Part 29

Having rested during the hot hours of the day, we pursued our march about two o’clock in the afternoon, when, after a stretch of about two miles, we entered a fine hilly district, well adapted for pasture- grounds for camels and sheep, but untenanted in the present deserted state of the country. A mile and a half further on, we passed the well of Mul, which was at present dry, and then winding along the fine valley, were detained a long time by the loss of another camel. Having then encamped, after a march altogether of about ten miles, we started again, an hour after midnight, and after travelling nearly thirteen miles, reached the well of Únghurutín, situated in a hollow surrounded with fine vegetation, and affording that most excellent fodder for camels, the “hád;” besides which there was a great deal of “retem,” or broom.

[Sidenote: Monday, May 28th.]

Having spent the Sunday in Únghurutín quietly, and indulging in some little repose, we started a little after midnight, and did not encamp till after a march of about fifteen miles. It was interesting to observe, when the day began to dawn, that all along this region a considerable quantity of rain had fallen, in consequence of which “hád” and “sebód” covered the ground, although we were extremely glad to escape from that great annoyance to travellers, the feathery bristle, or “ngíbbi.” Another twelve miles in the afternoon, through a more open country, broken in the earlier part by a few specimens of the tree “símsim,” brought us to the well Bedwáram, or Bélkashi-fárri, where we encamped at the foot of the eastern eminence, choosing our ground with great care, as we were to recruit here our strength by a longer stay, the well being at present frequented by a number of that section of the Gunda tribe of Tebu, which is called “Wándalá,” or “Aussa.” For in general the well is by no means a safe retreat, and it seems to have been at this well, or in the neighbourhood, that Corporal Macguire was slain last year, when returning home, after the report of the death of his chief, Mr. Vogel.

We had great trouble in opening the wells; for we needed a large provision of water, as, besides filling our skins, we had here to water all our camels. Only one of the wells was open at the time, and contained very little water. It is easily to be understood in what a perilous position a small caravan would be, if attacked under such circumstances by a gang of highway robbers, and I felt particularly obliged to Sheikh ʿOmár for having afforded me the protection of the salt merchants, the Dáza, who were busy the whole day long in digging out the wells. I was glad to find that the temporary inhabitants of the place behaved quietly and decently, and even brought us some camels’ milk, which they bartered for small looking-glasses.

Having remained here also the 30th, we started in the afternoon of the last of May, and, after a good stretch of nearly twenty miles, encamped. We set out again after about four hours’ rest, when having proceeded some six miles, we entered the open sandy waste, just beyond a fine group of símsim trees, and halted again, during the heat of the day, after a march of about six miles more. I here enjoyed again the wide expanse of the open desert, which, notwithstanding its monotony, has something very grand about it, and is well adapted to impress the human mind with the consciousness of its own littleness, although, at the present season, it presented itself in its most awful character, owing to the intense heat which prevailed.

Having a tedious march before us through the dreary desert of Tintúmma, we started for a long wearisome night’s march, some time before the heat had attained its highest degree, only one hour after noon, but probably we should have acted wiser to have waited till the heat was past, as the poor slaves of my fellow-travellers were knocked up before the heat came on. Only a short rest of forty minutes was granted, at eight o’clock in the evening, for a cold supper of guinea-corn, when the caravan started again to continue its night-march over this unbounded sandy waste; but I, as well as my chief servant, being on horseback, I found myself at liberty to remain some time behind, indulging in the luxury of a cup of coffee. I remained however almost too long; and if it had not been that, contrary to my orders, which were to the effect to spare the powder as much as possible, my servants kept firing their pistols off at random, in order to cheer themselves and the poor slaves, I should have had some difficulty in following the caravan. Cheered by the firing, and perhaps impressed with the awful character of the country which we were traversing at such an hour, the slaves, forgetful of their over-fatigue, kept up an uninterrupted song, the sounds of which fell occasionally upon my ears, as I followed them at a great distance. But under the effects of this excitement, and in the cool of the evening, they marched at such a rate, that I did not overtake them till long after midnight, when freemen and slaves began to feel exhausted, and would gladly have lagged behind; and I had to urge on several of these unfortunates, and prevent them from staying behind, and falling a sacrifice to thirst and fatigue. One of my servants was not to be seen. In fact this desert is famous for people well accustomed to it losing their way, and the white sand, extending to a boundless distance, is so confounding, that people often miss their direction entirely. But the fatigue of this night’s march was very great indeed, and when the day dawned, I gladly availed myself of the opportunity afforded by a little herbage of giving a slight feed to my exhausted horse to obtain a few minutes’ repose.

Pursuing then our dreary march, while a heavy wind rose, which by raising the dust made the desert look still more gloomy, we gradually discovered the rocky mountains of Ágadem ahead of us, but did not enter the peculiar valley formation till a quarter past seven o’clock. Here we chose our camping-ground in a corner surrounded by the “siwák,” which form quite a little plantation, and occasionally attract temporary settlers, especially of the tribe called Bolodúwa, or Ám-wadébe. However, the sand wind made our stay here very cheerless, which was increased by the circumstance of the ground being full of camel lice, this being the usual camping-ground. The water of the well was clean and excellent, but not very plentiful, so that we had to take our supply for the road before us from a more northerly well. The servant who was missing not having been found, we waited anxiously for the arrival of the Dáza in the afternoon, when he made his appearance in their company. They had fortunately seen him at a great distance, when he had completely lost his way, and was wandering southward. I made a present to the man who had brought him back. We remained here the following day, and besides the small luxury of the wild fruit of the siwák, I was glad to be able to buy a vessel of butter from our friends the salt-traders, as my store of this article was nearly consumed.

[Sidenote: Monday, June 4th.]

The poor slaves of our companions were so totally exhausted by the fatigue of the journey, that they would have preferred anything to a continuance of such suffering, and when we started at a very early hour, a poor female slave tried to make her escape, by hiding herself in the bushes, but, she was soon found out, and received a severe flogging for her pains.

Proceeding along a very peculiar basin of natron, at the foot of the rocky slope, we reached after a march of about four miles the northern well, situated in an open pleasant landscape, the mountains on the east side receding in the distance. We remained here this day and the following forenoon, keeping back the Dáza, who were anxious to pursue their journey, for animals as well as men stood in need of some repose, in order to enable them to traverse the long desert tract which separated us from the Tebu country.

[Sidenote: June 5th.]

Just about noon, as we were packing ready to start, a thunder-storm gathered on the chain towards the east, and a few drops of rain fell while we were setting out. Having then kept along the valley for about three miles, we ascended the higher ground with an easterly direction, and obtained a sight of the eastern slope of the chain which borders the valley, which, although not so high on this side as towards the west, seemed yet to have an elevation of about 300 feet. About three o’clock we had again a slight shower of rain. The whole of Ágadem, as I here became aware, forms a sort of wide extensive hollow, bordered on the eastern side by this rocky chain, and towards the west at the distance of about three miles, as well as towards the north by sandy downs. The higher level itself, over which our track lay, was broken by considerable depressions, running east and west, and forming such steep slopes, that Clapperton’s expression of high sand hills, which he had here to cross seems well justified; and we ourselves took up our encampment after a march of a little more than eleven miles in a hollow of this description, bordered by high sand hills towards the west. However, our halt was very short, and soon after midnight we pursued our march, the desert now becoming more level, and therefore allowing a steady progress by night. Pursuing our march with alacrity, we encamped after a stretch of about sixteen miles in a spot which was full of those remarkable crystallized tubes which are called “bargom-chídibe,” by the Kanúri, and “kauchin-kassa,” by the Háusa people; and the character of which has been explained in such various ways, some supposing them to be the effect of lightning, while others fancy them to be the covered walks with which the white ant had surrounded stalks of negro corn. Pursuing from here our march, a little before two in the afternoon we entered a sandy waste, which well deserved to be compared to the wide expanse of the ocean, although even here small rocky ridges protruded in some places; and after a march of about ten miles, we ourselves encamped under the protection of such a ridge.

[Sidenote: Thursday, June 7th.]

Starting again from here at a very early hour in the night, we reached after a march of about six miles the well of Díbbela, the romantic character of which, with its high sand hills, from which black rocky masses towered forth, together with its dúm-palms, struck me not a little. But the water is abominable, being impregnated with an immense quantity of natron; and it was here that Mr. Henry Warrington, who had accompanied Mr. Vogel to Kúkawa, succumbed to the dysentery with which he had been seized on the road, the bad quality of the water having probably brought the disorder to a crisis. It was, moreover, a very hot day, although not hotter than usual, the thermometer at two o’clock indicating 109° in the best shade I could find; and the masses of sand all around were quite bewitching and bewildering. Starting again in the afternoon as soon as the heat had reached its greatest intensity, we ascended the sandy downs with a considerable westerly deviation, leaving just beyond this hollow another one, with some talha trees, and then keeping over the sandy level with a ridge of the same character, and passing after a march of about five miles a great quantity of kajíji, till after a good stretch of altogether seventeen miles, we encamped on hard sandy ground. On this tedious journey, I always felt greatly delighted on our arrival at the camping-ground, to stretch myself at full length on the clean sand, the softness of which makes one feel in no want of a couch.

[Sidenote: June 8th.]

Having encamped at a rather late hour, we did not start so early as usual, and halted after a march of about eight miles on a ground almost entirely destitute of herbage, but what seemed very remarkable, soaked by the rain of the previous day, and affording another and still stronger proof of the incorrectness of the opinion which had hitherto been entertained of this whole tract never being fertilized by the rains. The soil also was full of the footprints of the “bagr-el-wáhesh,” _Antelope bubalis_, which being pursued by the sportsmen of Ágadem and Díbbela, had evidently sought a refuge in this region.

Having from hence made a stretch of about ten miles in the afternoon, and halted for nearly four hours at sunset, we started again for a wearisome night’s march, deviating very considerably from our former track; and after a march of a little more than eighteen miles, the latter part over a difficult range of sand hills, we reached in the morning the well of Zaw-kurá in a dreadfully fatigued state, and with the loss of four camels; but it was cheering to find that the locality—a vale richly adorned with siwák, or _Capparis sodata_, afforded some relief not only to the body but even to the mind. We here met with a small caravan of Tebu, natives of the very ancient village of Ágherim or Ághram, the place of which I have spoken on a former occasion[54], and which lies three days north-west from here by way of Yawi. Being on their road to Bórnu, they were anxious to exchange their camels for mine, the latter being accustomed to the climate of Bórnu whither they were going. Such an exchange is certainly advisable to travellers proceeding in either direction, in the event of the animals of each party being equally good; but, on the one hand, I wanted too badly the few camels which had withstood the fatigue, and, on the other, those of these people were too poor to allow me to accept their offer; and in consequence, they had to load the five horses which they had with them with water-skins. These people gave us the important information that the ghazzia of the Tawárek had returned from Tibésti, having made only a small booty of forty camels and thirty slaves, on account of the Tebu having been on their guard, although they threatened to return at some future period. We remained here the following day, enjoying the repose of which we stood so much in need. A strong wind had been blowing all night; but the heat, at two o’clock in the afternoon, reached its usual elevation of 108° in the best shade.

[Sidenote: Monday, June 11th.]

We started again in the afternoon, winding round the south-eastern edge of the considerable mountain group to which the vale is indebted for its existence, and having on our right sandy downs. Just at the spot where we left the small oasis, known to the traders of the desert as Zaw- kanwa, on our left, we fell in with the footsteps of a small party, when, supposing them to be marauders, we followed them up for awhile, till we had convinced ourselves that they were people in search of a runaway slave. Pursuing then our march altogether about sixteen miles, we halted at nine o’clock in the evening; but started again at midnight, and after a march of fourteen miles, reached Muskátenu, the southernmost limit of the oasis of Kawár, although nothing but an inconsiderable shallow depression, full of marl and alum.

Although the heat was greater than usual, the thermometer indicating as much as 110°, we started with great alacrity in the afternoon, as we were now approaching the seats of Tebu power and civilization in the heart of the desert, where nature has provided this little fertile spot, in order to facilitate intercourse between distant nations. However, several sandy ridges opposed themselves to our progress before we reached the real beginning of the valley, at the western foot of a large and broad-topped rocky mound; but the sand was not so deep as I had been led by the description of other people to expect. Here the scenery became highly interesting, the verdant ground—where small patches of the grass called “ghedeb” and vegetables were sown, surrounded by slight fences of palm-bushes—being overtopped by handsome groups of palm-trees; and cheered as I felt by this spectacle, after the dreary march which we had made, I could not grudge my people a few shots of powder. But while our friends the Dáza salt-traders encamped at the very thickest grove, where the dilapidated town of Bilma is situated, we ourselves entered a dreary salt-pan, and encamped about a mile further on, near a miserable little village called Kalála, without the ornament or shade of a single tree. Moreover, the ground was so hard, that it was only with the greatest difficulty that we were able to pitch the tent; and having no wood wherewith to cook a supper, a small hospitable gift from our friend Kólo, consisting first in a dish of fresh dates, and afterwards in a mess of cooked pudding, proved very acceptable. The miserable hamlet, besides a few hovels, scarcely to be distinguished from the ground, contained only the ruins of a mosque, which had been turned into a magazine for salt.

Our stay here became the more disagreeable, as towards the morning of the following day, a heavy gale arose, against which this open tract offered not the slightest protection; but I amused myself by paying a visit to the salt-pits, in the high mounds of rubbish, a few hundred yards to the east of our encampment. I was highly interested in the very peculiar character which they presented, the pits forming small quadrangular basins, of about four or five yards in diameter, deeply cut into the rock, where all the saltish substance contained in the ground collects, and is thence obtained, by pouring this water, impregnated with salt, into moulds of clay of the shape which I have described in my notice of the salt trade[55], in that part of my journey where I was myself travelling in the company of the salt traders of Ásben. The salt, filtering through the sides of the mound, had all the appearance of long icicles. But at present only a small quantity of prepared salt was lying here, the season for the Kél-owí to carry it away being some months later, when this tract must present a very different aspect, and exhibit a considerable degree of activity; and it would have been highly interesting if Mr. Overweg had been able to visit the place at such a season, as he had intended.

It was also a circumstance of considerable interest, that about two o’clock in the afternoon, while the thermometer indicated 107° 3′ in the best shade I could find, we had a slight shower, although this whole region has been set down as an entirely rainless zone. My camels being greatly reduced, and several of them of little value, I exchanged the two worst among them for one belonging to the Dáza, our former fellow- travellers, who being bent upon staying here a few days, before they undertook their home journey to Bórnu, were thus enabled to wait until the animals had recruited their strength.

[Sidenote: June 14th.]

At an early hour in the morning, long before the dawn of day, we continued our journey northward along the Wádi Kawár, as it is called by the Arabs, or the Héneri-tegé, valley of the Tegé or Tedá, as it is called by the natives, having the steep rocky cliffs, which at times formed picturesque platforms, at about three miles distance on our right. Meanwhile the country became beautifully wooded at the dawn of the day, and numerous travellers attested a certain degree of industry in this curious abode of men in the heart of the desert. After a march of about twelve miles, where the valley became contracted by a lower rocky ridge crossing it, we encamped at the side of a palm-grove, with a number of draw-wells, or “kháttatír,” where every kind of vegetable might be easily raised. The ground produced “aghúl,” and “molukhía,” or _Corchorus olitorius_, and was surrounded by high sandy downs, while at some distance eastward a village is situated, of the name of Éggir. Having halted here for about five hours, we pursued our journey, the strip of trees closely approaching the rocky cliff, and after a march of three miles, left on our right the village Ém-i-máddama, and further on, that called Shemídderu, lying partly at the foot, partly on the slope of the rocky cliffs on our right. Having then left a small isolated grove of date trees on the same side, we reached the beginning of the plantation of Dírki; and traversing the grove where the fruit was just ripening, we approached the dilapidated wall of the town, which presented a very poor spectacle, and then kept between it and the offensive salt-pool on our right, and encamped on the north side. This town, which, notwithstanding its insignificance, has a name all over the desert, was of some importance to me, from the fact of its containing the only blacksmith in the whole of this oasis, whom I wanted to prepare for me a double set of strong shoes for each of my horses, as we had a very stony tract to traverse beyond this oasis. He promised to make them and to bring them up to us at Áshenúmma, but he did not keep his word, and thus was the cause of my losing one of my horses in that difficult tract. Having passed the villages of Tegimámi and Elíji, we reached the town of Áshenúmma, the residence of the chief of these Tebu, situated on a lower terrace formed by a gentle slope at the foot of the steep cliffs, and encamped in the bottom of the valley near an isolated group of sandstone rock, round which the moisture collects in large hollows, scarcely a foot below the surface of the gravel. All around, a rather thin grove of date trees spreads out; further westward, there are the two salt lakes mentioned by the members of the former expedition.