Central Africa: naked truths of naked people. An account of expeditions to the Lake Victoria Nyanza ... Illustrated, etc

Front matter

GENTEAL AFRICA: NAKED TRUTHS OF NAKED PEOPLE. LONDON : GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. COLONEL C. CHAILLE LONG BEY Photographed from Life by Lock and Whitfield. CENTRAL AFRICA: NAKED TRUTHS OF NAKED PEOPLE. AN ACCOUNT OF EXPEDITIONS TO THE LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA AND THE MAKRAKA NIAM-NIAM, WEST OF THE BAHR-EL-ABIAD (WHITE NILE). ]:T COL. C. CHAILLE -LONG, OP THE EGYPTIAN STAFF. ILLUSTRATED FROM COLONEL LONG'S OWN SKETCHES. Forsan et ba-c olim meminisse juvabit.— Vibgil. SonHon : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SE ABLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 1S8, FLEET STREET. 1876. [Alt rights reserved.] t

Introduction

. On the evening of the 21st of July, 1875, in response to an invitation from " La Societe de Geographie de Paris," I had the honour to address them upon a subject which has awakened in France, as elsewhere in Europe, the most profound interest and sympathy — Expeditions in Central Africa. The Volume which I now present to the public is but a reproduction of the history of adventure and exploration, of which an analysis only was then given ; and it occurs to me that I cannot introduce it more appropriately than by the trans lation of my preliminary remarks made on that occasion : — " For several years an officer in the Egyptian Army, I come more as a soldier than as a savant, to submit to this distinguished Society a resume of the incidents and results of two Expeditions which I have recently made in Central Africa — • one to the Lake Victoria Nyanza, and the other to the Makraka Niam-Niam country. VI

INTRODUCTION.

. " Your illustrious geographer, Malte-Brun, has properly said that ' Egypt attaches Africa to the civilized world ; ' and that ' Africa is now the last portion of the civilized world which awaits at the hands of Europeans the salutary yoke of legis lation and culture.' " Although it is not a European who has devoted himself to this great work, it is one whose elevated soul and advanced ideas have placed him in the first rank of the progressive spirits of the cen tury, and made him in this regard the type and pioneer of its civilization. He is not unknown to you, for the world appreciates the genius of Ismail Pacha, the Khedive of Egypt, who, inspired alike by the aspirations of Mehemet Ali and the traditions of the Roman epoch, has crowned the splendours of his reign by the triumphant solution of the problem of the Sources of the Nile.

Influenced by the judgment of kind and, per haps, too indulgent friends, I have prepared for publication these " Naked Truths of Naked People " in the crude language of a soldier, and with the view alone of faithfully recounting the stirring incidents of my different expeditions ; of promulgating correct views respecting the country, the nature and customs of the negro, and of pay ing an appropriate tribute to the character of the enlightened Sovereign, under whose auspices the work of Central African regeneration is being carried forward. PAGF. 1 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Appointed Chief of Staff — Farewell to Friends at Cairo and Departure for Suez — Meet with M. Ferdinand de Lesseps — Arrival at Suez and Departure for and Arrival at Souakim— Bishareen or Amri Arahs

Chapter II

Departure for Berber — Camel-riding — Solitude of the Desert — Arrival at Hiab — The " Ship of the Desert" — Arrival at Berber — Beautiful Gardens of Sheik Halifa — Boat life on the Nile — The Tiger of Shendy — Assassination of Ismail Pacha — Arrival at Khartoum ........ 7

Chapter III

Khartoum — Its Present and Future — Reception by the Governor General — The Austrian Catholic Mission — Dine with the Governor General — The " Soudanieh Corps " — Their Amusements — Dancing Girls at Khartoum — Removal of the " Sod " (Matted Grass) from the Nile — Destruction of Hippopotami — Abou Saoud ....... CONTENTS. VIII PAGE 22 32 39

Chapter IV

Embark for Gondokoro — Confluence of the waters of the Bahr-el-Azrak and the Bahr-el-Abiad — Hassanieh and Bagarrah Arabs — Island of Meroe and the Queen of Sheba- Fashoda— The Chillouks— The Dinkas — Kam Kom — The river Saubat — Wretched state of the inhabitants — Their extreme ignorance — Ant-hills — Bor — Arrival at Gondokoro

Chapter V

Gondokoro— The " Canissa " — Graves of Mr. Higginbotham and M. Auguste Linant — Destructive powers of the White Ants — Loron, the great Sheik of the Bari — His Wife and Daughters — The Governor General returns to Khartoum — Despondency — The connexion of the Lakes Victoria and Albert, the Problem — Ba Beker — Death of Livingstone — Determine on the Journey— My Companions — My Stall' — My Horse " Ugunda " — Heavy Rains .

Chapter VI

Violent Storms and Rains — Aflkir at Mrooli — M'Tse, King of Ugunda — Connexion of the Lakes Victoria Nyanza and Albert — Desire to solve the Problem — Preparations to Depart — My escort — Ba Beker — Description of my " personnel " — Death of my horse — The Dongolowee — Bid Raouf Bey a last adieu — Cross the " Hor-el-Ramle "— " Gebel-el-Kelb "— Hadid, the Iron Man of Fatiko — The Mogi Country — Massacre — Prepare for an Attack from the Mogi Tribe — Their mass in front attacked and dispersed — The Lahore — The Bahr-el-Asua — Miani's Tree — Utter break-down of Kellerman — Porters dying of fatigue are left unbnried — Address of Gimmoro — Arrival at Fatiko — Received with enthusiasm by the Garrison ....... CONTENTS. IX PAGE 66 80

Chapter VII

Fatiko, its strong position— Adjutant-Major Abdallah — Lango and Lobbohr — Wat-el-Mek — Merissa — Unsavoury Milk — Dances of the Soudanieh Soldiers — March Southward — Jungles, bogs — Elephant holes — Fetid odours — Son of the ex-king Rionga — Prepare to cross the Nile — Dangers from Hippopotami and Crocodiles — Successful Passage of the River — Foueira — Reception of Said and Abd-el-Rahman by their former Comrades — The ex-king Rionga — Keba Rega — Riongi Pottery — Obliged to leave the Albert Nyanza question partially unsolved

Chapter VIII

March Southward — Changes in my troop — Arrival at Kissembois — Kindly received by Rionga — Mosquitoes — Jungle fever — Pinto — Depart for LTgunda — Cruelty of a Sheik — Filthy water — River Kafou — General sickness — Uninteresting scenery — Fire "against the country " — Morako, the Sheik, makes a raid — Enter Ugunda — Dreadful Roads of Putrid Mud — The Grand Kahotah — Invitation to Ugunda — Arrest of Ibrahim, my Dragoman — Illness of Said — We march, preceded by the Kahotah, to the Court of M'Tse— Flag of Ugunda— Body-guards of M'Tse — Halted in frout of the Palace — Taken for a Centaur — Led to my Zeriba — Sound repose .

Chapter IX

Receive a Messenger from M'Tse — I set out and enter within the Palace — Met by M'Tse — Interview with M'Tse seated on his Throne — His Ministers make their reports — The Kahotah seriously compromised, saved by my excuse — I address the King in Arabic — Dreadful Sacrifice of thirty victims in honour of X CONTENTS. PAGE 136 my visit — Unjust imputations of Livingstone on Speke — The interview finished M'Tse shows me his Hareem — I return to my Zeriba — Sufferings from Cold and want of Fuel 101

Chapter X

Presents for M'Tse — He is delighted with the Electric Battery — My desire to visit the Lake granted, but my return by the River refused — His dread of Keba Rega — Human Sacrifices — Illness of myself and Staff — The Ugunda language — Ibn Batutah — The Negro Race— M'Tse's Arab MS. — Invited to the Palace — Anxieties of my Staff on my proposal to return by the River — I suffer from Delirium — Ba Beker becomes my bitter enemy — Ugunda : features of the country; its products; its industry, trade, &c. — Its Government, arms, population — Its Salutations — On slightly recovering I am invited to the Palace — On my arrival another Sacrifice takes place, the price of his granting my request — Apprehensions of Said and Abd-el — At M'Tse's request I put them through the Manual Exercise — I take leave of M'Tse and prepare to start for the Lake Victoria Nyanza — Delayed by illness — News of Lieutenant Cameron . . . . . .112

CHAPTER XL

Start for the Lake Victoria Nyanza — Murchison Creek — Description of the boats — Land for the Night — Nogarah — The Fleet — Waters of the Lake — Soundings — Islands in the Lake— M'Tse gives secret instructions not to cross the Lake — I reluctantly return to Murchison Creek — Discover Selim — Attacked with fever — Baulked by Ba Beker — I make preparations to depart for Foueira CONTENTS. XI PAGE

Chapter XII

Presents from M'Tse — Depart from Ugunda — The climate of the Equator — Hostility of the Mtongoli and his men — Desertion of the escort — I complain to M'Tse and recover some of my luggage — Outmarches continually interrupted by deluges of rain — Dense forests — -A Marsalah brings me food — Arrival at Urondogani — A Mtongoli presents me with eight young ladies from M'Tse — Three of them marry my Soldiers — Daughter of M'Tse — Punishment of Ibrahim — Marches by the river — Head-quarters of the Admiral of the River Fleet — Hospitalities — My horse Ugunda — Present remaining young ladies to the faithful Mtongoli — Retain the boys — Selim . . . . .144

Chapter XIII

The Descent of the river — The small-pox — Keba Rega's Boat — Desertion of my Escort, who fear to advance or return — Panic of my Staff — Instructions to Selim — We start again — Encountered by a Storm we land for the night — Flight of Savages — Gebel M'Tingi — Torrents of rain — Lake Ibrahim — Lilies — Papyrus Jungles — Savages — Continual Storms — Endeavour to find the Bed of the River — The Polar Star, our beacon of safety — The boats filling with water we are in great danger — We regain the river — We are compelled to land — Anxiety to meet Selim 156

Chapter XIV

Entering the Stream I fire a signal — No response — Hostile fleet of Boats sent by Keba Rega — Parley with the Sheik — We attack — The Leader is killed — Several Boats with their Crews sunk — I am wounded — The Savages renew the attack, but are CONTENTS. PAGE finally dispersed by our fire, and make for the Shore — Heavy losses of the Savages — Fire my only Rocket, which fails — Adam and Kellerman — Mount Kikungura — Distant Nogarah heard — Detachment from Foueira — Meet old Comrades — Ludicrous incident — Meet Baba-Tuka and the ex-king Rionga — Foueira — The Problem of the Albert Nyanza reluctantly abandoned — Pleasant Reunion . . .174

Chapter XV

Short stay at Foueira — I charge Keba Rega with the attack at Mrooli — Suleiman now Ambassador replies — Wat-el-Mek— The Slave-Trade— My Men improve in Health at Foueira — My wound slowly heals — Suicide of a Mtongoli from jealousy — Negro honour — Capture of a huge Boa — Selim and Suleiman, my Sa'is, with the four disobedient Mtongoli, arrive in Camp — Punishment of Selim for not obeying orders — The Mtongoli appealing to me, I write to M'Tse on their behalf — Messenger from Fatiko — Unable to receive assistance from the garrison I prepare to leave Foueira . . . . . . 1S8

Chapter XVI

I bid farewell to Foueira and Baba-Tuka — Crossing the river we march through the jungle — Arrive at Fatiko — Receive a warm welcome — Kindness of Adjutant- Major Abdallah — Visited by the Sheiks — Character of the Fatiki — I am attacked with Fever and Delirium — Receiving an escort and convoy for ivory, I leave Fatiko — Old Bakhite — Cross the Hor-el- Asua — Laughable Scene — Unmolested by the Mogi — Cross the IIor-el-Ramle — Regas — Tiib Agha, the Commandant, tells me the vague Rumours that preceded us — Arriving at Gondokoro, welcomed by the Governor General and Abou Saoud — Death of M. Augustc Linant CONTENTS. XIII PAGE

Chapter XVII

Interval between the Ugunda Expedition and the Expedition to Makraka Niam-Niam — Return tp Khartoum — Despatches of the Governor General to his Highness — Reply of his Highness, the Prince Minister of War, Hussein Pacha, announcing my Nomination as Colonel, and Decoration — My deplorable State — Convalescence and dinner at Palace of Djaffer Pacha — Consul General Hanzell — Visit of Abou-Saoud — Return to Lado — Passing exploration of the Saubat — Preparations for the Expedition to Makraka Niam- Niam 212

Chapter XVIII

Departure from Lado — Halt at Laguno — Entertained by the Sheik Morbi, who accompanies us — The Makraka Niam-Niam pictured to the troops as a Mohammedan Paradise — Excessive heat — " Simmim " butter —"Striking oil"— Gebel Meri— Gebel Miah— The dead rider — The Yanbari — Fortified Zeribas — Poisoned weapons — Euphorbes Arborescentes — Give presents to the Sheik of the Yanbari — One of my soldiers wounded — The arrow being poisoned he dies — The " Hor Yeh " — Camp of Latroche — Settlement of my force in two detachments — Collection of 300 to 400 young girls — Several of them are married to the force — Inhabitants slightly Anthropophagic — The Niam-Niam demand revenge on the Yanbari — Start for Makraka Assariah ...... 246

Chapter XIX

The Sheik of Makraka — " Ticki-Ticki," Akka woman- Interesting interview with her — Hear of a race westward of Makraka with monstrous ears — The Sheik Parafio — His numerous wives and children — Gebel CONTENTS. PAGE 262 283 Lingeterre — Fadlallah — The " Mittoo " tribe — " Goo rah-Goorah," a present from Fadlallah — Taken ill at Khartoum, I am compelled to leave her — Anthropo phagy, the result of necessity — The Niam-Niam Ant eaters — Marriage — Night attack by a Dongolowee — Return to Makraka Assariah — "Congo" dance — Elephant Hunting — Achmet Agha— Grand dance — Music — Prepare to return — Enlistment of Niam- Niam men — Mundo Niam-Niam Boy — Abou Lange .

Chapter XX

Return to Lado — Irregulars advanced to the " Yeh " — Join them in the morning — Improved health and spirits — The Yanbari oppose our passage through a defile— Their complete Defeat by the Niam-Niam and my regular force — Burning of villages — Suspicious fires — Cannibalism of the Niam-Niam — Imminent peril from a Boa — Snake stories — Monstrous Flies — Arrival at Lado — Received with honours by the garrison — Firmans of Sultan Abd-el-Aziz and his Highness the Khedive conferring on me the Order of the Medjidieh and the rank of Colonel — With suggestions as to Keba Rega, Rionga, the Dongolowee, &c, I return to Cairo .....

Chapter XXI

Departure for Cairo — Said and Abd-el-Rahman accompany me — Arrival at Khartoum — The captive Sultan of Darfour — Arrival at Berber — Hamed Halifa — Major Prout — Cross the Desert on a Camel — The Mirage — Korosko — Assouan — Philaii — Meet some European Friends — Siout — Arrival at Cairo — Receive a Message from his Highness the Khedive — Summoned to the Palace, I make my presents to his Highness, of my Ethnological specimens, &c. — Said and Abd-el-Rah- CONTENTS. XV PAGE man receive Promotion and the Medjidieh at the Court of his Highness the Khedive — Inauguration of New Geographical Society at Cairo .... 293

Chapter XXII

Results of the Expedition to Ugunda and the Lake Victoria Nyanza — Also of the Expedition to the Makraka Niam-Niam Country — Sir Samuel Baker and the width of the River at Mrooli — My opinion of the Negro — Mr. Stanley and the conversion of M'Tse — The Slave-Trade and the Khedive — Seyyid Burgash and Zanzibar — The opening up of the Interior by the Soudan Railway and River Communication the most effectual means for the regeneration of Central Africa 305 Postscript . . . . . . . . .316

Appendix

. Note — the River Juba . . . . . . .327 Vocabulary of Words selected from Languages spoken by Tribes in Central Africa LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Col. C. Chaille Long, Egyptian Army . . I-itntitj.iae Bishareen or Amri Arab ...... 6 View of Khartoum ... . . . . .14 Scene on the Bahr-el-Abiad ...... 28 View of Gondokoro ...... .32 Successful Passage of the River . . : . . 75 Flag of Ugunda 96 Arrival at the Palace of M'Tse 102 Sacrifice of Victims in honour of Visit to King M'Tse . 106 M'Tse, daughter of King M'Tse 151 Ugunda Boy ........ 155 Attacked by the Fleet of Keba Rega . . . .177 Capture of a Boa Constrictor . .' . . .193 Euphorbes Arborescentes ...... 254 " Ticki-Ticki," Akka Woman 264 Makraka Niam-Niam and Ticki-Ticki .... 267 Parafio and (sample) Wife ...... 268 Niam-Niam girls catching Ants ..... 274 Mundo, a Niam-Niam Boy of Twelve Years . . .281 Attacked by the Yanbari ...... 286 Said Bagarrah and Abd-el-Rahman .... ■ CENTRAL AFRICA.

Chapter I

Appointed Chief of Staff— Farewell to Friends at Cairo and Departure for Suez — Meet with M. Ferdinand de Lesseps — Arrival at Suez and Departure for and Arrival at Souakim — Bishareen or Amri Arabs. The morning of the 21st of February, 1874, a special train was in waiting at the Cairo station, to convey to Suez Colonel C. G. Gordon, C.B., of the Royal Engineers of the English army, the newly-appointed Governor General of the Equa torial Provinces of Egypt, whose objective point, as prospective seat of government, was Gondokoro. In the twenty-four hours preceding departure the writer had been designated, by request of Colonel Gordon, as Chief of Staff of the Expedi tion, and with him Lieutenant Hassan "Wassif, Aide-de-Camp, also an officer of the General Staff of the Egyptian army. A host of friends were in attendance to bid me adieu ; not alone my comrades in arms, but many from a large circle of friends from the European B CENTRAL AERICA. colony, with whom during my several years of service in Egypt a strong reciprocal attachment existed.

A kindly interest evinced in my fate in the hazardous expedition undertaken, and a warm and generous sympathy on my return to Cairo, merit mention here, as a poor tribute of gratitude for what must ever be to me a source of pleasant reminiscence. Central Africa, with all its seduc tive fields of allurement to the adventurous, could not but be regarded as a bourne from which but few travellers returned, a path of glory that led but to the grave : in this sense, without doubt, the kindly and affectionate adieux were proffered. Alas ! that, from among that sympathetic circle on that morning, on more than one, who with anxious face waved me a last farewell, the cold hand of death was to be laid, ere my return from months of community with what, in advance, seemed to devote me to a like fate.1 To resume, Ibrahim-Bey Tewfick, then an officer of the Staff, had been appointed by his Highness the Khedive to accompany this advanced guard of the expedition to Suez, where the steamer " Latif " was already in waiting.

The rear-guard, that was left to follow with all the stores and equipment, was in charge of Major Campbell. It counted in its ranks M. Auguste 1 Auguste Linant de Bellefonds died at Gondokoro ; Major Campbell, at'Khartoum ; Colonel F. Reynolds at Ilium, New York. ARRIVAL AT SUEZ. 3 Linant de Bellefonds and others, conspicuous among whom was the now famous "Abou Saoud," released from prison, and made a member of the expedition at the instance of the successor of Sir Samuel Baker. Nothing of note marked the transit to Suez save that M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Father of the Suez Canal, who, in company with two young ladies of his household had left Ismailia on horse back, and being overtaken by the shades of night when near our halted train, asked to be taken into our waggon, accompanying us as far as the station " Bir-Nefiche ;" where to our great regret they left us, not without, however, a pressing invitation to stop the night at Ismailia, an honour that we were forced to decline.

The train arrived at Suez at midnight, where, through very winding ways, we found at last that " British Hotel " whose name should rather be " Supplice des Voyageurs." To run the muck of its dirty Indian servants and abominable " cuisine " without a sour mind and a sour stomach, would imply indeed a callous nature. As a jumping-off place, however, from civilization it may serve to reconcile one, by comparison, to whatever ills prospective African travel may impose. The morning of the 22nd hasty letters were written and despatched from the " Latif," the boat designated to take us to Souakim. At ten B o'clock the order to heave anchor was given, friendly salutations were exchanged, the last adieu had been said, our courteous escort had gone, and the steamer was soon ploughing the waters of the Gulf of Suez.

The landscape was quickly fading out of sight. As I looked down from the steamer's deck into the depths of the mirrored placid surface of the waters that day, they seemed to reflect sunshine upon the long untrodden path that was to be mine, dis persing the sombre shadows that would come and go, for ' A feeling of sadness comes o'er me That my soul cannot resist," as I think of home and friends, and the mysterious future that awaits me in Central Africa. The passage was made quickly and without accident. The 25th, at three o'clock p.m., we arrived before Souakim, whose low sea-coast had been sighted since mid-day, The formalities of quarantine, then existing, detained us till the morning of the 26th, when we disembarked and were hospitably received and entertained by Eliadin Bey, the Governor.

Souakim has been too often described in books of travel to need an extended notice here ; a village built of coral stone, its importance may be inferred from the vast quantity of sacs of gum BISHAREEN AND AMRI ARABS. arabic piled up on its quay, or being placed in boats by the stalwart negro, whose well-oiled skin alone protects him from the blazing sun and intense heat that is refracted from sand and whitened coral, almost blinding in its rays. Other products of the Soudan and Abyssinia find here easy export ; and occasional caravans of ivory seek this route rather than the Korosko desert and the Nile, if intended for the India or China trade, where the supply is not equal to the consumption. The natives, except the Arab merchants and the negroes of the Soudan, are the Bishareen and Amri Arabs, a mixed race of pastoral Nomads, whose occupation here is camel driving in caravans, in the transit of the desert between this and Berber on the Nile, 288 miles distant.

These men are of a peculiar type ; and a description of one will answer for all. A small piece of cloth encircles his loins ; short in stature, with well carved, though very delicate limbs, he resembles the gazelle in his quick and graceful step. His food is chiefly goat's milk. His hair, grown to an enormous bushy mass, is a subject of greatest care and vanity, and every leisure moment on the wayside is spent in straightening out, " his knotted and combined locks," over which is spread a plaster of tallow of deadly odoured smell, which drips in great streams when in the sun, or forms a whitened crust upon his head and shoulders CENTRAL AFRICA. when not thus exposed. These people, however indifferent to rank and position when once you are under their escort in the desert, are here, as you meet them, ever ready to extend politeness, and invariably rise to their feet, if seated, as you pass them in the streets or bazaars.

A stroll through the irregular streets developes little that can interest ; in its little bazaar are chiefly • * BISHAEEEN OE AMEI AEAB. exposed articles of camel's harness, saddles, and ropes, and long knives, and a formidable-looking, but really inoffensive sword with a wondrous huge straight blade. The unhealthy smell of grease however, and a burning sun will, I am sure, deter the most ardent sightseer from" doing " Souakim for any length of time.

Chapter II

Departure for Berber — Camel-ridiug — Solitude of the Desert — Arrival at Hiab— The " Ship of the Desert " — Arrival at Berber — Beautiful Gardens of Sheik Halifa — Boat Life on the Nile — The Tiger of Shendy — Assassination of Ismail Pacha — Arrival at Khartoum. The 28th, accompanied by a guard of fifteen soldiers, the caravan provided for us by Eliadin- Bey, the Governor, started for Berber, 288 miles distant. Seven days of forced marches on camel-back, by night and day, is by no means a pleasure trip ; the eccentric movement of the camel, the monotony, the suffering from thirst, and the hot scorching waste of sand by day, the cold by night, the weird dusky figure of camel and driver as he silently creeps along in the dim shadow, all tend to fatigue and sleep. The painful effort to resist the latter becomes a torture.

More than once, no longer enchained by day dreams and fancies, memory of home and friends, I succumbed to its influence, and pitched headlong from the giddy height, that for the moment seems as high as Olympus as you seek in vain to arrest your fall, CENTRAL AFRICA. when bruised and half dead to regain your seat, with maledictions against camel locomotion, or to walk on until you have recovered, by violent exercise, the proper possession of your faculties benumbed by want of rest. The desert is a howling waste of sand ; whilst over it a solitude reigns more terrible than that conceived by Byron, when in " Childe Harold " he says,— " But midst the crowd, the hum, the shock of men, To hear, to see, to feel, and to possess, And roam along, the world's tired denizen. — With none who bless us, none whom we can bless.

This is to be alone ; this, this is solitude." This is not all ; the trackless way is marked by countless carcasses of camels, and shapeless mounds of unnumbered graves, rudely marked by heaps of stones, " implore the passing tribute of a sigh," as the last resting-place of the rude savage guide of the desert. On the 3rd of March we arrived at Hiab, the half-way station and watering spot ; here, reposing for a few hours, the Bishareen and Amri Arabs collected around us. The sight of an empty bottle gave the wildest delight, whilst the exhibition of a small mirror caused them to start back affrighted, and to regard me with looks of terror and superstition. I extract from my Itinerary : — " 5th of March. — ' En route,' five o'clock p.m., ENDURANCE of the camel. march all night : painful naps upon the camel's back.

The whole party has relapsed into silence, and the hitherto noisy chatter of our soldier escort is hushed in fatigue. We make continuous travel of eighteen hours, arriving at station ' Obak ' at eleven o'clock a.m. of the sixth. The heat is excessive, and our guide reports that he has lost the track of the well ; fortunately we have sufficient water for our men, but the camels are sorely tried and give signs of failing strength. We find the well at last, and after a meagre repast bivouac and go to sleep. " It may not be uninteresting to note here the extravagant powers of endurance attributed to that most useful ' Ship of the Desert,' the camel. The popularly received notion that the camel may go eight to ten days without water has no foundation ; in fact, three to four days is the limit, and unless his strength be greatly economized he will succumb the fourth day.

His vaunted docility is generally the result of advanced age ; for when young he is vicious and at times ungovernable ; the many dashes from our ranks was a proof of this, causing the hapless rider to bite the dust, relieving often the tedium of the route in the merriment that ensued at the mishap. Unlike other animals he does not possess the instinct that protects them against poisonous herbs : and the mostcareful atten tion on the part of his driver is necessary to avoid the not unfrequent cases of his death from this reason. " 8th of March. — After much fatigue we reach Berber, having accomplished the distance in eight days. Hamed Halifa, the veteran Sheik of the desert caravans, receives us : and invited to his home, our quick transit is a subject of felicitation on all sides (except my side) ; for bruised and jaded, I tacitly plead exception to the apprecia tion of these doubtless well-meant congratula tions."

Berber is a collection of low mud-huts, with here and there a building only that has the pre tensions of a house of European style or con struction : its tall palm and acacia trees, and the beautiful gardens of Sheik Halifa give it a certain charm and beauty, as it rises like a phantom city to the vision of the weary and heat-oppressed tra veller, as he emerges from the sandy plains of the desert. The dress of the Berber woman is very primitive, whilst the unmarried wear a simple leather fringe around their loins, only this, and nothing more.. Preparations having been quickly made, we prepared to quit Berber, and on the morning of the 9th of March, in two nuggers (Nile boats), we left for Khartoum. Here commenced our " boat life on the Nile," made up of angry and, I fear, maledictory protestations with that great per sonage the Reis, — not this one in particular, but re'ises in general ; shooting at crocodiles that lazily sun themselves upon the " shallals " (rocks) in THE TIGER OF SHENDY. the river, that our unwilling boatmen insisted might not be passed till "bokara" (the mor row).