Two Years in East Africa: Adventures in Abyssinia and Nubia, with a journey to the sources of the Nile

Front matter

THE BANKS OF THE WHITE NILE. Page 244- TWO YEARS IN EAST AFRICA: JUUientures in J-vbtissima anb Jlubia, WITH A JOURNEY TO THE SOURCES OF THE NILE, BY EMILE JONVEAUX. MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. " Moving accidents by flood and field." SHAKSPEARJT- LONDON: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. i375- )Wa the Jifccaacr. !AS Africa, dear reader, that wild and little-known region, that mysterious and terrible continent, never excited your curiosity ? Defended by its burning deserts and its deadly climate, inhabited by savage tribes, it has long defied the efforts of the boldest ex plorers, and nothing more appropriately symbol izes it than the Sphinx erected by ancient Egypt at the mouth of the Nile, as if to guard its approaches. Recently the veil which so long enshrouded it has been lifted up.

Intrepid men of science have been the pioneers of the grand discoveries which have illustrated our century: Ferret and Galinier, Lefevre, Burton, Lejean, Wilkinson, Young, Brugsch, have taught us the history, and made us acquainted with the habits, of the dwellers on the Upper Nile. The road was open; but it was TO THE READER. VI reserved to Speke, to Grant, to Sir Samuel Baker, and, above all, to the illustrious Livingstone, to extort from the Sacred River the secret of its birth, — a secret which had been sought in vain for upwards of three thousand years. All Europe has been excited by the narrative of their travels : will you then, reader, permit an humble guide to lead you into the heart of the savage regions which have been revealed to the world by these celebrated explorers ? As we proceed, we shall be witnesses of a drama not less worthy of our interest than the discovery of the Nile-sources: we shall see a barbarian monarch bold enough to contend against all the forces of civilization, and when vanquished by them, succumbing nevertheless with a courage not unworthy of the heroes of antiquity.

I refer, of course, to Theodore, late King of Abyssinia. The Nile and its mysteries, Magdala and its bloody tragedy, — these are scenes which, in their simple yet sublime reality, are more truly inter esting than the most striking fictions. We shall study the habits and customs of the peoples ; we shall make acquaintance with the princes and chiefs who govern them; we shall be present at their feasts, their quarrels, their combats. If this itinerary please you, let us set out together, friendly reader. Already the whistle of the TO THE READER. VII locomotive is sounding; the steam-packets of the Mediterranean await us; we will say fare well to the European continent, and start in quest of new impressions. [The Translator would add to the foregoing remarks, that in preparing the present edition he has carefully revised the details embodied in the French original, and has added many new and interesting particulars from authentic sources.

Chapter I. Nubia The Cataracts Of The Nilf Economical Means Of Pro

CURING FOOD THE DESERT COLUMNS OF SAND THE SIMOOM- MISADVENTURE OF OUR DRAGOMAN AND HIS CAMEL AN UNDE- SERVED REPUTATION ATBARA IN THE SEASON OF DROUGHT "WE MUST NOT JUDGE OF THE FRUIT BY THE BARK AN IMPROMPTU CHASE — AN ARAB REPAST — SUDDEN RISE OF THE ATBARA 13

Chapter IX. An Alarming Visit

— SHALL WE BE SHOT?— THE ARTILLERY OF THEO- DORE REVIEW OF THE ABYSSINIAN TROOPS THE STORM HISTORY OF THE NEGUS — THE DEMON OF THE LAKE TSANA CONQUEST OF THE AMHARA AND TIGRE THEODORE THINKS OF BECOMING A CATHOLIC — BATTLE OF DERESKIA — CAPTURE OF ANKOBAR— AN EXCESS OF PRIDE— REVOLT AND DEATH OF NEGOUSIA — A BATTLE OF MANY LEGENDS 151

Chapter X. Friendly Reception Of

INVADERS— SUMMARY JUSTICE— TERROR OF THE EUROPEAN PRISONERS— ARRIVAL OF THE ENGLISH TROOPS— AN EVIL OMEN THE BATTLE AND THE DEFEAT— AN INEXORABLE CONQUEROR LETTER FROM THEODORE TO SIR ROBERT NAPIER THE NEGUS ATTEMPTS TO COMMIT SUICIDE— HIS LAST INTERVIEW WITH HIS QUEEN — WE ARE SET AT LIBERTY— EASTER DAY IN THE ENGLISH CAMP t-*t CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XI

A BATTLE-FIELD AFTER THE ACTION — PAINFUL EXPECTANCY OF THEO- DORE DISPERSION OF THE ARMY — THE SIXTEEN HEROES OF MAGDALA PATHETIC PRAYER OF THE CHILDREN OF RAS ENGEDDA THE ASSAULT — CAPTURE OF THE FORTRESS WHERE IS THE ENEMY 1- -LAST MOMENTS AND DEATH OF THEODORE 199

Chapter XII. Debra-tabor

— THE DEMON OF THE REB — THE CAPITAL OF A FALLEN EMPIRE THE QUARTER OCCUPIED BY THE STUDENTS AND CLERGY — THE PALACE OF THE PUPPET-KINGS — CURIOUS ANACHRONISMS IN ABYSSINIAN PAINTINGS — LAKE TANA A PERILOUS VOYAGE METEMMA SOME NEGROES ACQUAINTED WITH THE VALUE OF TIME 215

Chapter XIII. Khartoum

— EXCESSIVE INTEREST TAKEN BY THE GOVERNOR IN MY SAFETY — I DISCOVER ITS MOTIVE — TREATMENT OF THE NEGROES IN THE SOUDAN GONDOKORO A MUTINY FOR GREAT EVILS, PROMPT REMEDIES 240

Chapter XIV. Value Of Cattle In Africa No Oxen, No Wives

— THE DANDIES OF THE ELLYRIA — OPPORTUNE INTERVENTION OF A DRUNKARD — I REJOIN THE TRADERS — A NEGRO PHILOSOPHER SCENES IN SLAVE- LIFE 256

Chapter XV. The Kodjours, Or Ratn-makers

— A CHIEF WHO IS UNHAPPY THROUGH AN EXCESS OF DOMESTIC HAPPINESS HOW THE OBBOS DEAL WITH FEVER CHOREGRAPHIC EXERCISES OF KATCHIBA TWO AUGURS WHO CAN LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT LAUGHING NEW ATROCITIES OF THE SLAVE-DEALERS — OUELDA FALLS SICK — THE ALBERT-NYANZA 281

Chapter XVI. Negotiations For Permission To Enter Unyoro

— THE PROPITIATORY KID AN ANTI-SCOTCH HOSPITALITY KAMRASI THE SMITHY A ROYAL MENDICANT — UGANDA INHABITED BY FEROCIOUS MON- STERS WHICH DEVOUR MEN CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII. The Kibouga

— POMPOUS RECEPTION MEMORIALS OF SPEKE AND GRANT SANGUINARY CAPRICES OF A DESPOT — M'TESSA'S SIMPLE PRIDE HIS OPINION UPON MARRIAGE VISIT TO THE QUEEN- MOTHER — MEDICAL CONSULTATION — THE SOURCES OF THE NILE AND THE VICTORIA-NYANZA— FAREWELL SCENE 332

Chapter XVIII. Troublesome Roads Disease Roumanika's Hospitable Wel- Come The Dimensions Of

A QUEEN A RECIPE FOR BEAUTY FEAST OF THE NEW MOON THE WAHUMAS AND THE WANYAMBOS A FATAL PLEASURE-PARTY 359

Chapter XIX

I AM SUPPOSED TO BE A MALEFICENT SORCERER— HUTS SMOKED AND PERFUMED — AN INDISCREET MIRROR EXORCISMS— TWO BROTHERS- IN-ARMS WAR AND VICTORY ILLNESS OF OUELDA HIS DEATH — ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 1 RETURN TO EUROPE THE NILE BASIN. Southern Section. THE NILE BASIN, Northern Section. TWO YEARS IN EAST AFRICA.

Chapter I. Nubia

— THE CATARACTS OF THE NILF — ECONOMICAL MEANS OF PRO CURING FOOD — THE DESERT COLUMNS OF SAND — THE SIMOOM MISADVENTURE OF OUR DRAGOMAN AND HIS CAMEL — AN UNDE SERVED REPUTATION ATBARA IN THE 8EASON OF DROUGHT — "WE MU8T NOT JUDGE OF THE FRUIT BY THE BARK — AN IMPROMPTU CHASE AN ARAB REPAST — SUDDEN RISE QE THE ATBARA. May ISth, 1867. 1HANKS to the well-appointed steam-packet of the Messageries Imperiales, I have rapidly traversed the waters which separate Marseilles from Alexandria. I have left behind me the dead grandeur of Egypt, whose gigantic magnificence dwarfs the littleness of the present. I am now in Nubia, on the banks of the Nile, which I shall quit almost immediately for the purpose of plunging into the heart of the Desert. My expedition has been carefully organized. A boat, equipped at my expense, carries me gently along the river.

A numerous escort in- HAKIM THE DRAGOMAN. sures my personal safety. My purse, I am happy to say, is brimful of piastres ; I carry the best rifles manufactured by the English gun smiths, and a complete supply of ammunition ; to say nothing of cargoes of stuffs, copper brace lets, beads, and sham jewellery, which I have sent ahead of me, and which will be lying in store at Khartoum. These articles form the only medium of barter understood by the negro tribes dis tributed over the interior of Africa ; but 1 should have found it inconvenient to drag them in my train through countries where gold and silver are all-powerful. The leader of my escort is named Achmet; he is an Egyptian, of the middle size, with a grave and intelligent countenance. Like all of his race, he is avaricious, and I have not secured his services except at a high rate of payment ; but he has the inestimable advantage over his countrymen of being incapable of deceit.

His brother Hakim acts as my dragoman or interpreter, and will be undoubtedly useful, for he has at his fingers' ends all the dialects of the countries I am about to traverse. Unfortunately, he is a finished model of poltroonery. His com panions assert that at his birth some malignant spirit gave him the heart of a hare ; but this is not strong enough. The hare, poor wretch, can live upon little, and make her resting-place any where ; while Master Hakim trembles before hand at the mere thought of the privations to A NUBIAN LANDSCAPE. which he may possibly be exposed. Avarice, however, is stronger than fear, and has induced him to quit his three or four wives and his hut at Dongola ; but he is never weary of cursing the evil star which threw him across the path of so adventurous a traveller.

The remainder of my little troop are simply mercenaries, neither better nor worse than others of their profession. I have ascended the river as far as Korosko. Already the surrounding country has assumed a wild appearance, and narrower and narrower grows that belt of vegetation which lines either bank of the Nile. In the distance I can catch sight of immense plains of sand, burning like fields of fire, and here and there relieved by sparse clumps of palm-trees, whose magnificent foliage affords some small measure of protection to the Nubian villages. The natives — poor, half naked barbarians — stare at me with " a wild sur prise " as I pass by ; the young girls, whose costume is very rudimentary, consisting only of a tunic, which barely descends to the knee, clap their hands and utter noisy exclamations ; women, bowed with hard work, are engaged in cultivating the fields ; gloomy-visaged men, seated at the door of their huts, fashion rude shields out of the hide of the hippopotamus.

This handicraft is carried on outside for an excel lent reason; because the bell-shaped cabins in- NUBIAN HUTS. NUBIAN HUTS. habited by the Arabs of these regions have, like hives, which seem to have served as their models, no other opening available than the door. Such a style of architecture affords light enough for the eyes of bees, but not enough for the eyes of man. ON THE NILE. A fair wind swells the sails of my boat, the rowers of which chant in a monotonous tone ; the suffocating heat persuades me to rest and slumber. I stretch myself on the mats in my cabin, not without an uneasy thought that I must soon quit my pleasant shelter for the burning sands of the Nubian Desert. Korosko is situated below the second cataract of the Nile, and we have passed the first. These cataracts present a THE FIRST CATARACT OF THE NILE. curious spectacle.

A multitude of abrupt islets raise their black crests, polished like basalt, from the bosom of the river ; they seem like an army of petrified giants, against whom the waters are madly contending, are delivering furious charges, while filling the air with their ceaseless violence. (452' AT KOROSKO. May 22nd. — Korosko is a point of considerable importance. As the Nile here describes a bold sweep towards the west, travellers bound for the Upper Nile leave its banks behind them, and shorten their route by striking across the Desert. Judging from the situation of the town, one would be led to think it rich and busy ; but no one acquainted with Egyptian maladministration would fall into such a delusion. If one were desirous of ruining a country, one could not possibly invent a more efficaci ous method.

The taxes are overwhelming, and fetters of every kind paralyze industry ; Korosko, accordingly, consists only of a small number of miserable huts, scattered hither and thither under the dusty palm-trees. Provisions are scarce and inferior. Woe to the too saga cious European who has hoped to expedite his progress by securing a firman from the khedive" ! This exalted protection does but serve to expose its unhappy possessor to the general ill-will. Does the pasha order him to be supplied with beasts of burden, vegetables, cattle ? Everj^thing rapidly disappears, and is hurried away into the in terior. It must be owned, however, that the Turkish officers justify this precaution. It is not necessary for them to carry a well-filled purse in order to luxuriate in abundance in the midst of a desolate country.

They have at their disposal a magic wand, with which they can procure every- K.0R03K0 : IN NUBIA. THE PEASANTS' HOSPITALITY. thing they want ; this is the courbatch, a whip made of strips of hippopotamus-skin. A few blows applied to the shoulders of the refractory proprietor, who refuses to give up his cattle, im mediately removes all difficulties. " Payment " is, in the eyes of the Turks, an act of amazing folly. An English tourist, who wished to recom pense the natives for some camels with which they had furnished him, was covered with ridicule by the Egyptians. " You must be out of your mind," they said, " to throw away your money on such vermin." For myself, who had no recommendation from the pasha, who was simply a stranger, an in fidel, I found the hospitable traditions of their race still flourishing among the inhabitants of Upper Nubia.

The poor people have little to give ; but what they have, they give heartily. They furnished me with goats' milk, and cakes made of coarse flour ; and mounted on my camel, I quitted the banks of the Nile to penetrate into the vast solitude of sand. I had scarcely been journeying an hour be fore I felt myself overcome by an indefinable sentiment ; I felt as if surrounded by immensity, and my soul was overwhelmed by mingled awe and admiration. As far as the eye could reach, it saw only a vast reddish sea, upheaved and swollen into burning waves by the simoom. APPROACH OF A SAND-STORM. Here and there the monotony of the landscape was broken up by mountains of granite, the pyramidal summits of which undoubted^ sug gested to the ancient Egyptians the idea of their massive monuments ; but it is in vain you seek for a blade of moss or a solitary lichen ; life is completely absent.

The winds and the sun bring hither nothing but death. Suddenly a strange and magnificent spectacle broke upon my gaze. Westward and north ward rose from the bosom of the Desert a vast number of sand-columns of so prodigious an elevation, that they seemed to lose themselves in the blue of heaven. Some moved forward with a rapid gyratory motion ; others traversed the vast solitude slowly : they seemed like fan tastic monuments transported byan invisible arm. At this sight, Achmet and some of my escort flung themselves prostrate in the dust, the names of Allah and Mohammed, and the verses of the Koran, rushing to their lips. As for the unfortunate Hakim, incapable of praying, he wrung his hands in despair, tore his hair, and uttered the most piercing cries. And, in fact, the sand-pillars swept straight upon us.

They were so numerous as to darken the sky. Many of them burst with a report like the discharge of artillery, scattering clouds of sand in all directions. It was useless to at tempt to flee ; the swiftest horse could not equal their rapidity ! HOPE IN THE DISTANCE. 22 SAND-COLUMNS. "We are lost!" cried Hakim. "The Spirit of the Desert has plotted our destruction." " Come," said I impatiently ; " this is no time for tears and children's stories. Are there any means of escaping this great peril ? " Achmet studied the sky attentively. " None are needed," said he, with an air of tranquillity. " Allah is great ! Look at yonder A PAROXYSM OF TERROR. 23 whirlwind of sand rushing towards the south : the wind has suddenly changed, and in a moment these columns will recede." " Yes," answered Hakim ; " but not until the demon who directs them has exterminated all our caravan.

Everybody knows that these columns support the palace in which he dwells. Woe, woe to us unfortunates !" He had scarcely finished speaking, when the pillars of sand, suddenly veering round, betook themselves to flight like a routed army. They were then between us and the sun, so that the rays of the latter, passing through them, transformed them into columns of fire. This fairy like transformation threw Hakim into a fresh paroxysm of terror. " Woe, woe to us unfortunates ! " he repeated, turning pale. " The demon is furious ; he is burning his palace ; the whole desert will soon be in flames." " He is calling upon Hell to swallow us up !" answered one of my followers, inoculated with the panic fears of Hakim. Achmet shrugged his shoulders ; but his brow grew gloomy. " These lurid, blood-red gleams," he explained, " make me fear the approach of the simoom."

The day passed, nevertheless, without further agitation ; and on the following morning the sun rose, as was its wont, in a cloudless sky. Soon, however, the south wind began to FURY OF THE SIMOOM. blow ; its violent gusts were hot and heavy ; so oppressive became the air that we could not breathe without panting. Achmet, bending over his camel's head, and wrapped up in his bernouse, pushed forward, as if to escape being questioned. Darker and darker grew the horizon ; and a breath of fire, like that which issues from the mouth of a colossal furnace, gradually sur rounded us. " Fling yourselves on the ground ! " cried Achmet. THE SIMOOM. We had barely time to follow his counsel be fore our camels, heaving a mournful cry, fell ARRIVAL AT A WELL. 25 upon their knees, stretched their long necks upon the ground, and endeavoured to bury their heads in the sand.

We sheltered ourselves be hind them as behind a wall. At the same moment, a purple cloud darted towards us with the velocity of lightning. A heat like that of red-hot iron seized us in its choking grasp. Minutes, which seemed to us ages, passed by. Our mouths glued to the sand, we were nearly suffocated. At length Achmet informed us that we might rise from our inconvenient position. The burning meteor had dis appeared, leaving us greatly agitated by its passage. Our beasts of burden, exhausted by thirst and fatigue, appeared to have suffered from the simoom much more than we had. Very fortunately, about midway on the road which rejoined the Nile, we found a well called Mourahd. It was not, alas ! one of those fresh oases in which travellers and camels equally delight; and we were unable to fill our leathern bottles, already nearty empty.

Its water was so bitter that we could not make up our minds to drink of it ; but our camels were less fastidious, and the poor beasts, which had been on the march for several days, stood in great need of quenching their thirst. We next directed our course towards the abrupt rocks which on all sides surround Mourahd. After crossing these, we entered a A DREARY MARCH. gorge about two hundred yards in breadth, which might well be called the " Valley of Bones," from the skeletons of camels strewn about its depths. These poor animals perish in great numbers before reaching the well : others arrive there, but in so exhausted a condition, that they soon succumb, in spite of the tardy succour. The abandoned carcasses lie upon the dusty soil ; for there are neither flies nor insects to play the part of scavengers; the crows devour the flesh, and the dryness of the air converts the skin into a kind of shroud, as hard as wood.

These mummies reveal to the gaze the outlines of the skeleton, and the very attitude of the animal at the moment it expired. May 31st. — After seven days of dreary marching, — for the bones of camels are not the only bones the traveller meets with on his painful way, and Hakim never failed to fill our ears with the most melancholy stories, — we reached at length the little village of Abou-Hammed, where we again descended to the Nile and its ribbon of verdure. Be it understood that the word verdure is here employed in a relative sense, and that it requires all one's complaisance to bestow such a term on the dried-up bushes and powdery palm-trees. However, we rested ourselves under their shade with a very genuine delight, our ears beguiled by the murmur of the river against the rocks, which form in its bed a ARRIVAL AT BERBER. succession of rapids.

We had no longer any reason to feel afraid of thirst, for we quitted the banks of the Nile to follow up those of the Atbara. The only town which lay upon our route until we reached the confluence of the two rivers is Berber, a heap of paltry brick houses, which would be unworthy of particular mention, were it not situated in the heart of an admirably fertile oasis. Thanks to a skilfully conducted irrigation, life and abundance prevail in this little corner of land. The Nubians, in culti vating it, seem to have been desirous of displaying to every eye the richness of the soil, and of showing, that if everywhere else the country is poor and unproductive, the cause is to be found in their lethargic neglect. This luxury of vegetation, to which our camels were wholly unaccustomed, led, on our leaving Berber, to an irresistibly comic scene.

Thoroughly rested and re'invigorated, Hakim marched proudly at the head of our little troop. Unfortunately, the mimosas and bushes which form on the bank of the river impenetrable jungles, preserved, at this point, an apparent freshness very enticing to our camels. The dragoman's steed, charmed by the sight of the green leaves, continually deviated from his route to snatch a few mouthfuls. Thereupon a very lively contest ensued between him and his rider; HAKIM AND HIS CAMEL. kicks fell like hail upon the intractable ani mal, which replied with roars of revolt. Hakim was all the more interested in putting a check to this outbreak of gluttony, in that the mimosas are armed with threatening spines, curved like fish-hooks, and strong enough to rend into tatters the strongest garments. The branches in front of us interlaced, at a height of three to four feet, in an inextricable labyrinth.

The camel could just manage to creep underneath them, but not so his rider. Hakim saw this ; so he was deter mined that his beast should not diverge from the beaten track : on his side, the animal was not less determined to gratify his inclinations ; and he in the long run proved successful. He pounced with the utmost rapidity on the object of his greediness, scarcely allowing time for his master to shelter his head with his raised arms. The moment afterwards Hakim was dashed against the thorns, which held him suspended, for a second, like fruit from a branch ; then his garments gave way, and he fell heavily to the ground, uttering the most lamentable cries. His camel, overthrown by the violence of the shock, lay beside him ; the two forming as pitiful-looking a group as you can imagine. Misadventures of this kind are not uncom mon.

The camel, whose sobriety, gentleness, and patience are the theme of so many ill informed writers on Natural History, does not THE CAMEL'S CHARACTER. 29 deserve, in truth, the flattering opinion enter tained of him. On the contrary, among those who are really acquainted with the animal's habits, his gluttony and his stupidity are well known. He not only has no affection for his master, but never thinks of him. When once he has begun his march, he continues to advance with his awkward, automatic step, simply be cause he is too phlegmatic to indulge in any caprices. He will make no effort to throw you ; such a stratagem is quite beyond the range of his ideas ; he will march, and march, browsing here and there, without troubling himself the least about you. Only on one occasion does he recollect his master, and that is when the latter wishes to mount.

Then he stretches towards him a long sinuous neck, opens an enormous mouth — ready to bite if he dared — and utters a furious low growl, as if to complain of a new and unexampled act of cruelty. June 9th. — The Atbara, which empties its tribute into the Nile a few leagues below Ber ber, is, in the rainy season, a magnificent river, whose channel can scarcely contain its impetuous waters ; but at the period of the year when we arrived upon its banks, it is completely dry. The fine glittering sand of the river-bed re flected with so much splendour the rays of the sun, that our eyes were almost blinded. Arid plains stretched everywhere around ; a burning THE RIVER ATBARA. light set the earth a-glow, and rendered dis tinctly visible, even to the furthest limits of the horizon, a landscape which borrows a certain magical character even from its very monotony.

Along the river grew a great number of doum trees —a kind of palm, the stem of which, instead THE DOCM PALM of springing lightly and easily toward the sky, like that of the date, ramifies into tufted branches, affording a refreshing shade. We halted under a clump of these noble trees ; and leaving our camels to browse in peace, we, prone upon the THE HOME OF THE TERMITES. sand, and in the enjoyment of the most luxuri ous sensations, gazed upon the charms of the radiant African scenery. The hours passed away. At rare intervals the cry of a bird, or the distant roar of a hippopotamus, disturbed the profound silence of our solitude. What life, what activity, what strife, nevertheless, were concealed under this apparent calm ! At my feet the termites hurried to and fro in quest of provender ; which, when dis covered, they carried away laboriously into their subterranean galleries, some of them bending under burdens three times larger than them selves.

If a single worker could not manage it, others yoked themselves to him. I watched them turning aside from obstacles, climbing mountains made of pebbles — never discouraged even when the slipperiness of a stone capsized them in the midst of their attempt; and then the mishaps, the attacks of foes, the heavy hoof of the passing camel ! What patience and energy these minute forms of life display ! Surely they ought always to gain the reward of their ardu ous exertions. But while I was watching them, a battalion of black ants treacherously drew near the habitation of the termites, to carry into execution a murderous razzia. The invading army spared nothing* ; and that world in miniature, an ant hill, exhibited all the horrors of the sack and pillage of a city captured by assault. a traveller's disappointment.

In summer, the banks of the Atbara are the only living portion of these regions. Deep cavities have been hollowed out by the violence of the waters at those points where the river makes its sudden and abrupt bends. These reservoirs, which never dr}- up, and which are some times half a league* in length, afford a refuge to the most dissimilar species of animals. Enormous crocodiles, unwieldy hippopotami, turtles, and fishes of all kinds, live there in a more than brotherly intimacy. Undoubtedly many bloody dramas take place in the depths of these little lakes ; but nothing troubles their peaceful sur face. Yielding to the influence of the shade and the languor, I began to dream ; but appetite, keen and stimulating, soon roused me from my som nolence. I ordered a fire to be lighted. It was not long before the coffee boiled ; and a couple of pintados, which we had shot in the morning, were soon in the act of being roasted.

To com plete this regal repast, a dessert was necessary ; the doums which surrounded and sheltered us seemed to invite our ready hands to collect their dark-brown clusters. But, oh miserable decep tion ! these fruits, so attractive to the eye, are of such an adamantine texture that they resist the sharpest teeth ; — one might as well gnaw at a log of wood ! Achmet, who had seen me make the * French league. VALUE OF THE DOUM PALM. attempt, laughed in his sleeve at my discom fiture. " Confusion ! this unhappy country produces nothing." " You see, at all events, that doums are not wanting." " That is something to boast of, truly ! I pity the inhabitants of the Atbara if they have no other resource." " Allah is great. The fruit you see is the blessing of the Desert in a season of drought. We crush it between a couple of stones, and when it is reduced to powder boil it in milk.

The pasha's table can offer no greater delicacy. The doum furnishes us also with pro vender for our cattle. The kernel of its fruit encloses a kind of almond, which, dried before the fire and then bruised, supplies the want of fodder." " Let us pay all respect to the doum, then. I have spoken ill of it only through ignorance." At the bottom of my heart, nevertheless, I could not help doubting the truth of Achmet's assurances. It seemed to me almost impossible that so leathery a fruit should ever become a savoury aliment. An opportunity, however, soon occurred of clearing up the matter. The pools scattered along the river bed were the only places where the birds and game could drink ; a few shots provided us with a repast, (452) MASTER AND MAN. and the chase furnished us also with the means of exchanging with the Arabs we encountered.