CHAPTER XXI.

A BOA-CONSTRICTOR VISITS US—THE BURTON BOAT—MOUSSA’s BEHAVIOUR ENTAILS A THRASHING AND HIS DISCHARGE—GREAT HEAT—A FINE HIPPOPOTAMUS KILLED—HAMRAN FEAST—THE WHITE ANTS—ANOTHER HIPPOPOTAMUS KILLED—MAHOMET SALI BRINGS SUPPLIES—NATIVE MUSIC IN THE NIGHT—DELICATE HINTS CONVEYED TO THE PERFORMER—A REMARKABLY FINE NELLUT SHOT—ARAB AND EGYPTIAN TAXATION—BABOONS—A HAMRAN STORY—ALI BITTEN BY A SCORPION—ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE—ROUGH JOURNEYS.

In the evening, whilst George and Anselmia, our two European servants, were dining by their tent, George called out, “A snake, a snake.” A little terrier, named “Tartar” (which Mr. W. D. James had brought from England) began barking furiously, whilst we sallied forth with anything we could lay our hands on—Mr. Phillipps and I each with a spear, Mr. Colvin with an Abyssinian sword—darted off,[265] just in time to see a great boa-constrictor gliding through the grass and into some thorny bushes where we could not pursue him.

George said, “I heard something hissing,” and said to Anselmia, “What the devil is that?” looked round and saw an enormous snake about a yard off in the tree behind me, hissing away, with head up. I was off in quick sticks. Last night a lion came so close to my tent, and made such a noise that he woke us all up, and produced quite a stampede amongst the horses and camels. Some of the natives sleeping just outside my tent threw firebrands at him. Unfortunately the moonlight was wanting at the time or we might, perhaps, have bagged him.

Two tetél, four ariel, and several birds were shot to-day.

March 15th.—Hy?nas were rather noisy last night, but I have never known them so troublesome anywhere as at Kassala. The heat to-day was 106° in the shade—so far the hottest day I ever experienced. Of course the Burton boat is in frequent use now. To-day, whilst quietly punting about near the bushes with my gun laid across the seat, I observed some beautiful and strange birds. I quietly seized my gun, and found the barrel so excessively hot that I positively could not hold it[266] until I wrapped my pocket-handkerchief round it. I succeeded in bagging two fine spotted giant king-fishers. This morning Moussa, a mischievous young rascal, whom we had brought with us from Kassala, was severely thrashed with the coorbatch, then sent away with our head camel-man (who was going for dhurra) to the Sheik at Ombrager, to be forwarded on to Kassala. It seems that he had quarrelled with Idrees, a native servant from Keren; then, whilst struggling together, he whipped out a pair of scissors and with it snipped out several bits of flesh from his arms and chest. This was not his first offence, for on the 13th he received 20 lashes of the coorbatch. Then he laid himself down at once, face downwards, and took it without flinching; to-day he got it severely, and yelled most vigorously. His offence on the former occasion was this: Whilst Sali was running to camp, rifle in hand, this impudent young scamp struggled with him for the possession of it (this was just after dark). In the struggle the rifle went off, and might have lodged a bullet in Sali or anyone in camp. Unfortunately the coorbatch is the only remedy for these natives—the only way of keeping up discipline. If treated with kindness and forbearance they think we are getting lax and easy, will at once take advantage of it, skulk about and[267] do nothing, but the coorbatch at once brings them to reason.

Mr. A. James found a man’s skull to-day, also a gigantic tortoise shell. Mr. Phillipps angled and caught an enormous gamout, weighing 31 lbs. Two ariel, a nellut, and calf buffalo were shot.

March 16th.—Temperature 105°, wet bulb 71°, solor 160°. Last night hy?nas and wild cats exercised a disturbing influence on our slumbers. Soon after breakfast a Hamran Sheik, with attendants, called, presenting us with a good quantity of milk and a sheep. During the day a crocodile was shot, also a very fine hippopotamus. The latter was observed poking his head above water in a large pool a little way from camp, little thinking of the danger awaiting him. He had no sooner done so than crash went a hardened bullet into his skull. Down he went, but could not stay long, for he must come up to breathe. On his reappearance he received another leaden messenger in his skull. On his coming to the surface a third time he spouted up a quantity of blood and water, and received one more bullet, after which he disappeared mortally wounded. The next time he came to the surface a floating corpse. A few hours afterwards ropes were obtained and fastened round him by some Arabs, who dived, and he was dragged to shore amid[268] universal rejoicing, they knowing right well that a feast was in store.

We find the white ants very troublesome here. Should anyone be careless enough to leave his satchel or portmanteau on the bare ground he would regret it in the morning. Anyone who has visited Central Africa will come away with very distinct recollections of the white ants. They are really wonderful little creatures, and the structures they erect are often on a colossal scale. Quite near to our dining place here is one of their buildings. As a rule they are built of a conical or sugar-loaf form, but I have seen them of the form of turrets. They are worked up from the soil of the country by the ants, and are of the consistency of stone, and so strong that a buffalo or leopard has been known to take up its position on the top for the purpose of observation. During one portion of our journey, on emerging from a wood, I saw what I at first took to be a village on a large plain; the habitations resembled huts, in some cases 15 feet high, and proportionately large at the base. They were only a colony of white ants, and I dare say their village consisted of 200 of these ant hills. The white ants (Termes bellicosus) are not true ants; that is, they do not belong to the order Hymenoptera, which embraces the industrious bee[269] and the crafty ichneumon, but belong to the order Neuroptera, which embraces the brilliant, though voracious dragon-fly, the ephemeral may-fly, and the wily ant-lion. They are called ants because they are similar to them in their habits and in the constitution of their colonies. Their antenn? are larger than the head, their mandibles are well-developed, and the inferior pair of wings is generally as large as the superior.

There are four classes found in the colony of the white ant—the king and queen, who live together in a central chamber near the ground, after having lost their wings; the workers, who build and nurse their young; the soldiers, who never build or nurse, whose duty consists in defending the nest when attacked. Neither the workers nor the soldiers have wings. The largest worker is supposed to be a fifth of an inch long. The soldiers, which have an enormous head and formidable mandibles, are at least twice as long, and are said to weigh as much as thirty workers, attaining the length of nearly four-fifths of an inch, while the female, when she has become a queen, and about to form an extensive colony, attains the length of six inches, and lays eggs at the rate of sixty a minute, or more than eighty thousand a day. The white ants are most destructive to houses, furniture, clothes, and books;[270] they will, in fact, destroy anything but stone and metal. Anything that is reducible to powder will, where they have located themselves, fall to certain destruction. They work unseen. I have often noticed twigs, leaves, branches of trees, and so on, destroyed by them. They plaster them over with mud, and underneath this cover they work. Wooden pillars and beams are continually made perfect shells by their operations, and the safety of houses is frequently affected, though externally they would appear strong and good. The library at the Faurah Bay Church Missionary College, Sierra Leone, was in a great measure destroyed by their instrumentality.

In 1879 the Bishop of Sierra Leone appealed for funds in order to repair the churches, which, he said, “are ant-eaten.” Now, although the white ants are so annoying that hardly anything is proof against their attacks, they are a great blessing in tropical climes, their office being, in the economy of nature in these hot countries, to hasten the decomposition of the woody and decaying parts of vegetation, which, without their intervention, would render these regions uninhabitable by breeding a pestilence. The remains of the white ant in the Coal Measures is an evidence that it was, to a certain extent, through their destructive agency[271] that the tropical vegetable matter was accumulated which went to form our coal. The white ant, by hastening the decomposition of vegetable substances, has ever proved a friend to man; the true ants also have proved themselves a boon to the inhabitants of tropical climes by destroying what are popularly classed as vermin.

March 17th.—I am happy to say that the temperature has dropped to 97°, and that is quite as hot as one cares about. Whilst breakfasting, about 6 a.m., a native came, saying “Assint effendi,” at the same time jerking his thumb towards the river. This meant a hippopotamus. He was accordingly sought for, found and killed before 8 a.m., not far from camp. To see the Arabs then cutting up the carcase, wallowing in gore, and stuffing lumps of meat or fat into their mouths, and rubbing the latter on their heads was a most disgusting sight, almost as bad as the Basé. Festoons of meat soon ornamented every tree in the neighbourhood of the camp. The natives themselves looked like a number of dips melting in the sun. Every head to-day is dripping with fat, which melts and drops about all over the shoulders. Feeling a little Mark Twainish, I cannot help remarking that this plastering of the head with fat is, no doubt, a very ancient custom, in which Aaron, his friends,[272] and contemporaries were accustomed to indulge to a great extent. Do we not read? “And they annointed his head with oil, which ran down even unto his beard.” This was probably the fat obtained from hippopotamus, buffaloes, &c., and clearly indicates that these old gentlemen were, more or less, affected with sporting proclivities; but it is more than probable that they were not at that time in possession of eight-bore rifles and hardened bullets.

During the greater part of this day we have observed a peculiar hazy appearance on the other side of the river—extending for miles—resembling mist in appearance. It was really a very fine dust. In the evening this was followed by a good deal of wind, which much increased towards night.

March 18th.—Last night and this morning was cooler than any for weeks past. Temperature at 1.30 p.m. 92° in the shade. Mahomet Sali put in an appearance to-day with a camel-load of flour and bread from Kassala. He also brought the skin of a very fine boa-constrictor, which one of our party was not long in annexing. It really was intended for George, but the annexer gave the owner two dollars for it, and so it became his pretty quickly. The bread we have is like the Cairo bread we brought with us. It is baked hard in squares, resembling[273] dog-biscuits. When wanted at meal-times they are dipped in water and then put over the fire for a few minutes, when they become spongy and eatable.

Two or three little matters conspired to ruffle me rather last night. When retiring for the night my first business was to kill two scorpions and some gigantic spiders which I found in my tent. Having accomplished these murders to my entire satisfaction, I undressed, lastly taking off my socks. I had no sooner put my feet on the matting than the soles of my feet felt as if they were pin-cushions, receiving a thousand prickling sensations—sometimes not unlike those produced by a galvanic battery. I found on inspection of the matting swarms of large black ants. This was not all. I got into bed, but was not allowed to sleep without the accompaniment of a stringed instrument, somewhat resembling a banjo, which a wretched Arab had constructed out of an empty preserved meat tin. He had stretched a piece of skin tightly across this, attached a bridge, three strings, a finger-board, and all the rest of it, then strummed and fingered away close to my tent, producing the most monotonous sounds for an hour or two after I was in bed, evidently as much in love with his instrument as someone else would be with his violoncello. I had not done anything deserving such torture as this wretch thought[274] proper to inflict on me, so would not stand it any longer. I therefore got up and delicately conveyed a hint (in the shape of a boot which I hurled at him) that this mode of serenading in the middle of the night was not only unappreciated by me, but decidedly objectionable. The stringed instrument ceased for a while until I was just going to sleep, when this demon in human form again started. I immediately threw out three more rather forcible hints. They were another boot and two empty claret bottles; and I rather think the last two hints appealed forcibly to his feelings, as the light guitar was then laid aside, and I was allowed to sink into a calm sleep.

During the day Mr. W. D. James shot a magnificent buck nellut, which had the finest head we have yet seen. His horns, taking the direct length, measured 39? inches; taking the curves, 53 inches. An enormous tortoise was brought to camp this morning alive (abugeddir, as they called him). Two stout men can stand on his back, and he walks away with them as if they were two straws.

March 19th.—Temperature, 92° in shade. The hazy appearance noticed during the last two days has passed away; the wind also has subsided. I think we may expect a hot day again.

This morning a son of the Hamran Sheik came to[275] camp, demanding a tax of eight dollars on our guide. The latter is to receive 25 dollars per month, out of which the Heikota Sheik wants eight dollars. To begin at the fountain-head, the Egyptian Government have a head-tax—every young person on reaching a certain age is taxed. The owner of every date palm-tree has to pay a tax, the same with the owner of a “sageer,” or sakia (a water-wheel); in fact, I believe everybody and everything is taxed. The Government look to the Governor-General of the Soudan for a good round sum; he, in turn, looks to the Mudir, or governor of a district. He squeezes the necessary out of the sheiks of the various tribes, and they in turn (to use a metaphor, suck the orange dry) screw out of the poor Arabs of the tribe what they require. If the sheik fails to produce the sum required of him by the Mudir, the latter swoops down on his camels, flocks, and herds and sells a sufficient number of them to produce the required sum; but if the sheik has no camels, &c., he himself is seized and put in durance vile until the tribe find the necessary number of dollars.
Some worms there are who feed on men;
Others there are who feed on them.
These lesser worms have worms to bite ’em;
Thus worm eats worm ad infinitum.

How can Egypt ever prosper under such a[276] system? What inducement have these poor Arabs to accumulate anything more than is sufficient for their daily wants? None. When we engaged servants at Heikota, at, say, 12 dollars per month, the first thing the sheik did was to take two dollars from each man, and very probably as much, or more, at the termination of their services. The beasts, the ants, the reptiles, and birds prey on one another; crocodiles on big fish, and big fish on little ones. There is no Salvation Army there, and if there were (I don’t want to be ironical, but Byron-ical) I do not think there exists a more preying community.

Two nellut and a maarif shot to-day.

March 20th.—This morning, just after breakfast, I took up my gun and went about 100 yards from camp, with the intention of shooting a baboon. But my heart smote me—they looked so awfully human—and I desisted; but I sat down and derived much amusement from watching enormous baboons and little monkeys gambolling by the water’s edge.

On returning to camp I found Suleiman conversing with a man wearing a belt full of cartridges (a rather uncommon spectacle). The conversation lasted some time. I was told afterwards that when he learned from Suleiman that we had been again by or in Abyssinian territory, he exclaimed, “You have to thank the good God that you came away[277] when you did. Had the Abyssinians seen your tents and all those boxes they would certainly have come down on you and killed everyone of you for the sake of the tents alone, to say nothing of the boxes.” He also informed him that about a month ago they killed a party of Hamrans, who went up there hunting from this neighbourhood, just for the sake of a gun or two, and whatever else they could lay their hands on.

A buck nellut, two wild boars, killed; two buffalos wounded. Temperature, 97° F. in shade.

March 21st.—Temperature, 100°. Nothing of interest to-day. A tetél, two nellut, and mehedehét shot; maariff wounded, but not secured. To-morrow we turn our faces to the Red Sea coast, and expect to reach Massawa in about three weeks time.

March 22nd.—Last night, just as I was about to retire for the night, I was sent for to Ali, the cook, who had just been stung on the thigh by a scorpion. He was evidently suffering great pain. I gave him a strong dose of ammonia and some brandy, at the same time advising him to poultice the wound after I had cauterised it. Suleiman having more faith in a more heroic mode of treatment, obtained a razor, and with it made a series of little gashes, remarking at the same time, “There, now Ali better after that;[278] the bad blood come from him now.” Of course I did not interfere, but allowed them both to have their own way, to their mutual satisfaction.

As we were now about to take our farewell of the river, I indulged in a swim at 6 a.m., not forgetting at the time to hurl in several large stones preparatory to my dive, as a warning to all crocodiles to vanish for a time.

At 10 a.m. the hamlah was on the move. Our journey this day was pursued under very unpleasant conditions, as we travelled frequently through large bushes of mimosa and kittars, tearing our helmets and clothes to pieces, and inflicting not a few scratches on our bodies. At 7 p.m. we encamped at Khor-Maiatah, about five miles from our old camp. The day’s sport was a crocodile and buffalo.