Ismailia Part 16

They are quickly attacked by the white ants, which destroy the wattles, but the clay is sufficiently tenacious to form a wall when the wood or reeds may have disappeared.

The granaries are formed of wicker-work supported upon upright pedestals of either hard wood or of stone, to resist the white ants; the wicker-work is smeared with clay and cow-dung, and the roof is thatched in a manner similar to the house.

The Baris are a great pastoral people, and possess immense herds of cattle. These are generally small active animals with humps; white is the prevailing colour. The sheep are small and the mutton is good; but although the fine pasturage of the Bari country is eminently adapted for sheep and goats, these animals are delicate, and require much attention during the heavy rains, at which time they are always kept beneath a roof at night, with fires composed of dry cow-dung to create a smoke that will drive away flies or mosquitoes.

Like most of the tribes of the White Nile, the Baris have a strong objection to sell their cattle; thus you may be surrounded by plenty, but you may starve in the midst of beef.

Their large herds are confined at night within zareebas or kraals. These are formidable defences. The cattle zareeba is a circular stockade formed of a hard wood called by the Arabs abou-noos or abdnoos (ebony).

This is an intensely hard black wood somewhat resembling ebony. Piles as thick as a man's thigh are sunk in the earth, so as to leave a fence or stockade of about eight feet high above the surface; these piles are placed as close as possible together, and interlaced by tough hooked thorns, which when dry and contracted bind the stockade into a very compact defence. The entrance to this fort is only sufficiently large to admit one animal at a time; thus the herd can be easily counted. Within the stockade are several houses, in addition to a few large circular sheds for the protection of young calves. The sheep and goats are kept in a separate zareeba.

All the operations of the Baris are conducted by signals given by the drum, precisely as our military movements are directed by bugle-calls.

The great drum that belongs to the headman or sheik, is suspended beneath an open shed, so that it is always protected from weather, and at the same time the sound could travel unchecked. These drums are cut and scooped with great labour from a peculiar wood, which is exceedingly tough and will not easily split. The Bari drum is exactly the shape of an egg with a slice taken off the thicker end. Some of these instruments are very large, and as much as two men could carry on a pole. Both ends are hollowed through and secured with hide; but the broad end forms the actual drum. This is beaten with two short sticks of hard wood. In the early morning, shortly before sunrise, the hollow sound of the big drum is always heard giving the signal by a certain number of beat's for the milking of the cows. The women and young men then commence, and when the operation is completed, the drum beats again, and the large herds are driven to pasturage. The signal is repeated in the evening. Should an enemy attack the country, the sheik's big drum gives the alarm by a peculiar series of beats, which if once heard can easily be remembered.

In a few seconds this loud alarm will be re-echoed by every drum throughout the numerous villages, and the news of the attack will thus spread by signal as fast as sound can travel. A certain beat of the sheik's big drum is the call for a general a.s.sembly, in which case, should an enemy appear, the whole forces of the district can be concentrated in one point.

The weapons of the Baris are finely-wrought lances, and bows with horribly barbed arrows. They seldom carry s.h.i.+elds, as they are difficult to manage together with the bow, and they impede the rapid movements'

which are the chief feature in Bari tactics.

The men are generally tall and powerful, always naked and smeared with ashes, or on great occasions with red ochre and grease. The women are not absolutely bad-looking, but real beauties are extremely rare. They wear an ap.r.o.n before and behind of tanned leather, extending nearly to the knees, which is only the outer garment, beneath which they wear a neatly-made fringe of innumerable strings, formed of finely-spin cotton thread, suspended from a leather belt. Some of the wealthy possess fringe composed of iron rings, neatly worked, so as to form a kind of s.h.i.+rt of mail.

Every man is a warrior from his childhood, as the Baris are always at war. They are extremely clever in the use of the lance, which they can throw with great accuracy for a distance of thirty yards, and they can pitch it into a body of men at upwards of fifty yards. From early childhood the boys are in constant practice, both with the lance and the bow and arrow; thus, although their weapons are inferior to fire-arms properly used, they are dangerous in the hands of proficients against men who, like my troops, were utterly ignorant of the art of shooting.

Fortunately for my expedition, the warlike Baris were not united throughout their territory. Nevertheless, I discovered that the Baris of Gondokoro had made an alliance with those of Belinian, twelve miles from head-quarters. I observed that women were constantly pa.s.sing to and fro with baskets on their heads, carrying salt from Gondokoro, and each returning with a goat, led by a string. Excellent salt is found at Gondokoro, real chloride of sodium; and this article enables the natives of that district to trade with the interior, where salt is extremely rare and of great value. I had remarked that women, and sometimes men, were met in my rambles through the forest, on their way to Belinian by this concealed route, instead of taking the open path; this aroused my suspicion, as the chief, Allorron, and his people declared that they were enemies of the Belinian natives.

The position had become intolerable. The fact could no longer be concealed that the Baris were hostile. No positive outbreak had occurred, but the natives were sullen in their demeanour, and generally avoided the new settlement. Butchers' meat was exceedingly scarce, as we had only a few cows that had been given during the voyage by the vakeel of the Bohr station. The troops were without rations of meat. At the same time there were thousands of cattle on the islands before their eyes, not one of which could be purchased from the natives. Although the natives refused to a.s.sist us in any way, or to supply us with cattle at any price, they drove their herds across from the island to the mainland to fatten on the fine pasturage under the government protection. This pasturage, having been abandoned by them and occupied by the government troops, had naturally become the property of the Khedive. The natives had no more right to the soil from which they had been driven, than the French would have to Alsace and Lorraine, should those provinces be occupied by a foreign Power which had driven out the Germans.

The last vessels having arrived, terminated the voyage from Tewfikeeyah, which had occupied five months and twenty-two days. The troops, who had suffered much by fatigue in cutting through the marshes, had not been absolutely relieved by their arrival in the clear White Nile. The north wind changed suddenly to the south, in which unfavourable quarter it continued steadily for a month; thus my unfortunate men had to tow the vessels along the banks against wind and stream for about 300 miles from Wat-el-Shambi to Gondokoro. Upon arrival at that station, which I had described to them as the "Promised Land," they found a lovely park, but without a single dwelling. Instead of being received as deliverers by a friendly and grateful population, they met with neglect and ill-will from a tribe of robbers, allies of the traders, who fattened upon the spoil of weaker neighbours.

After all their hard work and suffering in attaining the promised paradise, they found only additional labour awaiting them, as they had to wander several miles in search of long thatch-gra.s.s and timber to construct the new station, in which fatigue they were entirely una.s.sisted by the sullen inhabitants.

Added to these disappointments, the men were hungry, and no cattle could be purchased from my new subjects, who were obstinate and refractory.

I had a serious conversation with Sheik Allorron, during which I clearly defined our relative positions, and represented to him in the strongest terms the folly of trusting to the support of Abou Saood and his people against the government, as they were all subjects of the Khedive and bound to obey my orders. At the same time I informed him of the absolute necessity of cattle for the supply of the troops, which I promised to pay for.

I clearly saw that the miserable policy of these people was to starve the troops into the supposed necessity of evacuating the position, and returning to Khartoum. I represented to Allorron the danger of trifling with a hungry lion, at which he grinned, as a good joke, and immediately replied: "If you want cattle, I will give you some of my people as guides, and you can attack a neighbour of mine, and capture his herds, which will last you for a long time." I replied, that I could not injure any one who had not committed an offence, but as he for the last time refused a.s.sistance, I should not permit his herds to graze upon my pasturage; therefore I begged they might be confined to the island.

At the same time I officially invited Allorron and all the headmen of the country, including the sheik of Belinian, to an entertainment. I intended, formally and officially, to annex the country to Egypt.

On May 26, 1871, all was in order. A flag-staff about eighty feet high had been neatly erected by Lieut. Baker on the highest point of land overlooking the river. Every small bush had been cleared away, and the position in the centre of an open park-like country would have formed an admirable race-course. The troops, having had two days' rest to wash their clothes and burnish up their arms and accoutrements, marched from the station at Gondokoro at 6 A.M.

I had 1,200 men on the ground, including ten mountain rifled guns throwing 8 and 1/4 lbs. sh.e.l.l.

In their clean white uniforms, with the neat koofeeia or sun-cloth, which, covering the head, drooped gracefully upon the shoulders, the troops showed to great advantage, as they marched with the band playing from head-quarters to the flagstaff above my station. As they filed through the green trees, and then formed into sections of companies as they emerged into the open ground, the effect was exceedingly good, and the sheik, Allorron, and his friends, the headmen of many villages, looked with amazement upon a scene that was altogether new to them.

Having arrived opposite the flag-staff, the troops formed in line two deep on the flat gra.s.sy surface of the heights above my station. The long row of glittering bayonets and the gay uniforms of the officers bewildered the astonished natives. All the sailors, servants, and camp-followers were dressed in their best clothes. The prevailing colours, white and red, looked exceedingly gay upon the close and even surface of the green turf. My staff was composed of my aides-de-camp, Lieutenant Baker, R.N., Lieut.-Colonel Abd-el-Kader, together with three other officers, and Mr. Higginbotham. At that time the horses were all in excellent condition.

Having ridden along the line and halted beneath the flag, the troops formed three sides of a square with the flag-staff in the centre. The fourth side, facing the river, was then occupied by the artillery, with ten guns.

The formality of reading the official proclamation, describing the annexation of the country to Egypt in the name of the Khedive, then took place at the foot of the flag-staff. At the termination of the last sentence, the Ottoman flag was quickly run up by the halyards and fluttered in the strong breeze at the mast-head. The officers with drawn swords saluted the flag, the troops presented arms, and the batteries of artillery fired a royal salute.

This ceremony being completed, the troops marched past; after which, they formed in order for a supposed attack upon an imaginary enemy, and fired away about ten thousand rounds of blank cartridge in the advance down the long slope which led to the temporary camp and tents erected for the entertainment. Here the bugle sounded "disperse," and all the men immediately set to work to light fires and prepare the food that had been already supplied for their dinners. I believe this was the only day of real enjoyment that the troops had had. The hours pa.s.sed in rest and sleep until sunset.

I had invited fourteen of the officers to dine with me, and our party of eighteen was easily accommodated on the roomy p.o.o.p-deck of my diahbeeah.

The Englishmen had a table to themselves in the garden, and were regaled with roast beef and real English plum-pudding, that, having been brought out in tins for Christmas Day, could not be found during the voyage; therefore it added to the feast of the "day of annexation," and was annexed accordingly by English appet.i.tes. This was washed down and rendered wholesome by a quant.i.ty of pure filtered water from the river Nile, which was included in the annexation; and was represented in the Nile Basin mixed with Jamaica rum, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon-juice from the fruit of the trees planted by the good Austrian missionaries at Gondokoro. Little did they think, poor fellows, of the jollification to which their lemons would subscribe when they first sowed the good seeds.

When dinner was over, we repaired to the large divan tents, where refreshments were arranged, and the magic lantern was prepared for the amus.e.m.e.nt of officers and men. This was an admirable machine, and was well explained by Lieutenant Baker. No one had ever seen such an exhibition before, therefore it caused immense satisfaction. One of the representations that was most applauded, was, Moses going through the Red Sea with the Israelites, followed by Pharaoh. The story being well known to all Mohammedans, the performance was encored with such energy that Moses had to go through the Red Sea twice, and they would have insisted upon his crossing a third time, had the slide not been rapidly exchanged for another subject.

The formal ceremony of annexation was over, and it was necessary to decide upon the future.

I had issued the following Camp Regulations:--

1. "No person shall cut or in other ways destroy any tamarind or oil tree under any pretext whatever. Neither shall any tree whatsoever be either cut or damaged within a distance of 2,000 paces from the flag-staff or camp.

2. "No person shall stray beyond 2,000 paces of the flag-staff or camp without permission either from the Pacha or Raouf Bey.

3. "No person shall trade in ivory, neither shall any person accept ivory as a present or in exchange; neither shall any person shoot, or cause to be shot, elephants: all ivory being the property and monopoly of the government of His Highness the Khedive of Egypt.

4. "No person shall either purchase or receive slaves as presents or in exchange.

"Any person transgressing by disobedience of the above laws will be punished as the will of Baker Pacha may direct. "S. W. BAKER."

My men were hard at work erecting magazines and building the station, and had I not issued the above regulations, they would have cut down every ornamental tree in the neighbourhood. Although the mission-house had disappeared, the foundations remained; I dug them up and procured sufficient sound bricks to build a powder-magazine, which I covered with a galvanized iron roof and protected my ammunition.

Several of the Egyptian soldiers deserted. These people, who were for the most part convicts, although professing Islamism preferred to live with the natives, to the steady discipline of military life.

One evening, the sentry, on guard before the house of Lieutenant Baker and Mr. Higginbotham, was observed by Mr. Baker's soldier servant (a black) to lay his rifle on the ground and to enter stealthily the doorway of his hut. Abdullah Maseri, the servant, lost no time in running towards the hut, which he quietly entered in the dusk, without being perceived by the thief within, who in the absence of Mr. Baker was pillaging his boxes.

Abdullah quietly crept up behind him, pinned him by the back of the neck, and held him until he obtained a.s.sistance. There was no escape from conviction, therefore I sentenced the thief to receive 100 lashes and to be, confined in irons.

While he was undergoing the punishment he yelled for mercy, saying, "I will confess-I will confess all. It was I who entered the Pacha's room at Tewfikeeyah. It was at me that the Pacha fired the pistol! Put me in irons, but don't flog me; I will confess all."

This man was an Egyptian belonging to the "Forty Thieves," and he now confessed his former delinquency. He was secured in irons and placed under a guard. The fellow had been a professional thief, and during the night he managed to slip off his irons and make his escape, no doubt with the connivance of the sentry.

The fact of the natives receiving the deserters was enough to suggest the suspicion that they were tampering with the troops. Although the Baris would neither work nor a.s.sist in any manner, they continued, in spite of my warning, to swim their cattle across to the pasturage on the mainland occupied by the troops.

I again gave the sheik Allorron notice, that if he continued to drive his cattle to the forbidden pasture, they would be confiscated.

On the following morning they returned to the mainland as usual, not the slightest notice having been taken of my repeated and official warning.

I gave orders to secure them. About ten men of the "Forty Thieves"

quietly explained the order to the natives who guarded the cattle, and without any remonstrance they drove them to my station, and stood guard around the herd.

The natives returned to the island, and reported the affair to the sheik Allorron and his people.

Early on the following morning, the sheik, accompanied by fifteen headmen of villages and a number of natives, together with Tomby the interpreter, attended and formed a deputation. I received them beneath the shady tree near my diahbeeah. They looked very sheepish, and asked me, "Why had I confiscated their cattle?"

I explained the reason: and they at length acknowledged that they had no positive right of pasturage, as they had been driven from their country by the Loquia, and were it not for my presence they could not venture to drive their cattle to the mainland. At the same time they explained, that the extreme dryness of the season had exhausted the gra.s.s upon the island after the close grazing of the large herds; thus they had imagined I should not have any real objection to their pasturing upon the east banks, which, as I had no cattle, would otherwise be neglected.

I explained that the government must be obeyed, and that, as they had disobeyed every order, I should take charge of their cattle (about 200) until they showed a disposition to accept the Khedive's authority. At the same time, if the natives would bring thatch gra.s.s and a.s.sist the troops in forming the station (a work which they had always performed annually for Abou Saood's people), I would return them their cattle.