The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile by Samuel White Baker (best ebook reader for chromebook .txt) đź“–
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receive, everything being immediately pocketed. Course S.S.E.
Jan. 14th.-All day occupied in repairing the yard; the buffalo hide of
the animal that killed Sali Achmet being most serviceable in lashing.
Sailed in the evening in company with a boat belonging to the Austrian
mission. River about 120 yards of clear water; current about two miles
per hour. Found quantities of natron on the marshy ground bordering the
river.
Had a turkey for dinner, a “cadeau” from Koorshid Aga, and, as a great
wonder, the kisras (a sort of brown pancake in lieu of bread) were free
from sand. I must have swallowed a good-sized millstone since I have
been in Africa, in the shape of grit rubbed from the moorhaka, or
grinding-stone. The moorhaka, when new, is a large flat stone, weighing
about forty pounds; upon this the corn is ground by being rubbed with a
cylindrical stone with both hands. After a few months’ use half of the
original grinding-stone disappears, the grit being mixed with the flour;
thus the grinding-stone is actually eaten. No wonder that hearts become
stony in this country!
Jan. 15th.-We were towing through high reeds this morning, the men
invisible, and the rope mowing over the high tops of the grass, when the
noise disturbed a hippopotamus from his slumber, and he was immediately
perceived close to the boat. He was about half grown, and in an instant
about twenty men jumped into the water in search of him, thinking him a
mere baby; but as he suddenly appeared, and was about three times as
large as they had expected, they were not very eager to close. However,
the reis Diabb pluckily led the way and seized him by the hind leg, when
the crowd of men rushed in, and we had a grand tussle. Ropes were thrown
from the vessel, and nooses were quickly slipped over his head, but he
had the best of the struggle and was dragging the people into the open
river; I was therefore obliged to end the sport by putting a ball
through his head. He was scored all over by the tusks of some other
hippopotamus that had been bullying him. The men declared that his
father had thus misused him; others were of opinion that it was his
mother; and the argument ran high, and became hot.
These Arabs have an extraordinary taste for arguments upon the most
trifling points. I have frequently known my men argue throughout the
greater part of the night, and recommence the same argument on the
following morning. These debates generally end in a fight; and in the
present instance the excitement of the hunt only added to the heat of
the argument. They at length agreed to refer it to me, and both parties
approached, vociferously advancing their theories; one half persisting
that the young hippo had been bullied by his father, and the others
adhering to the mother as the cause. I, being referee, suggested that
“perhaps it was his UNCLE.” Wah Illahi sahe! (By Allah it is true!) Both
parties were satisfied with the suggestion; dropping their theory they
became practical, and fell to with knives and axes to cut up the cause
of the argument. He was as fat as butter, and was a perfect godsend to
the people, who divided him with great excitement and good humour.
We are now a fleet of seven boats, those of several traders having
joined us. The “Clumsy’s” yard looks much better than formerly. I cut
off about ten feet from the end, as it was topheavy. The yard of this
class of vessel should look like an immense fishing-rod, and should be
proportionately elastic, as it tapers gradually to a point. Course S.E.
I hear that the Shillook tribe have attacked Chenooda’s people, and that
his boat was capsized, and some lives lost in the hasty retreat. It
serves these slave-hunters right, and I rejoice at their defeat. Exodus
xx. 16: “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found
in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”
Jan. 16th.—A new dish! There is no longer mock-turtle soup—REAL
turtle is MOCK HIPPOPOTAMUS. I tried boiling the fat, flesh, and skin
together, the result being that the skin assumes the appearance of the
green fat of the turtle, but is far superior. A piece of the head thus
boiled, and then soused in vinegar, with chopped onions, cayenne pepper,
and salt, throws brawn completely in the shade. My men having revelled
in a cauldron of hippopotamus soup, I serve out grog at sunset, all
ships being together. Great contentment, all appetites being satisfied.
The labour of towing through swamps, tugging by the long grass, and
poling against a strong current, is dreadful, and there appears to be no
end to this horrible country. “On dit,” that during the dry season there
is plenty of game near the river, but at present boundless marshes
devoid of life, except in the shape of mosquitoes, and a very few
water-fowl, are the only charms of the White Nile. The other day I
caught one of the men stealing the salt; Richarn having been aware of
daily thefts of this treasure, and having failed to report them, the
thief received twenty with the coorbatch, and Richarn is reduced to the
ranks, as I anticipated. No possibility of taking observations, as there
is no landing-place. Jan. 17th.-As usual, marshes, mosquitoes, windings,
dead flats, and light winds; the mosquitoes in the cabin give no rest
even during the day. Stream about two miles per hour. Course S.E.; the
river averaging about one hundred and ten yards in width of clear water.
Jan. 18th.-Country as usual, but the wind brisker. In company with
Koorshid Aga’s boats. I have bound the stock of Oswell’s old gun with
rhinoceros hide. All guns made for sport in wild countries and rough
riding, should have steel instead of iron from the breech-socket,
extending far back to within six inches of the shoulder-plate; the
trigger-guard should likewise be steel, and should be carried back to an
equal distance with the above rib; the steel should be of extra
thickness, and screwed through to the upper piece; thus the two, being
connected by screws above and below, no fall could break the stock.
Jan,. 19th.-At 8 A.M. we emerged from the apparently endless regions of
marsh grass, and saw on the right bank large herds of cattle, tended by
naked natives, in a country abounding with high grass and mimosa wood.
At 9.15 A.M. arrived at the Zareeba, or station of Binder, an Austrian
subject, and White Nile trader; here we found five noggurs belonging to
him and his partner. Binder’s vakeel insisted upon giving a bullock to
my people. This bullock I resisted for some time, until I saw that the
man was affronted. It is impossible to procure from the natives any
cattle by purchase. The country is now a swamp, but it will be passable
during the dry season. Took equal altitudes of sun producing latitude 7
degrees 5′ 46″. The misery of these unfortunate blacks is beyond
description; they will not kill their cattle, neither do they taste meat
unless an animal dies of sickness; they will not work, thus they
frequently starve, existing only upon rats, lizards, snakes, and upon
such fish as they can spear. The spearing of fish is a mere hazard, as
they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds; thus, out of three or
four hundred casts, they may, by good luck, strike a fish. The harpoon
is neatly made, and is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet
long, secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a monster, as
there are varieties of fish which attain a weight of two hundred pounds.
In the event of harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is the
result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs out the entire length
of line; they then swim after him, holding their end of the line, and
playing him until exhausted. The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a
leopard-skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white beads, with
a crest of white ostrich-feathers; but the mantle was merely slung over
his shoulders, and all other parts of his person were naked. His
daughter was the best-looking girl that I have seen among the blacks;
she was about sixteen. Her clothing consisted of a little piece of
dressed hide about a foot wide slung across her shoulders, all other
parts being exposed. All the girls of this country wear merely a circlet
of little iron jingling ornaments round their waists. They came in
numbers, bringing small bundles of wood to exchange for a few handfuls
of corn. Most of the men are tall, but wretchedly thin; the children are
mere skeletons, and the entire tribe appears thoroughly starved. The
language is that of the Dinka. The chief carried a curious tobacco-box,
an iron spike about two feet long, with a hollow socket, bound with
iguana-skin; this served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger.
Throughout the whole of this marshy country it is curious to observe the
number of white ant-hills standing above the water in the marshes: these
Babel towers save their inmates from the deluge; working during the dry
season, the white ants carry their hills to so great a height (about ten
feet), that they can live securely in the upper stories during the
floods. The whole day we are beset by crowds of starving people,
bringing small gourd-shells to receive the expected corn. The people of
this tribe are mere apes, trusting entirely to the productions of nature
for their subsistence; they will spend hours in digging out field-mice
from their burrows, as we should for rabbits. They are the most pitiable
set of savages that can be imagined; so emaciated, that they have no
visible posteriors; they look as though they had been planed off, and
their long thin legs and arms give them a peculiar gnat-like appearance.
At night they crouch close to the fires, lying in the smoke to escape
the clouds of mosquitoes. At this season the country is a vast swamp,
the only dry spots being the white ant-hills; in such places the natives
herd like wild animals, simply rubbing themselves with wood-ashes to
keep out the cold.
Jan. 20th.—The river from this spot turns sharp to the east, but an
arm equally broad comes from S. 20 degrees E. to this point. There is no
stream from this arm. The main stream runs round the angle with a rapid
current of about two and a half miles per hour. The natives say that
this arm of dead water extends for three or four days’ sailing, and is
then lost in the high reeds. My reis Diabb declares this to be a mere
backwater, and that it is not connected with the main river by any
positive channel.
So miserable are the natives of the Kytch tribe, that they devour both
skins and bones of all dead animals; the bones are pounded between
stones, and when reduced to powder they are boiled to a kind of
porridge; nothing is left even for a fly to feed upon, when an animal
either dies a natural death, or is killed. I never pitied poor creatures
more than these utterly destitute savages; their method of returning
thanks is by holding your hand and affecting to spit upon it; which
operation they do not actually perform, as I have seen stated in works
upon the White Nile. Their domestic arrangements are peculiar. Polygamy
is of course allowed, as in all other hot climates and savage countries;
but when a man becomes too old to pay sufficient attention to his
numerous
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