captured in the chase. One ornament alone, composed of more than a hundred lions' fangs, must have been a costly heirloom to be handed on from father to son. For the first time I noticed the skin of the Galago Demidoffi, an animal hitherto only observed in Western Africa. A little conical hut that I was shown was set apart for the privacy of the royal retiring-room, the only one of the kind that I came across in Central Africa. The internal arrangements of this corresponded exactly with what is seen in Turkish dwelling-houses. The heathen negroes are generally more observant of decorum in this respect than any Mohammedan. On another occasion I was conducted through the armoury. MONBUTTOO CIVILIZATION. 99 The store of weapons consisted principally of lances tied up in bundles of two or three hundred together, which in times of war are distributed amongst the fighting force ; there are also piles of the knives and daggers which are borne by Mon- buttoo warriors. In the same place were kept the orna- mental weapons which are used for decorating the royal halls on festal occasions, consisting for the most part of immense spears, formed head and shaft alike of pure copper, and brightly polished. The storehouses and corn-magazines were provided with well-qaade, water-tight roofs, and Munza spends a portion of every day in the several sections, personally superintending the distribution and arrangement of the stores. From these details it may be understood that the Monbuttoo are subject to a monarchical government of an importance beyond the average of those of Central Africa; and in its institutions it appears to correspond with the descriptions of negro empires long since passed away. The half mythical empire of the powerful Mwata Yanvo, whose influence doubt- less extended to the Monbuttoo lands, may probably, to a certain extent, have furnished the type for many of these, institutions ; but be that as it may, it is an indisputable fact, that of all the known nations of Central Africa the Monbuttoo, without any influence from the Mohammedan or Christian world, have attained to no contemptible degree of external culture, and their leading characteristics prove th^em to belong to a group of nations which inhabit the inmost heart of Africa, and which are being now embraced in the enlarg- ing circle of geographical knowledge. The land of the Manuyema, visited by Livingstone, and the states of Mwata Yanvo, frequented by the Portuguese traders, form re- spectively the south-western and south-eastern limits of this immense territory, which in area surpasses half of European Russia. In turning to the national characteristics of this people, 100 THE HEART OF AFRICA. we may notice in the first place that their complexion is of a lighter tint than that of almost all the known nations of Central Africa, the colour of whose skins may be generally compared, by the test I have frequently adopted, to that of ground cofiee. It is this peculiai'ity that forms a great dis- tinction between the Monbuttoo and the Niam-niam, whose complexions are more aptly compared to cakes of chocolate or ripe olives. It cannot fail to strike the traveller as remarkable that in all African nations he meets with indi- viduals with black, red, and yellow complexions, whilst the yellow tribes of Asia and the copper-coloured tribes of America each present a remarkable uniformity in the tone and shade of their skins. Barth observed this peculiarity among the Marghi ; he noticed some individuals who were quite black, and others who had coppery-red skins, or, as he describes them, rhubarb-coloured, in distinction to those which he compared to chocolat-au-lait. His supposition that an intermingling of races was the sole cause of this diversity of complexion is probably incorrect, as it appears to be a charac- teristic of the entire series of the red-skinned races of Africa. « The Monbuttoo have less fulness of muscle than the Niam- niam, without, however, any appearance of debility. The growth of the hair is much the same, and the beard is much more developed than that of the Niam-niam. But there is one special characteristic that is quite peculiar to the Monbuttoo. To judge from the hundreds who paid visits of curiosity to my tent, and from the thousands whom [ saw during my three weeks' sojourn with Munza, I should say that at least five per cent, of the population have light hair. This was always of the closely frizzled quality of the negro type, and was always associated with the lightest skins that I had seen since leaving Lower Egypt. Its colour was by no means like that which is termed light hair amongst ourselves, but was of a mongrel tint mixed with grey, sug- gesting the comparison to hemp. All the individuals who PHYSIOLOGICAL SPECULATION. 101 had this light hair and complexion had a sickly expression about the eyes, and presented many signs of pronounced albinism ; they recalled a description given by Isaac Vossius, in his book upon the origin of the Nile, of the white men he saw at the court of the King of Loango : he says that " they were sickly-looking and wan of countenance, with their eyes drawn as though they were squinting." In the previous chapter I have given a similar description of one of the king's sons, named Bunza. This combination of light hair and skin gives the Monbuttoo a position distinct from all the nations of the northern part of Africa, with the single exception of the various inhabitants of Morocco, amongst whom fair- haired individuals are far from uncommon. It has been already observed that in the physiognomical form of the skull the Monbuttoo in many ways recall the type of the Semitic tribes ; and they differ from the ordinary run of negroes in the greater length and curve of the "nose. All these characteristics betoken an affinity with the Fulbe, and as such the Monbuttoo may probably be included amongst the " Pyrrhi ^thiopes " of Ptolemy. This would, however, be but a vague supposition if it were not supported by the fact that the Fulbe are of eastern origin, although in later times a portion of them have made a retrogade movement from Senegal towards the east. It must be understood that I do not intend by these remarks to offer a bridge for carry- ing over Eichwaldt's theory of tlie affinity of the Fulbe with the Malays, nor do I intend by such a national migration to add a new link to what he declares to be accomplished in the case of Meroe. Barth considers these Fulbe to be the issue of a double cross, a cross between the Arabs and people of Barbary on the one hand and the people of Barbary and the negroes on the other. This hypothesis, I believe, would also hold good for the Monbuttoo ; but altogether it is a question too vague to be capable of being here discussed with any justice. 102 THE HEART OF AFRICA. On aciouut of the loss of tlie specimens of the Monbuttoo dialect, which I had been at great pains to collect by means of a double interpretation, I am unfortunately not in a posi- tion to give much information about the dialect ; this much, however, I can confidently assert, that it is a branch of the great African language-stock north of the equator, the *^reater number of the words belonging to the Nubio-Lybian group. Still more than in the colour of their skin do the Mon- Ijuttoo differ from the neighbouring nations in dress and liabits. This appears to be a land where costume is a settled matter of rule, for the uniformity of attire is as complete as it is rapidly becoming under the sway of fashion in all classes uf our civilized communities. Weaving is an art unknown to the Monbuttoo, and their only material for clothing is obtained from their fig-tree (TJrokigma Fotschyana), the bark of which is found to be in a condition most serviceable for the purpose when the trunk of the tree is about as thick as a man's body ; the stem is then peeled in rather a remarkable manner : two circular incisions, four or five feet apart, are made right round the trunk, and the bark is removed entire ; strange to say, this does no harm to the tree, and in a very short time a peculiar growth or granulation takes place along the edge of the upper incision in the form of little fibres, which gradually ilescend along the bare cambium or sap-wood, until the tree is once more clothed with a fresh layer of bast. The only explanation that can be offered for this unusual growth is, that in peeling off the bark the entire layer of bast is not removed, but that some portion of it is left hanging to the wood and retains its vitality.* In the course of three years the fresh growth is complete, and the bark is in a con- * Livingstone observed a similar new LTOwth of bark on the trunk of tlie Baobab {Adansonia), from which the Matabele obtain material for curd. ROKKO-TREES. 103 dition to be again removed ; apart from tbis pro|)erty, the rearino^ of these rokko-trees would not compensate the natives for the trouble of planting them. The rokko bark has a certain resemblance to the lime-bast, which is so important an article of commerce in Russia ; its fibres, however, have not the smoothness and paper-like Monbuttoo Warriors. 104 THE HEART OF AFRICA. thinness of the Kiissian product, but are tangled together almost like a woven mass. By a partial maceration and a good deal of thrashing, the Monbuttoo contrive to give the bark the appearance of a thick close fabric, which, in its rough condition, is of a grey colour, but after being soaked iu a decoction of wood acquires a reddish-brown hue, some- thing like ordinary woollen stuff. Fastened at the waist with a girdle, one of these pieces of bark is sufficient to clothe the body, from the breast downwards to the knees, with a very effective substitute for drapery. Eepresentations of two Monbuttoo warriors in full array are given iu the illustration on the preceding page. The women go almost entirely unclothed ; they wear nothing but a portion of a plantain leaf or a piece of bark about the size of their hand attached to the front of their girdle ; the rest of the body being figured in laboured patterns by means of a black juice obtained from the Blippo (Eandia mallei/era). Whilst the Dinka women, leaving perfect nudity as the prerogative of their husbands, are modestly clothed with skins — whilst the Mittoo and Bongo women wear their girdle of foliage, and the Niam-niam women their apron of hides, the women of the Monbuttoo — where the men are more scrupulously and fully clothed than any of the nations that I came across throughout my journey — go almost entirely naked. Whenever the women go out, they carry across their arm a strap which they lay across their laps on sitting down. These straps or scarfs are about a foot wide, and something like a saddle-girth, and as they form their first attempt in the art of weaving, their texture is of the clumsiest order, possessing no other recommendation than their durability ; they are appropriated to the further use of fastening infants to their mothers' backs. The women can be distinguished from one another by the different tattooed figures running in bands across the breast TATTOOING OF THE WuMEN. 105 Monbuttoo Woman. and back along the shoulders ; their bodies, moreover, are painted with an almost inexhaustible variety of patterns. Stars and Maltese crosses, bees and flowers, are all enlisted as designs; at one time the entire body is covered with stripes like a zebra, and at another with irregular spots and dots like a tiger; I have seen these women streaked with veins like marble, and even covered with squares like a chess-board. At the great festivals every Monbuttoo lady endeavours to outshine her compeers, and accordingly applies all her powers of invention to the adornment of her person. The patterns last for about two days, when they are carefully rubbed off, and replaced by new designs. Instead of this paint the men use a cosmetic prepared from pulverised cam-wood, which is mixed with fat and then rubbed over the whole body. The Niam-niam also make use of this powder, but they only apply it partially in irregular 106 THE HEART OF AFRICA. spots and stripes, delighting especially in staining the breast and face to increase the ferocity of their appearance. The coiffure of both sexes is alike ; the hair of the top and back of the head is mounted up into a long cylindrical chignon, and being fastened on the inside by an arrange- ment made of reeds, slopes backwards in a slanting direction. Across the forehead, from temple to temple, the hair is twisted in thin tresses, which lie one above another, closely iitting the skull until they reach the crown of the head. Their own hair is rarely long enough to form this portion of the liead-gear, but the deficiency is supplied from the heads of those who have fallen in war, or, since hair is an article ol traffic in the country, it is procured from the market. On the top of their chignon, the men wear the cylindrical straw-hats so often referred to. These are without brims, square at the top and circular at the base, and are adorned either with the tufts of red parrots' feathers that I have described in connection with Munza's wardrobe,* or with the long feathers of eagles and falcons. The hats, of course, follow the slanting directions of the chignon, and fall back diagonally to the head, and altogether the head-gear is remarkably similar to that worn by the Ishogo women in Western Africa. The Monbuttoo women wear no hat on their chignon, which is merely adorned with little hair-pins attached to combs made of the quills of the porcupines. These details may suffice to give a fair notion of the external appearance of the Monbuttoo, and if I add that their only mutilation of the body consists in boring the inner muscle of the ear for the purpose of inserting a bar about the size of a cigar, I shall have described all the fashions in vogue, from which no individual is at liberty to make marked deviation. They neither break out their lower incisor teeth, * In tlie woodcut which represents Munza in full dress, the king has one of these clusters of feathers in his hat. MONBUTTOO WEAPONS. 10< like the black nations on the northern river plains, nor do they file them to points, like the Niam-niam , neither do they imitate the Bongo and Mittoo women in the hideous perfora- tion of their lips ; and I repeat that, if we except circum- cision (which, according to the accounts of all the heathen negroes of equatorial Africa, is a custom they have received from their remote ancestors), this piercing of the ear is the . one disfigurement of nature adopted by the Monbuttoo. On account of this practice the Khartoomers have conferred upon them the title of " Gurrugurroo," i.e. " pierced," in con- tradistinction to the Niam-niam in general, Niam-niam being, as I have said, the term used by the inhabitants of the Soudan for all cannibals, irrespective of their various nationalities. The weapons of the Monbuttoo warriors are very numerous. Besides shields and lances, they also carry bows and arrows, a combination somewhat rare amongst Africans ; in addition Weai'oxs of the MoMirTTOO. Fics. 1-9. Various pcimitars. 10. Large dagger. 11. Hand-knife, fot carving and peeling bark. 108 THE HEART OF AFRICA. to tliese, in their girdles they are accustomed to have scimi- tars with curved blades like sickles, whilst some of them use daggers and spatular knives of all shapes and sizes. The projectiles which are in use among the Niam-niam are not included in the equipment of the Monbuttoo. Since the Monbuttoo dwell upon the red ferruginous soil extending from the Gazelle over a large portion of Central Africa, it may be assumed as a matter of course that smiths' worjj must play an important part in their industrial pursuits, an(f indeed in this respect they excel all other natives of the districts through which I travelled, whilst in other branches of their manufacture they surpassed even the Mohammedans of Northern Africa. The smelting process is of the most primitive description, and is the same that has been described by travellers in all parts of Africa. The simplicity of the arrangement is caused by the ventilating apparatus ; for as the construction of valves is unknown, a continual draft is produced by means of two clay vessels, of which the openings are covered by the Monbuttoo smiths with plantain leaves, which have been allowed to simmer in hot water until they have become as flexible as silk: other nations cover the openings with soft skins. Although entirely without our pincers, hammers, and files, the Monbuttoo have a set of implements of their own, by means of which their iron-work is more carefully manipulated than that of any of their neighbours. Instead of the usual stone anvil, they use a miniature one of wrought iron, and on this each separate weapon is cut out with a chisel, and hammered until an approximate degree of sharp- ness is attained ; the edge being brought to its finish by a piece of fine-ground sandstone or gneiss, which answers the purpose of a file. As a general rule, no special form is given to the iron used as a medium of exchange, unless indeed the great semicircular bars in the royal treasury be considered as currency, and which remind one of the rough copper rings MONBUTTOO METAL WORK. 109 that are brought from the mines of Darfoor.* Neither plates of iron nor round spades (melots) are in vogue, but the smiths have to work from great lumps of iron as large as the fist. The dexterity of these artificers is wonderful, and the short space of time in which they will convert the raw material into spades and lances is, I should think, unrivalled. The Monbuttoo smiths often joined our Bongo workmen at their forges in our camp, and as I had frequent opportunity of observing and comparing the two, I do not hesitate in assert- ing the decided superiority of the workmanship of the Mon- buttoo. The masterpieces, however, of these Monbuttoo smiths are the ornamental chains which, in refinement of form and neat- ness of finish, might vie with our best steel chains ; in fact, according to the judgment of connoisseurs, many of these specimens of autochthonic art may well bear comparison with the productions of our European craftsmen. The process of tempering is quite unknown to them, the necessary hardness being attained by continual hammering : the material used is singularly pure and homogeneous, qualities acquired not from any perfection of the smelting apparatus, but from the laborious welding of the separate particles of iron. Copper was already known, and the king was in possession of large quantities of the metal, before the Nubians set foot in the country ; and as previously to that event the Mon- buttoo (if Ave except the great raid which Barth reports to have been made upon them by the Foorians in 183-1) had had no intercourse with the Mohammedan world, there is every reason to conclude that they must have received their supply either from the copper mines of Angola and Loango, or from some other region of the north-western portion of South Africa. Almost all the ornaments worn by the Monbuttoo are made * Iron rings of the heaviest calibre are current iu Wandala, south of Bornoo. ]10 THE HEART OF AFRICA. of copper, so that it may be easily understood that the de- maud for the metal is not small. One of the most frequent uses to which it is applied is that of making flat wires, many vards long, to wind round the handles of knives and scimi- tars, or round the shafts of lances and bows. Copper, as well as iron, is used for the clasps which are attached to the shields, partly for ornament and partly to prevent them from splitting. Copper necklaces are in continual wear, and copper fostenings are attached to the rings of buffalo-hide and to the thick thongs of the girdles. The little bars in- serted through the ear are tipped with the same metal ; in fact there is hardly an ornament that fails in an adjunct of copper in some form or other ; persons of rank not unfre- quently pride themselves in having ornamental weapons formed entirely of it. All other metals being unknown, iron and copper are estimated by the Monbuttoo as silver and gold by ourselves, and the silver platter with which I pre- sented the king failed to elicit any comment beyond the observation that it was white iron. Lead and tin have been introduced as curiosities by the Nubians, but previous to their arrival had never been seen. Information, however, which was incidentally dropped by a Niam-niam, led me to suppose that fragments of platinum about the size of peas have been found in these lands: he told me that a white metal, as hard as iron and as heavy as the lead of which the Nubians made their bullets, had been discovered, but that its existence was always carefully concealed from the strangers. I see no reason to doubt the truth of this statement, since it originated from a people who in no other way could have become aware of the existence of such a metal, which has been hitherto as unknown to the Nubians as silver and gold to the Monbuttoo. It would require many illustrations to convey an adequate idea of the various forms of the heads of the arrows and lances : suffice it to say, that the symmetry of the various MONBUTTOO WEAPONS. Ill barbs, spikes, and prongs with which they are provided is always perfect. The prevailing forms of the spear-heads are hastate, whilst the arrows are generally made flat or spatnlar, as inflicting a deeper and wider wound than the pointed tips. All weapons of the Monbuttoo and the Niam- niam are provided with blood gutters, a mark which serves to distinguish them at once from those of the Bongo and Mittoo. The shafts of the Monbuttoo arrows are made of reed-grass, and differ from all others of the Bongo terri- tory by being winged with pieces of genet's skin or plan- tain leaves. The bows are rather over three feet in length, and in form and size correspond very nearly witli those used by the Mittoo and Bongo ; the bow-strings being made of a strip of the split Spanish reed, which possesses more elasticity than any cord. These bows are provided with a small hollow piece of wood for protecting the thumb from the rebound of the string. The arrow is always discharged from between the middle fingers. The perfection of their instruments gives the Monbuttoo a great advantage in the art of wood-carving, and they are the only African nation, including even the modern Egyp- tians, who make use of a graving-tool with a single edge, an instrument which, by supporting the forefinger, enables the workman to give a superior finish to the details of his productions. The wood used for carving is generally that of Vol. II.— 9 Spear-heads. 112 THE HEABT OP AFRICA. the stem of one of the Rnbiacefe (Unearia), of which the soft close texture resembles that of poplar-wood. The felling of these giant-trees, which vary from six to eight feet in dia- meter, and often shoot up to a height of forty feet without throwing forth a single branch, is performed by means of their small hatchets, with a most tedious amount of labour. The hatchets are like those which are used in other parts of Central Africa, and consist of a sharpened iron wedge inserted through the thick end of a knotted club , thus every blow tends to fix the blade firmer in its socket. The number of blows necessary to fell one of these ponderous trees must amount to several thousand, and yet 1 often noticed stems lying in the forest the ends of which were as smooth as though they had been cut with a knife, a circumstance that attests their correctness of vision, a quality in which the negroes outshine the Arabs and Nubians, as much as in their appreciation of sound and musical talent. The first crude Hatchet, spade, and adze, of the Monbuttou form is given to the larger blocks of wood by means of a tool something like a cooper's adze.* When first hewn, the wood of the Unearia is white, but it is afterwards blackened by exposure to fire, or still more frequently by being allowed to lie in the dark soil of the brooks. * One of these tools is represented in the accompanying illustration. MOJSBurroo handicraft. 113 Platters, stools, drums, boats, and shields constitute the chief items of their handicraft. Upon the Lower ►Shary, the boats which are in common use are manufactured by fastening together wooden planks, but here, on the Welle, canoes are hewn out of a solid stem, and are in every way adapted for their purpose. I saw some of them upwards of thirty-eight feet long and five feet wide, quite large enough for the con- veyance of horses and cattle.* The large signal-drums ol the Niam-niam are to be. seen in every Monbuttoo village. They stand sometimes upon Wooden kettle-drum. four, and sometimes upon two, feet, and are like the instru- ments which are seen upon the West Coast. Another smaller kind is made in a semicircular shape, very compressed, and fitted with a handle at the top ; the opening for the sound is below, and the instrument may be compared to a flattened bell. Benches and stools, such as are exclusively used by the women, are made in every diversity of shape. They are carved out of a single block, for, to say the truth, no people of Central Africa seems to have acquired the art of joining one piece of wood to another, so that the craft of the cabinet- maker may be said to be unknown. The seats of these stools are circular and somewhat hollowed out, surmounting a * A boat of this kind is seen in the view of the rapids of the Keebaly, in Chap. XVII. 114 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Single seat used by the Women. prettily carved stem, which rises from a circular or polygonal base. Close to the edge of the seat is a triangular aperture, which serves as a handle. They are usually made from twelve to sixteen inches high, and are hardly to be distinguished from certain contrivances for meal-times, which are here made so as to serve at once for table and plate. Wooden platters there are of every possible size: one kind of them has two open ring-shaped handles ; another stands upon four feet, and both are patterns quite worthy of our own factories at home. Besides the single seats they are in the habit of making long benches also with four feet. The practice of making all their utensils to stand upon feet is all but universal among the Niam-niam and the Monbuttoo, even the little cylindrical boxes covered with bark for storing away their knick-knacks being finished off in this fashion. The ordinary seats of the men are made exclusively from the leaf-stalks of the Raphia palm : they always keep to precisely the same form, and in their manufacture appear to indicate a first attempt at the joiner's art. The benches of the Monbuttoo men are about five feet long and of corresponding width ; they are made of such lightness that one of our bearers, without any apparent exertion, carried six of them at once ; but they are nevertheless of very extraordinary firmness, and the way in which the separate parts are fixed together is really very ingenious. The Monbuttoo do not fasten their benches or any of their structures by means of nails or pegs, but they sew them, as it were, together by fine split Spanish reeds, which by their unyielding toughness SEATS AND SHIELDS. 115 answer as admirably as in the manufacture of our cane- cliairs. Backs are not attached to the Monbuttoo seats ; but as some support of the kind is clearly indispensable, they en- deavour to supply its place by placing by the side of their benches a singular sort of crutch. This is obtained by taking a young tree and cutting a section of it, where what botanists call its " verticillate ramification " has developed itself into four addi- tional separate limbs: the main stem and two of the boughs supply the three feet, the other two boughs serving, with the continuation of the stem, to make the arms and back. No wood is so available for the purpose as that of the cotton tree {Eriodendron). The shields of the warriors are hewn out of the thickest stems by means of the axe, and consist of perfectly smooth rectangular boards, not more than half an inch thick, but which are long enough to cover two-thirds of the person. These inelegant instruments of defensive warfare, in which the recommendation of solidity is ill sacrificed for the sake of their lightness, require to be protected from splitting or starting, and to secure this a number of parallel seams of rotang are fixed across the width, and both the upper and lower edges are provided with a strong border of rotang twist, and a strong rib run across the middle gives them an additional firmness. They are generally decorated with tails of the guinea-hog (Potamochserus), and are in- variably stained quite black. If any fissures or cracks should be detected, they are at once drawn together by iron and copper braces. Contrasted with the rest of Africa, and even with the IIG THE HEART OF AFPJCA. Bongo, whose comparative skill was noticed on a previous page,* the district shows a very considerable advance in the manufacture of their pottery. Although they remain as unacquainted as other races with the use of the wheel, their productions, besides being of a superior quality, are of a more perfect symmetry than any which are elsewhere observed. All the vessels and drinking-cups of the Africans in general Water-bottlea. have the character of urns, being made without handles and being never otherwise than spherical in form ; but those of the Monbuttoo exhibit a manifest improvement, and by having the surface decorated either with some raised sym- metrical pattern (which is especially the case upon their oil vessels) or with some ornamental figures, they afford a firm hold to the hand, and thus make good the lack of handles for lifting them. It is, however, principally upon the water- bottles that the greatest care is bestowed, some of which may fairly be said to rival in symmetry the far-famed examples of Egyptian art, and to betray a considerable faculty of plastic genius.t * Vide vol. i. page 292. t The two examples of water-bottles given in the engravings are copies ot the originals, which are deposited in the Ethnographical Museum in Berlin, GRASS ORNAMENTS. 117 For the bowls of pipes, upon wbich other of the native populations lavish so much care, they have no use. They smoke only the Virginian tobacco, and for this purpose employ the midrib of the plantain leaf in the way that I have already described,* superseding entirely the necessity for a solid bowl. They are very ignorant of the art of leather-dressing, and are no more acquainted with the use of tan than any of the rest of the tribes that have their homes in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district. Their baskets and nets are woven out of rotang, the form of the baskets in which they bear burdens on their backs being very similar to those which are seen amongst the Thuringians. Their mode of dressing their hair necessarily prevents them from ever carrying a load upon their heads. They are in the habit of twisting ornaments for themselves out of reeds and grass, which they wear like rings round their arms and legs, and which make a rustling sound as they walk. They bestow a great amount of care in weaving the fine webs which hold on their hats and chignons. The rattles, filled with shells and pebbles, that are used for beating time to the music of the drums and horns at the great festivals are also woven from reeds. The Monbuttoo musical instruments require no particular description. They do not include the pretty little mandolins of the Niam-niam, nor any other stringed instruments, and their horns, trumpets, and drums may be said to be little short of universal throughout Africa. Wooden dulcimers (Marimba) are met with neither here. nor in South Africa. But the artistic versatility of the people reveals itself more than anywhere else in their arcliitectural skill. It would hardly be credited that Africa would be capable of rearing To the one in three compartments handles are attached, heing the only instance of the kind that I ever saw. * Vide vol. i. page 547. 118 THE HEART OF AFEICA. any erection so spacious and well proportioned as the ball of Munza's palace. This was little short of 150 feet in length and 60 feet in breadth, and rose to the height of about 50 feet. Combined with these imposing dimensions were a lightness of character and solidity of structure that were quite remarkable. The ever-useful leaf- stalks of the wine-palm form the principal building-material, and its natural polish and bright brown colour give every building for which it is used an aspect of finished grace. The flat horizontal roofs of their huts, as distinguished from the conical roofs which we have hitherto observed as almost universal throughout the rest of Central Africa, mark out these Monbuttoo in a fresh respect as being allied to the natives of the west, viz., the Ishogo, the Ashango, the Bakalai, the Ashiva, the Camma, the Mpongwe, and the Fan — a relation that is further con- firmed by the physical character of the land, the streams of which flow to the west instead of to the north. Some of the huts, however, have conical roofs, and these are generally appropriated, either as kitchens, because they allow better escape for the smoke, or as granaries, because they throw off the rain more rapidly. The dwellings of the ordinary population are by no means large, being seldom more than thirty feet long, and twenty feet wide ; the roofs project considerably, and are slightly rounded with a bend corresponding to the natural curvature of the palm leaves from which they are made, and which furnish the ribs of the roof. They are rendered water-tight by a lining of plantain leaves, which is frequently covered again with grass, straw, or skin. The walls are built up to a height of five or six feet, and are lined like the roof and bound together by the split Spanish reed. This, again, is the mode of erecting the huts upon the West Coast. It offers an astonishing power of resistance to the fury of the elements, which, left to play upon rows of posts or to range through open halls, might be expected to work complete destruction ; TREES. 119 yet such is the stability with which the Monbuttoo huts are raised, that they never totter in, a storm, and only show by a slight trembling in the walls that they are exposed to the violence of a hurricane. A spacious doorway is the only aperture for light and air, the door itself being made in one piece ; the interior is divided into two apartments, the more remote of which is reserved for the stores. Plantations of trees are frequent, and still more frequent are patches of shrubs, which are intentionally suffered to grow, and which, as being serviceable, are permitted to survive the extirpation of the .ancient forests. These are generally to be seen in the immediate vicinity of the unenclosed farms. In addition to them, many trees are allowed to stand for the sake of the shelter they afford ; and some are kept because of their useful jDroducts, as for example, the Tephrosia Vogelii, which furnishes the powder for poisoning fish ; or the Bandia mallei/era, which produces the pigment for the staining of the skiu, and of which the white funnel-shaped blossoms are a striking ornament to the bushes ; and some are retained merely for ornament and for increasing the pleasantness of the external aspect of their dwellings. As examples of this superfluous indulgence I may refer to the marvellous Mussaenda, with its glowing bracts, and to the variety of resplendent orchids. Here, too, I noticed what I must not omit to record, the turf-like Chlorophijtum, with its variegated leaves of mingled white and green, which is employed among the Niam-niam as a charm to detect a thief, much in the same way as the Canavalia ensiformis, known as the "overlook" or horse-bean, is employed in Jamaica and Haiti, where it is sown in the negro-plantations for that purpose. The huts are arranged in sets following the lines of the brooks along the valleys, the space between each group being occupied by plantations of oil-palms. The dwellings 120 THE HEART OF AFKICA. are separated from the lowest parts of the depressions by the plantain-grounds, whilst above, on the higher and drier soil, extend the fields of sweet-potatoes and colocasiae. No one could seriously expect a traveller, after a transient residence of five weeks, to pass anything like a decided judgment upon the religious ideas of a people like the Monbuttoo. A wide scope for speculation is undoubtedly opened, but it would ill become a stranger to pretend to pronoimce a conclusive verdict. I must be excused, there- fore, from drawing any very definite inference from the fact that they adopt the rite of circumcision so far as to have it performed on boys when they come to an age of puberty, a period of life which is neither in accordance with the original prescription, nor with the doctrine of Mohammed. I may say, however, that I never allowed myself to be unconcerned with regard to any of the people amongst whom I journeyed as to their opinions about a presiding Deity, but, by collecting all the proofs I could from their habitual speech, I endeavoured to learn what were their conceptions about the sovereignty of an invisible power, and its influence upon the destinies of men. The Monbuttoo have undoubtedly very intelligent ideas of what the Nubians mean by their bowing of the knee, their prostrations to the ground, and their cry of "Allah!" The very designation which they use to express their concep- tion of Grod as the concentration of the Supreme Being, opens a long vista into the kindred association of African people. In the district of the Mahas, the word now em- ployed for the Grod of the Nubians is " Nor," and, upon the authority of my interpreters, I may state that " Noro " was the term by which, after the double interpretation, " Allah " was rendered to me. When the question was put as to where '* Noro " resided, the Monbuttoo, who was familiar with the Niam-niam dialect, pointed upwards to the sky ; but when he was further pressed with the inquiry whether he could MONBUTTOO THEOLOGY. 121 see him, he only auswered with a smile. Whether the Monbuttoo are in the habit of consulting oracles, or whether they have any reliance upon auguries from fowls, or any fortune-telling apparatus corresponding to the " damma " of the Niam-uiam, my residence among them was not long enough to permit me to ascertain. Bongo woman. Dinka woman. (See desiTiption, vol. i., p. 296.) CHAPTEK XVI. The Pygmies. Nubian stories. Ancient classical allusions. Homer, Hero- dotus, Aristotle. My introduction to Pygmies. Adimokoo the Akka. Close questioning. "War-dance. Visits from many Akka. Mummery's Pygmy corps. My adopted Pygmy. Nsewue"s life and death. Dwarf races of Africa. Accounts of previous authors : Battel, Dapper, KoUe. Analogy of Akka with Bushmen. Height and complexion. Hair and beards. Shape of the body. Awkward gait. Graceful hands. Form of skull. Size of eyes and ears. Lips. Gesticulations. Dialect iuarticulate. Dexterity and cunning. Munza's protection of the race. Whenever two or three Egyptians are found in company, the chances are very great that their conversation, if it could be overheard, would be found to relate to the market prices of the day, or to some fluctuations in the state of trade. With the romantic sons of the Nubian Nile-valley the case would be very difierent. Ample opportunity of making this comparison was continually afforded me during the long evenings which I passed in my transit upon the waters of the Upper Nile ; and even now I can recall with vivid interest the hours when, from my detached compartment on the stern of the boat, I could, without being observed, listen to the chatter by which the Nubians on the voyage beguiled their time. They seemed to talk with eagerness of all the wonders of the world. Some would expatiate upon the splendours of the City of the Caliphs, and others enlarge upon the accomplishment of the Suez Canal and the huge ships of the Franks ; but the stories that ever commanded the most rapt attention were those which treated of war and NUBIAN TALES. 123 of the chase ; or, beyond all, such as described the wild beasts and still wilder natives of Central Africa. It was not with stories in the sense of ' The Thousand and One Nights ' that this people entertained each other ; neither did they recite their prolix histories as though they were read- ing at the celebration of Ramadan in Cairo, amidst the halls where night by night they abandoned themselves to the enjoy- ment of their coffee. These things I had now long ago left far. behind; however, occasionally, as the expiring strain of Arabia, I might still hear the song of Abd-el-Kader the sheikh, or of Aboo Zeyd the hero. My whole style of living seemed now to partake of the character of an Odyssey ; it appeared to be adapted for the embellishment of an Homeric episode, and such an episode in truth was already awaiting me. Of the Nile itself, which had the appearance, day by day, of becoming wider as farther and farther we progressed towards the south, they affirmed that it issued from the ocean by which Africa was girt ; they would declare that we were on the route which would lead us, like the cranes, to fight with the Pygmies ; ever and again they would speak of Cyclops, of Automoli, or of " Pygmies," but by whatever name they called them, they seemed never to weary of recurring to them as the theme of their talk. Some there were who averred that with their own eyes they had seen this people of immortal myth ; and these — men as they were whose acquaintance might have been coveted by Herodotus and envied by Aristotle — were none other than my own servants. It was a fascinating thing to hear them confidently relate that in the land to the south of the Niam-niam country there dwelt people who never grew to more than three feet in height, and who wore beards so long that they reached to their knees.* It was affirmed of them that, armed with * It may be remarked that the people of the Soudan when they depict a dwarf, ordinarily, like we should ourselves, represent him as a diminutive man with a lon^ beard. 124 THE HEART OP AFRICA. strong lances, they would creep underneath the belly of an elephant and dexterously kill the beast, managing their own movements so adroitly that they could not be reached by the creature's trunk. Their services in this way were asserted to contribute very largely to the resources of the ivory traders. The name by which they are known is the " Shebber-digintoo," which implies the growth of the dis- proportioned beard. I listened on. The more, however, that I pondered silently over the stories that they involuntarily disclosed — the more I studied the traditions to which they referred — so much the more I was perplexed to explain what must either be the creative faculty or the derived impressions of the Nubians. Whence came it that they could have gained any knowledge at all of what Homer had sung ? How did it happen that they were familiar at all with the material which Ovid and Juvenal, and Nonnus and Statins worked into their verse, giving victory at one time to the cranes, and at another to the Pygmies themselves ? My own ideas of Pygmies were gathered originally only from books, but the time seemed now to have come when their existence should be demonstrated in actual life. Legends of Pygmies had mingled themselves already with the earliest surviving literature of the Greeks, and the poet of the Iliad, it will be remembered, mentions them as a race that had long been known : — " To -wamier seas the cranes embodied fly, With noise, and order, through the midway sky ; To pygmy nations wounds and death they bring, And all the war descends upon the wing." Pope's ' Homer's Iliad,' iii. 6-10. But not the classic ipoets alone j sober historians and precise geographers have either adopted the poetic substance of the tradition or have endeavoured, by every kind of conjecture, to confii-m its accuracy. Nothing, for instance, can be more CLASSICAL WITNESS TO PYGMIES. 125 definite than the statement of Herodotus about the Nasa- raonians after they had crossed the Libyan deserts : " They at length saw some trees growing on a plain, and having approached they began to gather the fruit that grew on the trees ; and while they were gathering it some diminutive men, less than men of middle stature, came up and seized them and carried them away." * The testimony of Aristotle is yet more precise when he says plainly : " The cranes fly to the lakes above Egypt, from which flows the Nile ; there dwell the Pygmies, and this is no fable but the pure truth ; there, just as we are told, do men and horses of diminutive size dwell in caves ;" f a quotation this, which would seem to imply that the learned Stagyrite was in possession of some exact and positive information, otherwise he would not have ventured to insist so strongly upon the truth of his assertion. Very likely, however, we should be justified in surmising that Aristotle mentions cranes and Pygmies together only because he had the passage of the Iliad floating in his memory, and because he was aware of the fact that cranes do pass the winter in Africa. For my own part, I should be incliued to doubt whether cranes ever reach the Victoria and Albert Nyanza ; on the Ked Sea I saw them in latitude 20° N., and Brehm observed them in Sennaar ; on the White Nile, however, and farther inland, I only found the native Balearic crane, which could hardly have been the spe- cies mentioned by Aristotle. But whether cranes were really capable of fighting with Pygmies or not, or whether (as Pauer attempts to prove) the Homeric tradition was derived from ancient Egyptian symbolism, and so was an emblematic representation of the cranes battling with the falling waters of the Nile stream, this is now immaterial ; all that concerns, us, with regard to the present topic, is that three or four^ * Herodotus, ii. 32. t Aristotle's ' Hist. Animal,' lib. viii. cap. 2. 126 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. centuries before the Christian era the Greeks were aware of the existence of a people inhabiting the districts about the sources of the Nile, who were remarkable for their stunted growth. The circumstance may warrant us, perhaps, in employing the designation of " pygmy," not for men literally a span long, but in the sense of Aristotle, for the dwarf races of Equatorial Africa. Throughout the time that I had resided in the Seribas of the Bongo territory, of course I had frequent opportunities of enlarging my information, and I was continually hearing such romantic stories that I became familiarised in a way with the belief that the men about me had really been eye- witnesses of the circumstances they related. Those who had been attached to the Niam-niam expeditions, whenever they described the variety of wonders about the splendour of the courts of the cannibal kings, never omitted to mention the dwarfs who filled the office of court buffoons; every one outvying another in the fantastic embellishment of the tales they told. The general impression that remained upon my mind was that these must be some extraordinary specimens of pathological phenomena that had been retained by the kings as natural curiosities. The instance did not escape my recollection that Speke had given the description and por- trait of a dwarf, Kimenya, with whom he had become acquainted at the court of Kamrasi ; * but that there could be a whole series of tribes whose average height was far below an average never really found a reception in my understanding, until at the court of Munza the positive evidence was submitted to my eyes. Several days elapsed after my taking up my residence by the palace of the Monbuttoo king without my having a chance to get a view of the dwarfs, whose fame had so keenly excited my curiosity. My people, however, assured me that ■ Speke's Travels,' p. 550. ADIMOKOO THE AKKA. 127 they had seen them. I remonstrated with them for not liaving secured me an opportunity of seeing for myself, and for not bringing them into contact with me. I obtained no other reply but that the dwarfs were too timid to come. After a few mornings my attention was arrested by a shouting in the camp, and I learned that Mohammed had surprised one of the Pygmies in attendance upon the king, and was conveying him, in spite of a strenuous resistance, straight to my tent, I looked up, and there, sure enougii, was the strange little creature, perched upon Mohammed's right shoulder, nervously hugging his head, and casting glances of alarm in every direction. Mohammed soon depo- sited him in the seat of honour. A royal interpreter was stationed at his side. Thus, at last, was I able veritably to feast my eyes upon a living embodiment of the myths of some thousand years ! Eagerly, and without loss of time, I proceeded to take his portrait. I pressed him with innumerable questions, but to ask for information was an easier matter altogether than to get an answer. There was the greatest difficulty in inducing him to remain at rest, and I could only succeed by exhibiting a store of presents. Under the impression that the oppor- tunity before me might not occur again, I bribed the interpreter to exercise his influence to pacify the little man, to set him at his ease, and to induce him to lay aside any fear of me that he might entertain. Altogether we succeeded so well that in a couple of hours the Pygmy had been measured, sketched, feasted, presented with a variety of gifts. and subjected to a minute catechism of searching questions. His name was Adimokoo. He was the head of a small colony, which w'as located about half a league from the royal residence. With his own lips I heard him assert that the name of his nation was Akka, and I further learnt that they inhabit large districts to the south of the Monbuttoo between lat. 2° and 1" N. A portion of them are subject to the Vol. II.— lu ^ 128 THE HEART OF AFRICA. Monbuttoo king, who, desirous of enhancing the splendour of his court by the addition of any available natural curiosities, had compelled several families of the Pygmies to settle in the vicinity. My Niam-niam servants, sentence by sentence, interpreted to me everything that was said by Adimokoo to the Mon- buttoo interpreter, who was acquainted with no dialects but those of his own land. In reply to my question put to Adimokoo as to where his country was situated, pointing towards the S.S.E., he said, " Two days' journey and you come to the village of Mum- mery ; on the third day you will reach the Kiver Nalobe ; the fourth day you arrive at the first of the villages of the Akka." " What do you call the rivers of your country ? " " They are the Nalobe, the Namerikoo, and the Eddoopa." " Have you any river as large as the Welle ? " " No ; ours are small rivers, and they all flow into the Welle." " Are you all one people, or are you divided into separate tribes ? " To this inquiry Adimokoo replied by a sudden gesture, as if to indicate the vastness of their extent, and commenced enumerating the tribes one after another. " There are the Navapukah, the Navatipeh, the Vabingisso, the Avadzubeh, the Avagowumba, the Bandoa, the Mamomoo, and the Aga bundah." " How many kings ? " I asked. " Nine," he said ; but I could only make out the names of Galeema, Beddeh, Tindaga, and Mazembe. My next endeavour was directed to discover whether he was acquainted in any way with the dwarf races that have been mentioned by previous travellers, and whose homes I presumed would be somewhere in this part of Africa. I asked him whether he knew the Malagilage, who, according THE PYGMY'S WAE-DANCE. 129 to the testimony of Escayrac de Lauture, live to the south . of Baghirmy. My question, however, only elicited a comical gesture of bewilderment and a vague inquiry, " What is that ? " Nor did I succeed at all better in securing any recognition of the tribes of the Kenkob or the Betsan, which are mentioned by Kolle. Equally unavailing, too, were all -my efforts to obtain answers of any precision to the series of questions which I invented, taking my hints from Peter- mann and Hassenstein's map of Central Africa, so that I was obliged to give up my geographical inquiries in despair and turn to other topics. But in reality there did not occur any subject whatever on which I obtained any information that seems to me to be wortli recording. At length, after having submitted so long to my curious and persistent questionings, the patience of Adimokoo was thorougiily exhausted, and he made a frantic leap in his endeavour to escape from the tent. Surrounded, however, by a crowd of inquisitive Bongo and Nubians, he was unable to effect his purpose, and was com- pelled, against his will, to remain for a little longer. After a time a gentle persuasion was brought to bear, and he was induced to go through some of the characteristic evolutions of his war-dances. He was dressed, like the Monbuttoo, in a rokko-coat and plumed hat, and was armed with a miniature lance as well as with a bow and arrow. His height I found to be about 4 feet 10 inches, and this I reckon to be the average measurement of his race. Although I had repeatedly been astonished at witnessing the war-dances of the Niam-niam, I confess that my amaze- ment was greater than ever when I looked upon the exhibi- tion which the Pygmy afforded. In spite of his large, bloated Itelly and short bandy legs — in spite of his age, which, by the way,* was considerable — Adimokoo's agility was perfectly marvellous, and I could not help wondering whether cranes would ever be likely to contend with such creatures. The S. little man's leaps and attitudes were accompanied by such ' 130 THE HEART OF AFEICA. lively and grotesque varieties of expression that the spec- tators shook again and held their sides with laughter. The interpreter explained to the Niam-nicim that the Akka jump about in the grass like grasshoppers*, and that they are so nimble that they shoot their arrows into an elephant's eye and drive their lauces into their bellies. The gestures of the Akka, to which I shall have occasion again to refer, always reminded me of the pictures given by travellers to repre- sent the Bushmen of the south. Adimokoo returned home loaded with. presents, I made him understand that I should be glad to see all his people, and promised that they should lose nothing by coming. On the following day I had the pleasure of a visit from two of the younger meu. 1 had the opportunity of sketching their likenesses, and as one of the portraits has been pre- served it is inserted here. After they had once got over their alarm, some or other of the Akka came to me almost every day. As exceptional Bomby the Akka. COLLISION WITH THE AKKA. 131 cases, I observed that some individuals were of a taller stature ; but upon investigation I alwa^^s ascertained that this was the result of intermarriage with the Monbnttoo amongst whom they resided. My sudden departure from Munza's abode interrupted me completely in my study of this interesting people, and I was compelled to leave before I had fully mastered the details of their peculiarities. I regret that I never chanced to see one of the Akka women, find still more that my visit to their dwellings was postponed from day to day until the opportunity was lost altogether. I am not likely to forget a rencontre which I had with several hundred Akka warriors, and could very heartily wish that the circumstances had permitted me to give a pictorial representation of the scene. King Munza's brother Mum- mery, who was a kind of viceroy in the southern section of his dominions, and to whom the Akka were tributary, was just returning to the court from a successful campaign against the black Momvoo. Accompanied by a large band of soldiers, amongst whom was included a corps of Pygmies, he was conveying the bulk of the booty to his royal master. It happened on the day in question that I had been making a- long excursion with my Niam-niam servants, and had heard nothing of Mummery's arrival. Towards sunset I was passing along the extensive village on my return to my quarters, when, just as I reached the wide open space in front of the royal halls, I found myself surrounded by what I conjectured must be a crowd of impudent boys, who received me with a sort of bravado fi^ht. They pointed their arrows towards me, and behaved generally in a manner at which I pould not help feeling somewhat irritated, as it betokened unwar- rantable liberty and intentional disrespect. My misappre- hension was soon corrected by the Niam-niam people about me. " They are Tikkitikki," * said they ; " you imagine * Tikkitikki is the Niam-niam designation of the Akka. 132 THE HEART OF AFRICA. that they are boys, but in truth they are men ; nay, men that can fight." At this moment a seasonable greeting from Mummery drew me off from any apprehension on my part and from any farther contemplation of the remarkable spec- tacle before me. In my own mind I resolved that I would minutely inspect the camp of the new-comers on the following morning ; but I had reckoned without my host : before dawn Mummery and his contingent of Pygmies had taken their departure, and thus, " Like the baseless fabric of a vision." this people, so near and yet so unattainable, had vanished once more into the dim obscurity of the innermost con- tinent. Anxious, in my contact with this mythical race, to lose or pass over nothing which might be of interest, I very diligently made memoranda after every interview that I had with the Akka. I measured six full-grown individuals, none of whom much exceeded 4 feet 10 inches in height, but, unfortunately, all my notes and many of my drawings perished in the fire. A brief account may now be given of the little Pygmy that I carried off and kept with me during the remainder of my wanderings till I was again in Nubia, who for a year and a half became my companion, thriving under my care and growing almost as affectionate as a son. I have already explained in a previous chapter the circum- stances under which the little man came into my keeping. I succeeded tolerably well in alleviating the pain of the lad's parting from all his old associations by providing him with all the good living and bestowing upon him all the attention that lay in my power. To reconcile him to his lot I broke through an old rule. I allowed him to be my constant companion at my meals — an exception that I never made in favour of any other native of Africa. Making NSEWUE'S DEATH. 133 it my first care that he should be healthy and couteDted, I SHbmitted without a murmur to all the uncouth habits peculiar to his race. In Khartoom at last I dressed him up till he looked like a little pasha. The Nubians could not in the least enter into my infatuation, nor account for my partiality towards the strange-looking lad. When he walked along the thoroughfares at my side they pointed to him, and cried, with reference to his bright-brown complexion, " See, there goes the son of the Khavaga ! " Apparently they overlooked the fact of the boy's age, and seemed not to be in any way familiarised with the tradition of the Pygmies. In the Seribas all along our route the little fellow excited a still greater astonishment. Notwithstanding all my assiduity and attention, I am sorry to record that Nsewue died in Berber, from a prolonged attack of dysentery, originating not so much in any change of climate, or any alteration in his mode of living, as in his immoderate excess in eating, a propensity which no influence on my part was sufficient to control. During the last ten months of his life, my protege did not make any growth at all. I think I may therefore presume that his height would never have exceeded 4 feet 7 inches, which was his measurement at the time of his death. The portrait on the following page may be accepted as a faithful representation of one who was a fair type of his race. Altogether very few examples of the Akka came under my notice; but so ample was my opportunity of studying in detail the peculiarities of this individual specimen, that, in the course of any observations that follow, I shall feel justified in referring to Nsewue, when the rest of my experience furnishes no other illustration. The Akka would appear to be a branch of that series of dwarf races which, exhibiting all the characteristics of an aboriginal stock, extend along the equator entirely across 134 THE HEART OF AFRICA, Nsewue the Akka Africa. Whatever travellers have })enetrated far into the interior of the continent liave furnished abundant testimony as to the mere hct of the existence of tribes of singularly diminutive height; whilst their accounts are nearly all coincident in representing tliat these dwarf races differ in hardly anything from the surrounding nations excepting only in their size. It would be entirely an error to describe them as dwarfs either in the sense of the ancient myth?, or in the way of lusus naturse, such as are exhibited as curiosities amongst ourselves ; most of the accounts, more- over, that have been given, concur in the statement that THE OBONGO. lSr> these undersized people are distinguished from their neigh- bours by a redder or brighter shade of complexion ; but they differ very considerably in the reports they make about the growth of the hair. The only traveller, I believe, before- myself that has come into contact with any section of tliisi race is Du Chaillu, who, in the territory of the Ashango. discovered a wandering tribe of hunters called Obongo, and took the measurements of a number of them. He describes these Obongo as " not ill-shaped," and as having skins of a pale, yellow-brown, somewhat lighter than their neighbours : he speaks of their having short heads of hair, but a great growth of hair about their bodies. Their average height he affirms to be 4 feet 7 inches. In every particular but the abundance of hair about the person, this description is quite applicable to the Akka. According to Battel,* there was a nation of dwarfs, called the Matimbos or Doiigo, to the north-east of the land of Tobbi, which lies to the north of the Sette River, and consequently in the same district as that in which Du Chaillu discovered the Obongo. Portu- guese authorities, moreover, quite at the beginning of the seventeenth century, contain a distinct reference to a dwarf nation called Bakka-bakka. Dapper furnishes corresponding information on the same subject; and all that he relates about the dwarfs coincides very accurately with what is known about the Akka, whose name had penetrated even at that date to the western equatorial coasts. It is to be understood that districts were known by the name of the people who chanced to be occupying them, and not by any permanent name of the soil itself. After Dapper, in his compilation, had told the history of the Yagas, who is said in olden time to have spread fear and destruction as far as the coasts of the Loango, a hundred miles away, so that ii took three months for cai-avans to come and go, he procecls * Vide Battel. ' Purchas his Pil-.,' II. London, 1C25, p. 983. 13G • THE HEART OF AFRICA. to state that the greater part of the ivory was obtained still farther inland, and was brought from a people who were tributary to the great Makoko, and called Mimos or Bakke- bakke. " These little men," he writes,* " are stated by the Yagas to have the power of making themselves invisible, and consequently can slay an elephant with little trouble." And this dexterity in killing elephants seems to be implied in another place,t where, in describing the court of Loango and the dwarfs who took up their positions before the throne, he says, " the negroes affirm that there is a wilderness inhabited by those dwarfs, and where there are many elephants ; they are generally called Bakke-bakke, but sometimes Mimos." Farther on again J he speaks of the empire of the great Makoko (described as lying beyond the kingdom of Kongo, and some 200 miles or more inland, north of the River Zaire), and proceeds to specify that "in the wilderness of this country there are to be found the little people that have been mentioned before, vv^ho carry on the greater part of the ivory trade throughout the kingdom." Besides this it is expressly stated that the ivory was bartered for the salt of Loango. Now in none of the countries that I visited in Central Africa was either sea salt or common salt ever an article of commerce, but each separate nation produced its own supply from ashes : but whilst I was at the court of Munza I learnt from the Khartoomers who had settled there that, as matter of fact, king Munza did receive tribute from the Akka in the shape of " real good salt" which was brought from the far south. Taken in connection with Dapper's account, this statement would seem to justify the hypothesis that even at this day there may be commercial transactions between the very heart of Africa, where the Akka dwell, and the western coasts. Still more demonstrative than any reports about Matimbos D ipper, Germ, ed., Amsterd., p. 571. t lb., P- 527. % lb., p. 573. THE KENKOB. 137 and Bakke-bakke, as proving the identity of my Akka with the abnormally-formed folks previously named, is the evi- dence that is furnished by the natives of the Upper Shary districts. Escayrac de Lauture * was told of a Lake Koeidabo, which was said to be a two months' journey to the S.S.E. of Masena, the capital of Baghirmy, and to unite the source-affluents of the Shary just at the spot where, according to the Monbuttoo, the Welle widens into a bound- less expanse of water. Somewhat to the west of this lake, he was informed, were the dwellings of the Mala-gilageh (literally, men with tails), who were of small stature and reddish complexion, or, as the Africans expressed it, "w/wYe," and covered with long hair. The fabulous tails must be supposed to be added by a kind of poetic licence, or as a concession to the belief in marvellous stories that were rife throughout the Soudan. It may with much probability be assumed that the same districts in Central Africa must be ^ the homes of the'Kenkob and Betsan, of whom Kolle,t residing in Sierra Leone, heard reports from those who professed to have actually seen them. In these reports the great lake was very often referred to. One of Kolle's in- formants called it " Leeba," and said that he had on one occasion personally accompanied an embassy that was com- missioned to convey a present of salt to the king who governed over the territories by the shores of the lake ; and he distinctly affirmed not only that the Kenkob lived in close proximity to the same lake, but that they were a people only three or four feet in height, but virho neverthe- less possessed great strength and were excellent hunters. Another witness informed Kolle that he only knew of "a river Keeba " in that part of the country ; but it is extremely likely that in reality he was referring to the same Lake * 'Bulletin de la Soc. dc GeogiapU de Paris,' torn, x., 1855. t 'Polyglotta Africana,' p. 12. 138 THFJ HEART OF AFRICA. Leeba which, by repeated geographical investigation, has been proved to be a part of the Shary : * he \\ent on to describe that by this river Eeeba there dwelt a diminutive race called Betsan, varying from three feet to five feet in iieight, and stated that they had very long hair and very long beards, adding that they supported themselves entirely by the produce of the chase. Both these witnesses agreed in describing the hair of the dwarfs as long; and I always found that the Niam-niani laid particular stress upon their having long beards; but I must confess I never observed this characteristic in any of the Akka who came under my notice. Nor is east Tropical Africa without its representatives of people of this stunted growth. Of these I may especially mention the Doko, who are reported to dwell to the south of Enarea and Kaffa on the Upper Juba. Krapf, who has with much diligence compared the various accounts of many slaves who have been carried away from the district .in question to Shoa, fixes the habitation of the Doko as being below the latitude of 3° north. Their height is compared with that of boys ten years of age. Even those who have seen them and (like A. d'Abbadie) deny that they are dwarfs, yet admit that they are under a medium stature. On the coast itself, in Zanzibar and at Bravaj where, occasioned by the 3Iohammedan Somali, there is a considerable inter- course with the districts said to be populated by the Doko, stories of these dwarfs are in every one's mouth, and they are termed the " Berikeemo," i.e. people two feet high. This rapid summary of the dwarf races that are known in Africa would be incomplete without a passing reference to the Kimos of Madagascar, of whom, from the middle of the seven- teenth century down to our own time the most contradictory * In nearly all the negro dialects the letters I and r are used indifferently ; and Africans, as a rule, very much confound the ideas of lake and river. PYGMIES COMPARED WITH BUSHMEN. 139 reports have been in circulation. Any detailed accounts of these would of course be here entirely out of place. Mada- gascar, too, from its isolation, must ever be treated inde- pendently. The relation of its inhabitants to the inhabitants of Central Africa is very doubtful. It will now suffice to say generally that the evidence appears to lie open before us of there being a series of unestablished and imperfectly developed nations which, although they are now in their decline, extend from ocean to ocean across the entire equatorial zone of Africa. Scarcely a doubt can exist but that all these people, like the Bushmen of South Africa, may be considered as the scattered remains of an aboriginal population now becoming extinct ; and their isolated and sporadic existence bears out the hypothesis. For centuries after centuries Africa has been experiencing the effects of many immigrations : for thousands of years one nation has been driving out another, and as the result of repeated subjugations and interminglings of race with race, such manifold changes have been introduced into the conditions of existence that the succession of new phases, like the development in the world of plants, appears almost as it were to open a glimpse into the infinite. Incidentally I have just referred to the Bushmen, those notorious natives of the South African forests, who owe their name to the likeness which the Dutch colonists conceived they bore to the ape, as the prototype of the human race. I may further remark that their resemblance to the equatorial Pygmies is in many points very striking. Gustav Fritsch, the author of a standard work upon the natives of Soutli Africa, first drew my attention to the marked similarity between my portraits of the Akka and the general type of the Bushmen, and so satisfied did I become in my own mind that I feel quite justified (in my observations upon the Akka) in endeavouring to prove that all the tribes of Africa whose proper characteristic is an abnormal!} low stature belone: to one and the self-same race. 140 THE HEART OF AFRICA. According to Fritsch the average height of the genuine Bushmen is 1*44 metres, or about 4 feet 8^ inches; the height of the two Akka, whose portraits I have inserted, were 4 feet 1 inch and 4 feet 4 inches respectively ; and, as I have said, I never saw any instance in which the height materially exceeded 4 feet 10 inches. The skin of the Akka is of a dull brown tint, something of the colour of partially roasted coffee. As far as I can remember, the colour would correspond nearly with Nos. 7 and 8 in the table of skin- tints in Plate 49 of Fritsch's work, and these are the numbers by which he indicates the complexion of the Bushmen. It is somewhat difficult to discriminate between the complexion of the Akka and that of their neighbours the Monbuttoo, since the latter exhibit a variety of shades of the same tint ; but I should be inclined to say that the distinction lies in the somewhat duller hue of the Akka, such as might be understood by comparing .No, 2 with No. 8 in the table to which I have referred. The hair and beard are but slightly developed. All the Akka that I saw wore the ordinary costume and cylindrical straw hat of the Monbuttoo; but, in consequence of their hair being short as well as woolly, they are unable to form a chignon like their neighbours. The colour of their hair corresponds with their complexion; in texture it may best be compared with the waste tow from old cordage. This absence of the beard is characteristic also of the Bushmen. The Nubians indeed used to tell me of the dwarfs about the courts of the Niam-niam princes being noted for long hair, and they affirmed that some of them, in the fashion of the West Africans, were in the habit of stiffening put their long pointed tufts of hair on their chin with pitch ; no doubt, too, their common designation for this people (Shebber digintoo) has reference to this characteristic ; but I could never succeed in getting any accurate or more definite information about dwarfs of this species. The Akka resemble the majority of CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AKKA. 141 the Monbuttoo in having brown hair, other nations of a reddish tone of complexion not sharing this peculiarity. Taking, as I have said, my little protege Nsewue as a fair type of the Akka m general, I will proceed to enumerate the most prominent marks in their common appearance. The head of the Akka is large, and out of proportion to the weak, thin neck on which it is balanced. The shape of the shoulders is peculiar, differing entirely from that of other negroes in a way that may probably be accounted for by the unusual scope required for the action of the shoulder-blades ; the arms are lanky ; and altogether the upper portion of the body has a measurement disproportionately long. The su- perior region of the cliest is ilat and much contracted, but it widens out below to support the huge hanging belly, which gives them, however aged, the remarkable appearance of Arabian or Egyptian children. The look of the Akka from behind is very singular. Their body seeming then to form a curve so regular and defined that it is almost like a letter S ; this is probably to be accounted for by an exceptional suppleness in the lower joints of tlie spine, since after a full meal the centre of gravity is shifted, and the curve of the back accordingly becomes more or less concave. All the various personal traits of the Akka to which I have thus referred are illustrated very plainly in Fritsch's work by the figure (No. 69) which represents an old Bushman. The joints of the legs are angular and projecting, except that the knees are plump and round. Unlike other Africans, who ordinarily walk with their feet straight, the Akka turn them somewhat inward. I hardly know how to describe their waddling; every step they take is accompanied by a lurch that seems to affect all their limbs alike ; and Nsewue could never manage to carry a full dish for any distance without spilling at least a portion of its contents. Of all their members their hands were undoubtedly the best formed. These might really be pronounced elegant, 142 THE HEART OF AFRICA. alt hough 1 do not mean that they were in the least like the long narrow ladies' hands that are so lauded in romance, but which Carl Vogt has characterised as appropriate to the monkey type. Nothing about my poor little favourite ever excited my admiration to the same degree as his pretty little hands, and so attentively have I studied every -part of his singular form that not even the smallest detail has escaped my memory. But all the peculiarities of the race culminate in the shape of the skull and in the physiognomical character of the head. As matter of fact, history has not exhibited that auy general degeneracy in a nation has ever been attended by a general decrease in a people's stature ; but still it is quite possible that the peculiarities I have already mentioned might originate in some modification of the way of living. Any attempt, however, to attribute the formation of the skull to the effects either of circumstance, of food, or oi' climate must at once be rejected as inadmissible. The most noticeable points in the structure of the heads of the Akka is their high degree of j^rognathie. The two portraits that are given exhibit facial angles of 60° and 66° respectively. Besides this they are remarkable for the snout-like projection of the jaw with an unprotruding chin, and for the wide skull which is almost spherical, and which has a deep indentation at the base of the nose. These leading resemblances indubitably exist between the Akka and the Bushmen: and where the general similarity is so great, all minor dis- crepancies must sink into insignificance. All the accounts of the South African Bushmen agree in representing that their eyes are small and their eyelids con- tracted. " Their eyes," says Lichtenstein, " are small, deeply set, and so compressed as to be scarcely visible." Fritseh lays special stress upon this peculiarity of tlie Bushmen, but at the same time draws attention to the likeness of expression between them and the Hottentots, who otherwise differ from COMPARISON OF AKKA WITH BUSHMEJ^. 143 them so widely. Now the Akka, on the other hand, have large eyes, wide open, so as to give them the bird-like appear- ance of Azteks; and does not Bomby's portrait,* I may ask, recall the Azteks who a few years ago were exhibited in Europe ? Amid the multitude of resemblances this may be said to be the only important difference between the Akka and the Bushmen, and probably even this may be accounted for as beiug the effect either of food or climate, in the same way as the weather-beaten countenance of the mariner may be attributed to the life of exposure that he has led. Setting aside, however, this diversity with regard to the eyes, the heads of the Akka and the Bushmen will be found to present various points of similarity in other respects. The Akka are distinguished from all other nations of Central Africa by the huge size of the ear. Now, however small, in an aesthetic sense, the negroes' pretensions to any beauty may ordinarily be supposed to be, it must be conceded that they can vie with any race whatever in the elegance and symmetrical shape of their ears ; but no share of this grace can be assigned either to the Bushmen or to the Akka. The lips project in a way that corresponds completely with the projecting jaw. They are long and convex ; they do not overlap, and are not so thick as those of the generality of negroes. What really suggests the resemblance to an ape is the sharply-defined outline of the gapiug mouth ; for the pouting lips of most negroes convey no idea at all of relationship with inferior animals. These gaping lips, again, are possessed by the Akka in common with the Bushmen, whose profiles may be seen in the illustrations given by Fritsch ; they are not found at all amongst the Monbuttoo. The continual changes of expression which, as Liehtenstein observes, play upon the countenance and render the Bush- men like apes rather than human beings are exhibited to a * Vide ante, p. 130. Vol. II.— 11 144 THE HEART OF AFKICA. very renmrkable degree by the Akka. The twitching of the eyebrows (in tliis case still more animated by the brightness of the eyes), the rapid gestures with the hands and feet while talking, the incessant wagging and nodding of the head, all combine to give a very grotesque appearance to the little people, and serve to explain the fund of amusement derived from the visit of Adimokoo. Of the language of the Akka I must confess my entire ignorance, having lost the few notes that I possessed. I remember that I was much struck by the inarticulateness of the pronunciation. During the year and a half that ■myjproUge was domesticated with me he was unable to learn sufficient Arabic to make himself understood ; in this respect he was very different to the other natives a'bout me, who made them- selves masters of a copious vocabulary. He never advanced beyond stammeriug out a few Bongo phrases, which no one ex- cept myself and a few of my own peoj^le could comprehend. Although I was informed that circumcision was practised by the Akka, I could never ascertain whether it was really an indigenous custom, or whether it was merely borrowed from the Monbuttoo, and so adopted by such of the Akka as had settled near the court of Munza. In acuteness, dexterity, and it must be added in cunning, the Akka far surpass the Monbuttoo. They are kut i^o')(i]v, a nation of hunters. The cunning, however, which they display is but the outward expression of an inner impulse which seems to prompt them to find a delight in wickedness. Nsewue was always fond of torturing animals, and took a special pleasure in throwing arrows at the dogs by night. During the period in which we were involved in war, and while my servants were almost beside themselves with anxiety, nothing afforded him greater amusement than to play with the heads that had been severed from the slain A-Banga ; and when I boiled some of the skulls his delight knew no bounds ; he rushed about the camp shouting, RELATIONS OF THE AKKA WITH THE MONBUTTOO. 145 "Bakinda,* nova? Bakinda be he koto" (Where is Ba- kinda? Bakinda is in the pot!) Such a people as this would naturally excel in the inventive faculty for laying traps and snares for game. Like the Obongo and the Bushmen, as I myself expe- rienced during my first rencontre with Adimokoo, the Akka are extremely shy with other men. Their only domestic animals are poultry ; and it struck rae as a coincidence somewhat curious that one of the Pompeian mosaics which I saw in the National Museum at Naples represents the Pygmies in the midst of their little houses, which are depicted as full of common fowls. It is notorious that the natives of South Africa in general have vowed death and destruction against the Bushmen, reckoning them as incorrigibly wild and in no way superior to apes of the most dangerous character. Now the dwarfs of Central Africa, although they fall little short of the Bushmen in natural maliciousness, are not regarded as mischievous fiends who must be exterminated like a brood of adders, but they are considered rather as a sort of benevolent spirits or mandrakes who are in no way detrimental. They are of assistance to the Monbuttoo in securing them a more abun- dant produce from the chase, and so they enjoy the protec- tion of their neighbours very much in the same way as (according to Du Chaillu) the Obongo enjoy the protection of the Ashango. These amicable relations, however, would not be possible but for the reason that the Monbuttoo possess no herds. If the Monbuttoo were a cattle-breeding people, it cannot be doubted that the Akka would consider all their animals as game, and could not deny themselves the delight of driving their spears into the flanks of every beast they could get near, and by these tactics would very soon convert their guardians into enemies. * "Bakinda," is a mere derisive nickname. 146 THE HEART 01^' AFIUCA. Munza supplies all the Akka who have settled near him with the best of diet, and Nsewue was never weary of descanting in praise of the flasks of beer, the plantain wine, the ears of corn, and all the other delicacies with which his people were feasted. I will only add that a debt of gratitude is due from the students of ethnology to the Monbuttoo king, who has been instrumental in preserving this remnant of a declining race until the time has come for the very heart of Africa to be laid open. DinKaPipe. (See description, vol. i., p. 292.) CHAPTER XVII. Return to th,e North. Tikkitikki's reluctance to start. Passage of the Gadda. Sounding the Keebaly. The river Kahpily. Cataracts of the Keebaly. Kubby's refusal of boats. Our impatience. Crowds of hippopotamuses. Possibility of fording the river. Origin and connection of the Keebaly. - Division of highland and lowland. Geographical expressions of Aiabs and Nubians. Mohammedan perversions. Return to Nembey. Bivouac in the border-wilderness. Eating wax. The Niam-niara declare war. Parley with the enemy. My mistrust of the guides. Treacherous attack on Mohammed. Mohammed's dangerous wound. Open war. Detruncated heads. Effect of arrows. Mohammed's defiance. Attack on the abattis. Pursuit of the enemy. Inexplicable appearance of 10,000 men. Wando's unpropitious omen. My Niam-niam and their oracle. Mohammed's speedy ciire. Solar phenomenon. Dogs barbarously speared. Women captured. Niam-niam affection for their wives. Calamus. Upper course of the Mbrwole. Fresh captive. Her composure. Alteration in scenery. Arrival at the Nabambisso. After a sojourn of three weeks, the 12th of April was fixed for the raising of our camp and for the departure of our caravan from the residence of the Monbuttoo king. For myself it was with a sad and heavy heart that I had to begin retracing my steps towards the north. How bitter was my disappointment may well be imagined. I could not be otherwise than aware that I was leaving behind my only chance of answering some of those important questions that might be propounded to me ; and my regret was aggravated by the conviction that a journey comparatively short would now have brought me to the sources of the three great rivers of the west, the only streams that are absolutely closed to our geographical knowledge, viz, the Benwe, the Ogawai, and the Congo. Distant as I was hardly more than 450 148 THE HEAllT OF AFRICA. miles from the limit that had been reached by Livingstone, I could discern, as 1 fondly imagined, from Munza's residence, a path clearly open towards the south-west which would conduct me to the Congo and to the states of the mighty Mwata Yanvo; it appeared to me to be a path that, once explored, would solve the remaining problems of the heart of Africa as decidedly as the sword of Alexander severed the Gordian knot, and now, just when there was only one more district to be traversed and that not larger than what we had already passed since leaving the Gazelle, to be obliged to abandon further progress and to leave the mysterious secrets still unravelled was a hardship to which it was impossible patiently to submit. But there was no alternative, and, however reluctantly, I had to yield. I have already spoken of the various obstacles to any further advance; I must, however, again insist upon my conviction that any single traveller, provided he had not an undue proportion of flesh (for to be fat would be fatal), might march on unhindered down the Welle as far as Baghirmy, since the population was all well disposed enough as far as regards the white man. But any attempt to carry on an entire caravan in that direction would have met with the most strenuous opposition on the part of King Munza ; his indirect influence might have enabled travellers to descend as far to the south as lat. 2° N. ; but for this his sanction would have had to be purchased by an enormous contribution of copper. The first event of the morning of our start occasioned no small stir amongst the Nubians. Mohammed Aboo Sammat had established a Seriba in the place, for the garrisoning of which twenty-eight men had to be left behind, and several hours elapsed before the necessary conscription could be accomplished. Apart from myself, depressed as I was by my disappointment, every one else was elated at the prospect of returning, so that no penalty could be considered much TIKKlTIKKrS FAREWELL. 149 heavier than being compelled to tarry in this remote region for one or two years, and possibly longer, to be the associates of cannibals ; each man accordingly upon whom the unlucky destiny chanced to fall received his orders to remain with the loudest murmurs of dissatisfaction, and the outcry and contention threatened to be interminable. At length, by cajoling, by bribing, by promises of ample pay, and, it must be added, by the representation of the lives of frolic they would lead with the Monbuttoo women, the malcontents were persuaded unwillingly to acquiesce in their fate. It was noon before the column was actually in motion. The Nubians parted from their companions with the most touching embraces ; the crowds of chattering Monbuttoo surrounded the encampment and watched with vivid interest the thousand gestures of farewell, whilst the negro-bearers, silent and stolid as ever, set forward on their way. During this parting scene my little Tikkitikki (as the Niam-niam called the Pygmy who had been presented to me a few days previously) was seized with an apparent fit of home sickness ; he set up such a dismal howling and sobbed so bitterly that I confess I was for a while undecided whether I would really carry him away, but I soon discovered that it was only the uninitiated who could be imposed upon by his behaviour. He was not bewailing the loss of his home, for he was utterly ignorant as to where that home had been ; neither was he deploring his separation from his kinsfolk, for they stood by, gesticulating wildly, and only mocked at his distress. The fact was, he was influenced solely by his dread of strangers. He was in mortal fear of being eaten up. It very rarely happens among the Monbuttoo that natives are surrendered to the Nubians for slaves : the occasion therefore of a present being made of a human creature would only too readily suggest the thought that some ulterior destination for cannibal purposes was in view. Altogether inadequate to appease Tikkitikki's fears as to his 150 THE HEART OF AB^RICA. approaching fate was the gorgeous silk jacket in whicli I arrayed him, and it was with no little satisfaction that I found I could pacify him by offering him the choicest morsels that I could procure for him to eat. After spending a few days with me in my tent, and finding himself treated with all the dainties that the country could produce, he forgot his troubles, laid aside his apprehensions, and became as happy as a little prince. From the splendid thi(;kets upon the banks of the rivulets which streamed across our path I gathered all the specimens I could of the flora of this distant land, and all along our' return journey I lost no available opportunity of contributing any novelty to my botanical store. For about five miles we followed the route by which we; had arrived, proceeding in a north-easterly direction until we reached the mounds of gneiss that lay before the third stream. Making a little detour to the left I mounted the eminences, which were crowned with some fine fig-trees, whence I could watch our long caravan winding amongst the plantain-groves ; now and then my view of the cortege would be obstructed by some rising oil-palms, and finally the train would disappear in the obscurity of the gallery-forest. The streams were now much swollen, and their passage entailed not only a considerable loss of time but some trial of strength. The paths were so narrow that we were compelled to proceed in single file, not unfrequently being obliged to halt in places where the shadows of the forest were far too light to afford us any protection fiora the raging heat. Upon these occasions I found a draught from a calabash of plan- tain-wine very, refreshing. Every now and then I had recourse to a pipe. Altogether, however, in spite of its in- conveniences the journey was through scenery so charming that it could not be otherwise than enjoyable. After crossing the third brook we made a turn to the right, thus entering upon a way that was new to us. Having THE GADDA. 151 traversed an open steppe along the edge of a gallery extend- ing to the north-east, we encamped at nightfall at a farmstead near the river Gadda. Half-an-hour's march in the morning brought us to the river bank. In its dimensions the Gadda resembles the Wow just above its junction with the Dyoor, but it does not exhibit the same periodical changes in the volume of its waters ; its bed remains full throughout the year, and at this date (April 13th) I found that it was 155 feet wide and but 3 feet deep, its velocity being 57 feet in a minute. The banks were bounded by light woods, and the soil not being subject to any further inundations had only a gentle slope ; the flood- marks on the shore proved the difference between the highest and lowest conditions of the river to be 20 feet. The Gadda has its source far to the south-east, and, flowing across the dominions of the Monbuttoo king Degberra, joins the Keebaly : the united streams then receive the name of the Welle. Without unnecessary loss of time we forded the sandy river-bed, and, continuing our march for about another half hour, arrived at the left bank of the Keebaly. The river here exhibited much the same character as the Welle at the spot where we had forded it upon our outward journey, but I presume it was somewhat narrower, as by trigonometrical measurement I found that its width was only 325 feet. By the orders of the king boats were in readiness to con- vey the caravan across, and the ferrymen did their work so well and quickly that the entire passage was accomplished in three hours. While the transit was being effected I took the opportunity of embarking in a canoe for the purpose of estimating the depth and velocity of the stream, an operation in which I was materially assisted by the greater experience of my servant Mohammed Ameen. In the same way as I noticed on the Welle, the current was much stronger on the northern or right sliore ; by throwing a gourd upon the flood 152 THE HEART OF AFRICA. and observing the number of feet it progressed in a minute, 1 estimated the ratio of the currents upon the opposite banks to be as 15 : 19. Tlie depth was between 12 and 13 feet, and there were neither rocks nor sand-banks in this part of the river-bed. As I stood in the long grass superintending the stowage of the baggage, I was very considerably inconvenienced by the inquisitiveness of the natives, who persisted in thronging close around. In order to get free from their intrusion I was glad to resort to all kinds of artifices, such as throwing some lighted touchwood amongst them, and treating them to a few cartridges. After the last bearer had started and they observed that I still continued to paddle up and down the stream, their curiosity knew no bounds. Trusting to the superiority of our firearms and the protection of my own servants, I felt perfectly secure and enjoyed the bewildered surprise with which the natives who crowded the banks surveyed our evolutions. The dexterous swimming and diving of my Nubians excited the liveliest interest, and every time the sounding-lead was dipped it was watched as eagerly as if it were about to draw forth from the deep some treasure of the Nibelungen. Northward again. We passed the farmsteads of the local overseer Parra, crossed the brook Mboolah, and pitched our camp at a hamlet but a few miles from the stream. The remainder of the day I spent in botanizing. I made my way into the thickets, and found some splendid representatives of such large-leaved plants as the philodendra, calladia, and marantha, which gleamed with a metallic sheen. The over- seer was very liberal : he supplied us freely with beer, and the greater part of the night was spent in friendly intercourse with the natives, who found, as ever, my hair and my lucifers to be an uafailing source of interest. Myself the people designated as "a good man," and, satisfied that I had come irom the skies, they interpreted my arrival as a token of peace and happiness. BOXGWA. 153 Our road on the following day lay through a country that was generally open, and we had no stream to cross until we reached the brook Bumba, near the village of Bongwa. Here we regained our former route. The country .was per- fectly safe, and I was accordingly able to march with my own people in the rear of the caravan, and devote my atten- tion to my botanical researches. The hamlets that we passed were pleasant resting-places, and as we halted under the welcome sliade of the foliage, the natives rarely failed to hasten out and bring fresh plantains for our refresh- ment. At Bongwa we made a halt for a whole day, for the pur- pose of giving the smiths an opportunity of working, as it was necessary for our copper bars to be transformed into some thousands of rings. For my own part I found ample employment in sketching, and in adding what T could to my store of curiosities. The victualling of the caravan, more- over, had become a matter of increased difficulty; it was now the season for planting out, and all the roots and tubers which the natives had spared from the preceding year had just been put into the ground, so that there was a general scarcity of provisions ; a fact that was brought home to our own experience, when we found that the yams that were supplied to us had already commenced throwing out their fresh sprouts. Eetracing our former track we crossed by fording the six approximate streams that it may be remembered I noticed on our advance. On our arrival at Nembey's residence, we at once found shelter in the camp-huts that had been erected at our last visit, and which were still in a very fair state of preservation. I took a long ramble and made a careful inspection of the phmtations of sugar-cane in the adjoining wildernesses upon the river-banks ; my first impression was that the canes were a rank spontaneous growth, but I was distinctly and repeatedly assured tliat they were nowhere, bv 154 THE HEART OF AFllICA. any chance, found wild, and would not thrive without the aid of man. Wando's territory was before us. It now became a matter of serious consideration how our progress across that hostile district should be accomplished. Mohammed's first sugges- tion was that we should take a circuitous rqute far to the east, and then that he should himself return with his armed forces strengthened by a complement from his head Seriba on the Nabambisso, and thus proceed to resque the store of ivory that had been entrusted to Wando's care. To this scheme no doubt there were various objections. The new route would be entirely unknown to the Nubians, and as, beyond a question, it would lead across wildernesses utterly void of any population, the caravan would necessarily have to endure no small measure of privation. In any case trustworthy guides wouM be necessary in order that the caravan might arrive at its destination in any seasonable time. Notwithstanding all difficulties, Mohammed resolved to attempt to penetrate to the eastern Moubuttoo country, although for this purpose we should be obliged to recross the Keebaly. Nembey was tributary to Degberra, the king of the eastern Monbuttoo, and it had been necessary for IMohammed thus to proceed in the first place to his village ; the fact being that the enmity between Munza and Degberra was so bitter that there was no possibility of passing directly from the territory of one to that of the other. We started accordingly, and the whole train having crossed the brook Kussumbo, we turned to the south-east along an open steppe, and proceeded for about half a league until we reached a deep hollow from which there issued one of the smaller tributaries of the Kussumbo, This hollow was formed by one of the landslips so common in this part of Africa, caused by the gradual washing away from below of the ferruginous swamp-ore, which was here at least 50 feet thick. The depth of the defile itself was about 80 feet ; its sides were enveloped THE KAHPILY. 155 in dense bushes, and the masses of rock which were quite homogeneous were adorned with a covering of hitherto un- known fern of the genus adiantum, which, in spots like this, clothes the reeking stones with a complete down of feathery- fronds. Another half league across the steppe and I was surprised to find that we were on the banks of a copious river that about eight miles to the south-west joined the Keebaly. As- tonished at the sight of the rushing waters I turned to my Monbuttoo guide, and, availing myself of the few words in his dialect with which I was familiar, I asked him "^a eggu rukodassi ? " (What do you call that river ?) From his reply I discovered that it was the Kahpily, not the Keebaly. The similar sound of the names of these two collateral streams warned me afresh how carefully the traveller should render the names of rivers which he hears ; time passes on and the names of places are changed with their chiefs, but the names of their rivers are handed on by the Africans from genera- tion to generation as long as their language and nationality remain unaltered ;* only where these change do the names of the rivers fall into oblivion. The Kahpily has a rapid current from north-east to south-west; its depth here was only 4 feet, but its bed, 40 feet in width, and its steep rocky walls, 40 feet in height, demonstrated that this important stream must be subject to a considerable increase in its volume. In my own mind I was convinced that all these rivers, meeting within so limited an area, must have their sources in some mountain region at no great distance, little * It may be objected that this theory does not hold good for many parts of Central Africa. Barth (vol. iii., p. 266) gives twelve instances to prove that all the tribes of the Central Soudan have no other distinctions for any of their streams beyond the general terms of " water " or river. But I must be per- mitted to urge that the Arabs of the Eastern Soudan have their Atbara, Sobat, &c. At any rate, the people amongst whom I travelled, especially tlio Niam-niam and the Monbuttoo, formed remarkable exceptions, for they in variably gave all localities the names of the adjacent rivers or brooks. 150 THE HEART OF AFRICA. as the aspect of tlie surrounding country seemed to warrant the supposition. It was evident to my mind that the Kah- pily must rise near the source-streams of the Dyoor, and from a mountain-chain extending to the south-east from Baginze, a district which would appear to be the nucleus of a whole series of source-streams that flow thence to the north and west, AVhile the caravan was being carefully conducted across the river by means of an immeuse stem of a tree that stretched over from bank to bank, I enjoyed a refi*eshing bath in the foaming waters. Proceeding next in the direc- tion of E.S.E., we passed over a level steppe. As we approached the river that next intercepted us we found that we were on the recent track of a lion ; the vestiges in the red clay were all so well-defined that the natives, with their keen hunting instinct, pronounced without hesitation that they had been made by an aged male. The steppes extend for a long distance along the right bank of the Keebaly without being relieved by human habitations, and the dis- trict naturally abounds with game. Herds of leucotis ante- lopes animated the plain and tempted me to devote an hour to the chase. Drenched with perspiration, almost as if I were in the tumult of a battle, and aimlessly following the impulse of the moment, I pushed my way through the tall savannah-grass. Hunting in Africa may be fairly described to be one continual whirl and scramble ; the very abundance of game confuses the vision ; one object of attraction rises rapidly after another, and baffles any attempt at deliberation. After considerable perseverance I succeeded in bringing down a buck antelope, much to the astonishment of the natives, who were watching my movements from the road, and persisted to the last in questioning the efficiency of my firearms. I hit a second antelope, but did not kill it. It was pursued by the natives for many miles, and only just before sunset did they succeed in surrounding it so that they THE TRUMPET-TREE. 157 could despatch it by means of their lances. In the middle of the night I was called up, and naturally supposed that something serious had transpired, but I soon discovered that the reason why my rest had been disturbed was merely that I might be shown the mark of my bullet in the animal's thigh. The men insisted upon my feeling the depth of the wound with my finger, and seemed unable to comprehend that they were showing me nothing that was new. A little rivulet, called the Kambeley, wound down a hollow incline of which the sides were indented with many a vale of diflfereot level. The sides of tlie hollow were covered for a considerable height with a tangled jungle from which the great leaves of the trumpet-tree (Cecropia) rose like brilliant fans ; and interwoven amongst its thickets there was a new species of palm, something akin to the rotang, of which every leaf terminated in a long spray, armed with prickles, like a pike-hook. From this palm the Monbuttoo cut canes as thick as their arms, which are reputed to be so difficult to break that they are not unfrequently used as a criterion in testing strength. Above the primeval wood the narrow valley was crowned with a number of small and graceful huts. Altogether the spot was so romantic and wnld, and yet withal it had an air of so much snug and cosy comfort, that it seemed to entice one to choose it for his home. At this point our caravan was joined by a party of people sent by Kubby, one of Degberra's sub-chieftains, from beyond the Keebaly, to open ivory transactions with BIo- hammed, a circumstance that boded us no good, and forbade us from being in any way sanguine of a liospitable reception from Kubby. This half-way meeting was only a blind ; it was a pretext to prevent us from alleging that his subsequent refusal to allow us to cross the river was actuated by any hostile motive. An African chief always likes to have a loophole as long as it is doubtful whether peace is preferable to war. 158 THE HEART OF AFRICA. The o-round, with its continual indentations, slanted gradually downwards as we approached the great river. Several ravines and clefts with their flowing source-springs had to be traversed before we reached the river bank, and even then, with the roar of the cataract close beside us, we were obliged to trace and retrace our steps up and down the shore before we could find a suitable place for an encampment. At this date (April 18th) the Keebaly filled a bed more than 1200 feet in width. The main current followed the left or southern shore, along which a great bank of gneiss lay exposed, now stretched out in wide flats, and now piled up in countless fragments like huge lumps of ice. The extreme height of this bank never exceeded fifty feet, while the northern bank, on which we had our station, was covered with the most splendid forest and rose to a height of at least a hundred feet. Higher up, the stream was parted into numerous channels, and amidst these was a profusion of woody islands, against which the foaming waters broke, throwing the sparkle of their spray into the darkness of the thicket.* The channels appeared to be all quite navigable, although the sound of the rapids could be distinctly heard. " Kissingah " is the general name by which these rapids are distinguished ; but the Monbuttoo are accustomed simply to refer to them as " the islands." We could observe the conical roofs of the fishing-huts peeping out from amidst the foliage, and noticed the canoes of the unfriendly natives darting rapidly across from one islet to another. Not one, however, of these fishing-boats came near us ; nor was there the least indication of the coming of any of Kubby's mes- sengers to assist us in our passage across the stream. We became aware only too soon of a resolution to obstruct our progress, the cause of, which was readily to be explained. * The accompanying drawing, taken on tlie spot, will convey a conect idea of the scene. THE KEEBALY. • 159 Poncet's (subsequently Ghattas's) company had a Seriba in Kubby's district, and the Nubians who had been left in charge had succeeded in inducing the chief to refuse us the assistance of his boats, for no other reason whatever than that they feared Mohammed's competition with themselves, and that they were eager to monopolize the entire ivory- trade of the district. For the next day we waited on. No boats arrived. This waste of time suited the plans neither of Mohammed nor of fnyself. Our provisions, moreover, were getting low. There was no prospect of revictualling. Accordingly our resolution was taken : without delay we would return to Nembey. During the day of indecision, I exerted myself as best I could to explore the wildernesses of the Keebaly. My attention was chiefly attracted by a fragrant erinum, in shape and size resembling a white lily. The diversity of the trees seemed almost endless, and I was especially amazed at the variety of the anonaceae and fig-trees, of which I found little short of forty species. An infallible proof of the size and copiousness of the river was afforded by the number of hippopotamuses that were floundering about. I amused myself by clambering along the smooth rocks that projected into the water, and testing my bullets on the hides of the unwieldy brutes ; having an ample store of ammunition, for which there did not seem to be much demand in the way of regular hunting, I fired away over the surface of the water, for the hour together. My sport created a vivid sensation amongst the natives upon the opposite bank, for although they had the prudence to keep carefully out of sight, they could not resist surreptitiously spying at our camp from behind their bushes ; they mani- fested their surprise at the enormous range covered by my rifles, being acquainted only with the guns of the Nubians, the best of which could not carry half the distance. The waters of the Keebaly have the repute of affording a 160 THE HEART OF AFIUCA. home to a very remarkable animal tbat has never been observed in any of the streams that rise from the Nile basin. The Nubians, who have a habit of calling anything with which they are not familiar by whatever name may come uppermost at the moment, have given this animal the desig- nation of a " Kharoof-el-bahr," or river-sheep; they describe it in such a way that there can be little doubt that it is a manatus or lamantin (probably M. Vogellii), which is so frequently found in the rivers of Western Africa that flow into the Atlantic. My short and unsettled sojourn on the Keebaly prohibited me from securing, out of these tropical source-streams, a specimen of this strange representative of the Sirenia family. I am perfectly certain that if Mohammed had pleased he could have forced his way across the river. The dexterous Nubians had but to swim over with their guns upon their heads, and they could readily have taken possession of the canoes which, too large and cumbrous to be transported by land, were concealed in the thickets upon the opposite shore. I merely mention this to illustrate my opinion that, with a company of Nubians, the great African rivers in themselves offer no insuperable obstacles to a resolute traveller. As already affirmed, the Keebaly is to be considered as the main stream of the river that, in its lower course, is known as the Welle. Before quitting it we may do well to give our brief attention to the geographical questions that are associated with this discovery. In the accounts collected from his agents, and published by Poucet, the river is called the Boora or Baboora ;* but as I never heard this name, I can only surmise that Poncet's informants had somehow misunderstood or misinterpreted the regular name Keebaly or Keebary. In the same way I * In many Central African dialects, suck as the Baghirmy and Bongo, the monosylluble " ba " means " river." THE KEEBALY. 161 never heard anything of a king mentioned under the name of Kagooma, or of a tribe called the Onguroo. The Nubians seem never to recollect the native names of rivers, and invariably pronounce all names whatever most incorrectly ; the information derived from that quarter is of little value to the geographer, and it is very much to be regretted that the most travelled and experienced leaders of the Khartoom expeditions should have failed so much in acquiring definite details ; had it been otherwise, their knowledge would have been of great assistance in laying down more complete and accurate maps of the country. The probability that the Keebaly and tlie Welle are identical with the upper course of the Shary appears to become at once almost a positive certainty when we ask the counter-question, " If this is not the Shary, whence does the Shary come?" All that we know and all that we do not know about the north and north-western districts conspire to satisfy us that in that direction there is neither a sufficient reservoir, nor an adequate space, for the development of a network of streams large enough to form a river which is half a mile broad at its mouth, and which fills a lake as large as the whole of Belgium. The waters of the Welle, however, do not rise till April, while the Shary occasionally rises in March. In order to explain this earlier rising of the lower river, we seem to be compelled to adopt the supposition that there must be some second main stream which issues from a latitude more southerly than the Kee- baly. Quite insignificant are the two affluents, the Nalobey and the Nomayo, which the river receives on the left from the south of Munza's territory. There can be little doubt about the real origin of the Keebaly. Although, as delineated on my map, the river has a position as though it issued directly from the north- west angle' of the Mwootan Lake (Albert Nyanza), nothing was more remote from my intention than to jump to such a 162 THE HEART OF AFRICA. precipitate conclusion ; there was nothing either in the nature of the river and its tributaries, or in the information I'eceived from the various natives, whicli could, in any way, justify such a hypothesis. On the contrary, I am quite con- vinced of the correctness of Baker's statement. I entirely (ioncur with his view that Lake Mwootan is the great basin of the Nile, and that the Bahr-el-Gebel is its only outlet. That Lake Mwootan, simply on account of its abundance of water, must necessarily have several outlets, and that the Ayi (the river which Baker calls the Ye) is one of those outlets, is only a geographical chimera which, in the Old World at least, has no analogy, and which would only be admitted to the theories of dilettanti. According to Baker's measure- ment Lake Mwootan (Albert Nyanza) is 2720 feet above the level of the sea. But by comparing the rapids of the Keebaly with the height of Munza's residence (2707 feet), which has been verified by the most rigid scientific appliances, I have ascertained that they are almost on the same level as the lake. The river and the lake being thus at the same altitude constitutes- decisive evidence that the Keebaly does not issue from the lake, from which it is distant about 170 miles. All the rivers that were embraced within the compass of my journey appeared to me to have their source in the spur of the Galla- Abyssinian highlands, through which the Bahr- el-Gebel passes in the Madi country. Those which belong to the Nile system would seem to spring from the mountains of Koshi on the north of Lake Mwootan, whilst those which are tributary to the Shary have their source in what Baker designates the Blue Mountains, which he observed to the north-west of the lake. Including the Mfumbiro group on the north of Lake Tanganyika — that group which under Speke's name of " the Mountains of the Moon," has obtained a certain geographical notoriety — this mountain system apparently forms a section of that conspicuous terrace-chain THE KEEBALY. 163 which (with the only exceptions of the Niger source-territory and the lofty isolated coast ranges by the equator) divides the continent of Africa, not according to the prevailing idea into a northern and southern, but into an eastward and west- ward half of highland and lowland. The highland embraces a large number of inland lakes, some of which allow their waters to escape most diffusely, whilst others appear to have no outlet at all. Many of these lakes are found close to the western ridge of the high ground. Besides the Keebaly, the Lualaba amongst other rivers may be named as forcing its way through the mountains of Eua, and apparently flow- ing in a westerly direction towards the lowland. If we imagine a prolonged line to cut the entire continent from Massowa to Mossamedes, it would coincide almost pre- cisely with the terrace-chain of which I have spoken ; it would answer very much to a corresponding line of division between the highlands and lowlands of South America which, like an Africa turned right over, has its coast-chain on the western side. Nurtured as I had been upon the banks of the Diina, my earliest memories were associated with the aspect of a majestic river with its foaming waves, and it was consequently with no ordinary pleasure that I gazed upon this stream which hitherto no white man had ever beheld. I retain the most vivid recollection of the last evening that I spent upon the banks of the Keebaly, when both time and place contributed to provoke a geographical discussion. The Nubians are always ready to talk about rivers. They will enlarge freely upon their source, their aspect, and their connection ; but, carried away by their imagination, they never fail to repre- sent their own incomparable Nile as par excellence the river of rivers, the very spring and reservoir of all the goodliest waters of the earth. A compendium of all their geographical delusions would form an interesting study, and might furnish a key to many antiquated traditions. It is well known that 164 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the Nubians and Arabians always give the narae of "island " to the projecting point of land which lies at the confluence of any two rivers ; thus Sennaar would be described as the " island " between the White and the Blue Nile ; and it was in the same sense that the ancients applied the name to Meroe, the land between the Nile and the Atbara. It is a matter of remark again that the Nubians are accustomed to invert, as it were, the upward and downward courses of a stream, and to describe the confluence of two rivers as the separation of the main stream into two branches. This habit may possibly • account for the frequent mention of "arms" in all their descriptions of their rivers: it is in accordance moreover with the practice of the ancients, who referred to the junction of the White and Blue Nile at Khartoom as a partition of the entire stream, "uhi Nilus iterum hifurcus ; " a notion probably only derived from the habitual expressions of the natives which would thus appear to have remained unaltered for many centuries. A corresponding difference between the Nubian mode of expression and our own is observable in all their allusions to the motions of rivers, and they would speak, for example, of the Nile as going towards, and not as descending from the mountains. On the bank of the Keebaly I sat discussing the topic of river-systems with Mohammed Aboo Sammat and his people ; but as we argued over the many hydro- graphical problems that were yet unsolved I detected him in the most flagrant contradictions. At length, losing my patience, I desired him to show me with his hand which way he supposed the Keebaly to flow ; the whole party simul- taneously motioned towards the east, and turning to the west declared that that was the direction from which the river came. Startled from my composure, I rated tiiera soundly upon their inconsistencies. " Why, you Mussulmen," I said, "twist and turn everything upside down. We can compre^ hend you in nothing. What is sin with us is righteousness NUBIAN INCONSISTENCY. 165 with you. The day you call night.* In your Eamadan, you fast during the daytime ; we do all our fasting at night. Go to a strange place and you expect the people to be the first to visit you. Go to a feast and you take the place of the host, and treat the servants to their beer. Your bridegrooms, too, you make them pay for their brides instead of taking them with a dowry of their own. You talk of what is 'pure and impure ; ' but for yourselves you are always dirty. Your names for colour are contradictions ; ' akhdar ' is green and grey ; ' azrak ' is both blue and black. You call your drums trumpets ; t and your trumpets drums. J In bed you wrap up your heads and leave your feet uncovered. To tell the truth, I could go on and enumerate a hundred of your vagaries, and I can only wonder that you do not stand on your heads and eat with your feet." The incredible con- fusion in the ideas of this people involves the traveller in continual tedious explanations. Speke § complains in the same way about the geographical blunders of his retinue. We made our way back to Nembey by the same route that we had come. Before regaining the place we very narrowly escaped coming into collision with the inhabitants of some hamlets through which we passed. The entire caravan for some days past had been placed upon reduced rations, and when some of the bearers caught sight of the manioc roots that had been planted close to the dwellings, the temptation of pulling them up was too great to be resisted. The women were highly indignant, assailed the offenders lustily, and shrieked at them with the loudest imprecations. The caravan came to a standstill. As those in the rear never knew what was happening in front, Mohammed, attended by his body- guard, hurried up to inquire into the cause of the disturb- ance. Having ascertained the circumstances, he came to •* Referring to the Soudan Arabic word " to-day," which is literally " in tlie night." t Drombeta. J Tamboor. § Ftrfe 'Speke's Journal,' p 90. 166 THE HEART OF AFRICA. the resolution tliat it would be his best policy to make an example of the thieves. Accordingly he gave his instructions, and the delinquents received a sound thrashing with the kurbatch, while the injured women looked on with miufrled satisfaction and derision. On arriving at Nembey we found our grass camp-huts in flames, the inhabitants having set fire to them as a token of their sense of having had enough of our company. They had evidently no wish for us to tarry among them any longer. Without halting, therefore, we continued our march, re- crossed the Kussumbo, and, towards dark, reached the last of the villages before the frontier wilderness, where I and my people found comfortable accommodation in a large shed belonging to the local chief. We were here informed that Wando was bent upon our destruction, the entire population of the frontier being already in arms, and the women and children having been removed to a place of safety. Mohammed by this time had been driven, however un- willingly, to the conclusion that he had neither competent guides nor adequate provisions to enable him to carry out his original project of avoiding the enemy's territory by taking a circuitous route to the east. There was no alter- native for us except to continue our old road over the wil- derness that bounded the frontier. Meanwhile, repeated showers of rain had fallen, and had contributed very much to the difficulty of crossing the swamps by making them unusually humid. So much time was occupied in convey- ing the caravan across the brook that bounded the Monbuttoo district that I had leisure to make a sketch of the gallery- forest, which, however, very inadequately represents the splendour of its luxuriance.* • The annexed woodcut is too minute to represent the details, but it may give some idea of the plantain-groves iu the obscurity of these forests. T^Je oumbrous stems are thickly overgrown with wild pepper, and the spreading branches are loaded with long bead moss (Usnea), and with that remarkable AFRICAN BEESWAX. 167 The sun was still high when we made our first camp in the wilderness. We were upon the third of the gallery- brooks. Since our former visit new blossoms had unfolded themselves, and seemed to give a fresh aspect to the scene. In every quarter of the thickets, gleaming like torches, there rose the imposing clusters of the combretum, with its large bright-red bracteae; and, as if to rival them in splendour, every branch of the spathodea put forth a thyrsus of large orange-coloured balls. In the midst of my enjoyment, as I was admiring the beauties all around me, I was startled by a cry, like a shout of triumph, that came from a party of our negroes who were scouring the woods in the hope of securing something good to eat. I hurried in the direction of the sound, and found the men all clustered round the stem of a tree, to which they were busily applying firebrands. Having discovered a quantity of honey in a hollow tree, they adopted the most effectual measures to secure their treasure, and very soon the honey, the "wax, and the very bodies of the bees them- selves were indiscriminately devoured. If any one could persuade the inhabitants of Centi-al Africa .to desist from their habit of consuming this wax, he would do no small service towards accelerating the civilization of the continent. At present, with the exception of ivory, no article of traffic from these districts repays its transport: but the inex- haustible supply of wax from these districts might be made the object of a productive trade. Hitherto Abyssinia and Benguela have been the only countries that have supplied any considerable quantities of this valuable product; yet the demand for real beeswax in the lands alone that are lichen to which I have given the name of elephant's ear: high among the houghs are the huge dwellings of the tree-termes. Some stems, already decayed, serve as supports for immense garlands of Mucuna, and, overhung by impenetrable foliage, form roomy bowers where dull obscurity reigns supreme. Such is the home of the chimpanzee. 168 THE HEART OF AFRICA. subject to the orthodox Greek Church, where it is the only material allowed for church lights, is almost unbounded. The ruins of the grass-huts beside the broad meadow- water brought back to our recollection the melancholy night of rain which we had to endure upon our outward journey. The spot was, if possible, more miserable and dejected now. Neither leaves nor grass could be obtained in sufficient quantity for our need. Trees had to be felled to make a path across the swamp, and even then, go carefully as we would, the mud was much above our knees. If the enemy had been sagacious enough to attack us under those adverse circumstances, we should have fallen an easy prey. In another two days we should pass the enemy's border. The very expectation seemed to awaken our impatience, and we started off at early dawn. Already we could trace the footprints of our antagonists' outposts, who had been seen some distance along the road to watch for our approach. Towards noon we came to the official declaration of war, consisting, as I have previously described, of the maize, the feather, and the arrow, hung across our path, as the emblems of defiance. There was something of the anxiety of suspense as we found ourselves at the partition brook which marked off Wando's territory. Aware of the danger of venturing rashly into the pathless thickets, our cautious leader ordered a general halt. Small detachments were first despatched to reconnoitre and to clear the way. As soon as they had satisfied themselves that all was safe, the signal was given by the trumpets, and the column of bearers was set in motion. The crowd of women were not permitted to march as usual in single file, but for the sake of compactness were gathered in a mass and strode on, trampling down whatever vegetation came in their way ; the chaos of confusion was indescribable ; the shrill chatter of their voices mingled harshly with the clatter of their pots and pans; while above all rose the bellowing of the orders and the louder A PARLEY. 169 volley of the oaths of the Nubians, who marched on with their guns in one hand, but making good use of their rods and kurbatches with the other. Safely through the wood, we reached an open steppe. We were in sight of the enemy's position, and once again a halt was called. The occasional gleaming of a spear in the grass, or the waving of a plume upon a Niam-niam's hat, made us' aware that we were not far from the presence of the foe. They seemed to be in a wide semicircle, that embraced the front of our halting-ground. There was, however, something in their demeanour that appeared to indicate a desire on their part for a parley. The interpreters therefore were sent forward, the trumpeter Inglery at their head ; Mohammed himself soon followed, and a conference ensued. The natives all this time took careful cognizance of the range of the Khartoomers' guns, and did not seem disposed to approacli nearer than was requisite to understand what was said. As the parley proceeded, and we saw the parties approxi- mate nearer to each other, we began to expect a favourable termination of the interview. It turned out that the men with whom Mohammed was treating were representatives of the districts adjoining the A-Madi, the Nabanda Yuroo. They declared that though they were subject to Wando they had really no share in his hostile intentions; they were anxious to guard themselves against the mischief that might befall them from their proximity to the scene of war, and conse- quently were only pleading " for their hearths and homes." Mohammed was inclined to listen to their plea, although he was reckoning without his host. Meanwhile some of the actual belligerents arrived, and professed that they could o-ive us a safe conduct across the country, declaring that they were well aware where Wando had deposited Mohammed's ivory, and upon these pretexts they urged Mohammed to accept them as guides. I could not resist making my way up to Mohammed as he 170 THE HEART OF AFRICA. stood surrounded by his guard, and giving his instructions to the interpreters, in order that I might point out to him the advantage of his position. I wanted him to understand how much better it woukl be to secure all these men as hostages than to trust to their promises and proposals ; but he made light of my apprehensions, afiSrming that savages were all cowards and afraid of war, and that he had no doubt everv- thing would come right at last. Without further delay the A-Banga were then permitted to escort us to their villages on the other side of the brook, where, in spite of the suspicious absence of all the women and children, we received an abundant supply of provisions, and I was presented with a good store of the flesh of some eland-antelopes, which the natives had killed on the day before. In reality, these people amply deserved a thorough chastisement at our hands for the massacre of our women slaves during our outward journey, but Mohammed, under • the hope of obtaining a safe transit and recovering his ivory, thought it more diplomatic to overlook the ofi'ence. Before sunrise next morning all were in readiness to pro- ceed. The day proved to myself to be one of the few unlucky days that marred the general good fortune that attended my enterprise. A slight mishap befell me in crossing the iirst brook, which was but the precursor of a more serious trouble to come. In crossing a swamp I fell into a deep quagmire, from which I scrambled out witli everything upon me except my hat covered with the blackest and filthiest of mire. With all my might I shouted to my servants to bring me clean dry clothes. My outcry raised an alarm that spread to the rear. There arose an impression that I had been wounded, and in a short time half the caravan had crowded round. Order having been restored, we proceeded on our way. deviating, however, a little from our previous route, and passing numerous villages and cultivated spots. Owing to irregularities in the soil our caravan became somewhat broken, ABOO SAMMAT WOUNDED. 171 and it was deemed advisable to make a halt near the huts of the next local overseer, for the double purpose of gathering the stragglers, and of allowing an interval for the morning meal. Starting afresh, Mohammed, led the way. He was himself unarmed, but he was attended by his young armour-bearers, and followed by a detachment of his black body-guard. Next in order and close behind were the men whose media- tion and offers of guidance had. yesterday been accepted. Somehow or other I coukl not get rid of my presentiment that these fellows were not to be trusted, and accordingly, contrary to my custom, I took good care to keep my trusty rifle in my hand. It struck me as very remarkable that in the villages which we passed the men, women, and children were all assembled in crowds, and calmly watched our pro- gress, just as though there was no rumour or thought of war. After about half a league I was at the head of a column of bearers, but I had fallen some hundred paces behind Mohammed. All at once several shots fired in rapid suc- cession made me aware that something unusual had happened in front. Looking to the right I saw some natives rushing away at full speed across the steppes ; a hasty fire was opened upon the fugitives, and their savage yells of pain betrayed that some of them were wounded, although they contrived to make good their escape. Another moment and I caught sight of Mohammed being carried back towards us with a broad streak of blood across his white sash, and close beside were the two little armour-bearers writhing with their faces to the ground, their backs pierced by the native lances. It was a ghastly sight. Dashing up to jMobaramed I ripped up his clothes, and discovered at a glance that my poor friend had received a deep spear-cut in his thigh. " I did not lose an instant in adopting what measures I could. As fate would have it, I had a box of insect needles in my pocket. Water, of which we were always careful to have a supply, Vol. II.— 13. 17'2 THE HEART OF AFRICA. was close at hand. Mohammed's own muslin scarf was jnst the thing for a bandage. Having carefully been washed, and then bound together with half-a-dozen of the strongest of the pins, and finally enveloped in the scarf and tied with yarn, the gaping wound was completely dressed, and began to heal almost as soon as it was closed. The sad event had occurred in this way. One of the pre- tended guides forced his way between Mohammed and his young shield-bearers, and brandishing his lance cried out, " The people of Yuroo are for peace ; we are for war." Mohammed instinctively made a sidelong movement to escape the falling blow, and thus probably saved his life. Mean- while the other natives attacked the boys and stabbed them between the shoulders. Although Mohammed had escaped the direct blow that was designed, the huge lance, with its head a foot and a half in length, had sunk deep into his flesh. With the fortitude of desperation he dragged the murderous weapon from the wound, hurled it after the fugi- tive assassin, and then fell senseless to the earth. The injury caused by the barbs of the spear (which were an inch long) was miserably aggravated by the impetuous fury with which the weapon was extracted. The wound was broad and deep enough to admit my whole hand, and had only just escaped the kidney, which was visible through the open flesh. In their first surprise at the sudden attack, Mohammed's personal retinue had fired almost at random after the fugitive traitors; but as their guns were only loaded with deer-shot, they for the most part hit the enemy without killing them. Immediately updn this there ensued a general chase, and during the time that I was engaged in binding up Moham- med's wound, I could hear the reports of firearms along the whole line of our procession. And now again a halt was ordered, the columns of bearers were collected, their loads were deposited in piles upon the HOSTILITIES. 173 fjround. and tlie signal was given for a general plunder. Joy- fully enough was the order hailed ; it was especially welcome to the hungry Bongo after their scanty fare on the previous days. As a proof that the natives were in league together, I noticed that directly after the treacherous attack upon Mohammed, all spectators disappeared from the road ; and although the Nubians, considering themselves perfectly jus- tified in taking what slaves they could, went in pursuit of women and children, I did not. see that their exertions were attended with any success. They secured a number of un- fortunate boys, but they let them loose again, persecuting them with gun-shot and lances as they took to flight. The air rung with their shrieks, and it was only the long grass, I cannot doubt, that prevented my seeing not a few of these undeserving victims sink and die upon the earth. Within an hour not only were the granaries of the villages around so effectually ransacked that abundance of corn was piled up around our quarters, but the villages themselves were involved in flames. With an expedition quite astonish- ing, the conical roofs were removed from the nearest huts and employed in the construction of an improvised camp for ourselves, which was subsequently surrounded by a substan- tial abattis. The woodwork from the adjacent dwellings furnished the material for this defence, which we presumed might be necessary in case of attack. Meantime our fighting force was adequate to keep the natives, who had assembled to do battle with us as in- truders, at a safe distance from our camp, wheie our own negroes were busily storing whatever they had captured. While this was going on some of the fighting men came in, and approaching their chieftain, who, wrapped in wet bandages, was reclining on a couch beneath a tree, laid at his feet their first trophies of war, consisting of several heads of the A-B:inga. It was in the first excitement of battle that 174 THE HEART OF AFRICA. these heads had been taken off tlie bodies of the fallen, and in revenge for the slaughterous attack upon Mohammed ; but throughout the whole period of hostility, although some twenty natives were killed, this was the first and last in- stance that came under my notice of the barbarous custom. All the negroes attached to our caravan had a superstitious horror of the practice of decapitating the dead, and the Nubians would have deemed themselves defiled by touching the corpse of a heathen. As no value appeared in any quarter to be attached to the heads I appropriated them to myself, and was thus able to add to the variety of my collection of skulls. The scene of these adventures was witliin gunshot of a bank thicket, through the deep hollow of which flowed a copious brook that a little farther north joined the Assika. On the opposite bank, which was considerably higher than the side on which we were encamped, there were several groups of hamlets scattered about the open plain, and be- tween these numbers of armed men could be distinguished hurrying about, the precise object of whose activity we were at a loss to determine. Amongst the Nubians who were with us were some of the stoutest and most resolute men in the whole of Aboo Sammat's corps, and these had come to the resolution that they would force their way through the natives who might be hidden in the jungle, cross the brook. and carry an attack over to the opposite bank. All the ivory that had been purchased on the outward route and deposited in the land seemed to be in peril of being lost, and it Avas the conviction of the Nubians that their only chance now of recovering their property was by capturing some of the native women, who would have to be redeemed. Things seemed to promise favourably for the undertaking. The soil was suitable, the network of brooks and trenches interspersed with grass plots opened certain facilities for encompassing an adversary, and if the Nubians had acted ARROWS OF THE A-BANGA. 175 with greater determination they could hardly have failed in securing the desired hostages, but the passage across the woods on the river-banks was their first difficulty. They had to contend at a great disadvantage, for they could only squander their bullets uselessly or at random among the trees ; while the natives from their lurking-places could do good and sure execution with their spears and arrows. I accompanied our party of assailants for some distance, and had a better opportunity than had ever presented itsell' before of observing the effect of the native arrows. The arrows that had wooden heads I observed to have a range of at least 300 paces, and to fall with scarcely a sound ; such as had iron tips on the contrary came whizzing through the air, but would not carry half the distance ; these appeared only to be used when the natives felt tolerably sure of their aim. The A-Banga have a war-dress and equipments that would seem to be entirely derived from the Monbuttoo : they dance and jump about behind the bushes as if they were taking part in a pantomime, generally trying to keep a crouching posture, and only rising to discharge their arrows. The storm of arrows which they hurled against us as we advanced fell like strays from a waggon-load of straw, and yet our enemy could not be detected anywhere, excepting at intervals a form would be seen to rush across as it changed its place of ambush. Just at the beginning of the fray one of our side was struck by a wooden arrow in rather a remarkable way ; the point, which was some inches long and as hard as iron, having caught the inner corner of his eye, remained sticking close to the side of the lachrymal cavity ; the fellow roared out lustily, but he was found to have sustained no serious hurt. It Avas said that a casualty of this kind was by no means unusual, because the natives always aimed at the eye as the most vulnerable quarter ; but as the arrows are very light, and have to describe a curve before thev can reach 176 THE HEART OF AFRICA. their mark, I should presume their destination is altogether a matter of chance. On the border of the wood, close to the pathway as it emerged, some of the more courageous of the natives made a stand and received our people with gestures of defiance, brandishing their weapons, and tossing their plumed heads. From the thickets beyond, the war-cries of those who weie less venturesome could be distinctly heard, and from the dis- tance, beyond again, resounded the clang of the kettledrums. One of the savages sprang forward towards us, and holding up his shield denounced us with a volley of maddened imprecations. A bullet quickly pierced alike his shield and his breast, and he sank mute and senseless to the earth. A second ventured forward, but only to succumb to the same fate. Then the savages thought it was time to retreat, and accordingly wheeling round they disappeared into the obscurity of the wood, where the rustle of the foliage gave witness to a general flight. Now was the opportunity to cross, of which the Nubians took advantage, but though they reached the farmsteads without opposition they could only fire into the air without an aim, as though they were greeting the new moon after the fast of Ramadan. For myself curiosity alone had led me on. I had no war- like ardour, I had no feeling of vengeance against the natives, and consequently I took no personal share in this mild skirmish, but those who were present delighted after- wards in telling wonderful stories of the daring prowess I had displayed in penetrating the enemy's ranks. Such reports often follow a traveller's reputation for years, and whoever repeats them is pretty sure to append some marvel of his own fancy. ''When fame paints a serpent, she attaches feet to its body." The savages had no idea of the velocity of a bullet ; they invariably ducked their heads as often as they could hear a ball whistling in the air ; and it was a very ludicrous spec- A CHALLENGE. 177 tacle when hundreds of black heads that had been peeping from, behind the trees would simultaneously disappear. By sundown the whole region about us was clear of the enemy, and as darkness came on the bearers returned within the shelter of our abattis, laden richly with spoils that they had secured in the adjacent villages. Sentries and watch- fires were established, and the night was passed in a stillness that was rarely broken by a stray and distant shot. With the exception of a few Bongo-bearers who, yielding to their marauding propensities, had pushed too far into the hamlets, we had sujffered no loss. Two of the Nubians, however, had received severe lance-wounds, and had to be carried back to the camp on litters. It was currently reported among the natives that Moham- med was mortally wounded. Encouraged by the accession of fresh contingents during the night, they once again made the woods re-echo with their savage war-cries, amidst which could be heard the vilest and most abusive Arabic invectives that they seemed to have learnt for the mere purpose of vituperating their enemies. Mbahly's death, however, was the burden of their chorus "Mbahly! Mbahly! Give us Mbahly. We want meat." Mohammed would not submit to these taunts. In spite of his weakness he insisted upon showing himself. With his wound firmly bandaged, he was conveyed beyond the camp to a white ant-hill, from whence he could be seen far around. For nearly a quarter of an hour he stood upon this elevation swinging his scimitar, and shouting with the full strength of his voice, "Here I am, Mbahly is not dead yet." He then challenged them to come with a hundred lances if they dare, and retorted upon them in jeering scorn their cry of, " Pushyo ! pushyo !" (meat, meat), always using the Niam-niam dialect, in which he was tolerably fluent.'- * In the woodcut that depicts this scene, the background gives a representa- tion of the splendid forest scenery that marked this spot. 178 THE HEAKT OF AFRICA. » Mohammed was at once to be recognised by his Monbuttoo straw hat, with its briglit-red feathers. Although all his compatriots would have considered it a degradation to adopt a savage costume, he always delighted, in these expeditions, to dress himself like a native chieftain. In order to give the natives a still further demonstration of his safety, in the course of the afternoon he made his nephew array himself in his own state attire, his flowing rokko-coat, and his stately plumes, and sent him to conduct a sally towards the north. This party, however, returned without coming to any en- <2;ao;ement. I spent the whole day in my own tent preparing the ammunition which I supposed would be requisite for my people if the state of warfare should last. Deer-shot, with some of a heavier description, I considered would be of the greatest service in the hands of unskilful marksmen. I had another occupation, which made me feel like a very Nemesis. I manipulated the heads of the A-Banga men which I had so recently appropriated. Probably with their own eyes these heads had watched the stewing of other human heads, but now they had to simmer on in my caldron. Although I was quite aware that the Nubians reckoned the bones of all heathens and unbelievers as entitled to no more respect than the bones of brute beasts, yet for decency's sake I preferred performing the operation in the seclusion of my tent. Notwithstanding that my dogs had not had any animal food for several days, they could not be induced to eat a morsel of the boiled human flesh. Just as it was growing dark we were startled, if not alarmed, by the appearance of a great troop of natives. The attack was not made, as hitherto, from the dense dark woods at our feet, but proceeded from our old path upon the south. Only the foremost ranks were visible, tlie rear being hidden by the high grass and bushes ; but the wild cries, like the howling of a coming storm, testified to the overwhelming PURSUING THE FUGITIVES. 179 numbei's of the aggressors. Half of our armed force issued from the camp in a compact line, and fired a volley straight upon the nearest of the assailants, five of whom were seen to fall dead upon the ground. The altered tone of the war-cry proved that many more were wounded, and as all the guns were loaded with a good handful of heavy shot this was sure to be the case ; but this time the conflict came to such close quarters that two more of our men were severely wounded by the native lances. As soon as the attack was thus diverted, and the front ranks of the enemy began to retreat, the negroes of our caravan, who had been placed in reserve immediately behind the soldiers, started off at full speed in pursuit of the fugitives, and their lances made far greater havoc than all the^ bullets of the Nubians. Before leaving Munza's residence our bearers had all been provided with new weapons, and thus our little negio band was able to hold its own against greatly preponderating numbers of the enemy, who, I should imagine, were at least 10,000 strong. The weight and diversity of the weapons of the A-Banga, added to the inconvenience of their costume, necessarily prevented them from making a rapid flight ; they were con- sequently obliged to keep throwing off one impediment after another until the ground was strewn with shields, lances, clothes, and sometimes with their false chignons, ornaments and all. When the negroes returned to camp, bringing in their spoil and swinging the chignons on the points of their lances, they were greeted alike with the glad shout of triumph and the loud ring of laughter. It was near midnight when the pursuers came back. They had prosecuted their chase to the frontier wilderness ; they had found the villages all deserted by their inhabitants, and had obtained such stores of plunder that enough was accumulated to keep our whole caravan for a month. This had been the most energetic attack that the eneniv had yet attempted ; it was made exclusively by the A-Bano-a, 180 THE HEART OF AFRICA. DO Niam-niam having as yet appeared upon the scene. The arrival of Wando, with all his force, was expected the next day. Early, therefore, on the following morning half of our little armament was sent forward to the north, not merely to anticipate any movement on Wando's part, but, if possible, to accomplish the object of obtaining some women as hos- tages, who might be exchanged ibr the still undiscovered ivory. Mohammed was annoyed at the previous failures to secure any women, knowing by experience that hardly any ransom is accounted too large by the Niam-niam for the recovery of their wives. About two hours after the departure of our soldiers a singular sight arrested our attention. Marching along in single file upon the top of the opposite slope, which was separated from our camp by the woody depression and the brook, we saw a lengthened train of armed natives, who by their large quadrangular shields gleaming in the sun could be at once recognised as A-Banga. The procession seemed unending ; it occupied fully three hours in passing, and at the lowest computation must have consisted of 10,000 or 12,000 men. It was at first the general impression that the chieftain had arrived with the main body of his troops. It was conjectured that he intended to make a circuit to the west, and, having crossed the brook, to attack us at nightfall from the same quarter as our assailants of the previous day. But our fears were not realised, and we remained utterly unable to reconcile the manoeuvres we had witnessed with the absence of Watido, which was still a mystery to us, as he might have been joined by all his allies in the course of a single day. Everything, however, was made clear to us when our soldiers returned at night from their plundering expeditions. They told us that on arriving in the morning at the liamlets they had found the fighting force of the A-Banga all drawn up, evidently waiting in anxious suspense WANDO'S RET HEAT. 181 for the assistance of Wando, but that on their approacli this large body of men immediately vacated their post. Thus the long train that had caused us so much bewilderment was simply the 10,000 natives retreating at the advance of a detachment of forty or fifty of our soldiers. Upon the gradual slope on which our camp-enclosure was situated, the white ant-hills, that often rise to an altitude of ten feet, were the only eminences whence any extended view could be obtained across the long grass of the steppe. These were nearly always occupied by the natives, who mounted them for the purpose of getting a better vantage- ground for shouting their menaces and invective insults, but occasionally they answered another end : they ser\ ed to allow the outposts of the contending parties to hold com- munication with each other. Amongst Mohammed's trained soldiers he had no less than forty Niam-niatu, who were very devoted to him. These would appear to have held some correspondence with the enemy, and from them we learnt that the A-Banga were greatly irritated at the con- duct of Wando, who, after urging them to attack us, had left them in the lurch. They complained that all they had got from their acquiescence in his wish was tliiit the "Turks" had killed their fellow-comrades and laid waste their land. Wando himself, they said, had had an unpropitious augury at the beginning of the fray, and, intimidated at the pro- spect, had abandoned his scheme ; he had withdrawn to the recesses of the forest, 'and, in spite of the remonstrances