Part 15

The whole encampment, or “ngáufate,” was surrounded with a strong fence of thorny bushes, rather for the purpose of preventing the slaves from escaping, than to defend the encampment against an enemy. Having wandered about amidst this scene of destruction, I went in the afternoon to the border of the “ngáljam,” which was enlivened by horses and cattle grazing, and people quietly reclining here and there or bathing in the water.[19] I then wandered along the bank to some distance, where the sheet of open water on this side was entirely interrupted, while on the other shore a considerable strip of water stretched out before the view.

Here, in Démmo, the year 1852 opened to me, in the course of which I at that time entertained a hope of returning homewards, not fancying that I was to remain three years more in these barbarous countries, amidst constantly varying impressions of discovery, of disappointment, of friendly and hostile treatment, and under all sorts of affliction, distress, and sickness.

Our stay here was varied by a few interesting incidents, one of which I will relate. The intriguing Shúwa chief Mʿallem Jýmma, whose ambitious designs did not allow him any rest, had not only persuaded the head man of Démmo, who had made his escape, but even the chief of the nearest village on the other side of the ngáljam, to make his subjection publicly, and to seek the protection of Bórnu. They were therefore introduced this day into the nógona or council, and threw dust upon their heads. But when they had to confirm their subjection by an oath, the pagan prince of Démmo indeed took an oath, raising a handful of earth, and allowing it to glide through his fingers, but the chief from the other side of the ngáljam refused to take the oath, under the pretext that this earth was not fit for his vow, not being his own soil; he said he must first bring a handful of earth from his own country. An oath taken upon earth that belonged to their native soil was also common among the ancients.

Both chiefs had made their appearance in their native attire, that is to say, quite naked with the exception of a narrow leather strip round their loins; and it caused great merriment to the courtiers, that when, in consequence of their subjection, they were officially dressed in black tobes as a sort of investiture, the chief of Démmo drew his shirt over his head, reckless whether the lower parts were covered or not. In order to amuse the assemblage, they also blew their little horn, an instrument which every Músgu grandee carries with him, and which bears a great resemblance to a bugle; but in this accomplishment a priest who accompanied them was more clever than themselves, producing melodious and sonorous sounds from this simple and uncouth instrument.

This was the first and only time that I became aware that these pagan tribes had separate priests; and I felt greatly disappointed that I did not come into closer contact with them, nor was able to learn from other people what were their peculiar duties. But, in general, I think I am not mistaken in supposing that the sacerdotal functions with these tribes of the interior are less developed than those on the coast; for as yet I had seen very little of real fetishism. In general the office of priest seems to be connected with that of chief.

This man also received a shirt as a present; but it was only a white one of inferior quality, and I do not think he kept it very long after he had left the assemblage of these civilized people.

As the price of the benevolent reception which the prince of Démmo had experienced, he, as is generally the case in these distracted communities, betrayed the interests of his countrymen, promising that he would lead the army to a large walled town (so, at least, he was understood to say), where they were to find plenty of booty and spoil. Accordingly an expedition on a large scale, which was to be led by the vizier in person, was fixed for the next day.

[Sidenote: Friday, January 2nd.]

Having remained quiet for some hours in the morning, probably to make the neighbouring chieftains believe that we had no intention of moving, we suddenly set out, with almost the whole of the cavalry and a portion of the Kánembú spearmen, led on by our new ally the chief of Démmo, who, mounted on a little pony, clad in his new black garment, presented a very awkward and ridiculous appearance.

The first village which we reached, after about an hour’s march through a clear forest, was quite deserted; and it was but natural that all the people around should be upon their guard. The landscape was exceedingly beautiful, richly irrigated and finely wooded, while, to our great astonishment, the ground was so carefully cultivated that even manure had been put upon the fields in a regular manner, being spread over the ground to a great extent—the first example of such careful tillage that I had as yet observed in Central Africa, both among Mohammedans and pagans. The inhabitants had had so much leisure to make their escape, that they had left very little behind to satisfy the greediness of the enemy; and we therefore continued our march without delay, in a north- easterly direction. This whole fertile district bears the name of Wúliya; but I did not learn the peculiar name of this village.

After a march of about four miles, we crossed another watercourse, at present only from ten to fifteen inches deep, and surrounded by beautiful pasture-grounds, which during part of the year are inundated, and must then present the appearance of an extensive lake. This fresh green basin was adorned all around by luxuriant fig and “karáge” trees, and slender detached dúm-palms towered picturesquely above the green foliage, but no deléb-palms were to be seen. Then followed another village, likewise deserted by its unfortunate inhabitants, and then again open meadow-lands, intersected by a narrow channel-like watercourse, in a direction from S.W. to N.E.

The watercourse was from sixty to seventy yards broad, and inclosed so regularly between its banks, which were about ten feet high, that it had quite the appearance of an artificial canal,—a peculiarity which in the course of time I frequently observed, not only here, but also in the similar watercourses along the Niger. At the point where we crossed it, the sheet of water was entirely broken by a small sandbank, so that we went over without wetting our feet. However, I conjectured that this was an artificial dyke thrown up by the persecuted natives, in order to keep open an easy connection with the river, on which alone their safety depended. Without any delay the expedition pushed on, in the hope of overtaking the fugitives before they had crossed the river; for here we were quite close to the western shore of the river of Logón, which is generally, but erroneously, called Shári, while this name, which belongs to the language of the Kótokó, and means “river” in general, applies more properly to the larger eastern branch below Klésem, which is inhabited by Kótokó, and to the united stream lower down below the junction of the two branches. In this place the river, or “éré,” is called Serbéwuel, I think, in the Músgu language; higher up, where we shall make its acquaintance in the course of our further researches, it is called Bá-Gun and Bá-Bay, “bá” being the general name for river in the language of Bagírmi and the native tribes of the Sóm-ray, as well as in the language of the Manding or Mandingoes.

After a short time we stood on the banks of the stream. It was a considerable river even at the present moment, although it was greatly below its highest level, and probably represented the mean depth of the whole year. At present it was about four hundred yards wide, and so deep that six Shúwa horsemen, who, in their eager desire for spoil, had ventured to enter it, were carried away by the stream, and fell an easy prey to about a dozen courageous pagans, who, in a couple of canoes, were gliding up and down the river to see what they could lay their hands upon. They felt that we were unable to follow them without canoes, although for any active body of men it would have been an easy affair to construct a few rafts for crossing over, there being a plentiful supply of timber.

The banks of the river on this side were at present about twenty-five feet high. The opposite shore was not so steep, and from its rich vegetation had a very inviting appearance; but I was glad, for the sake of the poor natives, that we were unable to reach it, and I think even our friend the Háj Beshír looked at this interesting landscape rather with a degree of scientific interest than with anger and disappointment. Unfortunately, on this occasion I had not taken my telescope with me, but I was so fortunate as still to get a sight of this river a little lower down.

Having stood here for a few minutes on the steep bank, looking down into the stream, which rolled unceasingly along, cutting off our further progress, we turned our horses’ heads in the direction from which we had come, while our friends endeavoured to soothe their disappointment by saying, that if the pagans had escaped from their hands, they would certainly not fail to fall into the power of their enemies, viz. the pagans who lived on the other side of the river under the protection of Bagírmi.

We thus turned our backs upon the river, my European companion and I greatly satisfied with our day’s work, which had afforded us a sight of this fine stream, but our companions, in sullen silence and disappointment, on account of the expected spoil having escaped from their hands. Indeed, where they had expected to find that “El Dorado,” that walled town full of male and female slaves, I never succeeded in ascertaining. The whole day’s spoil was limited to a handful of slaves—unfortunate creatures whom sickness or ill-advised courage prevented from leaving their native villages,—besides a couple of cattle, a few goats, fowls, and a little corn, but principally groundnuts, of which large quantities were carried off by the hungry Kánembú spearmen.

The whole army was in such a mood as to be glad to find any object on which to vent its anger; and such a one soon presented itself, for when we again reached that channel-like watercourse which I have mentioned above, and were watering our horses, four natives were seen, who, evidently confiding in their courage and their skill in swimming, had here taken refuge in the deepest part of the water, in order to give information to their countrymen of the retreat of the enemy. As soon as our friends caught sight of this little troop of heroes, they determined to sacrifice them to their vengeance. With this view, the whole of the cavalry arranged themselves in close lines on each side of the water. But the task was not so easy as it appeared at first; and all the firing of the bad marksmen was in vain, the Músgu diving with remarkable agility. When the vizier saw that in this way these heroes could not be overpowered, he ordered some Kánembú to enter the water; and a very singular kind of combat arose, the like of which I had never seen before, and which required an immense deal of energy, for, while these people had to sustain themselves above the water with the help of their feet, they had at the same time to jump up, throw the spear, and parry the thrusts of their adversaries. The poor Músgu people, on their side, were not only fighting for their lives, but even, as it were, for their national honour. They were of large and muscular frame, single-handed far superior to the Kánembú; but at length, after a protracted struggle, the superior numbers of the Kánembú got the upper hand, and the corpses of three of the Músgu were seen swimming on the surface of the water. But the fourth and last appeared to be invincible, and the Kánembú, who had lost two of their companions, gave him up in despair.

After this inglorious victory we pursued our march homewards, keeping a little more to the north than when we came. This part of the country exhibited the same fertile and pleasant character as that we had seen before. It was densely inhabited and well cultivated, even tobacco being grown to a great extent. As for the villages themselves, they afforded the same appearance of comfort and cheerfulness which we had observed in the others. But all these abodes of human happiness were destroyed by fire.

After having accomplished these great deeds, we returned to our encampment. Here we remained during the two following days, while the most important business was transacted. This was the partition of the slaves who had been taken during the expedition; and the proceeding was accompanied by the most heartrending scenes, caused by the number of young children, and even infants, who were to be distributed, many of these poor creatures being mercilessly torn away from their mothers, never to see them again. There were scarcely any full-grown men.

More interesting to me than this horrible affair was the sending of a messenger to Kúkawa; and it was doubly so on account of the roundabout way which this man had to pursue, the track by which we had come being at present greatly infested by the desperate pagans, who very recently had massacred a whole troop of horse and foot who had come from Kúkawa, with the exception of one, who had succeeded in making his escape. The messengers, therefore, who were now sent, were obliged to take the road leading past the villages of the Fúlbe, going from Démmo to Káfta, the place mentioned in the preceding volume, and from thence to Bógo, whence they were to follow the general track, which I have described on a former occasion. An escort of fifteen Kanúri and two Fúlbe accompanied the two messengers, as their first day’s march was very dangerous.

For the last few days there had been a great talk of an expedition, on a large scale, against the Túburi, whither it was said we were to transfer the whole encampment; and I and my companion already anticipated a great deal of delight, as the isolated rocky mount which we had seen on the day of our arrival seemed to be well worthy of notice. But, as I have already stated, the Bórnu people were greatly afraid of this place, the real reason probably being, that they apprehended the pagans might retire upon the top of the mountain, and, having abundance of water in the neighbourhood, offer a successful resistance, although we were told that, on a former occasion, a single kashélla, ʿAlí Fugomámi, had extended his expedition as far as that place.

The Fúlbe, by whom this free pagan community was regarded with great hatred, urged the expedition with the greatest energy; but the cunning vizier pretended afterwards, in a conversation which he had with Overweg and me, that it was purposely, from motives of policy, that he did not accede to this scheme, as he did not want to exterminate this tribe, being unwilling to pull down with his own hands this last barrier to the restless spirit of conquest which the Fúlbe or Felláta displayed. The usurper ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, evidently from a motive of ambition, in order to be enabled to say that he had penetrated further than his late rival the vizier, whom he had successfully crushed, in the beginning of the rainy season of 1854 pushed on into the very country of the Túburi, and thus enabled Dr. Vogel to lay down that most interesting point by astronomical observation, although the great lake which my friend thought to find there was apparently nothing but a widening of that stagnant watercourse which forms the north-eastern branch of the Bénuwé, namely the máyo Kébbi, and was laid down by me in the map of Central Africa, which I sent home from Kúkawa.

[Sidenote: January 5th, 1852.]

It was at a very early hour on Monday morning, a little after midnight, when the guide of the expedition came to my tent, and, while I was just dreaming of the rocky mountain of the Túburi, whispered in my ear that a distant expedition was to be undertaken that very day, but not into the country of the Túburi, and that the baggage was to remain here. Although I should rather have preferred visiting the latter tract, situated at the north-eastern branch of the basin of the Niger, I nevertheless was determined not to let any opportunity pass by of extending my geographical knowledge as much as possible, and therefore ordered my horse to be saddled. Mr. Overweg meanwhile, when he heard that the vizier was not to lead the expedition in person, but that the young Bú- Bakr, son of the sheikh, was to take the command, remained behind; and as I had no mounted servant, and could not expect that a man on foot would accompany me to a great distance, I was obliged to go quite alone.

Meanwhile the bugles of Bú-Bakr called the warriors together with a soft, subdued sound, in order not to allow treachery to spread the news of their plan beforehand. Having passed with some difficulty the narrow gate of the stockade, the expeditionary army formed outside, when we pushed on in a north-easterly direction. But nature has provided so well for the defence of these poor pagans, that they are not easily taken by surprise.

We succeeded, with the dawn of day, in passing the first broad sheet of water of the wide “ngáljam” of Wúliya, but found great difficulty in passing another water with a deep, argillaceous soil of so boggy a nature that several of the horses fell, even those whose riders had dismounted; and I felt not a little anxiety on account of my own restless and fiery horse, which was snorting like a hippopotamus. At length we left also this morass behind us, and indulged in the hope of having overcome every difficulty, when suddenly we had before us another and far deeper water, which delayed us for a long time. But bad as was our situation whilst we were thus sticking fast in the mud, I could scarcely help laughing heartily, as this very delay enabled the poor pagans to escape with their wives and property to a place of safety. As for most of the horses, the water went over their backs, while I on my stately charger had the water three inches above my knee. A courageous enemy, led on by a clever commander, might at this moment have easily captured most of the horses, and put all the host to flight.

At length, after two hours’ exertion, we emerged from this broad sheet of water, which, when full, must present the appearance of an extensive central lake three or four miles in breadth, and many more in length, and now entered upon green pasture-ground, which, however, during the highest state of the inundation is itself under water. Here the army divided into three bodies, and pushed on vigorously, although a great many had retraced their steps upon seeing the deep water.

Proceeding in this way, we reached the first hamlets, and here formed a regular line of battle, while the greater part of the army rushed on in advance, at the sound of the drum and the horns of the kashéllas, to see if there was anything left for them; but all the inhabitants had made their escape. Another delay occurred owing to one of the followers of Bú-Bakr falling into a ditch or hollow twelve feet in depth and the same in breadth, from which he was extricated with some difficulty, while the horse died on the spot. But there was plenty of leisure, the pagans having long ago had sufficient time to make their escape beyond the river. If those simple people had followed the same stratagem which the Bórnu people employ against the Tawárek, digging a quantity of holes and covering them over with bushes, they might have done a great deal of mischief to the cavalry.

This whole tract of country still belongs to the extensive district of Wúliya; but the villages have separate names, which, owing to the unfortunate circumstances under which I visited the country, I was not able to learn. Having passed a considerable village, we reached, a little before eleven o’clock, the furthermost line which the waters of the river Serbéwuel attain during its highest state of inundation, while when they recede they leave extensive ponds of stagnant water behind, which nourish a rich supply of the most succulent herbage. The shore was here about eight feet high, while at the other point, where we had visited the river a few days previously, it was not so well marked. Of course, where the inner shore consists of steeper banks, so that the river does not rise over the higher level to a considerable height, the outward shore cannot be marked so distinctly.

About thirteen hundred yards beyond this grassy outward shore we reached the inner bank of the river, which consisted of sand, and was here only ten feet high. The river at present was confined to this bank, running at this spot from S. 25° E.; but a little lower down it changed its direction, running W. by N. Higher up, the opposite shore was richly overgrown with trees, among which deléb- and dúm-palms were conspicuous; but no villages were to be seen, although a place named Kár is said to lie on the eastern shore. The reason we had directed our march to this point seemed to be, that the river is here rather broad, being about eight hundred yards across, and forming a large sandbank, so that my friends had entertained the hope that they would be enabled to ford it, which in some years, when the rains have not been very considerable, may be possible at this season, and even this year might probably be effected in two months’ time. But at present this was not the case, and the rapacious Shúwa Arabs were hurrying about in despair, to and fro, between the island and the western shore.

I too took the direction of the island, as the most interesting point, although I became aware that it was not possible to penetrate further on. The first branch of the river on this side of the island, which was the broader of the two, was not more than from eighteen to nineteen inches deep, and could not but become dry in a short time, when the island, or rather sandbank, should form the knee of the bend of the river; but the eastern branch, though apparently only about 120 or 130 yards broad, seemed to be of considerable depth, running along with a strong current, and my old friend Abú Dáúd, one of the principal Shúwa chiefs, whom I encountered at the southern point of the sandbank, with a sad countenance, indicated the whole nature of this stream with the laconic and significant expression, “yákul” (it eats),—that is to say, it is not fordable.