The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile by Samuel White Baker (love story novels in english .txt) đź“•
I have written "HE!" How can I lead the more tender sex through dangersand fatigues, and passages of savage life? A veil shall be thrown overmany scenes of brutality that I was forced to witness, but which I willnot force upon the reader; neither will I intrude anything that is notactually necessary in the description of scenes that unfortunately mustbe passed through in the journey now before us. Should anything offendthe sensitive mind, and suggest the unfitness of the situation for awoman's presence, I must beseech my fair readers to reflect, that thepilgrim's wife f
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rock might have detached itself from a high mountain, and, in falling to
the valley, it might have bounded from a projection on the mountain’s
side, and thus have caused a double report.
June 13.–I shot ten ducks and geese before breakfast, including one of
the large black and white geese with the crimson head and neck. On my
return to camp I weighed this—exactly eleven pounds; this goose has on
either pinion-joint a sharp, horny spur, an inch in length. During my
morning stroll I met hundreds of natives running excitedly with shields
and spears towards Adda’s village: they were going to steal the cattle
from a village about four miles distant; thus there will be a fight in
the course of the day. The Latooka stream is now full, and has the
appearance of a permanent river carrying a considerable body of water to
the Sobat.
I met with two thieves while duck-shooting this morning—the one an
eagle, and the other a native. The beautiful white-throated fish-eagle
may generally be seen perched upon a bough overhanging the stream, ready
for any prey that may offer. This morning I shot two ducks right and
left as they flew down the course of the river–one fell dead in the
water, but the other, badly hit, fluttered along the surface for some
distance, and was immediately chased and seized by a fish-eagle which,
quite reckless of the gun, had been watching the sport from a high tree,
and evinced a desire to share the results. My men, not to be done out of
their breakfast, gave chase, shouting and yelling to frighten the eagle,
and one of them having a gun loaded with buckshot, fired, and the
whirr-r of the charge induced the eagle to drop the duck, which was
triumphantly seized by the man.
The other thief was a native. I fired a long shot at a drake; the bird
flew a considerable distance and towered, falling about a quarter of a
mile distant. A Latooka was hoeing close to where it fell, and we
distinctly saw him pick up the bird and run to a bush, in which he hid
it: upon our arrival he continued his work as though nothing had
happened, and denied all knowledge of it: he was accordingly led by the
ear to the bush, where we found the duck carefully secreted.
June 14.–The natives lost one man killed in the fight yesterday,
therefore the night was passed in singing and dancing.
The country is drying up; although the stream is full there is no rain
in Latooka, the water in the river being the eastern drainage of the
Obbo mountains, where it rains daily.
Ibrahimawa, the Bornu man, alias “Sinbad the Sailor,” the great
traveller, amuses and bores me daily with his long and wonderful stories
of his travels. The style of his narratives may be conjectured from the
following extracts: “There was a country adjoining Bornu, where the king
was so fat and heavy that he could not walk, until the doctors OPENED
HIS BELLY AND CUT THE FAT OUT, which operation was repeated annually.”
He described another country as a perfect Paradise, where no one ever
drank anything so inferior as water. This country was so wealthy that
the poorest man could drink merissa (beer). He illustrated the general
intoxication by saying, that “after 3 P.M. no one was sober, throughout
the country, and from that hour the cows, goats, and fowls WERE ALL
DRUNK, as they drank the merissa left in the jars by their owners, who
were all asleep.”
He knew all about England, having been a servant, on a Turkish frigate
that was sent to Gravesend. He described an evening entertainment most
vividly. He had been to a ball at an “English Pasha’s in Blackwall,” and
had succeeded wonderfully with some charming English ladies excessively
“decollete,” upon whom he felt sure he had left a lasting impression, as
several had fallen in love with him on the spot, supposing him to be a
Pasha.
Such were instances of life and recollections of Ibrahimawa, the Bornu.
On June 16, Koorshid’s people returned from Obbo. Ibrahim and a few men
had remained there, and distrusting the warlike spirit of the Latookas,
he now recalled the entire establishment from Tarrangolle, intending to
make a station at the more peaceful country of Obbo. An extract from my
journal on that day explains my feelings: “This is most annoying; I had
arranged my camp and garden, &c. for the wet season, and I must now
leave everything, as it is impossible to remain in this country with my
small force alone; the natives have become so bad (since the cattle
razzia) that a considerable armed party is obliged to go to the stream
for water. It is remarkably pleasant travelling in the vicinity of the
traders;—they convert every country into a wasp’s nest;—they have
neither plan of action nor determination, and I, being unfortunately
dependent upon their movements, am more like a donkey than an explorer,
that is saddled and ridden away at a moment’s notice. About sixty
natives of Obbo accompanied the men sent by Ibrahim to carry the
effects;—I require at least fifty, as so many of my transport animals
are dead.” Nothing can exceed the laziness and dogged indolence of my
men; I have only four who are worth having,–Richarn, Hamed, Sali, and
Taher.
All the men in either camp were discontented at the order to move, as
they had made themselves comfortable, expecting to remain in Latooka
during the wet season. The two chiefs, Moy and Commoro, found themselves
in a dilemma, as they had allied themselves with the Turks in the attack
upon the neighbouring town, depending upon them for future support; they
were now left in the lurch, and felt themselves hardly a match for their
enemies. A few extracts from my journal will close our sojourn at
Latooka:
“June 18th.—The white ants are a curse upon the country; although the
hut is swept daily and their galleries destroyed, they rebuild
everything during the night, scaling the supports to the roof and
entering the thatch. Articles of leather or wood are the first devoured.
The rapidity with which they repair their galleries is wonderful; all
their work is carried on with cement; the earth is contained in their
stomachs, and this being mixed with some glutinous matter they deposit
it as bees do their wax. Although the earth of this country if tempered
for house-building will crumble in the rain, the hills of the white ants
remain solid and waterproof, owing to the glue in the cement. I have
seen three varieties of white ants—the largest about the size of a
small wasp: this does not attack dwellings, but subsists upon fallen
trees. The second variety is not so large; this species seldom enters
buildings. The third is the greatest pest: this is the smallest, but
thick and juicy;—the earth is literally alive with them, nor is there
one square foot of ground free from them in Latooka.
“June 19th.—Had a bad attack of fever yesterday that has been hanging
about me for some days. Weighed all the luggage and packed the stores in
loads of fifty pounds each for the natives to carry.
“June 20th.—Busy making new ropes from the bark of a mimosa; all hands
at work, as we start the day after tomorrow. My loss in animals makes a
difference of twenty-three porters’ loads. I shall take forty natives as
the bad roads will necessitate light loads for the donkeys. I have now
only fourteen donkeys; these are in good condition, and would thrive,
were not the birds so destructive by pecking sores upon their backs.
These sores would heal quickly by the application of gunpowder, but the
birds irritate and enlarge them until the animal, is rendered useless. I
have lost two donkeys simply from the attacks of these birds;—the only
remaining camel and some of the donkeys I have covered with jackets made
of tent-cloth.
“June 21st.—Nil.
“June 22d.—We were awoke last night by a report from the sentry that
natives were prowling around the camp;—I accordingly posted three
additional guards. At a little after 2 A.m. a shot was fired, followed
by two others in quick succession, and a sound as of many feet running
quickly was heard passing the entrance of the camp. I was up in a
moment, and my men were quickly under arms: the Turks’ drum beat, and
their camp (that was contiguous to mine) was alive with men, but all was
darkness. I lighted my policeman’s lantern, that was always kept ready
trimmed, and I soon arrived at the spot where the shot had been fired.
The natives had been endeavouring to steal the cattle from the Turks’
kraal, and favoured by the darkness they had commenced burrowing with
the intention of removing the thorn bushes that formed the fence.
Unfortunately for the thieves, they were unaware that there were
watchers in the kraal among the cattle: it was a pitch dark night, and
nothing could be distinguished; but the attention of one of the sentries
was attracted by the snorting and stamping of the goats, that evidently
denoted the presence of something uncommon. He then perceived close to
him, on the other side the hedge, a dark object crouching, and others
standing, and he heard the bushes moving as though some one was at work
to remove them. He immediately fired; and the sound of a rush of men in
retreat induced both him and the other sentry to repeat the shot. By the
light of the lantern we now searched the place, and discovered the body
of a native lying close to the fence just above a considerable hole that
he had scraped beneath the thorns, in order to extract the stems that
were buried in the ground, and thus by drawing away the bushes he would
have effected an entrance. He had commenced operations exactly opposite
the sentry, and the musket being loaded with mould-shot, he had received
the contents at close quarters. Although he had tempted fate and met
with deserved misfortune, it was most disgusting to witness the
brutality of the Turks, who, tying ropes to the ankles, dragged the body
to the entrance of the camp, and wished for amusement to drive their
bayonets through the chest.
“Although dying, the man was not dead: a shot had entered one eye,
knocking it out; several had entered the face, chest, and thighs, as he
was in a stooping position when the gun was fired. I would not allow him
to be mutilated, and after groaning in agony for some time, he died. The
traders’ people immediately amputated the hands at the wrists, to detach
the copper bracelets, while others cut off his helmet of beads, and the
body was very considerately dragged close to the entrance of my camp.
“June 22nd.—Finding that the disgusting Turks had deposited the dead
body almost at my door, I had it removed a couple of hundred yards to
leeward. The various birds of prey immediately collected—buzzards,
vultures, crows, and the great Marabou stork. I observed a great
bare-necked vulture almost succeed in turning the body over by pulling
at the flesh of the arm at the opposite side to that where it stood. I
have noticed that birds of prey invariably commence their attack upon
the eyes, inner portions of the thighs, and beneath the arms, before
they devour the coarser portions. In a few hours a well-picked skeleton
was all that was left of the Latooka.”
We were to start on the following day. My wife was dangerously ill with
bilious fever, and was unable to stand, and I endeavoured to persuade
the traders’ party to postpone their departure for a
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