The Albert N'Yanza Part 28

We arrived at Berber, the spot from which we had started upwards of four years ago for our Atbara expedition. Here we were most hospitably received by Monsieur and Madame Laffargue, a French gentleman and his charming wife, who had for many years been residents in the Soudan. It is with feelings of grat.i.tude that I express my thanks to all Frenchmen that I have met in those wild countries, for courtesies and attention, that were appreciated by me like unexpected flowers in a desert. I can only hope that Frenchmen may, when in need, receive the same kindness from my countrymen, when travelling in lands far distant from LA BELLE FRANCE.

I determined upon the Red Sea route to Egypt, instead of pa.s.sing the horrible Korosko desert during the hot month of August. After some delay I procured camels, and started east for Souakim, from whence I hoped to procure a steamer to Suez.

This route from Berber is not the usual caravan road: the country was in rather a disturbed state, owing to the mutiny of all the black troops in the Egyptian service in the Taka province; and the Hadendowa Arabs, who are at no time the best of their race, were very excited. The first eight days' journey are devoid of water, except at two stations, the route being desert. Our party consisted of my wife, Richarn, Achmet, and Zeneb; the latter was a six-foot girl of the d.i.n.ka tribe, with whom Richarn had fallen in love and married during our sojourn at Khartoum.

Zeneb was a good girl, rather pretty, as strong as a giraffe, and a good cook; a very valuable acquisition for Richarn. Her husband, who had been my faithful follower, was now a rich man, being the owner of thirty napoleons, the balance of his wages. Achmet was an Egyptian servant, whom I had recently engaged in Khartoum. I had also offered a Swiss missionary the protection of our party.

One day, during the heat of noon, after a long march in the burning sun through a treeless desert, we descried a solitary tree in the distance, to which we hurried as to a friend. Upon arrival, we found its shade occupied by a number of Hadendowa Arabs. Dismounting from our camels, we requested them to move and to give place for our party--as a tree upon the desert is like a well of water, to be shared by every traveller. Far from giving the desired place, they most insolently refused to allow us to share the tree. Upon Richarn attempting to take possession, he was rudely pushed on one side, and an Arab drew his knife. Achmet had a coorbatch (hippopotamus whip) in his hand, that he had used on his camel; the act of raising this to threaten the Arab who had drawn his knife was the signal for hostilities. Out flashed the broadswords from their sheaths! and the headman of the party aimed a well-intended cut at my head. Parrying the cut with my sun umbrella, I returned with a quick thrust directly in the mouth, the point of the peaceful weapon penetrating to his throat with such force that he fell upon his back.

Almost at the same moment I had to parry another cut from one of the crowd that smashed my umbrella completely, and left me with my remaining weapons, a stout Turkish pipe-stick about four feet long, and my fist.

Parrying with the stick, thrusting in return at the face, and hitting sharp with the left hand, I managed to keep three or four of the party on and off upon their backs, receiving a slight cut with a sword upon my left arm in countering a blow which just grazed me as I knocked down the owner, and disarmed him. My wife picked up the sword, as I had no time to stoop, and she stood well at bay with her newly-acquired weapon that a disarmed Arab wished to wrest from her, but dared not close with the naked blade. I had had the fight all my own way, as, being beneath the tree (the boughs of which were very near the ground), the Arabs, who do not understand the use of the point, were unable to use their swords, as their intended cuts were intercepted by the branches. Vigorous thrusting and straight hitting cleared the tree, and the party were scattered right and left, followed up by Richarn and Achmet, armed with double-barrelled rifles. I was determined to disarm the whole party, if possible. One of the Arabs, armed with a lance, rushed up to attack Richarn from behind; but Zeneb was of the warlike d.i.n.ka tribe, and having armed herself with the hard wood handle of the axe, she went into the row like "Joan of Arc," and hastening to the rescue of Richarn, she gave the Arab such a whack upon the head that she knocked him down on the spot, and seizing his lance she disarmed him. Thus armed, she rushed into the thickest of the fray.

"Bravo, Zeneb!" I could not help shouting. Seizing a thick. stick that had been dropped by one of the Arabs, I called Richarn and our little party together, and attacking the few Arabs who still offered resistance, they were immediately knocked down and disarmed. The leader of the party, who had been the first to draw his sword and had received a mouthful of umbrella, had not moved from the spot where he fell, but amused himself with coughing and spitting. I now ordered him to be bound, and threatened to tie him to my camel's tail and lead him a prisoner to the Governor of Souakim, unless he called all those of his party who had run away. They were now standing at a distance in the desert, and I insisted upon the delivery of their weapons. Being thoroughly beaten and cowed, he conferred with those whom we had taken prisoners, and the affair ended by all the arms being delivered up. We counted six swords, eleven lances, and a heap of knives, the number of which I forget.

I ordered the entire party to stand in a line; and I gave them their choice, whether the ringleaders would receive a flogging from me, or whether I should tie them to the tails of camels and lead them to the Turkish Governor of Souakim? They immediately chose the former; and, calling them from the rank, I ordered them to lie down on the ground to receive punishment.

They submitted like dogs; Richarn and Achmet stood over them with their whips, ready for the word. At this moment an old white-headed Arab of my caravan came to me: kneeling down, he stroked my beard with his dirty hands, and implored pardon for the offenders. Thoroughly understanding the Arab character, I replied, "They are miserable sons of dogs, and their swords are like the feathers of a fowl; they deserve flogging, but when a white head asks for pardon, it should be granted. G.o.d is merciful, and we are all his children." Thus was the affair ended to the satisfaction of our side. I broke all the lances into fragments upon a rock,--ordered Zeneb to make a fire with the wood of the handles, to boil some coffee; and tying the swords into a bundle, we packed the lance-heads and knives in a basket, with the understanding that they should be delivered to their owners on our arrival at the last well, after which point there would be water on the route every day. From that place, there would be no fear of our camels being stolen, and of our being deserted in the desert.

On arrival at the well a few days later, I delivered the weapons to their owners as promised, they having followed our party. Souakim is about 275 miles from the Nile at Berber. At Kokreb, about half-way, we entered the chain of mountains that extends from Suez parallel with the Red Sea to the south; many portions of this chain are four or five thousand feet above the sea-level. The mountains were exceedingly beautiful, their precipitous sides of barren rock exhibiting superb strata of red and grey granite, with vast ma.s.ses of exquisite red and green porphyry. Many hills were of basalt, so black, that during an entire day's journey the face of the country appeared like a vast desert of coal, in broken hills and blocks strewed over the surface of the ground. Kokreb was a lovely oasis beneath the high mountains, with a forest of low mimosas in full leaf, and a stream running from the mountains, the produce of a recent storm. Throughout this country there are no rivers that should be noticed on a map, as the torrents are merely the effects of violent storms, which, falling upon the mountains several times during the rainy season from June to the end of August tear their boisterous way along their stony course and dry up in a few hours, becoming exhausted in the sand of the deserts. For some days our course lay along a deep ravine between stupendous cliffs; this was the bed of a torrent, that, after heavy storms, flowed through the mountains, inclining to the east; in this were pools of most beautifully clear water. In many places the nooks among the cliffs were fringed with lovely green trees. It was extraordinary to observe the activity of the camels in climbing the most difficult pa.s.ses, and in picking their way among the rocks and stones that obstructed the route. In many places camels might be seen grazing upon the green mimosa bushes, that growing among the rocks high upon the mountains had tempted the animals into places that I should not have believed they could have reached.

After a journey of twenty-four days from the Nile at Berber, we emerged from the mountain-pa.s.s, and from the elevated embouchure we obtained a sudden and most welcome view of the Red Sea. We now quickly descended: the heat increased every hour; and after a long day's march, we slept within a few miles of Souakim. On the following morning we entered the town.

Souakim is a considerable town; the houses are all built of coral. The princ.i.p.al dwellings, and the custom house and Government offices are situated on an island in the harbour. We were received with much attention by the Governor, Moomtazze Bey, who very kindly offered us a house. The heat was frightful, the thermometer 115 degrees F and in some houses 120 degrees F.

There is no doubt that Souakim should be the port for all exports and imports for the Soudan provinces. Were a line of steamers established from Suez, to call regularly at Souakim, at a moderate freight, it would become a most prosperous town, as the geographical position marks it as the nucleus for all trade with the interior. At present there is no regularity: the only steamers that touch at Souakim are those belonging to the Abdul Azziz Company, who trade between Suez and Jedda. Although advertised for distinct periods, they only visit Souakim when they think proper, and their rates are most exorbitant.

There was no steamer upon our arrival. After waiting in intense heat for about a fortnight, the Egyptian thirty-two gun steam frigate, Ibralaimeya, arrived with a regiment of Egyptian troops, under Giaffer Pasha, to quell the mutiny of the black troops at Ka.s.sala, twenty days'

march in the interior. The General Giaffer Pasha, and Mustapha Bey the captain of the frigate, gave us an entertainment on board in English style, in honour of the completion of the Nile discovery. Giaffer Pasha most kindly placed the frigate at our disposal to convey us to Suez, and both he and Mustapha Bey endeavoured in every way to accommodate us. For their extreme courtesy I take this opportunity of making my acknowledgment.

Orders for sailing had been received, but suddenly a steamer was signalled as arriving: this was a transport, with troops. As she was to return immediately to Suez, I preferred the dirty transport rather than incur a further delay. We started from Souakim, and after five days'

voyage we arrived at Suez. Landing from the steamer, I once more found myself in an English hotel. The s.p.a.cious inner court was arranged as an open conservatory; in this was a bar for refreshments, and "Allsopp's Pale Ale" on draught, with an ice accompaniment. What an Elysium! The beds had SHEETS and PILLOW-CASES! neither of which had I possessed for years.

The hotel was thronged with pa.s.sengers to India, with rosy, blooming English ladies, and crowds of my own countrymen. I felt inclined to talk to everybody. Never was I so in love with my own countrymen and women; but they (I mean the ladies) all had large b.a.l.l.s of hair at the backs of their heads! What an extraordinary change! I called Richarn, my pet savage from the heart of Africa, to admire them. "Now, Richarn, look at them!" I said. "What do you think of the English ladies? eh, Richarn?

Are they not lovely?"

"Wah Illahi!" exclaimed the astonished Richarn, "they are beautiful!

What hair! They are not like the negro savages, who work other people's hair into their own heads; theirs is all real--all their own--how beautiful!"

"Yes, Richarn," I replied, "ALL THEIR OWN!" This was my first introduction to the "chignon."

We arrived at Cairo, and I established Richarn and his wife in a comfortable situation, as private servants to Mr. Zech, the master of Sheppard's Hotel. The character I gave him was one that I trust has done him service: he had shown an extraordinary amount of moral courage in totally reforming from his original habit of drinking. I left my old servant with a heart too full to say good-bye; a warm squeeze of his rough, but honest black hand, and the whistle of the train sounded,--we were off!

I had left Richarn, and none remained of my people. The past appeared like a dream-the rus.h.i.+ng sound of the train renewed ideas of civilization. Had I really come from the Nile Sources? It was no dream.

A witness sat before me; a face still young, but bronzed like an Arab by years of exposure to a burning sun; haggard and worn with toil and sickness, and shaded with cares, happily now past; the devoted companion of my pilgrimage, to whom I owed success and life--my wife.

I had received letters from England, that had been waiting at the British Consulate;--the first I opened informed me, that the Royal Geographical Society had awarded me the Victoria Gold Medal, at a time when they were unaware whether I was alive or dead, and when the success of my expedition was unknown. This appreciation of my exertions was the warmest welcome that I could have received on my first entrance into civilization after so many years of savagedom: it rendered the completion of the Nile Sources doubly grateful, as I had fulfilled the expectations that the Geographical Society had so generously expressed by the presentation of their medal Before my task was done.