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V.I

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

A. Henry Savage Landor. Adem, the faithful Somali.

ACROSS
WIDEST AFRICA

AN ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
OF EASTERN, CENTRAL AND WESTERN AFRICA
AS SEEN DURING A TWELVE MONTHS' JOURNEY
FROM DJIBUTI TO CAPE VERDE ^ ^ ^

AUTHOR OF

**In the Forbidden Land/' "Tibet and Nepal," "China and
the Allies," "Across Coveted Lands," &c.

Illustrated by i6o Half-tone Reproductions of Photographs and a
Map of the Route

A. HENRY SAVAGE LANDOR

Volume I

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

NEW YORK

fCHAPELPi
RIVER as
PRESS VW

BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION
I

DEDICATE THIS WORK
TO

HIS MAJESTY VICTOR EMMANUEL III.
KING OF ITALY

PREFACE.

The journey across widest Africa described in this book was
over 8,500 miles in length, and occupied 364 days. Pleasure
was its sole object. No white person accompanied the Author,
who bore the entire cost of the expedition.

In the transliteration of native names, the local sound has
with a few unavoidable exceptions been given, the vowels to be
pronounced as in Italian.

A. HENRY SAVAGE LANDOR.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

CHAP.
I.

11.

III.

IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.

PAGE

63
76

85
100
110
118
126
136
146

158
169
178
186
196
205
214
229

Xll

CONTENTS

CHAP.

XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
XXXV.

PAGE

237

250

261
270

280

290

302
312
323
338
351
367

383

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME I.

5-
6.

7-
8.

lO.

II.

12.

13-

14.

15-
16.

17-
18.

19.
20.
21.
22.

A. Henry Savage Landor. Adem, the faithful

SomaU ......

Author's attendants. Danakil. Adem, an Issa

Somali. Danakil ....
Scenery near Harrar. In the background can be

seen a hedge of cacti
Bird's-eye view of Harrar
A street in Harrar ....
Ras-Makonnen and his son .
The main square, Harrar
The meat market, Harrar
Danakil chief and attendants
Danakil and Gurgura filling skin bags with

at a well

Hawash river, showing volcanic fissure .
Adem bartering with Carayu women.

dollars useless ....
View of escarpment along the Hawash

(Abyssinia) .....
Galla woman selling butter .
Gurgura woman .....
The high escarpment at Baltchi (Abyssinia)
Emperor Menelik's palace, Adis-Ababa .
,The single-roomed hotel at Adis-Ababa. The

sleeping quarters were in the central pagoda-like

structure .......

Abyssinian soldiers waiting for the Empress Taitu .

The custom house and market in Adis-Ababa

H. M. Emperor Menelik .....

Emperor Menelik watching the arrival of 7,980

guests

water

Silver

river

Frontispiece
To face page 16

76
82
86

xiv

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1 1

Criif^ts on thpir vi^v T^rnnprnr IVTpnplilr't; ]nnr*H

p3,rty ...«.,.,

MO face page 94

24.

iVicilCUK. b IllUiC dllU. CoCUlL .....

It It 102

26.

130

27.

An1"V\r\Y"'c /^ir"T\7'!itT ■f*^r/*1irifT frV^^i \~'A~i\t t*iT7tii"

/iULiiui 0 CtiiciVciii njiLiiiiy Liic vTiDuy rivcr

154

28.

II It 160

29.

VJcillct yjv Tf Co LCI 11 xVUy 33111 Id, Willi Ly UlCcti oU.Il''

olldvlC ••>■■..,

11 It 104

3°-

A iitHnr'c: A Hv<;<;in n miilpfppr<i

^^ULllVJl 0 xLL/ y DOilllCill IXlUlCtCClS ■ • ■ •

172

VJU V CI llWl X>i i Llj yji. X>U1 Cj All LI lllO W 11 C ■ • •

It II 190

32-

A suspension bridge of vines over the Baro stream

(Western Abyssinia) .....

II It 200

33-

Yambo ........

II It 210

34-

Yambo huts, showing cemented court and platform

II ft 214

35-

Women's market in the Yambo country

It It 216

36. Yambo, the giant tribe of the Baro river

II It 220

37-

Yambo store-houses ......

II II 224

38. General Gatacre's grave at Gambela (covered with

thorns to prevent hyenas digging up the body) .

f f , , 220

39-

Yambo, on the Baro river .....

,1 It 230

40.

Nuer village .......

II 234

41.

Author's mules crossing the Baro river .

2-6

It II •^0"

42.

Stampeding Nuer women (showing great length of

their legs) .......

II II 2 40

43-

Nuer. Showing curious coiffures and skin painted

with ashes .......

11 It 242

44.

In the Anuak country ......

244

45-

Nuer musician and poet

It It 246

46. Nuer village

). 250

47-

Nuer, the long-legged people ....

256

48.

Nuer men and women .....

It It 260

49.

Anuak men decorated with cicatrices upon the

chest and shoulders .....

It It 276

50-

Author's three pet ostriches and leper camp

follower ........

II 2yo

51-

Shiluk, and one of their boats of fascines

It 1 292

52-

"Sometimes small fish is caught on the Nile,

sometimes not so small " .

294

S3-

Abyssinian horse presented to Author by Ras-
Makonnen. (This photo, was taken after the

horse had travelled from Harrar to the Nile) .

298

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

54-

55-
56.
57-
58-
59-
60.

61.

Escort of Sudanese soldiers and Author's Abys-
sinian muleteers leaving up the Sobat river in a
steel felucca lent by the Sirdar . . . .To face

Shiluk warriors .

Shiluk hurling spears

Shiluk warriors ......

Author's caravan arriving at Fort Desaix (Wau)
Adem, the Author's faithful Somali
Women at a well in the western Bahr-el-Ghazal
(The bucket belonged to Author and was not £
native vessel) .......

Photograph of two maneless lions, taken by Authoi

late one afternoon on a rainy day
Dem Zebir fort .
Aja

62.
63-

64. Aja and Banda .

65. Kresh and Yango

66. Nugulguleh tribe .

67. Furogheh tribe .
Map of Africa showing the Author's route

page 300

304
306
310

338
342

346

370
374
378
378
378
385
38s
At end

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

CHAPTER I.

" Oh, sir, I am a worm, such a worm !".... was the

exclamation of a tall, pleasant-looking Armenian, whom
I met on my arrival in Djibuti, and who heartily grasped
my hand. ..." And," he added, " I represent . . . ."
Here he quoted the name of a notorious but not very
notable London halfpenny newspaper.

It had required no effort on my part to believe that
the two statements — usually in the inverted order —
went together, but for curiosity's sake I meekly begged
to inquire of my interlocutor :

" What sort of a worm are you ? "

"Oh, sir ... . such a worm, such a worm!" And
with the delightful hesitation of stammering people, as
well as much muscular straining of the neck, he eventu-
ally burst out : " I mean ....a.. ..a. ...a
book-worm ! And .... you write books .... and
.... I am such — such a worm."

I must confess that one of the principal reasons that
had taken me to Africa was to get away from people and
books, book-talk, reporters and newspapers. To find
myself on landing confronted with an interviewer was
VOL. I. I

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

a most unexpected surprise — almost a grief. Inter-
views are a nuisance at all times, but with the ther-
mometer registering iio° in the shade, the Djibuti
hotel a little worse than the accommodation one pro-
vides for dogs, and the food — oh, the food ! . . . .
hardly deserving such a name, this was, indeed, a severe
trial.

I am superstitious and get more and more supersti-
tious every day. All people are superstitious more or
less, but will not own it. I do.

I am a firm believer in good and evil omens, and
though omens seldom come true I cannot help going on
believing in them. Before I started, and at the begin-
ning of this particular journey, all the omens were
bad.

Having one day taken it into my head to go across
Africa — I was in London at the time — I proceeded to
the Charing Cross railway station to inquire at what
time the continental train would leave the next morning.
Having received the required information, I was pro-
ceeding to walk out of the station when the roof came
down with great fracas. On leaving my fiat to drive to
the station en route for Marseilles a funeral crossed my
road — another sign of bad luck.

Needless to say, the passage across the Channel was
fearful, and the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from
Marseilles to Port Said worse still. Deck-houses were
washed away, skyHghts smashed by the waves, the
saloon and cabins flooded, and we were two days late
in reaching our destination owing to the force of the
gale encountered.

After I had set foot on terra firma again at Port Said,
and when I was driving in a cab to the railway station

DJIBUTI

in order to proceed by train to Cairo, the conveyance,
overladen with luggage, with dragomans and porters
standing on the steps, sitting on the box and cUnging
behind, three wheels out of four of the vehicle suddenly
gave way in ploughing through the heavy sand, and
further progress was temporarily suspended. In a
moment, however, dozens of men ran up to help, the
baggage was conveyed to the station upon men's heads,
and Cairo was safely reached.

A few days were quite sufficient to settle all the last
details for my transcontinental journey. At the British
Agency, Lord Cromer, Mr. Boyle, and Mr. Cecil Higgins
showed me unbounded civility, and did all in their
power to give me what official help they could. In the
Sudan Government, Captain R. Owen furnished me
with much lucid information regarding some of the
country under British rule that I should have to cross,
and I am greatly indebted to him and to Colonel
Watson, A.D.C. to the Khedive, as well as to the
officers in the Citadel, for a great deal of thoughtful
kindness shown me.

Having accomplished all I wished to do in Cairo,
having purchased more rifles for my men and more
tents, I again returned to Port Said and embarked on a
Messagerie boat, the Oxus, plying to French Somaliland.

I disembarked at Djibuti on January 5th, 1906.
Djibuti was gaily decorated owing to the arrival in the
harbour of some Russian warships which had been
interned in the Philippine Islands during the Russian and
Japanese war, and one or two English war vessels were
also in the harbour. Those who have visited Djibuti
remember and speak of it as the most odious place they
have ever seen. For my part, I have seen places as

VOL. I. I*

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

odious as Djibuti, but never one more odious. It has
all the drawbacks of a sprouting civilization, and,
with the exception of a few highly-respectable French
officials and a few merchants, the white people one
meets are not quite so attractive as they might be.

The Governor's palace is quite imposing, although
somewhat out of proportion to the size of the town.
Attempts have been made to make streets at right
angles, and there is even a square, with a well-patronized
caf^. There is a saying in France among Colonials that
the only vegetation of Djibuti consists of three cast-
iron trees in this particular square, but when I was
in Djibuti even that much " vegetation " had dis-
appeared, if ever it had been there at all.

The town is built upon a barren plain divided into
two sections connected by a road reclaimed from the
sea. The French Governor most kindly offered every
possible assistance, should I need it, and I had the plea-
sure of meeting one or two of the principal traders in the
place. Mr. Kevorkhoff, a Russian Armenian, who has
made a considerable fortune in the country, seemed to
have a store well-fitted for colonial purposes, his trade
being mostly, I think, in Abyssinian imports and
exports, firearms for the Negus' people and provisions
for Europeans. In the afternoon he drove me some
miles out of the town to show me the public garden, the
pride of the Djibuti residents. The pride was greater
than the garden. Many plants were shown me which
will some day grow, I suppose, and no doubt if people
keep on pouring water upon them, in future times far
removed there will be a few acres of luxuriant vegeta-
tion. If not, it will not be for the lack of interest,
expense and trouble bestowed by the residents in their

A TRANSIT TRADE

endeavour to satisfy the craving for a little verdure in
so barren and hot a region.

France annexed this portion of the Somali coast as
long ago as 1858, but the town of Djibuti itself only
dates from 1896, when the Governor's residence was
removed from Obock on the north side of the entrance to
the Gulf of Toudjourrah.

The trade of the place is mostly a transit trade.
Besides Mr. Kevorkhoff, there are a number of French,
Italian and Greek traders, some quite successful in a
comparatively small way, others not quite so successful.
The chief profit, I believe, is made by importing arms and
Gras cartridges into Abyssinia, as well as exporting
coffee of most delicious quality, ivory and rubber from
that country.

There are few places where the hours pass more
slowly than at Djibuti. I am one of those persons who
can live quite happily on almost nothing so long as that
" almost nothing " is good, but I abhor pompous bad-
ness. Hence, some miserable hours were those spent
in the capital of French Somaliland. No doubt it may
impress some people to see the hotel proprietor parade
about with decorations on his chest for services rendered
or not to some country or other ; and perhaps it satisfies
some people to hear this grand person shout and order
servants about — orders which were never obeyed. Per-
haps some people are even proud to put up in one of
the filthy rooms of the hotel belonging to so distinguished
a personage. After inspecting every room in the place,
I eventually hired the only one in which it was possible
to live. A dingy double chamber, with a stinking
carpet, two or three beds with dubious-looking hnen,
a washing basin .... Brr ! .... if one were given

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

to slight exaggeration one might propose to make it the
basis of a profitable grease factory. And the towels
. . . . good gracious me ! . . . . when had they last
been to the laundry ?

" And for all this, how much, if you please ? " I
meekly inquired.

"About one louis a day with little extras;" extras
which came to two louis when the bill arrived.

It was not possible to remain in the room during the
day, so notwithstanding the sun, which is indeed scorch-
ing at Djibuti, I went out for a walk. The sight of a
harbour is always interesting. In the Djibuti anchor-
age there is plenty of life. French steamers on their
way to Madagascar and the Far East generally call here,
and also many warships, English, French and Russian.
The lateen sails of Arab boats, which were numerous in
the harbour, always add picturesqueness to a seascape.
These boats are wonders of naval construction, with
their admirable lines for speed and rough seafaring.

Still, one could not look at the harbour the whole day
or walk about the town, three minutes being the longest
time one can occupy in travelling across its length and
about two minutes across its width. The sand in which
one sank was burning, and radiated the torrid rays of
the sun. The streets were deserted, except for a pariah
dog or two drowsily sleeping in what little shade they
got inside a doorway ; for towards noon when the sun
is on the meridian, the shadow is directly under one's
person, and vertical walls give no shadow at all. If by
chance one of these dogs got up and barked at the
unusual sight of a stranger wandering about in the
middle of the day, one immediately heard female voices
of Greek and Italian nationalities call out words of

THE NATIVE SETTLEMENT

endearment from balconies and doorways. These were
the only people who were awake — people like that
always are — but all the others were asleep, fast asleep,
with all the light shut out of their houses by screens and
by the large verandahs surrounding the houses. It is
only towards the evening that the good people begin to
wake up again.

The houses in the European settlement were not
much to look at, but they were practically built to suit
the climate, with its hot winds and torrid but healthy
heat. There were no glass panes to the windows, and
the Indian punkah had been generally adopted in order
to make life possible in the rooms. The moment one
entered a house one felt quite stifled.

There was an ice factory in Djibuti, a great boon to
the residents when it worked, but it had a way of stop-
ping when it was most needed.

More interesting than the foreign settlement was
certainly the native town. There were three main
agglomerations of huts, of which Djibuti was the prin-
cipal, then Bunder and Djedid, as well as another,
Boulers, on the way to Zeila in British Somaliland.
These agglomerations aroused more pity than interest.
They consisted of a lot of miserable shanties erected
anyhow, with putrid beams, rotten mats, and pieces of
canvas ; some only had thatched roofs. A mortar and
pestle here and there, some calabashes and a few pots
and pans strewn about the ground — that was all. None
of these buildings were of a permanent nature, but
seemed put up for temporary residences. In fact, the
population of Djibuti was not a fixed population, but we
find that many neighbouring tribes, such as the Somali,
Haberual, the Issa, and the Gadabursi, as well as Danakil,

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

come here occasionally to trade. Then many Galla
come over for the same purpose, and even Sudanese and
Swahilis can be seen in Djibuti, as well as many Arabs
and people from Aden and the Arabian coast.

Enterprising Hindu merchants have also found their
way to French Somaliland as well as to Abyssinia, and
they manage to get on well. They are very saving and
sober ; contented with comparatively small profits ; and
fully understanding the requirements of the natives, they
manage to do business successfully with a small capital
on the same lines as the Greeks and the Armenians, where
French and English merchants could not run a business
at a profit.

Of course, especially since the railway was opened,
Djibuti has become one of the chief outlets of Abyssinian
trade. One often sees in the market-place Abyssinians
in their characteristic trousers and a scarf draped
over the shoulder. One is struck at once with the fact
that although the origin of their race was evidently
Semitic — as is clearly shown in the purer types — in the
majority of cases strong negroid influences can be
detected.

The most attractive of all the people in French
Somaliland are possibly the Somali. They are quite of a
superior type to any I found on my journey across Africa
from east to west, except the Senegalese on the West
Coast. Although not superior in intelHgence, they are
superior to the Senegalese in physical appearance. They
are tall, thin and well-proportioned, with well-chiselled
limbs and features, a good arched nose, with rather finely-
modelled nostrils, and the hps, although developed, are
not so offensively full as with most of the negro tribes
of the central zone of Africa. Their skin is of a smooth,

THE SOMALI

delicate texture, with no superabundance of oily excre-
tion, as in most negroid races, and their active life gives
them a wiry, supple appearance quite devoid of extra
flesh. They are of a nervous temperament, extremely
sober and moral — when not demoralized by European
ways — dignified and faithful in a high degree to their
leaders. There is no bravado about them, but they are
somewhat cruel by nature. They can endure hardships
silently and stand impassive in case of danger. They
are excellent walkers and camel-men, and many of them
make first-class shikaris. In their normal condition
they are nomad shepherds. One of their chief as well
as most remunerative amusements consists in raiding
neighbouring tribes, and in this they show great cunning.

As far as I could judge, the Somali seemed quite
happy under French rule. We shall see that of the
great number of men I employed during my journey
across Africa, it was only a Somali — a French Somali —
who remained faithful to the very end, notwithstanding
the severe hardships and sufferings which he had to
endure.

CHAPTER II.

Before the construction of the railway the most fre-
quented route from Djibuti to Adis- Ababa was across
the SomaH desert via Gueldessa-Harrar-Tchertcher as
far as the Hawash river, then by the escarpment up to
the plateau on which the Abyssinian capital is to be
found.

There was a shorter but somewhat more dangerous
route branching off at Adde Galla, when the railway
was completed up to that point, across the Danakil
desert, doing away with a great detour, and meeting
the high trail near the foot of the escarpment. Since
the railway reached its present terminus at Dire-Dawa
another route has been most generally adopted, between
the two others, much shorter than the one by Harrar
and the Tchertcher (462 kilometres), and a great deal
safer and more comfortable than the one by the desert —
usually called the " Bilen route " (420 kilometres). This
route is the one by Assabot, the one which I followed,
some 385 kilometres in length, along fairly level country
skirting the northern spurs of the Tchertcher.

These three routes, besides one much longer seldom
used — named the " desert route " — which describes an
immense detour near Adis-Ababa in order to avoid the
steep ascent of the escarpment, have now Dire-Dawa as
their centre on the east. On the west at Tadetchimalka

ROUTES TO ADIS ABABA

they all meet and proceed along a common trail as far
as Adis- Ababa. The long desert route is sometimes
used by caravans of camels, as the humped animals
have great difficulty in climbing up the steep incline
between Tadetchimalka and Baltchi.

According to surveys made, the difference between the
maximum and minimum elevations on the Bilen route
between Dire-Dawa and Tadetchimalka is only about
two thousand feet, the highest points being Dire-Dawa,
which my own aneroids registered at 3,500 feet high,
and the Hawash river 2,800 feet. Whereas on the
Assabot route, as we shall see, the difference is somewhat
greater, but not nearly so much so as upon the Harrar-
Tchertcher route, where, at Uarabile, an elevation of
7,189 feet occurs, and, at Kulubi, the trail goes over a
height of 8,225 f^st. The next highest altitudes are at
Derru and at Kunni, the lowest point of the many undu-
lations being at Irna, where the trail descends to 1,763
metres (6,940 feet), according to Marchand's surveys.

This route is frequently chosen notwithstanding its
many ups and downs and greater length, as it is cooler
owing to the elevation and the vegetation all along.
It has everywhere plenty of good spring-water and
pastures for the animals. Supplies of food can be
obtained for the men from the Galla who inhabit the
country, and who are great cultivators of the land.

The Bilen desert route is dry and extremely hot ;
in one portion water must be carried for a considerable
distance — some two days' hard marching — and no
grazing is to be found for the animals. There are, of
course, no villages, and therefore no food supplies
are to be obtained, while the Danakil and brigand
tribes frequently take advantage of the tired condition

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

of the animals to raid passing caravans. It was only
in 1903 that a French reporter, traveUing with the
MacMillan expedition, Monsieur Dubois-DessauUe, was
murdered on the edge of the desert by Danakils, and
his body terribly mutilated. A few days before my
departure from Dire-Dawa, an Arab trader and two
Abyssinians met with a similar fate. Portions of their
anatomy were amputated in a primitive manner and
carried away in triumph by the Danakils.

It was early in the morning that I went to the station
in order to proceed up country by the small railway
which has been constructed by the " Compagnie Imperiale
des Chemins de Fer Ethiopiens " as far as the foot of
the plateau of Harrar, some 210 kilometres from the coast
(or about 190 miles).

A worse-regulated concern than this railway would be
difficult to imagine. Instead of making it easy for
people to travel by it, everything is done to prevent
travellers using it, to make them uncomfortable,
and to give them every possible annoyance. The
brigandage of the Danakils and other tribes who extorted
money from caravans upon the road was a mere nothing
when compared with the exorbitant charges which were
made for travellers and their baggage to those un-
fortunately compelled to travel on this railway. The
officials and employees made themselves quite ridicu-
lous by their impudence and the absurd regulations they
attempted to enforce, and it struck me that they were
trying to do their best to ruin the railway, at least
if it were intended to be a paying concern. It re-
minded me very much of the method of systematic
obstruction which was used by the unsatisfied railway
officials of Italy, and which rendered travelling most

THE ETHIOPIAN RAILWAY

tiresome and almost impossible for some time in that
beautiful country.

The same things happened at Djibuti. While the
train, which ran up to Dire-Dawa only twice a week,
and sometimes not so often, was ready in the station
for the entire night, while passengers, who were charged
as much as 186 francs (£7 9s.) first-class, 62 francs (£2 los.)
second-class (the second-class corresponding to nothing
in this country, but being about the same as the fourth-
class in France), the passengers were kept shut out of
the station among dirty negroes, baskets of stinking fish,
and packing-cases until only a few minutes before the
departure of the train. Every ounce of luggage had
then to be weighed and paid for, and one could not
obtain change for one's money. Such valuable currency
as English sovereigns and five-pound notes were refused
at the ticket-office as money unknown to the officials.
If a prize were to be given for the greatest confusion I
have ever witnessed at the departure of a train, it should
certainly be awarded to the officials of the Djibuti
station. My astonishment had no bounds when I
discovered at the end of the journey that none of my
baggage had been lost.

Anyhow, after much blowing of whistles a start was
made, and the train moved out of the station, the tiny
carriages being full of German commercial travellers
rigged up in most elaborate tropical costumes (as the
people at home imagine explorers in Central Africa
should dress), and Greek carpenters, somewhat more
modestly attired. Of the three carriages of which the
train was formed, the first and second were combined
into one, with a luggage- van. The third-class for
natives seemed by far the most comfortable compart-

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

ment, as it was open all round. Natives only were
allowed in this carriage for the sum of fifteen francs
for the entire journey, which ought to be as much as
first-class passengers should pay for their convey-
ance.

The line itself was not badly laid, but the carriages
were bad and kept in a shocking condition.

One went over richly-coloured red soil strewn with
black volcanic rock. Immediately on starting one began
to ascend, and after some two hours we proceeded
between flat-topped hills of no great elevation and
covered with green shrubs. Here and there flocks of
goats stampeded at either side as the train puffed away.
Near the numerous little stations at which we stopped
were Somali sheds. Near them stood natives with
spears in hand. Wise-looking camels watched the
train with their customary impassiveness.

There were fifteen stations, all counted, along the
entire run, at distances varying from seven to forty-
seven kilometres apart, the longest runs being between
Ambouli and Holl Holl (forty-five kilometres) and be-
tween Ada or Adde Galla and Mello (forty-seven kilo-
metres).

The line was single, with only four crossings where
trains could meet. Near the Abyssinian frontier one
saw signs of copper, here and there the pecuhar green of
sulphate of copper being noticeable on the soil's sur-
face. Iron was much in evidence all along, giving a
black and bluish tint to the rock and earth.

When we arrived at the frontier at AU Sabieh, eight}'-
eight kilometres from Djibuti, we saw a French fort
upon the hill, and at kilometre io6, at Daouenle, where
the train stopped for lunch, we came across an honest

AN HONEST MAN

man — painfully honest. Not an Abyssinian by any
means, but a Greek named Giorgi, gaily dressed in a
starred blue shirt and striped trousers — not unlike Uncle
Sam as we see him in pictures. He had built for him-
self a small shed which he used as a restaurant, and for
the large equivalent of two shillings gave you five
excellent and plentiful courses, sweets, fruit, coffee and
wine included. He never failed to tell you at the end
that if you had not had sufficient, he would be glad to
give you more.

Once we got into Abyssinia there were guards of
Abyssinian soldiers at all the stations, as well as escorts
of soldiers who were placed upon the train.

Every now and then gazelles bounded about in the
most agile and graceful fashion. The whole country
was covered with high ant-heaps. As we got higher on
the plateau we left behind on our left high, rugged and
pointed peaks, the Mounts D'Arro and Mari and the very
distant Mounts of Obenu, near Lake Killelu. The train
had some difficulty in going up the steep gradient,
especially in one or two places when the engineer and
his assistant walked in front with a bag of sand each,
scattering it upon the rails so that the wheels could
have a grip. Several times the train was brought to a
standstill because there were herds of cattle grazing
upon the line. On nearing Arraua, two stations before
reaching Dire-Dawa, the plateau lost the black and
dark-grey tones of the desert country and became
more covered with verdure, a great many trees being
scattered about among the hillocks on either side. So we
puffed along, Abyssinian soldiers presenting arms every-
where as the train steamed by, and swarms of naked
children chasing the train and keeping well up with it

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for some distance, at every intermediate station where
the train did not halt.

After twelve hours' travelling, stopping here and
there to pick up bolts or screws which were tumbling
off the shaky engine — at one moment there was a talk
of stopping on the line for the whole night until some of
the pieces were recovered — we eventually arrived at Dire-
Dawa, the terminus of the line, the elevation of this
place, according to my aneroids, being 3,500 feet.

The Abyssinian governor of the town, Atto Negato,
with his soldiers, was at the station doing custom-
house officer's duty. He was most civil, and said he
would never disturb Englishmen to open their baggage,
especially as he knew I had not come to the country to
trade ; but he was not so civil to the German travellers,
whom I left struggling on the platform with their baggage
open for inspection.

There was a good hotel at Dire-Dawa kept b}' a Greek
gentleman, a Mr. Michailidis, who was also the British
Consul in the place. The hotel was beautifully clean
and well-managed, and the food quite excellent, while
the charges were indeed moderate. Mr. Michailidis was
quite an institution in the little town which has sprouted
at the end of the railway, and his charming pohteness
towards Englishmen who treat him properly was wel-
come. He was ready to help travellers to make up
their caravans and to get information and assistance
for them in buying animals and obtaining men. Know-
ing the country so well as he does, he has special f acihties
for looking after the interests of travellers. He is
very quick and intelligent, most sensible and practical,
and I think that British interests could not have been
placed in better hands at Dire-Dawa.

Danakil.

Ailem, ail Issa Somnli.
Author's attendants.

Dauakil.

DIRE-DAWA

Dire-Dawa is practically a French town. Some of
the trade is in the hands of a few French commercial
houses, but there are also a number of Indian traders —
in fact, the entire bazaar is Hindu. Mahommed-
AH, the principal Hindu trader, has a well-furnished
store. There are also some Greek traders. I was not
much struck with the French ways of doing business
in that portion of the country, which is very different
indeed from the French mode of doing business in
Central and Western Africa. At Dire-Dawa you find a
curious set of merchants, who wish to make a fortune
in a short time and who endeavour to do this by
attempting to extort all they can out of you for the
articles you may require. Of course, sometimes one has
to put up with it, but sometimes, too, one prefers to
go without rather than be robbed. I think that is
one of the chief reasons why Greek and Indian traders
can make money hand over fist in those countries, where
French merchants go bankrupt ; simply because they sell
you better goods and are satisfied with a high, but still
infinitely more moderate, price than French merchants.
Of course, another great fault I have to find with the
French merchant in Abyssinia is that he goes out there
generally with a small capital and bad merchandise,
and he must have quick returns or else succumb. To
my mind, the Greek and Indian type of merchant will
always swamp European traders who do business on a
small scale, as they understand better the needs and the
resources of the country and what is to be got out of the
people. They are satisfied with a humble and inex-
pensive existence, which their European rivals cannot
emulate. Far from it, the average European agent who
is sent out to those countries generally craves for a life
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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

of luxury — champagne, whisky, expensive cigars, etc.,
etc. — and the etceteras come very dear in many ways
in those countries, both for the purse and the health.
So that business does not always seem to be re-
munerative.

The Greeks, I noticed, who were very numerous all
over Abyssinia, have a wonderful facility for learning
languages quickly, and many of them can converse
fluently in the Galla tongue, in Harrari, the Danakil
language, Somali and Amharic. They also thoroughly
understand the ways of the natives, and they are patient
to a degree where a European would lose his temper
and use his fists or his feet freely. So that these Greeks
and Armenians, although doing business in a small
way, seem to manage to carry away all the trade of the
country. Also it must be said that the natives are less
suspicious of these men than they are of European
traders, in whom they never put absolute trust. In
a way they look upon Greeks and Turks as belonging
almost to their own race. The Armenians are not so
popular as the Greeks, and they are somewhat looked
down upon by the natives, this being, I think, merely
a racial dislike, which is difficult to explain.

In the Dire-Dawa bazaar I was told that there were
some two thousand people under British protection, viz.,
Hindus, Parsees, Somalis from Berber, Arabs from Aden
and Sudanese. The Greeks were also under British
protection, and being of a quarrelsome nature they
generally had a great many questions to settle before
the local authorities. But taking things all round, it
was a well-behaved population ; these rows were only
regarding money matters, and but seldom took the
violent form of a fight.

CHAPTER III.

While I was getting my caravan ready at Dire-Dawa,
I took an excursion to the city of Harrar, some thirty
miles off, in order to visit His Highness Ras-Makonnen,
Governor-General of Harrar and its Dependencies.

There is a good wide trail between Dire-Dawa and
Harrar among hills fairly well covered with trees. Dog-
faced monkeys of great size can be seen in numbers
playing on the sand of the river-bed, which in some
portions forms the trail, and gigantic cacti, twenty to
thirty feet high, grow in the more open spaces, especi-
ally near villages, where they are used extensively and
efficaciously as hedges. Near a Galla village on the
hillside the trail makes a great detour to the south-
east, but a short cut going due south exists, and by taking
this and ascending the mountain at a steeper angle the
great loop of the road can be avoided.

One passes a small Galla village, with its mud-walled
huts and thatched roofs and a thick fence made of brush-
wood. This is about nineteen kilometres from Dire-
Dawa. One soon goes over the pass, where a beau-
tiful view is obtained of the Somali plains to the north-
east and east-north-east. The Foldi mountain stands
in the middle foreground before the eye reaches the
plain; and the Gurgurra, as well as the small Mount
VOL. I. 2*

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of water with hundreds of cattle grazing upon the
banks — I halted for some minutes at the Abyssinian
rest-house in order to have lunch.

The water of the lake, owing to the cattle which
went right into it to drink, and stirred up the mud and
dirt, was unfit for consumption. It was simply swarming
with animal life when I took a glass of it, microbes of
all kinds and shapes, visible with the naked eye,
swimming round the glass.

I asked the restaurant keeper to give me some tea or
coffee, or a native drink, but nothing of the sort was
to be had, whereas bottles of whisky, absinthe, and even
a bottle of green Chartreuse were produced, the man
declaring that those, and not coffee and tea, were the
liquids which white people always drank. I had the
unhappy idea of trying a steak cooked in Abyssinian
fashion, a lot of incisions being made in the meat in
order to facilitate its cooking. I do not think I have
ever regretted anything so much as trying the experi-
ment, for over the meat rancid oil had been poured
which gave the dish a disgusting odour. Famished as
I was, I was unable to eat it, and for hours afterwards
I had in my mouth and nose the evil taste of the first
morsel which I had attempted to swallow.

To the north-east of Harrar was a table-land of con-
siderable height, the Gunduntu Mountains, with Mount
D'Arro, a flat conical peak. Over undulating, culti-
vated country one rose to a height of 6,650 feet on a
pass, and later I crossed the last pass before reaching
Harrar at an elevation of 6,500 feet.

I now met hundreds of Galla upon the trail, the
women with a double-ball arrangement of hair behind
the head, and the rest plaited all over the head into

HARRAR

tiny little tresses left in their natural curly state at the
ends behind. The end curls of these tresses were en-
circled in a sort of gauze net, which covered nearly
all the top of the head except a small section directly
above the forehead. These Galla women were pic-
turesque enough in their red, yellow and blue ornaments ;
with their earrings and blue bead necklaces.

From the last pass, where I began to descend into the
Harrar valley, a fine bird's-eye view was to be obtained.
Directly before me to the east were chain after chain of
mountains. To the south-east I could see again the
high, flat-topped Mount Gundura, and above a streak
of green vegetation rose a white dome on the slope of a
central elevation with a white square building at the
side. Other white dots were near it and two towers.
As I descended, I left behind and soon out of sight to the
south and south-west the Bara Muldatto range, and
towards sunset I approached the small, walled outer
city, higher than the larger Harrar, and with a pic-
turesque castellated gate. This smaller enclosure is
used now as a grain store. Remains of the formerly-
existing English fortress can be seen near the small
suburb of conical-roofed Galla huts outside the town.

As one approached the larger city, only a few yards
further down the hill, it reminded one strongly of Arab
towns. The figures of men in their white clothing,
draped over the shoulder, a fashion common also to the
north coast of Africa, rather served to accentuate this
illusion.

The city gate was not impressive, and just ; large
enough for a horse and rider to get through. As one
stepped through the gate in the city wall, one looked
down upon the numberless flat roofs of houses built gf

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stone and mud. There was no regularity about the
streets, and as one meandered round endless corners,
always keeping to the left in Arab fashion, through
narrow lanes, one finally emerged into the market
square. There stood Ras-Makonnen's palace to the
west, and on the north side of the square the Custom
House sheds, with quantities of ivory, coffee and foreign
goods waiting to pay duty.

Next to Ras-Makonnen's palace were the cavalry
barracks, closely guarded by soldiers. I happened to
peep in at the gate, when the sentry shouted to me that
I was a ferenghi and could not enter. There was nothing
to be seen except a few partitions of brushwood dividing
the stalls for the horses, and a few stacks of spears and
rifles in a more or less dilapidated condition. That
was all.

The gates of the city were closed at sunset and opened
at sunrise, and I was fortunate to enter the town only
a few minutes before the gate was barred. The first
person I met in Harrar was Mr. John Gerolimato, a
Greek, who fulfils the duties of British vice-consul in
Harrar. He is a man of superior education, extremely
well informed and most enterprising as a merchant.
He was held in much esteem in Harrar. He had con-
siderable influence over the Ras, who put absolute
trust in him ; and in one or two walks which I had
with the vice-consul he seemed, indeed, to be every-
bodj^'s adviser in the place.

As we were going along the streets, a swarm of
soldiers came towards us, and two men, evidently
chiefs, moved out of the centre of this rabble of armed
men and came to greet Mr. Gerolimato in a hearty
fashion. They were Fitawrari Gabri, Governor of

THE MARKET PLACE

Ogaden, and Atto Karokorat. Further up the road
another man in his black toga came along, followed by
more soldiers armed with Gras rifles. This was Abdalla
Taha, the Governor of Jig Jiga.

As we prowled here and there in the narrow streets of
the city, we came upon more chiefs in their black or
brown cloaks, and invariably surrounded by strong
escorts. Here and there we met Greeks and Armenians,
ever distinguishable by their unshaven faces and ill-
fitting clothes and hats. In the principal market-place,
with its humble but picturesque gateways of Makonnen's
palace and of the police station, were hundreds of black
faces, some with heads shaved clean, others with short
frizzly hair. The men were generally draped in ample
white garments, whereas the women struck brilliant
notes of colour in that already lively scene, dressed as
they were in their red or blue gowns, much draped over
the head not unlike the Indian fashion.

Under low sheds constructed of a piece of cloth
supported on three or four sticks were Galla traders,
selling narrow white, striped, or blue cloth, beads, orna-
ments and ribbon. They seemed to carry on a brisk
business.

Children unable to walk were slung low upon the
back by the women, and nearly every man one saw in
the square possessed a long stick resting upon his left
shoulder, to which he attached packages of food, or other
purchased articles.

Near the square was the bazaar, a narrow lane so
crowded with people that it was difficult to force one's
way through. The merchants were mostly Indians, and
Greeks under British protection. They sold almost
exclusively cotton goods from Manchester or from

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

America, American cottons having lately gained con-
siderably over British manufactures.

In a smaller square we came upon the butchers'
market, with its many wooden tables strewn with more
or less appetizing meat. This place seemed to be the
rendez-vous of all the women of Harrar, who came in the
afternoon to talk scandal while making their purchases.

When you have seen these two markets, the Coptic
church and the Mosque — all of no artistic importance
— there is nothing else to see in Harrar. The tortuous
streets, with the mud-plastered walls of the houses, are
all more or less alike. The heat of the sun has baked the
mud of the walls to such an extent that it has become
as hard as stone.

No one is allowed in the streets without a lantern after
nine o'clock in the evening, and even with a lantern one
always runs a risk of being arrested. Little harm
would come to a European, who mth some sUght back-
shish would soon be released ; but natives, and even
Greeks or Indians, would be involved in considerable
trouble if found out during the night, and they would
be heavily fined and the former possibly even beaten.

When I was in Harrar the Bank of Abyssinia, newly
formed, was about to start a branch in this important
city, and Ras-Makonnen, who had been elected one of
the directors, had given one of his palaces outside the
town to be used as the Bank building. No doubt, the
Bank will have some uphill work in the beginning, as
banking in European style was quite unknown in
Abyssinia, and people preferred to hoard their money
rather than trust it to any commercial concern. Of
course, lending money is a very popular custom in
Harrar, as in all Oriental countries, but an interest of

A MIXTURE OF TYPES

at least one thousand per cent, is expected for the con-
venience, and it remains to be seen whether the three
per cent, or four per cent, interest, which the Bank will
pay on money deposited on current accounts, will be
sufficient to attract the capitalists of Harrar. Mr. H. M.
Goldie, who had just arrived to take charge of the Bank,
was studying the best ways of establishing suitable
relations with the people, and no doubt with his vast
experience of banking matters in Egypt he will be able
to do what is possible in the interests of the Bank in
Ras-Makonnen's country.

From the beautiful house, at an elevation of 6,150
feet above the sea, which had been given to the Bank
by Makonnen, one obtained a delightful view of the
town, with St. Michael's Church in the foreground
upon the hillside. The city itself was some 250 feet
lower, or 5,850 feet in its most central part.

The approximate population of Harrar is from forty-
five thousand to fifty thousand people. Among these
we find about a thousand people under British pro-
tection, mostly a shifting population of Somalis, Arabs,
Berbers, and about one hundred and fifty Hindus.

The export trade of Harrar consists principally of
hides and coffee, which find their way to Aden via
Djibuti. The caravan route to Zeila in British Somali-
land, which was formerly much used, has now been
almost entirely abandoned.

One very curious point about this city is that a special
language, the Harrari, absolutely different from the
Galla spoken in the surrounding country, has been
adopted by the town people.

We find a great mixture of types in Harrar, of
Galla, Somali (Issa and Haberual), Danakil, Arabs,

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Abyssinians, Ogaden Somali and specimens of minor
tribes.

Although vanquished by the Amharas, the Harraris
have never been morally affected by the Abyssinian
conquest, and they consider themselves quite as inde-
pendent as they were before. They look upon the
Government as a protection rather than as a subjection.
A certain rancour is still preserved in their hearts
against the Abyssinians, and I think that had they a
suitable opportunity they would soon shake off the
Abyssinian yoke.

They are not of the Coptic religion, but are Mussul-
man, with firm religious notions on the subject. Even
between the Ras and the Mahommedans there is an
intermediate chief, with whom the Ras has to settle all
differences with those practising the religion of Islam.

Early in the morning, accompanied by Mr. Gero-
limato, I proceeded to the palace, where Ras-Makonnen
was expecting me. We did not enter by the main
palace gate, surmounted by elongated crouching Hons,
but we went through a back entrance, first through a
court, the walls of which were decorated with Gras
rifles, spears and circular shields ; then from a second
court we mounted the staircase of a modest building.
On the first floor, at the door of a whitewashed room of
the simplest description, Ras-Makonnen greeted us with
effusion. He beckoned us to sit dowTi, and he seated
himself between two large red cushions upon a low divan.
He looked quite worn and ill, and he had the pathetic
look upon his face of a man whose end is near. He
seemed absorbed in deep thought, almost as if he were
in a trance. He breathed heavily, and it was an
effort for him to speak, but he struggled through it

Ras Makonnen and his son.
(This' photograph, taken by Author, was the last shortly before the Ras" death.)

RAS-MAKONNEN

bravely. With long pauses between, he spoke in a faint
voice.

" How are your King and the Queen, and the Prince
and Princess of Wales and their children ? The English
King was very good to me. We must drink his health
in Abyssinian wine. ... I am very glad to see you
in my country, and I want you to accept one of my
favourite horses as a remembrance of your visit to me.
It is a good ambling horse, and you will find it easy to

ride on your journey to the capital Yes,

England and Abyssinia are good friends, and my wish
is that our friendship may continue for ever."

The Ras seemed quite exhausted. There was a long
pause, during which I examined our surroundings.
The only decorations in the rooms consisted of a few rugs
upon the floor, one solitary Japanese fan nailed to the
wall and a cheap glass globe lamp.

We sipped hydromel from tall unwashed tumblers,
and when the Ras lifted his head again, I told him how
much we in England admired his great courage in battle,
as well as the sensible way in which he administered the
country.

The Ras bowed modestly — for, indeed, this great
fighter was in his manner as humble, gentle and modest
as a maiden. He was intensely unaffected and soft-
spoken, and upon his lips an occasional sad smile
lighted temporarily his sympathique countenance. It was
enough to see the Ras to be struck at first glance by
the intelligence of his face and by the extreme kindness
and firmness of his character.

" I want you to meet my son," said the Ras, and he
despatched a servant to fetch his boy, Deziazmatch
(General) Tafari, a little fellow of twelve, with large.

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

soft pensive eyes and a sad girlish face of refined lines.
He spoke excellent French, and, Uke his father, was
most charmingly simple in manner.

Ras-Makonnen insisted on rising, as he wished to
show me the interior of his palace. He took us to his
bedroom — in European style — occupying the highest
and loftiest room in the building. Behind a curtain
dividing the room in two was a solid brass bed, of ample
dimensions, with silk curtains of somewhat ill-matched
colours and a silk counterpane. Coloured glass panes
of bilious yellow, green and red tints in the windows,
let in as unpleasant a light to the interior of the room
as one could wish to have when the powerful rays of
the sun penetrated through.

I could not help being amused at the great fear of
the sun the Ras and his son had, when I took them out
on a balcony in order to photograph them.

After many compliments and good wishes for a happy
journey, I took my leave of the Ras, and returned with
Gerolimato to the place where I had put up.

" I think the Ras will not live long," I remarked to
the consul.

" He is sinking every day," was the reply. " He is
going out like a light that has once been brilliant,
but is now fading away. He will be a great loss to this
country."

Neither Gerolimato nor I beheved, however, that the
end would come so soon. A few weeks later tliis the
greatest of all Abyssinian chiefs was dead.

On returning home, I found the beautiful horse Ras-
Makonnen had sent me, and having given a suitable
present to the " Master of the Stable," who delivered it
to me, I took possession of it.

HINDU TRADERS

Again here, as at Dire-Dawa, by far the best store was
that kept by the Indian Mahommed-AH, where a well-
selected assortment of articles was to be found, both
for European travellers in the country and for natives.
While I was in the store, Ganiasmatch Kolouci, who was
the late Acting-Governor of Harrar when Ras-Makonnen
travelled to Europe, entered the shop, and we had a
pleasant conversation together.

I much admired the patience of the Hindu merchants
with the Abyssinians. It is, indeed, a good thing that
time is worth nothing in Menehk's empire. With the
ex-Governor I was shown over the premises of the
largest commercial firm in Harrar. Had one desired,
one could have purchased anything there from a glass
candelabra at fifty pounds sterling, to a military pack-
saddle or a cake of soap from the best-advertised
English manufacturers. Knives of all kinds and all
makers were, they told me, much in demand in
Abyssinia, and they certainly seemed to have a great
choice of them in their show-cases.

These people have certainly studied the local wants,
and their civihty in dealing with customers, whether
European or native, as well as their comparative honesty,
go a long way towards making them successful where
European traders become bankrupt.

I visited many of the other Indian shops in the
bazaar. The smaller merchants go in principally for
native custom, which gives quicker returns. Gras
ammunition, grey American and Manchester cottons,
are the chief imports from America and Europe. Glass
and china ware are much in demand among the richer
Abyssinians and Galla. Bric-a-brac articles for decora-
tion, as well as perfumery of the most aggressive kind.

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generally come from Austria, Germany and France,
and find a ready market in all the principal cities of
Abyssinia.

I returned to Dire-Dawa by the same route I had
followed on my way out. A mishap, which might have
been serious, happened as we were about half-way on
our journey. My Somali servant, who was carrying a
perfected camera which had been specially constructed
for me, was thrown by his horse, and unfortunately
fell on the top of this most valuable and valued
possession, causing a deal of damage. Fortunately,
carpentering is one of the things I can do best in the
world, and several hours' hard work saw the camera fit
for work again.

I only remained two days in Dire-Dawa in order
to complete all arrangements for my journey, such as
the purchase of pack animals, mules and camels, the
engagement of servants, and the final shopping, in
order to get cooking implements or other things which
I had forgotten at the last moment. The consul, Mr.
Michel A. Michailidis, was extremely obhging, and
helped me a good deal to get men and animals quickly.
He also obtained for me an Abyssinian passport, and
assisted me towards obtaining an escort of Abyssinian
soldiers — not a protection, but an additional danger as
one proceeds on a journey across Abyssinia, but without
which no foreigner is allowed to travel in Menehk's
country— and in the more difficult job still of obtaining
a cook.

This is the sort of conversation we generally had with.
the candidates for this highly-important post.
" What do you intend to do ? "
" I am a cook."

FORMING A CARAVAN

" What can you cook ? "

"Oh," said one, with deUghtful frankness, "I can do
nothing. What can you expect from an Abyssinian
cook ! "

" What wages do you expect for doing nothing ? "

" Not less than thirty dollars a month, clothes,
shoes and blankets."

I suggested that thirty lashes of the courhash a minute
would be a more appropriate pay for his services, so
another cook was examined while the preceding one
left grumbling.

Of course, one got the usual procession of " boys "
with French and British certificates, praising up the
phenomenal qualities of the various servants discharged,
but travellers should always be careful in employing
these certificated domestics, as certificates are passed
round, when one " boy " has obtained employment, to
his friends. One certificate does, indeed, for many
people. For instance, one certificate I examined,
brought to me by a young " boy," some seventeen or
eighteen years of age, read that " The bearer of the
present certificate, my faithful servant So-and-So,
although over fifty years of age," etc., etc.

Personally, I merely go by my first impression, and I
find that I have seldom been mistaken in my estimation
of the character of the men I employ. Naturally, for
journeys like those I undertake, one cannot always get
the best people to go, as folks comfortably off will not
leave their homes nor risk their lives for any considera-
tion whatever ; so that I have to depend mostly upon
finding what suitable material I can from the scum, as
it were, of whatever place I happen to be in when I
am forming a new caravan, Of course, with men of this
VOL. I. 3

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kind, no trust can be placed in them, but to trust in
other people of any country has never been one of my
chief characteristics.

Before leaving Dire-Dawa, a road tax of two thalers
for each camel travelling upon the Assabot Road (which
I intended to follow) had to be paid to Abu Bakir, of the
great family of Abu Bakir Basha, the actual chief of the
Danakil.

Blankets, shoes and canvas water-bottles had to be
purchased for the men, and, according to custom, ten
rounds of ammunition were handed to each Abyssinian
soldier. It will be seen later how this ammunition was
misused, and from that time I took good care never to
let any of my men have cartridges in their possession,
although I occasionally handed one or two cartridges
to men who would be sent after game for the ex-
pedition.

CHAPTER IV.

I LEFT Dire-Dawa at 9.30 a.m. on January i8th, my
caravan of mules and camels in charge of Somalis and
Abyssinians having gone ahead earlier in the morning.

We went along a good trail. There were plenty of
cacti and other fat-leaved plants, but with the ex-
ception of a few trees here and there the vegetation
was not luxuriant.

We perceived a high range to the south-east, the
mountains near Harrar, and a high table-land stood
to the north-west. Between these two ranges we
marched at a steady pace for some eight hours, crossing
several beds of dried streams. A few Danakil we met,
and a great many Gurgura with their spears, looking
after sheep and camels. These Gurgura possess a skin
of a deep chocolate colour, and can be divided into two
distinct types : one with hair that is woolly, or twisted
into tiny curls ; the other, not so common, with smooth
hair, which is always left long and reaches almost to the
shoulders. These people are akin to the Danakil,
and some types I saw possessed Jewish characteristics
in a marked degree ; particularly the hooked nose,
broad at the base, and the large and prominent lips,
the lower drooping considerably. Some grew a slight
beard upon the cheeks and chin. They all had eyes
the iris of which was of a deep brown, but that portion
VOL. I. 3*

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

of the eye-ball which with us is white was with them
of a dark yellowish tone, which gave a peculiar expres-
sion to their countenances. The women went about
with breasts exposed and adorned themselves with
numerous beads round the neck. The men wore a loin-
cloth down to the knees. They invariably carried a
leather amulet with green beads round the neck, and a
pendent string hanging down from the back of it.

It was glorious after the gloom of London to travel
in the pure, clear air of these highlands under a cloud-
less sky in the sun which, far from deserving the accusa-
tions of treachery which people shower upon it, seemed
to give one fresh life and vigour. One is always told
that a sun helmet should be worn if sunstroke is to be
avoided, and some people go so far as to protect the
whole spinal cord with a thick pad against the rays of
the sun, but, personally, I think these precautions do
one more harm than good. That is to say, if, when
you start on a joiurney, you are in good health and your
blood is in good condition. There are precautions which
are based on sound sense and which are really precau-
tions, and there are notions which are forced, occa-
sionally with much success, into people's brains under
the name of precautions, but which, indeed, are just the
reverse. The helmets, the spinal pads, the cholera belts,
etc., seem to me to belong more to the latter class than
to the former. For instance, the helmet, which pro-
tects you, if anything too much, from the sun, renders
the back of the head extremely sensitive and has been
known to procure its wearer an immediate sunstroke
when accidentally blown off by the wind. Whereas
men like myself, who accustom themselves to the hot
rays of the sun by wearing a mere straw hat or a

THE FRIEND OF SOBER MEN

cap, can have their head-gears blown off fifty times a day
and be none the worse. Any average man in good
health can get accustomed to the tropical sun in two or
three days at the most by observing a httle caution
for the first few hours in going out during the great
heat of the day in equatorial countries. In preference
to the hat, the pads, and so on, precaution against the
sun should be taken, not by exterior protection, but by
a sensible diet and by keeping one's digestive organs
in good working order. Intoxicants, for instance, are
fatal in tropical countries, and many a sunstroke, many
a nasty skin eruption, many a severe attack of fever
might be traced with more reason to the disintegrating
effects of whisky, brandy or absinthe upon one's blood
than to the treachery of the sun's rays. The two com-
bined, of course, are deadly. I have always noticed in
my travelling experience that people who drank in
moderation, or not at all, could stand tropical climates
with no difficulty, where those indulging freely in alcohol
generally died. The sun, believe me, is the friend, not
the enemy, of healthy, sober men.

We halted for a night at Ursu, where two wells of
fairly good water, somewhat muddy, but quite drinkable,
were found. There were several caravans with flocks of
black-headed sheep, which had made their camp in the
neighbourhood, and the men were busy filling skins with
water.

Perhaps it does not always do to see what one drinks ;
for instance, at the wells where the water was taken
for my camp were men standing with their feet in the
water in the pool about four feet deep, and the water
was scooped into the bucket generally with the hand.
When they had finished filling the buckets they generally

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

ended by washing the face and head in the well, and it
was better not to investigate how many faces had been
cleansed before we got there.

An ingenious arrangement was made to allow the
animals to drink without further contaminating the water
of the pool. A hollow had been made in the ground
with a circle of stones around it. When animals were
brought up, a skin was spread over this hollow and filled
with water, which this improvised water-tight basin
perfectly contained.

The Abyssinian soldiers of my escort began to give
me trouble from the first day. I had selected the
Bilen road across the desert as it was the shortest
and flattest for my animals, although the natives of
that portion of the trail had been particularly nasty of
late. We unfortunately met some caravan men, who
told us that two Abyssinians and an Arab had
been killed and mutilated by the Danakil in the Bilen
desert. My Somali were quite willing to come along,
but the Abyssinian soldiers were so frightened and
worried me to such an extent that, in order to save
delay and annoyance, I eventually agreed to proceed
by the Assabot trail. It was quite amusing to notice
the contempt which my Somali had for the Abyssinians.
One of my camel-men particularly, who was quite a
character, did not spare the Abyssinian warriors some
humour of his own, not always the essence of refine-
ment.

Several picturesque Somali came into my camp
armed with spears and one or two with excellent Gras
rifles. Just before the sun had gone down, I took out
my camera in order to photograph the group, but they
all stood up and refused to be taken, as they said they

HERRER

knew all about the harm white people did with these
instruments, and many of their friends had already been
killed by them.

As night came on, more people from the other cara-
vans came to my camp, and while under my tent, by
the light of my lantern, I could see outside a row of
human eyes, upon which the light was reflected, moving
up and down, following the movements of my hand
while I was eating. The colour of their skin was quite
indistinguishable in the blackness of the night, which it
well matched. They were respectful and peaceful.

We left Ursu the next morning at 3.30, going along
a fiat highland, then over slight undulations, travelling
first southward ; then, leaving behind the high, flat-
topped plateau to the east of us, which we had so far
skirted, we went due west at elevations never more
than 3,400 feet in the first four hours' marching. We
passed a few deserted huts here and there, a square
structure somewhat more solidly built on the saddle
of a hill, a few goats and some cattle and a green patch
or two of cultivation. A lot of vultures (the amor a of
the Somalis) were circling overhead with their weird,
piercing shrieks ; as we drew nearer hundreds of them
were pecking away at the carcase of a dead cow.

We had by now reached the charming little Herrer
river, with its clear water, quite a refreshing sight
after the long march over arid, semi-barren country.
We arrived in camp at noon, the last four hours of our
march having been in a south-westerly direction over
undulating country. We were now 3,610 feet above
sea level. There were here hot-water springs, to which
the people called the Hawuya, who live here, attribute
medicinal qualities, especially for curing sores and skin

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

eruptions. In fact, when I went to the springs, some
sixty feet higher than my camp, I tasted some of the
water, which seemed shghtly sulphurous.

The Hawuya, hke the Gurgura, speak Somah, and
some also understand the Galla language.

During my dinner in the evening, there was a fine
concert of h3/enas prowling around my camp, and while
I was enjoying "stewed pears and rice" for dessert there
was a great excitement in camp, animals stampeding
in all directions and men shouting. When peace was
restored we discovered that one of my camels had a
large slice of his left hind leg bitten off by a panther.
This left the camel minus a big semi-circle in his
anatomy, but except that the animal walked lame, he
was apparently not much the worse for it, and we were
able to proceed the next morning, wending our way
between various camps of Hawuya. The natives were
squatting down round big fires, and possessed large
numbers of donkeys.

Over open, undulating country we came, after one
and a half hours' march, to the beautiful, clear Gotha
stream ; then up and down over wavy ground with
absolutely nothing to interest one on the way, skirting a
fairly high range to our west and south-west, we arrived
at the camp of Ella Balla (altitude 3,950 feet). There
was a big well, some thirty feet deep and thirty-five
feet in diameter, and around it quite an interesting
scene. Some dozens of Danakil — since Herrer we
were in the Danakil country — were busy watering a large
herd of cattle. Two troughs were provided on the upper
edge of the well, while three sets of men had taken
positions at intervals up the incHne of the interior of
the well, the last man below standing in water up to

THE DANAKIL

his waist. Small buckets were quickly filled and thrown
up with great celerity and skill ; they were emptied in
rotation and returned down, not one ever being missed.

The Danakil are a morose, ill-natured and sus-
picious people, with evil manners and cruel faces. I
nearly got into trouble with them in endeavouring
to take a photograph of the scene at the well. When
I pulled out my camera, they all made for their spears,
which were bundled against the trunk of a tree, and
with suggestive signs and angry words gave me
plainly to understand that I must go or they would
hurl their weapons. I snapped them all the same ; but
we had quite a row with these fellows, and they
insisted that we must not stop even to look at them
near the well. My Abyssinian soldiers were so scared
that they made things a great deal worse ; they behaved
like silly children and took refuge behind me. I refused
to go away from the well until it suited me, as it is fatal
in any country to show weakness, but it was all I could
do to prevent the Abyssinians running away. The
Somalis behaved well and were quite cool and col-
lected. When all the Danakil had gradually left off
using violent and threatening language against us, I
pitched my camp some fifty yards from the well up on a
high position.

These Danakil are well known for their treachery,
and they are said to have a particular craving for killing
white people and mutilating them in the most horrible
fashion. It was near this spot that the French news-
paper correspondent, Monsieur Dubois-DessauUe, was
murdered and mutilated, as has been described in
Chapter II.; and, as I have said, an Arab — whom the
Danakil also look upon as white men — and two

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Abyssinians met with a similar fate only a few days
before I went through.

It is considered dangerous to go away even a few
yards from one's camp while in their country, for these
Danakil lie in wait with their spears ; they see you
get away from your caravan, and when you are within
reach they fling a spear at you with such force that it
sometimes goes right through the body. If spectators
from their own tribe are present to witness the killing of
a man the body is left intact, but if there is no one to see
the performance certain organs are cut out and tied in
the centre of the shield in order to be produced to the
tribe to show that a man and not a woman has been
killed.

Certain tribes, wilder than others, remove also the
heart of the victim and give it to their horses to eat.
One can generally recognize Danakil who have killed
one or more victims by the number of feathers they
place in their hair — one for each man — or else by the
number of bracelets and amulets.

We met a good many of these fellows, and I tried
on many occasions to make friends with them, but they
were always extremely suspicious, especially when one
treated them politely. In the middle of a conversation
they would suddenly jump up and dart away, and no
coaxing would induce them to turn round in their flight
and return to continue the conversation. Their saluta-
tion was quite original and well showed the diffident
nature of these people even among themselves. One
could not persuade them to be grasped by the hand.
On meeting even members of their own tribe they would
strike each other's palm with outstretched fingers quickly
and rapidly, in order to prevent any possibihty of having

MISCHIEVOUS JACKALS

the hand seized. They say that the French corre-
spondent, M. Dubois-Dessaulle, met his fate by wanting
to teach his murderer how to shake hands properly in
European fashion. The Danakil, having had his hand
seized by the Frenchman in a hearty fashion, became
alarmed and thrust his spear through him. This, at
least, was the excuse given by the Danakil chief, when
Menelik sent soldiers in order to capture the murderer,
as Mr. MacMillan, the leader of the expedition, would
stand no nonsense and insisted on having the murderer
punished.

Another early start was made from Ella Balla.
About sunrise we saw any amount of wild game :
gazelles, jackals, and a magnificent panther, creeping
gracefully along the ground like a huge cat and only a
few yards from me. Jackals, of which there were
thousands about at night, were amusing and often
somewhat trying little animals. They sneaked silently
into one's camp and stole whatever small articles they
could find, especially if made of leather or canvas.

At Ella Balla, for instance, they actually came into
my tent and carried away my shoes. It was only after
a search which lasted nearly an hour that my men
were able to recover them some good distance from
camp.

Another night, further up country, they stole a belt
and revolver belonging to one of my Abyssinian soldiers
and dragged it some hundreds of yards from where we
had halted.

Besides these jackals, or cahoro, as the Abyssinians
call them, and the medafiher, or gazelles, lions are
plentiful in that country, and one has to keep big fires
at night in order to keep them at large.

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The Danakil, too, have to be kept at a respectful
distance, as they are unscrupulous thieves and will steal
anything they can lay their hands upon.

At about 11.30 a.m. we arrived at Magu (3,450 feet),
an unimportant place, with fair drinking water. The
Danakil we met were troublesome. They were being
hunted by Menelik's soldiers in order to obtain the
surrender of the murderers of the Arab and the
Ab3^ssinians. Near Magu were some Danakil huts about
five feet in height, domed and covered with matting.
These huts, generally in groups of three or four, were
inside a kraal of thorns, in which the oxen were kept
at night. The gate of the kraal was made with tree
branches to prevent wild animals coming in.

On January 17th, at 4 a.m., we were off again over
undulating country, skirting the big mountain range
on our left. By eight o'clock we had arrived at Delladu,
sometimes also called Kalladu, where a large well and
two smaller dry ones were to be found. From this
point we were again out of the Danakil country and
found Ha\^^lya people, who possessed a lot of cattle
with gigantic straight horns.

I continued up and down steep inclines, and then
along an interminable hot plain. We mistook our
way, as we made for an old well, which we found dry,
so that we only arrived at Mulluh at 1.30 in the after-
noon. A well was found there dug in the rock and
some sixteen feet deep. A similar method to that
seen in the Danakil country was employed here for
watering cattle by throwing up buckets of water. My in-
struments registered the elevation of Mulluh at 4,000 feet.

Kamil Pasha, chief of the Danakil, came to my
camp to pay his respects, and presented me with a

Danakil and Guigura fiUinij ^kin-bags with water at a well.

RACIAL DISLIKE

goat, which necessitated a return visit to his tent with
a suitable present of money. He was extremely civil,
and I took this opportunity of snapshotting him and
his men. In the photograph, which is reproduced in
one of the illustrations, it will be seen how some of
his lieutenants were covering their faces in order not
to be photographed.

The next morning, three hours' marching over undula-
ting country and across beds of streams now devoid of
water, took us to Maisso (altitude 4,300 feet), called so
because of a small plant found there in quantities and
named mats (not to be confounded with ma'is — the
French for Indian corn).

We left again in the afternoon, and marched at a good
pace over undulating country quite picturesque in some
parts, with the rugged Assabot mountains on our right.
Herds of antelopes gracefully ran before us and were
soon out of sight. Among plenty of trees, but with no
water, we eventually descended at Laga Arba into a
sort of cafion, rising again on the other side, where
I made my camp, obtaining a beautiful view of the
extensive plateau we had crossed and left behind, and
of a curious isolated mountain standing upon it.

We were now at an elevation of 4,600 feet, and it
was quite cold at night.

Whether it was the cold air which brought out more
forcibly the racial dislike, or whether for other reasons,
there was a violent quarrel in the evening between my
Somali and the Abyssinians. Both swore that they
would kiU the others before the morning came. I
separated them, and placed the Abyssinians on one
side of the camp and the Somali some way off on the
other side.

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The soldiers built up big fires to keep jackals and
other animals away, while the horses and the mules
were tethered close to my tent. The camels squatted
in a circle near the Somali.

It was the habit of the Somali camel-men when we
made an early start to sing to their hearts' content —
more so than to the content of the ears of whoever had
to listen to them — but that morning the Somali were
sulky and grumpy and did not sing nor speak. The
Abyssinians were morose and unpleasant. I found the
best thing on such occasions was to take no notice of
either of them and pretend they did not exist at all.

From Laga Arba we descended considerably on our
march, and at one time we got a magnificent view of
the Bilen desert, of a bright yellow colour. More
gazelles, more jackals.

The camp at Laga Arba, so cold at night, was ex-
tremely hot in the daytime. The horses and mules
stampeded again for some reason or other, and gave
us no end of trouble to recapture them. This incident
brought peace afresh among my men, who all joined in
the chase of the animals.

Near Laga Arba were a few Ito inhabitants, with
their flocks of sheep, goats and some cattle. A sheep
is worth about one thaler, or two shillings, in that country.
These Ito speak the Galla language, and they are quiet,
gentle people, quite unlike their neighbours, the Danakil.
They belong to a different race altogether and have
a language of their own, whereas other people we have
met, like the Hawuya, the Issa, the Gurgura, the
Haberual or Hawaraoer, the Ghedebursi and the
Dahrot, speak Somali.

Beyond the beautiful Gadjenna mountains to the

A GLORIOUS SKY

south-west over the Hawash river, we had a lovely sunset,
resembling an aurora borealis, with huge red and blue
streaks radiating from the centre— the sun — and shoot-
ing skyward half-way across the heavenly circle. The
glorious effect lasted a long time.

Camp Argaga (altitude 3,550 feet), where we stopped
next, had no particular fascination, and nothing hap-
pened except jackals coming into camp again during
the night and steahng another revolver case and two
soldiers' hats.

Shortly after three o'clock in the morning we moved
out of Argaga, and some two hours later came across
the telephone line on the high caravan road from Harrar
via Tchertcher, leading to Adis-Ababa.

We travelled mostly over flat desert country, with
some short grass upon it here and there. The Katchenua
mountains before us were a typical instance of Abyssinian
scenery — curious isolated mountains rising abruptly
above flat country.

A small shed for caravans had been built by Menelik
on a hill by the wayside, but we did not stop there.
We went along and crossed the small Katchenua stream,
then continued for another hour and a half's march to
the Hawash, meeting on the high road many caravans
of coffee and hides. The men in charge of these
caravans suffered from sore eyes, caused by the dust
which is raised in clouds by the animals walking in front
of them. Nearly all these caravans were in charge
of Galla. The hides were carried m.ostly on camels. We
came across several caravans of mules also, but these
were chiefly laden with coffee.

After a steady march of seven and a half hours from
Argaga we arrived at the new bridge on the Hawash

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

river, a somewhat shaky construction, spanning the
stream some forty feet across. This bridge has been
given into the charge of the Carayu, a tribe of Galla.

It was from this bridge, where the high volcanic walls
were closer together, that I obtained the first and last
really beautiful view in the way of scenery since I
had landed in Abyssinia. We suddenly came upon the
deep canon in which the Hawash river runs, a huge
vertical crack in the bluish volcanic rock, in one portion
with quite vertical walls on both sides of the stream
for some hundreds of yards. In other sections it is
broader and with slanting banks.

The Hawash river was the largest I had met since
leaving the coast. During the rainy season it carries
a considerable volume of water. I made my camp
on the west side of the stream, but there was no shade
of any kind to be obtained and the heat refracted by the
volcanic rock was terrific.

Hawash river, showing volcanic fissure.

CHAPTER V.

At the Hawash bridge, where the river ran in the vol-
canic fissure from south-south-east to north-north-west,
the vertical sides were, especially in the lower portion,
baked quite black, as if they had been subjected to
intense heat ; in some places, too, even high upon the
wall, one could see where the flames had licked the
rock. Directly north of the bridge was an oval
" cuvette," which appeared to have been a crater, with
huge black, round boulders on the east side. The
altitude of the river by the water at this point was
2,700 feet, the wall-like rocks by its side along the
stream varying from fifty to one hundred feet high above
it. The elevation of the place where I made the camp
was 2,800 feet.

South-south-east of the bridge, and only a short
distance from it, the stream flowed northward for a
long distance in an almost straight line between two high
slopes resembling natural gigantic railway embank-
ments, some two hundred feet higher than the level of
the stream.

The strata of the parallel embankments, which cor-
respond exactly on both sides of the stream, would seem
to show that the earth had opened, leaving this enormous
fissure, which, owing to the erosion of water and wind,
and possibly to other minor causes, has gradually
assumed a slope in the upper and softer strata.

VOL. I. 4

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

My camel-men, having met many of their tribesmen
here on the river, again became troublesome, and were
dissatisfied with everything in general.

The purchase price of camels in this region was from
fifteen to twenty-five thalers. For the hire of camels
from Dire-Dawa to Adis-Ababa, a journey from twelve
to thirteen days, Englishmen were made to pay as much
as thirty dollars for the hire of each camel.

Several Carayu women came to barter milk and butter
with my men. It was a relief to find people who would
not take money. These Carayu were flat-headed, with
curly hair, left hanging down in twists over the neck,
as far as the shoulders. They wore peculiar semicircular
earrings, three or four inches in diameter, with a broad
metal bar in the lower part. Around this bar were
coil ornamentations. The semicircle of the ring was
heavy with silver or copper wire wound round it ; in
fact, the weight was such that a leather strap had to be
attached to it to go over the ear in order to support it,
so that the lobe should not become torn. Only one ear-
ring was worn, generally on the left ear. When an
additional earring was worn on the right ear it was
invariably of a different shape, such as an elongated
ring of bone or metal, or else a lozenge. Old women
wore a strap over the forehead. Broad bangles were
worn upon the wrists. Necklaces of small white and
red beads were fashionable when I passed through the
country. Beads of other colours were on no account
accepted in payment for goods supphed.

With nearly all these tribes, except in young
women, the breasts were abnormally pendent. The
arms were well formed and beautifully rounded, but
the hands were coarse.

THE CARAYU

The women had on leather skirts, extraordinarily
dirty and shiny at the knees, and the better dressed
draped over the shoulders a cloth shawl. Brass anklets
adorned the lower Hmbs and drew attention to the well-
formed and dainty ankles which the Carayu women
possess.

Slung upon the back these ladies carried gourds of
rancid milk and butter. Some of these gourds were
handsomely decorated with white shells, others were
covered with a protective, finely-made basket-work,
with pendants of bits of discarded sardine tins.

Upon examination, the principal thing which struck
the observer in their otherwise well-proportioned heads
was the flatness of the upper portion of the skull. The
nose was small, broad in its upper portion, but not so
much at the base, where it had rather clearly-defined,
well-curved nostrils. The eyes were wide apart, the
lips fairly ample and the chin receding. In profile,
the outline of the lower jaw formed an almost straight
line from the chin to the ear instead of the more common
angular form of most African tribes.

Carayu men possessed skulls more elongated back-
wards than the women. They twisted the hair of the
head in a similar way to their female companions.
Some were proud of a slight moustache and beard, but
they did not wear many ornaments, except round the
neck a string, generally of leather, and perhaps an
occasional brass or copper bracelet round the wrist or
a larger ring above the elbow.

We had amusing scenes with these people, bartering
empty sardine and corned beef tins for buckets of milk
and pots of butter. Only, as we generally threw away
empty tins, we soon came to an end of our currency.
VOL. I. 4*

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

I wished to buy a bag of grain, but the woman who
owned it would on no account accept silver money for
it, nor any article which she saw about my camp. My
Somali servant had a bright idea — ^the only one he
had during the entire journey across Africa. He went
to one of the boxes of provisions, and tore off a highly-
coloured label from a corned-beef box. Having licked
it copiously, he stuck it in the middle of his forehead.
Inquisitive like all women, the Carayu asked him what
he did it for. The Somali said that he had been seized
with a violent headache. The coloured paper was a
quick and certain cure. The Carayu at once offered
the bag of grain if the Somali would part with the
magic paper. Her wish was satisfied without delay, and
the woman departed quite happy.

In this camp animals and men suffered considerably
from the terrific heat. During the day we were simply
roasted by the refraction from the volcanic rock. It
actually burnt so that we could not touch it with our
hands.

We left early in the afternoon and rose on the top of
the plateau to 3,000 feet, some three hundred feet above
the riv^er at the bottom of the volcanic fissure. The
moment we reached this elevation we got a pleasant
breeze and began to breathe again. We were now
travelling upon an extensive fiat high-land, with hardly
any vegetation except a little grass and a few shrubs.

To the south-east was the Katchenua mountain ; to
the south in the distance the Arusi Mount, and to the
west the Fantalli mountains. The Bulgo and the
Ansobar mountains stood beyond. The entire country
over which we were travelling was of volcanic formation,
and was strewn everywhere \vith eruptive boulders.

Adein bartering with Carayu women. Silver dollars useless

FANTALLI

On nearing the Fantalli mountains, which we crossed
by a low pass, we passed over stretches of volcanic,
cellular, spongy rock, which seemed to have been sub-
jected to high temperatures. North of the Fantalli
mountains, in the immense plain stretching before us,
and only about one hour and a half's journey from my
last camp, were to be found hot springs, the Filoamelka,
the steaming water of which, the natives say, has
curative powers.

Before getting to the Fantalli camp we came upon two
trails, one proceeding by the hot springs, which is the
better of the two and quite level for camels ; the other,
more picturesque, which I followed, going over the
Fantalli Pass.

A Frenchman had started a plantation of tobacco,
cotton, coffee and vegetables a short way beyond the
hot springs.

We halted at 6.30 p.m., and as there was no wood we
were unable to make fires and do our cooking, so my
coffee, which I always like hot, was brewed over a
candle. There were many hyenas howling round our
camp with their funereal cries. We had seen a lot of
large antelopes during the day. Since leaving the
Hawash we had descended to 2,900 feet, and the march
in the hot afternoon sun was trying for my animals.
There was near the Hawash river little vegetation except
a few shrubs i^cut and baked by the heat of the sun,
but in the Fantalli region there was absolutely no wood.

On January 22nd we again made an early start
shortly after three a.m., and although the moon would
not be up till an hour or so later, we were able to see our
way quite clearly by the brilhant light of the stars. The
trail was rocky in many places — quite bad, especially

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

for camels, as there were high steps to go over upon the
rock. The heat was stifling all through the night, and
we only got a slight breeze when we reached another
pass, 3,250 feet high. On descending, we again en-
countered the camel trail via the hot springs.

We reached the Tadetchimalka river, which we
followed, making a temporary halt at eight o'clock. On
a height above our camping-ground was a freshly-built
village of circular straw huts with conical roofs, the
quarters of a guard of Abyssinian soldiers.

This point was well known among natives. They
said there were many robbers of camels here. In fact,
as I was lying on my camp-bed after breakfast, waiting
for the hot hours of the day to go by, one of my camel-
men came to me in great excitement, spear and shield
in hand. One of the camels had been stolen — ^the best
of the whole lot, of course — and he would go and kill the
thief. I heartily consented to that, upon which he leapt
in the air brandishing his spear, and ran to and fro in
trace of the missing animal.

Nearly all camel-men I have employed in my journeys
in Asia and Africa seem to have ill-balanced brains.
Whether it is the heat of the sun upon the desert, the
company of camels, or perhaps the unnatural life they
lead, constantly marching at night and sleeping during
the day, or other causes, I could not say, but the fact
remains that I have never yet seen a camel-man who
was absolutely in his right mind.

The fellow who had approached me in such a warlike
temper was a curious type. Tall and slender to a degree,
with a dreamy face like a poet ; a great lover of music,
if music there was at all in the songs which he gave in
a rasping falsetto voice when he was awake and every-

THE WAYS OF CAMEL-MEN

body else trying to sleep ; loving to a degree to the
animals of which he had charge ; moody and disobedient
as only an African can be. One moment he would cry
bitter tears, and the next he would laugh to his heart's
content. Sulky and unpleasant for hours he made
himself, if I spoke to my other men and took no notice
of him. His delight had no bounds one day, when, tired
of incessant begging, I presented him with a pair of
trousers. The first thing he did with them was to cut
them so that they should reach five or six inches above
the knee, the remaining cloth being exchanged there
and then for three pots of butter. His only baggage was
a wooden pillow, which he always carried under his arm.
When in a fit of temper he took great delight in throwing
things about, and he was constantly bent on quarrelling,
until I applied a cure for this bad habit.

While the camel-man went about accusing everybody
of stealing the camel, and threatening to run his spear
through them, two haggard, worn Danakil dragged
themselves to my camp and saluted me by slightly
touching the palm of my hand. Extreme suffering was
depicted on their faces, and upon inquiry I learned that
they had been three days without food.

"If that is so," I inquired, "what is it that
you are chewing now ? You have something in your
mouth."

In fact, to allay his hunger one man had for the last
two days been chewing a piece of hard wood. I had
some food given them, which they at once ravenously
devoured. Their gratitude was such that they grasped
my hands and feet and kissed them repeatedly. I also
gave them provisions to last them for some days until
they could get back to their own tribe.

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Tadetchimalka was the first place where we found
real Abyssinians, as none but savage tribes had been
met until now except officials or soldiers, as at Dire-
Dawa or on the railway. Many picturesque people
passed the camp in their white clothes and long curved
swords, and numerous caravans of donkeys, mules and
camels. We had only met one large caravan from
Dire-Dawa as far as the point where we joined the
Tchertcher Road, but now that the principal roads to
Adis-Ababa had converged to this common meeting-
point the landscape before us was brightly animated.
One could see that civilization was making progress in
the country by the number of animals laden with corru-
gated iron roofing bound for Menehk's palace.

To the north of my camp the Wassil mountains
extended westwards behind the Barrakhet mountains,
which were somewhat lower, and both chains were rather
barren.

On leaving this camp we rose between mountains to
3,820 feet, and we got a glimpse to the south of the high
Bohsat mountains in the distance. On quite a good
road made by Emperor Menelik, in order to take the
traction engines purchased from the English firm of
Fowler and Co. to Adis-Ababa, we still rose further to
4,250 feet, where, owing to the night coming on, I
had to halt by the small meziid, or " praying ground,"
on the hillock which marks the grave of a Mahommedan.
The view from that point described an immense arc of
a circle from south to north. To the south-west was the
Galla country ; beyond the Arusi region were moun-
tains in several consecutive ranges ; then below us the
Carayu country, with its bright yellow desert and its
peculiar isolated hills rising island-hke sheer from the

AN ABYSSINIAN CUSTOM HOUSE 57

flat country. One to the south-south-east, more pecuHar
than the others, had the appearance of a large crater
in a conical mountain.

Nearer us, lighted by the last rays of a dying sun,
were the Fantalli mountains, with a table-land in two
superposed terraces spreading a considerable distance
to the west of FantalH. To the north-east was now
the Wassil. The Barrakhet mountains stood out pro-
minently and appeared of a curious yellow colour in
hundreds of little rounded humps. With the golden
rays of the sun shining upon them each mount pro-
jected a deep blue shadow over the hollow between it
and its neighbour, and the effect produced was curious
and most picturesque.

Down below on the winding road the stillness of
the evening was disturbed by the weird song of camel-
men, interrupted by an occasional " hop," the favourite
cry of caravan men to urge the animals up an incline.
All was barren around us, except a slope on which a
crop of barley had been grown, and was now being cut
and collected into high-domed stacks.

As the sun set, the distant mountains became more
indistinct and inky in colour ; those in the foreground
taking dark, powerful tones of a deep bluish brown.
Then gradually night set in with a strong wind howling,
and men and animals shivered with cold. We made a
later start in the morning at sunrise. It was impossible
to get the Abyssinian soldiers out of their blankets, as
they said they were frozen and ill.

On January 23rd, we travelled over a high plateau,
on which cotton and dura (sorghum) were grown. Small
villages of Mussulmans and Christians were to be found.
Near Tchoba is an Abyssinian Custom House, where

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

traders are sometimes given, I am told, considerable
trouble unless they are willing to bribe the officials
and soldiers in charge. They gave me no bother what-
ever, and, indeed, on hearing that I was a British sub-
ject, they were extremely civil. I was only detained a
few minutes on my march to allow time for my
servant to go up to the Custom House, perched at a
height of some two hundred feet above the trail, a
wall being built all along and across the slope, in
order to prevent caravans passing through except by
the road.

To the west of us we now had the Magaghes moun-
tains called Magassi on Marchand's map.

The general elevation of the Tchoba plateau is 4,700
feet, the highest point we crossed over that day being
5,080 feet, and later in the day occurred a second pass
5,020 feet high, where two stone walls marked the tomb
of a chief. Aba Jambar, killed at Fantalli by the Carayu.
As one goes along the high Tchoba plateau, one still
continues to obtain a fine view to the south-east, the
south and south-west. Lake Bata Hara, or Mata Hara,
to the south-east of us, with a lot of little isolated hills
near it, was now becoming disclosed ; then to the south
the mountainous mass of Bosseta, with a series of
parallel terraces spreading north-north-east, and with
a high terrace to the north-west.

We kept at an elevation varying from 4,900 feet to
5,000 feet, descending to the west by a gentle incline to
4,850 feet, then rising again on a higher plateau in a
gradual slope to 5,275 feet. Portions of this plateau
were cultivated with dura. We went on rising until
we reached another plateau (5,610 feet), on which, after
travelling a long distance, we encamped near the former

THE VALUE OF CARTRIDGES

lakelet of Menabella. The lake which formerly existed
at this place was now quite dry, and we had difficulty
in getting any water at all.

My first glimpse of real Abyssinians in their own
country was certainly not an enticing one. The women
with shaved heads, or else with their hair in dirty little
curls, were as ugly as it is possible for women to be. A
lot of them came into my camp endeavouring to sell
eggs, barley and dura, but we had great difficulty in
buying anything, as they would not accept money,
whether Abyssinian or foreign, and only Gras car-
tridges were accepted in payment for their goods. I
had some of these cartridges, but even then most annoy-
ing discussions took place to discover whether the
cartridges were good or not. Even the slightest scratch
on the paper surrounding the lead bullet, where it is
inserted into the brass envelope, was enough to cause the
rejection of the good cartridges as bad ones. So, after
hours of bargaining, we were able to obtain nothing at
all from the natives. My Somali attendant was more
fortunate, and after two hours of steady talk, purchased
seven eggs for one cartridge — ^the only bad cartridge,
it may be observed, that we possessed.

We moved the camp away to a place where the
Abyssinians said we should find good water. After
marching some time we got away from the trail,
and I was led to a very secluded spot, a fact which
rendered me suspicious. Having gone a considerable
distance from the road, my Somalis rebelling all the
time against going in that direction, as they said there
was no water at all, at one moment when the Abyssinian
soldiers were ahead, the mad camel-man came to me
and made a sign that this was only done because the

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Abyssinian soldiers wanted to play us false. I had
suspected as much from the beginning.

Having reached a distant spot away from everything
and everybody, the Abyssinians professed they had
made a mistake, and that no water was to be found.
They said they were tired and worn, and could not go
on any longer and we must stop. I had watched them
carefully and had seen them confabulating in an excited
manner. I saw that this was one of those occasions
when tact would be required.

We encamped, and, contrary to my usual habit, I had
my tent pitched at once. Under it, unseen by my
men, I unpacked a heavy 44-calibre revolver, which I
happened to have in one of my trunks to give away as
a present to some chief, and loaded the six chambers.
I also loaded my Winchester repeater with eight car-
tridges and my Mannhcher with a five-cartridge clip. I
had a presentiment that something might happen soon,
and, in fact, I was not far wrong. So I laid all these
loaded weapons upon my bed. The SomaU servant
came in presently considerably upset, to warn me
that the Abyssinian soldiers had taken me to this
desolate spot in order to impose terms upon me. He
said that he and the camel-men would stand by me, so
I asked him to remain in the tent, and handed over
to him one of the loaded rifles. A few minutes had
elapsed when the Abyssinian soldiers, rifles in hand,
came to the entrance of the tent and in a most arrogant
manner demanded a sum of money. Before they had
time to point their rifles at me, they found themselves
covered by my revolver and the rifle I had handed to
my SomaH. This answer rather surprised them. I told
them that they must put down their rifles or I might

THE EVILS OF DRUNKENNESS 6i

shoot them, so down went the rifles upon the ground, and
the men were made to stand back at a distance. Their
rifles were collected and conveyed by my Somali into
the tent. Then only we began to talk, the Abyssinians
being extremely excited, partly owing, I think, to a
considerable amount of liquor they had imbibed that
morning at a drinking place upon the road.

They got nothing, of course, and were considerably
scared when I told them that I would now proceed to
smash their rifles. I gave orders to that effect. This
brought them back to reason, as a rifle in Abyssinia
is expensive, and it is the most valuable possession
that the average Abyssinian man has. They entreated
me to pardon them and not carry out my threat.
Upon obtaining a promise from them of future good
behaviour, I ordered them to go to sleep and the
next morning on leaving camp I would hand them
back their property. They were to go out of sight,
and not come near me till the moment of departure
next day, and to receive nothing to eat for twenty-
four hours.

They left camp deeply humiliated, much to the
amusement of the Somali, who took great delight in
making cutting remarks at their expense. As they
walked away unarmed in the humblest of fashions, the
mad camel-man, spear and shield in hand, followed
them for some distance, every now and then signalling
to me that he would protect me with his spear. Men
— even Africans — can be so brave when there is no
danger !

Early the next morning the Abyssinians returned
to camp and were submissive. They said they were
very hungry, and I answered that I was glad to hear

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

it. When the camels, mules and horses were ready,
their rifles, minus the blocks, were handed back to them.

As we continued along the road I was amazed at
the numbers of blind people we met. We passed the
Nimjar village, and we at last arrived at the escarp-
ment to the west of us at an elevation of 5,620 feet
above sea level at the foot.

This escarpment is quite impressive, as it rises
abruptly and almost vertically from a comparatively
level ground extending in a long straight line from
west-south- west to east-north-east. It makes a mag-
nificent natural barrier for the Shoa country. One
portion of this high escarpment displays at the top a
stratum of shiny rock forming a broad band all along.

In the plain down below, dura and corn were cul-
tivated, and there were a few huts with conical roofs.
The people kept a number of cattle. We met thousands
of them going through a ravine towards the stream, as
we approached the camp of Godoburkha, godo meaning
" at the bottom," and hurkha " source," or " source at
the foot of the plateau." The camp, which took, of
course, its name from the stream, was directly at the
foot of the gully leading up to Baltchi, at the summit
of the escarpment, a place which was reached by a steep
and rugged trail most painful for camels.

Picturesque mounted men, with sheep-skins on their
backs, rode after the cattle, while many caravans were
waiting, giving their camels a rest before ascending the
steep incline.

The Godoburkha stream came from the north by
the great gully of Baltchi, and flowed along the escarp-
ment.

CHAPTER VI.

My camel-men were anxious to wait here one day to
rest the animals before going up, but I would not hear
of it, and late in the afternoon we started on our way
to the Shoan plateau. Panting and stumbHng all the
time, the camels struggled up, encouraged by the yells
of the camel-men. Every few yards they stopped, look-
ing most disconsolate and helpless. The camel is cer-
tainly not built to climb mountains.

We followed on the left side the great valley in which
the Godoburkha stream flows, and after a good deal of
trouble, for the loads of the camels kept sliding down,
we reached Baltchi village on the edge of the plateau,
6,6io feet above sea level, or nearly one thousand feet
above the Godoburkha camping ground.

Baltchi is a typical Abyssinian village, the houses
cylindrical in shape, with walls of matting over a wooden
frame and a conical thatched roof. There is only one
aperture in these dwellings : the door, but no windows.
A stone wall is to be found on the south side of the
village, and from the edge of the plateau one obtains,
of course, a beautiful view over the cultivated fields
in the valley below to the east. To the west, the only
thing that strikes the eye is the trail to Adis-Ababa,
with its ups and downs over undulating country.

No sooner had we arrived than an old woman came

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

into my camp with two large bags of barley, a load of
firewood, two gourds, one of fresh, the other of curdled
milk, and one large jar of native wine, the whole of
which she presented to me.

"I have no husband," said she; "no father. No
one to whom to give all this. I only have this little
child. So I give all to you."

" Pray, not the child," I hastily replied. "But I will
take the wine, the milk and the barley."

On my rewarding the lady with brand-new silver
dollars, her eyes gleamed with joy, and she expressed
her gratitude by throwing herself down to kiss my feet
and then my hands. The latter she kissed first upon
the knuckles, then under the palm. Her little child
was, after much shaking, made to imitate the good
woman's example. The end of it all was that the infant
was further persuaded to throw his arms round my neck,
and he kissed me on both cheeks wdth quite unusual
fervour. The child had a dirty face. The old lady
returned to camp many times to express again her
gratitude — she said — but I took great care to keep
mother and baby at a distance.

There was a " grande douane " — to use my Somali's
expression — at Baltchi. The Abyssinian officials in
charge of this " douane " came clothed in long brown
cloaks to see me and were quite civil. They did not wish
to inspect my baggage.

" Oh, no, indeed ! They would not do such a thing
to a traveller " — but they had only come to count my
numerous loads so that they might advise the next
post to let me go through without trouble.

Counting was easier said than done for them, as none
of the three who called at my camp seemed able to sum

ABYSSINIAN SUSPICIOUSNESS

beyond ten. After trying repeatedly they eventually
gave it up, and said it would be all right. They
consumed a whole tin of biscuits and a tin of jam while
on their visit, and they were further presented with
sundry pencils and paper, as they possessed neither in
their office, with and on which to write the official
pass.

Many women came to the camp in the evening to sell
things. One has to go to Abyssinia fully to understand
how plain some women can be — all with shaved heads
and body dressed up in a long, loose robe, coarse to a
degree and disgustingly unwashed.

Bargaining in Abyssinia takes time and gives
endless trouble. The people are extremely suspicious
and are always under the impression that they are
being swindled. Well, they often are. It would be
unfair to blame poor, ignorant people — mere barbarians
after all — for not mastering the difference between
Greek and Armenian traders and people of a different
calling — who are for tiiem all white people, therefore all
scoundrels.

That day was mostly used by the Somali in giving
trouble in camp. I think they rather felt the effects
of being at a greater elevation, and with their nervous
temperament they became depressed and morose. The
mad camel-man in particular groaned and moaned the
whole evening, declaring me responsible for his death
and that of the camels, which had not occurred yet, but
which, he said, would unavoidably take place before the
morning.

During the night the cold seemed indeed intense
after the heat we had experienced down below. On
no account could I induce the men to get out of their
VOL. I. 5

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

blankets until the sun was high upon the horizon at
nine o'clock the following day.

We left soon after, crossing two small streams during
our march, and going over two passes, one 7,150 feet
high, the other 7,550 feet. There were cultivated
patches of wheat and barley, but most of the country
was barren and treeless. Over numerous undulations
we rose still higher to 7,650 feet, and further on, when
we had reached an elevation of 7,720 feet, we found
ourselves on a fiat plateau, and we began to discern
in the distance to the west the mountains near Adis-
Ababa.

We marched steadily over what the Americans would
appropriately call " rolling country." Volcanic rock
showed through, here and there, strewn with black,
quadrangular pebbles also of volcanic origin. Passing
through barren country, but with fair grazing in spots,
we arrived at 4.30 p.m. at Tcheffedunza (7,700 feet),
where I pitched my tent under a soHtary cluster of trees.
There was a charming little stream of clear water. To
the south-south-west we could now see the Tchukhala
mountain, or Mount Zougouala, as Marchand calls it,
on the top of which was an Abyssinian church and
monastery.

One does not find many places of archaeological interest
in this portion of Abyssinia. Probably one of the most
interesting in the Galla country is the underground
monastery of Goba, of which my friend, Monsieur Franz
de Zeltner, who visited it while taking part in the
" Bourg de Bozas " expedition, has given an interesting
description.

He tells us that in the valley of the Mitcha stream
what the natives call a church, but what is in reahty a

THE GOBA MONASTERY

monastery, is to be found in the shape of a grotto dug
in a diff some sixty feet high. This excavation is only
an annexe to an upper building, to reach which it is
necessary to haul oneself through a narrow and almost
vertical gallery some nine or ten feet long, in which
rough steps have been cut. By this primitive stair-
case one enters a suite of five or six chambers.

The first, twenty-one feet long, twelve feet wide,
and nine feet high, is Hghted by a sort of garret window
overlooking the valley. Besides the entrance above
described, there are two other small holes permitting
a descent into the adjoining chamber. A natural pillar
of rock supports the ceiling, and near one of the corners,
opposite the entrance, is found a rectangular trench
covered with wood, which the Abyssinians say is a
tomb.

By a gap six feet high one gets into the second chamber.
Evident signs can be seen upon the rock that a door or
a gate was placed at this entrance. In the middle
is a grave similar to the one in the first chamber, and in
one of the angles a niche has been made in the wall.
In front of the window the ground has been raised about
three feet, forming a platform in which two holes have
been bored, one leading out of, the other into, the
fourth chamber. In the wall opposite the window a
tunnel, fifteen feet long and only one and a half feet
high, leads to a long passage, on the side of which is a
small semicircular recess.

The third chamber, which is probably the most
interesting of all, has a strong, square pillar in the
centre, hollow in its interior, and a window on each
face. A circular seat has been carved in the rock in-
side this pillar, so that eight people can be accommodated
VOL. I. 5*

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

inside this stone tube, the interior diameter of which
is about four and a half feet. This arrangement,
says M. de Zeltner, is common in the convents of the
Thebaid, where it has the name of Cathedra. The
chamber itself has no windows, as it is far inside
the rock.

In the fourth chamber, lighted by a large window,
is a square trench and a seat carved in the rock. Facing
the window is a low door ornamented by a rudimentary
moulding, the only attempt at ornamentation noticeable
in the entire monastery.

A passage, thirteen and a half feet long and one
and a half feet high, leads to the fifth chamber, where
two niches and a seat have been dug into the rock.
M. de Zeltner says that this monument is still in perfect
condition, and has in no way been damaged by atmo-
spherical changes nor by the destructive hand of
man.

A small layer of sand covered the floors and some
fragments of bone and stone were found, but un-
fortunately M. de Zeltner was unable to dig in the
trenches for fear of offending the Abyssinians in charge
of the place.

The grotto next to the monastery is a natural cavity
of no interest whatever. An isolated rock, with a
hemispherical excavation in the centre, is said by the
natives to have been used by the monks as a mortar.
A tunnel of considerable length is said to exist at the
end of this grotto, but the aperture is blocked by stones.

In the Mitcha valley, near the grotto, are also several
small cells cut into the cliff at various heights, and in
which live Ab3^ssinian priests in charge of the subter-
ranean church as well as of an inevitable miraculous

EXCAVATIONS

spring, such as one finds near most places of sanctity
in any country.

According to M. de Zeltner this must have been a
Christian monastery, identical with those of the
Thebaid. The Galla maintain that it was a Christian
monastery, and upon Mount Fasila, dominating the
Mitcha valley, they show the tomb — a simple circle of
stone — of King Atie-Fasil, who, they profess, was a
Christian. The identity of this king has never been
properly established, and whether he was a Christian
Galla king or not is uncertain.

Several of the tribes in Abyssinia have been known
to dig grottoes in the soft sandstone of cliffs, making
habitations for themselves, and it is possible that in this
locality, so suitable for excavations of the kind, the
example had been imitated by the monks who made
this monastery. Its Egyptian appearance, so far away
from the valley of the Nile, has not quite clearly been
explained yet, unless the theory brought back by Raffray
is correct, that the Negus Lalibela in the twelfth century
imported an Egyptian who constructed some mono-
lithic churches, which were copied afterwards all over
the country. M. de Zeltner, who has studied the ques-
tion more than any one else, seems to be strongly inclined
to adopt this opinion.

On January 26th we went up another higher step
of the plateau, now 8,050 feet. By Mount Herrer, which
rises high above the table-land on our left (the south),
we ascended still higher to 8,150 feet. Except for a
short dry grass everything was burnt up. Mount Herrer
throws out many spurs in the shape of hill ranges. They
radiate especially towards the north, and we had to get
over them on our march. The highest on our trail

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

was 8,150 feet. From the last of these, towards noon,
I obtained my first view of Adis-Ababa to the north-east
of the Manangesha mountain (not to be confounded with
Mount Magaghes).

We then descended abruptly, almost precipitously,
from 8,050 feet into the basin and gorge of the Akaki, or
Aghaghi, a river flowing from north to south at a level
of 7,610 feet, and on the other side we quickly rose
again to 8,480 feet upon another flat plateau. It was,
in fact, the continuation of the one we had so far
followed, divided merely by the deep cut in which the
river flowed. This further portion of the plateau was
quite level, with black, volcanic, gravelly soil.

We had now an interesting horizon line cut up by
mountains all round. The Tchukala mountain to the
north was most prominent of all. My men told me
that a lake was to be found on the top of this mountain,
on the shore of which were an Abyssinian church and
monastery. Many hermits and monks were said to live
in grottoes and caves in the mountain side. Monks
from this locality were frequently called before the
Emperor to predict his future. They wore a burnous
of hide and a skin cap.

In the God] am and Tigre countries — one north-west,
the other due north of Adis-Ababa — were many monks
and hermits.

The road from Adis-Ababa to Mombassa passed at
the foot of the Tchukala.

The Dalatti mountains stood in the foreground. Then
between the Dalatti and the Furi mountain in the far
distance emerged, in a faint blue, the Soddo Range,
inhabited on the north-east side by Galla, and on the
south-west by Guraghi. The Yekka Mehel and Yekka

ADIS-ABABA

Abbo were two low mounts to the north of the Abyssinian
capital.

As one got nearer the city one saw prominent on
a height various white buildings and factory chimneys
which, I was assured, made part of the Imperial Palace.
Here and there upon hills one saw groups of scattered
houses.

Adis-Ababa cannot be called a city in the proper
sense of the word. There are thousands of white tents
about, but few permanent houses, and it really impresses
one more as a big encampment than a town. On
the spurs of the hills to the right as one approaches the
place, one sees the modest buildings of the British
Legation, then a grander one where the Russian Minister
lives.

Up a steep road I made my way to the hotel in the
centre of the town. The accommodation consisted of
one solitary room, from which the landlord, a Frenchman,
and his wife turned out every time a traveller arrived.
They were polite and the cooking was unmistakably
good.

Of late years Menelik has been bent on making good
roads in the capital, and bridges over the many streams
which intersect the town, and which are impassable
during the rainy season. I noticed, on going up the
main road past the palace, that nobody walked on the
road itself, but all crowded into the gutter at the side.
Not knowing the laws of the country, I rode in the middle
of the road upon my horse, much to the amazement of
the passing crowd, many of whom made remarks which
I did not understand. It seems that when the roads are
made and well-metalled according to European ways,
nobody is permitted to tread on them, so that they may

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be kept in good condition for the time when the rainy
season arrives.

Since the arrival of two traction engines in the capital,
Menelikj followed by many Abyssinian grandees, spends
most of his time walking behind these engines while they
are at work crushing stones upon the road. Sometimes
Menelik himself gets on the platform of the engine and
takes the keenest interest in its working, including the
stoking. Thousands of soldiers and a great portion of
the population form a procession behind the Imperial
chauffeur.

Strangely enough, when, owing to its weight, the engine
sinks into the new road, prepared in sections by men
under various chiefs, Menelik, with true wisdom, does
not blame the foreign-made engine, but takes the work-
men to task and punishes them severely for not making
the metalling of the road sufficiently hard to bear the
pressure.

Menelik certainly gets a deal of amusement out of
the traction engines. He uses them for all sorts of pur-
poses besides road-making. I have seen the Emperor
sawing wood with a circular saw driven by one of these
engines upon the racecourse where a stand was being
erected. When he did not actually work, hours were
spent by the Emperor watching the saw at work, and
he did not restrain his admiration at the evenness of
the divided planks.

The day after my arrival I received a letter from
Sir John Harrington, our Minister in Abyssinia, asking
me to stay at the Legation during the time I should
be in Adis-Ababa. After a day or two I left the single-
roomed " Hotel Terrers " for the more comfortable
quarters at the Legation.

A PICTURESQUE CROWD n

A sad and curious incident happened the moment I
arrived. The Russian Minister sent over a letter to Sir
John, asking him to lunch, and an hour or so later a
Cossack came over to the Legation bringing a message
that the Minister had suddenly died of apoplexy, news
which caused a great gloom in the European community,
as well as among the Abyssinians.

Menelik, preceded and followed by thousands of
warriors, hastened in great state to the Russian Lega-
tion. The rabble of soldiers in their white robes — a
most impressive and formidable rabble — ran before
him in no order whatever, carrying the rifles in any
fashion to suit personal convenience. Then a swarm of
horsemen in brown burnouses came up the hillside
by the British Agency, quite a picturesque sight.
Here and there upon the white clothes of the soldiers
were touches of red, which added brilliancy to the
striking scene.

The crowd approached with the characteristic whizz
of Abyssinian mobs, quite loud as it drew near, all talk-
ing and dragging their feet upon the ground. The chiefs,
mounted upon their horses, were noticeable above the
sea of heads — ^most of them with their hair tightly
bandaged in a white shash, others sporting cheap grey
or black felt hats. All the infantrymen, thousands of
them, carried Gras rifles, but the chiefs only had revolver-
belts. It was not easy to recognize the Emperor among
the horsemen unless his face were familiar to one, as he
was garbed like other people, and like some of the other
chiefs, he wore a cheap, large-brimmed felt hat, grey
with a green lining under the brim. It was only after
one had identified the Imperial figure in a black silk
burnous that one had time to cast a glance at the

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magnificent mule he rode with its gorgeous harness and
gold decorations.

On coming out of the Legation, where he was shown
the body of the Russian Minister lying in state, Menehk
seemed greatly upset.

I had selected a fine point of vantage upon a wall
from which to photograph the Emperor as he came out,
and I was amused at the way in which the African
potentate actually drew up his mule for a moment in
order to be snapshotted. With him was Mr. Ilg, his
Conseiller d'Etat.

On January 30th, the funeral of the Minister took
place, and Sir John Harrington and I, with an Indian
escort, duly attended it.

The body was lying in state with wreaths of flowers
from members of the community deposited upon the
coffin, and numerous candles burning everywhere around.
Cossacks in tunics of the crudest red and blue formed
a line at the head, the corporal reading and chanting
prayers in a hoarse voice.

Outside the house a choir of Abyssinian priests
chanted plaintively, waving to and fro censers of silver
and brass. A youthful priest who wore a gilt mitre
over a silk kerchief upon his head, was the centre figure
of this picturesque group. Above him was held a gay
sunshade of Parisian pink satinette and silver lace.
Another priest was sheltered under a sunshade in sections
of green, yellow, red and white. Others were protected
from the rays of the sun by pallid green, others by multi-
coloured sunshades.

The more important figure had donned a long cloak
of deep red and green brocade, with a shoulder cape of
lighter-coloured tints, and a white turban wound round

A SAD INCIDENT

his head ; while several of the younger priests were
garbed in similar robes but of black silk. Many of
them carried crosses of silver or brass upon long
staves.

Menelik and the Ahuna had sent these men over as a
compliment, and I think they rather felt a slight at not
being admitted inside the house.

When the prayers were finished in the lying-in-state
room, we all marched after the huge coffin up the hill-
side to a favourite spot in the Legation garden, where
the Minister, in his lifetime, used to spend many hours
of the day. After more prayers and firing of rifles the
body was laid to rest.

CHAPTER VII.

Abyssinia, not unlike other countries placed in similar
conditions, like Persia or Afghanistan, owes its present
independence mainly to the jealousy of the envious
powers surrounding her. Nevertheless, Abyssinia seems
to have now reached a stage when serious development
is expected of her or division of her land among her
grasping European friends must foUow. With the
French and the English on the Somali coast, the ItaUans
in the Danakil country and Anglo-Egyptians in the
Sudan pressing her on every side, it is not possible
for Abyssinia to remain much longer in her present
semi-barbarous condition.

While Menelik lives, his power is so great that it
carries everything before it. His word is law and is
everywhere obeyed in a manner quite amazing to Euro-
peans. Menelik is a kind of god to the Abyssinians
themselves, and if not exactly worshipped by subjected
non-Abyssinian chiefs in the country, like the Galla
and others, is regarded with wholesome fear by them.

The Abyssinians owe, I think, their constant victories
in colonial wars rather to their fame than to their pre-
sent fighting qualities or their skill and courage in
warfare. The conquered and neighbouring tribes are
in positive terror of the Abyssinians and of MeneUk
himself, more than of the Abyssinians in general, I think.

MENELIK

At the death of Menehk, and with the knowledge
which the natives are beginning to acquire from
foreigners visiting the country, perhaps matters will
change. The tribes will know their own strength and
the actual weakness of the Abyssinians. Perhaps then
it will not be so easy to hold the country together.

One cannot help admiring Emperor Menelik person-
ally. He possesses an abnormal amount of sound sense.
He is as just and fair to his countrymen as is possible to
an emperor ; he is generous enough with what he
possesses, and tries at all times to do all that is right
and proper. He is shrewd and has a more calculating
brain than many a foreign emissary has given him credit
for. His simplicity and natural charm of manner are
quite delightful. Perhaps were Menelik a younger
man, and were he persuaded to take a journey to Europe,
a great many sensible reforms — and possibly some not
quite so sensible — might follow.

As matters are now, Menelik does all in his power to
improve his country up to the limit of his knowledge,
but his knowledge would perhaps still further benefit
by making a careful examination and selection of Euro-
pean ways of administrative government.

His country has now only reached a stage of semi-
civilization, at which it cannot possibly remain. The
empire might still hold its own were it established on a
sound basis for natives and foreigners alike, with a
proper government and administration, and, above all,
with some stability of laws.

Abyssinian administration to-day, quite of a pa-
triarchal kind, is good in a way, and when properly
applied is, on the whole, just. The principle is that you
must give an eye for an eye, one tooth for one tooth.

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and so on. The injured person has frequently the
dehghtful privilege of himself enforcing the punish-
ment upon the offender. For instance, an assassin is
handed over to the parents of a murdered man, who can
do with him what they please. There is charm in that
undoubtedly, but abuses must be frequent.

Justice may not always be law, and we all know that
law is not always justice, but with civilization coming
in, with intercourse getting more frequent between
natives and Europeans of all nations, some sort of a
code of written laws must be made, as the present state
of affairs leaves the litigants entirely at the mercy of the
temporary fancies of the official called upon as an umpire
in the various quarrels.

Menelik well knows this, but he thinks it wise to
leave the country under present conditions — personally,
I think they suit the natives better than a regular code
— which do away with the ruinous lawyers and pleaders
and lengthy and expensive trials that only bring dis-
content and ruin to a great proportion of the population.

All the more serious cases to be tried go before Menelik,
and although he endeavours to be just, perhaps a touch
of indigestion or a fit of bad temper, or a natural sym-
pathy or antipathy for one litigant or the other un-
doubtedly influences his decision. Innocent men meet
their death where criminals, if clever enough, are set
at liberty.

Six men were shot one day in Adis-Ababa while I
was there, and an interesting incident happened show-
ing MeneHk's good nature. One of the men who had
been sentenced to death was discovered by some passers-
by some hours later to be still alive. He was taken to
the Russian Hospital, and Menelik, on being asked.

POLITICS UNDER DIFFICULTY 79

said that God had protected that man and he would now
be pardoned.

Everything in Adis-Ababa is referred to the Emperor.
It is quite amazing what an amount of mental work
Menehk must go through daily. While attending to
most important political affairs matters of the most
trivial character are brought to him for assent.

This is practically what happens every minute of
the day at the palace : Menelik with his head bandaged
in a white shash, as it is called, a sort of silk kerchief,
and with a cheap French felt hat with a large brim, far
back upon his skull, is pondering with some Foreign
Minister over some political problem of great importance
to his country, let us say, the projected railway between
the sea and Adis-Ababa. The Emperor is deeply ab-
sorbed in thought.

Enters a servant, who whispers in the Emperor's ear,
regardless of the presence of the foreign representative
of a great European country :

"Your Majesty, the carpenter wants some more nails
to mend the verandah."

" Here are the keys. Give him twenty nails," says
the Emperor. " If he needs more, come again to tell me."

The Emperor is again in deep thought. Intruder
number two comes up and whispers that a mule has
escaped from the palace.

The Emperor jumps down from his throne — a high
packing-case covered with Oriental carpets — slips quickly
into the shoes which he had discarded, and hastens to
his telescope, scanning the country all round with it,
in order to see whether the missing animal can be
detected upon the hills near Adis-Ababa.

No signs being apparent of the Emperor's wish to

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resume the conversation about the railway — the escaped
mule being much more important to him than all the
railways in the world — the Foreign Minister vainly
attempts to drive the Emperor again to his throne.
Attention is called to the interrupted discussion. The
Emperor on his side endeavours to induce the Minister
to come and look for the mule.

The subject of the railway is again tactfully ap-
proached, and the conversation, thinks the Minister,
is proceeding satisfactorily, when a fresh disturber
rushes in to inform His Majesty that the machinery in
the mint adjoining the palace has stopped ; so down
goes the Emperor to see what has gone wrong, and
cannot be removed from the workshop until the
machinery is set going again. He then calls for pieces of
lump silver and gold, and with his own hands amuses
himself in striking fresh coins, which he then places in
his pocket.

By this time the Foreign Minister is getting anxious
about the railway, and would like to argue some of the
points of interest which might concern both his country
and Abyssinia ; but Menelik will convey his illustrious
visitor instead to examine a patent rifle or pistol which
has just been sent to him as a present, or else will press
him to listen to such sweet songs as " Honey, my honey,"
on a talking machine, which has been sent over to
him. This over, the Emperor will enter into a lucid
and graphic description of how he succeeded in hauling
up a beam which should support the roof of a new church
he is building here or there in the neighbourhood of
Adis-Ababa.

Anything, in fact, distracts him when he is made to
talk about affairs of State.

"THANK YOU" UNKNOWN

While I was in Adis-Ababa the question of the rail-
way greatly interested the Ministers of the leading
European countries. It was not therefore surprising
to me to find that the various representatives were
getting old and worn-looking. Nothing could be more
trying, I should think, than talking politics with the
Abyssinian Emperor.

Menelik, as a man, is certainly one of the most charm-
ing, thoughtful men I have ever met, a fact one appre-
ciates a great deal when one remembers that his people
— I am speaking of the Amharas or pure Abyssinians —
are possibly as mean, ungrateful and abject as it is
possible for men to be. There is with them no real
paternal, maternal, fraternal, marital, or any other kind
of love, and all is suspicion and treachery among them.

There is no "Thank you" in Abyssinia for anything,
no matter how big a service has been rendered. In fact,
I do not think the expression " Thank you " exists in
the Abyssinian language. If it does, it is never used.

There is no finality about the word of an Abyssinian,
nor about his deeds, nor anything he may undertake.
Eshi^ which many people take to be " very well," or
" very good," but which really means " something
like," or " possibly," is their invariable answer to any-
thing you teU them. It only means conditional assent,
the right to alter their minds being always reserved to
themselves.

For absolute and unscrupulous lying, I never found
people who could beat the Abyssinians. They wiU
swerve from one statement to another diametrically
opposed without flinchmg, and for barefaced impudence
it is impossible to go further than these people. One
moment they will swear one thing by all that is most
VOL. I. 6

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

sacred to them, and the next moment, for no reason
whatever, they will swear exactly the reverse. It is,
indeed, most difficult to know where you are with them.
The more one knows them, the more contempt one has
for them.

Great devastators of the country, it is in their nature
to destroy everything. Improvident, living at the
expense of the people whom they raid, robbers by nature,
these people have succeeded in gaining a reputation for
bravery largely undeserved, and obtained only by the
fact that they possessed quantities of excellent imported
firearms, where others merely fought with spears and
arrows.

They themselves maintain that in their war with
Italy they only gained a victory because God knew
the Italian cause to be a false one, and wished to punish
the invaders for trying to seize a country over which
they had no right. The Abyssinians fully recognize
that it was not the fighting qualities of their people
that gained so great a victory over the white soldiers.
They say that had the Italians wished they could any day
and at any moment have easily beaten the Ab37ssinians.
This, of course, emphasizes the shocking mismanage-
ment, the inexperience of the Italians in colonial war-
fare, and their absolute lack of topographical know-
ledge of the country they were traversing. We will
not further refer to the political ambition of Cabinet
Ministers who were cabling to General Barattieri that he
must win a battle on a certain day in order to carry an
election at home, which no doubt procured or hastened
the Italians so terrible a disaster.

All this, mind you, Abyssinians know well, for
despicable as they may be, one must recognize in them

THE STENCH OF WHITE PEOPLE 83

a certain natural reasoning power which can gauge
matters accurately on certain occasions.

Many of the better Abyssinians have told me that
this war with Italy has been a ruin not only to Italy,
but to the Abyssinians themselves, who will some day
surely pay for the conceit they have now acquired.
Barring some of the people in power, it is difficult to
make the public at large differentiate between nations
of Europe. For them beating one white nation means
beating the whole world of white people.

So, especially in Adis-Ababa, one has to stand a
good deal of insult and rudeness from the public. I do
not think that I have gone once alone through the
market-place without overhearing remarks I did not
particularly like. Of course, when going about with an
escort, as one generally does, the people are more guarded,
and one does not hear these things. It is only when alone
that the natives are more or less offensive.

For instance, when they see a European go by, they
generally hasten to stop up the mouth and nose, in order,
they say, not to be suffocated by the fetid, corpse-like
stench of white people.

To be just and fair, white people do certainly exude
an odour, quite strong, which may be offensive to the
natives of Africa, just the same as the effluvium of the
people of Africa — much more powerful than ours — is
disagreeable to us. It is also beyond doubt that the smell
of white people does remind one forcibly of the neigh-
bourhood of corpses. This I have noticed myself after
having been abroad for long periods in the open air in
countries far away from Europe. Upon my return to
civihzed towns one of the things that strikes me most
potently is the unpleasant, rancid odour of most people.
VOL. I. 6*

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

I think this comes a great deal of stifling the body in
musty clothes, by living in stuffy rooms, and from the
terrible condition of people's digestions — as well as of
their blood — in big European centres.

In America, where the people live even more un-
naturally than we do in England, this peculiar odour is
much accentuated to anybody whose respiratory organs
and sense of smell are in excellent condition. There
are unfortunately few Europeans, indeed, and fewer
Americans, who can claim such a privilege, owing to the
catarrh complaints which are so general in people leading
a civilized existence.

The people of the country smell strongly, but less bad
than the people of the towns, whereas the people of dry
countries are less offensive than those of wet countries.
It takes some little time before one gets accustomed to
the peculiar natural odour of the people about, and it
is only then that one does not notice it any more.

CHAPTER VIII.

I HAD several audiences with Emperor Menelik. He was
always extremely kind.

Abyssinia is a land where time is not money. One
has to wait days and weeks for everything one wants.
It is always at the last moment that everything happens,
and then always with a great rush. Being quite ready
to abandon Adis-Ababa, my entire caravan of mules
had been for some time under orders to start at any
moment. I was delayed no less than fifteen days
in order to wait for the Emperor's return to the capital.
I was to do a sketch of him to be elaborated into a larger
picture which Sir John Harrington wished to present
to His Majesty King Edward.

Every minute the Emperor was expected back. I
was told that he was busy building another church
upon some mountain — he is always building churches —
and that he was now occupied watching the construction
of the roof. At last, when I was one day pleasantly
disporting myself calling on various friends, a mounted
horseman was despatched all over the town to tell me
that the Emperor had returned and wished to see me
at 4 p.m.

The messenger found me some two miles from the
Legation at 3 p.m. Up and down various hills I galloped
back to the Legation and got into my best frockcoat.

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Sir John Harrington was waiting somewhat impatiently.
We got upon horses and raced to the palace, where we
were first ushered into a sort of open-air reception hall.
Then, without waiting any time, we were shown into the
presence of the Emperor, who sat himself cross-legged
between two red pillows upon a couch in the doorway
of the highest building in the palace grounds. A pair
of shoes had been discarded on the floor.

In a black silk coat, a white band round his fore-
head and his favourite grey felt hat, His Majesty smiled
good-naturedly and extended his right hand — not par-
ticularly clean — in the most jovial of manners. It
seemed the handshake of an honest man.

Menelik certainly had the best-natured face, not the
handsomest, of any Abyssinian I had seen. There
was something leonine about his countenance, although
his eyes, very prominent and bloodshot, had more the
suavity of bovines. He was badly pock-marked. He
possessed a capricious turned-up nose, narrow at the
nostrils, and prominent lips, the lower rather too droop-
ing to suggest strong will. His Imperial Majesty's
skin was as black as coal and rough ; but although the
face was altogether rugged, it was absolutely devoid
of vulgarity. Intelligence and sharpness of wits showed
clearly in his expression.

I was interested in his conversation with Sir John,
and the good-natured, friendly chaff between the two,
especially when I suggested complimentary remarks
upon the Abyssinian chmate, which brought a grateful
smile from Menelik and threats of murder from His
Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary.

Sir John maintained that the climate of Adis-Ababa
was homicidal, and to prove this he said that all the

IMPERIAL SARCASM

doors of the Legation had become so warped owing
to the alternate heat and cold, dry and damp, that it
was impossible to close them. Upon which Menelik,
with really humorous sarcasm and with an explosion
of laughter, very wittily answered that the climate
would not affect good wood, but would certainly affect
bad wood. Also, he exclaimed, doors were of abso-
lutely no use in Abyssinia, where everybody was honest.
It did not matter at all if they could not be closed. They
might, of course, be of the greatest use in countries where
such good people as the Europeans lived.

We had a most charming and amusing conversation
with a deal of repartee on all sides, and it was delightful
to see on what excellent terms of real, sound friend-
ship our Minister was with the Emperor.

In a more serious moment, Menelik was asking our
representative's advice on some important matters, and
it was a pleasure to hear the Emperor say words to this
effect to Sir John :

" I like to ask your advice, because I know you always
tell me the truth, and you have always given me good
counsel for myself and for my country. I can trust you
in every way."

Menelik was extremely jovial and polite to me, un-
doubtedly because of Sir John's introduction, and also,
I think, perhaps, because I assured the Emperor that I
wished nothing from him. I wanted no concessions, no
decorations ; nor did I come to buy or sell anything.
It must have been rather a relief for MeneHk, as the
majority of foreigners who visit him worry him con-
siderably, trying to obtain something or other.

It was arranged that the next morning I should go
and call again, and he would give me a sitting for the

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portrait. He would then put on his regal robes for me
and a huge gold, jewelled crown, a sort of gigantic
mitre.

"Oh, I do so hate putting it on," said the Emperor
jokingly. "It is so heavy and it hurts my head. I
much prefer my felt hat."

" Can you paint my portrait in fifteen minutes,"
said Menelik to me, " and can I wear my crown and cloak
only for one minute, as the cloak is hot and the cro'WTi
is heavy ? And can I talk to Sir John while you are
painting me ? "

When the crown and cloak were produced, I was really
sorry for the Emperor, and there and then agreed to
his terms. Then I was sorry for myself, as, indeed, it
meant painting under difficulty. I would try, anyhow,
and see what I could do. The Emperor promised to
let us know the next morning at what time he would sit .

Having been kept up till 4 a.m. in a deeply interesting
conversation with Sir John at the Legation — Sir John's
reputation for keeping people up all night with interest-
ing conversation being well known among friends who
have \'isited him — I was roused from a heavy slumber
at seven o'clock in the morning, and was informed that
Menelik would sit for his likeness at 7.30 sharp.

Well, if there is a time of the day, any day, that I
never can do anything, it is just at 7.30 a.m. I am
generally too sleepy to be awake and too awake to be
asleep, or, in other words, in that unhappy intermediate
state when thinking — much more drawing — is quite out
of the question. I did not bless Menelik. A hghtning
shave ; an extra lightning cold douche ; no time to dry
myself ; a jump into some sort of clothes ; up on the
horse ready at the door and a race to the palace, about

THE TRIALS OF AN EMPEROR 89

one mile off, and then, in a soaking perspiration, I was
immediately dragged before the Emperor.

We had kept the Emperor waiting half an hour, but
Menelik was gracious in his manner, and again expounded
what a nuisance it was to have to dress up in his official
robe.

When it came to the crown, Menelik exclaimed, child-
like, " Feel the weight of it," and he handed the regal
emblem first to Sir John and then to me, all the time
laughing heartily. " The last time I wore it, it gave me
a terrible headache for several days. That is what comes
of being an Emperor ! " he soliloquized.

In fact, when the crown was placed upon his head,
Menelik made an excruciating grimace, as if it caused
him intense pain.

" Mind 3^ou, only for one minute by the watch," he
ejaculated as he was half smothered under the heavy
golden jewellery.

I took two lightning sketches of him and then hastened
to take several photographic negatives, in order to have
a record of the detail, as so many and complicated were
the jewels upon his headgear and so uncommonly
elaborate the ornamentations upon his yellow robe — not
to speak of the European decorations of all sorts cover-
ing his entire chest — that it would have been quite im-
possible for any man to draw all that detail, which has
to be reproduced with accuracy in a picture, in so
short a time.

Harrington, who is more of a racing man than a
painter, was actually timing me, watch in hand, and I
was so hustled — there is nothing more fatal when you
are drawing than being hustled — that when I came
to take the photographs, I took several on the same

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plate. Having discovered my mistake, I took others,
but Menelik's head was shaking so violently with the
effort of supporting the imperial emblem that they,
too, were not successful. The photographs were taken
inside a room where a long exposure was necessary.

I took a number of other negatives without the crown,
and these were slightly better.

Within the fifteen minutes, the Emperor was through
his sitting, and he seemed so delighted with the gold-
point sketches I did of him that he proposed to sit again
for me whenever I wished. The sketch-book was
passed round to some of the Abyssinian officials who
were present, and was duly returned to me after many
exclamations of admiration and covered with finger
marks.

Sir John Harrington approached Menelik that same
morning on so serious a matter as forming a reasonable
and stable system of government and establishing a
Council of State. He had for the purpose drawn up
a lucid circular, copies of which he had distributed among
the leading chiefs of Menehk's court. Menelik pondered
deeply.

" Oh, look, look! " said the Emperor, jumping to his
feet, his eyes fixed upon a distant mountain where
thousands of white tents had been pitched.

Anything is ever more important to him than serious
matters of State.

" Do you see," he continued. " Here they come,
thousands of my soldiers. I expect 7,980 people to
lunch with me to-day."

He strolled upon the wide verandah, and could not
repress his excitement on seeing the huge mass of white
figures quickly descending the road leading to the

Menelik watching 7,980 guests arrive for lunch.

7,98o GUESTS

palace. He gazed upon them with his telescope with
exclamations of delight, as he recognized one chief or
the other in the crowd. He asked us to remain with him
to see his guests arrive.

He also most kindly invited me to lunch with him.
He said it might be an impressive sight. Meanwhile,
as it would take some time for the guests to come,
he inquired whether I should care to go over the palace
grounds. He possessed some magnificent lions in a cage
and a lot of rat-catching blackbirds, and other animals
which were loose in the palace gardens.

I inspected the old circular Court of Justice with a
tower and clock (a final court), in the door of w^hich
Menelik sits to judge cases, while the great Ras sit in
the windows at the side. A little further, another
building was in course of construction entirely of masonry,
also circular in shape, with green doors for the Ras to
take their places and a red door for the Emperor. In
front was a space for the public.

Between the old and the new court was the facade
of the great reception hall, a building of great size,
showing in its decoration strong Indian characteristics.
It was constructed by Indian workmen. The older
audience hall was a typical Abyssinian building.

After that I went to see the arrival at the palace of
the thousands of soldiers who were to be the Emperor's
guests. There were guards at the gate with sticks
in hand in order to keep out people who had not been
invited. These attendants were said to possess wonder-
ful skill in recognizing people who endeavoured to obtain
admission to the palace and have a free meal at Menelik' s
expense, and upon these deceivers they used their sticks
freely — so freely that the sticks had frequently to be

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

renewed. Bunches of them were near by where a fresh
supply could instantly be obtained.

A picturesque group of chiefs — early arrivals-
squatted under the shade of trees. They were wrapped
up in white cloaks, none of them over-clean ; in fact,
most were absolutely ragged and dirty. The court
was in mourning, and mourning in Abyssinia is observed
by putting on unclean and shabby clothes.

At about ten o'clock a messenger came saying that
Menelik wished me to go to lunch, and I was ushered
in the politest of fashions into the great hall. It was
not unlike a huge railway station in course of con-
struction, with a double row of cantilever supports for
the roof lavishly coated with blue and vermilion enamel-
paint of the crudest tints. The interior of the hall
was more notable for the ornamentations it did not
possess than for those which were there and which were
certainly not an attraction to the eye.

A large portion at one end of the hall was screened
off by a cotton curtain, through which one could dis-
tinguish the burning lights of two candelabra. These
lights, burning in the daytime, were placed there in
order to follow an ancient custom, when Abyssinian
houses had no windows and artificial lights were re-
quired. So upon European candelabra of dubious
artistic beauty cheap European candles were set alight.

As the curtain was raised for me to enter the Emperor's
enclosure, Menelik, who sat most nobly under a baldaquin
of red cloth, on a raised throne of Oriental carpets and
gold embroidered cloth, bowed graciously, and begged
me to come and sit at a small table which he had placed
by his side in the place of honour. A gilded chair was
at once brought for me to sit upon.

THE EMPEROR'S DOUBLE

Round me, seated upon the floor, were many important
chiefs, such as Ras-Tassama, the powerful prince of
Western Abyssinia, Dejazmatch Lelesaged, Dejazmatch
Damise, Dejazmatch Balow, son of the chief of Guja,
and Dejazmatch Wabe, all chiefs who had come in that
day under the supreme command of Ras-Tassama.
Behind me, when I turned round, I perceived the head
priests of the Church, the high judges and many of the
leading men of Adis-Ababa.

Two or three prominent foreigners were also present
that day, but they were made to sit at low native tables,
upon which was served Abyssinian bread and some
native dishes.

Menelik seemed much concerned about the special
lunch in European fashion, which he told me he had had
particularly prepared for me. Various officials were de-
spatched at intervals to find out how the cook was
getting on with it.

"Here it comes," exclaimed the Emperor, whose
face beamed all over, and with extended hands he
made a sign to the attendant to lay the dishes upon
my table.

Behold, the lunch had indeed arrived ! I was much
overcome by noticing who were the people waiting upon
me. One of them was one of the three men who, in
warfare, impersonates the Emperor, parading about
in similar clothes under a red umbrella, in order
to deceive the enemy and to be shot at instead of his
regal double. The other men were also high officials,
such as the chief of the Emperor's Forestry Depart-
ment. All waited upon me with the utmost care and
thoughtfulness. Half a dozen eggs were laid upon
my plate to begin with. Then Abyssinian cake, so hot

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

with pepper and spices that it gave me a violent cough
when I tried a mouthful.

" Do not eat that if you don't like it," said Menelik,
quite perplexed when my cough would not stop and
nearly choked me.

Two large cutlets were next deposited on my table
and three huge pieces of steak in the best English style,
but not size. By their side (by way of comparison, I
suppose) were three more pieces of steak in Abyssinian
style, with a great many incisions upon them, so that
the heat might penetrate inside in the course of cook-
ing. A dish with a mountain of rice also towered before
me.

Menelik was all the while turning round in the kindest
way possible pressing me to eat some of this and some
of that, saying that it was all cooked for me. I ate
what I could to please him, but the Emperor insisted
I must eat more. All my excuses that my appetite
was now fully satisfied, that I was in delicate health and
could not partake of more food, that my poor skin —
never too elastic — had already reached its highest state
of tension .... all was of no avail, and Menelik
signalled to the Forestry man and to his " warfare
double " to pile upon my plate more chunks of meat and
hillocks of rice.

I was getting quite alarmed. Menelik said I must eat
more. If I did not eat, it must be because I did not care
for his food and he would punish his cook. So, in order
to prove to him that this was not the case, and with a
failing heart, I again endeavoured to demolish a second
and third mountain of food upon my plate.

"The Emperor thinks you do not like Abyssinian
bread," said the Forestry man, laying before me half a

THE EMPEROR'S HOSPITALITY 95

dozen huge, pancake-like half-baked native breads each
about three feet in diameter.

"Oh, yes; yes I do," I mechanically remarked, shov-
ing into my mouth a large piece of the heavy paste.
The breads took so much room — in fact, the whole table
— as they were spread flat, that all the plates, forks and
knives had now to rest upon them.

Were this not enough, Menelik, who was certainly the
quintessence of thoughtfulness as a host, immediately
ordered loaves of European bread to be brought up.

In the way of drinks, not only was every spare inch
of space over the breads — the table could not be per-
ceived any longer — occupied by bottles, but bottles with
all kinds of labels were standing upon the floor all round
me. Abyssinian tetch, a kind of hydromel, native beer,
claret, burgundy, white Rhine wine and champagne
of an unidentifiable brand, but of a highly-explosive
character, all were produced, and out of each I —
practically a teetotaller — -had to drink and tell the
Emperor what I thought of it. Well, I thought a great
deal more than I could say. That was one of those
occasions when even an honest man had to tell big
stories — that is to say, if he possessed a palate. Poor
Menelik is terribly taken in in matters of foreign wines
by merchants who supply him with all kinds of filthy
rubbish in bottles with high-sounding labels. It some-
what pleased Menelik that I preferred the tetch — the
native drink, by far the least poisonous of the various
liquids which he at much expense placed before me.

The Emperor took his own lunch at the same time,
and before him were laid various Abyssinian dishes,
similar to those eaten by his leading guests seated within
the curtained enclosure.

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The Abyssinians were squatting upon the floor. Each
had a circular basket before him containing several
huge breads, like those which had been served to me,
and some sauce. A small bottle of tetch was given to each
man and constantly renewed when empty.

At last, when the Emperor had finished eating, the
curtain was drawn. Before me was one of the most
impressive sights I have ever witnessed. The huge
gates at the further end of the hall were thrown open
and a flood of sunlight was projected upon a stream
of white figures entering the building in a dignified
and orderly manner, each going to their respective seats
along low tables close together occupying the entire
hall. Each table was covered with five or six layers of
fiat breads, the top layer being sprinkled copiously with
red sauce from large buckets which servants conveyed
to and fro. Tabasco is mildly hot as compared with
this red sauce.

At a top table near the platform on which was the
throne were seated the older sub-chiefs and officers.
At the further tables were the soldiers. At the four
tables on the left sat the officers' servants and
followers.

No one paid obeisance to the Emperor on entering,
as all seemed to look upon this feast as a right. In fact,
a similar feast was given by Menelik every Sunday to
some or other of his people.

All the men entered and sat themselves down, proceed-
ing at once to make a hearty meal. Hundreds of huge
pieces of raw meat were passed round by attendants, and
each guest cut a chunk with his knife and ate it, tearing
at the raw meat with his teeth. Tall, enamelled iron
tumblers of tetch were given to the soldiers.

A MOUNTAIN OF BREAD

One of the typical sights of this banquet was a huge
mountain of bread upon a central table, the mountain
being eight feet high, fourteen feet long, and four feet
wide, some 448 cubic feet of bread. This was besides
counting the thick layers already laid upon the tables,
which were fast being demolished as each relay of guests
came in. Large as the hall was, it was not sufficient
to hold the guests at one time, and they came in by
instalments, each set of guests being expected to con-
sume one layer of bread.

As soon as one lot had been fed and departed, the
crumbled top breads were hastily removed, the under
layer quickly besprinkled with the red sauce, the carpets
and rugs shaken so that the dust from the people's feet
went to settle down upon the food that was to be eaten
by the next lot.

And so the hours went by. Swarms of figures kept
pouring in with their black faces and white cloaks, giving
quite a Biblical appearance to the scene. They sat
with their stolid faces round their chief, who, in his turn,
was the very representation of one of the ancient patri-
archs one imagines from reading the Bible. To him
these people paid their oxen and cows, their grain, milk
and butter, and as he knew no better way to get rid of
his wealth, so he gave back to his people plenty to eat
and to drink, to show the fatherly interest which he
took in his subjects.

I studied Menelik carefully. He really seemed to
deUght in having his people around him, and in watch-
ing them feed heartily and enjoying themselves.

I asked the Emperor how many oxen and sheep had
been killed that day, and he told me that over one
hundred and twenty oxen had been despatched and
VOL. I. 7

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

several hundred sheep. Each one of these feasts costs
Menehk several hundred pounds sterling.

On the raised platform on which we were, many
interesting scenes took place. Officers with bare heads,
others with white turbans, streamed in to converse
with Menelik. After talking for a few moments they
sat themselves at the table at the foot of the platform.
The higher officers remained in jovial conversation with
the Emperor, paying him compliments and relating
anecdotes which seemed to delight their Imperial
host.

Each time the Emperor wanted to pick his teeth, blow
his nose, or rearrange the white shash around his head,
a screen was made by the attendants around him,
raising with outstretched arms their shawls round the
throne, thus obscuring the Emperor from the sight
of the people. It was considered infra dig. to let the
Emperor be seen by the public in such earthly pursuits.

By this time the afternoon had come. Menelik was
incessantly urging me to eat and drink more. I had
long ago reached a bursting point, and I cannot tell
the suffering I went through in order to please the
Emperor. Every time I caught Menelik's eye more
food and drink were pressed upon me, and a constant
stream of delicacies kept pouring in for me to try.

To work off the effects of over-eating, I had several
interesting discussions with the head priests and the
Abuna's secretary, with the Emperor's double, and
the leading lawyer of Adis-Ababa, all men of great
intelligence and quick wit. They were indeed remarkable
at repartee. They never seemed at fault to find an
answer. We had a thoroughly good time.

It was not till 4.30 p.m. that coffee was passed to a

A CURIOUS SCENE

few of the principal guests, and the Emperor got up to
leave. As I stood by his throne, he bade me a hearty-
good-bye, and while I thanked him for his charming
hospitality he apologetically explained how sorry he
was my lunch had been delayed half an hour — I wished
it would have been delayed a good many hours — as
he had ordered special European dishes which had taken
more time than he expected. He was so charmingly
simple and frank about everything that really one could
not help liking him, notwithstanding the intense agony
he had procured me.

A curious scene occurred when I came out of the
Grand Hall. Menelik's mule stood beautifully decked
with silver and gold ornaments upon the head and
saddle and round a huge collar. Near by lazily rested
in the easiest of postures hundreds of soldiers upon the
ground. When I produced a camera to take a photo-
graph, they all sprang to their feet and begged me to
wait. They buckled their belts, arranged their clothes
and stood at attention with rifles pointing in all direc-
tions. This was because they feared if Menelik were
shown the photograph of his soldiers in all sorts of re-
clining positions, instead of being upon their feet and on
guard, he would certainly punish them severely.

VOL. 1.

lOO

CHAPTER IX.

One talks a good deal about the civilizing influence of
Christianity, and there are many people in Europe
who imagine that when a native becomes a Christian
he must be a fine fellow in every way. In my own
experience, I know that from a sanitary point of view,
at least, if one wishes to see natives who are reaUy filthily
dirty, one has only to turn to Christianized masses of
natives. This does not mean that I have not once or
twice seen Christianized individuals who may have been
clean, but these were quite the exception. To Japan,
China, India, Persia, the Phihppine Islands, and to
Abyssinia — all countries where non-Christian natives
indulge a good deal in ablutions — the above remarks
may apply.

Abyssinians proper belong, as you know, to the Copt
religion. What do we find ? Whereas the Mussulman
Galla, their conquered countrymen, wash considerably,
the Christian Abyssinians themselves only bathe once
a year at the feast of the Epiphany. They stay, on that
occasion, nearly the whole night near a stream, and at
dawn they sing, fire guns in the air, and then fling a
cross into the water. They all jump in after it.

Even the Emperor and Empress indulge in this immer-
sion on the Epiphany morning, but this, the only bath
Abyssinians take in twelve months (thirteen months

CONFESSION

lOI

according to their calendar) is in no way intended to
clean themselves, but is merely a religious performance.
When in the water they wear, in fact, the shame, or shawl,
over the shoulders, and the surri, or trousers, over their
legs.

It is quite enough to look at any well-to-do Abyssinian,
male or female, to perceive that even face and hands are
quite innocent of soap. Of the body we will not speak
— the seldom-changed clothes discharging a fetid odour
which leaves no doubt whatever on the subject.

The only other bath an Abyssinian takes in his life-
time is forty days after birth in the case of a male and
eighty days in the case of a female, when during the
ceremony of baptism they are plunged into the water.

The Abyssinians do not give their dead much chance
of coming back to life again. When people die they are
interred the same day. If death occurs at night, the
burial takes place early in the morning. The relatives of
the deceased rub the sides of their own foreheads with
a woollen burnous until the temples are quite sore,
and they attach pieces of cotton wool in sign of
mourning.

Women on such occasions cut the hair short,
clumsily, with scissors, in order to diminish what little
attraction they may possess, and also to show their
sorrow for the death in the family.

Before dying a confessor, not always necessarily but
usually a priest, is called in. This is a man who goes by
the name of nefsahat, and who is well posted in the
secrets of the confessed.

Every Abyssinian must confess before death, or his
body will not be admitted into the Church graveyard.
If he dies unconfessed, he must be buried outside the

I02

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Church grounds. Many of these confessors are mere
blackmailers, who take advantage of the opportunities
offered to impose upon the afflicted family. At the
death-bed they have been known to make mercenary
bargains by threats with the dying man. When the
confessor comes out of the dying man's room, it is usually
found that the man who has expired has bequeathed his
mules, his property, even the bedclothes and the very
clothes he is wearing at death, to the confessor. Hence
disputes between the relatives of deceased and these
" soul-pacifying " individuals are common. Perhaps it
is a sensible precaution for these people to have the body
buried as soon as life seems extinct.

Although the Abyssinians consider themselves highly
civilized, superstitions are rampant among them, even
among the highest people. Curious methods are used,
for instance, in order to discover the perpetrators of
thefts or other crimes. A man called a lehassai — the
title of a profession descending from father to son — is
employed by chiefs and even by the Emperor. This
fellow proceeds to the spot where the theft has taken
place, and with him go two slave boys, not older than
eight or ten years. These boys must know nothing
about sexual intercourse, nor must they have ever used
intoxicants. The lehassai gives one boy a specific
medicine of his own, after which the lad, bound in a
white sash, is made to prostrate himself face downwards,
when a glass of milk is produced, into which a white
powder is mixed. Then the boy is made to rise ; he is
by then in a dazed condition, whether from the stuff he
has swallowed or in a hypnotic trance. They say that
the boy will then unconsciously reproduce all the move-
ments of the thief or other criminal during the crime,

THE LEBASSAI

103

and proceed directly to the spot where the offender has
found shelter.

Notwithstanding the faith of the people in the accuracy
of the lebassai's medium, all Abyssinian bystanders
make a hasty stampede at his approach. There have
been mistakes made even by the lehassai, although I am
told that many a real offender has been traced in this
way.

The way it is done I think is this. The lehassai is a
highly-observant man, who spends his entire time in
his detective work, and who acts generally on informa-
tion previously received. For a consideration he will
surely spare the culprit and accuse an innocent man.
Wealthy people who refuse to be blackmailed are often
selected by the lehassai as culprits, and folks maintain
that the lehassai' s profession is one of the most remunera
tive in Abyssinia. His recognized fee alone amounts to
five silver thalers.

Many other superstitions prevail among the
Abyssinians. For instance, if an overladen mule gets
a sore back, they say it is caused, not by an ill-fitting
saddle, but by a great vulture — the gihri — which, on
soaring above, has projected its shadow upon the
animal's back.

They are great behevers in the evil eye, which they
call metf (eye), or aen (the Arabic term for eye). In
magic they also place absolute faith.

On St. John's Day none of them go out early in the
morning, as they believe that by doing so they might
fall victims to the incantations and exorcisms of hidden
enemies who have the power on that day to inflict punish-
ment. The only way to counterbalance this evil in-
fluence, they beheve, is by obtaining a grey lamb, a

I04 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

jet-black sheep, or a white or black fowl, as the magician
may direct, or, if the whole animal would cost too much,
a piece of meat from any of these animals. These
offerings, placed on the road with some incense and a
special stone, are held sufficient to break the spell.

Abyssinians of certain classes do not leave their sons
alone on that day, nor do they eat in public. If possible,
they remain inside the house the whole day, as they fear
that if bad luck should come on St. John's Day it will go
on for the whole year.

Abyssinians are great believers in spirits of the moun-
tains and ghosts. They cannot be persuaded to pass by
a church or a graveyard (near the church) in the hours
of the night for fear of these spirits. Nor will they travel
alone at night, as they fear the spirits of dead people.

Medicine as a science is not much advanced in
Abyssinia, but the people possess a few remedies of their
own which do no great harm, if they do not do much
good.

They use cupping for stopping headaches. Also, they
always wear round the neck a black ribbon, to which a
small silver lamb is attached. When suffering from
headache they place this little lamb upon the forehead
with the string tied round the head.

For fever they make several incisions upon the scalp
or in the back of the neck. This bleeding process,
which I have seen applied on several occasions, gives
good results.

Molten butter is swallowed when a good purge is
needed, and for tapeworm, from which they nearly all
suffer owing to the habit of eating raw meat, they drink
a decoction of powdered cossw, which has been soaked
in water for at least four or five hours. They drink this

THE "EVIL EYE"

105

early in the afternoon, and will see no one until the
medicine has acted, for fear the " evil eye " should stop
its effects.

Many diseases are put down to the "evil eye"; and
great chiefs, for instance, will not let their children be
seen by strangers, even going so far as to change or
misstate the baptismal names of their young, for fear
of spells being cast upon them if their real origin were
known.

The Emperor and Empress themselves largely indulge
in superstition.

For fifteen days before New Year's Day a number of
Abyssinian priests are fed only upon roasted beans and
water, and are not allowed to go out at all. On the first
day of the year they are conveyed into Menelik's pre-
sence, when they predict the events of the forthcoming
year, and advise him what to do. They say that Menelik
is greatly guided by their counsel. The many churches
which he builds are due to these yearly consultations,
and it is said that such predictions are responsible for
his having yielded up to the priests his palace of Adis-
Alem, which had been constructed at enormous expense
in a spot formerly a forest. The priests have turned it
into a church.

The priests I met in Abyssinia were most unattractive.
Depravity was plainly depicted upon their features ; their
unctuous manner never rang true, and they had the
conceit of men who obtain high positions by false pre-
tences. In short, I never had much liking for them, but
I would not care to state that all were bad. Perhaps the
Abuna — the chief of the Coptic Church of Abyssinia,
who is ordained by the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria
in Egypt, and possibly some of the high priests under

io6 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

him — ought not to be classed among the common herd,
but one and all, I believe, show much tendency towards
intrigue. Their indirect influence in politics is consider-
able.

The Ahuna, like the Emperor and Empress, has the
right to have a red seat — a kind of throne — as well as
a red sunshade over his head. There are thousands of
priests all over the country, and in Adis-Ababa alone, I
was told, there were no less than six thousand of these
religious expounders.

The Ahuna can impose Church taxes at will, and the
Emperor has no word in the matter, the taxes being duly
paid by devotees.

One Sunday I went to hear the service in the Church
of St. Michael, situated opposite the Imperial Palace.
The building was simplicity itself inside, with no idols
nor pictures. The church was formed by two con-
centric walls with spacious windows and doors in each.
Within the central circle sat the Empress in a screened
enclosure of gauze, while the Ahuna officiated in the
space between the inner and outer wall, attended by a
gaudily-dressed staff of priests.

The Emperor seldom goes to this the swell church of
Adis-Ababa, but attends service inside the palace
grounds in a smaller church called the Hedan Emrath.

The Abyssinian Church is national and independent,
as everyone knows. The Ahuna is the resident chief of
the church. With only such variations as are suitable
to the locality and the people, much the same doctrines
as those of the Coptic Church are taught, except that
several additional rites are observed, such as circumcision
of both sexes, adult baptism and certain love orgies.
The Mosaic laws regarding food are also observed.

"KISSING THE CHURCH

107

During the service the porch and wooden Hntels, as
well as the walls and supports of the church, were kissed
with great fervour by devotees, and this kissing formed
a good portion of the service. The Abyssinians talk
a good deal about " kissing the church," and on passing
the holy places they always stop to kiss the wall or the
ground near it. They also throw stones as they pass
or heap them up in a cairn, or else deposit offerings of
strips of cloth or rope as they go by a church.

In some Abyssinian churches bells are made of two
long pieces of slate suspended from two poles.

A good deal of chanting went on during the ceremony
and shaking of the sistrae — the tenatzil, as it is called
by the Abyssinians.

In front of St. Michael's Church, for instance, which
is upon a well-beaten road, a humble telephone pole
standing near the church had been decorated with strips
of cotton, and its base was quite greasy with the con-
stant kissing of passers-by.

Whether because of the evil consciences they possess,
whether from fear of the revenge of the gods or the
reprisals of evil spirits, I am not certain, but the
Abyssinians are decidedly charitable. This virtue, as
with us, does not always come from a good heart. Oh,
no ; perhaps penitence is more responsible for it. The
poorest people will give away sums vastly out of pro-
portion to their wealth when anything is weighing upon
their minds.

I noticed in the Abyssinians I employed that after
they had committed some misdeed they were always
charitable, and gave away nearly all they possessed.
This surely was because they had great fear of God, whom
they believed to be their protector until angered.

io8 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Of course, in a country where people are charitable,
there are bound to be a lot of beggars. Lepers and appal-
ling cases of elephantiasis swarm in Adis-Ababa. Sores
of the most purulent character are displayed to the
public with the utmost gusto, while clouds of flies feed
peacefully upon these and then come and settle on your
face as you go by. To all these fellows — dozens of them
near the churches particularly — the Abyssinians give
freely.

The Abyssinians have many official holidays, but
perhaps the most important falls on September 14th
(Coptic calendar) — the day of the Virgin, which is cele-
brated with horse-races, games and rejoicings of all
kinds. During that day crimes and accidents go un-
punished. On the eve of the 14th ever^^body must go
with a gun on his shoulder to the church, and when the
cross is taken out they all follow it, the Emperor in-
cluded. They then form a circle round it, the Emperor
depositing upon the ground a wooden stick, all the others
imitating his example, until a high heap has been accumu-
lated, which is then set on fire. Many of these sticks
have yellow flowers attached to them — the ahaha (a
generic name for flowers, but used specifically on these
occasions).

The following morning (the 14th) they all return to
the spot and make a cross upon the forehead with the
ashes from the burnt wood.

At Easter the people fast, and also on Good Friday, the
last food being taken on Thursday, and the next not
until Saturday at about 10 a.m. They then proceed
en masse to the church with their sisters and sweethearts,
the head of each encircled by a wreath.

A strange custom is practised on New Year's Day.

SAINTS IN PROFUSION

109

People go about with flowers in their handkerchiefs,
which (the flowers) they present to their friends on
meeting them, wishing the un Kututash at the same
time. If one happens to touch the flower while the
words are pronounced, one is compelled by custom to
offer a present to the giver — something like our
Philippine trick.

Christmas, of course, does not exist, the Epiphany
being the most important holiday after September 14th.

In a country where hypocrisy and sanctimonious
bigotism are rampant, we necessarily find saints in great
force. St. George is the most revered of all, but for
every month there is a special saint, and once a year a
great holiday is dedicated to each. In a way these saints
are useful, as they serve to let people fix dates exactly,
which they would otherwise have difficulty in doing,
owing to the lack of printed calendars.

The Abyssinian year has thirteen months, twelve of
thirty days each, and a thirteenth — the Kogumeh, which
comes after the end of August — of only five days.

r lo

CHAPTER X.

Marriages in Abyssinia are sometimes performed
according to the rites of the Coptic Church, and in
that case, when a legal separation between man and
wife is demanded, the property, such as houses, land,
cattle and furniture, is divided into two equal shares.
So, as Abyssinians are seldom honest, even among
themselves, the wife never knows exactly what the hus-
band possesses, nor is he aware of the wealth of his
bride, the facts being concealed in case domestic quarrels
should arise.

A more frequent form of marriage consists in swearing
by Menelik's name, the price to the husband of Menelik's
oath, the samagna, as they call it, being at the most
some one hundred and twenty thalers. This form of
marriage is the one generally preferred by the better
people, but the poorer classes do not always go through
any official ceremony at all, and marry or divorce some-
what promiscuously — as fancy takes them.

No faithfulness exists in marital relations among
Abyssinians. Owing to shocking diseases of the blood,
women are not prolific. The percentage of infant
mortality is also high, so that the population is neither
increasing nor improving. When a mixture of blood
occurs, as with Galla, Somali, or wdth black tribes, a
slight general improvement in the physique, as well as

MIXED UNIONS

III

in the mental capacities, is noticeable in the half-breeds.
Also, these mixed unions are generally more prolific than
those among pure Abyssinians — a race to my mind quite
exhausted physically.

Roughly speaking — as accurate statistics do not exist —
I do not suppose that there are more than a couple of
millions of fairly pure descent, and very few indeed
absolutely pure Abyssinian individuals.

The Emperor himself, and many of the leading Ras,
show evident signs of mixed descent, and it is the mix-
ture often of negroid races which has given them the
strength to rise above the average individuals and
rule them.

It is curious in this case to note that the crossing of
two weak races can produce satisfactory results.

The purest of all Abyssinians are to be found in the
Tigre, Godjam, Gonda and Meus, as well as a few at
Ankober — the best by far of all these being the people
of Tigre and Meus. The latter never intermarry with
other races, and until the death of King Johannes, the
Tigrins, too, deemed it quite a dishonour to marry even
a Shoan. Nowadays marriages between members of the
two races are quite frequent.

Owing to the singular state of affairs in Abyssinian
marital relations — the men and their wives indulging in
promiscuous love — it is sometimes difficult to trace the
exact parentage of children. Whether legitimate or not,
all are taken into the family while cordiality lasts in the
home, and when separation comes, as it often does, the
girls are taken charge of by the mother and the boys by
the man, whether their father or not.

The Tigrins are perhaps the noblest-minded and most
generous of all Abyssinians, but the others are incredibly

112 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

mesquin, dishonest and dishonourable, among them-
selves more even than with strangers. There is no
family affection — which is absolutely non-existent with
Abyssinians — and the people are suspicious of one
another and treacherous. There is no word of honour
with them, nor the faintest notion of the meaning of
truth. An under-thought is always present in their
minds, whatever deahngs they may have with anyone.
Their cruelty to human beings and animals is disgusting.

The better class might be excepted, but the men at
large seem to have no ambition in life except carrying a
gun upon their shoulders. It is generally a good gun,
but owing to his diseased vision and unsteady hand, the
average Abyssinian cannot hit a haystack at twenty
yards. The rest of his time is spent searching for
vermin (they all swarm with hce), of which there are
legions in his clothes. There is a happy existence for
you !

Abyssinians do not care for trade, they detest agricul-
ture, they are too proud and impatient to be good
shepherds, and they are in too great terror of the water
to be good boatmen or sailors. They are first-rate
people for destroying everything, for pillaging, burning
and rendering barren and miserable the richest of
countries. Even upon the now barren and arid Shoan
plateau, in the neighbourhood of x\dis- Ababa, over which
we have travelled, there were formerly beautiful forests
now absolutely destroyed. The agriculture of Abyssinia
is now practically in the hands of the Galla.

The Goraki, who are Mahommedans, with inclinations
towards tree-worship, and who inhabit between Tulidumtu
and Burani Arusi, are a superior race as far as regards
mental capacity. They have the entire native trade in

THE GORAKI

their hands, especially in Adis- Ababa, where the market
is solely run by them, and even in the Imperial palace
everything is managed by these people. Fitaurari Apti
Gorghis and Dajatch Baltcha, for instance, two of
Menelik's most intelligent chiefs in the palace, are Goraki.
The telegraph and telephone operators upon the Dire
Dawa — Adis- Ababa — Gori line are nearly all Goraki.

These Goraki possess a language of their own. They
never intermarry with other tribes, except when their
women have been raided and necessity compels them.
Few — very few of them — have ever accepted the Chris-
tian religion. They bear certain Egyptian characteristics
in their general appearance, and they are the whitest and
best built men and women I saw in Abyssinia. The
Goraki women, with their large, well-cut, softly-magnetic
eyes, are much admired by the better class of Abyssinians.
The wives of most of the great chiefs are, in fact, Goraki.

The Goraki are fairly numerous, and they are
clannish. The Goraki, like the Jews, are great at
helping, even supporting, one another. Anything that
is done at all in Abyssinia is done by Goraki. The arts
and crafts — whatever there are of them — are in their
hands. The Goraki are the masons, the carpenters, the
traders, the goldsmiths and blacksmiths. They manu-
facture the saddles and harness. They tan the leather
and dye it of a dark red tint. The Abyssinians also
try to tan and dye, but they do it badly.

I was told that close upon ten thousand Goraki work-
men and traders are to be found in Adis-Ababa alone.

It is astonishing how inartistic the people of Abys-
sinia are. Only seldom one sees attempts at paint-
ing or sculpture, and these attempts are ridiculously
weak. Occasionally one notices a crude representation

VOL. I. 8

114

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

of Menelik and the Empress Taitu under their red um-
brellas, but that is about all. In the Tigre and Godjam,
jewellery, especially in silver, is manufactured, but is of
no artistic beauty. The only ornaments which I saw,
and which were quite interesting ethnologically, came
from South-Western Abyssinia, from the Kaffa country,
and from the kingdoms of Kulu and Kunta.

There was a forehead ornament sticking out hori-
zontally, and suggesting an enlarged conventionalized
representation of virility, worn by the Kaffa men, especi-
ally in battle. It is a simple design in brass, and usually
rests upon a ring of ivory fastened to a cloth band which
goes tight round the head. A brass chain is attached to
it with conical pendants hanging in front of the ears.

The women, too, wore a series of such conical em-
blematical ornaments of silver — only smaller — in a row
upon the forehead, with a superposed chain of beads and
lozenge-shaped additions.

A man who had performed a brave deed in the Kaffa
country was entitled to wear an almost circular ornament
of rats' teeth attached to a skin. Long coil bracelets,
such as those presented by the Emperor to his subjects
who have killed many enemies in war, are also found in
the Kaffa region.

Ivory trumpets of great size, which produce a hoarse,
loud sound, and ivory flasks for civet-scent are wonder-
fully well turned, although the methods of turning are
extremely rudimentary.

Baron Mylius, who had travelled extensively in the
Kaffa, Kulu and Kunta districts, showed me a curious
collection of belts for women and ivory bracelets with
certain marks, small perforations, recording the number
of lovers the wearer of the belt had possessed. If the

SMOKING PROHIBITED

records were correct, some of these Kaffa ladies seemed
to have had a hvely hfe.

Kulu spears, with elongated heads and brass rings
attached to them, were interesting. The shields — about
three feet in diameter, much larger than those of most
other tribes — were made of cowhide.

Among musical instruments there were conical drums
with a triangular six-stringed frame attached to them,
and the kaficho, or trumpet, of antelope horn, eight feet
long, into which was inserted a bullock horn, with a
perforation about six inches from the bottom. Where
the horns met the trumpet was decorated with a
horse's tail.

Among the attempts at representing living objects
the conventionalized wooden dove seen on the huts of
Kulu Chiefs, and upon the poles of their tents while on
a journey, was one of the few to be noticed in the
country.

The Abyssinians proper are given to constant orgies
and are inveterate drunkards. It is amazing what
quantities of tetch they can drink. They have one re-
deeming quahty ; they do not smoke.

There is a legend telling how at one time the Abyssi-
nians had become so fond of tobacco that even priests
chewed in church. Whereupon good King Johannes
made a law that whosoever was seen smoking or chewing
tobacco should have his lower jaw amputated.

This is, of course, a pretty legend, but there is a
better reason for this, the Abyssinian's only virtue.
They are indeed ready to take up almost any vice which
gives them pleasure, and if they do not smoke, it is
simply because of the unpleasant, even disastrous, effects
which smoking has upon th? huixian heart at the high
VOL. I, 6*

ii6 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

elevation of this plateau. So that the abstinence from
tobacco is more a necessity than a good quahty among
these people. In my experience I have always noticed
that people living at high altitudes, even in Asia, seldom
indulge in tobacco — the Tibetans, for instance.

As we are about trying to discover good qualities
among the Abyssinians, we must give them unbounded
credit for another excellent virtue they really do
possess. I mean their absolute contempt for degrading
and disgusting unnatural vices between individuals of
the same sex. They are in no way degenerate in that
direction — if, perhaps, some of the priests are excepted.

The ignorance of these repulsive priests is unUmited.
Few of them can read, fewer still can write. They teach
in schools — what, I do not know ; perhaps prayers.

The school hours in the towns are from seven till
8.30 in the evening and from three to five in the morn-
ing, as the children are needed during the day to go
and fetch wood and water for the family and help their
mothers in the duties at home.

People in Europe have a most erroneous idea that all
countries in Africa must be highly picturesque, but,
indeed, there is no continent in the world where any-
thing is more difficult to find than is picturesqueness
among the people, scenery or buildings in the zone
of Africa I traversed. There is no attractive colour to
speak of in the landscape, the light being too brilliantly
diffused in the middle of the day, and the contrasts too
hard and violent in the morning and evening. As for
the people — take Abyssinia, for instance — they are
ungraceful and ugly, and wrapped in clumsy clothing,
usually white or brown, and always too clean to be
pictorial and too dirty to be captivatingly clean.

WOMEN'S CHIEF AMBITION

117

The men's heads are bandaged up most inartistically
in the white shash, the tails long behind only in the case
of the Emperor, but quite short with other folks. Above
this is worn a felt hat of the ugliest description. These
hats come mostly from Italy.

Both men and women must undo this shash in sign of
respect before the Emperor and Empress, and it is on
such occasions that one can smell to the full the rancid
odour of Indian oil and molten butter mixed with pinks,
cinnamon and myrtle leaves which the ladies use for
smearing the head. This mixture gives the hair a
greenish colour.

One cannot accuse Abyssinian women of being ex-
travagant in dress. The sipsipo, or national costume,
consists in a mere sacque with extraordinarily long
sleeves pulled up at the elbow. The sleeves of the
richer women are as much as three yards long, and have
to be gathered together up the arm by slaves, and then
buttoned up tight at the wrist. Of similarly ample
dimensions are the women's trousers, the modante, also
three yards long, also pleated up and buttoned at the
ankle.

The chief luxury and ambition of Abyssinian women is
to possess, or rather to display, sunshades of any brilliant
colour, except red, which is forbidden, being the colour
reserved for the Emperor, Empress, and Abuna only.
The sunshade is held over the head regardless of atmo-
spheric phenomena by a slave, seldom by the lady
herself.

In countries away from European traders the natives
make tiny cane umbrellas, undoubtedly of Mussulman
origin. They are common, as we shall see, among the
Islamic Galla.

ii8

CHAPTER XI.

Politically Abyssinia has but a relative interest.

For the last few years we have heard a great deal
about neutralization or the internationalization of the
Djibuti-and-Adis-Ababa railway, and, I think, many
people confuse the neutrahty of Abyssinia with the
neutrality of the railway. It does not take a clever man
to see that were the railway entirely in the hands of one
foreign Government, the interests, the commerce or
ambition of other countries might suffer. MeneUk
himself, from what I could understand, was not partial
to a scheme which might endanger his country con-
siderably. The construction of the railway to Adis-
Ababa had to be suspended owing partly to fear of a
revolution in the country, the masses of the Abyssinian
population being much discontented — in fact, quite
opposed to the continuation of the railway as far as
the capital. Were the railway completed they felt
they would soon have their country swarming with
foreigners, with whose methods they can in no way
compete, and perhaps the country would eventually
be altogether absorbed by one or more foreign nations.

Menelik himself is fond of reforms, but not so
his people, who are bigoted and conservative. Any-
thing European brings bad luck upon the country, they
believe.

RAILWAYS TO COME

119

I understand that lately an agreement has been
arrived at between Great Britain, France and Italy
regarding the completion of the railway, and naturally,
both from a political and commercial point of view, this
completion will be a great stride towards the rapid
development of Abyssinia. All the nations interested
in her resources will benefit in a greater or lesser degree.
Commercially, France, I think, is bound in the end
to come out first, because Djibuti, on French territory,
is undoubtedly the key to Abyssinia, being the nearest,
cheapest and most suitable natural outlet for Abys-
sinian exports, as well as being the best inlet for im-
ports. It possesses all the practical advantages that
can be desired. The Italians, of course, would like
to see trade go towards Massowah, but that route is
longer, more difficult, and through endless, barren, un-
grateful country.

A concession has been given by Menelik for the con-
struction of a British railway from British Somaliland
to the Soudan. No route has been specified. Should
such a railway be established, the competition between
the French and British line might possibly be con-
siderable, as the British line might be made to traverse
the richest portions of Southern and South- Western
Abyssinia, perhaps crossing the rich Aroussi country
(which sooner or later must have a railway), and going
into Kaffa, one of the wealthiest districts of the Ethiopian
Empire. A junction could eventually be effected with
the Mombassa railway along the valley of the Omo
river by way of Lake Rudolph, and the line could con-
tinue northwards by way of the Didessa valley and the
Blue Nile to Khartoum. All this would, of course,
come into the giant scheme of the Cape-to-Cairo Railway.

120

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

But in my opinion, for commercial purposes, goods
will always find their way in and out of Abyssinia
towards the east coast, as the freight charges via river
and rail to Khartoum can never compete with those
via French Somaliland, or even were the second railway
constructed, via British Somaliland. The distance would
be much greater ; and the diffiiculties of travel, the
many necessary transhipments, are all against the
longer lines of railway and water travel combined.
This might not apply to goods either for local trade
or for direct export to the Sudan and Egypt, which
would travel direct to the north-west, but the direct
trade with those countries is at present small, what
exists being mostly a transit trade.

Possibly a line might also be constructed from Adis-
Ababa westwards to the Didessa and Blue Nile, with
a branch to Gori and the Baro river, but this line, I
think, would rather further help to bring goods from
the west towards Djibuti which might otherwise be
compelled to travel by the British line to the Nile
or British Somaliland.

Be that as it may, Abyssinia is in great need of rail-
ways, and whatever effect the various lines may have on
the interests of foreign nations, they will certainly be
of financial advantage to Abyssinia herself. The
country, especially the west and south-west, urgently
requires new and more convenient ways of communica-
tion than those now in existence.

There are few regions in Africa which are richer than
the western and south-western portions of Abyssinia —
generally known as the Galla country. Its picturesque
mountain masses are well wooded and the valleys are
regular gardens. The climate is ideal, water for irriga-

COTTON PLANTATIONS

121

tion plentiful, and the soil so fertile that it will produce
anything with the minimum of labour. Two crops
a year can be grown without cultivation. All that is
necessary is to sow the seeds anyhow ; the land does
the rest.

Cotton grows well in the low lands and might be
made a remunerative industry. Experiments in the
cultivation of cotton have been made by Mr. Gerolimato
near Errer. His plantation gave satisfactory results.
The climate of the Abyssinian plateau seems suited
for the production of this valuable textile. At Errer
the plants reached a height of four and a half feet,
and on each stem were counted as many as sixty-
two blossoms. A higher price was obtained for it
than the price fetched by Egyptian cotton of the
best quality, the thread being longer and more re-
sistant.

The first year, when the land was but imperfectly
cultivated, fifteen kantar per fedang were obtained.
The kind which seemed most adapted to the locality
was the " metafifi," which is fibrous and silky.

A hectare of land (about two and a half acres) pro-
duced about thirty-five kantars of raw cotton, whereas
in Egypt not more than twenty kantars are generally
obtained on a similar area. A kantar is three hundred
pounds. When boiled, a kantar of Abyssinian cotton
gave about one hundred pounds of clean cotton.

Unfortunately, when things were progressing well,
a swarm of locusts arrived and razed the plants to the
ground. Other regions of Abyssinia would, I think,
be equally, and even better, suited than Errer for cotton
plantations.

Higher, on the hill slopes in Western Abyssinia,

122

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Indian corn, dura, barley, wheat, beans, lentils,
potatoes, onions, giant cabbages, tobacco, and coffee
of excellent quality are most plentiful. The coffee
grows wild, and only a small portion of the berries is
collected, the rest being wasted, left rotting upon the
ground for want of carriage to foreign markets.

The western country is more thickly populated than
Eastern Abyssinia, and the inhabitants, the Galla,
are peaceful, docile people, easily amenable to reason.
They would be good auxiliaries to any one exploiting the
resources of the country, whereas the Abyssinians proper,
of whom there are but few in that portion of the country,
are so independent, lazy, uncontrollable and unreliable,
that they are of no practical use in steady commercial
enterprises.

The western, the Galla provinces, are the exclusive
property of the Emperor, who farms them out to great
Abyssinian feudatory chiefs, always reserving to himself
the right of deposing them and replacing them at will
if they incur his displeasure.

It is in South-West and Western Abyssinia, too, that
whatever mineral wealth exists in the Empire is to be
found. Gold has been discovered in various districts,
mainly washings in river beds. I am told that forty to
fifty thousand ounces a year are collected with the
primitive methods at hand. Iron ore, of course, is
plentiful all over the country, and the natives them-
selves smelt it. Traces of copper have been discovered,
but whether in sufficient quantities to be workable is
problematic. Lignite has been found in several places,
especially in Tegulit and at Bulga (east of Adis- Ababa),
not far from Baltchi.

Then there are beautiful pasture lands to the east,

TRADING CARAVANS

123

as well as to the south-west and west, where cattle
and sheep, mules and horses, could be bred in abundance
and profitably, if there were easier ways of transport
to distant markets where the demand is great. As it is,
good animals are kept in small numbers, and oxen,
mules, and horses find a ready sale in neighbouring
countries. This is only the case because the animals
themselves supply their own inexpensive transport for
comparatively short distances ; while grain, for instance,
which could be produced in immense quantities, can only
be disposed of locally. The Adda country, for example,
is a rich grain country.

Small trading caravans visit the smaller markets in
Western Abyssinia, where cotton goods, arms, silk,
hats, ammunition and glass ware are exchanged for oxen,
sheep, horses and mules. These animals are then con-
veyed to bigger centres. Abyssinian mules are excellent
as transport animals for mountainous countries, and the
horses are also quite good.

In North and North-East Abyssinia we have a different
state of affairs. The complete destruction of forests
has left the land barren and has had a deplorable effect
upon the climatic conditions of that region, making the
rains irregular and causing disastrous storms with violent
winds and hail.

The Abyssinian inhabitants, such as the Amharas,
the Gondari and the Tigrins, who sparsely populate
the country, are humble proprietors of small fields where
barley, bagoussa and tief are grown in meagre quantities,
just enough to suffice the wants of the family. No
export trade worth considering exists.

On the other hand, this region would be a good market
for imports, as the climate, being severe, the natives

124

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

require articles of clothing, and their contact with
civilized people has already created in them several new
wants.

Hats, for instance, find a ready sale in those regions,
as well as coarse black woollen materials, with which
the natives make their burnouses ; also red stuff for
ornamental jackets. Parasols are most popular among
Abyssinian ladies, white, black or brilliantly coloured
(except red), and come mostly from India, Germany and
Italy. There is a slight sale for cotton velvets, made
up into cloaks by the chiefs to be worn on solemn occa-
sions. These velvets, like the woollen cloth, are im-
ported chiefly from France, Germany, England and
Belgium, whereas the cotton materials, which are most
in demand in white, red, yellow, green, and blue tints,
come almost altogether from Manchester and America,
passing through many intermediaries before they reach
the final buyer.

There is an ever-increasing demand in Eastern
Abyssinia and Somaliland for good camp equipments
and supplies, such as sensible cooking utensils, camp
beds, blankets, tents, water-flasks, etc., but above all
for tinned provisions of good quality, which find a ready
sale among Europeans residing or travelling in the
country, as well as among the wealthier Abyssinians.
Sardines, for instance, are much relished by the natives,
and tons of them — of the very poorest kind — are
sold.

It is to be regretted that most of the foreign merchants
import merely condemned provisions, which they pur-
chase at little cost and sell at immense profits, or else
damaged tins from wrecked ships, or from the stores of
extinct expeditions. Some of these tins are quite deadly ;

SAFETY OF TRAVEL

125

nor would it do to speculate on the age of tinned pro-
visions one buys in Eastern Abyssinian centres.

There is one great thing in Abyssinia — goods travel in
absolute safety, when not accompanied by a military
escort. Caravans can travel from one end of the country
to the other, provided the necessary passes are carried,
without fear of being robbed.

126

CHAPTER XII.

In Adis-Ababa I had the pleasure of meeting the
Europeans connected with the development of the
country, and prominent among them stood the stalwart
Monsieur Ilg, Councillor of State to His Majesty the
Emperor.

This gentleman, a Swiss, has been in Abyssinia for many
years, and has played an important part in Abyssinian
politics, in a way, I think, beneficial to the Abyssinians,
as well as possibly to himself. One does not generally
go to live in countries like Abyssinia merely for one's
health. The Abyssinians should decidedly be grateful to
him for his work during the Italian war, when he dis-
played much energy and faithfulness to the Negus.
Possibly his work may have clashed at different times
with British, or Italian, or French interests, for which he
received unbounded abuse in Europe according to which
country happened to be affected, but I think that M. Ilg
always endeavoured to do what he honestly beheved
best for Abyssinia.

For those who abuse the climate of the Abyssinian
plateau and its evil effects upon foreigners, there could
be no better answer than to show them M. Ilg and his
family. Both parents and their charming children were
the very picture of health and vigour, although the
children had lived there all their life and the parents

PROMINENT FOREIGN OFFICIALS 127

longer than any of the foreign officials I met in the
Abyssinian capital.

It is a pity that M. Ilg does not write his memoirs, as
he has seen Abyssinia during its transition ; he knows
the country, the people and their language more inti-
mately than any other European, and he has gained the
affection of the people to such an extent that the natives
regard him practically as one of themselves.

M. Lagarde, the French Minister, I also met, a
highly intelligent man. When I called, I found him
in a semi-nautical, semi-official costume, indiarubber
top-boots such as mariners wear in stormy seas, long,
white, accordion-like trousers, tucked with difficulty into
them ; a black frockcoat, with rosettes, and in his hand
a white helmet. He was most affable. This man has
done good work for his country, and there was a time
previous to Sir John Harrington's appointment to
Abyssinia when he was practically a second emperor
in the country. In the town he was in those days
saluted with such respect as is in general only com-
manded by the Emperor. His influence then had no
bounds at the Abyssinian court.

Things have changed a great deal during the past few
years. The Abyssinians, like most Easterns, are capri-
cious people. One da}^ they cry you up to the sky, and
the next a rapid descent may befall you. Instability
of success is always to be expected in one's relations with
Eastern nations.

When the interests of England in Adis-Ababa were
in severe conflict with those of France, M. Lagarde
certainly made a great fight against Sir John Harrington.
He did not leave a stone unturned to regain his former
power, but for some reason or other the Emperor placed

128

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

more confidence in Sir John Harrington than in the
French envoy, and of late has been acting chiefly upon
the advice of the British Minister.

I understand that M. Leon Lagarde, who has now
returned to France, is not to go back to Abyssinia.

Perhaps there is no more admired Frenchman in
Abyssinia than Colonel Marchand, of Fashoda fame.
He could do for France in that country what few other
men could do, the prestige he gained there during his
journey being enormous.

Major F. Ciccodicola, the Italian Minister, was absent
when I was in Adis-Ababa, but I frequently met Don
Livio Gaetani, the first secretary, a versatile and able
young diplomatist, whose name is well known in con-
nection with the siege of the Pekin Legation, as well as
with a recent interesting expedition made by him in
South- Western Abyssinia. We might doubt the wisdom
of sending a military officer as Minister to Adis-Ababa,
however able he may be, after a disastrous war ; and,
in fact, the Italian envoy found himself from the begin-
ning a good deal handicapped in diplomatic negotia-
tions with the Emperor. Nor do I personally beUeve
that the extravagant presents constantl}^ given by
Italy to Menelik help much in restoring the prestige lost
during the war. It might of course be said that a military
officer was selected because Sir John Harrington, the
British Envoy, is also a colonel in the army, but
matters stand somewhat differently as regards Abys-
sinia in our case and in that of Italy.

Expense was certainly not spared by the Italians in
order to impress the Abyssinians, and formidable for-
tress-like towers of solid stone were built as a gateway
for the Italian Legation, which stands near the market

THE LEGATIONS

129

square. They seemed rather out of keeping with the
modesty of the buildings in the enclosure. The
Abyssinians were somewhat amused at seeing these
fortifications put up on one side of the enclosure, whereas
a galvanized wire — not even barbed — was deemed suffi-
cient to keep people out on every other side.

The Russian Legation buildings were outwardly the
most imposing, but perhaps when the new buildings of
our Legation are finished they will surpass in beauty
those of our Slay neighbours.

So far, the low native conical roofs and cylindrical
walls of the British Legation appear outwardly more like
a florid growth of mushrooms than the residence of
His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary; but the
buildings inside are extremely comfortable and well
furnished.

From the summit of the hill on which the Legation
stands one commands a fine view of Adis-Ababa — a lot
of huts in patches, like so many villages scattered upon
various hill summits, and the Kabana stream, one of
several intersecting Adis-Ababa. It was in this stream
that, returning from a party, a secretary of the Russian
Legation was carried away by the current and drowned,
so that getting about the Abyssinian capital is not always
quite so easy as it sounds.

Further one saw quite prominent in the landscape the
house of Dejaz Matjubado (commander of the right wing),
a two-storeyed house, with hundreds of soldiers' tents
pitched around it.

On the summit of the hill was a stone fort, and I was
told that upon many of the hill-tops commanding Adis-
Ababa similar forts were to be found.

Down below stood the spacious foundations for the

VOL. I Q

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

new British Legation, and, in fact, the stables of
soHd masonry were nearly completed when I left.
The living quarters for the humans connected with
the Legation will be constructed later on higher up
on the hill.

Sir John Harrington needs no words from my pen.
His work is too well known for me even to refer to it.
Perhaps, however, it is not so generally knowTi as it should
be, that this man, with his remarkable personal influence,
has been able to save British prestige in Abyssinia at
a moment when every atom of power had been lost
in that country, and that region was about to slip out of
our hands altogether.

To-day, thanks to the immense respect which our
Minister commands in Abyssinia, we have but httle to
fear in political competition with other nations. Anyone
who has travelled in Abyssinia can bear witness to the
absolute reverence which he commands from every side.
His good, honest advice to the Abyssinians is much
appreciated by Menelik, and undoubtedly the few bene-
ficial reforms that have so far been carried out in that
country have been due to a great extent to the sensible
suggestions made by the British Minister to the
Emperor.

Much attention was aroused by the estabhshment of
the Bank of Abyssinia, quite an event in Abyssinian
development, as the natives had so far been accustomed
to hoard their treasure. When it came to depositing
their silver and gold, they preferred to do so in a deep
hole in the ground rather than in financial concerns.
Perhaps they were not altogether to be blamed, but all
this may gradually change.

The National Bank of Egypt having obtained a con-

THE BANK OF ABYSSINIA

cession from His Majesty the Emperor Menelik for the
constitution of the Bank of Abyssinia, a company was
formed with a capital of half a million pounds sterling.
Shares were offered to the public on November 7th,
1905, and the result of the issue was satisfactory, the
required amount being subscribed many times over,
chiefly in Italy, Paris and London. The object of the
Bank was to transact commercial, financial, or indus-
trial, as well as banking, operations in Abyssinia.

By the concession given by Menelik the Bank obtained
the following privileges for fifty years :

That no other bank should be established in Menelik's
Empire ; that the Bank of Abyssinia alone should have
the right to issue bank-notes ; that the Government should
not by itself issue coinage of any kind, but that the
coinage should be made jointly with the Bank of
Abyssinia ; that all public funds should be confided to
the Bank, and Government payments effected by cheque
drawn upon the Bank. The Bank of Abyssinia was to
have the preference over the issue of all Government
loans, and the authorities were to establish warehouses
where merchants could deposit their goods as a guarantee
for the Bank's advances. The Government was further-
more to supply gratuitously the necessary sites for the
Bank buildings, its agencies and warehouses.

The employees of the Bank of Abyssinia were to
enjoy the same tariffs on the railway as Government
officials.

As the Emperor had taken the leading part in the
establishment of the Bank, it was hoped and expected
that the general mass of the people would support it.
Also, Ras-Makonnen at Harrar was one of the directors,
and it was beUeved that his influence would help con-
VOL. I. 9*

132

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

siderably in the success of the Bank. Great difficulty
was of course anticipated in starting business in a
country like Abyssinia, where the natives have no idea
whatever of the work of a bank, and no doubt the share-
holders and directors will have to show a great deal of
patience for the first few years, before any real headway
is made in that country.

Fortunately, according to the concession given, there
can be no opposition or competition. Foreigners of all
nationalities welcomed the arrival in Abyssinia of some
system by which business could be transacted in an
easier and safer way than it had been so far.

Perhaps the profits of the Bank will develop chiefly
with the growth of the agricultural resources of the
country. In order to bring this about, however, it is
necessary to establish first a sensible mode of trans-
port. Menelik, and with him all Abyssinians, I think,
are quick enough at choosing anything which is hkely
to be in their own interest.

The Bank has already obtained the entire control of
the national funds, and even the Emperor is obliged to
pay into the Bank the silver money as well as the gold
hoarded in the palace. Eventually, with this wealth to
fall back upon, paper money will be issued, repayable on
demand in gold or silver.

I was told that an attempt would be made to change the
obsolete currency of the country, only the time did not
seem ripe for that yet. The people of Ethiopia are still
so ignorant that it will take some time before they can
be made to change their old system.

One cannot help considering that a country with a
silver currency liable to fluctuations of exchange places
itself in a precarious situation in view of large purchases

AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR 133

from outside countries. The Bank will attempt to put
the currency on a gold basis as soon as practicable, a
change which should be welcomed in every way, especi-
ally by those having commercial relations with, or in,
Abyssinia.

The Bank was formally opened by the Emperor on
February 15th, 1906, at nine o'clock in the morning.
Menelik went over and inspected the various buildings,
and paid into the Bank a few thousand thalers, his being
the second transaction the Bank had made in Abyssinia,
the first business done actually before the Bank was
opened being with me in cashing money upon a letter
of credit.

The day the Bank was inaugurated, Menelik was sur-
prised to find that the Bank had not brought over a
lot of gold and silver into the country. Menelik had at
that time little idea in what the work of a bank really
consisted.

In order to avoid international complications, the
Bank of Abyssinia is not a purely English concern, but
is an international affair, with a Board of Directors, in
which one noticed names of many nationalities, and
with a cosmopolitan staff of employees. The Bank was
to have branches at Harrar and Dire-Dawa, and it was
proposed later on to establish one in Western Abyssinia
at Gori, as this point will some day be of great im-
portance, being on the Khartoum and Adis-Ababa route.

The idea of starting the Bank was due, I think, to
Lord Cromer and Sir John Harrington. Mr. D. P.
MacGilhvray was appointed Governor of the Bank of
Abyssinia, as he had gained much previous experience
in the Bank of Scotland, and then in the National Bank
of Egypt.

134

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Menelik at one time purchased a quantity of German
machinery, and estabhshed a mint in the Palace grounds,
where we have already seen him at work, but had so
far been quite unable to produce coins fit for circulation.
Efforts would probably be made to put the machinery in
order, but as the privilege of the concession does not
allow the Government to mint its own coin, it is doubtful
whether the machinery will ever be used again on a large
scale. The coinage could be struck in a better way at
a smaller cost in other countries.

The agricultural resources of Abyssinia may be con-
siderable some day, and, maybe, also the mineral. The
latter perhaps will be of secondary importance for a long
time to come. The Bank, if it has the strength to keep
alive for many years, should be in a way the means of
holding the country together, if all goes as expected.
Even the natives may eventually be induced to deposit
the money they now keep buried in order to prevent
robbery or extortion, but no doubt the task of teaching
them extra-civilized ways of doing business will by no
means be an easy one.

One should not lose sight, however, of the fact
that in Abyssinia there is at the present day immense
wealth in gold and silver money and in ivory lying
idle.

Owing to the peculiar way of administering justice,
in a country where no one speaks the truth and black-
mailing is usual, where the accused, whether innocent
or not, is not judged according to his crime, but is first
of all imprisoned and his property confiscated — the urs,
as the Abyssinians call it — it is no wonder if those who
possess wealth keep it carefully buried. Also, the fact
that a wife on divorcing her husband can claim half his

FORTIFICATIONS

135

fortune tends to promote this attitude of suspicion
towards all neighbours.

Enormous quantities of ivory, I am told, are buried
in Abyssinia, and are gradually getting spoiled. Menelik
has a vast amount of this valuable possession stored
away. Possibly ivory, with its ever-increasing value,
may be used some day as a deposit security in banking
concerns of Menelik' s Empire.

It is said that Menelik has considerable sums of money
buried at Ankober, in the mountains north-east of
Adis-Ababa, and also at Mongoresa. In the latter place
and upon the mountains of Tadetchimalka, where he has
built extensive fortifications, he is declared to have
stored munitions of war. There are there two Krupp
guns, perhaps the best he possesses, which were formerly,
in the time of Emir Abdull-Ali, at Harrar. All the rest
of his artillery consists mostly of old Italian mountain
guns of small calibre, taken from the Italians during the
Erithrean war. They have not been cared for, and they
are now practically useless.

136

CHAPTER XIII.

It did not take long for me to make up a fresh caravan.
On a Saturday afternoon, which is the market day for
horses and mules, I purchased, with the assistance
of my friend, Mr. MacGiUivray, some twent3^-four or
twenty-five animals, which, with others I possessed,
were sufficient to carry aU my loads. In fact, I actually
loaded only two-thirds of the animals at a time, the
others going along empty. This enabled me to march
quickly, being able to change the loads from the tired
mules every three days, each animal taking its turn in
having a rest.

With the usual rabble of Abyssinian muleteers, a
troublesome lot at best to deal wdth, I despatched my
caravan from Adis-Ababa on Februar^^ 13th, and
on the i6th, with relays of horses which had been placed
on the road for me by Sir John Harrington, I started
at 8.15 a.m. along the good and only slightl3-rising
road as far as Adis-Alem, a distance of some thirty
miles.

I was to cover three marches in one day in order to
catch up my caravan, so I had to put on a good speed.
There were thousands of soldiers along the road, carry-
ing wood for some construction in which the Emperor
was interested.

Menelik's way of obtaining building materials is

ADIS-ALEM

137

quaint enough. If he wishes to put up another building,
in the Palace, for instance, or a church somewhere,
he rides out upon his mule and picks up a stone or a
piece of wood, which he carries back upon his shoulders
to the Palace, or to the spot where the erection is to
be made. The thousands of soldiers who always follow
him must imitate his example, so that by the evening
plenty of building material is already at hand.

The soldiers were most impudent, hooting and making
unpleasant remarks on foreigners in general as I went
along. At Manangasha, where I had relays of horses
waiting for me, the soldiers were particularly offensive
while the saddles of our animals were being changed, and
it required patience to avoid an unpleasant row. As far
as the language went, I think they got back quite as
much as they gave, possibly more.

All the people we met on the road were armed to their
teeth, but I had nothing on me, not even my courbash,
which had gone ahead with my sayce and my own
horse.

The country was getting less barren than on the east
side of Adis-Ababa. We crossed one or two dirty
streamlets.

At Adis-Alem the Emperor's former palace, which
is painted white, stands on the top of the hill, with a
number of humbler buildings in native style around it
within an enclosure. There is a good road leading
direct to this palace from Adis-Ababa. Several European
buildings are found a short distance before reaching
Adis-Alem, inside the extensive barbed wire enclosure.

On our right were the Metcha Mountains, which, at
a first glance, had the appearance of being thickly
wooded, but as a matter of fact were only sparsely covered

138

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

with trees. There were many shrubs close together,
which, at a distance, looked Hke a forest.

As we galloped along the road, under the shade of
every solitary tree ugly women, usually in couples, sat
with sacks of grain for sale to passing travellers and
caravans.

In the afternoon, at 3.20 p.m., I reached the Hawash
river, where I made my camp somewhat higher than the
stream at an elevation of 7,410 feet, having ridden about
eighty kilometres in shghtly over seven hours, including
a short rest for lunch.

I left the Hawash the next morning in a pouring
rain, and marched along rolling country with good
pasture land all the way. This part of the country is
inhabited by the Galla, who possess thousands of cattle.

We met many caravans all along ; one particularly,
in charge of a few muleteers, a big caravan of mules
laden with sacks full of thalers. This caravan was to
travel right across the country as far as the most western
point of Menelik's empire. One could not help being
impressed by the security in these barbarous countries,
a security which, indeed, is not so common in more
civilized lands. Comparisons are always odious, but it
is to be doubted whether a caravan carrying several
thousand pounds sterling in solid silver, not locked up
in strong boxes, but in mere bags, the mouths of which
were fastened with a string, could travel with equal
safety across London and reach its destination, not
only in safety, but at all.

We were marching between two ranges, one to the
north, the Metcha mountains, which extended a greater
length and were higher than the range to the south,
the Tulinencha, which consisted more of a series of

Galla.

PICTURESQUE GALEA

139

rounded hills. The Tiilutatcha mount was the nearest
to us, with a solitary tree upon its summit. As we
went along, the Metcha range was only slightly wooded
near the summit. Lower down all the wood had been
destroyed in order to supply Adis-Alem and Adis-Ababa
with wood for fuel and construction. In fact, all this
country, both east and west of Adis-Ababa, which,
before the time of the Abyssinian occupation, was very
thickly wooded, is now getting absolutely barren.

Further on I was travelling practically due west
over transverse undulations, with not a tree except
in the far distance, and grass burnt yellow by the heat
of the sun. We came across many Galla, some with
picturesque leopard skins draped over the shoulders.

From the camp at Metcha, where there was a limpid
little stream flowing into the Hawash, we rose to
7,850 feet, and obtained before us a view of the extensive
plain. Here and there were a few metcha trees, from
which the place has taken its name, and the resin of
which is quite good to eat.

The Kulluka, or NuUuka, stream, flowing north-
wards into the Gouder and then into the Didessa, was
the biggest we had met since leaving Adis-Ababa. At
the village Ambo, some little distance down in the
valley on our right, were to be found hot springs said
by the Galla to be good for rheumatism and other
complaints. An Abyssinian church had also been built
there.

Beyond, to the north-north- west of us, opened a broad
gorge with precipitous sides. Having marched some
six hours from the Hawash, we met again the giant
cacti, the kulgual (called hadanta by the Somali), which
was so common near Harrar.

140

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

More Galla women with shaggy hair sticking up above
the head and cut straight at the shoulders were met
with. They were not particularly attractive, with
their unwashed faces and limbs and skinny pendant
breasts with extraordinary extended black nipples.
Some were simply dressed in the usual sack-like gowns
of dirty white, others were further decorated with broad
red beads. Blue bead armlets and necklaces, and also
bracelets, were occasionally worn. One thing that struck
the observer was the pretty shape of their feet, small
and daintily formed, whilst the hands were plump,
almost swollen, probably owing to the amount of rough
work the women do in the GaUa country. We found
here again the skirt of tanned leather, or else a mere kind
of apron enveloping the body from the waist to the
knee.

The Galla are, taking things all round, a great im-
provement on the Abyssinians, both physically and
morally. They have a keen eye for business and arrange
their manners accordingly. The men are not devoid of
good looks, nor are the women when young, as they
possess an untamed appearance about them which
is not unattractive. They have most lascivious eyes
and lips. Unlike women in countries where weights are
carried upon the head, who have a graceful stride, the
Galla women walk rather badly, with the upper portion
of the body at an angle forward, as they are accustomed
to carry big round pots of butter or vessels containing
water resting upon the back at the waist, and supported
in that position by a rope across the chest bones and
over the shoulders.

At a place called Tulidumtu there were two great
roads branching one to Gori towards the south-west,

PHOTOGRAPHY UNDER DIFFICULTY 141

the other towards the north-west, both eventually
leading to Khartoum. The elevation twenty feet above
the stream was 7,180 feet. This being a market place,
we stopped a whole day in order to buy provisions for
my men and to make other purchases from the many
Galla who came round the camp to sell animals and
food.

I took advantage of this halt and of the excellent
water in the stream to do some photographic work,
and spent a good portion of the night developing
negatives under my tent, a tiresome and trying labour
when upon the road.

On February 19th we again made a start. Loading
the mules generally took a long time, and we never
got away from camp before seven or eight o'clock in
the morning. I did not mind this, as I always prefer
to march during the day, no matter how warm it is,
than to make night marches, which I abhor.

We rounded the dome-topped hill of Tulidumtu,
and we proceeded along grassy, undulating country
with many metcha trees and numerous Galla huts with
patches of cultivation round them. We found our-
selves practically surrounded by fairly-wooded moun-
tains, the Toke Toke range close to us to the west.
Then over fairly well-cultivated country with the Agomza
mountains to the right of us, we descended in a very
narrow groove of clay mud, extremely slippery, down
to a river called Tukur, which, in Abyssinian, means
" black." It is called so because the forest is rather
thick in this part, and down by the water the over-
hanging vegetation somewhat prevents the rays of the
sun penetrating.

As we had descended, on the other side of the stream.

142

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

we had to rise up to a pass 8,350 feet high, going through
luxuriant vegetation with beautiful ferns. We then
descended one hundred feet into an immense undulating
valley of bright green, then of yellow grass, the first
portion reminding one strongly of a Swiss pasture land.
We went along across this valley as there was no drink-
ing water, and further the grass was too dry for my
animals. We saw a few Galla homes. Then we neared
a stream at about i p.m. After that we continued our
journey on a flatter part of the valley, upon which the
grass had been destroyed altogether by fire.

On the right, to the north, near by were verdant
hills, with trees upon them, and Galla villages at the
foot. On the left, to the south, were also verdant hills
a long way off above a great stretch of bright yellow
grass extending for many miles without a single tree.
Behind us to the east we left a high range now hardly
visible beyond a sheet of torrential rain.

Marching was cool that day, the sky being clouded
and occasional refreshing showers coming down upon
us. We were travelling practically due west on a fair
trail, keeping at an elevation of over 8,200 feet all along
the highest point of the northern section of the valley.
The valley can roughly be divided into two longitudinal
sections running from east to west and with double
inclines, one from north to south and one south to north
respectively, converging towards a central depression
dividing the valley in the centre. There were, of course,
also transverse undulations.

Galla men came in the evening with presents of goats
and butter, when we made camp. The butter would
not be bad if it had not a peculiar flavour which comes
of mixing with it something, also from the cow, but

GALLA HOMES

143

unclean according to European notions. The milk
also is spoiled in a similar manner. My men, however,
liked both milk and butter. Personally, except in cold
countries, I never touch butter, and never at any time
drink milk, even when pure, and I most certainly draw
the line at Galla mixtures.

I was able to purchase barley for my animals, a lot
of chickens, and most delicious breads, three feet in
diameter, which the Galla made for me. These breads
were baked between two large concave iron dishes placed
in inverted order one above the other and sealed all
round with cow's dung. We purchased a great many
eggs, which were always welcome, being a most sus-
taining food.

I gave the chief some presents, but he said the
Galla were not a grasping people like the Abyssinians,
and they wished nothing for the few things they had
given me as a present. It was the duty of any
Galla to receive white people travelling through the
country hospitably. These people spoke highly of
the Marchand expedition and how kind that leader
was to all the natives when the French marched across
Abyssinia in the reverse direction to mine as far as
Adis-Ababa.

I was interested in the construction of Galla huts
and went to visit some. By the aid of candles — the
huts being so dark that it was impossible to see inside
even when there was bright sunhght outside— I inspected
several of the interiors. I crept in through a low
door. In the centre was a fireplace with the usual three
stones forming a triangle, upon which were iron plates
plastered over in the local fashion while baking bread.
Above the fireplace, slightly towards the entrance, hung

144

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

a grating seven feet long. There was a raised portion
where the people slept on a bed of straw, also in front
of the fire ; while a few pots, pans and milk jars were
kept in the central place, and a few spears stuck along
the wall. Upon another raised portion the milk and the
grain were kept, as well as all kinds of plates, etc., made
of closely-plaited basket-work. A few low stools carved
out of a solid block of wood and a few wooden pillows
were to be seen on the raised platform on which the
people slept.

In some huts, which possessed a bigger door, a portion
of the hut was reserved for small donkeys and calves.
They made part of the family.

The domed ceiling was constructed of basket-work
with bent sticks, and was about twelve feet high at its
highest point.

There was little else to notice in Galla habitations
except the pipes, made of a gourd in which was in-
serted an earthenware pipe with a channel four feet
long, the gourd resting on a specially-made basket upon
the ground. In these pipes the natives smoked tobacco
compressed into a greenish-black cake, mixed copiously
with dung. Its smell was sickening.

In the enclosure outside the hut cows were kept, and
many chickens in crates. Near the front door was a large
heap of dung.

The outer wall was made of posts close together, laced
up with split cane fastenings. One of these structures
took about eight to ten days to build, and in this opera-
tion all the friends gave a helping hand. The thatched
roof supported on the wall was also made of cane and
wood, and was held firm by the posts of the inner en-
closure inside the hut. Over the door, a removable

THE KODA-KAYA

145

cane matting was used for preventing people coming in.
The entrance of the hut was reached after going into an
enclosure made of rough branches of trees, with a pen
near the entrance door. The portion used as a stable
had a separate door, kept closed with a mat.

The spears which were found in the interior of their
houses possessed long, oval iron heads. The rod was
about seven feet long. They were mostly throwing
spears.

In olden times Galla messengers carried a double-
headed spear, upon showing which they could proceed
anywhere unharmed. Galla chiefs wore curious hats
decorated with shells, and they made their shields —
the maya Galla — of bullock hide with a rim turned over
all round.

Both in the Galla and Kaffa countries a curious
instrument is to be found much in use, the koda-kaya
(in Galla), or heshe kullo (in Kaffa). It is an earthenware
arrangement used for the artificial contraction of feminine
organs. It consists of a small covered pan, with a
handle on one side and four perforations in its upper
face, with a fifth to which a cylindrical short tube is
attached. In this receptacle a powder called the hesye
is burned, the smoke of which is said to produce the
desired effect.

VOL. I.

146

CHAPTER XIV.

From Camp Tukuri, which is at a greater elevation than
the plain we had crossed to reach it, one obtained a fine
view looking back the way we had come. The plain
spread roughly from south-east to north-west. To the
south we had what at a distance appeared to be a beau-
tiful forest, but in reality was a mere optical illusion
such as we had had before, and when we got nearer
proved to be a scantily- wooded hill range. To the
south the sky-line was quite low, over wooded hills
rising but a few hundred feet above the level of the
plain. In the north-easterly portion the plain was
burned black for some square miles up to the rounded
hill which we had passed before reaching Tukuri. In
the south-western portion of the plain rose a conical
wooded hill.

Tukuri village was at an elevation of 8,390 feet,
whereas the plain was at an average elevation of 8,100
feet.

The next morning, about an hour after leaving camp,
we went over a pass 8,420 feet high, after crossing which
we were confronted with an unpleasantly slippery
descent. We were ankle deep in shmy, oily mud, at
such a steep angle that men and animals had great
difficulty in keeping erect. We descended into a small
basin thickly wooded with ghirar trees. From the

DEADLY FRUIT AND WATER 147

metcha, sometimes also called mercha, gum is extracted.
We had great trouble with the caravan, men and mules
tumbling down all the time, and the loads were reduced
to a filthy condition.

There was quite thick forest on all the hills around
us, and by ten o'clock we were traversing delightful
country, with beautiful ferns, raspberry bushes and
occasional date palms. Now and then we came upon
huge fig-trees, the fruit of which was not bad to eat.
Every now and then, however, as we lustily bit large
chunks out of these fine-looking figs, we found our
mouths and faces swarming with ants, of which the
fruit was full — quite an unpleasant sensation.

Much tempting wild fruit of all kinds could be seen
as we went along, but it is dangerous to experiment,
as most of the fruit one finds is poisonous. The very
pretty, small yellow fruit, no bigger than a plum, called
the ombai, and a small red berry, the indoholla, and which
grow plentifully in bushes, are both inedible.

We were here in a region of beautiful vegetation,
with the gigantic sigba trees and the huge uarca trees, the
latter having most powerful-looking contorted branches.
The undergrowth was quite thick in this region and
thorns innumerable. There were all kinds of creepers
and mimosas. Among the flowers, most common of all
were the violet-centred convolvuli and the jessamines.

At last, towards noon, having descended nearly all
the time through thick vegetation, we emerged in a
flat, open, grassy plain, one mile wide, and surrounded
by wooded hills at an elevation of 6,580 feet. Shortly
after, at 6,450 feet, we came to a pool of evil-tasting
water filtering through a rock. The Galla say that it
is poisonous ; in fact, quite deadly.

VOL. I. 10*

148

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

We continued our journey on the flattish grassy plain,
and early in the afternoon, after going through two un-
dulating valleys full of high grass, unpleasantly hot and
stuffy to travel through, we crossed the stream Ualtinak,
an important little watercourse.

We camped at three o'clock a little further on at a
place called Danno, where a few Galla huts were to be
found. The Galla, as usual, were extremely polite
Many of them came to my camp applying for medicinal
treatment. They have an idea that every white man is
a doctor able to cure any complaint. So during the
whole afternoon people kept streaming in : some with
sore throats ; one, an old man, wanted to have his sight
and hearing restored to him ; others suffering from in-
digestion, headache, and last, but not least, numerous
people complaining of toothache. I generally carry a
pair of forceps, which are serviceable when I have
nothing else to do in camp, as many people come to
have their teeth pulled out. I do not know whether
I always remove the aching tooth, but I generally go
on with my work until the pain I cause them quite
obliterates the pain they had before, and they go away
quite satisfied.

In Abyssinia, venereal complaints of the most terrible
kind are general, but little relief could be given, as
it is not possible to cure in a few moments complaints
of the blood which have descended upon the people for
generations. Some had ghastly-looking sores.

Provisions were certainly not dear at this place,
although we had difficulty in finding a suitable currency
to pay for what we purchased ; even Gras cartridges,
which had so far been useful to us in marketing, were
here accepted with difficulty. My servant bought for

GALLA CIVILITY

149

me a chicken and six eggs, as well as some delicious Galla
barley bread, for the large sum of one cartridge, the
value of which would be about twopence. Money of
any kind was of no use here, and Gras cartridges were
useful to few, as the Galla are not a warlike race. They
are mere workers of the land, and only indulge in spears
for their protection. They seldom possess rifles.

Salt, another useful article of barter, they would only
accept in compressed form.

These Galla villages were always interesting, with
children running about absolutely naked, or with only
a goat skin slung upon the back. The Galla were always
civil as one met them on the road, invariably dismount-
ing from their horses as we passed by and doubling
themselves up in a profound bow. They raised their
right hand to their lips and kissed it when no oppor-
tunity offered to do that to my hand.

Here, too, as in the Danakil country, they were not
fond of shaking hands with strangers. It would be
difficult to eradicate a certain natural suspicion of
treachery they entertain. Like the Danakils, they
quickly withdrew the hand in an apprehensive manner
when greeted in European fashion.

We passed many date-palms upon the road, and
pretty flowers of all sorts. The vegetation was per-
plexingly entangled in the wooded parts. We then
came to three open grassy valleys, which we crossed.
Danno village was slightly higher than the stream
(5,700 feet). Here we saw a gigantic uarca tree.

When starting with a new caravan of mules there is
plenty of work cut out for oneself and followers during
the first few days until the animals get reconciled to
their new mode of life. They kick and bite one another ;

I50 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

they purposely collide^ with disastrous results to the
loads ; and in passages where only one mule at a time
could go through, three or four would make a rush to
go in at the same time. Result : all the loads twisted
or scattered upon the ground. It required a great deal
of patience to re-adjust the loads time after time every
day.

In the afternoon, of course, the quadrupeds had to
be let loose to graze, and getting them back into camp
at night and tethering them by the leg to a picket line
was not so easy as it sounds.

Of course, when you require to make up a caravan
quickly, you have to purchase what animals you can,
and not always what you would like to get. Many of
the mules I had got had been accustomed to being
ridden, and rebelled somewhat when loads were placed
upon their backs. Others had never been used for any-
thing at all, and we had many exciting scenes of buck-
jumping and stampeding when we were loading them to
make a departure the first mornings. It was, however,
amazing how intelligent these animals were, and how
methodical in their habits. In three or four days they
became well trained, and they would themselves know
exactly what to do at the right moment. They would
every day take the same position in the caravan's pro-
cession, and at night, when they were fetched into camp,
they would of their own accord put themselves in a row
along the picket line to have their legs fastened for the
night. Grass, and when obtainable, barley, was served
out to them along this line in the evening. It made a
great difference in the next day's marching when I
could obtain a lot of barley for them, as the grazing was
not sufficient for our long marches.

THE INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS 151

Particularly interesting was the fondness that all the
mules had for my stallion, whom they followed every-
where. All that was necessary to bring the mules back
to camp was to lead the horse to be tethered. The mules
would follow him and be as gentle as possible. But if
the horse took it into his head to get away on a wild
gallop when he was to be fetched back, then we had a
great deal of trouble before us. All the mules would
gallop behind him and get much excited, and they
took us sometimes for runs on foot of several miles before
we could get them back to camp.

I must say for the Abyssinian muleteers that they
always enjoyed running all over the country after the
animals, and it gave them plenty to talk about in the
evening over the camp fires. Sometimes they would sit
up the greater part of the night talking over the inci-
dent, repeating the same story over and over again
dozens of times, each time accompanied by roars of
laughter.

The Abyssinians are inveterate talkers, especially at
night. I remember one day mounting one of my mules
instead of my horse. The saddle which fitted the horse
was somewhat too big for the mule, the girdle being quite
loose as I was riding. Going down to a stream, the mule
slid down the high, steep, muddy bank of the river, and
the impetus was so great when we plunged into the
water that the saddle and myself upon it slid on to the
animal's head. The Abyssinians rushed after me, and
just saved me from having an involuntary bath. It was,
of course, comical to see the mule with the saddle and
rider upon its head instead of upon its back, but this
incident lasted the Abyssinians a whole week, and
caused more merriment in my camp than anything that

152

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

happened during the whole journey, the entire first night
particularly being spent roaring over this natural and
somewhat trivial event.

What is called in Abyssinia "the small rainy season "
had arrived. We had heavy rain all day, the greater
part of the night, and early the next morning when we
were about to leave.

It was not till eight o'clock that we made a departure
on February 21st, and within the next two hours we
crossed three streams. We were traveUing over undu-
lating, open, grassy land, with occasional Galla huts and
some cattle grazing. We came upon another huge
uarca tree which had fallen, and which was over ten feet
in diameter. Then we descended to a stream shghtly
under six thousand feet. To the west-north- west, at
10.30 a.m., we had a high range before us, the Oua
Corma mountains, and to the south-west there was
a curious conical peak, with a peculiar columnar
appearance, which at a distance resembled a basaltic
formation. It showed at its summit rock similar
to the one on a smaller scale that we had passed,
about half an hour earlier, upon an isolated hill, which
we had left to the north.

The country we travelled over was pretty, but of
no particular interest. Here and there a Galla passed,
carrying a load of honey upon the head. The Galla
possess many bee-hives, which they hang high on the
top branches of big uarca trees.

At eleven o'clock, while rounding the conical hill
which I have mentioned above, somewhat peculiar
scenery disclosed itself before me to the north-west ;
a great fiat stretch of countr}^ with an isolated domed
hill slightly elongated on its northern side being pro-

A MEAN ADVANTAGE

153

minent in the landscape. To the west was a high peak,
I think the Tulugergo. We traversed this big plain,
which only had short grass upon it ; there were distant
high blue mountains to the north and north-east — quite
a long range ; while to the south and to the west, except
for the high peak which I have mentioned, were merely-
low hills. To the north-west of the plain was a gap with
one gigantic grey rock several hundred feet in height,
and also another hill of a similar formation.

We then came to the Gibby (or Djibbe) river, which
is about thirty yards wide, flows at this point in a
direction from north-west to south-east, and, together
with many tributaries, and under the further names of
Guibie and Omo, flows into the northern part of Lake
Rudolph, through the Guragha, the Ualamo, the Kullo,
the Tsara, the Bacia and the Damoo countries. The
elevation of the river at the point where I crossed
it was 5,210 feet. We had here an amusing
incident.

I met several Kaffa women on the road, travelling
in the same direction as we were. I had endeavoured
to photograph them ; but they had shown great fright,
and refused to be taken. When we got to the stream,
I crossed first upon my horse, and having got my camera
ready, waited for the women to wade over across the
water, carrying their loads upon their backs, when they
would be quite helpless. It was taking a mean advan-
tage, I confess. When they got quite near, where the
current was stronger, I produced my camera and took
the photograph. The poor women were so scared that
they for one moment hesitated whether to go back or
come along. They lost their footing and disappeared
under water. We had to go to their rescue and pull

154

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

them out of the stream in a drenched condition and
extremely frightened.

We came across nothing interesting as we went along.
We rose and descended over many undulations covered
with such high grass that we were unable to see more
than a yard or so in front of us. It was only in the
afternoon that we found ourselves upon a height from
which we gazed down upon a valley with a two-humped
hillock in the centre of it and a verdant conical hill in
its north-western part. To the south-west a high moun-
tain range now disclosed itself in all its glory, heavy
bluish-black shadows, like spots of violet ink, being cast
upon it by the numberless, heavy, globular clouds in the
sky. These mountains were, I think, the Mounts of
Gabano, and further south-west Mount Sadero. A
strange peak of reddish-brown colour stood up on
these mountains, in shape so sharply pointed a cone
as to resemble when seen edgewise an immense
monolith.

At 2.30 in the afternoon we crossed a small stream,
and at three o'clock another stream flowing from north
to south. The elevation of the place was 5,480 feet.
Then we rose to 5,700 feet over a hill on the side of the
valley. Here we came to more ghirar trees. Along the
trail we found large black beans, good to eat and not
unlike cassia in flavour.

There were Galla graves near the trail. They con-
sisted of a circle of stones some two feet high and four
in diameter filled in with earth, with a central stone pillar
rising about one foot above the grave. At the camp
where we stopped at four o'clock in the afternoon there
was another of these graves, more elaborate, and oblong
in shape. It was five feet long and was entirely covered

Author's caravan fording the Gil)by river.

HAIR BLEACHING

155

with big stones. Above it a shed with a thatched roof
had been erected.

The women in the Galla country do all the work. We
met many of them near villages carrying huge loads of
grass. One young woman had bleached her hair artifi-
cially, and thought herself beautiful. This bleaching
habit has come to Western Abyssinia, I think, from
the country of the Nuers, at the foot of the Abyssinian
plateau further west. In fact, as we went further
towards the west this custom was more frequently in-
dulged in by the Galla.

Nono was the name of the camp (5,600 feet) at which
we stopped. On this side of the mountains all the rivers
flowed towards the south, volcanic rock showing through
in many places, especially when washed bare near the
streams. The hills on either side of us were particularly
denuded of earth and rock, and a vertical columnar for-
mation such as we had already met on our journey
prevailed.

We left at 7.30 the next morning, and began to
rise almost immediately upon a bad and steep trail.
We found a barrier on the trail, where an Abyssinian
military post was stationed, and Menelik's pass was
demanded in a rude fashion without even a salute. As
I am in the habit of treating people as they treat me,
I gave orders to my men to go on and take no notice of
the Abyssinian soldiers, to whom I did not even reply.
The soldiers ran after us. I treated them with absolute
contempt, and made them sweat going up the steep hill
after my mules. The men in charge of the post were
getting perplexed, and refused to let us go on if we did
not possess a pass. As they were getting excited and
insolent, I gave orders to my men to tell them to keep

156

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

behind. The fellows got extremely anxious, and dis-
covering they were dealing the wrong way with us
became more submissive. They entreated me to show
a pass, if I had one, or else we must go back, or they
would be severely punished.

I would hear of nothing, and made them struggle up
to the top of the pass (6,400 feet). Before reaching this
point we passed a Galla village, with its neat httle
store-houses of basket-work, cylindrical in shape, four
to five feet in diameter, seven feet high, with conical
thatched roofs. They were raised upon supports one
to two feet high. Then we passed along a higher hill
range, where we got to 6,650 feet. Further we reached
an elevation of 6,700 feet. Towards ten o'clock we
came upon the first stream that day. We still could
see the high mountain range to the south. Rising still
higher upon a grassy hill (6,950 feet) we obtained from
the summit a lovely view of the southern range with most
wonderful cloud effects half-way up the slopes. A fine
valley extended along its foot from east to west. On
the north we had hills close by, with high mountains
beyond.

I stopped to look at the scenery, the Abyssinian
soldiers worrying me all the time to produce the pass.
They were quite sure by now that I did not possess one,
and they entreated me to go back. When I did produce
Menelik's letter with its huge circular seal upon it, the
effect was magical. They could not read a word of it,
but the sight of the Imperial seal was quite enough for
them. They saluted their Emperor's writing in the
humblest of fashions, and they wiped their hands upon
their trousers before touching it. They then raised
the paper to their foreheads and made a grand bow. They

MENELIK'S PASS

157

asked me what the letter said, and begged me to halt
until they could go back to their huts and bring me bread,
meat and presents of whatever they possessed. Their
obsequiousness and politeness after they had seen
Menelik's letter was amazing. They could not do
enough for us.

158

CHAPTER XV.

There were some poetic spots upon the trail, and every
now and then we disappeared under groves of jessamines
embalming — the jessamines, not we — the air with
delicious scent. The flowers were pretty and mostly
yellow. Under fig-trees we always stopped to gather
and eat what fruit we could. Thorns were in profusion,
and tore bits of one's skin and clothes as one went by.

Menelik had established a telephone line as far as
Gori. We struck it at this place. It had certainly
been well laid, with substantial poles inserted in solid
cairns of stones. Many yards on either side of the hne
had been cleared of vegetation, and a straight cut was
there formed in the forest over the succession of hills.

Towards noon that day we arrived at the top of
a hill, 6,650 feet high. To the west and north-west
we were overlooking a more or less barren, browTi, un-
dulating slope, with domed hillocks scattered over it,
especially in the north-western part. In the west was
the Salle, a high table-land extending in an almost flat
Hne towards the west-north-west, and as we got a first
view of it in its entirety we could discern in a bluish
haze beyond it in the same direction another high table-
land, which also formed an almost straight skyline,
interrupted only by a higher peak in its central portion.
In the extreme south, as far as our view extended, the

GALLA CULTIVATION

159

range seemed to get higher and the summits more
broken up.

Having descended to 5,310 feet, we came to a small
stream which, unlike the others we had met, flowed
in a northerly, instead of a southerly, direction. After
crossing a grassy plain we came upon another river
at the lower elevation of 4,950 feet, and yet another,
slightly below the level of the plain, in which it has
cut a groove (4,920 feet), and also flowing from south
to north. This last river was quite broad. All three
eventually flowed into the larger stream called the
Didessa.

Further we skirted rocky hills, and in some portions
we followed all along the immense clearing, over twelve
yards wide, for the telephone wire, even beautiful uarca
trees, which stood in the way, having been sacrificed.
Uarca trees have most beautifully-shaped branches, the
image of vigour and grace with their clean, smooth,
white bark.

After a good many ups and downs, and passing
through large settlements, we proceeded along fairly
level country until 3.45 p.m., when we made camp
in a pretty spot where several low domed sheds had been
erected by passing Galla. The country was fairly well
cultivated near these settlements, and we saw structures
on high piles where the Galla, mounting by means of
primitive ladders, kept a watch over their crops. The
Galla till the ground with a wooden arrangement
drawn by oxen, which merely scrapes the surface soil.
A yoke is used for the oxen almost identical with that
found in most European countries. The Galla need
few implements in their agricultural pursuits, the soil
being extremely fertile. For chopping wood, an axe

i6o ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

with a small triangular blade attached to a heavy stick
is employed.

As we went further west, we began to notice the
influence of black races upon the Galla type. Keane
classifies them as Hamites ; the Abyssinians {viz., the
Tigrins and the Amhara, who are platyoprosopic, that
is, among whom flat faces predominate) ; and the Nbogos,
he counts as belonging to the Himyaritic branch of
Semites. The Galla are, of course, much darker than
Himyaritic tribes, owing to the geographical position of
their country and their nearer contact with negroid
races.

We had made our camp near a small stream flowing
northwards at an elevation of 4,900 feet. On February
23rd we made an early start, proceeding over undulat-
ing country at no greater height than 5,200 feet, marching
mostly west-south-west towards an isolated mountain,
shaped like a section of a cone with a missing top.

All waters flowed towards the north. We descended
to 4,650 feet, and travelled along flat, grassy,
open country, meeting with a small stream towards
eleven o'clock. Beyond this the country again became
undulating and showed a sprinkling of metcha and
uarca trees.

We kept at an elevation of between 4,700 and
4,800 feet, and soon left the broken-cone mountain to
the south and the low range of hills beyond it. To the
north-west was a high range in the bluish haze of the
distance, while a domed and a conical hill stood side
by side in the middle foreground, being the spurs of
a range of higher hills of similar formation. Having
risen again as high as 5,920 feet, we obtained yet another
fine view of the surrounding country.

THE DIDESSA RIVER

i6i

The Custom House of Ras Olde Gorgis we reached
before we got to a small stream, which, at this point,
flowed south, but further described a curve northwards
and discharged itself into the larger Didessa river, a
wide and swift stream at which we arrived in the after-
noon.

There was a primitive ferry where the Didessa was
some fifty yards wide. The depth of the water after the
heavy rains was too great to take our loads across upon
the mules, so we spent the best part of two hours in
conveying the baggage across in a small dug-out,
piloted by a Galla, whose knowledge of navigation was
slight. He never landed his passengers and goods twice
in the same spot. Sometimes he drifted down stream
with the strong current for long distances, causing
me anxiety. The Galla was indeed rather at the
mercy of his canoe than the canoe under control of the
Galla.

The Didessa was the first deep and difficult river
we had so far met, so the mules were reluctant in entering
the water, but eventually we were able to drive them
into the stream and we swam them across with no
serious mishaps ; they followed the horse led over by us
alongside the canoe.

There were plenty of hippopotami in the stream, and
during the evening and night we heard many of them
roaring and blowing. The river Didessa in this particular
portion came from the east, and, making a detour, flowed
in a north-westerly direction. We halted by the stream,
and for the first time I saw some of my men wash their
faces and hands in buckets of clear water from the
river.

During the afternoon many Gallas waded across

VOL I. II

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

the river with water up to their hps, shouting all
the time and holding their spears in readiness in
order to frighten crocodiles away, but I could on no
account get myAbyssinians to venture into the stream,
and all of them had to be conveyed across in the dug-
out. The river was here at an elevation of 5,370 feet.

Many Galla came into my camp, some pitiably
ill. Others had leprosy. One of these lepers to whom I
gave some carbolic soap to wash his sores with, returned
to camp later with some bread which he offered in sign
of gratitude.

The chief of the neighbouring village also brought
over some gifts of small round breads, so peppery that
they made my throat and palate ache for a considerable
time after I had tasted them.

Torrential rain came upon us during the night, and
in the morning a heavy mist hung over the river banks.
Mosquitoes were so numerous that sleep was impossible
during the night. We left shortly after seven o'clock
the next day, and first went over flat, grassy land, inter-
sected by two small streams. Then, towards nine
o'clock, at a place where the ground began to be more
undulating, we came upon Ras-Tassama's watchmen,
perched upon a high, covered shed.

Near this spot was an interesting Galla grave of
stones about six inches high, filled in with earth. It
had two vertical pillars in the centre, then a square
outer wall with two entrances on one side. At each
corner upon this wall were upright pillars. Occasionally
I noticed four wooden or stone pillars upon these Galla
graves.

By 9.30 we had reached a hilly region, 5,300 feet
high, with several little villages on our right. We rose

BUTTERFLIES.

163

still higher, to 5,450 feet, not far from the village of
Mullii Tunhe, a settlement of some thirty huts on the
hillside on our left. Each hut had a small store-house
near it. There were many natives about, those of
the better class with curious little umbrellas made of
basket-work, which they carried above the head in all
weathers rather as an emblem of dignity than for pro-
tection against the rain or sunshine.

In this region honey and tobacco were plentiful, and
we saw numbers of natives carrying loads of these goods
to various markets upon the road.

A new straight trail was gradually being formed
along the telephone line which we followed, being the
shortest. Before us we now had a range with conical
hills. I had great difficulty in identifying the names of
the various villages ; all I could get out of the natives
being that they all belonged to Ras-Tassama.

We gradually descended some four hundred feet, over
a trail rather rocky in some portions, but as a whole
quite good and well beaten. I think that Ras-Tassama's
army marching to Adis-Ababa did a good deal towards
improving this trail.

Another small stream flowing north was met with,
also a tributary on the western side of the Didessa.

I was astonished to find so few butterflies in that
region. Those which I saw were of no great beauty.
They were mostly the common white ones which are
met with in nearly every country ; also the small black
and white, the bright cadmium yellow, and one very
small with blue lower wings. I saw no large butter-
flies.

Serious trouble with my mules began here, as we
had made long marches and some of the animals were

VOL. I. II*

164

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

getting tired. One mule particularly was taken so
ill that it was all we could do to drag it into camp at
a market called Tchara (or Tiara), where we halted near
a most beautiful uarca tree of immense proportions.
Under its shade a number of men were selling sheep,
goats and mules.

The branches of this colossal uarca tree spread across
a diameter of one hundred and sixty-two feet. The trunk
was over twenty feet in circumference. The principal
beauty of this particular tree consisted in the wonder-
ful horizontal length of its powerful branches.

There was a great concourse of people, this being
market day, and great crowds collected at the unusual
sight of a ferenghi arriving.

On one side of a large square, perched upon stilts,
was the stand of the chief superintending the market.
In it a grey-bearded old man sat upon his haunches
giving wise judgment on all transactions concluded in the
market-place. For this, of course, he received a com-
mission in kind : cartridges, chips of cakes of compressed
salt, slices of meat, handfuls of grain, or anything —
always the utmost — that people could afford. He was
surrounded by a struggling crowd as he sat impassive
deciding all questions.

Adjoining this shed was the vegetable market,
where goods lay spread upon the ground. Galla spinach
predominated, exhibited by unattractive females with
little or no clothing around them.

In another section of the market locally-grown
cotton made into thread and generally dyed red was
for sale.

Several thousand people from the neighbouring
country — all men being armed with spears — were attend-

{

HAIR DRESSING

165

ing this market. They followed me about like a human
wave from one section of the market to the other, as I
prowled around. I was amazed at the respectful de-
meanour and dignity of these people, in contrast to the
Abyssinian arrogance with which we had so far been
treated.

These people were quiet and silent, ready to answer
poUtely any question, and making way wherever I went
so as to let me pass by. There was nothing at all of
the usual idiotic derision and effrontery — sometimes
even insult — so frequent in purely Abyssinian centres.

Knives, locally-made pottery, and bundles of long
canes for house-building, were to be purchased in
different sections of the market.

A variation in the head-dress of the Galla women
was here to be noticed. The hair was tied into a conical
tuft upon the top of the skull with a fringe of little tresses
radiating from the base of this cone. Others preferred
a fluffy arrangement of great size upon the head, not
unlike a bird's nest upside down. A few only indulged
in the Galla fashion, common further east, of plaits
in concentric arcs of a circle along the side of the head
with the ear as a centre. A great many ladies of this
region dyed their hair of a dirty whitish-brown colour.

The type of these people was gradually but con-
tinually changing as we went further west. We could
see here flat-faced tribes with broad noses and skins of
a dark brown-black.

Eye complaints were general, caused not so much by
climatic influences, I think, but mostly due to virulent
deterioration of the blood, quite universal in this
region.

Comparatively young women were of no beauty from

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

an anatomical point of view. They had extraordinarily
pendent breasts, the arms and legs were ill-proportioned,
the joints malformed or deformed, particularly the elbows
and the knees. The body was misshapen, possibly
because of the hard occupations and severe physical
efforts which the women have to endure in the Galla
country.

There are fashionable colours among African tribes
as there are in Europe, and fashions change continually.
Blue beads and brass bracelets were the fashion at the
time of my visit to Tchara. Only occasionally one saw
a dash of red in the men's shawls. The characteristic
basket-work umbrellas were carried both by men and
women.

To and fro upon the road leading to the market went
women carrying large red earthen jars and calabashes
with butter. Some of the smarter ladies were dressed
in gowns not unlike the garments of the ancient Greeks,
with a red border at the bottom and leaving one arm
exposed.

The men were finer specimens of humanity than the
women. They possessed square, bony faces and the
anatomical details of limbs and body were somewhat
better proportioned and chiselled. They lead a natural
and healthy out-of-door life.

All the Galla of this country were Mussulman. Of
late years the religion of Islam has made, and is making,
considerable headway in Abyssinia among the tribes akin
to the Galla. Perhaps some day this important Mussul-
man element in the population of Abyssinia may be a
great factor in upsetting the power of the ruling
Christians.

As I was writing my notes in the afternoon a man

AN UNDESIRABLE COMPANION 167

with haggard face and staring eyes and his body re-
duced to a skeleton by hunger, came into my camp —
evidently a case of insanity. Several wounds, which
were beginning to heal, had been inflicted upon his body,
and when he extended his arms imploring for food a
heavy iron chain hung from his wrists where it had
been soldered. He was a murderer. The state does
not keep its prisoners. When not killed outright they
are let loose about the country, driven away like pariah
dogs by everybody and obliged to lead a miserable
existence. This particular man was a raving lunatic
with criminal characteristics noticeable in the formation
of his skull and hands. The fingers were short and
square-tipped, the thumb repulsively malformed. The
forehead was low and narrow, the eyes close to the nose
and the cheekbones abnormally developed.

He entreated me to take him along with me on the
journey, but I thought a companion of this kind would
be rather undesirable, so I gave him food supplies to last
several days and persuaded him to leave my camp at his
earliest convenience.

This market was 5,120 feet above sea level. Due
north was a high, flatfish table-land, the Mounts Oua
Corma.

Watching the people provided some amusement.
Many women carried jars upon the back, at the waist,
in the usual Galla fashion, either by means of a cord
over the shoulders or else by simply joining the hands
at the back and supporting the weight partly with their
arms and partly upon the waist. Then there were lots
of Galla boys prowling about with no clothing whatever
upon them, and heads shaved with the exception of
a tuft of hair upon the top of the skull. The procession

i68

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

of people leaving the market in the afternoon was quite
interesting. The women who had done good business
during the day put on a great deal of style as they walked
off in great state with their dirty and broken-down
cane sunshades — not unlike, sometimes, much-worn
chimney sweeps' circular brushes.

The chief of the market came to call upon me,
inquiring whether he could be of any assistance. In
fact, he helped me to purchase a good deal of grain,
butter and other things from the natives.

We experienced a heavy thunderstorm in the
evening — in fact, we had had one nearly every night
since we started from Adis-Ababa.

i6g

CHAPTER XVI.

Up and down over undulating country we descended
to the stream, about one hundred feet lower than the
market-place, and about an hour from Tiara we came
to a larger rivulet flowing north. Further we crossed
the same stream a second time, flowing south. It des-
cribed a curve, bending subsequently towards the north
again, where we had met it before. From this spot we
began to rise over a hill range, the summit of which
(6,700 feet) we reached by an unpleasantly steep ascent,
and we continued travelling more or less at that eleva-
tion, and sometimes slightly higher, when we went over
ridges on the summit of the hill range.

Tiresome as these ascents were for my mules, I was
always glad to get upon these high points of vantage,
as generally lovely views were obtained of the landscape
around. In this case, looking back to the north-east,
we had the very high plateau we had seen before, the
Oua Corma, standing all along the skyline, and south of
it the valley we had traversed. Our old friend, the
broken conical peak we had met on our journey, stood
quite prominent in the landscape.

Owing to one of my mules being seriously ill, I only
made a short march that day, three men being employed
to drag the poor animal up the bad road.

I was furious with my Abyssinians that day for their

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

infamous cruelty. The head muleteer, who was left
to look after the sick animal, pulled out his knife, and
before I could stop him cut a good portion of the mule's
ear, in order, said he, to make the animal march faster.
He was, of course, then and there, severely punished
for it.

We eventually reached a village called Addis-Jebbo,
where, at the summit of a hill enclosed by a wall, were
three round buildings and a square one, the country-seat
of Ras-Tassama. Near this palace was a hamlet.

As ill-luck would have it, my men obtained a big
pot of liquor from the village. During the afternoon,
while I was sleeping in my tent, there was a great com-
motion in camp. When I came out to see what was
the matter, I saw three of my men, knives in hand,
engaged in a fight. The Abyssinian soldiers I had with
me were making for their rifles, and they all seemed
excited. Only my Somali — always impassive on
such occasions — stood on one side with his hands
behind his back, watching events with a sarcastic smile
upon his countenance. He hated the Abyssinians, and
I believe he was glad to think that possibly that
day we might get rid of some of them.

Before I could determine exactly what the row was
about, the fight became general. Blows were exchanged
freely all round, as the men evidently took opposite
views in the quarrel. Taking from my tent the heaviest
rifle by its muzzle, I began to administer thumps
with the butt end of the rifle right and left, and
mostly in the face, indiscriminately to all the men
who were fighting, in order to separate them. The men
who brandished the knives got the severest knocks, and
with the help of Adem — the Somali— I disarmed them

A GENERAL FIGHT

171

and tied their hands. I conveyed one of the blood-
thirsty men a hundred yards from my camp towards
the west, where I tied him to a tree ; then I went back
and led the second irascible creature three hundred feet
to the east, and bound him to another tree. The third
cantankerous individual we dragged by the nape of his
neck an equal distance to the north and made fast with
ropes to a convenient ghirar.

Sentence : the whole day without food. They were
in a highly-intoxicated condition, and had to be shaken
considerably before they could be quieted down. Their
clothes had been torn to shreds in the fight, and they
were bleeding profusely. Fortunately, none of the
wounds were of a severe character. Their eyes, blood-
shot, were bulging out of the sockets with anger. One
fellow nearly bit a chunk off my hand when I was
tying him.

Abyssinians, in a way, possess some sense of humour.
The auxiliary combatants became amused at the punish-
ment inflicted on their companions, and after an ex-
cited conversation eventually quieted down, promised
to behave themselves, and went to sleep. The
prisoners, too, after a deal of copious salivation — they
spat angrily and shouted when anyone went by —
eventually collapsed with heads hanging loose, and
snored heavily. Late in the afternoon, when I untied
them, they were submissive and penitent.

The Abyssinians are by nature uncommonly quarrel-
some, and when drunk they are offensive to each other,
and difficult to handle.

There were many complaints of headaches and
bruises in my camp among the Abyssinians the
next morning, and the Somali took the greatest

172

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

pleasure in laughing at the aching muleteers and
soldiers.

We kept along the crest of the hill range at an
average elevation of 6,650 feet all along. There were
plenty of wild raspberry bushes. After crossing two
tiny streams, we arrived at the market of Bedelle (6,600
feet), upon a nice, fiat, green, grassy plain. The usual
long sheds were to be seen and the small tower for the
chief of the market, also a number of ghirar trees giving
pleasant shade, and avenues bordered by polished
stones, upon which the people sat themselves on market
day.

Near this place, close to the west, was a fairly high
conical mount, cultivated in its lower portion and
wooded at the summit. South-west, as we emerged
from the market-place, we beheld, between the slope of
the above-described hill and the one on which we travelled,
an extensive view of picturesquely-wooded hill ranges
beyond.

We met another magnificent uarca tree of great size,
but the majority of trees in that region were ghirar.
We were travelling at an elevation varying from 6,300
to 6,400 feet, until we descended to a large stream,
the Dabana, a tributary of the Didessa, ten yards wide
and some four feet deep, flowing north-west at an
elevation of 6,020 feet.

On the west of the Dabana we rose again to 6,400
feet over rolling country, and our camp where we halted
in the afternoon was in a green little valley intersected
by a small stream, the Dabasso (6,120 feet). The
country was mountainous all round, particularly to the
south-east and to the south, where we had a long range
before us, with Mounts Seccia and Ghescia.

SWAMPY STREAMS

173

At this place I met the first Shankalla, a name given
by the Abyssinians to all barbarous tribes. The ones
we saw formed an entire family, with dear little children.
The " mamma " was gaily dressed in a tall hat with
a fiat French brim, the whole made of basket-work.
She also wore some beads round her neck, but that was
about all. The people had pleasant faces — much plea-
santer than those of the Abyssinians or even the
Galla.

A heavy dew fell during the night, soaking every-
thing, and in the morning my men felt the cold intensely.

There was a nasty stream to cross on leaving this
camp, only about twenty feet wide and flowing north,
but with such a muddy bottom that we stuck and gradu-
ally sank, making it most difficult for the animals to
get across. A bridge had been constructed, once, over
that stream, but had tumbled down, and it took us a
long time to repair it sufficiently for us to get to the
other side. With a few mishaps we at last got all
baggage across, and then we swam the mules over.

There were more hills on the other side, and, in fact,
hilly country all round ; all the hills fairly densely
wooded, with tiny streams flowing between.

The rivulets we now met were not more than five or
six feet across, and yet they gave us endless trouble in
crossing them. There was always soft mud in which
one sank deep, and the more one tried to get on or out,
the more one became involved without making any
progress. The animals became perplexed and scared.
Their legs gave way and the loads tumbled off. It
made one's heart sore to see in what a terrible con-
dition the loads were when we rescued them out of these
muddy streams.

174

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

For one bar of salt, worth about fivepence in Adis-
Ababa, I had purchased the previous night a hundred
pounds of barley, some grain and a dozen eggs ; so my
animals were in excellent marching condition that day.
This was an advantage, as the trail was hilly, up and
down all the time. The small valleys between were
swampy, with beautiful verdure upon them.

We were going slightly north, and from a high point
we obtained a charming view of the undulating country,
the portion in the foreground being quite clear of trees
and of a most beautiful green, only equalled by the
meadows of England. During the first part of the march
we had been at elevations between 6,450 and 6,350 feet,
but towards noon we went over a pass 6,900 feet high,
from which point we obtained another lovely panorama
looking back towards the east.

We struck the telephone wire again, stretching in a
direct line over the undulating plain. To the south-east
in the distance were high mountains, the Mounts Seccia
and Sadero, and due west a mountain range stood before
us, ending abruptly in its north-western portion. To
the south, close to us, was a wooded hill, and to the
south-west, in the far distance, high mountain ranges one
behind the other.

We then proceeded on a rapid descent of one thou-
sand feet by a precipitous trail to the bottom of the
valley, where, among wooded hills, a stream (5,900 feet)
flowed northwards, spanned by a bridge. No sooner had
we descended and passed the headland to the south of us,
when we ascended again by a steep trail to 6,300 feet
at the village of Tchora Uta, where, owing to the exer-
tion the animals had undergone that day, we made camp
early in the afternoon.

WEAVING LOOMS

175

There was at this place an interesting village of half
a dozen huts within a stockade. When I passed within
this barrier, I came to a small circular hut with a bundle
of spears at the entrance. In this hut lay the chief,
spread out flat and ill with fever, some twelve men
sitting around him along the wall of the hut. He
struggled to his feet on my arrival, grasped me warmly
by the hand, and willingly undertook to show me
round the village.

Each man's property was encircled by a fence. The
chief's habitation stood in the centre of the stockade,
the roof being supported on a double circle of wooden
pillars, instead of upon a solitary central pillar, as was
the case in other huts I had so far inspected. There was
a fire burning in the centre, and part of the hut was par-
titioned off as a dining-room, with a coarsely-made
table and divan. Another portion, the chief told me,
was the sleeping quarter and dairy. The roof was
neatly made, the well-matched rafters radiating from
the centre and braced up with numerous lacings in
symmetrical sets of concentric circles.

A separate hut was used as kitchen by the wealthier
people. Shankalla, or barbarians, were employed by
them as menials, practically slaves. A few pots and
vessels, a basket or two, a few gourds — that was all
they seemed to possess in the way of furniture, if the
interesting weaving looms, quite ingenious in their
simplicity, were excepted.

The men in that country, not the women, do the
weaving. The weaver while at work sits in a hole dug
in the ground. The cloth in process of weaving is held
in tension over the men's knees. The cross threads are
beaten home with a heavy wooden comb when the

176

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

shuttle has been passed from one side to the other
between the sets of threads ; two vertical sets of heddles,
each set attached to a frame, and holding the threads
in position, are ingeniously raised and lowered by means
of two treadles giving motion alternately to each frame.
The threads, in order to save space, are not stretched
their full length, as is frequently the case in weaving
looms, but are rolled up over the framework of the loom.
The woven cloth is seldom more than two feet wide.

There were small store-houses near the huts, where
the natives kept grain, principally lupin beans, an im-
portant article in their diet.

The Galla gave me an interesting exhibition of
spear-throwing. They give the spear rod a gradually-
increasing vibration, holding it with the palm of the
hand upwards at a point where it can be well balanced.
The spear is only thrown when fighting on foot ; when
on horseback the spear is never hurled.

Again, in this camp dozens of people came for medi-
cine. Most of them suffered from the worst of venereal
complaints in its most violent phases, from itch, eye-
sores, abscesses upon the jaw, toothache and fever. A
little child was brought to me whose foot had been
broken during birth. The fracture was a compound one,
and the poor baby seemed to be in agony. The parents
were quite distressed. They entreated me to set the foot
right and stop the pain at once, but this was easier said
than done. I did what I could, trying to get the bones
in their right position and bandaging the foot up in im-
provised splints of cane. I have never heard a baby
shriek more than this poor httle mite did when the
operation was performed.

With an empty glass that had contained French

CHIEF LIBAN'S GRATITUDE

177

jam I purchased a handsome fat chicken and some
eggs. I think that travellers in regions where money
does not pass would do well to take provisions in glasses
and bottles, which when empty can always be easily ex-
changed for foodstuff. The natives, I found, do not
always care for empty tins, which generally get distorted
and spoilt.

Chief Liban, to whom I had given a strong dose of
quinine and a quantity of castor oil, partly owing to the
faith that these people have in the powers of white
people to cure any illness, partly perhaps to some good
the medicine did him, came in the afternoon, to say
his fever had disappeared. He brought with him large
presents of butter, Galla bread, red sauce of terrific
strength, milk, and a bag of lupin beans.

VOL. I.

178

CHAPTER XVII.

We left camp at 7.30, and half an hour later, by a steep,
slippery descent, we arrived at a swift river, the Gabbai,
about one hundred and five feet wide, and with strong
rapids near the onl}/ place where it is possible to ford
it. After the heavy rains we had experienced of late
the river was unduly swollen.

Chief Liban, with many Gallas, had come to the
stream to help us cross it. A high suspension bridge
of vines had been constructed, but was available for
foot passengers only, as, in order to use it, it was neces-
sary to climb a high tree, from the branches of which a
sort of network of vines had been stretched across the
water. Two large pillars of basket-work fiUed with
stones held fast the opposite end of the bridge on the
other side of the stream. I crossed safely, but we had
no end of trouble to get the mules and loads across.
When I sent the mules into the water with some natives,
some were washed away by the current and carried dowTi
the rapids. It was only some hundreds of feet lower
down stream that we eventually succeeded in saving
animals and loads.

The river, at an elevation of 5,600 feet, was pic-
turesque at this spot, flowing in a north-westerly direc-
tion between thick forest of the most luxuriant kind.

ABYSSINIAN SCENERY

179

After describing great detours this river eventually
flowed westwards into the Baro.

On the steep ascent on the opposite side of the
stream a gateway and watch-house had been erected.
We climbed up to 6,850 feet, leaving behind a high,
hilly region thickly wooded, with two headlands in
the southern part of the scene before us. When we
emerged from the forest upon the high pass we found
ourselves in a basin with a number of villages on our
left, and the slopes of the surrounding hills extensively
cultivated.

To the north-west we obtained an ample panorama
of long hill ranges, parallel to one another, while to the
north near us was another abrupt headland quite charac-
teristic of Abyssinian scenery.

By eleven o'clock we reached the summit of the
range at an altitude of 6,800 feet, where we found our-
selves on an undulating plateau, with villages and,
strangely enough, good drinking water only a few feet
below the summit. At 10° (N.N.E.) we had a head-
land. Also, further back a prominent conical peak,
with a wooded summit and brilliantly red base. To the
north-west extended a spur from the long range we had
crossed the previous day.

Yambo was the name of the village on the top of
the mountain. At this place I received the sad news
that an English traveller had died from malarial fever
at the foot of the Abyssinian plateau, but I could not
find out his name until later.

We remained at elevations of over 6,400 feet while
passing over the undulations of the higher plateau. In
the gullies we met swampy streamlets, always fairly
troublesome to cross. We were now constantly pro-

VOL. I. 12*

i8o ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

ceeding through tall grass, now descending for a hundred
feet or so, now rising again in the higher places, among
ghirar trees, while orchids and innumerable parasitic
plants grew upon the trunks and branches of trees.
There were a few white and yellow flowers about, and
many fire-trees with brilliantly-coloured red blossoms ;
white and blue convolvuli were also numerous.

Not until the evening did we descend to a streamlet
flowing north (5,800 feet). There we found lots of
gigantic thistles and some charming snapdragons
(Antirrhinum). Swarms of small butterflies of rich
cadmium yellow and velvety black played about the
vegetation, also a larger kind, of a pure lemon-yellow.
There was a thick undergrowth of hullyti, a kind of soft-
centred reed with white flowers, and masses of sambalet,
a tall, reedy grass eight feet high.

Towards 3 p.m. we descended to the Goki river
(4^550 feet), flowing north. There were any number of
coffee bushes growing wild, and the berries made ex-
cellent eating. The coffee in this region was of deli-
cious quality. I purchased great quantities of it, and
enjoyed it thoroughly on my way across Africa. In
flavour it was like the best Mocha. Jessamines were
plentiful, and contorted vines hung in streamers and
festoons from the highest branches of trees.

Half an hour later we were again climbing up an
ascent of one thousand feet to 5,410 feet, where we
found ourselves forcing a passage through high grass
and ghirar trees. Every now and then when we had a
peep at the surrounding scenery we saw thickly- wooded
high hills on all sides, with hillocks quite close to us on
the left and somewhat more distant ones on our right.

When we made our camp more patients streamed

GALLA GRAVES

i8i

in. These people had a way of always coming in before
or during my meal-time. One bad case of leprosy was
particularly repulsive. He seemed sad to a degree when
I told him I had no power to cure him. I gave him some
iodine, which would do him no harm. He was very
grateful for it, and soon after brought in a load of fire-
wood as a present.

There was a steep ascent from the river until
we had reached Yayu, where we camped near the
village. The natives said that there were many lions
about the country, and it was amusing at night to see
my Abyssinian soldiers keep well within a circle of
blazing fires, which they kept alight the whole night in
order to run no chance of attack.

Camp Yayu was 5,150 feet above sea level. From
this camp we proceeded uphill towards the north along
a wooded hill range, and kept at elevations between
5,600 and 5,850 feet for about an hour and a half, after
which we gradually began to descend.

We met many Galla on the trail, all extremely
polite. They uncovered their heads, over which they
were wearing shawls ; they laid down their spears and
doubled themselves up in a grand salutation.

All along the trail on our left stood numerous huts.
To the south-west and west, after passing the terminal
headland of the ridge we had been following, we saw,
further beyond, another long, wooded range encircling
us to the south-west, west and north-west.

On the previous two marches we had seen on the
top of hills conical mounds some nine feet high, the
graves of Galla chiefs. Similar graves were to be seen
on the roadside, all with four pillars at the corners and
one in the centre of the grave. Nearly all these graves

l82

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

were surrounded by a wall of stone, or else of matted
reeds or sticks.

By nine o'clock we had arrived at the real Yayu
market (5,333 feet), with a uarca tree some forty feet in
circumference at the base, the roots and branches spread-
ing out great distances from the trunk. The roots were
used by the natives as convenient seats on market-day,
and the upper portion of them was well polished by the
numerous people who had sat upon them.

Perhaps my readers will be astonished to find a
uarca tree in each market-place, but it is common in the
Galla country to select a place with a big tree as their
trading centres, not only because it supplies an ample
shadow for the people during the hot hours of the day,
but also because these gigantic uarca trees make easily
identifiable landmarks in the country.

There were, of course, the usual sheds and a number
of houses in the neighbourhood, especially below, as we
commenced to descend rapidly after passing the huge
tree. Many people were tilling the ground with oxen,
and attending to their banana plantations near the huts.
The country we were going through now was beau-
tiful, with any amount of coffee, mimosas, palms, fig-
trees and vines of all kinds, including productive rubber-
latex vines.

By a steep descent we arrived, towards ten o'clock,
at the Take river, some twenty-five feet across, its
crystal-like water flowing in a north-westerly direction
in a tortuous channel. We were now as low as 4,620
feet. Half an hour later we came across another little
streamlet, also flowing over a rocky bed towards the
north.

The most common kind of mimosa in this part was

A PICTURESQUE MARKET 183

the one called ghirhirra by the Abyssinians. This
particular mimosa, unlike others which are found in
this and other parts of Abyssinia, had no thorns. Very
common, too, was a cactus, with a three-winged leaf,
these leaves in section forming a triangle.

At Gaji, or Gajima (6,050 feet), another big market
on the summit of the range, we came upon lots of people,
as it happened to be market-day. The type here was im-
proving somewhat. Some of the women were striking-
looking. They showed a great deal of character about
the face, their lascivious lips being firmly closed and
somewhat drooping at the corners. The fashion of
dyeing the hair was here quite common, and most of
the ladies preferred to dye their hair (which was twisted
into little kinks) of a chrome yellow colour rather than to
leave it of its natural glossy black.

Here, too, under a huge uarca tree and the usual
low sheds, one saw hundreds of picturesque spearmen
squatting upon their haunches, the women and children
attending almost entirely to business transactions.

We only traversed this market, and soon after
descended into a swamp, only to rise again to 6,100 feet,
and proceed across grassy country, undulating in por-
tions. In some places we met millions of gigantic
thistles, eight to nine feet high, the feathery, white,
dried flowers of which were fully four inches in diameter.
On the third pass (6,150 feet) which we climbed that
day stood a gigantic cactus fifty feet high, a tall stem,
with a big ball of fat triangular leaves at the top. Early
in the afternoon we came to a small stream, the estuary
of the extensive marsh at the foot of a hill range, and
here there was a great growth of flat-leaved water-plants
and innumerable reeds. We went over the fourth hill

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

(6,200 feet), and as we went down its slopes there was
a great village, with dozens of store-houses in rows,
besides those within the lozenge-shaped enclosures
outside the houses. We climbed a fifth hill that after-
noon (5,700 feet), and we came to the Harafa village,
also with a great number of these store-houses. In the
neighbourhood of this place we found boundary fences
made with long rows of gigantic cacti. Some of these
fences were too extensive to mark the property of private
individuals, and I think they must have been made to
define the sphere of influence of each tribe or village.

By a steep descent among thick undergrowth and
much tall, thick grass, most unpleasant to march
through, as the blades constantly cut our faces and
hands as we rode through, we reached another stream,
the Sor, three or four feet deep, with a swift current,
flowing north, and more than ninety feet wide at the
fording place (5,300 feet).

It was about three in the afternoon when we reached
the Sor, and, having taken us some time to cross it,
we encamped on the western bank.

Scores of patients poured into the camp as the news
had quickly spread over the country that I was not
uncivil towards the natives. Several lepers came in
for remedy — lepers were numerous in this region — one
with legs much swollen, absolutely atrophied, and
contracted toes. My servant was about to accept a
present of edibles from this grateful patient, but as the
sores on his hand were of a purulent nature, I forbade
him to take them. To my dismay, a httle later, on
going out of my tent, who should I see squatting among
my men but the leper handling my soup plates and
enamelled dishes, which he seemed greatly to admire,

WILD COFFEE

185

and which he was offering to barter for the foodstuff
that had been refused.

As we were getting near a big centre, cartridges
could again be used as currency. Adem purchased two
big chickens for one cartridge, and eighty pounds of
barley for two cartridges. Marketing was certainly not
dear at the Sor river.

I noticed in the neighbourhood several kinds of
mimosas, one small, with minute leaves, a larger one
some seven feet high, and then the ghirar, quite a tall
tree, the most common of all, very spiky, with long,
straight, whitish thorns. The giant cactus, with its
triangular leaves, and with offshoots every foot or so,
was still plentiful. Immense quantities of wild coffee
shrubs were growing under the thick vegetation and
apparently flourished in the stifling air. The leaves of
these plants were of a healthy, vigorous, clean, dark
green, with a beautiful glazed surface. The red berries
in their ripe condition, which become black on being
dried, were also in excellent condition, and when
roasted and ground could be boiled into a delicious
beverage.

1 86

CHAPTER XVIII.

Many Galla passed near my camp carrying their spears,
the uarano, over the left shoulder, and generally resting
one hand upon the steel head in its leather sheath.
Most of them came in to make their salaams ; others
saluted and went along.

The men wore skin caps. Fur of a dark red, or
else of a velvety brown, seemed to be the fashionable
colours in Galla headgear. Other folks wore caps made
from the skin of the guresa, a beautiful big monkey,
which possesses a silky coat, black under the arms, not
unlike a small "zouave," while all round the lower
portion of the body the hair is equally long, but of the
purest white. The face is framed in a white beard,
and the magnificent long tail has a big white ball-like
tuft of hair at the end.

One of my Abyssinian soldiers — these Abyssinians
have the instinct of destruction in a marked degree —
shot one of these monkeys one day, for which I severely
punished him. The poor monkey was wounded, and fell
upon the trail from its high perch on the top of a tree.
In intense pain, the poor animal seemed just like a
human being in its dying moments, and the reproach-
ful expression of its face haunted me for days.

I do not believe that I have ever seen more beau-
tiful monkeys than these guresa, and I could never

BEAUTIFUL MONKEYS

restrain my admiration for their marvellous powers of
jumping from one tree to another, and for their in-
telligence in using the swing of the branches in order
to be propelled amazing distances through the air by
the impetus. The skin of the guresa has a considerable
market value in Abyssinia.

Abyssinia is a great country for monkeys of all
sizes; but perhaps the totos, or dog-faced, long-nosed
monkeys, are the most common. Irritable to a degree,
ill-tempered and vicious, these brown bristly-haired
brutes grow up to a good size. Although, like all
monkeys, they can be amusing, they were always quite
repulsive to me, as they were neither beautiful nor
graceful.

One could not help being struck, over and over
again, especially after the rudeness and conceit of the
Abyssinians, by the thoughtful and grateful manner of
the Galla. If one happened to answer their salutation —
which I always endeavoured to do whether they were
rich or poor — they beamed all over with joy and kept
bowing profoundly until out of sight.

The nearer we got to Gori town, the more it seemed
fashionable for the women to dye the hair and smear it
with a chrome yellow-coloured grease. The hair was
arranged in a tuft on the top of the skull.

Silver armlets were worn just above the elbow, and
heavy brass bracelets, the hamarti, which covered the
arm from the wrist to the elbow, were also much
admired ; but, as a rule, only the richer people were
so ornamented, as the poorer folks could not indulge in
these valuable decorations. Yellow and blue beads, or
else amulets, were frequently worn round the neck.

I do not think that the Galla are tree worshippers.

i88

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

as has been written by some authors. The notion has
originated, I beheve, from the fact that they select
the spots where giant uarca trees are found, to hold
their weekly markets or to make their encampments.
The principal reason they do so, as I have already said,
is because these trees offer good shade, and are good
landmarks for people to meet.

We find the Galla type of Western Abyssinia con-
siderably different from that of the east. The people
here have eyes a fleur de tete, almost bovine in their
prominence, an effect produced undoubtedly by their
connection with the neighbouring negroid races. The
eyes are wide opened, but with little expression in them.
The lips are fully developed, of good shape, and in their
normal condition kept tightly closed. They show a
good deal of character in their firm modelling. The
lower lip is larger than the upper one and rather heavily
formed underneath down to the chin. In profile the
lips project considerably. The nose assumes greater
proportions here than further east ; in fact, it is quite
big and flattened, with broad nostrils, which make
Galla faces better looking in the full face than when seen
side face. The glabella, or supra-orbital, bone in the
central portion of the brow, is quite prominent and
extra-developed. The cheek-bones are high and pro-
minent, the face tapering quickly under them and
ending in a somewhat sharp chin. In women this charac-
teristic is more marked than in men, as their faces are
naturally more delicately formed.

Curiously enough, while negroid characteristics are
more noticeable here among the GaUa than in other
regions, we find that near Gori the colour of the skin
is lighter than the colour of the people we had seen

SPIKED PITS

between this place and Tulidumtu. Also, these Galla
are lighter built and shorter than their neighbours in
the east between Adis-Ababa and Harrar.

Oxen are used by these people to till the ground.
They possess a few rudimentary implements. A small
pick is used instead of a spade. This pick is worked
dexterously, particularly in sowing, the ground being
so rich that the minimum of stirring is required to make
it produce anything. Bananas are grown in the en-
closures of Galla villages.

One great industry in this country was the collection
of honey in cylinders made of tree-bark, strengthened
by basket-work all round, and enclosing the beehives.
Many of these cylinders could be seen suspended from
the most inaccessible top branches of the highest trees,
especially the uarca. The honey produced was quite
good, but dark in colour.

All the Galla in this region were Mussulman, but
although these people make their salaam to Mecca at
sunrise and at sunset, I did not come across a single
Mussulman priest and saw no mosques.

In the way of dress, the kaldoh, a sort of skin apron,
was worn by the women. Among the implements, the
uilli gaff a was probably the most interesting — a horn
butter-pot.

Our next march was through intricate, thick vegeta-
tion, that tore our clothes to pieces as we rode along.
We ascended to Batcho (5,950 feet), a small village on
the top of a hill range, the whole country around us
being hilly and thickly -wooded. We then went through
a regular forest of cacti. Upon the trail we avoided
several spiked pits dug by the Galla. The air as we
were going through this thick vegetation was stifling.

igo ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

We met another troublesome little stream (5,650
feet), only six feet wide, but with a bottom of such soft
mud that we had the greatest difficulty in getting across,
the mules becoming scared as they sank deep in the
mud and refusing to go on. I had to send some men to
the other side, and by means of ropes we had to pull the
animals over one by one.

On rising to another pass (5,950 feet), we came upon
long rows of gigantic cacti, used as boundary lines
between landowners' properties.

Later in the day we were still going through dense
vegetation, but the trail was good and fairly wide.
In fact, we were now upon the high trail again, the first
part of the march having been made by a short cut.
There were many mimosas here, with medium-sized
leaves and long double spikes, white in colour and
always in sets of two at an acute angle along its branches.
The two other kinds of mimosas which we had found
on our previous marches were also common here, and
in the forest there were innumerable creepers and vines
descending in regular streamers and festoons overhead.

We met many streams that day ; one, some
thirty feet wide, flowing north, had fortunately been
bridged over. Between noon and one o'clock we went
across three more streamlets at an average elevation of
5,700 feet, with hill ranges between 6,000 feet high.
The latter watercourses flowed southward, joining in a
stream, with an outlet into a tributary of the Sor, which
eventually ran in a north-westerly direction and then
southward again until it reached the Baro river.

By one o'clock we had reached the top of another
hill range, and we had before us a charming view of
cultivated hillsides with dozens of hut§, We were here

GORI

in a kind of basin surrounded by hills, and when we
descended in the centre of it for a couple of hundred feet
we were in a swamp over which a rudimentary bridge
had been constructed.

Before us, in front, was a high two-humped mount,
standing between us and Gori. We climbed up at a
steep gradient, and at the height of 6,600 feet we found
ourselves upon a terrace in the plateau on which was an
unpleasant swamp.

To the east we left behind the high headland which
we had passed on our way, and north-east we had a
beautiful view of the wooded undulating valley below us.
To the south-east and north were hill ranges. The top
of the range was two hundred feet higher (6,900 feet),
and, just beyond, we reached Gori town (6,720 feet),
a number of scattered houses being found upon the high
plateau overlooking the magnificent undulating valley
to the west. The principal portion of Gori town — if
town it can be called — stood upon two humps of the
table-land, the Governor's palace, a double- tiered
structure, with a spacious verandah, being on the
highest point. A big market-square was to be seen a
short distance from the palace.

No sooner had I arrived and pitched my tents in
the enclosure of Mr. Timoleon Armanxopoulo, a Greek
trader of ability, than I received a long message of
welcome from the palace, where two Vice-Governors
were in charge of local affairs during Ras Tassama's
absence. So little do the people of Abyssinia trust one
another that no less than two persons are invariably
left to look after the interests of their master.

With the message, gracefully delivered by a chief-
tain, came a string of some forty men, women and

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

children, all slaves — Masongo, Shankalla and Galla —
carrying with them a sheep, many chickens, eggs, native
breads, several pots of drink, Abyssinian soup, fire-
wood, Indian corn, barley, and loads of grass for my
animals. More, they said, would be forthcoming in
the evening and on the following day.

The women were quite naked except for a tuft of
verdure in front and behind below the waist.

These presents were a nuisance, as it was necessary
to return the compliment, so that in the end they
became three or four times more expensive than if one
had bought the stuff direct.

As soon as these people had departed, the chief of
the market — a leper — came in later in the evening,
when market transactions were over, and he brought
with him more presents — more chickens, more native
breads.

The market-place, situated on the western slope
of the plateau, had no particular interest, except
the usual pegs for tying cattle, the sheds with the
chief's shelter propped high upon piles, and a great
many shiny stone seats, where merchants sold their
goods.

The next morning, March 3rd, at 8 a.m., I rode in
state to pay a formal call on the joint Governors, who
came out of their palace to the third outer enclosure in
order to greet me. They led me by the hand into the
reception hall by an inclined plane made of wooden
sticks, so polished and slippery from the many naked,
greasy feet which daily trod on it, that it was really
quite impossible to go up with one's shoes on. There
was no railing at either side, and when I got half-way
up I saw every prospect of being precipitated some

THE VICE-GOVERNORS OF GORI 193

twenty feet or so down upon a crowd of people who
stood below. Still, as luck would have it, and being
pulled by the arms from above and pushed by numerous
hands from behind, I completed the ascent, and with
a sigh of relief was ushered into a large audience room,
beautifully clean, with Oriental carpets upon the floor,
and an imitation European bed standing prominent in
the middle of the room. Then there were a few cane
chairs and a sofa.

The Governors sat themselves upon the floor, and
Mr. Armanxapoulo, as well as Mr. Metaxaz, another
Greek, interpreted for me. I was asked to sit on the
bed, the place of honour, but I preferred a cane chair.
Tetch was at once produced, and also a bottle of " creme
de menthe " of the deadliest green, while a bowl of
roasted corn was placed before me.

The higher of the two Vice-Governors, Agafars
Indeilalo, who looked after the foreign relations of the
State, seemed the more intelligent of the two, and had
quite a pleasant face. They seemed anxious to know
whether I had a pass from the Emperor, and when I
duly produced it, they stood up on seeing the Imperial
seal upon the letter, and immediately called in a third
man to read what it was all about, as the Governors
themselves could not read at all. When I handed the
letter over to them, they first wiped their hands upon
their clothes, then brought the letter up to the forehead
and bowed. When the sentence was read that every-
thing must be done for me to make my journey easy,
and that I had the Emperor's permission to proceed in
any direction I wished, the two Vice-Governors bowed
themselves double. They said whatever I commanded
they were ready to do.

VOL. I. 13

194

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Both of them seemed to pay more attention to drink
and food than to serious conversation with any sequel
to it, but they were certainly polite.

My soldiers and attendants were also called in, and
were treated to salt coffee, as well as to two bottles each
of wine.

The second Vice-Governor, Kaniazmatch Olde
Gabriel, who cared for the household affairs, was per-
haps not quite so attractive as his companion. His
face could not be pronounced so genial ; in fact, there
was something mean about his features, which were,
moreover, badly pock-marked. He was well known in
Abyssinia as the official who was publicly flogged in
Adis- Ababa at the instance of Sir John Harrington, the
British Minister, for offensive and interfering behaviour
towards a British officer.

In the evening there came outside my tent the
official musicians, with their malakat, or elongated
trumpets, not unlike those used in Central Italy on the
eve of the Epiphany, except that the Italian ones were
made of glass, whereas those of Abyssinia were of reeds,
five feet in length, and strengthened by a leather cover
sewn upon them. There was also a smaller trumpet,
the ambelt, and both produced a tremulous, twangy
sound, mournful to a degree.

These official musicians had come to offer the proper
welcome by announcing to the whole country around
with their unmusical sounds that a foreign visitor had
arrived in the town. Having received the usual present,
they eventually departed.

I was astonished to find so few musical instruments
in a country like Abyssinia. Beyond the nugara, or
drum, the small baganna, a kind of violin, and the

OFFICIAL MUSICIANS

195

kherar, all of which, except the drum, they play ex-
tremely badly, there were really no typical musical
instruments of any importance.

The drum, curiously, is never played when the
Emperor goes out, and in time of war the drummer
always keeps near the Emperor, principally in order
to convey signals of command.

VOL, I.

13*

196

CHAPTER XIX.

We left Gori on a Sunday morning, March 4th, having
done what marketing we could in the place. We
descended quickly more than a thousand feet among
spiky ghirar trees and a thick undergrowth. Two
streams crossed the trail. One particularly was most
picturesque, running in waterfalls over a rocky incline,
and so swift that a bridge had been constructed over
it, or else it would have been difficult to cross. After
this we came to fairly open country near the trail,
except in some portions, where we went through pic-
turesque forest, with lots of coffee plants, and vines of
great length hanging from the tallest trees. Tall,
corrugated palms, forty-five feet high, with oblong
leaves, were numerous, and also the high palm with a
clean barked trunk and a top tuft of leaves like a large
ball.

We had rather a hard march for the animals that day,
as the country was mountainous, and we kept mount-
ing and descending hundreds of feet. First, over a
pass 5,900 feet high, then an hour later down to a stream
bridged over and flowing north no higher than 5,550
feet. Then again we ascended over undulating country
to an elevation of 5,800 feet, and by three o'clock we
had arrived at a fair-sized stream, also flowing north-
wards, but only 5,300 feet above the sea level.

THE BURU MARKET

The country was now fairly wooded all along.
After a continuous march of eight hours we encamped
at a place called Abbiyu, where there was a good
deal of cultivation and extremely pretty hills all
round dotted with huts, especially to the west and
north-west.

It was rather curious to notice here again all the
men with their noses covered with their shawls, in order
not to be upset by the corpse-like odour of a white man !

We left early the next morning, passing two small
streams flowing north, and continuing up and down
across very hilly country. On the top of a hill range we
came to the Buru market, with many sheds. Then up
and down, up and down again, all the time, our eleva-
tions varying between 5,800 and 5,900 feet.

In one spot we came to a cone of earth enclosed
in a fence. Upon it was a flagstaff with a conical
white top, from which flew a red-and-white flag, a mere
handkerchief split in two. This was of course a tomb.
The bier, or stretcher, on which the dead body had been
conveyed to its burial-ground was still lying on one side
of the conical mound.

The hiUs were well cultivated near here, and lots
of cattle grazed in the meadows. Dozens and dozens of
huts, each with a group of small store-houses, dotted the
landscape, and fine uarca trees of great size were
numerous. As we came further west in Abyssinia, it
was noticeable that the Galla had thatched walls to
their huts instead of mud ones, as was the case further
east.

In the afternoon we descended to a stream (5,300
feet), flowing north, a tributary of the Birbir, which
eventually flows into the Baro. The vegetation was

198 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

not so luxurious as we proceeded westward^ and we now
had rounded hills with few trees.

In the population, too, we did not see so many Galla,
but we occasionally met some of the giant Yambo,
with their shrivelled-up women, who wore nothing
more than a hide round the hips and a string of blue
beads round the loins. Most of them had big paunches,
quite a deformity, caused in great measure by the rudi-
mentary way of tying the umbilicus at birth, also by
intestinal derangements, which are frequent with most
of the tribes living in tropical and semi-tropical Africa.
I came across several cases of beri-beri, the legs having
become much swollen.

The women usually inserted in their hair a brass or
ivory ornament sticking upright at the back of the head.
The children, who went about quite naked, wore a
circular tuft of hair on the top of the head, whereas the
rest of the cranium was shaved clean.

Bure, situated on the western edge of the plateau,
was reached after hard marching for the mules and
horses.

I stayed there one day in order to obtain fresh
muleteers, as the Abyssinians I had taken from Adis-
Ababa were terrified at having to descend from the
plateau into the low fever country of the Sobat, and they
refused to come any further.

Nagadras Biru, the Governor at Bure, a most in-
telligent and polite man, did all he could to assist me
in finding other men, and, in fact, succeeded in pro-
viding me at once with exchange muleteers. At the
head of them he placed a man who had been prominent
in the war against the Italians, and who spoke Itahan
quite fluently. He was the brother of Tesfa Michel, who

NAG ADR AS BIRU

199

was now official secretary and interpreter to the
Governor, and who was at one time interpreter to
General Barattieri during the famous battle which saw
the defeat of the Italians. Tesfa Michel also spoke
Italian fluently, as also did Ligg Cassa, another in-
terpreter with the Governor. Both these men were from
Tigre, and were quite superior people to those of the
Shoa.

The Governor himself, a man of an extremely highly-
strung temperament, was enterprising, and took the
keenest interest in the commercial and agricultural
development of his province. He was a native of Bulga,
in the Shoa, and was thirty-nine years of age. He
struck me as being, after Ras-Makonnen, one of the
cleverest men I had met in Abyssinia. He was married
to a pretty and most charming wife, with whom he
lived happily in the palace and whom he treated quite
in European style. She helped him in entertaining
visitors, and for an Abyssinian woman she was indeed
quite bright and pleasant.

From Bure to the country of the Yambos at the foot
of the plateau, we should have to travel by a bad
and steep trail, and my animals being tired, I hired a
number of carriers to convey the loads upon their heads
in order to spare the animals. A Yambo chief was
called in, and the Governor demanded the carriers I
required. The Abyssinians stand no nonsense on the
part of these barbarians, and the men came forth at
once.

These Yambos were most peculiar people, capri-
cious in no small degree, great lumbering figures, with
not a stitch of clothing upon them, but occasionally
with a cap of guresa skin upon the head. Others had

200

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

bleached the hair white, or else dyed it red with a peculiar
composition they use, which we will examine later on.

They gave me a deal of trouble when they came to
examine the loads. These people were superstitious.
There was one box painted black which nobody would
carry for no other reason than because it was painted
black. In fact, although I got two men for this par-
ticular box, one to carry it and one to look after him
so that he did not escape, this package was abandoned
on the road several times, and I eventually had to cover
it with a piece of canvas so as to avoid further trouble.

A distinctive mark of this tribe was the extraction of
the four front lower teeth, which they removed with the
point of a spear.

Before a chief, the Yambo make a deep bow on
passing, keeping the hands behind the back, while the
women usually kneel down. Abbazzalle was the chief
of the Yambo who live on the top edge of the plateau,
his brother being a sub-chief.

It was rather pitiful to find here at Bure a number
of Greek traders extremely ill with malarial fever.
They had contracted it at Gambela at the foot of the
escarpment. They were terribly depressed, and their
condition excited a good deal of compassion. I felt all
the more for them, for on my arrival they had great
expectations of obtaining medicine from me, and their
hearts sank deep when they heard that beyond some
carbolic soap, castor oil, caustic and iodine, I carried
no medicines with me.

There had been a great rush of these Greek traders
for Gambela when this western route of Abyssinia was
opened from Khartoum. The results had not come up
to their expectation, and all seemed dejected and dis-

COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES

20 1

couraged. Not only had the trade proved not quite so
good as was expected, but the chmate, these men said,
was so bad that it was impossible for any human being
to live in the place.

Undoubtedly some day, if things are managed
properly, this route via the Sobat to the Nile should
become a well-beaten one, and Bure, owing to its geo-
graphical situation and the invigorating climate it
possesses, ought to become the most important centre
of traffic between Adis- Ababa and the Nile, much more
so than Gori, the former capital. Bure, from a com-
mercial point of view, is better situated, being nearer
the Salle and Motcha districts, where coffee, ginger, and
a kind of scented onion are grown in immense quan-
tities. I think Gori was selected by the Abyssinians as
the capital of that district more with an eye to the
possibility of trouble with the Galla than for the com-
mercial development of the country.

Sheep and goat skins, oxen, hides, butter, honey,
wax, rubber and coffee are plentiful all over the country
near and about Bure.

Messrs. Gerolimato and Co., of Harrar, were en-
deavouring to develop the commercial possibilities of
Western Abyssinia, and they had entered into partner-
ship with Ras Tassama in order to see what could be
done ; but I believe that they encountered many diffi-
culties which they had not at first anticipated. Principal
of these difhculties was the heavy tax imposed at
Gambela of nine per cent, on the sale price (not on the
trade value), and without any allowance whatever for
damage to goods upon the journey. The expensive
charges for transport by river as far as Gambela to Bure
(one thaler, or two shillings, for every sixty pounds.

202

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

and another thaler from Bure to Gori for the same
weight) are prohibitive for goods which have to be
sold at low prices to the natives. It also makes the
price by that route too heavy for exports to be able to
compete with those from other markets in the Sudan,
Egypt and Europe.

Coffee, for instance, which can be purchased for three
thalers (six shillings) a faram (thirty-seven and a half
pounds), costs as much as two and a half thalers for
carriage merely to Gambela, three to four days' journey.
Thus it is that the coffee industry, which could be made
extremely remunerative in Western Abyssinia, is now
simply killed by the existing conditions.

It is difficult to transport machinery by the methods
now at hand. When I was at Gori and Bure, machines
for cleaning coffee were expected, but had been delayed
at Khartoum, the Sobat river being navigable only for
a certain period of the year, the merchandise accumulating
so that the small steamers which ply to Gambela once
or twice during the year have not sufficient carrying
capacity to transport all.

Madappolam, Manchester drill, variegated white pique
(the duriah), shash, usually red, and American grey
cloth are the principal articles in demand in the local
markets. Manchester cottons had of late gained a good
deal over the American, but, as we shaU see presently,
the difficulty of conveying these goods in safety from
Gambela to Bure and Gori is great at present, as
there are no sheds upon the trail where the goods can
be stored in wet weather. Also, during the rainy season
the rivers are dangerous for men and loads.

Even without reckoning the money for warehousing
in Khartoum while awaiting transport by water up the

CIVET CATS

203

Sobat, the priceof goods becomes prohibitive by the time
they reach Gori. To push goods further towards Adis-
Ababa it is necessary to send them by caravan, the lowest
rate for the hire of mules being eight thalers (sixteen
shillings) between Gori and the capital. The ropes for
tying the loads, the sacks and strong packages which
have to be made in order to convey the goods in some
sort of safety, add a good deal to this price.

Then at least one hundred per cent, must be added
for dues levied upon the road, such as one and a half
thalers demanded by Ras Tassama on each six frassels
(225 pounds) ; half a thaler which has to be paid at
the Didessa river to Olde Gorghis for each mule in the
caravan, and another tax of one thaler for each loaded
animal levied at Anun after Gibti, Those three thalers
have to be disbursed upon the trail, plus two thalers for
each frassel (37^ pounds) to be paid on entering Adis-
Ababa.

For instance, a load of wax which, purchased in Gori,
costs seven thalers, has already gone up to twelve thalers
at Adis-Ababa, without counting cost of conveyance.

In Ras Tassama's country civet cats are plentiful,
and each chief is bound to bring a male civet alive, or
in default pay to the Ras six thalers.

To hunt these animals people go about in couples
in the forest until the creatures are tracked down. Some
coarse nets are then spread and the animals are driven
into them. If females are captured, the front paw is
amputated and the animals let loose again, so as to
save the trouble of hunting them again. If, however,
a male is caught, it is placed in a wooden cylinder and
brought to the chief of the town. Ras Tassama keeps
a staff of regular men in his country residences to look

204

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

after these valuable animals. At God and at Tchora,
at Sallearga and Motcha the Ras has a great number
of civet cats. Every eight days the perfume is collected
from the perspiration of the animals.

The owner of a civet is always a chief, and no one
but a chief is allowed to possess one of these animals
alive, any more than they are allowed to keep in cap-
tivity a lion, a leopard or a panther. Of the leopard,
mortals of a lower social class can possess the skin, but
not that of a panther or a lion. When one of the latter
animals is killed, the skin must be brought to the chief,
and all the hunter gets for it is a shama, as well as getting
his forehead smeared with butter in appreciation of the
courage shown in the hunt. The skin is lent to him for
four days, when he returns to his village, and everybody
is expected to give him a present. Then he must hand
over the skin to the chief, as the lion and the panther
are emblems of nobility or rank in Abyssinia.

It is curious to notice that the wife of a Ras takes
half the share of his possessions, and she occupies quite
a high position in social life. She is held in great
respect and she eats with her husband. Even in the
case of the Empress, she possesses as much as the Em-
peror, for if he has soldiers, she has her owti soldiers ;
he has slaves, and she has slaves ; if he gives a dinner,
she gives a dinner, and so on. Both the Empress and
the wife of a Ras are allowed to possess land, as well as
their own slaves and soldiers, who work for them only
and cannot be interfered with by anyone.

In Harrar, for instance, the wife of Ras Makonnen
shared for some months of the year in the customs
receipts. The Empress had her own custom house in
the palace.

20$

CHAPTER XX.

Just before paying up the AbyssinianSj who refused to
come any further, an unpleasant scene occurred with
one of my muleteers, who had been drinking considerably
in the town.

A large crowd of Abyssinians had collected round
my camp, the Governor and some of the other officials
being also present. One of my men who was always
troublesome — in fact, he was one of those whom I had
to punish for fighting at Addis-Jebbo — for no reason
whatever used offensive language towards white men,
partly to show off, I think, before his fellow-country-
men. He received there and then a good many lashes of
the courhash, and was made to kneel down and apologize
before everybody.

The Abyssinians are touchy about seeing their own
people struck by foreigners, and I fully expected a big
row. I, however, turned at once to the Governor and
told him that I was sorry I had been compelled to strike
an Abyssinian, but I would stand insult from nobody,
and in a similar case I would have struck a man of any
other country. The Governor at once said I was more
than justified in what I had done, only I had not
punished the man enough, and he would see that the
offender should further suffer for his misbehaviour.

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The other men in my employ received besides their
pay a handsome present, and returned towards the
capital.

All my loads borne by carriers and my empty animals
went ahead in the morning. In the afternoon of
March 5th, I took my departure from Bure, accom-
panied by the Governor and his two interpreters, who
insisted on accompanying me, some two hours' journey,
as far as Gomma, on the edge of the plateau. The
elevation of Bure was 5,650 feet.

As we went along, Nagadras Biru gave a wonderful
exhibition of accurate spear-throwing while galloping on
his horse.

Upon the road we met Alimi, the son of one of the
greatest Yambo chiefs. He was unpleasant.

As we went along, we obtained a beautiful view on
our left of the Baro valley, with great cotton plantations.
On the top of the hill, before we began to descend, we
came to a guard-house, through which one was com-
pelled to pass. In the grand company in which I found
myself deep bows were plentiful as we passed, but I
suspected that had one travelled in a different way
the same reception perhaps would not have been given.

Among high, thick grass we began a descent, but
only to rise again to 5,900 feet, from where we obtained
a magnificent view of the valley below and the plateau
and mountains towards the Kaffa country.

Towards sunset we arrived at Gomma (5,450 feet),
where two sheds had been erected, quite on the edge of
the plateau. Handsome cotton plantations had been
made by Nagadras Biru at this place. I met here
the German Baron von der Ropp, who was studjdng
the geological conditions of that country, mostly for

THE WESTERN ESCARPMENT 207

mining purposes in connection with an important
German firm.

We had a pleasant dinner-party that evening, the
Governor and the Baron being my guests, and we had
an interesting time.

The next morning the Governor came to the edge
of the chff to bid me good-bye, and I began a steep
and rocky descent down the western escarpment, partly
through forest, and then among singed leafless trees.
Barren, rounded, horrid mountains formed most of
the scenery. We came across several jaga, or cairns
of white stones, erected by Galla on the tops of
hills. Bits of cotton were generally attached to these
cairns.

Three hours and a half after leaving Gomma we
reached the Baro river, at an elevation of 1,900 feet,
and flowing at this point towards the north. We had
difficulty in taking the mules across, as there was
a good deal of water in the stream, and we could not
find a suitable spot to make them ford. There was an
elaborate suspension bridge made of vines and over
thirty yards long, but only foot passengers could
use it. We had to swim our animals across further up
stream.

We saw many Yambo, tall and slender and abso-
lutely naked. Upon their bodies occasional ornamenta-
tions were to be seen, consisting chiefly of cicatrices upon
the breasts. An ivory ring, either plain or with
ornamentations of dots like the teeth of a cogwheel,
was sometimes worn above the elbow of the right arm.
Some had iron wire bracelets, and a few hung large iron
earrings from both ears. When walking, these heavy
earrings were passed over the ear, so as to prevent them

208

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

dangling and injuring the lobe. In its natural con-
dition the hair of the head was woolly and short, but
they frequently dyed it. They had no hair whatever
on the face and body.

Rubber vines were plentiful. Some of these, two
and a half inches in diameter, were not unlike huge
polypi twisting round trees up to the top branches,
from which they hung down again, ejecting a whitish
glutinous latex when an incision was made. The
Galla call the rubber vine areg, and the Abyssinians
mostly used the word " elastic," which they have
borrowed from Europe.

Further down the Baro river we came to four Galla
huts, where gold- washers lived. I saw a number of
these men at work in the stream with water up to their
necks, diving and taking up the gravel and sand from
the bottom of the stream in a large wooden tray. Then
moving the half-empty tray backwards and forwards
on the surface of the water, they gradually washed off
the sand and collected at the bottom a few grains of
gold. Over one ear each man tied a small cylindrical
cane, wherein the grains of gold were stored. As far
as I could judge, a man working hard from sunrise to
sunset would, with luck, collect something between six-
pence and a shilling's worth of gold. Perhaps with less
rudimentary methods more might be gathered.

By five o'clock in the evening, being then upon a
height, we got a bird's-eye view of the Baro, which had
cut itself a wide channel in a warmly-coloured bed
of volcanic rock. We were travelHng among high
rugged mountains, with yellow dried grass and a great
number of the stunted arghesana, \^dth leaves of
a light green colour. To the north-west before us

A YAMBO VILLAGE

was a high conical peak peering above a mountain
range.

We had to cross the Baro a second time at a place
where it was a hundred yards wide. At the fording
place my men had water up to their necks. The local
chief of the village at the ford, Jelo, despatched his
men to take over my animals, and he sent also a rickety
canoe, in which I crossed the stream. There were
plenty of hippopotami.

We halted in the evening at the Yambo village only
a short distance on the opposite side of the stream, not
far from a two-humped peak to the north-west of us,
which had a conical high peak to the right as we
observed it.

The huts in the Yambo village had sharply-pointed
conical roofs reaching down to the ground. They were
thatched with grass, and each roof was ornamented with
antelope horns. Extra long antelope horns were also
placed on each post supporting the reed fence round the
village.

Large crowds of naked natives assembled round my
camp, and squatted down on their heels, remaining there
the whole evening. Many of them were ornamented
with blue and white beads round the neck. Others
possessed coarsely-made wooden beads. Their faces
were flattened, with the central part of the nose
much developed, and the supra-orbital central bumps
abnormally so. The broadest part of the Yambo head
is at the cheek-bones, which are prominent, the skull
being much elongated upwards at the forehead.

These Yambos seemed inveterate smokers, their
pipes being built on quite scientific lines, with a bulb
either at the mouthpiece in the long straight pipes, or
VOL. I. 14

2IO

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

with a gourd sphere at the angle between the bowl and
the long cane mouth channel, the object of this hollow
spherical arrangement being to cool the smoke coming
into the mouth.

Yambo huts were particularly interesting. Few of
them were higher than seven feet, with low doors.
These otto, as they called them, were beautifully con-
structed, and in the interior upon a hard cement floor
were two depressions, in which the food was prepared,
one on each side of the hut. Each kahl, or enclosure,
was some twenty feet across, and was entirely paved with
the same cement which was used inside the huts, and
which was prepared with a particular clay, mixed with
ashes of selected woods and a certain animal liquid.
This preparation became extraordinarily hard when
baked by the sun and took a beautiful polish. The
pavement of the kahl was at a slant for drainage purposes.
Outside and all round each hut was a platform three or
four inches higher than the rest of the paving, in order
to prevent the water coming inside the huts.

Central Africa is certainly not a place where one
looks for art. It is seldom that one notices even rudi-
mentary designs upon structures, on weapons or imple-
ments, so I was rather surprised to find on these raised
platforms and around the two depressions inside the hut
some regularly designed, waved patterns, generally of
three parallel lines.

The Yambo had not many articles of furniture, a
small tripod carved out of one solid piece of wood being
the most noticeable.

The people seemed fond of ornaments. Nearly each
man had an amulet hanging from a necklace. The
thumb, and also the first finger, were inserted into

THE YAMBO

211

silver rings, but the armlets were generally cut in ivory.
They were worn both round the wrist and above the
elbow. More modest people showed tight bands of
a fibrous leaf on the upper portion of the arm and also
on the ankles.

The formation of the skull of these Yambo was
interesting. It showed several characteristic influences
of the races to the west. The cheek-bones were not
only well developed, but they were so padded that they
had the appearance of being swollen. Although the
lips were large and prominent, they were in their normal
condition tightly closed, a fact which was partly due
to the Yambo removing the four front teeth as a tribal
mark. The chin protruded considerably.

When you ask the Yambo, or any other race in
Africa, why they remove one or more front teeth, they
generally tell you that it is done for beauty's sake, or
to be distinguished from one tribe or the other. This is
perhaps true to a certain point, but I think the custom
originated, especially in cases when all the front teeth
are removed, from the natural advantage of being able
to close the lips tightly and breathe through the nose
in countries where the climate and other local con-
ditions make it imperative to keep the lips closed as
tightly as possible in order to avoid fever. At sunset
and at sunrise particularly this is necessary in the
countries liable to malarial fever where these tribes live,
as it is at that time of the morning and evening that
malarial fever is contracted by breathing certain germs
which do not seem to poison the air so much either during
the cooler hours of the night or when the sun is high in
the sky.

I have been a great deal in countries where malarial
VOL. I. 14*

212

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

fever is rampant, and I am not at all convinced by the
mosquito theory. The older theory of the Romans was
certainly the more accurate one ; but it should be added
that food, especially vegetables, polluted water and milk
are also mediums through which malarial fever is fre-
quently conveyed.

Experiments have been made, the results of which
are said to prove that by drying up marshes and swamps,
and thereby preventing the reproduction of mosquitoes
in a country, fever can be stamped out. That is quite so.
Only it is not the mosquitoes which necessarily give or
convey the fever, but it is the country in which the
mosquitoes live which is in itself deadly to some human
beings.

I think no clearer proof can be given than the fact
that when mosquitoes sting you all over in a non-
malarial country nobody ever gets fever at all. Again,
when the blood is in a healthy condition, even in malarial
countries, one can be covered with mosquito stings and
yet not feel any ill effects from them. Personally, I
have been stung thousands of times by mosquitoes in
malarial countries, and did not suffer from malarial
fever to any mentionable extent, although I took no
preventatives, such as quinine, etc. ; but the only place
where I did suffer from bad fever was in the Persian
desert some years ago, where I did not see a single
mosquito for many months.

Again, on this journey, as we shall see later on, I will
give several instances when people got malarial and
yellow fever where no mosquitoes were to be found
at all.

I happen to possess abnormally acute senses, and I
have always noticed the immediate poisonous effects

MALARIAL CLIMATES

213

as one breathed contaminated air. This I particularly
noticed at sunrise and at sunset, when rapid changes in
the temperature occurred. The foul air seemed to act
quickly on the respiratory and principally upon the
digestive organs, causing sometimes the temperature of
the body to rise. Not only in my own case, but with
my men also, in fact, I found that the quickest and
safest cure for malarial fever was not quinine, as is
popularly believed, which really does more harm than
good to many people, but a strong purge, castor oil
by preference.

214

CHAPTER XXI.

The Yambo must be the offshoots of a formerly potent
race. Let us examine their physical structure.
Although the skull is low and flattened, we find, for
instance, that for a black Central African race the ears
are comparatively well formed, with finely-cut curves
and with lobes generally attached. Often, of course, the
ears are artificially deformed by several holes right up
to the top, silver earrings, or else rings made of monkey
or antelope hair, being inserted into the holes. Both
men and women have small, under-developed skulls,
the forehead being low and narrow and the central and
lower portions of the face broad in proportion. I
could not trace much beauty or grace of line in the
women. On the contrary, they were ugly, and even at
a comparatively early age had dried pendent breasts.
Nearly all had big repulsive paunches swinging before
them as they walked, like the women we had seen
further up on the Abyssinian plateau. The hands,
nevertheless, were fairly good, with elongated, almost
refined, fingers, which showed that these people had
degenerated from a stock vastly superior to their present
condition.

I was delayed in this village. My carriers took a long
time to arrive with the loads, and it was not till ten
o'clock that I eventually departed through lots of small
Yambo villages. The kahls (or kraals) were about

GAMBELA

215

fifteen feet in diameter, and had beautifully-polished
cement floors.

We were now at an elevation of only 1,610 feet. The
heat was stifling. The temperature in the shade rose
to 108° Fahrenheit (42° Centigrade). During the night
it had been extremely windy, with heavy clouds over-
head and quite suffocating.

A hot march was before us along the flat, grassy,
uninteresting country, and not till seven o'clock in the
evening did we arrive at the trading station of Gambela,
opened some two years before by the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan Government jointly with the Abyssinians.

This portion of the country for a few hundred miles
further west actually belongs to Abyssinia, but the
Abyssinians themselves never come down from their
plateau, as they are too afraid of malarial fever, which is
quite deadly in that region.

Gambela itself is situated on the right bank of the
Baro, and it is the last point upon the river at which
the small steamers occasionally despatched from Khar-
toum can float at high water. There are heavy rains
from May ist until November ist, and sometimes during
February there is what they call " the small rainy
season," when heavy showers are expected and the
river may suddenly rise as much as three feet. But it
quickly falls again, so that it is only during the rainy
and unhealthy season that the river is safely navigable
at all. From January to June the country about
Gambela is slightly healthier than during the rains,
and the warmest months are February and March.

There are innumerable crocodiles in the stream and
many hippopotami, while the banks are lined with birds
of valuable plumage.

2l6

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

We were here in a country extraordinarily rich in
game — elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, ostriches,
hyenas and antelopes being quite plentiful.

In some ways Gambela was conveniently situated
within easy reach of the richest parts of Abyssinia. All
the merchandize which formerly went from the west to
Harrar, especially the coffee, ought eventually to find
its way out of the country through Gambela. Then
ivory, which is fairly plentiful in that region, may form
a considerable item in the exports. Before the founda-
tion of Gambela, a trading station had been established
at Itang, and another earlier still at Kaig, a few miles
further down the stream. These places were abandoned
when Gambela was selected by Major Mathews and
Captain Wilson as a more suitable site. The trading
station of Gambela was founded on January ist, 1904.

The entire trade of Sayo and Bure should drift this
way from the north and north-east, where rubber is
plentiful, and also that from Salle, Motcha and Kaffa,
to the south and south-east, where coffee of most ex-
cellent quality can be obtained, as well as wax, rubber
and civet. In 1906, when I passed through Gambela,
the Abyssinians had begun for the first time to send
these goods towards the west instead of towards
the east. It was satisfactorj^ to learn that as regards
the collecting of rubber, the natives were beginning
to adopt more practical ways, and to tap the rubber
vines, instead of destroying them wholesale as they
had done so far.

As far as the Gori and Bure trade are concerned,
it would perhaps be better were Gambela situated on
the opposite of the stream (south). As things are now,
the BarOj which makes a great detour, has to be crossed

NAVIGATION OF THE SOBAT 217

twice, and with difficulty, between Gambela and Bure.
This puts a difficulty in the way of conveying goods by
this route from Eastern Abyssinia, as well as from the
rich districts of Salle, Abigar, the Djouba country, and
Yebelo, near the Pibor ; but, of course, on the other hand,
the situation is convenient for the Sayo, Galla, and for
the Anfillo, who are on the same side of the stream. Two
bridges at the points where, under present conditions,
the Baro has to be forded, would be of great assistance,
and would make the present route quite practicable.

As things stand now, during the rainy season, when
the steamers can occasionally come up to Gambela, it
is next to impossible for the goods to proceed up
country. The danger of crossing the river twice when
it is swollen, in order to reach Bure, the bad state of
the trail, and the heavy rains make it difficult to convey
the goods to that place in fair condition. It would,
therefore, be necessary to have sheds at Gambela, where
goods could be stored until the more propitious dry
season arrived.

Then another difficulty arises. When the trail
between Gambela and Bure is practicable (during the
dry season), there is not sufficient water for the steamers
to come up to Gambela, and it is necessary to store the
goods in Khartoum while they are waiting for the high
flood to allow the navigation of the Sobat. So that the
cost of warehousing must necessarily be added to other
heavy expenses, and profits are proportionately dimi-
nished. Still, all this could easily be altered, or, at
least, greatly modified.

The steamers which occasionally plied to Gambela
were not by any means record-breaking vessels — except
perhaps for slowness — and ran at the rate of something

2l8

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

like three miles an hour when they ran at all. So it was
really quicker to walk. Frequent stoppages had to be
made to collect wood for the engines, and as wood was
scarce along the Baro it was sometimes imperative to
stop entire days in order to cut down sufficient fuel to
get along. An attempt was made to endeavour to
compel the tribes to pile up enough wood upon the
river banks at certain spots, so as to avoid such delays,
but all traders complained that the navigation of that
river had so far been of little value commercially.

There was another more serious difficulty. An
arrangement had been made between the Sudan
Government and Ras Tassama, by which half the
amount of trade dues received at Gambela for imports
and exports, at the rate of nine per cent, on the "local
selling price," was to be paid over to the Abyssinian Ras.
During the twelve months previous to my visit they
expected some £11,500 to be the share due to the Ras.

This tax came extremely heavy, especially on foreign
imports, when all things were taken into consideration.
If you add to the tax the damage done to goods in
transit, porterage, warehousing, a heavy freight of
twenty-five piastres per kantar (one hundred pounds)
charged by the steamers from Khartoum to Gambela,
etc., the extra expenses may be reckoned at not less than
forty per cent, on the " trade price " of cotton goods,
about thirty per cent, on that of abukidir, and about
twenty-five per cent, upon glassware, according to their
weight, market value and volume. The deadly climate
of Gambela, too, must be taken into account, where even
such people as Greeks, Armenians, Syrians and Egyp-
tians, whose powers of resistance to malaria are great,
are unable to live, and where high wages have to be paid

COMMERCE HANDICAPPED

219

to employees. Commerce so handicapped becomes
prohibitive, although in Government statistics the
returns may look extremely well. One has heard before
of killing the proverbial goose which lays the golden egg,
and that seems to be just what was happening at Gambela
when I was there.

Practically all the trade of Western Abyssinia ought
to come this way if things were made possible for traders,
but the few who have attempted to do anything seemed
to have little hope unless conditions changed for the
better.

The receipts for trade dues in the year 1904 were only
;fi,ooo, but in 1905 they suddenly sprang to £10,000, the
increase being mostly on imports, as the Abyssinians,
so far, buy more than they sell.

I think that in order to develop this route quickly
and satisfactorily, Gambela ought to be a free trading
station until people have become accustomed to
possessions, for the convenience of having which they
would be eventually willing to pay a moderate tax.
To establish a new trade route whose possibilities are
at best but mediocre is hardly feasible under conditions
so hampering.

There was an Egyptian official at Gambela, a mamur,
called Mohammed Riad Effendi, an intelligent and
pleasant man. He did all in his power to forward the
interests of his Government and, as far as his orders
allowed, to help the traders. He resided in a humble
house by the river and his ten Sudanese policemen in
another ; but as this country was Abyssinian, and was
merely managed by the Anglo-Egyptian Government,
nobody seemed to have any absolute authority over
the troublesome and unreliable natives of the district.

220

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Riad Effendi's patience and tact with the natives and
the traders were indeed wonderful. No better officer
could have been selected for that post.

At the time of my visit, during the dry season in
March, there were only three or four Greeks in the place,
all ill with fever. They were connected with the Kor-
dofan Trading Company ; with Angelo Capato, an
enterprising Greek of Khartoum, and Tanios Saad, also
of Khartoum. These people had themselves constructed
three rickety sheds in a zeriba (or fenced enclosure), and
in these they kept their goods, mostly cottons, silks,
enamelled ware, and beads, wire, spearheads, etc., for
purposes of barter. They traded chiefly with Sayo,
Bure, Godjam, Walaga, Lega and Leka, Gouma and
Kaffa. They seemed to think that the trade from the
rich districts of Gouma and Kaffa had not properly
started yet, and they had great expectations for the
future if matters were facilitated. For the present their
principal profits came from the north-east.

Godjam, Lega and Leka were as far north as the
trade went in those days, and from those countries it
was somewhat easier to bring the goods down to Gambela
upon animals, whereas from Bure it was necessary to
have them conveyed entirely by human carriers.

It is not for me to express an opinion on the advisa-
bility of giving the monopoly for rubber, coffee or
ivory to certain companies. At the time of my visit a
company had the monopoly of all the rubber, and Ras
Tassama of all the ivory. There was a talk of someone
else obtaining a concession for all the coffee. That makes
it difficult for other people to compete, and it is only
when there can be plenty of competition that trade
advances in huge strides,

GIANTS

221

Gambela, if things were managed rightly — as in due
time they will be — would shortly become a big store for
imports and exports, and would be the distributing
centre for all the neighbouring countries.

The Abyssinian traders have an unbounded trust in
the Sudan officers, as these are extremely conscientious
with them. The Abyssinians, the mamur was telling me,
always come to him to inquire the price of their own
goods, as they tell him that they themselves do not know
the exact value, and they beg him to establish a proper
price, and, if possible, sell the merchandise for them.

The Yambo, too, the local inhabitants, seem much
pleased with, but not very obedient towards, the Sudan
officer. It cannot be imagined how kind and considerate
this Egyptian was towards them. The chiefs of neigh-
bouring tribes often came in while I was being hospitably
entertained by the mamur, and he was indeed most
patient with them.

These Yambo, although giants in stature, possess as
much brain, or possibly less, than an average three-
year-old child of any European country. They are
capricious to a degree, independent, with an extraor-
dinarily developed habit of nagging ; sulky at intervals,
and suspicious at all times. Grasping by nature, they
are quite unpleasant if they are not at once satisfied in
their fancies.

Oghilo, the chief of Pinkio, a neighbouring village,
often came in to spend hours with the mamur. He was
over six feet four inches in height, and his brother was
just as tall. There were many members of his tribe
who reached a similar height. In fact, most of them
were about six or more than six feet high. With no
superabundance of flesh and well proportioned, with

222

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

small heads, long legs, and perfectly naked, these men
looked even taller than they were. They were indeed
a race of giants, and they believed that in former days
their ancestors were even taller than the people of the
present day.

Oghilo himself was a great nuisance, as he had taken
a fancy to a large mule-bell which was strung to the
neck of my leading mule. For some hours he begged
and entreated me to give him the bell, and as I could
not spare it, he went on worrying me until I had to drive
him away, promising that I would send him the bell
when I had finished with it on reaching the Nile. He
went away dissatisfied. The next morning the bell
was missing. Happening to visit a village near by,
I chanced to hear the familiar sound of my bell, and
who should I see but my friend the giant Oghilo parading
about absolutely naked among admiring natives, and
with my bell attached to one part of his anatomy where
no one but a Yambo would think of attaching anything.

Oghilo was a most unscrupulous scoundrel. He
promised that in the afternoon I should get some thirty
of his villagers to convey my loads for two or three days
westwards towards Taufikia ; but when the hour came,
not only could Oghilo not be found again, but all his
men had disappeared, and no trace could be discovered
of them.

I visited a good many of their tribes, as I did not
travel by the river, but proceeded to march with my
mules and a number of extra men, when obtainable, as
far as the Nile.

I met many of these Yambo, and learned some of
their customs, which were peculiar. For instance, mice
and rats were what they relished most in the way

POLYGAMY

223

of food, but they would not on any account eat
crocodile meat, as my Abyssinians did. They were
fond of hippopotamus meat when they could get it.
They prepared themselves an intoxicating drink with
Indian corn. When drunk, as they frequently were,
they were disagreeable and troublesome.

It was interesting to see them in their hunts of wild
animals. The entire village — men, women and children —
turned out with their spears and javelins. The head of
the javelins was made with the tibia of a giraffe, brought
to a sharp point, and the rod was adorned with ostrich
feathers at the other end. These throwing weapons
were about six feet long.

I asked a Yambo one day how many wives he was
allowed to marry. He put up his hand and let down one
finger at a time, then the thumb, and then began with
the fingers of the other hand, which I took to indicate un-
mistakably to be that not only bigamy, but polygamy
on no small scale, existed among the Yambo. Not all,
of course, have so many wives ; one, two, or at the most,
four, being quite as many as most men can afford.
They always marry in their own tribe, and rarely
take wives even from a neighbouring tribe of Yambo.
When the husband dies the eldest son becomes the hus-
band of his father's wives, even of his own mother,
which seems rather a disgusting state of affairs, and
shows how low these people are in the human scale.

A girl can love any man, and it is only when an
irregular birth occurs that she is taken to task and is
compelled to declare who the father of the child is.
The parents, armed with their spears and accompanied
by friends, go to the responsible young man's village
and pillage whatever there may be in his hut, besides

224

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

appropriating all his cattle. If he should refuse to
marry the girl, all his property is taken away from him,
but if he can be induced to marry her, he only pays the
usual ransom of one or more cows and sheep, according
to his wealth.

As compared with the dances of Asia, I never saw
among any of the tribes of Central Africa dances of any
originality or grace. The Yambo, like all negroes,
dance a great deal at their festivals, the men and women
often joining in these dances ; the men opposite the
women, who sing and clap their hands, while the men
jump and hop about lightly with knees slightly bent.
The tam-tam is not beaten with the hand but with two
sticks, and as these people do nothing but play on the
tam-tam all day and all night, they eventually become
skilful at it.

The chiefs do not remove their front teeth, but all
the others, both men and women, do. In their par-
ticular case, they profess that it is done in order to
facilitate speech, as their teeth grow quickly at a
peculiar angle, which makes it uncomfortable for them
to close the mouth absolutely until the teeth are re-
moved. Although this is the reason they themselves
give, I think that their speech is only affected because
their respiratory organs do not work as they should when
the hot, fetid air of their region is inhaled in large quan-
tities through the mouth, a fact which might certainly
affect their speech also.

It is a curious fact that the Yambo who inhabit a
region unmistakably deadly for all other people, as well
as for tame animals brought there, are not themselves
affected by malarial fever, notwithstanding that they
are simply devoured by mosquitoes.

LOVE-SCRATCHES

225

The Yambo women are prolific, but the children are
not always as healthy as they might be, owing to
complaints of the blood of the worst possible kind,
including leprosy, being rampant.

The women think they embellish themselves by
making large cicatrices on the middle portion of the body,
while the men indulge in similar incisions on the arms
and chest. Usually these take the form of elongated
lines or dots. Most common of all are the four incisions
on each shoulder. These incisions are emblematic, and
they are supposed to have been caused in spasms of
passion by their lady loves ; others upon the body are
attributed to a similar origin. The Yambo seem very
proud of these scratches. As a matter of fact, although
few Yambo will confess it, these cicatrices are only made
with the point of a knife or a spear when nobody is
looking, either by a confidential member of the family,
or even by a special professional man, like the tachmish,
who is found in many parts of the Sudan, where this
sort of ornamentation in various forms is deemed
attractive, I have seen men whose arms were literally
covered with these sets of scratches, arranged with
wonderful regularity upon the arm considering the
narratives they wanted us to believe.

It is curious to note that while such semi-civilized
people as the Abyssinians think nothing of selling their
children for a consideration, the Yambo, who are abso-
lute savages, are most kind and affectionate to their
young, and would rather be killed than part with
them.

The Yambo are extremely clean, not only in their
huts, but in their persons as well as their food. A few
Yambo from Gambela, who had obtained cloth from
VOL. I. 15

226

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

the traders, draped the body shghtly, and not always
in the right place, but most of them, in fact nearly all,
went absolutely naked.

Yambo are quarrelsome, and consequently cannot help
being at enmity with neighbouring tribes. Although
aggressive towards persons weaker than themselves, these
overgrown people are in reality cowardly and weak.

In visiting some of their kahls^ I found that the
dead were buried in the centre of the enclosure. The
raised portion marking the grave was then plastered
over with the beautiful hardened cement of their own
manufacture.

Before I started from Gambela, Shamo, the chief of
the village where we forded the River Baro, who was
absent hunting when I passed, came in with many of
his followers to pay his respects. The young chief wore
a red handkerchief festooned around his head and a felt
hat upon it. Over a brightly-coloured sash around his
waist was a cartridge belt with empty cartridge-cases,
and all this finery was worn over a variegated shirt.
His legs were bare. Two large mule-bells were attached
to his right ankle, and one to the left ankle. Tinkling
these bells, he walked solemnly in stately grandeur,
followed by one rifleman with a long ostrich feather
stuck in the muzzle of his weapon. Behind these two
central figures came a lot of spearmen, with heads dyed
of all colours.

The chief had heard that Oghilo was now in
possession of a mule-bell, and evidently he had come to
show that he possessed three. The MacMillan expedi-
tion had passed this way the year before, and no
doubt the bells were obtained in the same manner to
Oghilo's. He certainly impressed the natives very

GENERAL GATACRE'S GRAVE 327

much. They gazed open-mouthed at his adorned feet.
A number of the men who came in wore as many as
six earrings of beads attached to each ear, each one, as
we have seen, in a separate hole all the way up the curve
of the ear.

We did not go from the sublime to the ridiculous in
the proverbial way, but instead from the ridiculous to
the melancholy, when the mamur and I went to take a
photograph of General Gatacre's grave. Whether it
was that in countries where one does not see many white
people one feels things more keenly than when you live
among them, it gave me quite a serrement de cceur
when the tragic death of this brave, if not always
successful, officer was narrated to me.

Behind the humble bazaar and among a lot of untidy
shrubs the unfortunate general was hastily buried in
the middle of the night. The few sick Greeks and the
mamur present had to keep some distance away, as
the body was in a state of decomposition and falling
to pieces when it was brought to the grave.

The poor man had died alone and unattended under
a big tree at a place called Ideni, further down the
river, unable to understand or to make himself under-
stood by the natives. On landing from a boat near
Ideni, he had proceeded to walk on foot without comforts
of any kind towards Gambela, but a violent attack of
fever had seized him, and he had to find temporary
shelter under a solitary tree. He had despatched his
Indian servants to Gambela, a journey which would
occupy them two or three days, but unfortunately a few
hours were enough to kill him.

The Yambo who had been watching him came to the
tree when the General had collapsed, and, finding Hfe
VOL. I. 15*

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

extinct, for fear of being accused of murder, took the
body in a canoe up to Gambela, where, owing to the
intense heat, it arrived a couple of days later in a state
of decomposition.

The grave of this well-known Enghsh general con-
sisted of an improvised cross made with two boards of
a broken kerosene box nailed upon a stick ; that was the
only wood that could be obtained. A lot of thorns had
been piled upon the heap of earth covering the body,
in order to prevent hyenas and other wild animals
digging up the body. Poor General Gatacre !

229

CHAPTER XXII.

I INTENDED Sparing my mules as much as possible, and
endeavoured to obtain carriers at Gambela. The mamur
was obliging, and went to no end of trouble to procure
men for me, but notwithstanding the promises of the
various chiefs, no porters were forthcoming. One day
was absolutely wasted waiting for these fellows. Police-
men were despatched in all directions to induce men
to come in.

Eventually, at noon on March loth, a number of
Yambo were brought up, and I was able to start on the
long march towards the Nile. It was my intention to
visit many of the interesting tribes on the north, and
especially on the south, of the Sobat river. I should
have to make great detours in order to see them. This
would involve hard work, as most of this country during
the rainy season was an absolute swamp. During the dry
season — in which I was travelling — the mud became
hardened, but was most uneven from innumerable deep
footmarks of elephants, giraffes and other animals, and
from wide cracks in the surface mud contracted by the
heat of the sun. It was a severe strain for the animals
to get along. The heat was intense and incessant.
There were but few trees.

No sooner had I started from Gambela than I met
upon the road a poor Yambo child, about ten or twelve

230 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

years of age. He had wasted to a mere skeleton. His
legs and arms were atrophied, the bones devoid of flesh ;
the knees, elbows, and all other joints much enlarged
and seemingly calcinated. His head, too, was dried up
like that of a mummy, merely the skin remaining tightly
stretched upon the skull. The boy was absolutely blind
and deaf. The greatest marvel to me was that the poor
little fellow could live at all. The disease from which he
was suffering was prevalent in that region in a more or
less accentuated degree. Children appeared to suffer
more intensely from it than well-grown people. It
seemed to affect every portion of their anatomy ; whereas
with the older people the legs seemed to desiccate first,
the knee joints hardening until they were unable to bend
any longer, then the ankle becoming stiffened and the
toes gradually atrophied. The arms were affected
at the elbows in a second stage of the disease. I came
upon many of these skeleton-like people. They were a
pitiable sight.

We passed numerous Yambo villages along the
stream. Many fields of Indian corn were cultivated by
these giants. Near Pinkio there was a smaU lake on
the right of us as we were travelling almost due west.

The Baro river, on our left at this point, showed an
elongated island dividing the stream into two unequal
channels, the right one being half the width of the other.
In many places the stream was over a hundred yards
wide. Some distance to the right we had a long range
of mountains in the Afillo and Sayo regions, and nearer
us were curious rounded mounds and humps.

We had gone but a few hundred yards from Gambela
when most of the carriers made an escape, scattering
the loads upon the trail. I had to send back to my

EVIL SPIRITS

friend the mamur to ask for a fresh supply of men. He
rode out with a new lot of porters some time in the
evening.

These Yambo were so unreliable and sneaky that I
feared the new contingent might run away also. During
the night I kept watch on them. We had an unplea-
sant night. The Yambo shrieked the whole night at
the top of their voices in an orgy of their own, because,
they said, the full moon was coming out, and they must
give it a greeting. In the neighbouring village the tam-
tams were beaten frantically all through the hours of
darkness, and choruses of frantic yells could be heard in
all directions. As a matter of fact, it was not the full
moon they were welcoming, but, being of an extremely
superstitious nature, they were endeavouring to keep
away from their huts the evil spirits which they believe
are the travelling companions of white men going through
their country.

The damp heat was stifling all through the night —
quite suffocating. Equally unpleasant was the con-
cert of mosquitoes, which added greatly to our discom-
fort. We were stung all over. Notwithstanding that
I had a thick mosquito net, these mosquitoes were so
fierce that they could find their way inside with no diffi-
culty. Also, as one's camp bed was necessarily not very
wide, every time one's arms and feet came near the
mosquito netting, they were instantly riddled with
stings through the netting. Worse still, even the entire
body was not spared right through the stretched canvas
of the bed upon which one lay.

In the middle of the night I had to jump out and
run barefooted after a batch of Yambo, who had suddenly
bolted out of camp. I was unable to catch them again

232

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

as I unfortunately trod on a bunch of thorns. The men
got away, and I had to spend the remainder of the night
in trying to extract the spikes from my aching soles and
toes. For this a brilliant illumination of candles was
imperative, and the light fetched around me swarms of
ill-natured, buzzing mosquitoes quite fierce in their
attacks.

We had encamped at a place to the west of Pinkio,
quite a populated centre, where a ferry canoe was to be
found. I was thus able to go to the other side of the
stream to examine some of the villages.

The Yambo I had now in my employ were under a
chief named Didon, an unscrupulous scoundrel, whom
I took as a hostage, warning his people that if any of
them took flight I would take their leader as far as the
Nile. We had a grand row in camp, during which
sonorous blows were exchanged, as they endeavoured to
liberate their chief. I confiscated Didon's matchlock,
which he valued very much, and in order to obtain its
return peace was eventually restored. It was only after
some time that we departed, travelling over flat countiy
with many small plantations of Indian corn.

We passed a double-coned hill on our right, quite
isolated upon this level land, and to the west-north-
west a peculiarly-shaped mountain, with sloping sides at
the base and a vertical walled rocky mass towering
above it.

The influence of civilization brought up the river by
traders began to be apparent among the natives. It
took the form of skirts for the Yambo women. Only
these skirts, made of strings of white and green beads,
appeared to me too long to be short and a great deal too
short to be long.

A SMALL DISASTER

233

That day was doomed to small disasters. I had
stored in one large case a bag containing some thirty
pounds of powdered sugar, and next to it were placed
several large bottles of castor oil. A bump! The case
had tumbled off a pack ! Sounds of broken glass, of
course. Oil trickling out from the interstices. Two
bottles of castor oil gone. Denouement, the sugar ab-
sorbed all the oil and became so disgusting in flavour
that it had to be thrown away. So, from that time, no
more sugar in my coffee, no more sugar in my tea, no
more sugar on anything, and it happened just at a time
when, owing to the intense heat, I had taken a great fancy
to sugar ! Sugar is most refreshing and wholesome in
tropical climates.

We halted under a cluster of small trees. After
travelling all the time across a grassy and almost treeless
country, we came to a tiny village.

The natives smeared their bodies and faces with white
ashes, and dyed the hair on the scalp of a brilliant red or
yellow colour. Others plastered the hair all over with
a composition of white ashes and mud, and drew it into
a point behind the head. When this preparation was
removed, they elongated each kink in the hair with a
wooden pin and gave it a fluffy appearance. The
coiffure stood straight up on the head, and was of a
brilliant yellow.

All these people were extremely vain — a quality
universal among negroes. They thought of nothing except
their personal appearance and how to improve it.
Sometimes they added dabs of black and red upon the
white-coated skin of their faces. Whether the vision
of black people is different to ours or not is difficult to
say. Their charming beauty seemed greatly admired

234

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

by the fair sex of their own country, but to European
eyes they looked perfectly ghastly.

At 10.30 on the night of March iith we encamped
on a fiat open space opposite Itang (alt. 1,300), on the
north side of the Baro, where ruins of the former trading
station could still be seen.

Further trouble was in store with the Yambo, notwith-
standing the patience I had used towards them. They
now absolutely refused to carry out their agreement to
come as far as Kaig, or indeed to come along at all. I
was so tired of their company that I drove them away
from my camp, and loaded the mules again.

We next passed Ideni village, merely two or three
hutSj inhabited by people quite different in appearance
from the Yambo. The men were slightly bearded. In
fact, we were here entering the Nuer country. The
women carried their children astride upon their backs.

I noticed some rather peculiar straw figures used as
scarecrows in their plantations of Indian com. These
huge figures possessed plenty of anatomical detail — too
much, in fact.

Near villages in this neighbourhood there was usually
a high post, the stump of a dum palm devoid of leaves at
the summit. In this particular village, this post along
the stream had been dyed in sections of white and black
alternately ; but I think this was the work of hydro-
graphers rather than a characteristic habit of the popu-
lation.

In front of my camp I witnessed an interesting sham
fight with javelins between young fellows and children.
I was astonished to see how accurately these people
gauged distances and calculated the parabohc curve of
their weapons through the air.

NUER

235

This Nuer tribe had pecuhar ways of doing the hair :
frequently in a long cone behind the head, with two
feathers stuck on the right side and another straight up
upon the head. They were thin and tall. All possessed
flattened faces, with long, prominent upper teeth stick-
ing out beyond the upper lip. The nose was flat and
broad, and upon the forehead they had parallel in-
cisions half an inch apart, from the brow as far as the
commencement of the hair. Many of them dyed the
nose of a different colour from the face ; others had
different patches of colour upon the cheeks. The younger
people plastered the hair down into a long, conical,
sharp point over the forehead, instead of behind the
head. The hair in its natural condition was black and
bristly, but after the dyeing process it became dried
and fluffy, and the kinks would become straightened
so as to give the people a fashionable fluffy head of
hair.

Sticks were passed horizontally through the ears,
and a huge brass ring was worn round the neck.
Numerous brass bracelets covered the entire lower arm
from the wrist to the elbow. A typical ornament, which
I noticed from this point right across as far as the
boundary of the French Congo, was the string tightly
fastened directly under the knee. These particular
people attached to it two pieces of wood on the left
leg only.

The favourite attitude of these tribesmen when
sitting was to keep one knee up and to rest the arm upon
it. The other leg was folded down and rested flat upon
the ground. Frequently they also sat upon the ground
with both legs bent up and the arms resting upon them.
But they never sat cross-legged as people in Europe

236

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

always imagine natives of any kind must sit, Turkish
fashion.

An antelope skin, with a sort of strap attached to it,
was worn hussar fashion by the better-dressed men as a
mantle upon one shoulder.

At a place called Sham, near Ketch, I saw some spears
of great length. They had an enormous elongated,
leaf-shaped head with a high rib in the centre on
either side, the section of the spearhead at its centre
forming a quadrangle. Two throwing spears were
generally carried by each man, as well as a war-club,
some three feet long. When calling peaceably on friends,
on sitting down the men stuck the heads of their spears
into the ground. The war-clubs were cut from hard,
heavy, but light-coloured wood, with a hemispherical
or conical head at one end and a sharp point at the
other.

237

CHAPTER XXIII.

At Sham the inhabitants were again Yambo, but not
of a pure type. Although their habitations were quite
clean, they were not so neatly built nor properly looked
after as those I had seen at Gambela. The roof did not
show the same accuracy of construction. The door in
the mud wall was only one and a half feet high and one
and a half feet wide. It had a waved pattern over it.
There was a three-cornered depression on one side of
the hut in the interior for lighting a fire, and along the
wall stood three or four earthen pots for storing maize.
In the small paved courts facing the huts were large
bowls of baked corn, the bowls being hemispherical,
with decorations of the dot pattern and inverted waves
filled in with dots.

In type these people had some of the characteristics of
the Yambo and some of those of the Nuer. The lips,
the most prominent of their features, were protruding and
heavy, and they appeared out of proportion to the small,
squashed, flat nose. The lips were usually wide open,
showing the upper front teeth, which became of great
length, the lower ones being removed at a comparatively
tender age. Although the forehead of these people had
sufficient height, it was abnormally narrow and lacking
in character. If phrenology could always be relied
upon, these people should be great mathematicians, as
the bump — the only prominent one — of calculation was

238

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

strongly marked ; but I rather doubt whether any of
them could even count up to five, and this with the aid
of their fingers.

In prowling about the village I saw a woman whose
ears were simply riddled with holes, in each of which she
had inserted a white glass bead. All the curves of the
ear were absolutely filled with these white beads, each
one sewn into the flesh.

The entire population seemed afflicted in a most
alarming form by the terrible venereal complaint pre-
valent all over tropical Africa, and as they went about
perfectly naked, one could notice the abnormal con-
traction of certain organs, or the undue swelling of
others, not to speak of formidable-looking buboes of a
virulent kind in the region of the loins. The blood of
these people was indeed in a thoroughly vitiated con-
dition. The muscles of their arms and legs seemed to
undergo a process of desiccation which gave the knees
and elbows the appearance of being much enlarged, and
was evidently caused by the impurity and poverty of
their blood.

The drinking bowls of these people were made of
half a gourd. Prettily-coloured shells brought by
traders from the coast were in great demand among
these natives, who used them as spoons.

When we were proceeding on the march we saw
numerous antelopes, and innumerable flamingoes with
blue wings, white chest and long pink legs.

We crossed an immense grassy plain, where Ketch
and two other large Nuer settlements of sixt}' or eighty
houses in each were situated.

The walls of the huts were now made of heavy logs
of wood, plastered with mud between, and much higher

A GHASTLY MAKE-UP

239

than those of the Yambo — about five feet instead of two.
The door was somewhat narrower but taller than that of
Yambo homes, and in shape formed either half or an
entire oval. The method of closing the doorway was
simple enough. A mat was placed against the opening,
with logs of wood piled one on the top of the other
against it, and held in position by two upright sticks
parallel to the wall. The roofs, conical and of greater
height than in the Yambo country, were constructed in
superposed sections forming horizontal rings round the
hut. Some were as much as fourteen feet high. There
were also domed huts of thatch over a frame of bent
sticks, and onlj^ six or seven feet high.

The custom of dyeing the body and face white with
ashes was here quite general, the men sporting some
additional brown and red marks upon the face, the
ensemble of their wrinkled, rugged faces, with their few
hairs of beard, their overlapping brows and broad flat
noses being at all times quite repulsive, but more so under
their additional make-up.

I visited the villages of Buringhi and Bilunkul, and
in the latter village I found a six-stringed musical instru-
ment, lyre-shaped, not unlike the one used b}^ the people
of Kaffa. In this case, however, the sounding-board
was made of half a pumpkin instead of a wooden cone
with a skin stretched on it.

The natives were shy and suspicious. I had the
greatest difficulty in photographing them.

Before deciding upon a spot higher up stream towards
Gambela, the Sudan Government had established a small
trading station on the river at Ideni. We had left the
Baro at Itang, and we only struck it again at this place.

Owing to the grass being high, when we came near

240

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

the stream I saw and heard a great many women bathing
and splashing in the river, but they had not perceived
us. I stalked them with my best camera and managed
to get quite close without being seen. When, however,
I had to emerge from the grass in order to take the
picture there was a general stampede with shrill squeals
and yells, such as only frightened women know how to
rend the air with. The bathing ladies fled at first in
a body and then dispersed in all directions. But not,
however, before I had succeeded in taking an instan-
taneous record of their flight, quite interesting, in a way,
as it shows the extraordinary length of their legs and
the curious angle of the body while running. A child
— less rapid and more scared than her elders — who had
also been taken for a refreshing bath, was abandoned
by her mother in the water, and was fast getting sub-
merged. Had I not hurried to pull her out — dear me,
what lung power even the young possessed ! — and
deposited her on an improvised couch of weeds which I
made for her on a small island, she would have certainly
got drowned or seized by a crocodile. Perhaps the
mother went to fetch her back when I had gone. I hope
she did.

There were hundreds of cranes along the river and
red gazelles on land.

The men in this region wore round their arms beau-
tiful, heavy ivory rings, some as much as three inches
broad, six inches in diameter and one inch thick.

At Bilunkul. where we halted for some hours in the
middle of the day owing to the intense heat, the Baro
was about fifty yards wide, with a great sandy beach at
the river bend.

Towards two o'clock we continued our journey again

STRANGE ABIGAR GUIDE

in the broiling sun over a grassy but treeless flat plain,
with thousands of fine long-horned cattle belonging to
the Nuer. These animals disliked the sight of my mules,
and whenever they perceived my caravan go through
they took special delight in charging us — quite a for-
midable sight as they cantered in a body towards us.
It took a deal of shouting to keep them at bay.

We kept pretty well at an elevation of about 1,300
feet, and after a long and somewhat tiring march for my
animals, we arrived at and crossed the Jonkau stream,
only five yards wide, flowing southward into the Baro.
There was a village of Nuer near the place where we
crossed the rivulet.

We encamped on the west side of the stream, where
grass was plentiful. Curiously enough, although the
heat of the day had been intense, the night was quite
chilly, and we hardly heard or felt any mosquitoes.

I had with me an Abigar, whom I had employed as
a guide to show me the various settlements of Yambo
and Nuer. He was a peculiar-looking fellow, shrivelled
up with age. He displayed a red fez, of which he was
proud, as he had served in the Sudan police. Over
a shirt with only one sleeve he wore a thick winter waist-
coat, which he had purchased from a trader and on which
he had fastened four buttons, all of different colours and
sizes. While marching he bore a big bundle of spears
slung upon his back, and his pockets were full of small
articles which he had taken along, in order to do some
little trading on his own account upon the road. In one
hand he carried, also for trading purposes, a small
bundle of wire, and in the spare hand he conveyed for
me a lantern, in which in the daytime were stored on
alternate days tins of apricot and strawberry jam and
VOL. I. 16

242

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

biscuits, of which I eat quantities all day long on the
march — hence the necessity of keeping them in an
accessible place.

On March 14th we left camp at sunrise, and a mile
or so beyond we reached the Baro, here about a hundred
yards wide. I wanted to cross it in order to see some
of the tribes on the southern side of the river.

After a good deal of bargaining with a local chief,
who rebelled against taking us and the loads over in his
dug-out, we came to an understanding with him and
proceeded to take the baggage across. Money was
absolutely useless in this region. To save myself the
trouble of unpacking beads and brass wire, I offered this
chief as much as four silver dollars which I had in my
pocket, to take us across, but he explicitly refused to
accept the money, which he threw upon the ground,
saying that it was no good to him. He eventually con-
sented to take us to the other side for something hke
one yard of brass wire, worth at the most threepence.
There was a man with a good eye for business.

We had, of course, to swim the horses and mules
across, and the canoe, being extremely rickety — abso-
lutely falling to pieces, it was so rotten — it took us the
best part of three hours to effect the crossing of the
entire caravan. The scene was witnessed from both
banks of the river by hundreds of admiring natives,
smeared all over with white and quite ghost-hke. They
were sitting along the river banks with their knees
doubled up, each one carrying two or more spears as well
as war-clubs.

Good gracious ! What a variety of headdresses
these people were seen to have adopted when you looked
at them. Some wore the hair plastered into a cone

LONG-LEGGED PEOPLE

243

sticking out behind ; others in a httle cone rising up
vertically upon the head ; others still in an elongated
cone projecting out in a graceful curve in front, several
inches beyond the forehead. Some, more ambitious,
had built a gorgeous aureole of long white and black
feathers stuck in the back of the hair ; others only
had one feather stuck on one side of the head.

All the men had five or six parallel cuts upon the
forehead, their special tribal mark, and many men and
women showed the incisions upon the shoulders and
chest recording love affairs, after the fashion we have
seen among the Yambo. Some had a series of these
cicatrices at the waist behind.

These people were rowdy, whatever we did or said
causing a good deal of undemonstrative merriment
among them. I never saw any of them laugh heartily ;
they seemed to take life sadly, not unlike the long-legged
water-birds along the stream, whom they closely
resembled. Nature has a wonderful way of adapting
people and animals to local conditions. The country of
these people was dry when we passed in the height
of the hot season, but during the rains it is practically
a swamp, and to get about involves being in water
all the time. Hence the necessity of supplying the
people with long legs, in order to keep the vital parts of
the body protected as much as possible from the moisture.
Nearly all the tribes of the High Nile valley, which go by
the generic name of " Nilotic tribes," possess similar
characteristics ; but many paludal and riverine tribes
of other parts of the world are also to be found with a
special anatomical development enabling them to live
in watery regions.

I proceeded to a village called Wau, and then to
VOL. I, 16*

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

another village with small domed huts, six to seven feet
high. Nearly all these villages were now built at the
sides of a square, in which stood hundreds of pegs for
tying up goats and cattle at night.

These people possessed thousands of humped, long-
horned cattle, which they would on no account sell or
barter, nor would they dispose of milk, butter or cheese.
At night, when the cattle had been collected in the
central square, big fires were burnt all round to keep
wild animals at bay — lions particularly, which were plen-
tiful in that region. Drums were also beaten the whole
night.

The men of these villages possessed a curious arrange-
ment, which consisted of a large wooden cylinder, in
which a hollow place to insert the hand was scooped
half-way up. They explained that this was a weapon
of defence against blows from the war-clubs, but I never
was able to get them to give me a practical demon-
stration of how it was used. Of course, one could get a
powerful swing with these heavy wooden cylinders, and
anybody able to use them dexterously could certainly
ward off any blow, and even disarm his enem}'.

As we marched southward of the river, visiting several
other villages, the heat was stifling. The short grass was
burnt by the roasting sun. The scenery was wretchedly
barren, and not a tree nor shrub was to be seen for miles
and miles around. The country was absolutely flat.

In the afternoon we reached a place called Barakui,
where the natives wore their hair long and dyed it a light
brown colour. These people were independent in their
manner, and rather inclined to be unpleasant. They
were angry at my making a camp in the neighbourhood
of their village, and insisted that we should move on,

NUER POET AND MUSICIAN

245

which, of course, I did not do. We had to keep a sharp
look-out on all our possessions, as these people were un-
scrupulous thieves.

Here again we found the fashion of plastering the hair
with red mud, mostly into a long point in front, like a
clown. The dwellers in this place had lovely ivory
bracelets of great thickness round their arms above the
elbow, and numerous brass wire bracelets covering the
arm from the wrist to the elbow. They possessed
elaborate necklaces of blue and white beads, but their
entire dress consisted of a mere string of rope round the
loins, usually with one or two cylindrical pieces of wood
sticking up about two inches in front, or else with a well-
made knot at the waist behind.

These people coveted pieces of European rope, and
I had to keep men watching all the time over the ropes
with which we fastened our packs on the mules, as I
could read in their faces an inextinguishable desire to
intercept them.

All round the right shoulder-blade the men had two
semicircles of dots formed by incisions in the skin, and
also sets of incisions, generally in parallel rows, in the
umbiHcal region.

When these fellows perceived that I disregarded
their arrogance, and paid no attention whatever to their
threatening attitude, the chief sent over to my camp a
strange individual — a local poet and musician — evidently
a Nuer Mozart, with long hair held in by a white bead-
crown at the back of the head. His features were
knobby ; his eyes mere slits.

I am fond of music, but I never place much reliance
in the honesty of musicians — less, of course, in that of
Nuer musicians than of other musicians. When I saw

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

this unscrupulous-looking devil appear, I naturally took
some interest in his combination lyre-drum, which was
neatly made of a tortoise shell, with a skin stretched over
it, perforated in sixteen places, and of the usual trian-
gular frame, with six strings attached to it; but I also
immediately wondered whether this genius of Nuer-
land had really come to give us sweet local melodies,
or whether his visit had ulterior motives. With him
came a friend of his, this one more poet-hke. A poet and
a musician together. That looked rather bad.

While I pretended to be writing I kept a watch on
them by means of a small looking-glass. The musician
sat himself some little way behind me, strumming upon
the strings and making some ululations, while his com-
panion, gazing towards the sky, walked about the camp
shoving with his feet — unseen, as he believed — any small
articles, such as knives, forks, etc., which were strewn
upon the ground about my camp. The musician, on
his part, seemed skilfully to combine thieving with im-
provising verses and music, and while charming us with
Nuer melodies with his dainty hands, he spread now one
leg and then the other to pick up with his toes — which
he could use like fingers — the various articles which his
friend and confederate had conveniently pushed near
him.

Interesting as all this was to watch, I could not help
wondering how these rascals would manage to take the
things away without my seeing them. Evidently they
intended sitting there until night came, the hour then
being two o'clock in the afternoon. Upon which, I
thought I would not wait so long, and proceeded in my
turn to charm them too — but with a different kind of
music altogether — and recovered my property, quite a

Xuer musician and poet.

NUER NATURAL ODOUR

247

good heap of it, on which for lack of pockets the illus-
trious minstrel was gracefully sitting.

Hot as I made it for my victim, we considered that
quite a cool day as far as the temperature went. It was
120° in the sun and no shade of any kind existed except
under the shelter that I had put up, where the tem-
perature registered 100°. There was, however, a nice
breeze, which gave us great relief, as we had been suffering
a good deal from the hot, stifling air.

The skin of the Nuer possesses a strong natural
odour, much resembling that of sheep. It could be
easily detected in the pure air fifteen to twenty yards
away if the wind blew in one's direction. Possibly it is
intensified by their habit of sleeping among their sheep
and goats. These people are clean in their habits, and
they spend all their time between bathing and smearing
their bodies with ashes. They think themselves very
beautiful.

The umbilicus of children is so badly tied at birth
— in fact, the umbilical cord is left quite long and a mere
knot tied at the end — that one finds many children of
five to ten years old with the umbilicus enlarged to the
size of a large egg — quite a deformity.

We have a different type again in this particular
tribe, influenced probably by their vicinity to the Anuak.
They have a long and prominent upper lip. The fore-
head is large in proportion to the size of the head,
but extreme weakness of character is apparent in the
lower portion of the face, particularly in the small receding
chin.

Many of these people were regular giants, as far as
their stature went, many of them being above six feet
four inches. Several men I saw six feet six inches in

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

height. Most of the men were over six feet, and all
remarkably long-legged.

The body and arms showed no strength whatever, the
chest particularly being badly developed, narrow and
weak. These people, unlike the Yambo, only remove
one upper front tooth.

The women either shave their heads clean, which
they do by scraping it with a piece of shell, or else they
wear a coiffure like the men, plastered into a curly short
horn. These people are absolutely hairless on the body.
The women are only well formed when quite young, when
they possess well-rounded and fairly daintily-chiselled
limbs, with gracefully-modelled body and breasts, but
when getting older they either become massive and un-
shapely or else skinny and ancient-looking. They have
five long cuts above the forehead as a tribal mark. A
stick several inches long is generally thrust into the
upper lip.

Men and women decorate the body with cicatrices of
the parallel-angle pattern, the incisions being made with
the point of a porcupine quill.

Men, women and children, when standing, often
raise one foot upon the knee of the other leg, not un-
like water-birds, and keep their balance steadily for a
long time by resting against a spear or even without.
These people are great fishermen, the entire village going
out on fishing expeditions, when the noise of their
shrieks while chasing the fish along the streamlets with
their spears resounds for miles around. They generally
send a canoe with three or four women in it up a small
stream for a mile or so, the people in the skiff beating the
water and chasing the fish in the direction of the crowd.
All are waiting, spear in hand, and a regular pandemonium

FISHING EXPEDITIONS

249

takes place when the fish arrive, and all the fishermen
jump into the water, spearing to right and left with
wonderful skill.

Huge crowds of fish are captured on these occasions,
and when everybody has enough the fishers return
singing to the village. Some also use a fish-hook made
of bone, to the head of which a long line is attached,
the other end being fastened to the fisherman's neck, but
this is only used for the larger fish.

Nearly all the men wear two large ivory rings above
the elbow, while the women are fond of wearing iron
anklets on their lower extremities.

It was amusing to watch the excitement of these
people one day when a crowd collected round my camp,
and I was in the act of shaving. They thought that I
was about to paint my whole body white when they saw
me lathering my face, and their disappointment was
great when I scraped off the soap again with a razor.
There were many applications to obtain some of the soap
for their own use, as they said it gave such a beautiful
white. But as the bartering consisted of taking all the
soap, and giving nothing in exchange for it, I was unable
to satisfy their vanity.

In the evening the thermometer dropped as low as 65°,
and my men felt the cold intensely.

The sight of Barakui village close by was quite weird
at sunset. A great number of sharply-pointed huts
stood against the low, brilliant, golden red horizon, above
which delicate greenish tints gradually blended into the
deep blue vault of the sky.

250

CHAPTER XXIV.

During the night we had a disaster which came near
wrecking my entire expedition.

The fires which we hghted round our camp every
evening had gone out owing to my men falhng asleep.
Towards midnight I was awakened by frantic neighing
and braying, my horse and mules making desperate
efforts to tear away the picket line.

We were encamped on finely-powdered, soft, allu-
vial soil. Not a tree nor a stone was to be found within
a great distance. The pickets, although forced deep
mto the ground, offered but little resistance and did
not hold. Before I was able to jump out of my camp-
bed all the animals had stampeded in a body, and, as
the night was dark, they were soon out of sight.

It was a disaster which could not very well be
averted, but when I realized its likely consequences it
gave me a great deal to reflect upon.

My men seized their rifles and ran after the animals,
but they had gained such a long lead that they were
unable to hear them or detect their direction. Still,
they ran and ran like mad in all directions, trusting more
to Providence than to personal judgment, as they, too,
contemplated the plight in which we should find our-
selves were the animals not recovered.

I remained alone in camp. On making a tour of

A LION IN CAMP

251

inspection with a lantern, I discovered in the soft soil
the tracks of a lion. So in my mind I constructed the
entire explanation of what had happened. Evidently
the Hon had sprung upon the mules and had been the
cause of the trouble.

The neighbouring villagers had been roused by the
noise in our camp, and I could just perceive in the
distance lots of ghost-like painted figures, spear in hand,
running to and fro near their huts ; while the distant
barking of dogs, towards the east, where the river was
about thirty miles away, made me suspect that the
animals had dashed in that direction.

I waited and waited for several hours and listened
for signals from my men. With the exception of sus-
picious cries from the native village, everything had
become quite calm again. In order that my men could
find their way back to my tent, which they could not
possibly distinguish at night, owing to its khaki colour
being the same as that of the ground, I fastened several
sticks together and hauled up the lantern, some height
above the tent, so as to form an improvised lighthouse.
I was rather anxious about them, as the natives round
us were not friendly, and although I was sure they
would not attack us in a body they might probably
intercept my men singly.

The morning came. Neither men nor mules had
reappeared, and when ten, eleven o'clock, and then noon
had gone by, and no one had returned, I began to feel
rather uncomfortable. No help could be expected from
the local natives. Quite the contrary ; now that they
saw me alone in camp they became threatening. I was
too far from the river to convey the loads there, make
a raft, and proceed by water, and this disaster, I quite

252

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

realized, meant that I must abandon all my notes, photo-
graphs, instruments, most of my rifles and ammunition,
and make for the stream with only what provisions I
could carry on my back. At best, this was not a bright
look-out in such a hot, desolate country.

In the afternoon one of my men, with bleeding feet
and half dead with fatigue, returned to camp with the
sad news that he had lost his companions and had seen
no signs of the animals. Two more men returned later,
bringing a similar account. They, too, were worn and
thirsty, as they had found no water the whole day.

At sunrise I had followed for some distance the traces
of blood from the spot where the mules had been
tethered, which left no doubt that the lion had jumped
upon, and probably clung to, one of the animals as they
stampeded.

The mishap could not have happened in a worse
place. The only water we had at this camp was from
an effluent of the Baro, and the stagnant water was
swarming with large worms and black germs of great
size. The air in the daytime was so hot and full of dust
that one's face and clothes were black with it when a
sUght breeze raised clouds of it. There was no shade
of any kind, and it was impossible to remain under
the tent, as the moment one got under cover the heat
was suffocating.

The sarcastic hilarity of the natives who came to
laugh at one's misfortunes was irritating, and their
absolute refusal to help us to carry my heavy baggage
to the stream on any account whatever, did not add
to my happiness. They rejected with scorn presents
I offered them, and by the unabashed manner they
circled round my camp in force I suspected that they

A SUSPICIOUS EXPEDITION

253

were under the impression they would soon possess all
I owned. To complete one's trials, a native musician
with a lyre came to fill the air with incoherent and dis-
cordant notes like a morose child's three-finger exercises,
improvising songs about us which created a good deal
of mirth among his tribesmen. The temptation to
smash this fellow's head as well as his tortoiseshell
musical instrument was almost unconquerable, and
it was only by some pieces of cotton wool which I stuffed
tight into my ears that this man's life was eventually
spared.

Also, luckily for him, hundreds of villagers — indeed,
the whole population, men, women and children — brand-
ishing spears and shrieking wildly, spearing fish as they
went along, came rushing along the banks of the putrid
stream, while a canoe in the water drove the fish towards
the crowd in the manner already described in a previous
chapter.

It was a picturesque sight. Only I was not quite
certain whether this fishing expedition was not really
intended as a blind in order to attack us unexpectedly.
The two or three men who had returned to my camp
seemed anxious and took to their rifles. I handed
ammunition over to them, in order to be ready for any
emergency. I, too, loaded two of my magazine rifles
and kept them ready, carefully watching events.

The natives had decked themselves in all their
finery to go on this particular fishing expedition, and
it looked to me more like their war-paint than the
attire usually worn when slaying fish. Some of the men
had as many as a dozen white and black feathers
sticking up straight upon the head, and small sticks
thrust through the ears and in the lips. Among the few

254

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

women who were dressed at all, some wore small fringes
of hide in front of the lower portion of the body.
Others, more elaborately dressed, donned a little skirt,
three inches long, worn very low and going all round
the body ; while one or two of the more stylish ladies
were adorned with a leather triangular tail behind,
reaching down to the knee. They seemed proud of this
style of dress.

Whether because the people saw that we had taken
to our rifles, or for other reasons — the fishing that day
seemed to be only near my camp — after a great deal of
excitement the Nuer returned to their village. Day-
light had by this time waned. The sun was getting
towards the horizon, but there were no signs of the
mules nor of most of my men.

At last, after dark, a blind boy belonging to a
different tribe from that of Barakui came into my camp
to say that my mules had gone across the Baro. His
village, he told us, was along the stream, and he had
heard the noise of the animals galloping by and going
into the water. There was irony of fate for you !
That a blind boy should be the only one who knew where
the mules were. It all seemed so extraordinary to me
that I did not at first believe him, and I suspected this
to be a ruse to ambush us. I asked him how he had
found his way to my camp. He told me that his village
men had brought him close by, and were there still
hiding. They were on unfriendly terms with the Nuer
of the village near which we encamped, and if I chose to
go out to them we could arrange to have the mules
brought back. I sent two of my men with this boy, in
order to get his villagers safely to my tent. In fact,
after a long conference, they said they would endeavour

MONEY USELESS

255

to capture the animals on the other side of the stream
and bring them back. A handsome present was pro-
mised the moment the animals were handed back to me,
but not before. They all swore the animals had swum
across the river and gone over to the north side, some
thirty to forty miles from my camp.

The next morning another of my men returned,
who had followed the tracks of the mules, and he had
arrived at the spot on the river where they had crossed.

The entire next day elapsed, and I had already made
up my mind to send for relief, either to Gambela or
Nasser, when shortly after sunset my heart bounded with
joy. In the distance I perceived two more of my men
and six mules driven by a horde of Abigar. When they
reached camp — the animals were in a terrible condition
— I took them over again. The natives told us how
they had captured them eight or ten miles north of
the Baro.

In a moment of exuberance I offered the Abigar
chief and his men a substantial sum of silver, about
five pounds sterling worth, which they refused with con-
tempt, as they said that was no present to offer, and
they did not know what to do with it. I told them if
they brought the other mules they should have as much
again, but they refused.

What did they want ? I asked. I would certainly
give it to them if I could afford it. Upon which the
chief said he wanted two brass wire bracelets for himself,
and one brass wire bracelet for each of his men, some
thirty altogether. Not only did I give them what they
demanded, but I gave the chief eight brass bracelets
and two extra to every other man, with promises of
giving as many again if they brought in all the other

256

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

animals. They were delighted, and so was I, because
in this transaction not only should I get my mules back,
but I should save at least nine pounds ten shillings out
of the ten pounds which I had offered as a reward, and
as there is no way of replenishing one's exchequer in
Central Africa, I needed all the cash I carried.

Shortly after, another mule was recovered in a
worn condition close to camp, where it had found
its way, and, later, another straggled in. I had now
eight animals back, all so tired that they could hardly
move. Two or three of them were badly wounded,
as in stampeding and carrying away the picket rope
they must have fallen, and had been kicked or dragged
along by the others in their frantic flight.

On March i6th, the next day, long before sunrise,
I was up waiting for more mules to come in. The horse
and another mule were perceived at some distance
straggling in towards the camp, and I was in hopes that
some of the other mules would soon follow the horse,
round whom they always collected. Later, an Abigar
ran in to say that all the animals had recrossed the river
to the south side, and the villagers were trying to capture
them. In fact, towards noon, much to my delight,
the remainder of the animals were led back into my
camp. One of them had been badly mauled, evidently
by a lion, a good portion of its shoulder having been
bitten off. The animal seemed in great pain. Before
the accident this was, of course, the best mule I
possessed. I had not the courage to kill it. It, how-
ever, died on the march a day or two later.

There were great rejoicings in camp, and the Abigar
could not restrain their happiness— they simply burst
into boisterous rapture — when more than quadruple the

INTERESTING SPEAR-HEADS

257

number of bracelets they had been promised were handed
to them, with an extra roll of wire to divide among
themselves.

The natives of the Barakui village, a mixed popu-
lation of Abigar and Nuer, used interesting harpoons
for fishing purposes, the barbed head of iron being
removable from the rod (some six and a half to
seven feet long), in which it was fixed. To hold it in
position there was a piece of leather at the top, while
a string which went as far as the other end of the rod
was attached to the iron head, where another string
could easily be added. Straight, conical-headed fishing
spears were also used by them, as well as vicious quad-
rangular-headed spears, used both for fishing and
fighting. These quadrangular spears had as many as
eighteen to twenty double sets of small corkscrew-shaped
barbs, at the end of which two large barbs in a reverse
direction were placed, which produced a terrible wound.
It was really amazing to notice on what scientific lines
these savage people constructed their spear-heads, in
order to establish in them not only a vibration while
being thrown, but a high revolving speed while going
through the air.

The water was so foul at this camp, and the heat so
intense, that although my animals were done up with
fatigue I loaded them again in the afternoon. I
recrossed the Barakui stream from the north bank,
on which we had camped, to the south bank. A huge
crowd of Abigar and Nuer — who had by now become
fairly friendly — came to watch our departure. They
were extremely timid and frightened at everything we
did. Their fear of mules and horses was curious in
people who are brave enough to go and attack lions
VOL. I. 17

258

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

and elephants with no other weapons than spears. No
sooner had we moved away than these people pounced
like scavengers upon all the empty tins, the pieces of
torn paper and broken glass we had left behind.

We passed a large settlement — some two hundred
huts — with neat circles of pegs to which the natives
tied their cattle at night. We saw here a different
architecture for the huts. Instead of the smaller zeribas,
or kraals, enclosed within a fence, each abode was quite
separate, constructed of cylindrical walls of reeds some-
what higher than those of the Yambo, six to seven feet
high, with high roofs made of the sections of a cone,
generally seven in number, laid over one another, and
forming a series of steps in the grass thatching. Many
of the better huts had a small circular fixed screen in
front of the door, the only aperture in their structures.
The doors were here much higher and wider than in
the Yambo country. The long spears of the men were
left sticking in the ground just outside the doors of
habitations.

We marched over a wide, treeless, fiat country, so
trampled upon by elephants in the wet season that
thousands of deep holes — their footmarks — covered the
whole country, and were a great nuisance — in fact, quite
a danger — for my animals. These holes delayed us
considerably, as they were often covered with grass,
and my animals were constantly tumbling into them.

We had no experiences worthy of notice that day,
nor did we see much game, except two herds of large
red antelopes and flocks of herons striding majestically
about, with their red beaks, black wings, white chest and
a long red bag dangling from the neck. In the heat of
the sun they spread their spacious wings and kept the

HIPPOPOTAMI

259

head under the shade thus produced. They remained
in that position sometimes for hours, generally perched
on the top of high sandheaps or anthills, thousands of
which are to be found all over this country.

Towards sunset we halted by the side of the Dum-
biorau water, stagnant and quite as foul as the Barakui
river. This place was notable only for the peculiar
whitish-yellow banks, on which footmarks of all kinds of
wild animals could be seen. During the evening many
antelopes came to the water and one or two lions. We left
early in the morning, and along the water-course we saw
hundreds of hippopotami and crocodiles. We had quite
an amusing time with them. Some of the hippopotami
were gigantic, and at one or two villages the natives ran
after us, entreating us to fire on them, as they relished
the meat considerably. When in the water they were
not so easy to kill with the small calibre bullets I
possessed. It was only when you hit them in the eye
or behind the ear that the wound was mortal at all.
However, we got some.

The river Dura, which we next met, flowed, where
we crossed it, at a depth of about four feet, from east
to west, and turned northwards near a village, eventually
finding an outlet into the Baro. From nine o'clock,
when we crossed the stream, we marched over flat, unin-
habited country, but in the afternoon we arrived at
Jhiun, a large village of domed sheds flimsily constructed
of reeds.

The way they build these huts is by thrusting the
reeds into the ground in a circle, and then bending over
the reeds until they meet, where they are tied into a
bunch.

I saw at this village a native forge, quite interesting
VOL. I. 17*

26o

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

to me, as the double bellows typical of this region were
identical with the primitive skin bellows used in Tibet
in Central Asia. They were made of a skin with two
parallel sticks, which formed an opening to let in the
air, and were closed again, when filled, by means of the
hand. The channels of the two bellows were, of course,
joined, and when blown alternately, they produced a
continuous draught. Long rudimentary pincers, a
hammer and a dish of cold water, in which to temper
the steel of their spear-heads after it had been sub-
jected to heat, were all the implements used by the
local blacksmiths.

Towards two o'clock in the afternoon we reached
another large settlement called Tajao, on the east side
of a big lake, separated by a narrow dune from the Baro.
The Adjouba river, which at this point flows into the
Baro, is usually called on English maps Pibor, which is
a mistake, a mere mispronunciation of Pibaro, or tri-
butary of the Baro. The Sobat is merely a continua-
tion of the Baro. It changes its name west of the place
where the River Akobo, then called Adjouba (Pibor),
coming from the south, joins the Baro.

After an interminable stretch over burnt grass,
which made us black all over with smuts and ashes, we
arrived at Jungmir, or Ajungmir. The Baro here flows
due west after passing the lake — or, to be accurate, marsh
— on its south bank, separated from the river by a dune
two hundred yards across.

26 1

CHAPTER XXV.

The population of Jungmir consisted mostly of Abigar,
a somewhat more powerfully built and handsomer race
than the Nuer. Over the left shoulder and under the
right arm the men wore a bandolier made of beads, or
else of rope, with many amulets attached to it. Where
beads were obtainable, they sometimes wore a mere
string of black and white beads as a bandolier, and I
have seen women wear two of these strings, one passed
under each arm.

In the way of feminine attire, they attached to the
waist at the back a small square of leopard skin, the
triangular tail worn by the Nuer women not being at
all fashionable in this portion of the country. One or
two strings of white and blue, or white and black, beads
were worn round the waist, or else a rope with a knot
behind, the same as with the Nuers, with whom they
have many customs in common. The cylindrical piece
of wood attached to this rope and sticking out pro-
minently in front was also to be seen among the Abigar.
Some men wore a string of beads in the hair. Armlets
of string, with pieces of wood attached to them, were
carried as a preventive of disease.

The Abigars occasionally use a bow, but no arrows
— which seems an astonishing statement, but is never-
theless true — the bows being of an elaborate shape, with

262

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

two end coils, the entire bow, quite short and clumsy-
looking, being wound round with an iron band, and the
string itself not attached to the bow, but to two strings
fastened across the two end coils. When I examined
the bow, it showed no flexibility, nor did the man who
possessed it carry any arrows, the reason being that this
highly ornamental weapon has merely been devised in
order to ward off the blows of war-clubs, and not to
propel arrows — which are quite unknown to the Abigar
— through the air.

The women here did not wear quite such long skirts
of beads as in the Nuer country, the length of the skirts
among the Abigar ladies never reaching a greater length
than two inches. The women were greatly ornamented
with cicatrices, especially from the umbilicus to the
breasts, where I counted as many as twenty-four parallel
lines in two sets of twelve each. Two double semi-
circles were sometimes to be seen near the breasts.

The men were frequently ornamented with four
lines of cicatrices in a curve, usually following the shape
of the shoulder-blades, and six Unes of heavy dots lower
down near the waist behind.

These Abigar, although structurally better built
than the Nuer, possessed badly-made skulls, much
flattened on the top and elongated backwards, the
foreheads slanting, and bumps lower down in the back
portion of the skull quite abnormally developed. The
development of the brow was considerable and the
upper eyelid heavy.

These people had a peculiar way of ornamenting the
ears, sticking seven elongated beads like small darts
all along the outer circle of the ear and a small row
of beads along the inner curve. Bandoliers were quite

THE ABIGAR

263

the fashion here also, as well as ivory armlets and heavy
iron bracelets.

Half an hour after we had started from our camp
we came to a troublesome stream, only five yards wide,
but which gave us no end of bother. We had here again
some of the soft sticky mud which we had encountered
in some of the Abyssinian rivers. It was impossible to
take the laden mules across, for they got frightened as
they sank, and generally ended by throwing the loads
over into the slush. So all the animals had to be un-
loaded, and each package carried over on men's heads,
a labour of great difficulty, as the men, too, had a hard
struggle to get across. It took us the best part of four
hours to get over those five yards.

On the other side of this swampy stream we had a
terribly hot march over burnt-up country. Thousands
of birds were to be seen, especially near the river, and
the caravan caused great excitement among them as we
passed by. There were again large Nuer settlements,
many of which had been abandoned and new settle-
ments built in their vicinity. The huts had large
conical roofs, and I noticed one or two the architecture
of which resembled that of Galla houses, the walls being
formed by solid wooden pillars close together, the inter-
stices filled with mud. The walls of most of the smaller
huts were of reeds, the door only being enclosed in a
square erection of dried mud. The aperture itself was
shaped like an entire oval.

The old military post of Nasser, on the south side of
the Sobat, had been abandoned, and a new one called
Torfot in a somewhat healthier position had been estab-
lished further up the river.

The post of Torfot, where I arrived in the afternoon,

264

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

consisted of a number of thatched mud huts, with two
small gable-roofed buildings for the thirty-one Sudanese
soldiers and their native officer, by name Hamdan
Effendi, who acted also in the civil capacity of mamur.

Letters from the Sirdar and the Governor-General
of the Upper Nile Province had been waiting here for
me for some months, and when I arrived I received a
cordial reception from the native officer in charge.

The Sirdar most kindly placed at my disposal an
iron boat which had been sent up the river, and also
an escort of Sudanese soldiers. The Sirdar had gene-
rously offered me an escort of twenty-five men and a
native officer to accompany me ; but I had no oppor-
tunity of availing myself of the offer, for which, however,
I felt deeply grateful to the Governor-General of the
Sudan.

Every possible kindness was showered upon me,
owing to orders received from Khartoum, and my mules
being extremely tired, and my men also, I accepted the
iron boat in which to send my baggage and most of my
men down the river as far as the Nile under an escort
of a few Sudanese soldiers. As far as I was concerned,
I continued my journey overland with my animals and
only a few light loads, as I wished to visit several tribes
both on the north and on the south side of the Sobat.

Torfot, although higher on the banks of the river than
most other places on the Sobat, was swarming with
mosquitoes of all sizes, insects of all kinds, innumerable
flies, and after sunset with legions of moths and nocturnal
aerial life of every description. This state of things was
troublesome at mealtime. Drowning insects covered
the surface of liquids in one's tumbler or cup, and one
could not afford to throw away time after time what one

MOSQUITOES

265

possessed in the way of food and drinks. The insects
gave the drinks a pecuhar flavour, but this was preferable
to the incessant dipping in of one's servant's fingers for
the removal of the floating creatures. Of the food, too,
one generally ate more than one thought or knew, in
more ways than one. I was made quite ill at Torfot by
crushing between my teeth a large fetid-smelling beetle
which left a sickening taste in my throat and palate for
some hours after. In breathing, too, even through the
nose, and when one guards oneself against opening the
mouth, mosquitoes and midges soon find their way in.
At night, while having one's dinner, it was necessary
to keep a light a long way off from the table. Insects
would then be attracted in that direction and allow
comparative peace.

The mosquitoes were so numerous and troublesome
that even under a stout mosquito netting it was im-
possible to sleep at night. Although we were stung
thousands of times all over the body, at this place and
others upon the river, none of us got malarial fever. Yet
these were the very mosquitoes which were supposed to
be the great carriers of malaria.

On March 19th I rode away from Torfot with all my
mules. My Somali boy, with most of my men, was
despatched by river in charge of the baggage in the
boat.

There were many tobacco plantations along the
river banks, the Nuer going in extensively for the cul-
tivation of tobacco. Thousands of crocodiles drowsed
open-mouthed along the banks, and innumerable hippo-
potami stuck their noses and ears above the water.
The natives, in order to prevent the latter from climbing
up the banks and destroying their plantations, make

266

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

scarecrows of straw, either representing human figures
or else mere bundles of sticks dangling in the wind from
posts on the highest point of the bank. I killed a large
crocodile that day and one or two smaller ones.

As we were nearing Nasser, I came to a great many
huts and villages on both banks, generally in groups of
two or three fenced off within a reed enclosure. Again
we had the conical roofs in parallel horizontal sec-
tions, here somewhat smaller and numbering from nine
to ten steps in the gradation of cones. The reeds of the
lowest layer projected far out, so as to prevent the rain
striking the wall. Like Yambo huts, these possessed
a small private courtyard, with a roughly-constructed
shelf, whereon we deposited gourd vessels and grain pots.
Large plaited baskets were used for grain.

A curious institution were the roofless summer huts
Many huts had the interior side of the walls plastered
over with mud, and one of the chief characteristics of
these particular Nuer tribes near Nasser was that the
outer wall (five feet high) of their huts was plastered
outside for only a quarter, or at the most a third, of the
depth, from the top portion directly under the roof.
This, they told me, was in order to prevent leakage in
rainy weather from water which might come from the
roof. A few huts, however, I saw which had the entire
wall plastered over both on the interior and exterior
faces.

There was a slight difference in the type of these
Nuer, and they did not generally follow the custom
of smearing themselves all over with ashes hke the
tribes further east. It was not uncommon, however,
to see men painted white all over, except for a dash of
grease upon the chest, which gave a beautiful black shine

NASSER

267

to the undyed skin, and a half moon by the side of it.
The face and neck were painted of a brilhant red colour
— quite a ghastly practice. Another fashion, common
among these people, was that of smearing the body with
butter when it was not dyed with ashes. The skin
became then beautifully polished. The reason all these
tribes plastered their hair into a point was merely to
remove the natural kinks and curls and render it quite
straight. Also, of course, to bleach it.

I arrived in the evening at the abandoned post of
Nasser on the left bank of the river. Neat mud houses
and huts had been erected — now abandoned — as well
as some earthworks for the protection of the post. The
place commanded the elbow of the river, being situated
in the central point of the angle. It was an unhealthy
post, the damp heat being quite suffocating even on the
dryest days of the dry season. The river formed a kind
of delta, with an elongated island in the centre just in
front of Nasser,

We left early the next morning, at 5.30, passing the
stream Uarkan en route, and towards 11.30 we passed
a small island about three hundred yards long in the
centre of the river, the course of the stream being ex-
tremely tortuous in this portion, and describing exten-
sive circles. Along the river banks were high reeds.
The country further inland was barren, but after a
march of four hours west of Nasser we saw a few trees
along the right bank of the Sobat.

A good deal of time was wasted that morning, as on
the march I discovered that one of my best mules had
strayed, and I had to detail four men to go and look for
it the way we had come.

Naked natives ran about along the river banks.

268

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

greeting us with their typical salutation, similar to the
gesture we usually make when we push people away,
and calling out " bahve, bahve." These people were
timid, and bolted whenever we got near. Only a few
times were we able to approach them, but after they
had got over their first fright they seemed jolly enough.

Like all other Nuer they smeared themselves with
white stuff. Their type was finer than that of the Nuer
I had seen further east, their features having greatly
improved by relationship with neighbouring and more
civilized tribes, such as the Adgira and the Fallangue,
but principally with the Shiluk, a dominant race,
formerly very powerful, and now found mainly along the
Bahr-el-Ghazal and White Nile. This mixed type was
more intelUgent, and possessed a stronger physique
than the purer Nuer we had so far met. As a tribal
mark, these people displayed five cuts upon the fore-
head extending from temple to temple, and they wore
similar ornaments to other Nuer.

Many of them had large swellings on the temples and
at the back of the ears, where the lowest horizontal
cicatrice of the forehead ended, and also on the shoulders
and breasts, where cicatrices had been caused with a hot
implement. These swellings, I think, were not inten-
tional, but merely produced by poisoning of the blood in
individuals suffering from leprosy or serious venereal
complaints.

The people of the Adgira tribe on the Pibor river
were in themselves somewhat repulsive, with faces
extraordinarily flat, as if they had been compressed
artificially into so ugly a shape. They possessed fairly
long beards. Their shoulders and breasts were deco-
rated with cicatrices in concentric arcs of a circle, going

THE ADGIRA

269

over the shoulders from the breasts to the shoulder-
blades. These cicatrice marks had been made with a
red-hot iron.

The most characteristic instrument of these Adgira
was one which I noticed near the stream, a curious
harpoon and bow combined, of great length, some ten
feet long, with a barbed hook at one end.

The Nuer of this region were somewhat more hairy,
the hair of the head particularly being much longer and
finer in texture than that of the other Nuer, but in their
case, too, it was dyed of a bright red colour.

The vanity of these people was amazing. I saw two
men with brass bracelets so tight round the forearm
that the circulation had almost ceased, and the hands
had got swollen and almost atrophied. In two cases,
which came under my observation, these bracelets had
actually cut into the flesh at the wrist, and when I asked
the owners why they did not remove them, as the hand
was getting absolutely paralyzed, they said they would
rather lose the use of their hands altogether than remove
such a becoming ornament. They said it had been there
from their earliest days and they would stick to it.

There is no accounting for people's tastes, and
fashions in all countries are responsible for much idiotic
suffering.

270

CHAPTER XXVI.

The river was simply swarming with crocodiles. We
had a heavy thunderstorm during the afternoon and
another equally bad in the night. The rain came down
in torrents. Late in the evening the lost mule was
recovered and brought back to camp.

On March 2ist I travelled over absolutely flat, barren
country, the soil consisting of dried mud much cut up
into huge cracks. There were only a few Nuer settle-
ments, and isolated huts here and there with walls made
of logs of wood plastered inside the hut with mud. Some
of these huts had an additional porch over the door, so
that a double aperture had to be gone through on
entering the dwelling.

After four hours' marching we came to a lot of stunted
gherar trees, their stems quite red, having been rendered
so by the grass fires. My animals were faring badly, as
away from the stream there was no grazing, the grass
which had not been burnt by fire being absolutely dried
up by the sun.

Outside the huts were frequently to be noticed heavily
built platforms, where thatching straw and reeds were
spread to dry, and where pots, pans and gourd vessels
were kept. As we went along, the larger houses were
built of logs of wood close together, well plastered with

SHWAI 271

mud inside. The roofs were conical, and in the interior
was a circle of pillars supporting the roof. Within this
circle was another circle, with a raised edge, and within
this third circle a fireplace, the ashes of which were care-
fully collected, to be subsequently used in the Nuer
toilette.

We arrived at Shwai at four o'clock in the afternoon,
after a long tedious march, with nothing interesting to
see. We did not follow the river bank, as it made a
great detour here. We cut our way across country, only
touching on the stream twice during the whole march.

The doors of the huts generally faced west, but some-
times north. When facing north, a small peephole was
generally found towards the west, especially in the
bigger houses. These Nuer collect honey, but not in
large quantities.

At Gogognar (Gouemiar on Marchand's map), about
half way along our march that day, we found good
grazing in a low land, with fine, fresh, green grass. Here
there were hundreds of cattle belonging to Nuer.

In order to rest my mules as much as possible, I had
sent all my provisions, as well as my tents and other
baggage, by the steel felucca, and had fixed Shwai as
the rendezvous, where we of the caravan were to strike
the river again. When I had last seen the felucca early
in the morning the wind was fair, and I expected that
she would reach the place long before we did.

Unfortunately the wind fell, and we waited anxiously
for the arrival of the provisions. Our eyes were strained
to watch on the horizon-line for the white sail to appear ;
but night came, and with it the usual swarms of mos-
quitoes to devour us, but no felucca was in sight. We
were ravenously hungry, and we had nothing whatever

2/2

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

to eat. We lighted a grass fire to while away the time
and smoke ourselves so as to keep off mosquitoes. Once
or twice we thought we heard voices upon the stream,
but they turned out to be only those of natives fishing
in their dug-outs.

We spent a wretched night, my men having eaten
nothing for two days and I for twenty-four hours, during
which time we had marched over forty miles on foot in
the broiling sun, as the soil was so cut up by huge cracks
that riding was uncomfortable, the animals continually
tumbling down.

To make things worse during the night, we had a
terrific thunderstorm, which blew down the only small
shelter tent I was using, and which soaked us to the
marrow of our bones.

It was not till March 22nd, at 8 a.m., that the felucca
arrived. We immediately set about preparing a hearty
meal, which we much needed.

From the spot where we had camped we saw a good-
sized island in mid-stream about half a mile above
Shwai, a little village of six huts or so. Another elon-
gated island was also found further down-stream beyond
Shwai.

I started again with my mules at ten o'clock, this
time taking provisions to provide for eventualities. The
country was, as usual, flat and uninteresting, with patches
of good grass here and there, and some gherar trees.
Any number of antelopes were to be seen. At 1.35 in the
afternoon we came to Yakuaje (Marchand's Yakouetch),
a village of about three dozen plastered huts belonging
to a Denka tribe, the Fallanghe, as they call themselves.
At this point we again encountered the stream, having
left it at Shwai, from which place it described a great

THE AIWAL

273

detour northwards. A small island stood in mid-stream
in front of Yakuaje. The huts of these people were
similar in construction to Nuer huts, only larger, with
plastered walls upon an interior frame of wood and mud,
and with a conical roof in eight or ten concentric sec-
tions. They seemed to have no special rule here for
the location of the door, and it generally opened on the
side found most convenient in their relations with the
inhabitants of other huts. Each hut had four peep-
holes around its walls, so that a view could be obtained
on all sides from the interior. Each hut possessed a sort
of fenced-off courtyard, subdivided into two sections,
one where the out-of-door cooking was done, the other
used as a store for building materials. Inside the hut
itself, in the centre, were some wooden planks, upon
which the people slept.

We were now one day's journey from Abwong, and
we were in the country of the Aiwal tribe, people who in
many ways resembled the Nuer, and who also smeared
themselves all over with a mixture of cinders from sheep
and cow dung. It is true that all these tribes indulge
in this practice in part to protect themselves against
mosquitoes, but I think that the primary motive is
merely vanity.

Like the Nuer, these people use five parallel cuts
upon the forehead as a tribal mark. The women plaster
the hair on the top of the head with red mud, leaving
curls at the side of the face. The men are fond of
wearing a crown of shells encircling the tuft of hair at
the back of the head. The temples and the greater
portion of the skull are shaved. Heavy bracelets are
worn, and, as among the last tribes of Nuer we had
visited, these people wore rings and bracelets of an
VOL. I. 18

274 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

inconvenient shape, with two long projecting points
sticking out in representation of the horns of oxen.

These people have a few primitive implements, such
as a small shovel and an axe with a triangular blade.
The primitive pipes, with a cooling chamber for the
smoke near the mouthpiece, are also to be noticed.

Inside their huts there is nothing in the way of fur-
niture, the few implements being stored under the small
porch at the entrance of the hut. In the abode, when
one becomes accustomed to the dim light, a central
circle is visible where the white ashes for decorating the
body are kept, and a raised border on which at night are
placed two or more scooped-out planks of the roughest
description, which they use as beds. Only in one or two
huts did I see an oblong tripod with short legs used as a
stool, and in another hut I saw a four-legged seat cut out
of a single piece of wood. Outside, where the people
spend most of their time, I noticed several arm and knee
rests, which the people use in order to be comfortable
while sitting upon the ground. The only other article
of furniture which I could perceive in my search was a
small wooden head-pillow, or rather neck-rest.

In this village I paid a visit to the blacksmith, a
person who appeared quite ahruti, as the French so
exactly describe people who combine degeneracy, idiocy
and rascality in their personal appearance ; he showed,
however, some dexterity in sharpening spear-heads like
razors by hammering them, although his only tools were
a coarse hammer and an anvil.

Within the outer enclosure of each hut were numerous
pegs to which goats and dogs — which swarm in Aiwal
villages — were tied at night, as well as great numbers of
oxen and cows.

SHARP-WITTED CROCODILES

275

Soon after leaving the village, next day, we were
charged by three or four hundred of these half-wild
oxen, and we had difficulty in keeping them at bay.
These charges were a frequent experience in our march
across the Nuer and Aiwal country, and I was always
amazed at the pluck of my mules on these occasions.
They never stampeded. When they saw the animals
approach they formed a circle, placing their heads to-
gether, and using their heels freely and effectually upon
the attacking animals when they came too near.

On the opposite side of the stream, only about two
hundred yards from us, we saw a big herd of giraffes.

As the heat had been so great during the march, and
as I had walked a great deal owing to the bad condition
of the ground, I went, notwithstanding the crocodiles,
to have a refreshing bath in the stream at sunset. It was
a stupid thing to do, I know, and the consequences nearly
turned out more serious than I expected ; but life would
not be worth living unless one occasionally did stupid
things.

I selected, of course, a place where the river was
shallow, and it amused me to watch how sharp-witted
crocodiles were. They waited till I had smeared myself
all over with soap — especially the face — and whenever
I stooped to pour water on my head, a number of them,
eight or ten, quickly advanced in a semicircle round
me, only just the tip of their noses being visible on the
surface. They were getting nearer and nearer without
making the sUghtest noise, and at a moment when a lot
of soap had got into my eyes, and I was trying to wash
it off, they had advanced to within two or three yards
of me.

Crocodiles are timid brutes, and it was sufficient to
VOL. I. 18*

276

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

keep your eye on them or pretend to throw something,
or shout, and they would duck under water and dis-
appear. They soon peeped out of the water again and
advanced once more, waiting for a moment when they
could get you unawares. Within a few feet of the place
where I was the stream was quite deep. When I had
been in the water some minutes the number of crocodiles
had rapidly increased. One can always tell by the
bubbles of air coming up to the surface, and also by the
series of angles quickly reproduced upon the surface,
and formed by the nose of the crocodile, as it moves
along, slightly below the surface of the water. I deemed
it wiser to come out and finish my bath in a safer place.

When I got up on the high bank of the stream and
looked down into the water, I fully realized how foolish
I had been, as a regular swarm of crocodiles had collected.
The river was simply full of them, and we saw hundreds
and hundreds every day. In this portion of the river
crocodiles seemed particularly numerous and of quite
impressive proportions. They were, however, most
dangerous to humans when out of the water, where they
could strike and stun them with their powerful tail, and
then drag them in.

Large antelopes were to be seen in great numbers,
and elephants, lions and ostriches were common.

The Aiwal, perhaps, were not quite so tall as the pure
Nuer, but they possessed finer features. They were
slightly more intelligent, and certainly more friendly
towards us than the tribes further east, although they,
too, refused to sell anything whatever to us. It is
possibly intermarriage with the Anuak or other tribes
to the south which has somewhat benefited the type in
this region.

ABYSSINIAN CRUELTY

277

During the night we had another terrific rainstorm,
which blew down my tent several times, and eventually
smashed my tent poles. Rain came down in sheets,
and we and our things got drenched. The heavy rain
made travelling unpleasant, as the sticky mud made
marching heavy for my mules, although most of them
carried nothing on their backs. We covered great
distances daily. We kept sinking in mud and slush up
to our knees all the time. The country was barren, with
no decent grazing for the animals ; only here and there
were patches of gherar trees so close together that they
tore our clothes when we forced our way through. Then
we came to more interminable plains, with not a blade
of grass. Several of my mules were taken ill, and the
finest animal I possessed, which seemed to be in intense
pain, collapsed, and we could not make him get up again.
I left two men to take care of him, but they joined us
again in the afternoon, bringing with them the severed
tail of the animal as a proof of his death. Another mule
also collapsed, and in an hour or so was dead.

The heat was so terrific that day that I had to halt
for a few hours, and here again I had sufficient evidence
of the cruelty of Abyssinians, my own men, of course.
A pariah Yambo — a wretched leper — had attached
himself to my caravan, picking up in camp whatever
food he could get. I never had the courage to drive him
away, and eventually the Abyssinians got the poor
fellow to do most of the hard work for them. To my
amazement and disgust, I found that my cook had en-
trusted him with the making of the paste of our daily
bread, which he did with his cramped and sore fingers.
Of course, the bread was that day thrown away, and
my Abyssinians received a fine lecture. During the

278

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

night, when I was lying down, I heard angry cries, fol-
lowed by pitiful moans. Upon investigating the cause
of the trouble, I discovered the poor leper hang helpless
upon the ground kicked on the head and body by the
cowardly Abyssinians. The Abyssinians were severely
punished for it, and to prevent a revenge being taken
upon the wretched Yambo, I had to keep him all night
at the entrance of my tent.

Lepers, as you know, have a most peculiar, sickly,
typical odour, which can be detected at a great distance.
This new arrangement was inconvenient enough, as I
could not sleep owing to the offensive smell. I was
afraid to let him out of my reach, as the Abyssinians
had sworn to kill him as soon as opportunity offered.

One day, as we were marching, the Yambo remained
behind. The Abyssinians, seizing the opportune mo-
ment, pounced upon him. By a mere chance I sus-
pected that something was up, and I went back upon
my steps. I found the poor Yambo badly knocked
about, and saved him just as they were about to cut his
throat.

From that moment I never let him out of my
sight. The poor fellow gave me endless pain. He was
shedding bitter tears all the time, and was so de-
pressed that he would eat nothing. He had made up
his mind to die of starvation. Twice I had to rescue
him from the river where he had thrown himself in order
to get drowned ; although I must say that for a man
who wanted to commit suicide he showed no reluctance
whatever to being saved. I asked him why he let me
take him out of the water so soon, if he really intended
to die. He said that as soon as he had jumped into the
water he was afraid the crocodiles would bite him, and

AN OUTCAST

279

he was glad to be pulled out again. He did not mind
dying — oh, no ! — but crocodiles hurt so when they bite !
After these baths he generally received a good fill of rice
and butter. He then forgot the idea of death by star-
vation ; indeed he did ! I noticed that his suicidal
mania was getting worse and worse, and there were
prospects of further plunges into the water, so that,
divining his thoughts, I seized him one day by the neck,
shook him violently, and made him understand that next
time he wanted to commit suicide I would see that it
was carried out properly, and that he did not come to
the surface again, which cured him once for all of this
bad habit.

Well, I had to be patient with him, but really he was
an infliction upon me that I did not deserve. With
moans and groans he would daily repeat to me the
history of his life — and heaven knows how many
histories of other people's lives I had heard before !
His was quite pathetic, what there was of it. He was
evidently an outcast in his own tribe, and had been
discarded by a young lady whom he loved dearly, and
who loved him much, he thought, but who married
somebody else who possessed more cows and oxen.

Such ways of young ladies have been known even
outside the Yambo country.

28o

CHAPTER XXVII.

The Aiwal are not unlike the Shiluk, whom we shall
meet presently on our journey. They speak the Shiluk
tongue, whereas the Anuak have a different language,
although some tribes of the latter speak a sort of com-
posite language of Shiluk and Anuak. They appeared
to me a mixture of Nuer and Denka.

Near Abwong there is a local legend that the Nuer,
the Shiluk and the Denka all came from one father,
who was the happy possessor of one cow, a calf (female)
and a boat. When the old man died, he left the cow
to the Nuer, the calf to the Denka, and the boat to the
Shiluk. The Shiluk was satisfied, and went away from
the others ; while the Denka and the Nuer went to war,
each son declaring that the father had meant the big
cow to go to him ; and up to the present day those
tribes are still more or less at war, the question not
having yet been settled.

The Denka are sulky and sullen people. A Denka
will not rise to salute you when you enter his hut,
but will remain sitting down motionless and silent,
and so will all the other inmates of the hut. After
some moments, the words " Ba uti ? " are uttered
(" From what village do you come ? ")— " uti " meaning
" yillage," and " ba," " where," The answer a stranger

THE BAIGN AND THE TIET

281

gives is merely " Hehn." Then the host, after a long
pause, inquires " Shinnin ? " ("In good health ? ") J
to which another answer of " Hehn " is expected, and
this is all the conversation that takes place.

It is difficult to get information from these people,
as they are suspicious and never speak the truth, but
try to mislead you, or evade your questions. An
ulterior motive is always suspected even in the most
trivial matters.

The chieftainship among Denka is hereditary, and
descends from father to son ; but there is a great deal of
individual independence about these people, and, except
in time of war, the chief has but a nominal power among
them. More important than the chief with these people
is the haign — a wise man, almost a human deity, who is
well in with the gods above. He is a sort of magician
and medicine-man, and provides remedies in the shape
of peculiar roots and pieces of wood dipped in water.
He is not to be confused with the tiet, a kind of
medicine-woman, who makes incantations and supplies
people with small pieces of wood worn as charms or
amulets. The tiet, who is always a woman, prays to
Denka deities by squatting down and murmuring words
that no other Denka understands.

Quarrels and rows of any kind are referred for
settlement to the haign. Like the chieftainship of the
tribe, the title of haign descends from father to son. The
iiet is consulted mainly on agricultural expectations,
when she makes exorcisms during the full moon. If her
prayers are answered by the gods, the people give her
a present of food-stuff ; if not, she receives nothing.

The Denka attribute dreams to the presence of God
during one's sleep for the purpose of giving one plea-

282

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

sure ; when the dreams are bad, they maintain that it
is because God is angry at some evil deed the dreamer
has committed. Lunacy they explain by the devil,
dyok, entering the body of the sufferer.

These people, although possessing a god of their
own, have vague ideas on what becomes of the soul
after death, or whether transmission or transmigration
of the soul into other bodies takes place. They firmly
believe that once buried, everything is over, although
they say that the spirits of the dead relatives some-
times come out of the ground and can be perceived in
dreams.

When a man dies the relations cry spasmodically
for one or more months. They sacrifice several cows
in front of his house, making substantial meals out of
them. For the loss of women, animals are sometimes
sacrificed, sometimes not. More often not. When a
Denka dies, he is buried in a sitting posture, upright,
with arms bent upwards, in a small circular or quad-
rangular hole near his house, the head being not more
than two feet underground.

In order to get married, a Denka of good position
must pay from ten to twenty cows for a young healthy
wife with no impedimenta, but for an older woman \\dth
children, four or five cows at the outside are deemed
sufficient remuneration. The father of the bride, her
brothers and uncles, divide the acquired animals among
them. Denka often intermarry with neighbouring tribes.
But if a Denka wants to marry a Nuer woman, he must
be rich, because a calf a year must be paid for every
child that is born, as well as one cow, so that if all goes
smoothly after twenty years and nine months of married
life he has to pay as many as twenty calves and ojie

EXORCISMS

283

cow, which, added to the, say, twenty cows which he
had to hand over on his marriage day, make the cost
of these mixed marriages almost prohibitive.

There are curious laws regarding seduction. If
children are born before marriage, the father of the girl
is entitled to take possession of all the cattle of the
youth's father. When uncertainty exists as to who the
father really is, they go to the haign, who, with spear
and ashes of dung in hand, receives the plaintiffs
and accused. By these articles he swears all parties
to speak the truth. He who lies will be devoured by
crocodiles, lions or some other wild animal, or else
be stung to death by a scorpion or snake. Plenty of
varieties of death are offered to the offender. If one of
the two or more suspected persons dies within a reason-
able time, say, three or four months, or even up to two
years from the date of the exorcisms made by the haign,
the dead man is considered guilty, and all his father's
property is seized and handed over to the young lady's
parents. If, however, it can be satisfactorily proved
that the young lady was in the wrong and seduced the
young man, then nothing happens and the child is sup-
ported by her family.

r^fUnlike married couples in Europe, who generally
prefer to have boys, Denka parents always wish for
daughters, as women are valuable assets in the Denka
country, and bring in lots of cows at marriage. Unions
are celebrated by a feast, when a cow is killed and large
quantities of an alcoholic drink, the mhau, made from
ferm.ented Indian corn, are consumed.

Denka wives, they tell me, are faithful. Local laws
allow the slaughtering of an unfaithful wife with no
trial of any kind. The first wife is the important one

284 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

in the family, and her husband cannot marry again with-
out her permission ; but he can always do so, even if
she were to refuse her consent, by having distant and
separate households for each of his women.

Girls have no sexual connection until puberty. A
father can buy a child for his son, if the latter cannot
have children of his own, by paying so many cows, and
letting the bride's father become the possessor of the
calves which are born, as well as leaving to him the
exclusive use of the milk from the cows.

The Denka are primitive people. They still light a
fire by friction of two pieces of andarah wood. They
make a hole in one piece and place dry grass upon it,
and then obtain a fire by quickly revolving a vertical rod
until ignition takes place. When andarah wood, which
is the most suitable to obtain a fire rapidly, is not pro-
curable, the}^ use wood of the cotton tree, the alaht,
instead.

The years are reckoned by the rainy season, which
comes fairly regularly at the same time of the year, and
the smaller subdivisions by the moon.

Like the Nuer, the Denka smear themselves all over
with ashes of cow dung, the aroh, which they say gives
a cooling sensation to the skin. This must be so, as,
if it does nothing else, it dries the abundant oily ex-
cretion from the skin.

They have little idea of the origin of diseases, all
of which are put down to God's anger. Not so accidents.

If a Denka breaks his arms or legs, he has sufficient
surgical knowledge to place the broken limb between
wooden splints, and then bandage it up with the fibrous
leaves of some aquatic plant. This is generally done by
a man called the atet^ which means " a clever man,"

THE FIRE CURE

285

the shining Hght of every village. He tries to force the
bones back into their original position, and Nature does
the rest.

Many Denka suffer from dropsy, and abnormal en-
largement of the stomach is frequently noticeable.
There is a special woman, a sort of midwife, who ties
the umbilicus of children at birth, but it is done in no
scientific way, and no doubt, as I have stated elsewhere,
many of the enormous swellings of the lower portion of
the body are due to the improper way in which this
primary operation is performed.

The Denka are fond of using fire as a remedy for
pains in various parts of the body. Occasionally they
perform surgical operations with rudimentary knives.
In amputating a finger, or the hand, they have suffi-
cient sense to tie the limb tightly somewhat lower than
the point where the operation has to be performed.
No sooner is the portion of the limb removed than fire
is applied to the exposed raw portion, in order to stop
the bleeding.

Any number of lepers are to be found in the Denka
country. Chest complaints are frequent and serious.
All these people, in fact, are more or less weak-chested,
or, at any rate, all are undeveloped round the chest.

When hungry, the Denka pull a rope tight round the
waist. They call it the wuien. They are great believers
in the evil-eye, and they carry, attached to their brace-
lets or armlets, a uall, a piece of wood which has counter-
balancing effects against that superstition.

The Denka were at one time great fighters. Before
going into battle they danced and sang war melodies
and beat the tam-tam. Even to this day they fight
with spears, and show great skill in handling them.

286

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Their shields are made of giraffe, elephant or hippo-
potamus hide, sometimes of crocodile skin. In dances
the men perform in the centre, the women in a circle
around them. They hop about one after the other,
first with the hands up, then with both hands upon the
chest, men and women facing each other.

When the Denka hear thunder, they say it is God
warning people that rain is coming, which shows some
sense on their part ; but also they believe that thunder
is caused by God fighting minor gods, whom they place
in Paradise not unlike chiefs of celestial villages.

The Denka break the four lower front teeth root and
all, as they say God wishes it. I think it is done mostly
to promote respiration through the nose, and to allow
the prominent lips to be closed, where they would remain
wide open in their natural condition.

The Denka are good sportsmen. Entire villages go
in a body after elephants. The owner of the first spear
thrust into the elephant becomes the proprietor of the
right tusk, the one who owns the second spear receives
the left tusk, while all the other huntsmen are merely
entitled to divide the meat among themselves. Covered
pits are cleverly constructed both for elephants and
hippopotami. They prize the meat of these animals.
When pursuing hippopotami, they use barbed harpoons,
with a long rope attached to them, the other end of the
rope being attached to an empty canoe. In surveying
the river one or two days after the hunt, they recover
the canoe, sometimes dragged away for long distances
by the hippopotamus, which is very much weakened, if
not dead. In either case, he is easily captured, cut up
into pieces, and the meat divided. More dangerous than
either elephant hunts or hippopotamus hunts is their

THE DENKA

287

exciting chase of wild buffaloes, in which they show
bravery. Fish they generally catch by making a kir,
or dam of reeds, across a stream.

Canoes are scooped out of trunks of trees with a
hanish, a small axe.

The Denka are fond of meat, but they seldom kill
their tame animals, as they attach too much value to
them. When cows, sheep, or goats, however, die a
natural death, they are eaten with gusto, no matter from
what disease they have died. Rinderpest has frequently
played havoc amongst their animals, especially in the
country further east, but, regardless of consequences,
the meat of these animals has on every occasion been
greedily devoured.

The Denka cultivate the soil merely with a pointed
stick, with which they make a succession of holes, placing
seeds in them. Nothing more is needed to obtain a
crop, the soil being so fertile. When the ground gets
exhausted, all they have to do is to go and make their
plantations somewhere else, wherever best suits them.
Their plantations of maize are, nevertheless, small and
hardly suffice for their own needs. These people subsist
almost entirely by hunting and fishing.

Among the musical instruments which the Denka
possess is a stringed lyre, which they call a rababa, a
word and an instrument adopted from their neighbours,
the people of Kaffa.

The Denka have six long horizontal lines instead of
five across the forehead, and these lines reach upon their
shaved heads beyond the ears. These cicatrices, which
the natives call the tim, are made by pulling up the
skin until it forms a ridge, and then cutting the top of
it with a blade, quite a painful operation.

288

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

With all these tribes I was interested in noticing
how fast and weak was their pulse — one hundred and
six to one hundred and ten beats in the minute were
about the average in people not feverish. With nearly
all these tribes abdominal breathing was prevalent both
in men and women. The people bore exposure to the
direct rays of the sun well, and they went about with
heads uncovered without feeling any ill effects. When
their bodies were not painted white, their perspiration
seemed abundant, and abundant was also their saliva-
tion. They bore hunger fairly well, but not lack of
sleep, of which they required fully twelve to sixteen hours
a day. They had no great physical strength, especially
in their arms, and absolutely no ability for lifting
weights.

The women were physically stronger than the men,
and could walk longer distances without feeling any ill
effects. Although the men showed skill in throwing their
spears, they could not hurl them to a considerable dis-
tance, like the cannibal people, for instance, whom I saw
later in the French Congo and Congo Free State.

These long-legged Denka were lazy in the extreme,
and although they could walk considerable distances
for two or three consecutive days, I do not think
that any of them could keep it up steadily for long
periods of time, say, two or three months.

It was rather curious that none of these people had
ever seen mountains ; in fact, no such word existed in
their language. I caused much merriment by trying
to explain to them that other countries were not quite
so flat as the Denka and the Nuer countries. Only one
man said he had heard that to the east was a country
like that, but no member of his tribe had seen it.

ABWONG

289

Some day the development of the navigation of the
Sobat and of the country north and south of it will
render Abwong an important place. When I passed
through, there were only twenty thatched huts for
soldiers and a larger one for the mamur, as well as another
dwelling for an inspector, in old Abwong. In new
Abwong, nearer the river, a large baked-brick house was
being built for the mamur, with a zaptia, or Govern-
ment office, of five spacious rooms. Within a year or
so, twelve brick houses for the police were to be con-
structed, and one house in corrugated iron for the
temporary British inspector.

The natives of Abwong itself were Denka, although
in the district there were also some Anuak, and as one
got west towards Taufikia some Shiluk.

Twenty native police, of whom only half a dozen were
regular soldiers and the others irregular, were deemed
sufficient for this station. It was found impossible to
employ local labour, as the Denka were too lazy and
stupid to learn anything, and also too independent, and
could not be made to work. All labour had to be im-
ported from Khartoum.

The mamur was absent when I was in Abwong, but
I met there Ali Zaki Yonobashi, of the Department of
Works, who showed me every possible civility during
the few hours I remained in the place.

VOL. I.

290

CHAPTER XXVIII.

From Abwong I made a detour towards the south, in
order to visit some of the tribes in that direction. The
country was flat and treeless, with occasional villages.
Between Nasser and Abwong we had descended about
one hundred feet, and we were now at an elevation of
1,250 feet. When we returned in a north-westerly
direction towards the Sobat in the Denka country we
saw millions of small birds, and along the river flocks
of black cranes.

In the afternoon of March 25th we once more crossed
the Sobat. We found a single rickety canoe half full
of water, but the natives of the village refused to ferry
my loads across, so we proceeded to do it ourselves.
My Abyssinians were pitifully helpless in the dug-out,
and had it not been for the leper Yambo, who turned
out quite an expert in canoe navigation, we should
have been much delayed.

The river was swift, and as the canoe was not only
narrow but let in a deal of water, it required infinite
care to convey the loads in safety to the other bank.
Hundreds of Denka had assembled with their spears
on both banks, and they resented our using their canoe.
One of them came forward and said he would work it
for us. In fact, he got one of my loads on board and
paddled steadily until he reached the centre of the

HARD MARCHES

291

stream, when he proceeded to make his escape, paddHng
away his hardest down the river.

This meant, besides being robbed, a delay of
probably a whole day, with half my things on one
side of the river and half on the other, and as my Abys-
sinians could not swim, and the river was deep at that
place, I was rather in a dilemma as to how to take them
across.

I shouted to the man in the canoe to come back,
but he put on more speed, encouraged by the yells
of the assembled natives on the river banks. Where-
upon, after shouting many times for him to return,
as he was decamping with my goods, including a valuable
camera, I took a rifle and fired at the canoe with an
expanding bullet, making a big hole in her. The man
became so frightened that he immediately paddled
towards the shore and we recovered the load. The
thief received a good shaking, and after repairing the
damage done to the canoe we continued to take men
and goods to the other side of the river.

In this part of the country we saw thousands of
beautiful cattle, but the natives would on no account
part with them.

On March 26th we passed more Denka villages, and
still travelled over flat, monotonous country with burnt
yellow grass. Only here and there was a patch of fresh
grass on which my half-dead mules could feed. My
caravan, formerly of some thirty mules, was now re-
duced to about half that number, two or three more
mules dying that day. I was marching fast towards
the Nile, and as I had left the river and we were
here in a waterless country, I intended reaching the
mihtary post of Taufikia at all costs that evening.

VOL. I. ig*

292

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Before we left the river we saw an exciting hunting
scene, hundreds of clamorous natives running along
the banks brandishing their spears. They were dash-
ing after a magnificent antelope, and eventually suc-
ceeded in surrounding her, all wildly thrusting their
spears into the exhausted animal. One of my Abys-
sinians, with sporting instincts, got among the crowd
and was about to fire through the animal's body.
Fortunately, I arrived in time to shove his rifle sky-
ward, and the shot went into the air, or else not only
would he have killed the antelope, but the bullet might
have gone through several Denka who were crowding
on the opposite side.

Later on in the day we came across people of a
different tribe, the Shiluk. Their huts were of an
elongated dome-like shape, many with an extra point
at the top. The lower edge of the roof projected far
out, and the mud walls, four to five feet high, were well
made. Generally there were two huts opposite each
other in an enclosure of fascines of reeds and sticks
with matting between. Their boats, for lack of wood,
were also constructed of fascines of reeds tied together
so as to form a felucca. These boats — some of them
able to carry ten or fifteen people — floated beautifully
upon the water. They were easily constructed and of the
greatest use to the natives in navigating the river.

We were travelling over bad ground. During the
evening we unfortunately lost our way, misguided
by a light we saw in the distance and which we believed
to be the military post of Taufikia upon the Nile. We
made for that light and after marching for some hours
found ourselves a great deal north of the post and had
to return southward, passing many native villages

MISSIONARIES

293

before arriving at the post late at night. We did not
find water all that day, and only a mile or so before we
reached the post another of my mules collapsed and
died.

We had marched some forty-five miles that day and
all my animals were in an exhausted condition, having
made a similar march the previous day. In fact, we
had accomplished the entire journey from Adis-Ababa
to the Nile — over 1,000 kilometres (some 625 miles) —
entirely by land, in thirty-nine days, out of which we
had only marched twenty-seven days, making an average
march of about twenty-three miles a day — not so easy
in such an inhospitable country and in such terrific
heat.

At the mouth of the Sobat, Marchand had erected
a post on the south bank, which has now been abandoned.
A short distance up-stream was the American mission
of the Sudan, an offshoot of the Egyptian-American
mission. On a trip I made there, I found Mr. and Mrs,
R. E. Carson in charge of the mission. For missionaries
they seemed practical people. They had there some two
hundred acres of land, which they intended using for
teaching natives improved methods of agriculture. I
believe they also intended establishing industrial
classes.

The Sudan Government, in order to avoid the
usual quarrels among missionaries, has wisely divided
the country into various spheres of religious influence.
To the American missionaries has been given the zone
south of Fashoda and up the Sobat river. The
English are at Bor, on the Bahr-el-Zeraf, and the
Austrian Catholic mission in the Bahr-el-Ghazal.

Mr. Carson was hopeful of the results obtainable

294

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

in his region. He told me that as soon as the mission
was fairly started there would be two other missionaries
established in the place, one a farmer, the other a man
of mechanical aptitudes. He believed that cotton could
be grown profitably in that region, and he told me that
two good crops had already been raised and pronounced
of fair quality in Cairo. A cotton gin and loom had
been brought over for cleaning and working the cotton,
and an improved iron windmill had already been put up
for irrigation purposes.

Like a good American, Mr. Carson was busy teach-
ing the natives the use and value of money. So far he
had encountered difficulty in getting them to appreciate
the exact value of coins. He seemed rather concerned
at the custom of the natives, who would only part with
their cattle in exchange for wives, but would not sell
for any other consideration, and certainly commercial
relations are likely to be restricted until some less
cumbersome — if, perhaps, not so pleasant — article of
exchange comes to be readily accepted.

Mr. Carson seemed an extremely practical man. He
told me that it was intended to construct two sailing
boats for trading purposes on the river Sobat and on
the White Nile, in order to teach the natives Western
industrial methods. He then proposes to teach the
natives blacksmith's work, and means to go in thoroughly
for the production of sim sim oil (derived from the well-
known plant of the genus sesamum), which he believes
will be remunerative and will contribute towards the
support of the mission.

He was endeavouring to bring down the Shiluk from
their proud idea that a man must never work, but he
told me that he experienced difficulty in eradicating

'Sometimes small fish is caught on the Nile, sometimes not so small.

CLOTHES A MISTAKE

295

this well-rooted notion, as nearly all Shiluk have land
and cattle and are quite satisfied with what they already
possess.

The actual work of Christianization is only to filter
in gradually when the natives are getting more civilized,
but is not to be imposed upon them until they are quite
ready to comprehend it. It is in the present programme
of the mission to estabhsh stations among the Denka,
the Nuer, the Burun and the Yambo, as well as among
allied tribes. A hospital ship is to be built, which will go
up and down the river giving medical aid to the natives.
Severe cases will be taken on board and brought
down for special treatment to a central hospital. Mr.
Carson, who is by way of being a doctor, told me
with glee that there was great scope in the country for
surgery. So like a surgeon !

I was somewhat glad to find a missionary who was
rather against supplying the natives with clothes. In
a climate like the one of the Sobat region, the less
clothes one wears the better. Besides, the clothes in
countries where infectious diseases are rampant only
maintain and propagate contagion, as the people never
wash, and often exchange their clothes, infecting one
another.

Mr. Carson was telling me that the natives are
suspicious, and cannot get over the idea that all white
people are robbers. These people near the Nile have
had unfortunate experiences with the Egyptians, with
the Turks and the Dervishes, who killed many of their
people and seized numbers of their cattle.

Taufikia itself is a military post with a large
garrison of Sudanese troops. There are a few houses
of brick and corrugated iron, and many tents and

296

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

mud huts for the soldiers and their wives. Sudanese
troops are well looked after — in fact, a great deal too
well. They are provided with wives, with lavish food,
portable hip-baths, water-bottles, and with all kinds of
luxuries which they do not require. Perhaps they are
dressed more with an eye to football matches than for
military comfort, a brown heavy woollen jersey covering
their chest, while their legs are garbed in tight khaki
trousers, black puttees round the lower portion of the
leg and heavy nonsensical leather boots, which get
hardened after moisture and baked in the sun, so that
the soldiers have to remove them when on the march, as
they make their feet quite sore. The tarbouche, too,
which in its natural condition is graceful enough, has
been deformed into a sort of high cyhnder wrapped up
in a broad band of khaki, with a patch on one side on
which the brass number of the regiment stands out.

A great deal of astonishment is displayed at the
cleverness of native bands in learning European tunes,
an astonishment no one who has spent a few days in a
military post, I am sure, can possibly share. The
musicians, who, it is quite true, do not know a single
note of music, are placed under the cooling shade of
a tree, and there for several consecutive hours in the
morning and several hours at night they are compelled
to practise two or three chords at a time of one tune
or another, which two or three chords are continually
repeated until the people in the neighbourhood are nearly
driven out of their minds by the monotonous discords.
When, after some weeks, two or three chords have been
learnt, two or three more chords are added to them,
and by the end of the year another easy melody out of
the " Belle of New York," or such other classic, has

TAUFIKIA

297

been mastered, a Sudanese rhythm never being lacking
in its reproduction.

My animals were in such a bad condition that they
were quite unable to go any further. Even the horse
which Ras Makonnen had given me was now so tired
after his long march of about 1,450 kilometres from
Harrar, that I had to leave him behind at this place. I
endeavoured to make a fresh caravan of donkeys, which
would be more suited for the country I should have to
cross in the Bahr-el-Ghazal.

I sent back to Europe a good deal of my baggage
by the Nile, purchased fresh provisions, and after a
compulsory stay of twelve days — the most stupid,
miserable and dullest twelve days I have ever spent
in my life — I was ready to start further west.

There were three officers here, one, Major Lempriere,
a perfect gentleman and most distinguished officer,
who, unfortunately, went on leave when I arrived. The
others seemed much affected by the climate.

In the river I discovered a good deal of gold in the
sand, gold which undoubtedly comes down the vSobat
and is deposited along the eastern bank of the Nile at
this place.

I left Taufikia by river on April 8th, and passed
the mouth of the Sobat, the water of which, being
of a yellowish, creamy colour, was easily distinguish-
able from the greenish water of the Nile. The yellow
line followed the eastern bank of the river. The country
all round was flat and uninteresting, low and swampy
to the south and somewhat higher on the north bank.
Further west the south bank got a little higher, with
slight undulations and with small accumulations of
alluvial deposits around trees and clusters of grass.

298

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Occasionally Shiluk were to be seen along the banks,
all armed with spears and shouting out their friendly
" Abhave, abhave." Shiluk villages were frequent
on both sides.

It is impossible to imagine a more dreary, uninterest-
ing landscape than that of this region. Before we got
to the Bahr-el-Zeraf we saw to the south a hill, standing
separate, the Djeb Zeraf, with three lower hills by its
side. Soon after perceiving these low hills we came
to the Bahr-el-Zeraf, which forms a short cut in the
waterway from the White Nile to the stations of Bor,
Lado and Gondokoro. Perhaps even a shorter cut might
be made at no great expense, coming straight from Bor
to the Khor Felus at the mouth of the Sobat. I believe
indeed that Sir William Garstin contemplates a scheme
of this kind, which would avoid the present detour of
the river and would necessarily greatly increase the
volume of water brought down for the irrigation of

Egypt.

The Sudan Government is, in fact, giving great
attention to these possibilities, and at the time of my
visit had a small band of irrigation officers at work
in the study of projects for increasing the volume of
the White Nile from which Egypt draws practically the
whole of its summer supply.

At Taufikia I met Mr. P. M. Tottenham, inspector
of the irrigation works, who had been making a levelled
survey over the line of Garstin's Bor-Sobat cut and
also accurate surveys of the Bahr-el-Zeraf and through
the marshes near Shambe. Some thirty gauges to
record the movements of the Nile had been put up that
year. Eventually the work of these devoted surveyors
will make known with exactitude the intricate channels

SUFFERING MONKS

299

and branches of the Upper Nile, as well as the topo-
graphy of the vast marshes in which the river practically
loses itself. They had been able to free this channel
through the unexplored marshes (which feed the river
Zeraf) as far as the latitude of Shambe, when further
progress was stopped by the sudd, a barrier of grass and
decayed vegetation.

On the right bank of the stream we came to a Catholic
mission near a Shiluk village. The fathers had begun
building themselves a neat red-brick house. So far,
however, they had merely a mud hut by the stream,
with a little kitchen-garden which the monks were busy
besprinkling with water in order to keep their vege-
tables alive. They prayed and watered the plants
simultaneously. There is nothing like saving time. I was
really sorry for these fathers when I saw them, as they
seemed absolutely destitute. They had nothing except
their vegetables, and they appeared worn and dazed
from fever, with half-demented faces. Most of them
were drawn from the farmer class and had but little
education, but they were kindly disposed. Malarial
fever was rampant in that region. All these men were
suffering silently.

Away from the habitations lots of antelopes and
water-buck were to be seen.

West of the Bahr-el-Zeraf we were again in a country
inhabited by Denka. We had now entered a region
of papyrus, which we had not yet seen on our journey.
Dum palms were more numerous than the smooth-
barked tall ghuleh, with its pecuHar swelKng half-way
up its stem, which we noticed so frequently on the Sobat ;
mimosa trees, the gherar of the Abyssinians ; and the
white-green grass, the talkh (the aglik of the Arabs) were

300

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

also to be seen in huge quantities, especially on the south
bank of the river.

When we approached some village the natives,
especially the women, received us with shrill ululations,
a kind of falsetto tremolo, quite musical and weird
at night.

We were here in the sudd region and saw a great
many floating islands, some of which delayed us con-
siderably until we could cut our way through. Nearly
the entire river was in many places covered with vege-
tation and only a small channel left for navigation.
Small islands often altogether blocked the congested
channel.

On April 9th we came to Lake No, where quantities
of papyrus clumps were to be seen on the south bank.
The Bahr-el-Ghazal itself entered Lake No, describing
a spacious curve. As a matter of fact, Lake No was
formed merely by the flooding of the intervening country,
where the Bahr-el-Djebel and the Bahr-el-Ghazal meet.
The natives call it Mogren-el-Bahr, or " the mouth of
the river." A well-defined line marks the two currents
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Bahr-el-Djebel (or Ghebel),
the former a stream practically of stagnant water,
the latter descending from Lake Albert. Directly in
front of Bahr-el-Djebel to the north was the Ehri Mount,
some days' journey from the river. Lake No begins
where the Bahr-el-Ghazal is joined by the Bahr-el-
Djebel. It would certainly be more correct to call
Lake No " No Lake," as there is so much sudd floating
about and thickly-webbed vegetation covering its sur-
face that on travelling across it one sees no water at
all except the small channel cut by the boats. In some
places there were side channels, which suggested that

THE BAHR-EL-GHAZAI.

301

the lake might extend underneath the surface growths
for a width of from two to four miles, whereas the length
of the lake from east to west is calculated at about
eight miles. It is considered the largest lake in the
Sudan.

One tried hard to find something of interest as one
went along, but after passing the lake we had nothing
but swamp, sudd, reeds, papyrus and the umshusha,
as it is called in the Sudan (the umsusa), the tall grass
which covers the country.

Millions of tall anthills covered the flat stretch
of country as far as the eye could see. Occasionally
mimosas, few and far apart, slightly relieved the
monotony of the landscape. Towards the evening
hundreds of gazelles and water-buck were to be seen
close to the water-edge.

We were blocked on several occasions by quantities
of sudd in the channel. The stream nearly all the way
was over twenty-five feet deep, but it was difficult to
gauge its width owing to the sudd which collected near
the banks and stopped up the river almost altogether,
so that the boat brushed the reeds on both sides as we
went along. Marabu birds were numerous, and also
all kinds of long-legged, long-beaked water-birds.

302

CHAPTER XXIX.

Before we proceed on the journey let us examine the
Shiluk a httle more intimately.

They were at one time a great tribe, much more
numerous and powerful than now. The incursions of
the Dervishes, the Egyptians and slave merchants
have wrought havoc among them. They can be found
now all along the left bank of the Nile from the 10°
30' lat. N., from a place called Kaka, and as far
south as Lake No on the White Nile. They divide
themselves into fifty podo, thirty-seven of which are
found on the White Nile, six in the interior on the
river Kiro, and one on the Sobat, which we have
already visited.

The influence of these Shiluk must formerly have
been considerable, at least if we are to judge by the
spread of their language, which, with certain variations,
is understood and spoken by many distant tribes towards
the east, such as the Yambo and the Anuak, and as
far south as some of the tribes on the Victoria Nyanza.
It is said that at one time the Shiluk extended as far
as, and further than, the 12° lat. N., where they came
in contact with the Baggara, with whom they were
at war, but that they were eventually driven back
to the place they now occupy.

They inhabit at present a thickly -populated zone

THE SHILUK

303

from ten to twenty miles wide, mostly along the left
bank of the river, the villages standing at short distances
all along. Especially south of Kodok (better known as
Fashoda to English people), the country along the stream
is literally covered with huts. Between the estuary of
the Sobat and Lake No the country is densely popu-
lated. The number of inhabitants has been estimated
at over half a million souls, but such authorities as
Father Tappi who have lived in their country for many
years seem to think that figure rather understates than
over-estimates their number.

The supreme chief of the Shiluk lives near Fashoda
and goes by the title of Mak, or more commonly Ret.
His title is hereditary, or, at any rate, the Ret is always
elected from among the Gnarets, the ruling family.
They are said never to die of a natural death, these
Ret being suffocated or strangled when ill or about to
expire, the tribe disliking the idea of their kings dying
like other mortals.

The Shiluk divide themselves into two great families :
the Quagnaret and the 0-chiolla, the Quagnaret being
the noble, almost semi-divine, caste among them. The
0-chiolla people, of a lower social condition, are some-
what looked down upon by the Quagnaret, although the
0-chiolla are much richer and are really superior in
authority to their nobler tribesmen. It is possible that
the Quagnaret and the 0-chiolla were in remote times
different races altogether, the Quagnaret being the
conquering race. In fact, we find some marked differ-
ences in the type. The Quagnaret are aggressive, proud,
and despise work ; whereas the 0-chiolla work the ground,
look after the immense herds of cattle, and, in fact, possess
all the riches in the country.

304

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The Shiluk, both castes combined, have had many
vicissitudes even in comparatively recent years in
their own country. They had severe fights with the
Dervishes, with whom they afterwards made peace.
Some were conquered, others would not submit and
migrated from their country.

When Major Marchand came on his famous expedi-
tion to Fashoda they looked upon him as a saviour and
even made a treaty with him. To this day they
speak of this officer and his entire expedition in the
most laudatory terms. For the Anglo-Egyptian officers
they also have much admiration, mingled, however, with
a good deal of suspicion, as they cannot imagine that
white people go to the Shiluk country merely for the
sake of protecting them. They fear that some day
they will be pounced upon, their cattle seized and be
robbed of whatever else they may possess. Their
previous experiences in that direction with the Turks,
the Egyptians and the Dervishes have certainly not
been happy.

I believe they quite understand that for the protec-
tion afforded they must pay some sort of a tax, but
I think they would prefer to pay it in kind with some
of the produce of their country rather than get rid of
their cattle, from which they are extremely loth to
part. The affection of the Shiluk towards their cattle
is quite pathetic. One never sees a Shiluk strike a cow
or an ox, even under the most trying circumstances.

The Shiluk are terrified beyond words of British
artillery, the accounts of what British guns could do
at the battle of Omdurman having spread far and wide
all over their country.

One Shiluk told me : " What can I do with my spear

THE RET 305

with which I can only kill people near me; when you
have ' boom-booms ' " — by which name they call our
guns — " which can kill many, many men each time from
so far away that although we can hear we cannot see
you ? "

The podo into which the Shiluk country is divided
are districts, and each district is then divided into
helle, or villages. The chiefs of these villages are elected
by the inhabitants, although frequently the Ret gives
the position to members of his regal family. A con-
siderable revenue comes to the Ret from the ivory tusks
of elephants killed by his tribesmen, from hippopotamus
skins and from cattle, which the various villagers must
pay to him on demand.

Then again the Ret has splendid opportunities of
increasing his wealth when murders or thefts occur,
on which occasions entire villages are pillaged by his
men. If the murderer happens to escape across the
river to the Denka, the innocent people in the village have
to pay for the offender and are robbed of everything they
possess. The person who has been robbed in the first
instance never recovers anything.

On the other hand, the Ret gets rid of a good deal
of his cattle for sacrificial purposes during festivals and
on great native holidays. Though his authority is
in many ways only nominal, his word is law on essential
points.

Every man of the Quagnaret caste is a warrior,
and always carries with him one or several tong, or war-
spears, and a large shield of hippopotamus hide. The
warriors are divided into so many contingents, one under
a leader for each district. Their navy— quite a formid-
able one— consists of an immense number of improvised
VOL. I. 20

306

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

canoes made from fascines of wonderfully light wood,
the amhatch, each boat being easily carried on the
head of one man when on dry land, and accommodating
two or three warriors upon the water.

Before a fight they all assemble at the sound of
war-drums. On one or two occasions I got these
men to show me their tactics, which were indeed
extraordinary for such uncivilized people. Their spear-
throwing was accurate, although they could not hurl
far, the spears being too heavy to travel great distances
through the air.

A number of these fellows became excited over
their war-dances and sham attacks upon a position
where I placed imaginary enemies. Having taken hold
of a war-club and pretended to be the leader of these
imaginary enemies, I came out of camp and went for
the Shiluk, pretending to strike right and left. To my
amazement, in a second I found myself covered by their
spears round my head and body, so that I could
not move at all. We had a great laugh over this, the
Shiluk being certainly much more amused than I on
that occasion. It was amazing how quickly they
surrounded me and got the spears in position to strike
at the most vital parts of my anatomy.

Some people think they can trace a resemblance
between the formation of Shiluk skulls and those of the
Fellah, especially in the projection of the nasal bones,
but, personally, I believe this resemblance to be merely
accidental, and it is dubious whether a real connection
between the two races exists.

Naturally one frequently traces outside influences
in their type, intercourse having taken place between
Shiluk and neighbouring or conquering tribes. Perhaps

A GREAT FAMILY

307

further north the tribes may show a greater resemblance
to the Fellah than the tribes which I visited further
south.

The anatomical structure of the Shiluk leads one
to believe that these people have been specially built
by Nature to live in marshy regions. Tall, long-legged,
the Shiluk, in common with many other riverine tribes,
possess many of the habits of water-birds. Often one
sees them along the river banks or in their villages
standing for long periods of time upon one leg, not unlike
flamingoes, the other foot resting upon the knee of
the extended leg. One peculiarity of the Shiluk race,
as also of the Denka and the Nuer, who, as we have seen,
are closely allied to them, is the extreme flatness of their
feet and the abnormal prolongation of the heel.

We find among the 0-chiolla the custom of removing
the four incisor teeth of the lower jaw, but the noble
Quagnaret do not indulge in this practice. The tribal
mark is generally two incisions on the forehead, and these
are made when young men come to the age of puberty.

It is curious to notice that some of the harpoons
used to-day by Shiluk for killing hippopotami are similar
to those represented on the monuments of the Pharaohs.
It is possible that these people copied these weapons
from the people of Eygpt. There is no doubt that the
people of the Upper Nile Valley, in the entire region
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, as well as in the valley of the
Sobat, the Denka, the Nuer and the Shiluk, all belong
to the same great family, although local conditions
and various outside influences from neighbouring tribes
have caused slight variations in the type of various
districts.

Both the Shiluk and the Denka gave versions of
VOL. I. 20*

3o8

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

one common legend of two brothers, Guacango and
Dengo, who were made specially by the djuk, the god of
the Shiluk, in order to populate this formerly uninhabited
country. These two brothers, according to the Quag-
naret, were the first of their race who appeared in the
land. Dengo, having quarrelled with his brother, crossed
the Nile with his cattle to the right bank, where he
settled. The Quagnaret evidently originated from
Guacango and the Dinka from Dengo, the word Dinka
having been subsequently modified into Denka.

The Shiluk are to this day more or less at war with
the Denka, m order to capture the cattle that Dengo
took from them.

The Nuer are unmistakably akin to the Shiluk, but
perhaps more warlike in their temperament. The Anuak
show resemblance in their type to both the Nuer and
the Shiluk.

The costume of all these people is simple, as we
have already seen, the men going about absolutely
naked, the women occasionally, but not frequently,
wearing a small apron of skin, or more frequently a tuft
of fresh grass.

We find among the Shiluk elaborate ways of doing
the hair, which is sometimes matted into a sort of thick
felt in the shape of two large elephant's ears at the back
of the head, sometimes into a comb or a fan on the top
of the skull, sometimes into parallel combs either longi-
tudinal or transversal upon the top portion of the head.
Generally these arrangements are suggested by animal
forms, although the natives themselves say they are
not. Like the Nuer and the Denka, they also smear
the head for two weeks or so with a composition of
ashes of cow dung, which has the property of colouring

SHILUK DEITY AND INTERMEDIARIES 309

the hair red. The hair of the body and face, what
there is of it, is plucked out when individuals are
quite young.

The Shiluk have comparatively small heads in rela-
tion to their height, and somewhat out of proportion
with the length of their legs. The Quagnaret are finer
people than the 0-chiolla. Some of the men have well-
developed chests, but they are somewhat deficient in
size and development of the thorax.

The Shiluk have religious ideas of their own, sug-
gested, I think, by their contact with the Dervishes and
the ancient Egyptians. They speak of a djuk, a kind of
god, to be propitiated when they need rain or sunshine
or to be freed from pestilence. Prayers are also offered
to Guacango, a semi-deity. Many villages have a
special hut, a place of worship, decorated with charcoal,
in which, when the chief of the village dies, he is buried.
Public prayers are offered sometimes, especially for a
change of climatic conditions, and Guacango is specially
appealed to under the endearing name of " Guacaio,"
or river god, when fish gets scarce in the river and he
is wanted to supply more. A priestess called the hared
acts as intermediary between the Shiluk and the deity,
and after listening carefully to the prayers of the people
transmits them to the djuk. This hared visits the people
when they are ill, and makes exorcisms and incantations
to drive away the evil spirit which is supposed to have
entered the body of the invalid.

Sheep's blood is frequently used in these exorcisms,
and is sprinkled all over the hut and the patient. The
possessions of the sick man are scattered all over the
village, especially upon trails, the people who tread
upon them unawares being supposed to contract the

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

illness and soTdeliver from it the person who has it
already. The Shiluk believe that illness goes from one
person to another, and that when one person gets rid of
it, it is only because another person has contracted it.
This belief exists not onl}^ in Africa, but also in Europe,
not far, even, from good old London town.

In popular speech, Shiluk of a less noble birth
can die, but not the Ret, who, after death, is merely
spoken of as having gone " out of the \dllage," or "out
of the country " ; he is never spoken of as a " dead
man."

The Shiluk know little about the soul, but they
are inchned to the theory of the transmigration of
the soul into other individuals upon this earth. Their
god is upon earth, and not in heaven, as ^^ith us, the
idea of an aerial deity seeming extremely ludicrous to
them.

The Shiluk are noisy people when excited, and
particularly boisterous at funerals. Their burials are
quiet enough, the body being deposited in a deep grave
amidst general grief. If the deceased be a chief, as we
have seen, he is deposited in the sacred hut, but simple
mortals are buried just outside their former residence.
A hide is placed at the bottom of the grave, and the
hollow is then filled tight with earth and flattened on the
surface so that no one can detect where the grave is.
Eight days later the parents and friends in the \illage
come with spears and shields and dance and make
evolutions round the grave, sacrificing and eating one or
more oxen according to the wealth of the deceased.

Ancestral worship is in a w^ay practised by the
Shiluk. They believe that the dead Unger about the
li\ing and look after them, and they firmly believe

THE SHILUK LANGUAGE

that communication can be established with dead
people in dreams.

Shiluk are believers in the evil-eye, and attach
much importance to the way one looks at them.

The Shiluk language is comparatively rudimentary.
For instance, there is no inflection to mark gender or
number. To indicate males it is necessary to add the
word " gialo " ; or for females, the word " dacio."
The plural is made by the suffix " ghir," which means
" many."

Counting, as with most African tribes, is done on
one's fingers, and is limited to five. Few people can
count beyond. The number " six " is " one hand and
one " ; " seven," " one hand and two," and so on.

In the Shiluk language we find no word for " moun-
tain " or " hill," the nearest being " kiddi," a stone,
which may also be another indication that these people
have always lived in flat, marshy regions.

They have an extensive vocabulary for cattle, daduk,
for instance, being a yellow cow ; nyading, a red and
white cow, dittang, a black cow, etc.

312

CHAPTER XXX.

Marriages in the Shiluk country are of the simplest
description, although certain general rules are adopted
here and there. For instance, the Quagnaret and the
0-chiolla only occasionally intermarry. A Quagnaret
woman, on getting married to an 0-chiolla, loses her
caste. Monogamy is prevalent in the Shiluk country,
as it is seldom that a Shiluk can allow himself more than
one wife, women in the Shiluk country being an ex-
pensive luxury. The near relatives of the girl expect
in exchange for her value no less than three or four
oxen or cows, or at least forty sheep or goats, besides
sundry spears and cooking utensils. Only after pay-
ment of the amount is she handed over to the prospective
bridegroom.

Moreover, when a Shiluk goes to bargain for his wife
with her relatives, he has to drag behind half a dozen or
more goats and sheep, and to present one to the father
of the girl, the others to the assembled members of the
family. By means of pieces of straw laid upon the
floor the number of oxen, cows and goats is agreed upon,
while the ladies of the house produce pot after pot of
merissa in order to cheer up all present. The business
part of the transaction being over, if the girl consents,
she is presented with a bracelet of brass or ivory, which
is passed over her wrist. That is all there is of the Shiluk
marriage ceremony.

THE POSSESSION OF WOMEN

313

Fellows have been known to take a wife on credit,
but these rash individuals heavily mortgage their hap-
piness, and even run the risk of losing their better-half
should a wealthier person present himself on the scene
prepared to pay hard cash.

Shiluk do not frequently intermarry with other
tribes. They generally go and select a wife from a
distant village, but nearly always from members of their
own tribe. When a man marries more than one wife,
he must provide for each of them separate fields and
huts, and keep each household divided.

When a man dies and leaves several wives, these
usually marry his sons. For a consideration a Shiluk
can marry his widowed sister-in-law, or even his aunt,
as women are paid for at the rate of valuable animals
and must remain in the family.

When the children are small at a man's death, his
brother takes possession of the widow and of the cattle ;
but on the children getting older the property is divided
equally among the children, the wife, too, being handed
back, if desired, to the eldest son in the family.

Adultery is not frequent. When it does occur, if
the woman will not accuse the seducer, she is assured
that she and her offspring will die within a year. She
generally confesses.

The men are extremely lazy in the Shiluk country,
and leave the women to do all the work. Indeed, the
Shiluk woman has to cook, she has to fish, she looks after
the animals, she goes to fetch water, she tans the leather
in a primitive fashion, when necessary she brings loads
of fodder and does what little agricultural work is to
be done in the country.

They cultivate some dhura, some maize, batick,

314

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

pumpkins, lupins, etc. The hibiscus esculentus (hamia)
grows wild, and produces an insipid fruit. It is only
possible to raise crops from May to November, the rainy
season ; they sow the seeds when the ground is softened
by the rains, the man walking in front making holes in
the ground as he goes along with a pointed stick, the
woman behind, placing a seed or two in each hole and
filling the aperture with earth with her foot.

The Shiluk country is cut up into numerous natural
canals. There are many deep depressions in the ground,
which during the rainy season fill up with water and form
lakelets. The variation between high and low water
in the river is from three to four feet. The land during
the rainy season is thus divided into so many islands,
the canals supplying good fish for the natives.

The entire village takes part in all the larger fishing
expeditions, but the usual fishing is done either in their
wooden canoes, the yei, or else in the abbobo, or raft
of ambatch, the men spearing the fish with a
kind of spear and bow combined, about seven feet long,
such as we have already seen in use among the natives
of the Sobat river. More generally, though, the natives
dam the narrow canals, and capture the fish in large
quantities in basket traps fixed in apertures of the
barrier across the stream.

The polypterus bichir are common in these waters.
Also, the siluridcB family is strongly represented. The
lepidosiren, a salamander-like water inhabitant, which
the natives eat, reaches sometimes a length of four
feet.

The fish, when captured, is cut up in strips and
dried.

In the streams the natives often hunt hippopotami

CULTIVATION

315

with harpoons, when they surround the animal and
riddle him with spear- wounds. When the animal is
worn out and has lost a great deal of blood, he some-
times makes for the bank of the river, where the natives
kill him. If he dies in the river, he sinks, and will only
come to the surface again after twelve hours or so, when
decomposition has begun.

Guinea-fowl, crowned storks, and other large birds
are plentiful in the country, and the natives kill them
with sticks or catch them in traps.

Shiluk cultivate tobacco extensively for their own
use. They keep regular nurseries of young plants,
which during the proper season they remove to the
banks of the stream. Their crop of tobacco is, how-
ever, not sufficient to supply local needs, and most of
them indulge in smokes of charcoal.

Until a few years ago they cultivated cotton, but
now they have ceased, as they did not find it profitable.

The north-western part of their country is sandy,
and, under present conditions, quite useless for agri-
cultural purposes. The only portion which is fertile is
that with alluvial deposits from the inundations of the
river, the zone inhabited by the Shiluk practically not
extending further than ten or twenty miles from the
larger streams. Two or three crops a year can be grown
with no trouble in the latter zone.

The country, as we have seen, is a vast plain,
smothered in grass and reeds during the rains. The cli-
mate is unhealthy — one might say, deadly — for men and
animals, especially such as are non-indigenous. October
and November are possibly the worst months, when
the grass and reeds begin to putrefy under the great
heat of the sun and exhale a pestilential odour. August

3i6

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

is, perhaps, the wettest month, with terrific thunder-
storms daily, and flashes of lightning so violent that it
is difficult for people who have not been there to imagine
their force. The sky during these tornadoes is lighted
all over continuously by myriads of electric discharges.

From November the north winds begin, and the level
of the Nile gets lower. The water in the marshes and
lakes quickly evaporates, leaving reeds and grass to dry
and tumble down. It is at this epoch that the natives
set the country ablaze, and this is probably the reason
that in many parts we find few trees, as these grass fires
interfere considerably with their growth.

At night the entire country is lighted by these fires,
which make a weird scene. In the daytime swarms of
hawks, grey falcons and eagles, the halicetos vocijer,
with their peculiar shriek, describe circles above the dense
smoke arising from the fires, waiting for propitious
moments to pounce down upon frizzling rats, snakes
and tortoises.

The channels, when empty during the dry season,
are useful to the natives as trails, and also for places
wherein to hide their canoes.

December, January, February and March are hot
months, March particularly, the month when I was there,
when the thermometer was often as much as 40° Centi-
grade (104° Fahrenheit).

Near the ponds, canals, and on the river, thousands
of birds can be seen either flapping their wings above
the water, or placidly resting perched upon one leg along
the banks. Some were of a brilliant carmine red, or of
beautiful gradations of yellow and blue. Others, such
as the plotus mclanogoanastu, a fish-eating bird, were
dark-coloured. Then there were the marabu storks.

THE TERMIX VORATRIX

317

with their valuable plumage, and the balceniceps rex,
with its disproportionate head and sac-like broad bill,
a bird of most retiring habits, something between a
pelican and a heron. Sparrows were innumerable, and
probably one of the most common birds was the parra
africana. The white-breasted Abyssinian raven, not
unlike a magpie, was frequently met with, particularly
in the yards of the villages.

Perhaps, however, the Bahr-el-Ghazal is particularly
noticeable for the abundance of reptiles of all kinds, all
holes, angles and fissures being full of them. Poisonous
snakes are numerous and the natives suffer a good deal
from them.

Possibly the most destructive living thing in that
region is the termix voratrix, the white ant, which under-
mines the ground and eats up everything everywhere.
The huge heaps, sometimes eight or ten feet high, made
by these ants, are constructed so that they can protect
themselves by climbing on these high places when the
country is under water. These little brutes devour the
grain, the baskets, the utensils of the natives, and even
the wood of the rafters in their huts, unless the in-
habitants keep a sharp look-out for them, and frequently
tap the wood, the concussion as they believe stunning
and even killing the termix.

Mosquitoes naturally swarm in such a marshy region,
and are tantalizing to men and animals alike. For-
tunately, one never sees them while the sun is above the
horizon, but from sunset to sunrise they make life quite
unbearable.

The Shiluk fumigate their huts with dense smoke,
so as to protect themselves from the mosquitoes, and
they also sleep on a layer of white ashes from cow

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

dung, which is really a greater protection than sleeping
under a mosquito net, although the remedy seems to be
far worse than the evil itself. Even when sitting out
of doors they sit on skins or on mats of ambatch, burning
near them heaps of cow dung which produce clouds of
dense smoke.

Shiluk huts are generally conical, or of a slightly
flattened dome shape. They have but few things in the
interior of their dwellings, with the exception of the
hides or mats on which they sit or lie. These people
are vain, and as long as they possess sufficient cow-dung
ashes and fluid direct from the bladder — two essential
articles in their toilette, as well as in their culinary
arrangements — they are as happy as possible. Their
cooking pots and milk vessels are always washed with
cows' water, probably in order to counterbalance the
lack of salt in that region.

The Shiluk are extremely kind to their animals,
especially their oxen and cows. After grazing, when
they bring them back to their villages, they make them
walk between fires of reeds so as to free them from
mosquitoes. Big fires are kept up all night around
them, in order to protect them as much as possible from
the stings.

Besides the oxen, sheep and goats, the Shiluk possess
a good deal of poultry and innumerable dogs, not unlike
greyhounds, with hair of a reddish-brown colour and a
much elongated muzzle.

There is little wood in the Shiluk country — in fact,
practically none, if the du7n palm, scarce, is ex-
cepted, of which one sees one or two here and there
near Shiluk villages, usually in the centre of the \dllage,
where their war- drums are generally fastened, so as

THE VEGETATION

319

to convey signals of danger, or of hunting or of fishing
expeditions. The Shiluk possess quite an elaborate
code of signals upon these drums.

The higlig, or balanites csgyptiaca, and the deleb and
dum are, indeed, about the only fructiferous palms in
the Shiluk country.

The flowers on land are few and ugly, but not so
upon the water, where lotuses and water-lilies of white,
blue and crimson, the nymphcBa stellata and the nymphcEa
lotus are to be seen. The Ethiopian vallisneria, with its
spiral peduncles, rises upon its coiling stalks some six
feet up to the surface of the water, and is most remark-
able for its sexual development. The adenia venenata,
a creeper with a fairly pretty flower, possesses poisonous
leaves, used by the natives for producing blisters.
Animals are frequently poisoned by this plant, which is
extremely common in the Shiluk country.

The water-fern, the azolla, and also the pistia, are
common enough in the papyrus region ; also masses of
trapa, a water-nut, and the yellow ottelia, not unlike
sesamum, producing a gelatinous liquid said to be good
for indigestion when dried and pounded into powder.

There are also innumerable weeds, which form the
great grass barrier, el sett, usually miscalled in English,
" sudd."

The amhatch is plentiful, and more plentiful still the
umsusa, technically vossia procera, a most troublesome
grass, with its leaf sheaths covered with hair-like
adhesive bristles, which when touched produce most
tiresome itching and irritation.

There were a few clusters of gummiferous acacia,
and further back inland a number of tamarind trees,
with dark-coloured leaves. The tree-like euphorbia,

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with its candelabra branches, which belongs to the
cactacecB order, and is similar to the euphorbia of
Abyssinia, is also frequently to be seen. It reproduces
itself with wonderful facility and rapidity, and is at all
times difficult to kill.

Beyond Lake No we were in the Denka country.
Thousands of cattle could be seen to the south of the
river belonging to the inhabitants of this region. Then
came more flat country of mud and slush. Flamingoes
of various families stood pompously about, most of them
black, with long, arched backs, and a larger kind, grey,
with black wings and tail. Further back on dry land
were thousands of cattle.

The euphorbia candelabrum could be seen here and
there, the milky-white substance discharged by it when
an incision is made being poisonous. It is used ex-
tensively by the Denka for poisoning their spear-
heads. They make the steel red-hot, and dip it in the
white sap, which is absorbed and retained in the closing
pores of the metal during the cooling process. This is a
similar cactus to the one common in many parts of
Abyssinia, especially near Harrar, where we have seen
the Galla make hedges of them round their kraals, and
also in Western Abyssinia, where regular forests of them
are to be found. Here in the Bahr-el-Ghazal there were
only a few, and the tallest I saw was not more than
twenty feet high. The branches and leaves were not
so fat, but they seemed more numerous than those of
the kind found at greater elevations in Abyssinia.

We then came to a portion of the country slightly
more wooded with mimosa trees. The banks of the
river were here somewhat higher, about four feet above
the river level, and the stream itself was comparatively

THE SUDD

321

free from sudd and floating vegetation. It had here
a width of clear water of forty to fifty yards. Beyond
this region we came to a few thatched huts, where we
found another tribe of Nuer again, who varied httle
from the Nuer we had found on the Sobat.

These people had almost aquiline noses, much
elongated at the base, and big, prominent lips disclosing
long, white upper teeth. The four lower teeth had been
removed as with the other Nuer. Long-legged, with high
square shoulders, they were like the others, thin-bodied
with somewhat disjointed supple-looking limbs, the
arms appearing too short in proportion to the legs. The
ears of these people were badly formed, coarse and
placed somewhat higher on the cranium than the posi-
tion in which the ears are generally found in most
races.

The outer rims of the ears of one man I saw were
simply covered with brass rings, each ring being inserted
into a separate hole.

The length from the nose at the nostrils to the chin
was much greater than from that same point to the top
of the skull.

The hair was dyed red and tied into a knot behind
the head, or else left fluffy and flying in the wind.

Here, too, their hands were almost atrophied, or at
any rate much swollen, by wearing tight bracelets
which had never been removed from youth up.

Further west we came to the Bahr-el-Arab, which
had been explored, for the first time, only a few months
before I went through, by Lieutenant Walsh, of the
Royal Navy, in the employ of the Sudan Government.

We were stopped several times by sudd, until we
were able to cut a passage ; then on our right we came

VOL. I. 21

322

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

to the Djur River, most difficult to perceive owing to
the water vegetation blocking the entire mouth of the
stream.

The Bahr-el-Ghazal, on which we were, was here
quite narrow and overgrown on either side with papyrus
and reeds. We observed occasional patches of trees
in the distance, and a higher cluster of trees stood now
before us, now behind, or at the side. Each time we
looked at it, it was in a different direction, as the Bahr-
el-Ghazal described a most circuitous course.

We had quite an exciting moment on board, as we
carried a large quantity of dynamite for the military
post of Wau. Through the carelessness of a native,
who upset a can of petroleum and set it on fire, we
had the delightful prospect of a little explosion.

It took us several hours to go the last few yards
towards our destination, the " heavenly spot " of Meshra-
el-Rek, as we got stuck many times in the pestilential,
putrid water, stirring up black, stinking, decomposed
vegetation from the river bottom as we tried to shove
along.

We arrived in Meshra harbour, thirty yards long by
ten wide, a sort of cul-de-sac of stagnant water, in the
afternoon of April iith. If an international competi-
tion were arranged to give a prize to the most unhealthy,
dreary, inhospitable, hot, poisonous place on the face
of the earth, I am certain Meshra would win it easily.

323

CHAPTER XXXI.

Yes, Meshra was a musty, mouldy, fetid hole, in which
the natives themselves refused to live. There were a
few traders, one or two officials, and some Sudanese
soldiers, all ailing with fever and in a pitiable plight.
The mamur himself was ill.

No means of transport of any kind could be obtained,
and even goods for the Governor and Government
officials in the capital at Wau had to remain in this
place for lack of porterage.

The place consisted of four small corrugated iron
buildings and a sort of walled enclosure — a fort, it is
called — a mere mud shelter for military stores.

Twenty Sudanese soldiers and a native officer were
stationed here, and there were two Greeks, one the agent
of Angelo H. Capato, the enterprising merchant of
Khartoum. Their business consisted mostly in forward-
ing to Khartoum ivory purchased further inland ; they
also carried on a little trade in tinned provisions with
the few British officers in the capital of the Bahr-el-
Ghazal.

Meshra, with an area of only a few hundred square
yards, is situated on a small island, in a sort of lagoon.
A few wells have been dug, the water of which is not
quite so deadly as the pestilential ink-like fluid from
the lagoon.

The Tonj river enters the Bahr-el-Ghazal near this

VOL. I. 21*

324

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

cul-de-sac, just before reaching Meshra. The mouth of
this stream is always so blocked with papyrus and
reeds that it is not possible to discover where it is unless
one knows its exact situation. No current is noticeable.
In this pool, in which we anchored, we heard at night
many hippopotami, and one of the officers on board
killed a couple of crocodiles.

A flat circular-leaved, long-stemmed lotus plant
with white flowers was extremely plentiful in the
water.

The Government officials seemed perplexed in this
place, and I think that orders from headquarters made
them even more helpless. It would be unsafe for a
traveller to go into that country unless quite independent
of everybody, as credentials from the higher officials,
including the Sirdar in Khartoum, seemed of little help
in that region.

As I had my own animals, to which I added a few
more which I was able to obtain from good Father
Tappi, who was returning to Europe, I proceeded,
on the day of my arrival, towards Wau, the capital of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal. I had now only five men with me
to look after my new caravan of donkeys, and when I
came to start at sunset four out of the five were dead
drunk. The Somali, the only sober one of the group, and
I, also quite sober, had to pack all the loads upon the
animals.

In order to reach terra firma we crossed the long
tumble-down dyke made across the ugly swamp, through
which it was formerly necessary to wade, with mud up
to one's neck, for over a mile. As I travelled in the
evening, my donkeys, not properly looked after by my
drunken men, went all over the place, and the

THE DENKA COUNTRY

325

loads were constantly getting scattered upon the trail.
A storm came on. Storms always did when you least
wanted them. It got pitch dark towards eight or nine
o'clock in the evening, and at a moment when I had
stopped to pack up the loads on one rebellious donkey,
thunder nearly deafened us and rain came down in
sheets. The other animals got ahead and strayed away
from the trail and I lost them all. It took the Somali
and me the best part of the night to find them again
and to recover the loads which were strewn all over
the place.

On April 13th I arrived at Amien, where a Denka
village and half a dozen tukles, or shelters for officials,
stood on the left of the road. There was a deep well
here, but this being the dry season there was no water
in it ; the only water we were able to obtain at the place
being rain water from filthily dirty holes, and, in appear-
ance, not unlike milk gone bad.

The Denka country, roughly speaking, extends all
over the low, perfectly fiat plain of greenish-black
alluvial clay and rock that lies between the Bahr-el-
Djebel and the eastern limit (marked in that region by
the River Djur) of the enormous table-land of ferruginous
soil and rock, with isolated mounds of gneiss, and extend-
ing westwards.

These Denka resembled, with variations, those we
have met further east. This particular tribe indulged
in four cuts on both sides of the forehead, these cuts
converging downwards. Like other Denka, like the
Shiluk and Nuer, these people were long-legged, and
their shoulders were high and square-looking, but not
broad.

Nevertheless, although it was plain enough that these

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Denka were allied to the Shiluk, they were neither so
tall, nor were their legs quite of such abnormal length
as those of the inhabitants of the White Nile and Sobat.
Few of them, if any, reached six feet in height, although
their average height exceeded, I think, that of English-
men. A somewhat elongated neck, great breadth of jaw
and prominent lips, were again noticeable. The skull
was flattened and narrow. The scanty hair was usually
closely shorn, hence the prevalent use of wigs or caps of
basket-work or beads. The women, too, shaved the
hair close. Cow's urine, as well as dung and ashes, were
much used by the Denka in their toilette, particularly
in order to dye the hair of a reddish tint.

As we have already seen on the Sobat, the Denka
never use bows and arrows, but are skilful enough with
their spears and war-clubs. The latter, perhaps, made
either from the balanites cegyptiaca or from the drospyrus
mespiliformis, the local ebony, are the most character-
istic weapon of the race, as well as the cylindrical or
half-cylindrical arrangement for parrying the blows of
clubs.

There is also another instrument somewhat like a
bow which is used for a similar purpose, and which we
have already seen among other tribes.

Like the Yambo and the Shiluk, but unlike the Nuer,
these Denka were extraordinarily clean people in their
food and in their dwellings. No vermin was to be found
inside their huts, but snakes were plentiful in the thatch
of their homes. These, however, were not poisonous,
and of no great size. The commonest kinds were the
ahcetuella irregularis, and the psammophis sibilans, the
latter so called because of the hissing noise it makes
when attacked.

SNAKES

327

I was told that many large pythons existed in the
country, but I never saw them. Both the Denka and
the Shiluk — although they can hardly be called snake
worshippers — seemed respectful to snakes, which they
never killed. I believe this is partly because these
reptiles kept their huts free from insects, and therefore
they were made practically into pets.

Most Denka huts — more spacious and durable than
those of other tribes — and villages are encircled by
fields of dhura, and the inhabitants own a considerable
number of cattle.

The dhura and grain of the pencillaria are pounded
and sifted into fine meal and are quite good to eat —
indeed, the cuisine of the Denka is not only clean but
elaborate. The arachis is cultivated, as well as several
kinds of beans. They do not eat dogs and snakes
and putrid meat, like tribes we shall find further west,
but are most particular in their selection of animal
food. Hares and wildcat, tortoises, gazelles, and ante-
lopes they dearly like.

The Denka have large herds of sheep — a typical
breed of their own, short-haired and with a mane —
somewhat resembling the breed to be found in certain
parts of Morocco. Their goats resemble those of
Abyssinia ; only those of the Denka are larger. These
goats are great climbers in regions where they can feed
on leaves of trees.

Owing to the great moisture in their country and the
fetid quality of water in the rain pools — simply a living
mass of germs — their cattle and sheep suffer a good deal
from intestinal worms. Leeches of various genera are
to be found in immense numbers, and cause the animals
a good deal of suffering, I think that it is due to these

328

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

leeches and the immense amount of blood they suck
from the stomach and arteries that the animals in the
Denka country never possess any fat. There is one
kind of leech in particular, a repulsive little oval bag
of a greenish colour, which swells out when full of blood
to the size and shape of a sparklet cartridge. I have
sometimes removed dozens of them from the legs of
my animals. Between the legs, behind the ears, under
the lips and neck, were favourite places for these
parasites.

Although at Meshra mosquitoes swarmed in millions,
at Amien, only eleven miles further, we were able to
sleep undisturbed without mosquito nets. We left this
camp in the afternoon, and marched through flat country
with only a few trees here and there.

All this region is swampy during the rainy season.
The long bridge which had been made across the worst
place had now collapsed.

Ten miles further, towards 8.30 in the evening, we
arrived at Medal, where we fortunately found a good
well. Here I had another disaster, which in a way
afforded me pleasure. I had a large tent with a bath-
room attached to it of khaki-coloured waterproof.
This stuff, smeared over with a rubber preparation,
was highly inflammable. The sparks from some lighted
wood carried by one of my men set it ablaze, so that
in a few minutes the tent was rendered useless. I had
reluctantly kept this heavy tent because the rainy
season was now coming on and I thought I might need
it. I was glad I had such a good opportunity for dis-
carding it as it was heavy to carry.

We experienced steamy hot, quite oppressive, weather
on our next march across flat, uninteresting country.

CHAMELEONS AND LIZARDS 329

We saw a lot of giraffes near the road, but I never fired
at tfiese animals for two reasons. First of all, because
it was forbidden by the Government ; then because they
were too tame and their skins useless.

There were beautiful birds flying about, small green
parrots in quantities, and tiny blue silky-coated
humming-birds. Upon the ground crawled a great
variety of beautiful lizards and chameleons of wonderful
gradations of tints, from the richest and warmest
cadmium yellow to the deepest ultramarine blue.

One beautifully shaped smooth-bodied lizard in
stripes of yellow and dark brown was also noticeable,
the yellow blending into a faint blue which gradually
got darker until it became deep and rich towards the
end of the tail. The most common chameleons possessed
bright yellowish heads, dark blue bodies, and a yellow
ringed tail of light blue with a black tip. There was
then another kind of rough-skinned chameleon in all
shades of vivid browns and greens. Dozens of them
played around me at the " Gemaiza" tree, where I had
stopped for my lunch.

There were three wells here, thirty to thirty-five feet
deep, with putrid water that stank as we brought the
bucket up to the surface.

In three more hours' march that day we arrived at
Gedain, where another beautiful tree was to be seen
and a number of tukles in course of construction.

More Denka were to be found here, all with four
cuts on each side of the forehead ; men and women
adorned with a pointed leather tail behind. Some
wore quite a large tail, not unlike that of a modern dress-
coat. Most of these tails were made of tanned leather,
but many people wore tiny tails of antelope or water-

330

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

buck. Several women showed broad bands of small
white and red beads with a fringe of rope just over the
loins.

Young men displayed two rows of parallel dots
upon their skin running down each side of the body
from directly under the breasts to the genital organs, and
eventually forming an angle. All the men shaved the
greater portion of the skull, leaving a circular tuft of
hair at the back of the head, into which they stuck
porcupine quills or ostrich feathers, as the fashion of the
day prompted them. The women shaved a good portion
of the side hair and also part of the top of the head.
They plaited what remained into tiny tresses, which
they often smeared with butter and red earth.

Although we still found a few men who covered
themselves with ashes, the custom was not so general
here as further east.

Denka houses had a narrow mud wall four feet high.
A thatched roof, constructed separately, was placed
bodily upon this wall when completed. A small open
porch adjoined the front of the house, and several small
peepholes were to be seen around the wall of the
hut.

The fashion of wearing many rings in separate holes
all the way round the curve of the ears was common
among these people.

We fared badly for water, as there was none on the
road, except at these wells, or in the small pools which
had been dug by natives or by the Government. Some
of these pools were only ten feet or so below the level of
the ground in sandy soil. They contained a few inches
of water, possibly as much as a small wash-basinful.

After the hot marches, when we arrived anywhere

FOUL WATER

331

insatiably thirsty, especially in the evening, we generally
found natives sitting in these pools washing their limbs
and body. As this was the only water we could find,
it did not make us particularly amiable towards the local
residents, and we had to face the problem whether we
would resign ourselves to die of thirst or use it as best
we could. I do not know that boiling it improved it
much. We generally disguised it into strong coffee,
but there was so much lime in many of these wells
that even the strongest coffee we brewed was hardly
less white than pure milk. It generally hurt one's
gums and palate considerably, as it burnt to no trifling
extent.

From Gedain the trail was good, sandy in only one
or two places. Mimosas of the gherar type were to be
found here also, but were not so luxuriant as those we
had met in Abyssinia. We were now getting into
somewhat thicker forest, with many fan palms of great
height and a fruit palm, the deleb.

At a place called Bir-el-Gherad, sixty-two miles from
Meshra, we came on two more pools of filthy milky
water, ten or twelve feet below the surface of the ground,
and also a deeper well equally filthy but of a slightly
better flavour. Here, too, the strongest and blackest
coffee that could be made really looked like cafe^ au lait,
with two-thirds of it milk.

I made a wonderful purchase from some natives of
thirteen eggs at a cost four times higher than the best
new-laid eggs in London. When I came to eat them
twelve had chickens in them ready to come out — if they
had not been boiled — and so much gas had formed
in the thirteenth, in its putrefied condition, that it
exploded with a loud report when I tapped it. The

332

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

smallest and most skeleton-like chickens fetched one
shilling each in this country, and at best were unfit to
eat.

My animals were suffering a good deal, as at most
of these places there was just sufficient water for the
men, but none could be procured for the animals. I
generally marched early in the morning and late in the
evening, as the heat was intense for my donkeys, who
were much overladen and suffered from thirst as well as
from lack of good food.

Some miles from this last camp we reached a place
called Dug-Dug, where we had expectations of finding a
good well.

" Oh, monsieur," exclaimed my faithful Somali,
as he quickly pulled out half a bucketful, " this water is
very good, monsieur. It is just like milk."

In fact, all the water of all the wells contained so
much calcium that it resembled a white, syrupy cream
when it was clean, but generally took bilious deadly
green and yellow tints when it was not quite pure.
Hence the exclamation of my attendant when he saw
water of such pure white.

Since leaving Gambela on the Sobat I had with me
three small ostriches, which had become quite tame and
were following me about Hke dogs. These poor little
friends of mine suffered so much from drinking foul
water that at one time they disappeared and I was
unable to find them again. It seemed as if they re-
belled against coming any further. However, late in
the evening they returned to my camp, but they
appeared ill. One of them was taken with a violent
colic and died. Another died shortly after.

The Denka of this region wore a high pointed cap made

A LIVELY NIGHT

333

of basket-work, not unlike a huge wine funnel upside
down. In the pointed end they stuck either one or more
ostrich feathers or highly-coloured feathers from other
birds.

We left Dug-Dug in the afternoon, and passed the
well of Deleba, from which point the country became
slightly more interesting. There were great numbers of
smooth-stemmed deleh palms of great height, with the
usual swelling half-way, and also some of the shorter
dum palms with forked roots, and beautiful fan-shaped
leaves all the way up the stem from the ground.

At Higlig, further on, there was merely a pool of
pernicious water. During the night the dew was heavy,
the damp saturating everything with moisture, and the
air so stifling that it seemed a typical place to get
malarial fever. Everything was soaking wet in the
morning, although we had had no rain at all.

By making an early start on April 17th we soon
reached Ayum, thirty-six miles from Bir-el-Gherad,
and here there was a good well some forty feet deep
of quite drinkable water. We found some gemaiza, or
fig-trees, producing fruit quite good to eat.

We heard the roaring of lions next night. They
came quite close to camp. So much so that all my
donkeys broke loose and stampeded. A tornado was
raging at the time, and the rain came down in torrents.
What with the lions roaring, the thunder and flashing
of lightning, the fierce braying of the donkeys, and the
shrieks of my men, it was a regular pandemonium.

The trail which has been made by the Government
was here excellent and made travelling comparatively
easy. There were lots of abil trees, sasahan, and mimosas
of great size, many of which we found on our way to

334

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Moyem, twelve miles further on, where I halted for the
night.

Here there was a well of good water at the resting
sheds. These rest-houses were generally looked after
by ex-Sudanese soldiers employed as police. At this
place the policeman was an impudent rascal, who,
instead of seeing that the laws of the country were
obeyed, was the first to infringe the regulations. He
had killed a large giraffe, and had asked his friends to
come and share its meat that evening. Large pieces
of the giraffe were being brought over by natives, and
great was the annoyance of this policeman when I
arrived on the scene unexpectedly. Owing to the great
heat the meat was fast decomposing, and the stench from
it was such that it was not possible to approach the
wells. I asked the policeman to remove it, as any white
traveller has the right to use these sheds. As travellers,
however, never go that way, and as I did not wear a
khaki helmet nor a brass-buttoned uniform like military
men, but had merely a lounge suit and a straw hat, this
policeman was extremely insulting.

I noticed that many of these policemen seemed
an unruly, disorderly, drunken lot, without any manners,
and dishonest to a degree, except towards their officers,
who, in a way, are responsible for their conduct, as they
try to impress on the soldiers that any one who is not a
military man is equal to dirt. This man was reported,
of course, to his superior officers, and it would be
interesting to know whether he was punished at all
even for his crime of killing a giraffe, for which white
men are punished, I believe, at the rate of £100 fme
or three months' imprisonment.

Between Ayum and Makot the road was excellent.

THE DJUR

335

and the landscape wooded with fig-trees and mimosas.
At Makot we were glad to find a well of fairly good
water and a couple of tukles.

On leaving again in the afternoon, we went through a
forest of mimosas and fig-trees, but we saw no more
palms. We met occasional shrubs of the luni, which
produce an edible nut with a somewhat caustic taste.
From high trees we also got large beans, called the
haloto, which have a sweet yellow substance not unlike
cassia inside them.

We were now in the Djur country. The villages
were palisaded all round to protect the inhabitants
from the attacks of wild animals at night. The huts
had conical roofs built so as to allow a space between
the roof and the wall in order to let air circulate. A
high platform was generally to be seen in front of every
four or five huts, and upon this platform rested mats,
utensils, and the thatching for the roofs which was
placed there to dry.

In front of us, to the south-west, was now a long
low hill-range, if it deserves such a name, as it was
merely fifty or sixty feet high — ^the first undulation I
had seen since leaving Abyssinia, barring one or two
small isolated hills I had discerned in the distance.

The Djur were principally noticeable for their ability
in working iron. They were, in fact, the blacksmiths
of the district. The Djur were particularly numerous
at M'bili and Cangia, where they had many furnaces and
forges.

These people were in type much like the 0-chiolla,
with almost identical features, ornaments and language.
Whether they took the name from the river Djur,
flowing into the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where they inhabit,

336

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

or the river took the name from them, I could not
exactly say.

They supplied nearly all the neighbouring tribes with
spear-heads. It was quite remarkable to see how these
people could smelt iron ore and work the extracted metal
with considerable precision, notwithstanding the rudi-
mentary tools they possessed.

Their cylindrical furnaces showed a great deal of
ingenuity in the draught arrangements in order to
obtain high temperatures. The furnace was open at
the top and possessed three apertures at the base, one
with a channel of mud acting as a chimney. The process
of smelting was shortly this. They first placed one layer
of charcoal of mahogany wood, plentiful in that region,
and upon it one layer of iron ore broken into small
pieces. Then again a small layer of coal and another
one of iron, and so on until the summit in the interior
of the furnace was reached. They set fire to the lower
layer, and in twenty-four hours extracted the molten
metal of this, then causing each superposed layer to de-
scend and the coal to ignite. Twenty-four hours later
more molten metal was collected, and so on every
twenty-four hours until the last layer was exhausted.
The metal was then separated as much as possible from
impurities and was smelted in earthenware vessels,
the combustion of the fuel being aided by cleverly-
devised bellows made of two mud cylinders, each
with an escape channel joining into a common outlet
blowing on the fire. A loose skin was tied at the upper
ends of each of these cylinders and worked by hand,
raised and lowered, by a man standing between the two
cylinders, so as to cause a constant draught. The metal
was then worked into spear-heads^, axes and knives.

A DJUR FORGE

337

Until quite lately all spear-heads possessed by the
Denka were manufactured by the Djur. These people
did not know how to temper steel properly. It took
no less than four men to work a forge : one to do the
blowing, two to hold the metal, the other one to strike
with a stone hammer.

The Djur population extended in a narrow crescent
from Tonj to the south-east, to some miles north of
Wau.

Between Meshra and Wau could be noticed rubber
vines. Malual was the first Djur village we had en-
countered on our westward way, the Denka practically
inhabiting the country eastwards. This village was only
three or four hours' journey from Wau, the capital of
the Bahr-el-Ghazal province.

VOL. I

338

CHAPTER XXXII.

Wau, where I arrived in the evening of April i8th, was
situated on the site of Fort Desaix, built by Marchand in
a well-selected spot, slightly elevated, on volcanic ferru-
ginous rock. The fort itself, well constructed of vol-
canic boulders and mud, with an outside trench and a
tower able to command the country in all directions,
stood on the left bank of the stream. A red-brick
building, used as an arsenal and ammunition magazine,
had been constructed within the walls of the fort, and
behind the old fort another larger fortified enclosure had
been built, with corner towers enclosing mihtary stores,
etc. Along the bank of the Djur stood in a row the
meek, tumble-down residences of the mudir, or governor,
and of the English officers, then beyond, those of the
Egyptian Sudanese officers and employees.

Behind were the barracks, a good hospital, some
workshops, the quarters for the soldiers' wives and
friends, and a sort of market. Further away were the
humble quarters of the Austrian mission.

An attempt at gardening was being made along the
stream, and an experimental farm had been started under
the able direction of a PoHsh gentleman, Mr. Skirmunt.
Beyond was thick forest with valuable wood, such as
ebony (drospyrus mespiliformis), tall eugcnicB and un-

WAU, OR FORT DESAIX

339

caricB, amorphophallur, and the red-blossomed melas-
tomacecB, gardenia trees, borassus palm, and the can-
delabra-euphorbia ; also most excellent mahogany.

In an open space, which goes by the name of " The
Square," are two or three sheds for Greek traders,
Angelo Capato, of Khartoum, being perhaps the best
supplied and the most reasonable in his prices. By the
time goods reach this point, after infinite vicissitudes,
their cost becomes almost prohibitive.

My instruments registered the elevation of Wau at
1,310 feet.

At the time of my visit there were in Wau some
four or five British officers, all pleasant, especially
Sutherland Bey, the mudir, who most kindly offered the
hospitality of the officers' mess and placed a house at
my disposal. I, however, while thoroughly appreciating
the mudir's kindness, was unable to accept either, as I
never like to be under obligations. I make it a rule
seldom to accept anything from my own countrymen,
except upon payment or the giving of an equivalent.
I think if this rule were generally followed, many unfair
remarks about travellers imposing upon British officers
in Central Africa would be avoided.

In this particular case, the local Government officials
seemed, judging from a despatch I received, destitute of
everything, except a newly-imported American buggy ;
and it would have been wrong to accept their well-
meant hospitality. Their shanties — they could hardly
be called houses — were so leaky that waterproof sheets
and mackintoshes had to be arranged in the interior
over the beds in rainy weather.

Comparisons are always odious, but, having travelled
in many non-British countries, I am always struck by
VOL. I. 22*

340 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

the helplessness of Britishers in the matter of making
themselves comfortable homes immediately upon arriving
in tropical climates. It is true that the Bahr-el-Ghazal
had not been opened up more than a couple of
years when I was there. Still, that would give
ample time to build some sort of dwellings, the
roofs of which would not be a constant danger to the
residents.

I have seen French, Belgian and Italian officers in
similar climes make their own kilns, bake bricks, extract
lime from shells (when lime was not obtainable from the
soil), and make neat vegetable gardens which were a
great boon to their health and happiness. In the miU-
tary posts I visited in the Sudan, Wau was the only
place where an attempt at gardening had been made —
and that was only the keeping-up of Marchand's garden.

I put up one of my own tents some distance from
the town in a most picturesque spot along the river.
On one or two occasions I visited the Austrian mission,
where a couple of miserable sheds were erected. The
poor father in charge was pitiably ill, and to my
regret I hear that he has since died of fever. These
Catholic missionaries were real martyrs. They were
sent out to these trying climates with no comforts of
any kind, next to no food, no money, and they had to
live mostly on the country. In their heavy black
gowns, which they seldom changed, they went about
among the sick or ailing, with no hope of a hohday when
ill or dying, but always in the most critical moments
resigned to their fate. Most of them succumbed, but
a few with a finer physique, greater vitaUty and
brighter mental abilities, survived, and even enjoyed hfe.
Father Tappi, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting

SUBDIVISIONS OF TRIBES

341

at Meshra, was one of them. Practical, thoughtful,
unselfish, vivacious, and with great magnetic influence
over the natives, this man was indeed the type of
missionary one would always like to see sent out to do
good work among heathens. His great ambition was
to teach them trades, agriculture, and how to earn a
living honestly. Religion, he said, would gradually
come in afterwards, when these people were getting
educated. Father Tappi knew that country probably
better than any white man, and my conversations with
him were most instructive.

Between Meshra and Wau many were the subdivi-
sions of tribes to be found in the country. First, the
Afuk, the Furumeh and the Falli, north of our trail ;
and the Min, the Luanedian, the Atok, Ayur and Sadyok,
to the south. Then west of these were the Djur, Nyang,
Aniar, Regnelol, Abuk and Aguok, all these tribes being
east of the course of the Djur river.

Few natives were, however, to be seen along the trail
itself, as they had all removed their villages to distant
points where they remained undisturbed. They had no
communication with the Sudan Government officials,
and I was told that they had shown hostility towards
individual officers on shooting expeditions in their
country.

The route between Meshra-el-Rek and Wau made
by the Government could not be better for local wants,
and the Sudan Government should be congratulated
upon endeavouring to open an easy communication
between the various points of that country, and
establishing a regular postal service. Trails are
easily made, the land being flat and the soil hard
enough in the dry season; all that is necessary is

342

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

to knock down a few trees and keep the trail free from
grass after the rains.

The entire distance from Meshra to Wau, according
to Government measures, is 114 miles, divided thus :

MESHRA

Dug-Dug

to Amien

to Deleba . .

„ Medal

„ Ayum . .

„ E. Mayik . .

,, Moycm . .

„ W. Mayik . .

,, Malual . .

Gemaiza Tree

,, Tombashi

,, Gedain

„ Malual, Djur vil-

„ Biril Gozad . .

lage ..

„ Dug-Dug . .

„ WAU . .

With my caravan I covered the distance in six days,
but I travelled briskly. Sheds have been erected at
all the more important camping places.

All the men I had taken to Wau left me, and it was
impossible to obtain fresh men at this place, the Govern-
ment having apparently no control over the natives,
even for its own use. I employed some Niam-Niam,
but after having been well fed in camp for three or four
days, when the moment came to depart, they did depart,
truly enough — but in a different direction altogether
from the one in which I wanted them to go, and I never
saw them again.

At the last moment. Major Sutherland, the Governor,
kindly gave me three natives, all that could be
found, but they were absolutely useless, and they were
more of a hindrance than a help. So \\ith practically
only one man, my faithful Somali, I packed up the
baggage on April 23rd, and we two loaded the entire
caravan, while the three newly-employed natives sat
gracefully upon their haunches watching us. On no

Adeni, the Author's faithful Somal

TRYING TIMES IN STORE

343

account could these three men be induced to go near
the donkeys. They feared them more than Hons or
elephants.

The heat was intense. From this moment I well
grasped that we should have further hard times in
looking after the animals. My Somali and I would have
to do all the running about and the trying work of
recovering the loads and putting them on again every
time they fell off.

We left in the middle of the day, as, come what
might, I would continue. I had a sort of suspicion
that obstacles were placed in my way so that I should
not get on. Perhaps this was the case, perhaps not.
It little mattered to me.

With my straw hat at a dangerous angle upon my
head and my best blue serge suit — such as I should
wear to walk down Piccadilly in summer-time — I started
off, somewhat to the amazement of the British officers,
making the donkeys march briskly before me with my
courhash.

" Where are your men ? " shouted one officer.
" I do not need any men. Good-bye."
" Have you no helmet to protect your head from the
sun ? "

" I need no protection of any kind, thank you."

And on we went, outside the military post, then
getting into the forest, soon after leaving the part
that had been cleared of trees. The country was
shghtly undulating, with mere corrugations, hardly
more than ten feet in height. The first undulation
was close to Wau, and upon it the new olficers'
quarters will eventually be constructed, as it is
of a rocky, volcanic formation, with plenty of iron in

344

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

it. The new building will be slightly healthier than
the quarters which the officers have at present.

Others of these undulations, further out, were some-
what higher, possibly some twenty feet or so, and were
also of red volcanic rock. There were, indeed, great
patches of this ferruginous stone, and we wended our
way along the good trail amid innumerable fig-trees,
lu and lulu, drospyrus mespiliformis , eugenics and
uncaricB.

Close to Abu Shakka, twelve miles from Wau, were
three sheds. The trail ran practically due west until we
got close to the last hill, where we proceeded slightly
south-west.

There were plenty of fig-trees all along, and some
rubber vines, acacias and wild fruit-trees, some quite
deadly, others not so bad to eat, among these being a
yellow elongated fruit, and the haloto beans, which were
quite good.

There were here many Golo, who have villages in this
region, and further west, especially near Kaiaongo.
Another tribe inhabits further south upon the Wau
river. The Golo build their houses solidly and neatly,
quite unlike their neighbours, the Bellanda, who live
north of the Golo tribe, upon the Wau river.

Each Golo family occupies a site upon the Chief's
land, and each erects a zeriha of wooden pillars, \\ith as
many huts inside as the head of the family possesses
wives. The huts are of wood, plastered inside, with
low walls and a rectangular door, generally kept closed
by a mat. Near the hut is always a granary or store-
house. Under the granary a morraca, or stone mill, is
invariably to be found. In many of these houses are
several of these morraca, and Father Tappi, I remember,

THE GOLO

345

once told me that he saw as many as three of these
morracas in one hut.

The great regularity of construction of Golo roofs is
mostly due to the bamboo rafters used. As is the case at
Abu Shakka, the Golo frequently put up, round their
zeribas, a strong palisade, which they hide behind a
thatch of grass so as to deceive the enemy.

Like the Yambo, these people use a wonderful
cement, which they extract from a particular clay in the
river. They use it both for plastering their huts and
for covering over their graves. This cement contains
a good deal of iron, which is perhaps responsible for its
great solidity when dried up in the great heat of the
sun.

I cannot say that the Golo women were attractive,
nor, indeed, the Golo men either. They most of them
possessed big paunches, the legs were weak-looking and
not particularly straight, with feet extraordinarily long.
Young women plastered the hair in lumps with red
mud and oil, but the older women matted their hair
in vertical plaits upon the head, leaving spaces of ex-
posed scalp, which gave a mangy appearance to those
adopting this fashion. Some of them wore bracelets
of blue beads. Most had three horizontal and three
vertical cuts on each cheek, which made them quite
repulsive with their huge lips and squashed noses. They
nearly all had a peculiar squint, which certainly did not
add to their beauty.

From the habit of constantly kneeling down to grind
grain under the morraca, as well as from squatting upon
the long logs of wood which are placed across the broad
wells when drawing water, the skin of their knees was
rough and wrinkled with a thick, callous growth. The

346

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

legs were under-developed, especially from the knee to
the ankle, but the ankle itself was small and rather
well formed.

Their wardrobe consisted of a small — very small —
bunch of verdure, sometimes behind, sometimes in
front. The Golo ladies seemed to have adopted all the
fashions which can make a woman repulsive to Euro-
pean eyes. I saw at Abu Shakka an old lady who had
stuck in her right nostril a white cylindrical bead, which
looked like half a cigarette stalk ; while another lady
had a bead of a similar size, only red instead of white,
also inserted in her nose.

Large silver and iron earrings were worn, and were
so heavy that the ears became elongated. The lobes of
the ears of this tribe were, when in their normal con-
dition, attached and the ear itself flat and malformed,
even when not affected by ornaments hanging from it.
For some reason or other, the ears of these people
seemed absolutely desiccated, and with no life in them ;
they possessed no well-defined ridges or curves, the outer
rim being rounded over instead of curling forward, as
is usual with better-formed ears. In fact, I noticed how
that malformation was greatly responsible for the in-
ability of these people to catch accurate sounds. They
could not distinguish the difference between an " 1 "
and an " r," nor between an " e " and an " i," nor be-
tween " d," " t" and " b." Their hearing was alto-
gether dull, and one required to talk to them fairly
loudly and explicitly for them to understand at all.

This is, of course, more or less general with all blacks
of tropical Africa, and many people who have had
experience with them will tell you that even one's o\yn
servants, accustomed to European ways, do not often

THE EYES AND EARS

347

hear their master speak unless they are facing him,
when they will pay attention to what is said. When
their back is turned, it is difficult to make them hear,
as their auditory organs do not work quite so accurately
as ours, or, at least, do not bring the impressions received
quickly to the brain, unless when working jointly with
the sight.

The eyebrows of the Golo form a double curl, and
give them a frowning, dissatisfied expression, even in
their brightest moments of happiness. They have a
considerable development of the upper portion of the
lid between the rim and the eyebrow, a development
which almost amounts to a swelling. In fact, when the
eye is open the lower section of the lid itself is absolutely
covered, and hardly shows at all.

There was a good deal of the monkey in the
movements and postures of these people. One day
I saw six women in a row, squatting just like
quadrumanes upon a long pole thrown across the
aperture of a well some thirty feet deep. They had
chimpanzee-like big paunches and delightful expressions
on their faces. They pulled up water as fast as they
could go in small vessels made of half gourds with a
forked stick attached to the upper portion as a handle.
With these they filled large earthen jars by the side of
the well. These jars were decorated with dots in the
upper portion, with a row of large dots at the mouth,
and with a lot of smaller dots either in transversal or
vertical lines covering two-thirds of the vessel from the
bottom up.

The Golo women had the hair plastered down into
little tresses at the side of the head. Red beads were
stuck in the nostrils. The upper portion of the nose

348

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

directly under the glabella was absolutely flat, and the
tip of the nose had the appearance of having been pushed
back, so much so that the apertures of the nostrils in a
full face appeared like two circular holes.

One or two, while balanced on the unsteady, primitive
bridge across the well, carried their babies in a sling from
the right shoulder, the child riding astride upon his
mother's left hip, on which he supported himself. The
mammas had extraordinarily flat noses, particularly at
the bridge, but their nasal flatness was nothing to that
of their darlings. I do not think that I have ever seen
babes whose lack of nose was so glaring as with these
Golo youngsters.

Men and women had eyes wide apart, almost bird-
like, and I believe the squint which I have mentioned
above is partly due to the great distance between the
two pupils, which is bound to produce a defect of sight,
since in focussing objects close by they must converge
at an angle.

They seem proud of the little tufts of fresh grass
held — I do not know how — in front, behind, or at times
in both places, and constantly renewed when getting
dry. Fashions are cheap in Gololand, where an in-
exhaustible dressmaking department is to be found in
the nearest meadow.

Much as I like to encourage bathing among natives,
I must say I was rather vexed with the Golo ladies of
Abu Shakka. After they had finished filhng their
vessels with water, they drew water from the well and
proceeded to have shower-baths, one woman pouring
water on the head of another with a calabash. As they
did this on the edge of the well, the water flowed in
again to the place it had come from. The verdure was

CICATRICES

349

torn off on these occasions and renewed after the bath
was over. When I scolded them they, too, were quite
offended, and asked me what I was complaining of, as
they were " not wasting " the water, which was scarce
in the region. No, indeed, it was all flowing back into
the well !

Cicatrices in sets of three vertical lines were popular
among the ornamentations upon the chest, sometimes
also on the back. These began directly under the
shoulder-blades, and extended as far as the waist ; a
waist-band of a great number of cicatrices all round the
body was also to be noticed. The women had sets of
cicatrices upon the breasts right down to the nipples.
The breasts were extraordinarily developed and pendent.

Unlike the tribes we had seen until now, we were here
among people with long bodies and short legs. Instead
of square, the people had rounded shoulders, with good
waists arched inward.

I was surprised to find how white the palms of the
hands were in these people. The nails were light pink.
The fingers were badly formed, short and square-tipped,
the thumb particularly, which in more civilized people
would be put down as the thumb of a highly criminal
type. It was short and flattened, with a mere strip of
nail much elongated sideways. Their hands seemed to
obey the brain only to a slight extent, and it would be
difficult to find clumsier people than these Golo when
they had to do anything with their fingers.

There were two villages at Abu Shakka. They took
the name from their chief, a flat-faced, pock-marked
individual. The village nearer the well was the newer of
the two, and comparatively tidy, within a zeriba of wood
and high grass forming a wall over ten feet high. In the

350

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

enclosure stood the quadrangular mud house of the

chief, with its neat thatched roof and three or four

more irregular huts entirely made of reeds upon a
wooden frame.

351

CHAPTER XXXIII.

We left at six the next morning on an excellent trail
that went over ferruginous soil through fairly dense
forest. Here began our troubles with flies of all kinds,
particularly big horse-flies, the sting of which was
painful. There were millions of them round us, and
the mere buzzing near one's face was enough to drive
anybody out of temper. The animals suffered a good
deal and kicked and dashed about, rubbing them-
selves against trees in order to shake them off. The
result was that the loads were constantly getting
scattered upon the trail, and the Somali and I had to
run after the demoralized animals. No sooner had we
our hands occupied in lifting the loads upon the pack-
saddles than our eyes, ears and faces were simply covered
with flies taking advantage of our helpless condition.
If you opened your mouth they flew into it, and, indeed,
travelling under those circumstances was not a pleasure.

There was a tiny kind of gnat, also troublesome,
which seemed to have a particular attraction to the eyes.
Swarms of them dashed into one's face, and during the
day I have had consecutively as many as fifty or sixty
of these Uttle brutes in my eyes. They stick at once to
the moisture, and spread a highly-scented, acid liquid,
which makes the eyes and lids sting acutely. Fortunately,

352

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

they are easily removable, but they cause severe in-
flammation with some people. They have a way also of
getting inside one's ears, and when they get far enough
into the channel they are difficult to get out again.

With the stifling heat, the riotous animals, the flies
big and small, sore eyes and worrying ears, with stings
itching all over one's body, the effort of lifting the loads
fifty times a day at least upon the packs — not to speak
of the running about to recapture the animals— was
indeed hard work. The Somali behaved faithfully.
Notwithstanding all, we travelled that day thirty miles to
the next camp, sometimes over open stretches near the
trail, where families of huge monkeys dashed across,
carrying their young upon their backs ; then further
among thousands of anthills from one to two feet high,
and shaped like mushrooms. There were other conical
anthills of the termix voratrix ; these were of great height,
although they were built by a smaller ant.

For the first few hours the trail wound considerably,
first to the north-west, then to the west, then west-
north-west ; but after passing some slight undulations
and volcanic rocks and boulders beyond a brooklet's
channel, now waterless, we arrived at 11.30 at Bisellia,
where, fortunately, we obtained plenty of water from
the Khor, bad as usual, but plentiful enough to allay the
thirst of my animals.

An abandoned village stood near the Khor in a mat-
walled zeriha, with a number of tumble-down huts. The
former chief's house was plastered with black polished
cement. In each hut, the Bongo, another tribe who in-
habited this village, had built a quadrangular platform
some six feet long by three feet wide, raised six inches
above the ground, which they used as a bed. A fire was

THE BONGO

353

made within the triangle of three stones, on which were
placed the cooking vessels. In some huts I saw curious
beds of black cement, with a hollow in the centre where
the people lay.

There were near this place some extensive earth-
works : a trench, with a bastion, which the natives said
had been made by the Turks. It was, as a matter of
fact, put up by Limbo's father on his return to Bisellia,
after having fled from this place on the arrival of the
Dervishes. He had escaped to two hills north of Dem
Zebir, then to Kossinga, where Sultan Nasr Andel
offered fight. He then returned to his old place where
he erected the fortifications visible to this day.

Over the marsh close by, a ruined bridge was to be
seen.

I had an amusing experience here. A glass of French
jam I had just emptied was lying in camp. I saw a
Bongo examining the glass with attention, turning it
round and round in his fingers and expressing great
admiration. He then put the glass down and walked
away.

In this place, being near the military post of Wau,
silver money is known, as the natives are paid in cur-
rency for supphes they sometimes sell to the soldiers.
Presently the man returned with an Egyptian coin worth
one shilling, and deposited it on my lap, taking the
glass and proceeding to walk off. Whereupon I took
the shilling and threw it at him. The man seemed much
taken aback, picked up his money and brought back
the glass to me. He departed a second time, and a few
minutes later returned from his hut, and after describing
three or four circles round me to discover in what mood
I was, he now squatted in front of me, and in a most
VOL. I. 23

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

endearing fashion laid before me two shillings' worth of
Egyptian coinage. I told him that I was no merchant,
and did not care to sell anything. He took back the
money, gave a leap in the air, and ejaculated some sound
or other, dashing full speed to his hut. A little later
I saw him cautiously approach my camp, holding some-
thing in his hand. He was looking at the sky, by which
I understood he was up to some trick — as people generally
are when they look innocently skyward. In fact, after
pretending indifference, I saw him get nearer and nearer
the glass, which he suddenly seized, throwing at me
what he had in his hand, five shilhngs altogether,
and bolted away with my glass, worth at most a half-
penny.

I collected the money and went to call upon this
gentleman. He was afraid that I should take a revenge.
His pleasure had no bounds when I gave him back
the money and told him he could keep the glass.

In the afternoon, at 3.25, we left in a heavy shower,
which only lasted a short time. We marched through
forest until nearly eight o'clock, finding no water on the
trail nor at the place where we camped. We, therefore,
made an early start the next morning, gradually and
slowly rising among semi-desiccated trees of no great
beauty. Further on, where the trees had not been so
burnt up, one found some hard woods, which, were
transport easier, ought to be of commercial value. The
fibre was extremely close and twisted, and it almost
seemed as if these trees had experienced difficulty in
growing through the ferruginous soil. There were mi-
mosas, tamarind and fig trees, and trees with bark like
cork.

During the whole march I only saw one solitary

SWELLINGS OF THE EARTH 355

bunch of flowers — small jessamines. We went fairly
steadily at a rate of about three miles an hour, over
slightly undulating and gradually and gently rising
country. Occasionally we came to more of the typical
" swelHngs of the earth " of volcanic rock. Near the
summit these were strewn with almost spherical boulders,
seemingly spluttered out when during the eruptive period
the molten rock had come into contact with the colder
atmosphere.

We marched steadily from five o'clock till one in the
afternoon, the sun positively baking us. Then, owing
to an approaching tornado, the heat became quite un-
bearable. A severe thunderstorm caught us as we
reached the Pongo stream, which, at the place we met
it, flowed northwards, eventually, according to the
natives, finding its way into the Djur river. Dirty as
the water was, it seemed delicious to men and animals,
and we all drank copiously. At any rate, it possessed
a little more the lively taste of running water, and was
more palatable than the fetid water we had been drink-
ing since leaving Meshra.

There were three tukles here and a rakuha in construc-
tion, with a house for a native policeman directly outside
the zeriba. The Pongo river at this point was 1,600
feet above the sea, which showed us that we had risen
290 feet since leaving Wau, a distance of fifty-five
miles.

From south to north, between lat. 7°N. to lat. 9°N.,
there are in this zone a good many tribes, such as the
Bare, some Golo, then north of them the Bellanda, and
north of these the N'dogo. We find a similar tribe of
Bare slightly north-east of Limbo, where the Emdoco
tribe is to be found, and another tribe of Bongo directly
VOL. I. 23*

356

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

west of them. North we have more Golo, then another
tribe of N'dogo, and, further along the Pongo river,
more Bare.

The Bongo are people of fine stature, somewhat
stoutly built. They are great cultivators of the land,
probably the most successful agriculturists in the entire
Bahr-el-Ghazal district. A few of the men have adopted
cotton clothes, but the women go about absolutely
naked, with the usual tuft of verdure in front and
behind. They wear brass and iron bracelets ; armlets,
anklets and necklaces made of beads.

Their faces are greatly deformed by the kagga hanging
from the lower lip, which consists of a straw inserted
through the lip in young girls, and gradually increased
in size until the little cylinder becomes as big as a large
bottle cork. This fashion, as we shall find, gets more
and more exaggerated as we travel towards the west.
Another ornament is frequently to be seen, consisting of
two straws, or sometimes of two small sticks, projecting
from holes in each nostril. Both the Djur and the
Bellanda tribes follow this fashion, like the Bongo.

At Kaiongo, north of the trail, the Austrian mission
has a station, where it is doing good work among the
natives, principally teaching them blacksmith's and
agricultural work.

The country in that part is hilly, thickly wooded,
and populous in parts, especially the villages of Chiefs
Bakili and Malunga, the first chief of the Bellanda, the
other a Golo chief. Unlike the Golo huts, those of the
Bellanda are of a flimsy character, but their villages are
enclosed in zerihas made of great chunks of wood solidly
stuck into the ground.

The Bellanda are great hunters. They make large

BONGO TRAPS

357

nets, in which^they drive and capture gazelles. The
Bongo people, too, are fond of hunting, but they prefer
to make traps. I saw some of these Bongo traps quite
close to the Pongo river. They consisted of a passage-
way along the trail, which was walled in with sticks on
both sides for some five or six feet. The passage was
closed up by a small net across, not visible at night,
which when even slightly touched broke a frail piece of
cane. By a series of crossed sticks at well-calculated
angles just sufficient resistance was established to hold
in position a heavy beam above at a dangerous angle.
When released from this balanced position, the beam
fell directly over the passage, crushing with its weight
the unfortunate animal which had found its way there.

There were millions of mosquitoes of all sizes at
Pongo, but by this time we were getting acclimatized.
Although they bit us furiously, they hardly produced a
swelling at all, if not disturbed during their process of
suction, and caused but moderate irritation.

We left Pongo at 6.15 on April 26th. The river flowed
in a tortuous channel, rocky in some parts, sandy in
others. The banks were as much as ten to twelve feet
high, and the river bed about thirty feet across. We
found a vast grassy plain to the west of the river, and
fairly open ground near the rest-houses which had been
erected, but which seemed rather unpractical in their
construction, owing to the absolute lack of ventilation,
which made it impossible for anyone but a native to
breathe when inside. The huts were thatched with
grass, and the doors so low that they broke one's back
every time one went in or out.

Further west we proceeded across thinly-wooded
forest with hardly any undergrowth. We had gradually

358

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

risen to i,8oo feet. We saw on one side of the trail a
great granitic dome emerging some ten feet above the
ground, with huge volcanic boulders by its side. Further
on, to the west of this dome, about four hundred yards
north of the trail, a high rocky hill, about one hundred
feet high, was met with (1,900 feet above sea-level), and
this was probably the highest hill I had seen in the
Bahr-el-Ghazal, certainly the highest west of Meshra.

About an hour later on the march we met another
big grey dome of granite, emerging some fifty feet above
the ground. Partly owing to the great fires which are
frequently caused by lightning and otherwise, the forest
was thin in this portion of the country. After we had
been gradually descending among lean young trees we
came to another high hill, north of Ganna camping-
ground, where I arrived towards noon, only to find that
the well was absolutely dry, and not a drop of water was
to be obtained. There was a deserted zeriha here, with
three huts and a large shed for animals.

We were here at a slightly lower elevation, 1,750 feet.
Having given my animals a short rest, I had to move
on, endeavouring to find water at the next camp. The
continuation of the Ganna hill formed a low hill-range
of granitic rock, the general direction of which was from
north-east to south-west. Here the trail went south-west.
Towards sunset we had on our left another huge granitic
dome, some forty feet high, and, having crossed the vein
of granite, we proceeded through fairly dense forest,
until we arrived at Hardeb at eight o'clock in the evening.
The sheds at this station had been burnt down, but we
found a small pool, some fifty yards long by five wide,
with pestilential water, which, bad as it was, we were
only too glad to have, as we had marched some twenty-

DOG-FACED MONKEYS

359

six miles that day in intense heat across waterless
country.

On the road we had met a suspicious crowd of ten
or twelve men, armed to the teeth with matchlocks,
spears and daggers. They seemed upset at meeting me.
On being cross-examined, they professed to be looking
for elephants.

This camp, called Hardeb by the natives, because of
the mimosa hardeb, which is plentiful here and gives
an edible fruit, generally goes by the name of Khor
Idris or Gamus upon maps. Lulu trees were plentiful,
with their thick, rugged bark cut up into so many neat
little squares, and with bunches of large oblong leaves,
thickly ribbed and fluted, in clusters generally of ten
or twelve together. The hardeb had tiny little dark
green leaves in double sets along a common stem.
It was a most compact little tree, its branches shooting
skyward and forming quite a thick mass.

We saw large dog-faced monkeys in abundance,
which not only had a head like a dog, but also quite a
canine bark.

White and white and yellow marble, not unlike
Sienna marble, was to be found in this locality.

Again, we had to make a double march, this time
first descending over undulating country, the slopes of
which were drained by the Khor Idris ; then, ascending
gently in a dense forest of lulu trees, various acacias
and mimosas and some occasional giant hardeb. An
hour after leaving camp we saw to the south of the trail
another heap of black volcanic rock. This was a great
place for giant anthills ; some built in domes, which I
measured, were as much as eleven feet high. Near
the foot of hardeb trees great conical accumulations of

36o

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

earth were frequently to be seen not less than ten feet
high, formed mostly by white ants.

Among a lot of ahil trees, with their tiny pointed
leaves, we gradually descended to the Khor Gamus,
a valley evidently swampy during the rains, lying
between two hill-ranges with a ditch intersecting it from
east to west. This ditch was now dry with the excep-
tion of two small pools not larger than four inches in
diameter and three inches deep, where a small quantity
of water had accumulated. As there was not sufficient
to allay the thirst of my animals, I proceeded to Khor
Rami, rising over a hill-range of volcanic rock, and find-
ing a good deal of eruptive, ferruginous rock all along
the way. In fact, after some ups and downs, we had
to go over a lot of broken rock close to Khor Rami,
which gave my animals a great deal of trouble, as there
was a violent thunderstorm raging at the time and we
had been overtaken by night.

We were drenched to the skin. Terrific lightning
struck quite close to us, blinding us temporarily, and
we lost our way. The night was so dark that it was
difficult to get along.

The poor Somali and I had a great deal to do to keep
the entire caravan together. The donkeys were abso-
lutely paralyzed with fear by the deafening noise of
thunder and the sudden flashes of lightning, which were
useful in a way, for while the scene was brilliantly illu-
minated I could perceive where we were going.

Late at night we arrived at Rami, the storm still
raging. We took shelter under the shed. The tornado
got more and more violent, and presently I witnessed a
sight, very beautiful in itself, but which made me some-
what nervous, as I had never before experienced the

A FERRUGINOUS MASS

361

effects of the atmosphere being charged to such an
extent with electricity. The entire sky became gloriously
and incessantly lighted with a most vivid pink, almost
violet, light, which was most penetrating, and produced
on one's skin a similar sensation to the X-rays. The
thunder became continuous overhead, and was quite
deafening, like myriads of huge cannon being fired simul-
taneously. Incessant flashes of lightning streaked the
sky in brilliant yellow, zigzag lines across the pink back-
ground, some coming so unpleasantly near that I was
indeed glad when, after a couple of hours or so, I heard
the thunder gradually get further and further away, and
eventually we found ourselves under a brilliantly star-
lit sky.

We had these storms nearly every day, but I never
fancied them. Many people are killed by lightning in
these regions, and in more frequented parts many
Europeans have lost their lives in this manner, as white
men generally carry firearms or metal objects about them
which attract lightning.

The reason the storm seemed particularly bad at
this place I discovered the next morning when, to the
north-west of the camp, some fifty yards off, beyond a
small khor, appeared a rocky, volcanic, ferruginous mass,
which undoubtedly attracted and became charged with
electricity. This mass extended northwards, where it
rose some fifty feet above the khor at its foot.

We collected a quantity of excellent rain-water in all
the vessels and buckets we possessed. I do not know
that I have ever enjoyed anything so much as the good
drink of clean water after the filthy stuff we had been
tasting since leaving Meshra. My donkeys, too, had a
great time drinking in the small pools which had been

362

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formed in large holes in the rock, these innumerable and
curious large holes being caused, I am told, by lightning.

Camp Rami was at an elevation of 1,800 feet. Owing
to the soaking we got the night before, and the loads
being now nearly double their usual weight because of
the moisture they had absorbed, not to speak of the
fatigue which my animals had endured of late, I made a
late departure in order to allow the donkeys to pick up
some strength.

In a stroll round the camp I noticed a great many
ahugani plants, another kind of mimosa, with minute
leaves. Then there were lots of ofa, a large fat-leaved,
dark green fig-tree with whitish bark ; also jokhan, a
large tree, with leaves not unlike those of cherry trees.
Interesting was the gorot^ a short tree, with waxy-feeling
elongated leaves. The thur was a spiked tree, with tiny
leaves, and the ameruh a graceful, white-stemmed tree,
with most elastic branches. Perhaps the most plentiful
was the basson, a plant growing to no greater height than
ten or twelve feet, and possessing pinnate leaves two and
a half inches long, with saw-like edges, these leaves
growing in sets of two, like those of mimosas or acacias.
The small white fruit of this plant was good to eat.

More granite domes were passed on the march, when
we left at about 9.30 a.m. on April 28th, and towards
10.45 I mounted another high dome on the right of our
trail, from which an extensive view was obtained over
the practically flat country around. Only one high hill
was visible at 15° bearings magnetic (or slightly north-
north-east), some ten or fifteen miles distant. The ground
seemed to be sloping from that hill towards the south-
west. The top of the dome on which I stood was 1,975
feet, or twenty-five feet higher than the trail. It was of

DEM IDRIS

363

granitic formation, extending with a lower dome to the
north-north- west. Many smaller domes and broken-up
granitic blocks were to be seen towards the south^ and
extending south-west of the trail.

At 1 1. 15 I arrived at Dem Idris, where four neat
tukles and one open rakuha had been built within a
zeriha. A few mud and thatched huts, about a hundred
yards off, formed the quarters of the police. These
tukles were kept beautifully clean by the policeman
in charge. One large well had been dug, the water
now no more of a white milky appearance, owing to
being saturated with lime, but being instead of a thick
red colour, with a strong, ferruginous taste. The well
was forty feet deep. Other wells a quarter of a mile
distant, only twenty feet in depth, had bad white-
looking water again, such as was familiar to us.

At Dem Idris could be seen a two-storeyed mud
building, with square windows in ruins, a relic of Zebir
Pasha's historic days. Further down upon the trail
the remains of a large mud-walled zeriha, said to have
been made by the Turks, were also to be noticed.

Murjam Bahit, the policeman in charge of this
station, was an excellent man and most helpful. In the
zeriba was a fine unzai tree, under the shade of which
I spent some pleasant hours.

I made a start late in the afternoon, at about four
o'clock, and shortly after having descended where the
old zeriba, now destroyed by fire, and the well used to
be, we rose to a slightly higher table-land (2,150 feet),
which we had observed encircling Dem Idris to the
west and south-west.

7^ I had at last found some use for one of the natives
who had been given me by the Governor at Wau, and

364

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

who so far had followed us at a distance. I made him
the botanist of the expedition. It is quite amazing
what a wonderful knowledge of botany all these natives
have, and how wonderfully rich their language is in
botanical terms, whereas upon any other subject, their
fauna excepted, we find a corresponding poverty of
expression. This man, who was an incredible idiot
about anything else, was truly wonderful in his know-
ledge of plants. Sometimes his knowledge seemed so
astonishing that I thought he was inventing the various
names of trees. Time after time I checked him in
various localities, but I found that, at least, as far as
botany was concerned, he was truthful and learned.

We saw some high rumm trees and any number of
caruha, with their large double leaves like the wings of
a butterfly. Having descended into another khor (2,050
feet), we found a large pool of rain-water which had
collected during the last storm, and which was sepa-
rated by a mere undulation from another large pool of
stagnant water in the marshy plain.

At night, as we were marching, a hurricane blew
again with tremendous force. Black clouds collected
overhead and all round us, so that it was impossible to
distinguish the wet trail in the forest, and I was com-
pelled to halt. Although the thunderstorm was fierce
enough, we had no rain during the night ; but in the
morning, as we were leaving, heavy showers came upon
us and made travelling inconvenient.

The ground was undulating, but with no great dips.
We saw beautiful orchids of an electric violet colour
(produced, I think, by the iron in the soil), and with a
yellow centre. We were now gradually descending from
an elevation of 1,950 feet, at which we had been travel-

WART-HOGS

365

ling almost all along^ with a granitic formation showing
through in the more rocky places and volcanic, ferru-
ginous rock visible here and there. We were as low as
1,800 feet at Khor Afifi, fifteen miles from Dem Idris.

The well at this place was thirty feet deep. There
was a small village in a strongly-built zeriba for protec-
tion against lions, which were plentiful in this region.
The country was more open and grassy. Further on our
march, we still continued a gradual descent over fairly
thickly-wooded country, with another huge dome of
granitic formation over which our trail ascended.

I saw some huge wart-hogs, the phacochcerus , most
plentiful in this region and generally seen in couples.
The curiosity of these animals was quite entertaining ;
when they saw a stranger they raised their elongated
noses in a most characteristic way, partly to sniff the
newcomer, partly to observe the better what his inten-
tions were. They were stupid, and sometimes after you
shot at them and missed them they would stand and
look at you, and you could shoot two or three times
before they ran away, if they were not killed.

I arrived at the river Kuru, ten miles further, in the
afternoon, and such was the surprise which awaited me
that I decided to halt for the day. The policeman in
charge of the zeriba had actually been able to grow a
huge and delicately flavoured water-melon, which was,
indeed, a great treat in those thirsty regions. Luck
never comes singly, and I was able to procure also fresh
eggs and a chicken or two, which made quite a varia-
tion from the tinned provisions on which I had lived
for some months, and of which I was beginning to be
tired.

The Kuru stream, which ran in a north-easterly

366 ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

direction, was a nice little rivulet, with large, deep pools

full of fish, so I had plenty of choice for dinner that
night. There is no doubt that when one's digestive
organs are properly looked after a great step is made in
the direction of happiness.

The zeriba at Kuru was at an elevation of 1,650 feet,
the river about twenty feet lower. A rope was placed
across the stream, about fifteen yards wide at the fording-
place, with water only one to twelve inches deep. A
kiln had been erected for baking bricks, probably with the
intention of constructing a bridge.

Dem Zebir was due west of this place, but the trail
made a long detour to the south-west.

During the night we had lions roaring round our
camp. In fact, we had had them nearly every night,
but beyond making much noise, the king of all animals
seldom came near enough to be a nuisance. If they did
come, it was sufficient to throw a piece of lighted wood
at them, when they retreated in graceful bounds. Surely,
not what people at home imagine the behaviour of the
" king of all beasts " to be towards peaceful travellers !
One must, nevertheless, keep a sharp look-out on one's
animals.

36;

CHAPTER XXXIV.

We left Kuru at 6.30 on April 30th. There was a
high rocky hill to the west of the zeriha, but no view
could be obtained from the top, as high trees stood in
the way.

Between Kuru and Khor Silik we rose to an elevation
of 1,800 feet. Silik itself was some fifty feet higher
(1,850 feet). Further on we continued to rise to 1,950
feet, the country being in parts covered with ferruginous
boulders.

We had felt the cold intensely during the moist night.
The surviving little ostrich was taken ill and became
unconscious. In order to save him I carried him in my
arms for some miles, but towards noon the poor little
thing expired.

I was fond of this little affectionate companion, and
I proceeded to give him a suitable grave among
picturesque volcanic boulders. For this purpose I
walked away from the trail among fairly high grass
looking for a convenient spot, when I almost trod on a
crouching lion. I do not know which of us two was more
surprised, the lion or myself. I gave a leap one way,
the lion a much bigger leap in the opposite direction,
and continuing to leap most gracefully, disappeared.

The notions of civihzed people regarding wild animals

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ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

are curious, even ridiculously false. They imagine
that wild beasts attack without provocation whenever
they see you. There is no more mistaken idea than this.
No wild animal, if the tiger under certain special con-
ditions be excepted, will attack a man or woman who
leaves him alone. I have seen hundreds of wild animals
of all kinds at different times, and my experience is
that they generally make away when they see you, or
at any rate let you go by undisturbed, unless you fire
at them and wound them, when, of course, in their pain
and anger they may retaliate. They may, of course,
attack one's animals, especially at night.

We arrived at Khor Ghanam at 12.30 in the after-
noon. There was here a variety of trees. The dorot,
a large-leafed fig-tree, much like the lulu ; the sahahai,
a resinous tree, tall, with small light green leaves and
bark of a burnt sienna colour. Then the abagheud,
with bark in scales easily chipped off and tiny pointed
leaves. The viugo, a tree producing large bunches of
seeds ; the sohk, a long-spiked mimosa with tiny little
leaves about one centimetre long, whereas the spikes
were three times the length of the leaves ; the aguma, a
tree producing sets of three hard, spherical fruits, not
good to eat ; the ahukadjer, with a whitish-green bark
and extremely elastic branches, with small metallic
green leaves, quite rough to touch. The wood of this
tree is extremely hard, mahogany-like.

The charmingly-shaped elongated little leaves of the
hemeru are much eaten by the natives, as they pos-
sess a pungent taste which allays thirst. Then we have
a hard and resinous wood in the zawa {melastomacece) ,
the fire-tree, with fluted leaves rounded at the end instead
of pointed. The clean-barked jenisui and the kilimhah

POISONOUS FRUIT

369

also produce a hard wood ; the andugulugulu is a fine
tree growing mostly along streams. On the banks of
the Khor were great quantities of the vera, a tall shrub
with small oval leaves and an intricate confusion of
branches. Handsome trees were the afoma and the
bengheh, the latter being quite smothered in dark green
small leaves of the acacia type and producing a poisonous
brown bean about two inches long. The wood of the
hengheh was hard and resinous. The andarap, with long
yellowish leaves resembling those of the lemon tree, was
mostly remarkable for the contortion of its branches.
The amsitoro was a clean-looking tree, with few branches
shooting straight skyward. Its bark was whitish and the
leaves, two to three inches long and of a long oval shape,
grew tightly together. This tree produced big fruit in
bunches, frequently three together, with a solitary fourth
hanging below them. The amsitoro fruit, taken singly,
was shaped like a cucumber, four to six inches long and
of a yellowish-brown colour.

The ndafu rubber vine, of great size and strength,
grew in quantities along the Khor, climbing to the top
of trees in intricate masses. It ejected a white latex
when incisions were made. In fact, one could see where
many of these vines had been tapped by the natives ;
especially at the elbows or angles of the vine, where the
natives say the latex collects and can be made to flow
in abundance.

Although one saw tempting fruit of all kinds in the
forest, it was dangerous to try experiments. Most
was poisonous, and what was eatable had neither a
delicate flavour nor particular sweetness. In fact, most
samples possessed an acid taste which set one's teeth
on edge. The best was the long yaguma bean, enclosing

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yellow pulp like cassia. The hameru, a small yellow
medlar, much resembles the mespilus japonica.

In this region we and our animals were much
tormented by flies. Swarms of them buzzed round us
as we were marching along. A big fly, believed by
many to be the tze-tze, was plentiful here and gave
men and animals vexatious stings. We had met this fly
before during the last two or three days of our journey,
but never in such legions as we did that day. I was
badly stung in the back of the head, and it left a lump
as big as half an egg for several days.

That day I saw on the trail two lions. They were
not more than four or five yards away. They had a
good look at me, and then pleasantly and majestically
walked away, well surmising that I had no evil intentions
towards them. The lions of this region, like most
Central African lions, are not beautiful to look at, as
they are maneless and have somewhat mangy skins
with short hair. They have, however, honest expres-
sions and dignified eyes, and a most powerful and beau-
tiful stride.

At Khor Ghanam were two villages for the poUce,
and a large zeriba in a filthy condition, with four huts
and a rakuha. The Khor was almost dry and we only
obtained a little water from two small pools. During
the rainy season the drainage of the surrounding country
fills the Khor. There was a roughly-made ferry boat, so
long that when across it nearly touched both banks of
the stream, twelve feet apart. The policeman at this
place was a Niam-Niam, a first-class robber. In fact,
barring one or two, nearly all these police upon the trail
were impertinent scoundrels, the cream of the riff-raff
of the Sudanese army.

DEM ZEBIR

371

The channel of the Ghanam Khor had a direction
from south-south-east to north-north-west at an eleva-
tion of i,8oo feet, with banks twelve feet high.

On April 31st we left Ghanam at 7.30 and we gently
rose to 1,950 feet, from which elevation we descended
through forest — not dense — and eventually arrived at
Dem Zebir at 10.15. As we approached the place a
beautiful wide road had been cut near the military
post, the officer's house being on the highest of the
two hills upon which the post is situated.

To the north was a high straight horizon-line, some-
what higher in its eastern portion than to the west. The
two hills on which Dem Zebir stood, although not
high, formed quite prominent points in the landscape,
one at 7° bearings magnetic, the other at 4° 30', when
we obtained the first view of them.

The Somali and I, convoying the entire caravan,
reached Dem Zebir, 147^ miles from Wau, in shortly
under eight days' marching, having kept up an average
speed of eighteen and a half miles a day.

Abu Shakka

Bisellia

Khor Gombolo
River Pongo
Khor Ganna
Khor Gamus
Khor Rami
Dem Idris
Khor AM. .
River Kuru
Khor Abanga
Khor Ghanam
Dem Zebir

12 miles

13* „

10 „

20 „

13* „
10

9 „

8 „

15 „

10 „

9* „
9

147 1 miles

VOL. I.

24*

372

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

Dem Zebir, upon a commanding position (1,990 feet),
was decidedly the pleasantest-looking place in the Bahr-
el-Ghazal. Near the summit of the highest hill was a
fort of earth with an outer palisade at an angle, and two
large thatched buildings in the interior, as well as a
central tower upon which the Union Jack and the
Egyptian colours flew gaily. This fort was first estab-
lished by a French officer, who built it of stone. Then
Bimbashi Rawson, of the Egyptian Government, re-
constructed it of earth. The mamur continued this work
and Bimbashi Comyn finished it.

Everything in Dem Zebir was extremely neat, owing
to the energy of a most excellent and practical officer,
Bimbashi Percival, who resided here, with a staff of
intelligent Egyptians under him, such as the mamur,
Ali Effendi Wahbi, and a Syrian doctor, who were
stationed in the place.

One or two buildings, of locally-made bricks, were
in course of construction, and an endeavour was made
to mark out the streets of a town which will perhaps
some day grow on that site, the most westerly Anglo-
Egyptian post in the Bahr-el-Ghazal.

One or two Syrian traders, mostly dealing in ivory
and rubber, and a Turk, had found their way to Dem
Zebir. I saw magnificent elephants' tusks at this
place, some weighing 134 lbs. each. Others had been
obtained weighing as much as 194 lbs. The quaUty of
the ivory in this part of the country was excellent.

The section of the Bahr-el-Ghazal between Wau and
the French Congo boundary was to my mind the only
portion over which I had travelled in that province which
was worth developing and which had any wealth in it
at all. In the northern part, near Hofrat-el-Nahas, I

TRAILS

373

am told that about one mile south of the river
Umbelacha copper mines are to be found, in shallow
pits covering about half a square mile. The ways of
communication at the time of my visit to the Western
Bahr-el-Ghazal were deficient, the best trail, besides the
road between Wau and Dem Zebir, being between
Dem Zebir and Kossinga, a distance of eighty-four miles
through thick forest and over gigantic boulders in the
bed of the river Biri.

From Kossinga the trail continued to Hofrat-el-
Nahas, two hundred miles distant, going through the
Kresh and Ferogheh tribes under Sultan Mousa. This
route first went south-west from Kossinga to Ragga,
then fairly directly in a north-westerly direction to Kafi-
Khangi, whence in great d6tours, and getting bad
beyond the river Adda, it proceeded north to Hofrat-el-
Nahas. There were fair camping grounds nearly all
along this route, only horse-flies and the supposed
tze-tze being plentiful and troublesome. From Ragga
to Dem Zebir the distance was eighty-seven miles.

Deleh palms stud the country in many places,
principally near Kresh villages. There was a direct
trail between Kossinga and Wau via Shaat and the river
Biri (locally known as the Chel), where the Denka
Sultan, Chak-Chak, had made his residence on the east
bank of the stream. Several Denka villages were in that
region, especially some tribes under the powerful Denka
chief, Agaka, a brother of Chak-Chak, in the district
called Ayak. Golo and Djur, Bari and Endogo villages
were also to be met with on this trail. The distance
between Kossinga and Wau by this direct route was
210 miles.

We were here close to the French Congo boundary

374

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

and we had a great mixture of people. Some had come
with Zebir (or Zuiber) Pasha before the time of the
Dervishes in 1880. Tribes on both sides of the boun-
dary were restless and occasionally shifted their quarters
from one side to the other of the frontier.

The most powerful tribes were perhaps the Kresh
and the Banda, with the Ajah and the Four, the latter
lately over from French territory.

When Zebir Pasha travelled over this country Sultan
Yango, of the Banda, was on the Bibi river. Probably
frightened by the arrival of the terrible slave-dealer,
Sultan Yango and his people went over to the French
Congo ; Zebir Pasha also travelled down to the Mbomu
river in the French Congo as far as the Great Sultanate
of Bongasso.

Sultan Yango, of the Banda tribe, only returned to
the British side from the French Congo in 1903. Mousa-
Kemdego, another sultan near Dem Zebir, was a Kresh,
who also came over from the French Congo about the
year 1900.

There were other important sultans, like Nasr Andel,
the sultan of Kossinga, a man of Negogely, south of
El Fasher. The sultan lived at Kossinga, a large village
of straw tukles and zeribas with some three hundred
inhabitants, situated north of the Khor Juyu, where
the villagers got their water at the foot of a three-peaked
granitic hill. The sultan was wide awake and had good
trading instincts. The negro portion of the population
was formed of Mandalla, but the majority were a half
Arab (Baggara and Jaahn) and half Mandalla breed. In
this village were a number of Syrian and Arab traders
from Omdurman, who exchanged cloth, cotton goods, salt,
beads and wire for ivory. It was a fair market for dhura,

TRIBES 375

sem-sem, bamia, beans (monkey nuts), etc. Nasr Andel
tells of his descent from sultans in the Darfur country.
He himself became a sultan when he came to Kossinga,
having succeeded his uncle. He says that his grand-
father (who was the first to come from Darfur) took
possession of the country around Kossinga, assuming
the title of sultan. Nasr Andel had under him fourteen
sheikhs. This man was an inveterate drinker and levied
heavy duties on the traders. There was a good market
at Kossinga for donkeys, sheep and oxen. A good
donkey fetched about £2 sterling, a sheep from two to
four shillings, and a bull about forty shillings. Nasr
Andel had for a son a fellow who rejoiced in the name
of Nogolgoleh.

Many tribes were under the sultan, such as the
Mangayat, the Foroghehi, the Tuguyu, the Kresh, the
Shaat and the Mandalla, the only occupation of most
of these tribesmen being chasmg elephants in order to
obtain the ivory. A few possessed matchlocks, but most
went in a body with their spears with which they riddled
elephants with wounds.

Sultan Nasr Andel warmly welcomed the arrival of the
British in the Bahr-el-Ghazal a couple of years ago. He
also sent messages to the Sirdar of Khartoum before
the Bahr-el-Ghazal was opened, assuring the Govern-
ment of his friendship towards the British.

A similar message was sent, I believe, by the neigh-
bouring sultan of Ragga, Mousa-Hamed, who had under
him the following tribes : The Forogheh, a portion of
the Mangayat tribe, a section of the Kresh population,
the Shayu, the Mandalla, the Dongo, the Bornu and the
Borgu, the latter being a tribe from Wadai. His district
was fairly rich in rubber, but owing to the distance and

376

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

difficulty of carriage little came towards Khartoum.
Perhaps most of the produce found its way into the
French Congo, where the natives sold it to advantage to
honest and generous French commercial companies
rather than to local Syrian and Armenian traders.

Mousa-Hamed's people are said to have come origi-
nally from Mecca, from which sacred spot they proceeded
to Yedda, then to Khartoum, which they subsequently
left to proceed to Kordofan ; eventually they moved
over to Darfur and then at last came to settle at Ragga.
There was a feud between Nasr Andel and Mousa-Hamed
when the latter' s father was made a muduru by the
Government. When the muduru died some twelve or
thirteen years ago, there was trouble between the two
sultans, as Nasr Andel, who had acknowledged the
authority of the muduru, refused to acknowledge that of
his son who had succeeded him and who was then about
eighteen years of age. Things went so far that he
gathered his men and declared himself sultan, challeng-
ing Mousa-Hamed, who had not the courage to take up
arms against him.

That secluded person, the sultan of Wadai, is a Borgu
by birth, while our friend Sultan Mousa-Hamed is
a Forogheh.

On the Bahr, or Boro river, is found Sultan Said-
Bandas, of the Kresh-Nakka, a tribe quite apart from
the Kresh proper and somewhat intermixed with the
A-sandeh or Niam-Niam. He, with his people, came
to settle in this region at the end of 1902. These Kresh-
Nakka were mostly brought over owing to the efforts
of mamur AH Effendi Wahbi, as they said the Banda
tribe frequently raided their country, stealing their
women, dhura, etc. When they came over they pre-

SULTANS

377

sented the mamur with white beads as an emblem of
the purity of their hearts. In time of peace they wore
sometimes white cloth ornaments or white beads, but
in time of war red beads were always displayed. Said-
Bandas was extremely loyal. He at one time suffered
severe reverses in fighting against the Dervishes and
had to escape to the Banda country. His village,
humble and tumble-down, was about three or four miles
from Sultan Mahommed-Merikki's headquarters.

Sultan Mahommed-Merikki, of the Kresh-Aja, and
also of the Banda-Uassa, came over from the French
Congo in 1902. Mahommed-Merikki's father came from
the banks of the Umbili river. When his father died,
having learnt that Zebir Pasha had formed a post at
Mudirieh, now called Dem Zebir, he came there. Under
Zebir, he became a chieftain and followed him as far
as Shakka. Then Zebir sent him to a place called
Lawa where the Sinussi fought him. When Zebir dis-
charged him he presented him with a hundred guns,
which he afterwards gave to Suliman. His people
came mostly from Lawa, a river about ten days' journey
beyond Aja. When Zebir was ordered back to Egypt,
Merikki became a sultan in his country.

At Kafi-Kanghi, a post north-west of Dem Zebir
and probably the most westerly point of the Bahr-el-
Ghazal province, where a native ofhcer and twenty-five
police were at one time stationed, was Sultan Ibrahim-
Morad, a Kresh by birth. He has under him three
sheikhs. His father was originally from Darfur and
came to settle at Hofrat-el-Nahas. Ibrahim-Morad
was by nature more or less of a robber, and managed
to squeeze what he could out of the people passing
through his country. He professed to be unable to

378

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

prevent the trade in rifles and ivory in his country
and appHed for protection from the post at Kafi-
Kanghi.

Ibrahim-Morad's people were members of the Kresh,
Dongo, Endogo and Banda-Uassa tribes.

The Kresh tribe was the most numerous of all, and
the sultan of Ragga perhaps the most important sul-
tan in the Western Bahr-el-Ghazal. He had some six
thousand men, all warriors in a sort of way. It was
hard to understand why the Bahr-el-Ghazal Government
found so much difficulty in obtaining carriers when such
a rich source of labour could be tapped with no diffi-
culty. Transport at least would become possible in that
country. This is only one out of many sources which
could be exploited in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, as the Banda
also could, I think, produce a practically inexhaustible
supply of men, not to count what might be obtained
from minor tribes.

Types of the different tribesmen are given in illus-
trations in this work. Some, it will be noticed, are
powerfully-built individuals, who may some day be useful
not only as carriers but as fighting material. They
show great fondness for soldiering, and although not
particularly brave, could be trained well enough to be fair
soldiers for local needs.

It was interesting to see, not only what numbers of
people these sultans possessed, but also to observe how
many rifles and guns had found their way into that
country. True enough, most of those guns were more
dangerous to the people who carried them than to those
who are likely to be aimed at, but many excellent rifles
have of late, I believe, been smuggled among the better
people, who are paying enormous quantities of ivory

I.— Aja.

2.— Aja.

Aja. Aja. Aja.

Banda. Banda.
3. — Kresh and Yango.

ABLE-BODIED MEN AND RIFLES

379

to obtain good weapons. Surprises may be forthcoming
in those regions some day.

I have before me figures which I think are accurate
enough, and which show the number of able-bodied men
under the different sultans, and the number of guns
possessed by each sultan :—

Sultan Nasr Andel possesses 380 able-bodied men,
with 200 good Remington and Lebel rifles.

Sultan Mousa-Hamed, 560 able-bodied men, 18
sheikhs and 200 guns,

Said-Bandas, 180 relations, 6 sheikhs, and 145
guns.

Sultan Mahommed-Merikki, 200 relations, 3 sheikhs,
and 120 guns.

Sultan Yango, whose people are most excellent
workers and easily manageable, possesses only 96 re-
lations, about 100 able-bodied men, and 25 rifles.

Sultan Mousa-Kemdego, of the Kresh tribe, has 6
sheikhs, 120 able-bodied men, 15 guns, and only 56
relations.

There was another sultan. Sultan Ibrahim Dardug,
of the Dongawi tribe, but he was extremely trouble-
some and had to be confined for life in the prison of
El Nahud.

From Dem Zebir alone as a centre, at least six to
seven hundred carriers could be supplied, and the
people, I think, would be quite willing, even glad, to
do the work. In fact, they look upon the British Govern-
ment as weak for not making them work. Ragga
alone could easily supply 400 men, and Yango from 100
to 150 men.

We do not find among these people the same marriage
customs of purchasing a wife by handing over cattle,

38o

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

for the simple reason that these people possess few
animals. When marrying a girl, a man must supply
the girl's father with another woman in exchange. If the
bridegroom has no way of fulfilling his part of the agree-
ment, the father of the girl takes her husband to five
with him and makes him work like a servant. If this
arrangement does not answer — and generally some diffi-
culty is experienced in making it run smooth — the
bride's father may permit the wedding but will become
the legal proprietor of the first-born child.

Since the British Government came in 1903, these
picturesque arrangements have to a certain extent
been put a stop to, and more civilized, as well as
vulgarized, weddings have been enforced. The bride-
groom must pay for his wife so many rolls of calico.
Fancy, the mere idea of exchanging a wife for calico !

The Banda had similar wedding customs, but all
other tribes to the north generally paid cloth and
beads in order to obtain a life partner.

The manners and customs of all these tribes differ
little from others we have already met.

Art and music are unknown to them.

Of religion they know but Httle. The Kresh believe
in three deities : One who kills men, another who tries
to make everybody ill, and one " good god " who
endeavours to heal those who suffer. In the centre of
every village a big tree is generally to be observed, and
they believe that the " good god " hovers unseen under
its shade. I asked a Kresh whether it was the same
" good god " who lived under trees of all villages or
whether each village had a separate god, but they seemed
puzzled, almost perplexed, at the question. They had
never thought of it before, and I could not get a definite

MARRIAGES AND BURIALS

381

answer. Most, however, were partial to the monopoly
of a " good god " for each village.

When anybody committed a fault or else felt in bad
health it was usual to take offerings of merissa (liquor),
beans and different foods, and put them either in a
hollow in the tree or else at the foot as offerings for the
"good god." Soon after, however, the givers returned
and drank and ate everything themselves.

With the exception of a few superstitions the tribes
offered few features of general interest. Their funeral
ceremonies were extraordinarily simple ; a few ulula-
tions and moans, and the dead man was buried with his
head towards the east or the west, according to the tribe
to which he belonged. With nearly all these tribes, the
dead man's house must remain empty until it collapses.
Other tribes clear the ground round the grave and repair
the hut of the deceased in order to preserve it ; this
especially in the case of a chief.

In their marital relations the Kresh adopt certain
rules which are interesting. During the time the wife is
in an interesting condition no sexual intercourse is per-
mitted, the husband and wife generally living apart.
Girls in the Kresh country can marry at the age of ten
or twelve. They are then fully formed and developed
quite as much as women in England and America at
the age of eighteen or twenty. Although this physical
development takes place at an early age few women
can bear children until they are about fifteen. The
treatment of the umbilical cord at birth of a child is
done by a special woman, a sort of midwife, who also
attends women during labour.

In case of unfaithfulness, the man who has committed
adultery must hand over a slave to the offended husband,

382

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

or else forty malud, or forty tukkya, pieces of locally
woven cloth. A significant notion exists among Kresh
that if this payment is not forthcoming to the betrayed
husband, the co-respondent will become impotent and
also will have ill-luck in anything he may undertake in
the future, such as elephant-hunting or agricultural
pursuits. Were this not sufficient punishment, his hut
will be destroyed by fire or blown down by the wind.
Yes, indeed, the revenge of the Kresh gods will come
down in all its force upon unrepentant adulterers !

Ali Effendi Wahbi told me a curious tale of an ele-
phant hunter called Barni who had been absent during
four months. His wife had been unfaithful during his
absence. The offender was fined forty pieces of tukkya,
which he at once paid. On leaving Dem Zebir, Barni
shot elephant successfully, killing five elephants in
one week, this success being put down altogether to the
forty pieces of cloth received in compensation for his
wife's unvirtuous life.

Virgins in the Kresh country are valued in marriage
contracts at the equivalent of £2 sterling ; whereas
ladies somewhat more mature do not fetch more than
ten shillings or so, perhaps ten-and-sixpence. Heiresses
are known to have cost a bridegroom as much as eighty
shillings and the daughter of a sultan from five hundred
to one thousand tukkya, one tukkya being worth from
three to five piastres, according to locality.

In connection with love affairs, one finds sometimes
symbolical figures of rudimentary representations of
sexual organs carved on trees.

383

CHAPTER XXXV.

As photographs are reproduced in this book which I
took of the various types in the Western Bahr-el-Ghazal
province, it is hardly necessary for me to go into a long
description of facial characteristics. A few remarks, how-
ever, on the more notable points may not be out of place.

The Ferogheh possess a somewhat more developed
nose than other tribes, aquiline in shape, which they
must have acquired from intercourse with the Arabs ;
and comparatively small lips turned up at the side of
the mouth. The nostrils have a peculiar elongated
opening quite high upon the side of the nose. The lobes
of the ears are, as in most of these tribes, attached,
and the entire formation of the skull is considerably
elongated.

The Aja have short, broad-oval faces, with well-
marked muscular ridges somewhat depressed in the
frontal and occipital regions. Their lips are extremely
long and prominent. Three large cicatrices are cut upon
each cheek and three upon the temples. They are fond
of ornamenting their arms and chest with cicatrices of
the leaf pattern, and they also display this leaf pattern
radiating in four different directions from the umbilicus.
Two crosses, each of them between two vertical parallel
lines, show on the fore-arm. Sets of four parallel lines
at an angle ornament each breast, and two vertical

384

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

lines, of sets of three cicatrices each, are to be noticed
along the centre of the chest. The skull taken as a whole
does not show such elongation as we find among the
Ferogheh, and the brain-case, or calvaria, is fairly well
formed and balanced. They shave the head, but leave
sufficient hair on the top, which they then tie into two
or three small tresses.

The Banda, who, in many ways, have similar charac-
teristics to the Niam-Niam or A-sandeh, are short
people, with a great development of the breasts. Some
men had prominent breasts almost like women. They
possessed somewhat flabby arms and big paunches, and
great length of body in relation to the legs, which were
in comparison more muscularly formed. The great
prominence of their upper jaw gave their palate an elon-
gated parabolic form like the letter " u," very narrow at
the curve, whereas the Aja have an elliptical or horseshoe
shaped palate, much broader than that of the Banda
and not so long.

The Banda, like the Niam-Niam, have ill-formed
hands, with square-tipped fingers and hardly any lines
in the palm except the four principal ones. The thumb
is extremely short, the last phalanx mean and flattened.
In fact, the Banda are people of a degenerate order, with
no great brain capacity ; people who will eat anything
they find, no matter how repulsive and disgusting.

Their ornamentations take the ^ape of cicatrices,
which are made in a rudimentary manner ; so rudi-
mentary that it is difficult to define accurately what
they are meant to represent. In other tribes one finds
a certain geometrical regularity and precision of execu-
tion in these ornamentations, but not so at all among
the Banda. They have evidently attempted to copy

THE NOGOLGOLEH

385

some of these ornaments from the Aja and the Nogol-
goleh. They attempt to reproduce a quadrangle with
a cross of double lines inside ; also they make rudimen-
tary attempts at a five-pointed star and the leaf pattern.

More interesting as a type was the Nogolgolah, which
in the plural becomes Nogolgoleh. They had, strange
to say, several characteristics in common with the Mon-
golian type. One could trace this Mongolian likeness in
many of the tribes right across Africa, and curiously
enough these people had a skin, not of a coal black,
but rather of a chocolate colour, with some yellowish
tints in it. Their eyes were quite as slanting as those
of the pure Mongols, with the outer angles considerably
elevated, compressed and pointed, so as to give the eye
an almond-shaped appearance. The upper lid was ex-
tremely thick and overlapping, so that the lower por^'on
of the lid was entirely hidden when the eyes were open,
and, what are with us the whites being of a sullen bluish
colour, much bloodshot, the whole result was to give
these people a brutal expression. The skull was well
rounded, with the skin tightly stretched upon it, the
sutures being as a rule widely open, especially at the
temples. The face had a slant backward.

These people always wore the hair made up into
several tresses on the top of the head, of which tresses
they were extraordinarily proud. Their cicatrices were
more elaborate than those of other tribes, and were
burnt instead of being cut with a knife. A poison was
inserted in the wound in order to raise a swelhng. They
possessed many cicatrices on the arms, usually forming
squares enclosed in double lines and sometimes a few
on the chest. On the cheeks they had a great number
of small vertical cicatrices.

VOL. I. 25

386

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

The hands of these people were somewhat more deh-
cately formed than those of the Aja, for instance, and
on a very different level from those of the Banda.

The Kresh showed a great bizygomatic breadth, with
well-padded zygomatic arches. The tip of the nose
and the nostrils were broad and flattened, so elongated
that the latter were parallel to the angular planes of the
lips instead of being almost vertical, as with Europeans.
The head was elongated upwards, the back of the skull
flattened and forming almost a vertical line from the
top of the skull to the base of the neck.

Again we found here the habit of removing the four
incisor teeth. Occasionally the two central upper teeth
were filed each into a sharp point, giving a ghastly ex-
pression to the face. Four vertical and three horizontal
cuts on each cheek were usual among the Kresh, the
four vertical cuts being each of two parallel lines. Like
the Nogolgoleh, they wore small tresses upon the head.

The Kresh-Nakka were not unlike the other Kresh,
except that they shaved a great portion of the hair of
the head, and adorned themselves with only three large
cuts on each cheek and three cuts on each temple. On
the arms they had adopted a four-pointed star in double
lines.

I visited some of the Kresh villages. The chief, as
a rule, had built himself a square mud house, with no
furniture, if we except the few pots of a spherical shape
in which water was kept, and some slabs of stone or of
hardened cement for grinding grain, which we found in
a separate hut used as a kitchen. Holes in the ground,
coated with cement, were used as mortars. Grain was
stored in cylindrical baskets on piles, numerous in their
villages. In the chief's house I noticed a double bed.

THE YANGO

387

made of hard polished cement, with a depression in the
centre in which the people slept.

On coming from Wau to Dem Zebir I had noticed
that natives had placed round stones in the forks of
trees. This was done by native travellers as a prayer
to the sun, in order to obtain sufficient daylight so as
to arrive where water could be found before night came.
The carvings of rude figures upon trees, or the placing
of large straw figures along the trail, generally indicated
that a native traveller had been taken ill, and was
under the belief that death was approaching. His idea
in carving the figures was that passing friends who
might see them would remember him in the future.
When carved these figures were very rudimentary,
merely a straight line with two lines at an angle for
arms and two for legs. In love affairs, as I have said
elsewhere, these figures play an important part.

The Yango houses possess circular mud walls five feet
high. In the centre of the hut is a shelf six feet high,
upon which baskets full of grain are placed. Under-
neath is a raised circular slab of hardened mud, with
four holes into which the grain is poured from the
upper shelf and subsequently ground. More baskets
hang from the roof all round. Wooden beds are generally
made by these people, with the upper portion only
plastered over with hardened mud beaten down with
sticks while soft.

These people make nice-looking bowls with half a
gourd, and on them are to be noticed square ornamenta-
tions, black and white like a chess-board.

Women suckle newly-born children lying flat on their
backs.

The chief's house in a Yango village that I visited
VOL. I 25*

388

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

was raised on piles five feet high, and it had a conical
thatched roof. The sultan's wife seemed scared when
I suddenly appeared. She was nursing a fat child
smothered all over in red and blue beads, especially on
the right side of the head, upon the temples and back
of the head. She herself had a huge red bead stuck in
the left nostril. Her hair was plastered down in tiny
tresses soaked in oil, and ending in little bullets of dirt
and green vegetable oil.

The cicatrices in the Yango took the form of the wave
pattern around the neck, with three vertical cuts on the
temples and three horizontal slashes on each cheek.
Vertical cuts were noticeable under the knees, with five
or six lines of the wave pattern underneath.

At death the Kresh were buried under one of the
dhura store-houses, which they abandoned, with its con-
tents. The dead man's house was closed and nobody
was allowed to go into it. It was then eventually
destroyed. When a man died he was buried with his
head towards the west, while the Kresh women were laid
down with the head towards the east.

At various points west, of Wau and in the forest I
came across a number of stray Niam-Niam. Their
country lies to the south of the Bellanda and Bongo
countries. In fact, in some settlements of Niam-Niam,
we find mixed with them a few Bellanda.
( Although these people are called dwarfs, I did not
• find them so extraordinarily small. They were not tall
certainly, the tallest I saw being some five feet four
inches. Most adults, I should say, were about or over
five feet in height.

The skin of the Niam-Niam was of a deep chocolate
colour, and the hair of the usual negrito type pre-

THE x'\-SANDEH

389

senting a woolly, poodle-like appearance. Their bodies
were long in comparison with the limbs, particularly with
the legs, and they possessed big paunches and chests,
so developed that in many of the men the upper portion
of the anatomy appeared at first sight quite feminine.
We have already met other tribes with similar charac-
teristics. Although this development made them appear
stoutly built they possessed comparatively little strength,
in the arms particularly. The short legs, which were
thinner and more sinewy, showed slightly more power,
but physically these people were in no way to be com-
pared either with the tribes further north-east or with
many of the tribes to the west ; a number of tribes,
however, in their immediate neighbourhood in the forest,
the Kare, for instance, whom we shall meet later on,
closely resembled them in their physical and moral
weakness.

The almond-shaped eyes, set at a slant, like Mon-
golian eyes, were wide apart upon their broad skulls,
quite a fleur de tete, and almost bovine in character,
with extraordinarily heavy overlapping brows. The
eyeball was of a sallow yellowish tint, bloodshot ;
the iris deep brown, with velvety-black pupils, widely
dilated in the green light of the forest, the upper portion
of the iris much discoloured — in fact, in many cases
quite obliterated.

The nose of the A-sandeh was square and fiat, the
lips heavy and drooping, the cheeks well padded, and
the chin somewhat receding but fairly broad and well
rounded. They filed the front teeth into a point, and
this gave a fierce expression to their countenances.

The head, which seemed large and heavy in propor-
tion to the height of the individuals, was rounded and

390

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

wide, but coarsely formed and of a low type. To me it
appeared as if this primitive race had been subjected to
a long period of mental degeneration, whether through
disease of the blood or other causes. Their blood was
in a putrid condition, and to this rather than to the
stings of the semi-mythical tze-tze might be attributed,
I think, the prevalence of the sleeping sickness, from
which they seem to be the chief sufferers.

I saw many cases of the sleeping sickness in that
region and further west, and, as far as I could judge,
it was nothing more and nothing less than a complaint
of the spinal vertebrae, producing severe effects mainly
upon the cerebellum and, owing to the exhausted con-
dition of the patients' blood, causing the intense drowsi-
ness and exhaustion from which the sufferers generally
never woke up. I think that the stings of the tze-tze,
or whatever fly is put down as being the tze-tze, have
little to do with sleeping sickness. In my journey across
Africa I have received at least twenty descriptions of
what the tze-tze is like, and I think that every kind of
horse-fly, elephant-fly, etc., has, either by traders or
visitors, been set down as a tze-tze at one time or another.
The death of one's animals, which is always attributed
to the tze-tze, is in most cases caused by deadly germs
eaten in grazing or imbibed in the water of streams, or
by poisonous plants in the grass. An innocent fly may
then settle on the animal, and the animal's death is
attributed by scientists to the fly. That is one way of
reasoning, but the more I see of flies and mosquitoes —
and few people have known more mosquitoes and flies of
all kinds than I have — the less that theory seems correct
to me.

I lost many animals by sudden death in my journey

THE SLEEPING SICKNESS

391

across Africa, but I could not trace stings of flies of any
unusual character about them. Men and beasts re-
ceived dozens of stings daily from the troublesome huge
horse and elephant flies. I always noticed that when-
ever my animals were taken ill their stomachs quickly
swelled to an immense size, which proved, at any rate
to me, that the evil was inside and not outside. Vomit
and copious salivation of a slimy yellowish colour
generally preceded death, and so did convulsive con-
tractions of the limbs, lips and ears.

Several of my donkeys died in this fashion in our
march across the forest to the Mbomu, two of them at
a point of the journey where we met no elephant or
horse flies, and certainly no supposititious tze-tze. The
donkeys seemed in excellent health and spirits. They
were let loose to graze. They brayed violently, lay
down, and the body swelled quickly to one-third more
than its usual circumference. In a couple of hours they
were dead. Another I lost which seemed attacked by
violent pain after drinking water from a streamlet filled
with vegetation.

But leaving for a while the " tze-tze " and sleeping
sickness alone, let us return to the Niam-Niam. By the
way, as I am bent on finding fault, let me tell you that
this is another mistake, for they call themselves A-sandeh
and not Niam-Niam, the latter being merely a disparag-
ing name applied to them by others in imitation of the
smacking of lips in their cannibalistic feasts. Sandeh
means " under," and some people believe it to mean
" under the forest," but I think it is more truly to be
interpreted as meaning "keeping under" or "in sub-
jection." In fact, we shall soon come in contact with
a ruling race called the Sandes or Zandes, further

392

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

west of this region, who perhaps are related to the
A-sandeh.

Although rounded, the skull of the A-sandeh was ill-
proportioned when seen in profile, being much elongated
and slanting, absolutely devoid of intelligence or mental
balance. Treachery and meanness and a craving to
possess were the predominant features of the specimens
I met, although on several occasions they astonished me
with their ruses in endeavouring to obtain what they
wanted. Maybe other people have found good qualities
in these people. I did not. They were invariably un-
scrupulous, contemptible rascals, whom one felt a great
desire to strangle every time one had dealings with them.
Liars they were to a most tantalizing extent, even when
it would pay them to be truthful ; thieves, traitors, filthy
in their food — they would eat any animal raw in the
most advanced state of putrefaction and enjoy it !
They would do the same with human beings when they
had a chance. Really, I could not be attracted by these
people. Dogs were relished as food by them, and they
kept a breed of small, short-haired, curly-ta^Ied, fat-
paunched animals of a yellowish colour, whicij, after
having been loved as pets, were generally eaten.

It is said that the A-sandeh are faithful to their wives,
and that they will make any sacrifice — even to the lo:>s
of their lives — in trying to recover them when seized in
raids by slave traders. That is surely a good quality,
but perhaps the intrinsic commercial value of his better
half is more to the A-sandeh than his personal devotion
or affection for her.

Their marriage and burial ceremonies resemble those
of the Bongo. Polygamy is practised.

The vanity of these ugly people is incredible. Entire

THROWING-KNIVES

393

I days are spent by the men in arranging the hair in plaits
I and tufts, over which they wear elaborate hats, but the
Iwomen's coiffures are somewhat simpler.
I Similar cicatrice ornamentations to those we have
found among the Kresh and the Banda, such as crosses
under the breasts, squares filled in with lines and the
'consecutive angular pattern or parallel lines at the
waist, are to be observed among the A-sandeh.

So many descriptions of these people have of
late been given that I need not repeat what has been
said.

Portions of their country further east can easily be
reached by the Nile steamers from Khartoum.

They use a great variety of knives which they pur-
chase from more skilful neighbouring tribes of black-
smiths. They are adepts at flinging thro wing-knives,
which we shall find of various shapes among most of
the tribes west along the river Ubanghi, and even upon
the Shari river, which flows into Lake Tchad, but I
never met any of these throwing blades upon Lake
Tchad itself. They are generally on the boomerang
principle, the blades, which are of a more or less orna-
mental character, being at an angle of forty-five degrees.
Additional minor blades project frequently near the
handle and where the point of the angle is formed by
the principal blade, as well as in the interior portion of
the angle. These weapons can be hurled with great
force and produce terrific gashes. Many of the tribes
carry two or three of these throwing-knives fastened to
the inside of their shields, and they show great skill in
hopping over the flying blades when flung at them,
or avoiding them to right or left, under the protection of
their shields made of hide or closely- woven fibre. The

394

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

blades of each tribe are of a different shape and easily
recognizable by experts.

Unlike their neighbours on the east, the A-sandeh
possess no cattle. They have a few chickens. They are
agriculturists to a certain extent. Good and evil omens
and the evil eye find a ready belief in the A-sandeh
country. Many detailed descriptions of these have
already been given, and also of their cannibaUstic feasts,
for which they are world-renowned. The collection of
skulls near the dwellings are sufficient proof of the desire
they have for human flesh. They eat, of course, mostly
their enemies, but dying friends unclaimed by their
relatives may provide a good meal at a pinch. A lonely
stranger dying of fever or wounds in their country
would, I think, even to this day, supply them ^\ith a
palatable dish, disease or putrefaction being no bar at
all to their craving for human delicacies.

Perhaps a few of the less-known characteristics of
their language may be of interest.

There are such curious and indisputably well-defined
peculiarities in their language as lead one to repeat that
these people must have degenerated from a higher
standard of mental ability. However, of course, these
peculiarities might be merely accidental. Whether acci-
dental or not, we find in the A-sandeh tongue examples
of deep philosophy which are not to be found in more
complete languages, such as Italian, French, German,
Spanish, Portuguese or English. For instance, in order
to explain that some inanimate object belongs to him,
such as a hut (j-kuorau), a spear (-basso) .... the
A-sandeh would use the pronoun corresponding to
" my " in English — " my hut, my spear," etc. ; but in
describing a part of himself or talking of people of his

THE LANGUAGE OF THE DWARFS 395

wn blood, he will never say, " My father, my mother,
ly eye, my leg, my hand," but will say, " I father, I
lother, I leg, I hand," etc., to denote that those people
f his own blood and flesh, as well as any part of his own
natomy, are more than mere possessions. They form
)art of himself. This is generally done by the suffixes
' sse" or "re" or "mi" after the noun. My father^
3a-mi ; my friend, Badia-re ; my eye, Bengli-sse.

We do not find the same accurate philosophy in
nany other A-sandeh expressions, although some
iescriptiveness is generally noticeable in many of their
vords, and is usually borrowed from meteorological
)henomena or from the botanical world. Beard, for
nstance, mainguengoua, is nothing less when translated
iterally than " rain from the chin."

The hand, ppe' be, is the "leaf of the arm" (ppe,
leaf; be, arm). A finger nail, sissi ouil insaga {sissi,
bark; ouil insaga, finger), means literally the "bark of
one's finger." The foot, ppe' ndoue, is the "leaf of the
leg." Perhaps the most remarkable of all is the word
ie'goude, meaning girl, but which translated Uterally
Tieans : de, woman ; goude, boy, or a " woman boy."

They are almost as immoderate as we are in speaking
Df their sensations, nothing short of death being suffi-
nent to describe love or drunkenness. Kpi na gnamou,
' to die of love." Kpi na boda, " to die of beer."

Astronomy is perhaps not the strongest point of the
\-sandeh. The stars, in their language, care courou,
ire the " enemies of the sun " (care, enemy).

Numerals are counted, as usual with almost all
\frican tribes, with the aid of the fingers up to five :
>sa, one ; ioue, two ; bia'ta, three ; biama, four ; bissoue,.
five ; six, bati ssa, being " give one from the other hand " ;

396

ACROSS WIDEST AFRICA

seven, hati ioue, " give two from the other hand," am
so on. The fingers of the hand being exhausted, the fee
come to the assistance. Therefore, eleven is ba't
sande'yo ssa, or " give one from the ground " (meaning
of course, the foot). Sixteen is cobain ssa, or " one fron
the other side " (the other foot). Beyond twenty, th(
fingers and toes of one's neighbours are required, forty-
one being " two men and one finger " ; sixty-two
three men and two fingers," etc.

END OF VOL. I.

Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey.

EQUATORIAL AFRICA

Showintf route followed byA.Hcnrv S AVA G E - LAN D O R

Extracted fro m map oP the Geognaph ioa.1 Society oP Parrs, f H. Barrere Pub

DATE DUE

CAYUORO

PRINTCO IN U.S.A.

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