Part 8

At length some of the horsemen were seen, at a great distance beyond a more shallow dell, driving before them a herd of cattle; and rescued at length from the dangerous position in which we had been, destitute as we were of any sufficient protection, we hastened to cross the valley, and to join our more warlike and experienced friends. Falling in with them, we went together to a place a little further down this wide flat valley, where there were a small hamlet and stubble-fields. Here at length I hoped to get a little rest, and lay down in the scanty shade of a talha; but unfortunately there was no well here, and after a very short halt and a consultation, the order was given to proceed. I was scarcely able to mount my horse again and to follow the troop. The Arabs called this valley, which was very flat and produced no date-trees, Wádi el Ghazál, but what its real name is I did not learn; it has of course nothing to do with the celebrated and larger valley of this name. The well was not far off, in another fine valley, or rather hollow, deeper than Wádi el Ghazál but much flatter than either Síggesí or Gésgí, and called Msállat or Amsállat. It was adorned with a wild profusion of mimosa, and in its deepest part provided with “kháttatír” or draw-wells, irrigating a fine plantation of cotton, the first we had yet seen in Kánem.

The Arabs had not made a very considerable booty, the Woghda having received intelligence of their approach and saved what they could. The whole result of the expedition was fifteen camels, a little more than three hundred head of cattle, and about fifteen hundred sheep and goats. The Arabs were for some time in great anxiety about Ghét, and a party of horsemen who had gone with him to a greater distance; but he joined us here, driving before him a large flock of sheep. We were busy watering our horses, and providing ourselves with this necessary element. But there was not much leisure; for scarcely had we begun to draw water, when the alarm was given that the Woghda were attacking us, and three bodies of horsemen were formed in order to protect the train and the booty. The main body rushed out of the valley on the south-east side, and drove the enemy back to a considerable distance; but the intention of encamping on the slope near this well was given up as too dangerous, and it was decided to go to a greater distance, though the intention of penetrating to Mʿawó seemed not as yet entirely to be abandoned. It took us a considerable time to get out of this wooded valley, the Arabs being afraid of being attacked and losing their booty.

At length, the cattle and flocks having been driven in advance, we started, and, leaving the vale, ascended elevated rocky ground, from which, following a south-westerly direction, we descended, a little before two o’clock in the afternoon, into the narrower eastern part of a deep and beautiful valley, which here is adorned by a pretty grove of date-trees, while its western part expands into fine cultivated ground. Here we made a halt of about half an hour, in order to water the animals and replenish our skins; for not even here was it thought advisable to encamp, as it is regarded as a very inauspicious place, this being the spot where, in 1850, the Kél-owí fell upon the Welád Slimán and almost exterminated them. After so short a halt we again pursued our march. I was now so totally exhausted that I was obliged to dismount at short intervals and lie down for a moment; and once, when left alone, it was only with the utmost exertion that I was able to mount my horse again; but nevertheless I managed to drag myself along. At length, about sunset, we chose a place for our encampment on the brow of the slope descending into a deep valley. Having now been thirty-four hours on horseback with only short and insufficient intervals, I fell senseless to the ground, and was considered by Mr. Overweg and our people as about to breathe my last. But after an hour’s repose I recovered a little, and, having had a good night’s rest, felt myself much stronger on the following morning, so that I could even undergo some exertion which was not exactly necessary.

[Sidenote: Monday, Oct. 20th.]

Descended with our people into the valley when they went to fetch water. It is called Áláli Ádia, or Jerád, from a small hamlet lying on the highest ground, and called Áláli. The well was very rich and plentiful; but no traces of cultivation appeared at the foot of the date-trees. The slope was rather steep, and about 130 feet high. The Arabs, who had contracted their encampment or “dowar” within the smallest possible compass, barricading it with their baggage, as all the empty bags which they had taken with them on the expedition were now full of corn from the magazines of the enemy, were not at all at their ease, and seemed not to know exactly what course to take, whether to penetrate further in advance or to return. Several Fugábú and people belonging to Hallúf came to pay their respects to Sheikh Ghét; and a person of considerable authority, called Keghámma, or rather Keghámma-futébe (Seraskier of the West), the very man of whom we before had heard so much talk, came also and paid me a visit in my tent; for, being in a weak state, I had been obliged, when the sun became oppressive, to pitch my tent, as there was no shade. There being no other tent in the encampment, I received visits from several parties who wished to breakfast a little at their ease, and among others from a man called Kédel Batrám, Hallúf’s brother. Keghámma stated that he was certainly able to bring us to Kárká; but this was a mere pretence, and he himself retracted his promise shortly afterwards before the sheikh. Our cherished object lay still before us, at a considerable distance; but our friend Ghét thought that he had brought us already far enough to deserve some more presents, and plainly intimated as much to us through ʿAbd-Allah. Fortunately I had a handsome yellow cloth caftan with me, embroidered with gold, and towards evening, when I had recovered from a severe fit of fever which had suddenly attacked me in the afternoon, we went to pay our compliments to the chief, and begged him to accept of it; at the same time we told him we should be satisfied if we were enabled to visit the district belonging to the keghámma. But the situation of the Arabs soon became more dangerous, and nothing was thought of but to retrace our steps westward with the greatest possible expedition.

I was lying sleepless in my tent, in a rather weak state, having scarcely tasted any kind of food for the last few days on account of my feverish state, when, in the latter part of the night, a great alarm was raised in the camp, and I heard the Arabs mount their horses and ride about in several detachments, raising their usual war-cry, “yá riyáb, yá riyáb;” but I remained quietly on my mat, and was not even roused from my lethargical state when I received the intelligence that a numerous hostile army, consisting of the Woghda, the Médelé, the Shíri, and the people of the Eastern Keghámma, was advancing against the camp. I received this news with that indifference with which a sick and exhausted man regards even the most important events. Neither did I stir when, with the first dawn of day on the 21st, the enemy having actually arrived within a short distance, our friends left the camp in order to offer battle. I heard about ten shots fired, but did not think that the Arabs would be beaten. Suddenly Overweg, who had saddled his horse at the very beginning of the alarm, called out anxiously to me that our friends were defeated, and, mounting his horse, started off at a gallop. My mounted servant, Bú Zéd, had long taken to his heels; and thus, while Mohammed was hastily saddling my horse, I flung my bernús over me, and grasping my pistols and gun, and throwing my double sack over the saddle, I mounted and started off towards the west, ordering Mohammed to cling fast to my horse’s tail. It was the very last moment, for at the same time the enemy began to attack the east side of the camp. All the people had fled, and I saw only the chief slave of Ghét, who, with great anxiety, entreated me to take his master’s state sword with me, that it might not fall into the hands of the enemy.

But I had not gone a great distance when I heard firing close behind me, and, turning round, saw the Arab horsemen rallying, and with the cry, “He keléb, keléb,” turn round against the enemy, who had dispersed in order to collect the spoil. I went on in order to inform Mr. Overweg, who, together with the Arabs who were mounted on camels, and even several horsemen, had fled to some distance and posted themselves on a hill. Assuring him that the danger was over, I returned with him to the camp, where we were rather surprised to find that not only all our luggage was gone, but that not even a vestige of my tent was left.

The enemy, attracted only by the English tent and Sheikh Ghét’s baggage, had scarcely touched the effects of the other people, but considered my tent as a fair prize and ran away with it. But the Arabs pursuing them, we got back most of our things. A leathern English bag of mine which contained some articles of value had been cut open, just, as it seemed, at the moment when our friends came up with the enemy. Our chief loss consisted in our cooking utensils and provisions; I also much regretted the loss of an English prayer-book, which had belonged to Mr. Richardson. Four of the Arabs had been killed, and thirty-four of the enemy. Mr. Overweg was busily employed in dressing some severe wounds inflicted on our friends. The Arabs were furious at the insolence, as they called it, of the enemy who had dared to attack them in their own encampment, and they swore they would now go and burn down all their hamlets and their corn. The horsemen actually left, but returned in the course of the afternoon rather silently, with a sullen face and unfavourable tidings; and before sunset they were once more obliged to defend their own encampment against another attack of the energetic natives; they, however, succeeded in beating them off. Hallúf distinguished himself greatly by his valour, killing three or four of the enemy with his own hand.

But notwithstanding this little victory, the forebodings for the night were very unfavourable, and our friends would certainly have decamped immediately if they had not been afraid that in the darkness of the night the greater part might take to their heels, and that a shameful flight would be followed by great loss of life and property. Accordingly they determined to remain till the next morning. But an anxious and restless night it was; for they had received authentic news that a body of from thirty to forty Wadáy horsemen were to join their enemies that night and to make a joint and last attack upon them; and they were well aware that the enemy had only been beaten from want of horses. All the horses remained saddled, and the whole night they sounded the watchcry; but the most restless was the renegade Jew ʿAbd-Allah, who felt convinced that this would be his last night, and was most anxious to get a razor in order to shave his head before the hour of death.

[Sidenote: October 22nd.]

The night passed on without the enemy appearing, and with the dawn of day the sign for decamping was given, when everybody endeavoured to get in advance of his neighbour. The enemy, as was positively stated afterwards, arrived there about an hour later; but seeing that we were gone, did not choose to pursue us.

Thus we left the most interesting part of Kánem behind us, the country once so thickly studded with large populous and celebrated towns, such as Njímiye, Agháfi, and all those places which I shall describe in the Appendix from the account of the expeditions of Edrís Alawóma, with many rich valleys full of date-trees.

Keeping first in a westerly, and afterwards in a more south-westerly direction, through a rather uninteresting country, we arrived about eight o’clock in the morning in a wide vale called Tákulum, full of rich succulent herbage and fine trees, where, it being supposed that we were out of danger, it was decided to give the horses and camels a feed after having watered them. I, for my part, was extremely thankful for getting a few hours’ rest in the shade of a venerable acacia, near the gentle slope surrounding the hollow. But just in the greatest heat of the day we left this pleasant resting-place, near which is the ordinary residence of the keghámma, in the valley Kárafu, and followed a more north-westerly direction, ascending gradually from the vale, and entering a well-wooded district, where all the grass had recently been burnt, or was still burning; and in one place it was even with some danger that we found our way through the flames. This burning of the grass, as I have stated above, seems to be a general practice all over Negroland.

Towards evening the country became quite open, and ahead of us a small range was seen, at the western foot of which our resting-place was said to be; but it seemed very distant, and it was quite dark when we made halt in two separate encampments, not being able to reach the point of destination. Our supper was very simple indeed; for, having lost all our provisions at the taking of the camp at Áláli, we were obliged to content ourselves with a few bad dates, the only thing we were able to obtain from our friend Sheikh Ghét.

[Sidenote: Thursday, October 23rd.]

While our camels and people kept along the direct road, together with the train and part of the horsemen, Overweg and I, following Sheikh Ghét and his troop, took a more northerly direction, and passed the heat of the day in a fine valley. It was certainly one of the finest vales we had seen in the country, except that it did not produce date-trees. But the district of Shitáti, which we again had entered here, seems not to be favourable for that tree, while Shíri and the neighbourhood of Mʿawó is very productive in date-trees. Part of the bottom was laid out in corn-fields, irrigated from Kháttatír, near which some huts were standing, while a larger village, at present deserted, is situated on the brow of the slope dominating the valley. It is called Burka-drússo, or Burka-drústo. Here we enjoyed a few hours of tranquil repose; but with the exception of this our enjoyment was very scanty, having nothing to breakfast upon but a handful of dates and some water. But our material wants were inconsiderable in comparison with the disappointment which we felt, as we clearly saw that all hope of reaching the Bahar el Ghazál, or even Mʿawó, was to be given up, and the hope of attaining those districts had been the only reason which had induced us to join our fate with this band of freebooters. We had spent all the property that remained to us to enable us to undertake this expedition, and our reflections therefore were far from pleasant.

When the heat of the day had passed by, the Arabs pursued their march, and we followed them, reascending the higher level and marching over a pleasant country well adorned with trees and bushes, while we left a hollow called Núkko on our left, one of the three vales of Shitáti which bear this name, and further on crossing another one called Arnánko. When night approached, our companions began to put their horses into a gallop in order to arrive betimes, while we preferred going on more slowly.

The country here became more undulating, and afterwards even rugged, and we made our way as well as we could in the dark, stumbling along over a rugged ground in a north-westerly direction, and were not a little delighted when at length we saw the fires of the encampment, which this time had not been pitched on the highest level, but rather in a hollow not far from the well. Its name is Bír el Hamésh, or Yégil, or, as it is generally pronounced, Yíggeli. We were the more delighted to reach it, as we found here, not only all our people and luggage, but also provisions, and we were nearly famished. Of course, we were most cheerfully hailed by those of our servants whom, with the remainder of the Arabs, we had left at the Bír el Kúrna, and who had felt the greatest anxiety about our safety, on account of the many unfavourable rumours which had reached them with regard to the proceedings and sufferings of our party. They had transported the camp from Bír el Kúrna to this place several days previously, and were looking forward to our return most anxiously.

We immediately attacked a bowl of camel’s milk, and thus materially comforted, rested outside our tents enjoying the freshness of the evening. The camp or dowar was rather narrow, being encumbered by the booty which had been taken from the enemy; and the people, dreading lest the enemy might follow them, all huddled closely together, and kept strict watch. In such circumstances the wailings of the women over the dead, which sounded through the night, accompanied by loud, mournful strokes on the great drum, could not fail to make a deep impression. However, we passed here tranquilly the following day, and enjoyed rest and repose the more as the weather was very oppressive.

We received here the positive news that the body of Wadáy horsemen who had come to the assistance of the Woghda, and had caused the Arabs so much fear and anxiety the day before, had returned to Mʿawó; and a very curious story was told with regard to them, which at once shows how highly these horsemen of Wadáy are respected by the Arabs, and the esteem which they themselves entertain for the latter. Thirty Wadáy horsemen were said to have arrived with the Woghda in consequence of their entreaties, and to have followed with them the traces of our friends, the Woghda representing to them that many of the latter had been killed. Thus they arrived in the morning when we had just left the camp at Áláli, and the dust raised by our host was plainly visible in the distance; but when the Woghda instigated the Wadáy people to go and attack that host, they wanted to assure themselves how many of the Arabs had fallen in the last battle, in which thirty-four of the Woghda were said to have been slain, and when they found only two tombs, the latter told them that in each there were ten bodies; but the Wadáy people, being anxious to make sure of the valour of their friends, had the tombs dug up, and found only two buried in each. Whereupon they stigmatized the Woghda as liars, and felt little inclined to follow the valiant robbers who had killed so many of the enemy, while they had lost so few of their own. But this story may have been adorned by our friends the Welád Slimán, who could not even deny that, besides a great deal of other booty from their own camp, which the enemy had succeeded in carrying away, the chief of the Woghda could pride himself on the red bernús which we had given as a present to Sheikh Ghét; nay, he could even boast of four horses taken from the Arabs.

[Sidenote: Sunday, October 26th.]

This and the following day the Arabs were all busy in writing, or getting letters written, to Kúkawa, as a courier was to leave. I myself was almost the only person who did not get a note ready; for I could not muster sufficient energy to write a letter. Had I been strong enough, I should have had sufficient leisure to make up the whole journal of my excursion to the eastern parts of Kánem; but I was quite unable, and the consequence was, that this part of my diary always remained in a very rough state. Sheikh Ghét, who thought that we were greatly indebted to him for having seen so much of the country, sent for a variety of things; but we were only able to comply with very few of his wishes. On our telling him that we were not at all satisfied with what we had seen, and that, in order not to waste more time, we had the strongest wish to return to Kúkawa as soon as possible, he wanted to persuade us that he himself was to leave for the capital of Bórnu in five or six days. But we prudently chose to provide for ourselves, and not rely upon his promise.

[Sidenote: Monday, October 27th.]

The courier for Kúkawa left in the morning, and in the evening a party of freebooters made an attack upon the camels of the Arabs, but, being pursued by the horsemen, whose great merit it is to be ready for every emergency, they were obliged to leave their booty, and be contented to escape with their lives. The vale in which the well is situated is rather more exuberant than is the case generally, and there were several pools of stagnant water, from which the cattle were watered. There was even a real jungle, and here and there the den of a ferocious lion, who did not fail to levy his tribute on the various species of animal property of our friends, and evinced rather a fancy for giving some little variety to his meals; for a horse, a camel, and a bullock became his prey.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, October 28th.]

Seeing that there was a caravan of people forming to go to Kúkawa, while the Arabs intended once more to return to Burka-drússo, we at once went to the chief to inform him that we had made up our minds to go with the caravan. A chief of the Haddáda, or rather Búngo, arrived with offerings of peace on the part of the Shíri, and came to see us, together with the chief mentioned above, Kédl Batrám, who was the father-in-law of the khalífa of Mʿawó; Kóbber, or rather the head man of the Kóbber, and other great men of the Fugábú; and I amused them with my musical box. Overweg and I, disappointed in our expectations of penetrating further eastward, prepared for our return-journey, and I bought a small skin of tolerable dates for half a túrkedí; while to ʿAbd-Allah, who had been our mediator with the chief, I made a present of a jeríd, in order not to remain his debtor.

All this time I felt very unwell, which I attribute principally to the great changes of atmosphere, the nights being cool and the days very warm.

[Sidenote: Friday, October 31st.]