The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, And Explorations of the Nile Sources

Both my wife and I were excessively ill with bilious fever, and neither could assist the other. The old chief, Katchiba, hearing that we were dying, came to charm us with some magic spell. He found us lying helpless, and he immediately procured a small branch of a tree, and filling his mouth with water, he squirted it over the leaves and about the floor of the hut; he then waved the branch around my wife's head, also around mine, and completed the ceremony by sticking it in the thatch above the doorway; he told us we should now get better, and perfectly: satisfied, he took his leave. The hut was swarming with rats and white ants, the former racing over our bodies during the night, and burrowing through the floor, filling our only room with mounds like molehills. As fast as we stopped the holes, others were made with determined perseverance. Having a supply of arsenic, I gave them an entertainment, the effect being disagreeable to all parties, as the rats died in their holes, and created a horrible effluvium, while fresh hosts took the place of the departed. Now and then a snake would be seen gliding within the thatch, having taken shelter from the pouring rain. The smallpox was raging throughout the country, and the natives were dying like flies in winter. The country was extremely unhealthy, owing to the constant rain and the rank herbage, which prevented a free circulation of air, and from the extreme damp induced fevers. The temperature was 65 degrees Fahr. at night, and 72 degrees during the day; dense clouds obscured the sun for many days, and the air was reeking with moisture. In the evening it was always necessary to keep a blazing fire within the hut, as the floor and walls were wet and chilly.

The wet herbage disagreed with my baggage animals.

Innumerable flies appeared, including the Tsetse, and in a few weeks the donkeys had no hair left, either on their ears or legs; they drooped and died one by one. It was in vain that I erected sheds, and lighted fires; nothing would protect them from the flies. The moment the fires were lit, the animals would rush wildly into the smoke, from which nothing would drive them, and in the clouds of imaginary protection they would remain all day, refusing food. On the 16th of July my last horse, Mouse, died; he had a very long tail, for which I obtained A COW IN EXCHANGE. Nothing was prized so highly as horse's tails, the hairs being used for stringing beads, and also for making tufts as ornaments, to be suspended from the elbows. It was highly fashionable in Obbo for the men to wear such tufts, formed of the bushy ends of cow's-tails. It was also "the thing" to wear six or eight polished rings of iron, fastened so tightly round the throat as to almost choke the wearer, somewhat resembling dog-collars.

On 18th July, the natives held a great consultation, and ended with a war-dance; they were all painted in various patterns, with red ochre and white pipe-clay; their heads adorned with very tasteful ornaments of cowrie-shells, surmounted by plumes of ostrich-feathers, which drooped over the back of the neck. After the dance, the old chief addressed them in a long and vehement speech; he was followed by several other speakers, all of whom were remarkably fluent, and the resolution of the meeting was declared "that the nogaras were to be beaten, and men collected to accompany the Turks on a razzia in the Madi country."

Ibrahim started with 120 armed men and a mass of Obbo people on the marauding expedition.

On the following day Katchiba came to see us, bringing a present of flour. I gave him a tin plate, a wooden spoon, the last of the tea-cups, and a tinsel paper of mother-of-pearl shirt buttons, which took his fancy so immensely, that my wife was begged to suspend it from his neck like a medal. He was really a very good old fellow—by far the best I have seen in Africa. He was very suspicious of the Turks, who, he said, would ultimately ruin him, as, by attacking the Madi tribe, they would become his enemies, and invade Obbo when the Turks should leave. Cattle were of very little use in his country, as the flies would kill them; he had tried all his magic art, but it was of no avail against the flies; my donkeys would all assuredly die. He said that the losses inflicted upon the various tribes by the Turks were ruinous, as their chief means of subsistence was destroyed; without cattle they could procure no wives; milk, their principle diet, was denied them, and they were driven to despair; thus they would fight for their cattle, although they would allow their families to be carried off without resistance; cattle would procure another family, but if the animals were stolen, there would be no remedy.

Flies by day, rats and innumerable bugs by night, heavy dew, daily rain, and impenetrable reeking grass rendered Obbo a prison about as disagreeable as could exist.

The many months of tiresome inaction that I was forced to remain in this position, I will not venture to inflict upon the reader, but I will content myself with extracts from my journal from time to time, that will exhibit the general character of the situation.

"Aug. 2d.—Several of my men have fever; the boy, Saat, upon receiving a dose of calomel, asked, `whether he was to swallow the paper in which it was wrapped?' This is not the first time that I have been asked the same question by my men. Saat feels the ennui of Obbo, and finds it difficult to amuse himself; he has accordingly become so far scientific, that he has investigated the machinery of two of my watches, both of which he has destroyed. I am now reduced to one watch, the solitary survivor of four that formed my original family of timekeepers. Having commenced as a drummer, Saat feels the loss of his drum that was smashed by the camel; he accordingly keeps his hand in by practising upon anything that he can adapt to that purpose, the sacred kettle inverted, and a tin cup, having been drummed until the one became leaky, and the bottom of the other disappeared.

"Saat and the black woman are, unfortunately, enemies, and the monotony of the establishment is sometimes broken by a stand-up fight between him and his vicious antagonist, Gaddum Her. The latter has received a practical proof that the boy is growing strong, as I found him the other day improving her style of beauty by sitting astride upon her stomach, and punching her eyes with his fists, as she lay upon the ground furrowing Saat's fat cheeks with her very dirty nails. It is only fair to the boy to say that Gaddum Her is always the aggressor.

"It is absurd to see the self-importance of the miserable cut-throats belonging to Koorshid's party, who, far too great to act as common soldiers, swagger about with little slave-boys in attendance, who carry their muskets. I often compare the hard lot of our honest poor in England with that of these scoundrels, whose courage consists in plundering and murdering defenceless natives, while the robbers fatten on the spoil. I am most anxious to see whether the English Government will take active notice of the White Nile trade, or whether diplomacy will confine them to simple protest and correspondence, to be silenced by a promise from the Egyptian Government to put a stop to the present atrocities. The Egyptian Government will of course promise, and, as usual with Turks, will never perform. On the other hand, the savages are themselves bad; one tribe welcomes the Turks as allies against their neighbours, and sees no crime in murder, provided the result be 'cattle.' This, of course, produces general confusion."

"AUG. 6TH.—The difficulties of procuring provisions are most serious: the only method of purchasing flour is as follows. The natives will not sell it for anything but flesh; to purchase an ox, I require molotes (hoes): to obtain molotes I must sell my clothes and shoes to the traders' men. The ox is then driven to a distant village, and is there slaughtered, and the flesh being divided into about a hundred small portions, my men sit upon the ground with three large baskets, into which are emptied minute baskets of flour as the natives produce them, one in exchange for each parcel of meat. This tedious process is a specimen of Central African difficulties in the simple act of purchasing flour. The Obbo natives are similar to the Bari in some of their habits. I have had great difficulty in breaking my cowkeeper of his disgusting custom of washing the milk bowl with cow's urine, and even mixing some with the milk; he declares that unless he washes his hands with such water before milking, the cow will lose her milk. This filthy custom is unaccountable. The Obbo natives wash out their mouths with their own urine. This habit may have originated in the total absence of salt in their country. The Latookas, on the contrary, are very clean, and milk could be purchased in their own vessels without fear."

"Aug. 8th—Having killed a fat ox, the men are busily engaged in boiling down the fat. Care should be taken to sprinkle a few drops of water in the pot when the fat is supposed to be sufficiently boiled; should it hiss, as though poured upon melted lead, it is ready; but if it be silent, the fat is not sufficiently boiled, and it will not keep.

"Three runaway female slaves were captured by Koorshid's people this morning, two of whom were brutally treated. On the whole the female slaves are well kept when very young, but well thrashed when the black bloom of youth has passed."

"Aug. 11th.—At this season immense beetles are at work in vast numbers, walking off with every species of dung, by forming it into balls as large as small apples, and rolling them away with their hind legs, while they walk backwards by means of the forelegs. Should a ball of dung roll into a deep rut, I have frequently seen another beetle come to the assistance of the proprietor of the ball, and quarrel for its possession after their joint labours have raised it to the level.

"This species was the holy scarabaeus of the ancient Egyptians; it appears shortly after the commencement of the wet season, its labours continuing until the cessation of the rains, at which time it disappears. Was it not worshipped by the ancients as the harbinger of the high Nile? The existence of Lower Egypt depending upon the annual inundation, the rise of the river was observed with general anxiety. The beetle appears at the commencement of the rise in the river level, and from its great size and extraordinary activity in clearing the earth from all kinds of ordure, its presence is remarkable. Appearing at the season of the flood, may not the ancients have imagined some connexion between the beetle and the river, and have considered it sacred as the HARBINGER of the inundation?

"There is a wild bean in this country, the blossom of which has a delicious perfume of violets. I regret that I have not a supply of paper for botanical specimens, as many beautiful flowers appeared at the commencement of the rains. Few thorns and no gums form a strong contrast to the Soudan, where nearly every tree and shrub is armed."

"AUG. 13TH.—I had a long examination of a slave woman, Bacheeta, belonging to one of Koorshid's men. She had been sent two years ago by the king, Kamrasi, from Unyoro, as a spy among the traders, with orders to attract them to the country if appearances were favourable, but to return with a report should they be dangerous people.

"On her arrival at Faloro, Debono's people captured her, and she was eventually sold to her present owner. She speaks Arabic, having learnt it from the traders' people. She declares that Magungo, the place of which I have heard so much, is only four days' hard marching for a native, direct from Faloro, but eight days' for the Turks; and that it is equi-distant from Faloro and from Kamrasi's capital in Unyoro. She had heard of the Luta N'zige, as reported to Speke, but she knew it only by the name of 'Kara-wootan-N'zige.'

"She corroborated the accounts I had formerly received, of large boats arriving with Arabs at Magungo, and she described the lake as a 'white sheet as far as the eye could reach.' She particularized it as a peculiar water, that was unlike other waters, as it would 'come up to a water-jar, if put upon the shore, and carry it away and break it.' By this description I understood 'waves.' She also described the 'Gondokoro river,' or White Nile, as flowing into and out of the lake, and she spoke of a 'great roar of water that fell from the sky.'

"I trust I may succeed in reaching this lake: if not, my entire time, labour, and expenditure will have been wasted, as I throw sport entirely aside for the sake of this exploration. Were I to think of shooting in preference to exploring, I could have excellent sport on the Atabbi river during the dry season, as also on the Kanieti, in the vicinity of Wakkala; but I must neglect all but the great object, and push on to Kamrasi's capital, and from thence to the lake. My great anxiety lies in the conduct of Koorshid's party; should they make razzias south, I shall be ruined, as my men will be afraid to advance through a disturbed country. I MUST keep on good terms with the chief of the party, as I depend upon him for an interpreter and porters.

"My plan is to prevail on Ibrahim to commence an ivory trade in Kamrasi's country that might be legitimately conducted, instead of the present atrocious system of robbery and murder. I like Koorshid, as he is a bold-spoken robber instead of acting the hypocrite like the other traders of Khartoum; thus, as he was the only man that was civil to me, I would do him a good turn could I establish an honest trade between Kamrasi and himself; at the same time, I should have the advantage of his party as escort to the desired country. The case commercially lies as follows:—

"Kamrasi's country, Unyoro, is a virgin land, where beads are hardly known, and where the king is the despotic ruler, whose word is law. All trade would be conducted through him alone, in the shape of presents, he giving elephants' tusks, while, in return, Koorshid would send him beads and various articles annually. Koorshid would thus be the sole trader with Kamrasi according to White Nile rules, and the abominable system of cattle robbery would be avoided.

"The great difficulty attending trade in a distant country is the want of means of transport, one tribe, being generally hostile to the adjoining, fears to afford porters beyond the frontier. If I can prove that the Lake Luta N'zige is one source of the Nile with a navigable junction, I can at once do away with the great difficulty, and open up a direct trade for Koorshid. The Lake is in Kamrasi's own dominions: thus he will have no fear in supplying porters to deliver the ivory at a depot that might be established, either on the lake or at its junction with the Nile. A vessel should be built upon the lake, to trade with the surrounding coasts, and to receive the ivory from the depot. This vessel would then descend from the lake to the While Nile, to the head of the cataracts, where a camp should be formed, from which, in a few days' march, the ivory would reach Gondokoro.

"A large trade might thus be established, as not only Unyoro would supply ivory, but the lake would open the navigation to the very heart of Africa. The advantage of dealing with Kamrasi direct would be great, as he is not a mere savage, demanding beads and bracelets; but he would receive printed cottons, and goods of various kinds, by which means the ivory would be obtained at a merely nominal rate. The depot on the Luta N'zige should be a general store, at which the vessel ascending from the station above the cataracts would deliver the various goods from Gondokoro, and from this store the goods would be disseminated throughout the countries bordering the lake by means of vessels.

"The only drawback to this honest trade would be the general hatred of anything honest by the Khartoumers; the charms of cattle razzias and slave-hunting, with the attendant murders, attract these villanous cut-throats to the White Nile expeditions, and I fear it would be difficult to raise the number of armed men required for safety, were legitimate trade the sole object of the ivory hunter.

"Even in Obbo, I believe that printed calicoes, red woollen shirts, blankets, &c. would purchase ivory. The elevation of this country being upwards of 3,600 feet, the nights are cold, and even the day is cold during the wet season; thus clothing is required; this we see in the first rudiments of covering, the skins of beasts used by the natives; the Obbo people being the first tribe that adopts a particle of clothing from the Shillook country (lat. 10 degrees) throughout the entire course of the White Nile to this latitude (4 degrees 02 minutes). Kamrasi's tribe are well covered, and farther south, towards Zanzibar, all tribes are clothed more or less; thus Obbo is the clothing frontier, where the climate has first prompted the savage to cover himself, while in the hot lowlands he remains in a state of nakedness. Where clothing is required, English manufacturers would find a market in exchange for ivory; thus from this point a fair trade might be commenced.

"From Farajoke, in the Sooli country, lat. 3 degrees 33 minutes, up to this date the most southern limit of my explorations, the lake is about nine or ten days' march in a direct course; but such a route is impossible, owing to Debono's establishment occupying the intervening country, and the rules of the traders forbid a trespass upon their assumed territory. Koorshid's men would refuse to advance by that route; my men, if alone, will be afraid to travel, and will find some excuse for not proceeding; from the very outset they have been an absolute burthen upon me, receiving a monthly allowance of two pounds of beads per head for doing literally nothing, after having ruined the independence of my expedition by their mutiny at Gondokoro."

"AUG. 23d.—My last camel died to-day; thus all my horses and camels are dead, and only eight donkeys remain out of twenty-one; most of these will die, if not all. There can be no doubt that the excessive wet in all the food, owing to the constant rain and dew, is the principal cause of disease. The camels, horses, and donkeys of the Soudan, all thrive in the hot dry air of that country, and are unsuited for this damp climate.

"Had I been without transport animals, my expedition could not have left Gondokoro, as there was no possibility of procuring porters. I had always expected that my animals would die, but I had hoped they would have carried me to the equator: this they would have accomplished during the two months of comparative dry weather following my arrival at Gondokoro, had not the mutiny thwarted all my plans, and thrown me into the wet season. My animals have delivered me at Obbo, and have died in inaction, instead of wearing out upon the road. Had I been able to start direct from Gondokoro, as I had intended, my animals would have delivered me in Kamrasi's country before the arrival of the heavy rains.

"There is an excellent species of gourd in Obbo; it is pear-shaped, about ten inches long, and seven in diameter, with a white skin, and warts upon the surface; this is the most delicate and the best-flavoured that I have ever eaten.

"There are two varieties of castor-oil plant in this country—one with a purple stem and bright red veins in the leaves, that is remarkably handsome. Also a wild plantain, with a crimson stem to the leaf; this does not grow to the height of the common plantain, but is simply a plume of leaves springing from the ground without a parent stem."

"Aug. 30th.—Mrs. Baker and I made a morning call for the first time upon old Katchiba by his express desire. His courtyard was cemented and clean, about a hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by palisades, which were overgrown with gourds and the climbing yam, Collolollo. There were several large huts in the inclosure, belonging to his wives; he received us very politely, and begged us to enter his principal residence; it was simply arranged, being the usual circular hut, but about twenty-five feet in diameter.

"Creeping on all fours through the narrow doorway, we found ourselves in the presence of one of his wives, who was preparing merissa. The furniture of the apartment was practical, and quite in accordance with the taste of the old chief, as the whole establishment appeared to be devoted to brewing merissa. There were several immense jars capable of holding about thirty gallons: some of these were devoted to beer, while one was reserved to contain little presents that he had received from ourselves and the Turks, including a much-esteemed red flannel shirt: these recherche objects were packed in the jar, and covered by a smaller vessel inverted on the mouth to protect them from rats and white ants. Two or three well-prepared ox-hides were spread upon the ground; and he requested Mrs. Baker to sit on his right hand, while I sat upon the left. Thus satisfactorily arranged, he called for some merissa, which his wife immediately brought in an immense gourd-shell, and both my wife and I having drunk, he took a long draught, and finished the gourd.

"The delightful old sorcerer, determined to entertain us, called for his rababa: a species of harp was handed to him; this was formed of a hollow base and an upright piece of wood, from which descended eight strings. Some time was expended in carefully tuning his instrument, which, being completed, he asked, 'if he should sing?' Fully prepared for something comic, we begged him to begin. He sang a most plaintive and remarkably wild, but pleasing air, accompanying himself perfectly on his harp, producing the best music that I had ever heard among savages. In fact, music and dancing were old Katchiba's delight, especially if combined with deep potations.

"His song over, he rose from his seat and departed, but presently reappeared leading a sheep by a string, which he begged us to accept. I thanked him for his attention, but I assured him that we had not paid him a visit with the expectation of receiving a present, and that we could not think of accepting it, as we had simply called upon him as friends; he accordingly handed the sheep to his wife, and shortly after we rose to depart. Having effected an exit by creeping through the doorway, he led us both by the hand in a most friendly way for about a hundred yards on our path, and took leave most gracefully, expressing a hope that we should frequently come to see him.

"On our return home we found the sheep waiting for us; determined not to be refused, he had sent it on before us. I accordingly returned him a most gorgeous necklace of the most valuable beads, and gave the native who had brought the sheep a present for himself and wife; thus all parties were satisfied, and the sheep was immediately killed for dinner.

"The following morning Katchiba appeared at my door with a large red flag made of a piece of cotton cloth that the Turks had given him; he was accompanied by two men beating large drums, and a third playing a kind of clarionet: this playing at soldiers was an imitation of the Turks. He was in great spirits, being perfectly delighted with the necklace I had sent him."

"Oct. 6th.—I have examined my only remaining donkey: he is a picture of misery—eyes and nose running, coat staring, and he is about to start to join his departed comrades; he has packed up for his last journey. With his loose skin hanging to his withered frame he looked like the British lion on the shield over the door of the Khartoum consulate. In that artistic effort the lion was equally lean and ragged, having perhaps been thus represented by the artist as a pictorial allusion to the smallness of the Consul's pay; the illustration over the shabby gateway utters, 'Behold my leanness! 150l. per annum!'

"I feel a touch of the poetic stealing over me when I look at my departing donkey. 'I never loved a dear gazelle,' &c.: but the practical question, 'Who is to carry the portmanteau?' remains unanswered. I do not believe the Turks have any intention of going to Kamrasi's country; they are afraid, as they have heard that he is a powerful king, and they fear the restrictions that power will place upon their felonious propensities. In that case I shall go on without them; but they have deceived me, by borrowing 165 lbs. of beads which they cannot repay; this puts me to much inconvenience. The Asua river is still impassable, according to native reports; this will, prevent a general advance south. Should the rains cease, the river will fall rapidly, and I shall make a forward move and escape this prison of high grass and inaction."

"Oct. 11th.—Lions roaring every night, but not visible. I set my men to work to construct a fortified camp, a simple oblong of palisades with two flanking projections at opposite angles to command all approaches; the lazy scoundrels are sulky in consequence. Their daily occupation is drinking merissa, sleeping, and strumming on the rababa, while that of the black women is quarrelling—one ebony sister insulting the other by telling her that she is as 'black as the kettle,' and recommending her, 'to eat poison.'"

"Oct. 17th.—I expect an attack of fever tomorrow or next day, as I understand from constant and painful experiences every step of this insidious disease. For some days one feels a certain uneasiness of spirits difficult to explain; no peculiar symptom is observed until a day or two before the attack, when great lassitude is felt, with a desire to sleep. Rheumatic pains in the loins, back, and joints of the limbs are accompanied by a sense of great weakness. A cold fit comes on very quickly; this is so severe that it almost immediately affects the stomach, producing painful vomiting with severe retching. The eyes are heavy and painful, the head hot and aching, the extremities pale and cold, pulse very weak, and about fifty-six beats per minute; the action of the heart distressingly weak, with total prostration of strength. This shivering and vomiting continues for about two hours, attended with great difficulty of breathing. The hot stage then comes on, the retching still continuing, with the difficulty of breathing, intense weakness and restlessness for about an hour and a half, which, should the remedies be successful, terminate in profuse perspiration and sleep. The attack ends, leaving the stomach in a dreadful state of weakness. The fever is remittent, the attack returning almost at the same hour every two days, and reducing the patient rapidly to a mere skeleton; the stomach refuses to act, and death ensues. Any severe action of the mind, such as grief or anger, is almost certain to be succeeded by fever in this country. My stock of quinine is reduced to a few grains, and my work lies before me; my cattle are all dead. We are both weakened by repeated fever, and travelling must be on foot."