.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-

.. meta::
   :PG.Id: 45396
   :PG.Title: From the Cape to Cairo
   :PG.Released: 2014-04-14
   :PG.Rights: Public Domain
   :PG.Producer: Al Haines
   :DC.Creator: Ewart S. Grogan
   :DC.Creator: Arthur H. Sharp
   :DC.Title: From the Cape to Cairo
              The First Traverse of Africa from South to North
   :DC.Language: en
   :DC.Created: 1920
   :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg

======================
FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO
======================

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   .. _`I advanced with outstretched Hand`:

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   [Frontispiece: I advanced with outstretched Hand (missing from book)]

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      From the
      Cape to Cairo

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      The First Traverse of
      Africa from South to North

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      BY
      EWART \S. GROGAN
      AND
      ARTHUR \H. SHARP

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      \T. Nelson & Sons, Ltd. 

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   copyright info

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   extra publisher info

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      TO
      THE MEMORY OF
      THE GREATEST AND MOST FAR-SEEING
      OF
      BRITISH IMPERIAL STATESMEN,

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      THE RT. HON. CECIL JOHN RHODES,

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      THIS VOLUME
      IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
      BY
      EWART SCOTT GROGAN
      AND
      ARTHUR HENRY SHARP.

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   Government House,
   Buluwayo,

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   7th Sept., 1900.

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   My Dear Grogan,

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You ask me to write you a short introduction for
your book, but I am sorry to say that literary composition
is not one of my gifts, my correspondence and replies being
conducted by telegrams.

I must say I envy you, for you have done that which has
been for centuries the ambition of every explorer, namely,
to walk through Africa from South to North.  The
amusement of the whole thing is that a youth from Cambridge
during his vacation should have succeeded in doing that
which the ponderous explorers of the world have failed to
accomplish.  There is a distinct humour in the whole thing.
It makes me the more certain that we shall complete the
telegraph and railway, for surely I am not going to be beaten
by the legs of a Cambridge undergraduate.

Your success the more confirms one's belief.  The schemes
described by Sir William Harcourt as "wild cat" you have
proved are capable of being completed, even in that excellent
gentleman's lifetime.

As to the commercial aspect, every one supposes that the
railway is being built with the only object that a human being
may be able to get in at Cairo and get out at Cape Town.

This is, of course, ridiculous.  The object is to cut Africa
through the centre, and the railway will pick up trade all
along the route.  The junctions to the East and West coasts,
which will occur in the future, will be outlets for the traffic
obtained along the route of the line as it passes through the
centre of Africa.  At any rate, up to Buluwayo, where I am
now, it has been a payable undertaking, and I still think it
will continue to be so as we advance into the far interior.
We propose now to go on and cross the Zambesi just below
the Victoria Falls.  I should like to have the spray of the
water over the carriages.

I can but finish by again congratulating you, and by
saying that your success has given me great encouragement
in the work that I have still to accomplish.

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   Yours,
   \   \C. \J. RHODES.

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   PREFACE TO NEW EDITION.

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Since bringing out the first edition of this book, I have
revisited the United States, Australasia, and Argentina in order
that I might again compare the difficulties before us in Africa
with the difficulties which these new countries have already
overcome.  I am now more than ever satisfied that its
possibilities are infinitely great.  Of the fertility and natural
resources of the country I had no doubt.  But two great
stumbling-blocks loomed ahead: they were the prevalence
of malaria and the difficulty of initial development owing
to the dearth of navigable waterways.  The epoch-making
studies by Major Ross and other scientists of the influence
of the mosquito on the distribution of malaria have shewn
that we are within measurable distance of largely minimising
its ravages, if not of completely removing it from the
necessary risks of African life.  A comparison of the death-rates
in Calcutta, Hong-Kong, and other malarious regions with
the present rates has also proved how immense is the
influence of settlement on climate.  As to the other obstacle,
the question of access, I was amazed to find that in the
United States the railways practically have absorbed all the
carrying trade of the magnificent waterways, which intersect
the whole country east of the Rockies.  Naturally, these
waterways were of immense assistance in the original opening
up of the country, but now that the railways are constructed,
they are of little importance.

I would also point out to those who still profess mistrust
of the practical objects of railway construction in Africa, the
object-lesson which the trans-American lines afford.  They
were pushed ahead of all settlement into the great unknown
exactly as the Cape to Cairo line is being pushed ahead
to-day.  But there is this difference: in America they
penetrated silent wastes tenanted by naught else than the
irreconcilable Redskin, the prairie marmot, and the bison;
while in Africa they pass through lands rich in Nature's
products and teeming with peoples who do not recede before
the white man's march.

Another point: when the main railway system of Africa,
as sketched out by Mr. Rhodes, is complete, there will be
no single point as remote from a port as are some of the
districts in America which are to-day pouring out their
food-stuffs along hundreds of miles of rail.

In the words of the old Greek, "History is Philosophy
teaching by examples."  The world writhes with the
quickening life of change.  The tide of our supreme ascendancy
is on the ebb.  Nations, like men, are subject to disease.
Let us beware of fatty degeneration of the heart.  Luxury
is sweeping away the influences which formed our character.
It is as though our climate has been changed from the bleak
northern winds to the tropic's indolent ease.  Yet we have
still a chance.  While we sleep, broad tracks have been cut
for us by those whom we revile.  Far and wide our outposts
are awake, beckoning to the great army to sweep along the
tracks.  Let each man with means and muscles for the fray
go forth at least to see what empire is.  Clive, Hastings,
Rhodes, a thousand lesser men whose tombs are known only
to the forest breeze, have left us legacies of which we barely
dream.  Millions of miles of timber, metals, coal, lie waiting
for the breath of life, "pegged out" for Britain's sons.  In
these our destiny lies.  We live but once: let us be able,
when the last summons comes, to say with the greatest of us
all, "Tread me down.  Pass on.  I have done my work."

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   *CONTENTS.*

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   CHAP.

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I.  `The Cape to Beira and the Sabi`_
II.  `The Pungwe and Gorongoza's Plain--Second Expedition`_
III.  `The Zambezi and Shiré Rivers`_
IV.  `Chiperoni`_
V.  `British Central Africa and Lake Nyassa`_
VI.  `Karonga to Kituta across the Tanganyika Plateau`_
VII.  `The Chambesi`_
VIII.  `Tanganyika`_
IX.  `The Rusisi Valley`_
X.  `Lake Kivu`_
XI.  `The Volcanoes`_
XII.  `Mushari and its Cannibals`_
XIII.  `The Rutchuru Valley and the Albert Edward Lake`_
XIV.  `Katwe to Toro`_
XV.  `Toro to Mboga`_
XVI.  `Semliki Valley and Kavalli's Country`_
XVII.  `Albert Lake and Upper Nile to Wadelai`_
XVIII.  `Wadelai to Kero`_
XIX.  `Kero to Abu-Kuka and back to Bohr`_
XX.  `In Dinka-land`_
XXI.  `In Nuerland`_
XXII.  `The Sobat to Cairo`_
XXIII.  `The Trans-Continental Railway`_
XXIV.  `Native Questions`_

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   *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS*

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`I advanced with outstretched Hand`_ (missing from book) . . . *Frontispiece*

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`It was a gruesome Sight`_

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`And I was compelled to stoop down and grope`_

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`One or more of the neighbouring Chiefs came to pay his Respects`_

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`On the Track of the Cannibals`_

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`Balegga waiting for Elephant`_

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`There were numbers of Dinkas fishing here`_

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`Map of the Route`_

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.. _`THE CAPE TO BEIRA AND THE SABI`:

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   FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO.

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CHAPTER I.

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THE CAPE TO BEIRA AND THE SABI.

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To describe the first stage of the route from the Cape
to Cairo, that is to say, as far as the Zambesi,
which I accomplished four years ago, would, if time be
counted by progress, be reverting to the Middle Ages.
The journey to Buluwayo, which meant four dismal
days and three yet more dismal nights, in a most dismal
train, whose engine occasionally went off on its own
account to get a drink, and nine awful days and nine
reckless nights in a Gladstone bag on wheels, labelled coach,
can now be accomplished in, I believe, two and a half
days in trains that rival in comfort the best efforts of
our American cousins.  When I think of those awful
hundreds of miles through dreary wastes of sand and
putrefying carcases, the seemingly impossible country
that the Buluwayo road passed through, the water-courses,
the hills, the waterless stages, and the final
oasis, where one could buy a bottle of beer for 10s. 6d.,
and a cauliflower for 363., and that now men sit down
to their fresh fish or pheasant for breakfast, where the
old scramble daily took place for a portion of bully beef
and rice; and when I think that the fish and pheasant
epoch is already old history, then I know that the hand
of a mighty wizard is on the country, and that yet one
more name will go down to the coming ages which will
loom big midst the giants that have built up an Empire
such as the world has never seen.  When I think, too, of
my numerous friends in the country who have given
their heave, some a great heave, some a little heave, yet
a heave all together, and who toil on unaware of their
own heroism, turning aside as a jest the vituperation of
their countrymen; and when I think how I have seen
the old Viking blood, long time frozen in Piccadilly and
the clubs, burst forth in the old irresistible stream, then
I know that it is good to be an Englishman, and a great
pity fills me for those whose lives are cast in narrow
ways, and who never realise the true significance of
*Civis Britannicus sum*.

My first experience of Africa was gained in the second
Matabele war, when Rhodesia was yet young.  The
railway had only reached Mafeking, and my experiences
were not such as to make me desire a second visit.  But
the spirit of the veldt was upon me, and in comfortable
England these trials sank into the misty oblivion of the
past, and a short twelve months after I again started for
those inhospitable shores.

However, I will not weary the reader with what he has
had dinned into his ears for the last four years, by
describing Rhodesia; nor will I dilate on how, at Lisbon,
through a Bucellas-induced haze, I noticed that all the
men had a patch in their trousers, all the women were
ugly, all the food was dirty, and all the friendly-disposed
were thieves, nor will I hurt the feelings of the Deutsch
Ost Afrika Cie. by telling how badly managed their
boats are; how they are perambulating beershops,
disguised as liners; how conducive to sleep is a ten-strong
brass band at five yards, seized with religious enthusiasm
at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning--all these I will pass over,
knowing that a *Cicero redivivus* alone could do justice
to the theme.

Beyond this, suffice it to say, that on February 28th
of the year of our Lord 1898, Arthur Henry Sharp and
Ewart Scott Grogan, in company of sundry German
officers and beer enthusiasts, took part in the usual
D.O.A.'s Liner manoeuvre of violently charging a
sandbank in the bay of Beira on a flood-tide, to the
ear-smashing accompaniment of the German National
Anthem.  In the intervals of waiting to be floated, and
finding out how many of our loads had been lost, we
amused ourselves by catching sharks, which swarmed
round the stern of the vessel.  Beira, as every one knows,
is mainly composed of galvanized iron, sun-baked sand,
drinks, and Portuguese ruffians, and is inhabited by a
mixed society of railway employés, excellent fellows,
Ohio wags, and German Jews.  The Government
consists of a triumvirate composed of a "king," who also
at odd times imports railways, the British Consul, and
the *Beira Post*, and sundry minor Portuguese officials,
who provide entertainment for the town, such as
volley-firing down the main streets, dredging operations in the
lagoon at the back of the town, bugle-blowing, etc., etc.
The dredging operations and the subsequent depositing
of the mud on the highways were undertaken, I believe,
in a friendly spirit of rivalry as to the death-rate with
Fontesvilla (a salubrious riverside resort about thirty
miles inland); a consequent rise to thirty in one day
established a record that, I believe, is still unbeaten.
There was a Portuguese corvette in the bay, and I had
the pleasure of dining on board; the doctor, a most
charming specimen of the Portuguese gentleman (and a
Portuguese gentleman is a gentleman), helped me to
pass my things through the Custom House, and those
who know Beira will understand what that means.  At
Beira I met many old friends, amongst them the
ever-green Mr. Lawley, indefatigable as of yore, and was
surprised to see the immense strides that the town had
made in fourteen months.  If it is not washed away some
day, it should become second only in importance to
Delagoa Bay.  Before starting north, we determined to
have a few months' shooting, and with this end in view
took train to Umtali with the necessary kit.  The new
site of Umtali township is a more commanding position
than the old one, and already a large number of fine
buildings had been put up, but now that the temporary
activity consequent on its being the railway terminus
has passed away, I cannot foresee much future for the
place, as the pick of the mines appear to be over the
new Anglo-Portuguese boundary, and will be worked
from Macequece.

We decided to try the Sabi, a river running parallel to,
and south of, the Pungwe, having heard great accounts
of the lions in that part; and with this end in view,
hired a wagon, which after many days landed us and
ours at Mtambara's Kraal on the Umvumvumvu, a nice
stream running into the Udzi, which is a tributary of
the Sabi.  Mtambara was formerly a chief of considerable
importance, but the advent of the white man has
reduced him to the position of a mere figurehead; he
is a phthisical old gentleman of no physique, decked out
in a dirty patch of cloth and a bandolier of leather and
white beads; he squats and takes snuff, takes snuff and
squats, and had not yet joined the Blue Ribbon Army.
There being no road to the Udzi, we had to send the
wagon back and collect carriers for our loads.  Two
days' hard walking brought us to the edge of the high
veldt, whence the path dived down the most fantastic
limestone valley, between high cliffs thickly clothed
with foliage, and topped by rows of square rock pillars,
splashed with the warm tints of the moss and lichens
that festooned their sides.  At our feet lay the bush-clad
plain of the Udzi, a carpet of green picked out with
the occasional silver of the river itself, and in the hazy
distance stretched an unbroken range of purple hills,
backed by the silvery green and dull smoke-red of sunset.
On the third day we camped on the Udzi, about six
miles above its junction with the Sabi.  The whole
country is covered with low black scrub, and though
there are many impala[#] and small buck, there are very
few large antelopes, so after a few days' inspection we
came to the conclusion that it was not good enough, and
decided to return to Umtali and risk the climate of my
old shooting grounds on the Pungwe.

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[#] A small antelope (*Æpyceros melampus*).

.. vspace:: 2

Sharp went back by the road to pick up the loads and
sick men at Mtambara's, while I followed up the Udzi
for about twenty miles, and then struck across country
to reach Umtali quickly in order to send out a wagon.
After leaving the river-basin, I camped on a kopje about
1,000 ft. high, where I had one of the finest views it has
ever been my fortune to see.

Beyond the valley lay range upon range of hills,
stretching far as the eye could reach; fleecy clouds
covered the sun, bursting with every conceivable shade,
from delicate rose to deepest purple, backed by that
wondrous green (or is it blue?) that so often in the tropics
accompanies Phoebus to his rest; rarely one may see it
at home in summer-time, as intangible as it is delicate,
and, permeating the whole landscape, a sinuous mesh of
molten red, a ghostly sea from which the peaks reared
their purple silhouettes, until they faded into the
uncertainty of lilac mists, like some billowy sea nestling
to the bosom of the storm-cloud.  From here I walked
to Umtali, a distance of sixty miles, in nineteen hours,
as I was anxious about the sick men at Mtambara's, and
long will the ripple of the ensuing brandy-and-soda linger
in my memory.  After securing the services of a wagon,
I had to lay up for a couple of days with fever and a bad
foot, but turned out for a concert given as a
house-warming by the latest hotel.  It was a typical South
African orgie, in a long, low, wooden room, plainly
furnished with deal tables, packed to overflowing with the
most cosmopolitan crowd imaginable, well-bred 'Varsity
men rubbing shoulders with animal-faced Boers,
leavened with Jews, parasites, bummers, nondescripts, and
every type of civilized savage.  Faces yellow with fever,
faces coppered by the sun, faces roseate with drink, and
faces scarred, keen, money-lustful, and stamped with
every vice and some of the virtues; a substratum of
bluff, business advertisement,
pat-on-the-back-kick-you-when-you're-not-looking
air permeated everything,
and keen appreciation of both musical garbage and real
talent.

Starting for Salisbury, where I wanted to look up some
old friends, I was made the victim of one of those subtle
little jests so much appreciated by many of the petty
officials in South Africa, who are for ever reminding one
of their importance.  I turned up at three, the
advertised time for the coach's departure, and, finding no
mules or signs of activity, learned that (being an official
case) three meant three Cape time, or four Umtali time.
So I went back to my hotel, and again turning up at ten
to four, found that the coach had left at a quarter to
four without blowing the bugle, and knowing that there
was one passenger short; this necessitated a nine-mile
walk to old Umtali in the rain, which, after three days'
fever, was very enjoyable.  The company, a pleasant
one, was somewhat marred by the presence of a fat Jew
of the most revolting type; unkempt curly black hair,
lobster-like, bloodshot eyes with the glazed expression
peculiar to tipplers and stale fish, a vast nose
pronouncedly Bacchanalian, the hues of which varied from yellow
through green to livid purple, and lips that would shame
any negro, purple as the extremity of the nose, a small,
straggling moustache and a runaway chin, the whole
plentifully smeared with an unpleasant exudation, kept
perpetually simmering by his anxiety lest some one
should steal a march on him, made a loathsome *tout
ensemble* that is by no means rare in South Africa.  The
way that creature fought for food!  Well!  I have seen
hyænas and negroes fighting for food, but never such
hopelessly abandoned coarseness as he displayed at
every meal on the road, and for no apparent reason, as
there was plenty for all, and by general consent he had
the monopoly of any dish that he touched.

Salisbury, which is quite the aristocratic resort of
Rhodesia, had made very little progress during my
eighteen months' absence, though there had been some
activity in the mining districts.  The business of
ferreting out the murderers in the late rebellion was still
proceeding, and I saw about thirty condemned negroes
in the gaol, and more were daily added.  I went to one
of the sittings and saw so many gruesome relics, burnt
pipes, charred bones, skulls, etc., that I did not repeat
my visit.  I was forcibly struck by the absolute justice
meted out: the merest technicality of law or the
faintest shade of doubt sufficing for acquittal.  Many
of the natives in custody thus escaped, although their
guilt was certain and well known.  My return journey
to Umtali was enlivened by the company of one of the
civic dignitaries of Salisbury, who was going to "give
it hot to Rhodes," shake him up a bit, and generally put
things straight.  In one day I had the whole future
policy of Rhodesia and all outstanding difficulties like
labour, etc., disposed of as though they were the merest
bagatelles.  So struck was I with the masterly grasp of
gigantic questions that I fell into a profound slumber,
whereupon, realizing that after all I was but an ordinary
mortal, and consequently possessed of but ordinary
intelligence, he roused me, and in five minutes sketched
out a plan that would make my intended trip north a
certain success; this, with more personal advice on a
score of points, lasted till Umtali, where we found
so-called celebrations in full swing.  These celebrations (or
barmen's benefits, as they should more appropriately be
called) are of common occurrence, and are invariably
got up on any sort of excuse; they take the outward
form of a few pieces of bunting, and result in every one
but the licensed few finding themselves next morning
considerably poorer, and in an abnormal demand for
Seidlitz powders.  Society at Umtali groups itself into
two classes, those who have liquor and those who have
not, and each class into three divisions: first, a small
number who have killed lions and say very little about
it; secondly, a large number of persons who have not
killed lions, but tell you they have, and say much about
it; and thirdly, a very large number who have not killed
lions, but think it necessary to apologize for the fact by
telling you that they have not lost any.





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.. _`The Pungwe and Gorongoza's Plain--Second Expedition`:

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   CHAPTER II.


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   THE PUNGWE AND GORONGOZA'S PLAIN.

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"The bulky, good-natured lion, whose only means of defence are the
natural ones of tooth and claw, has no chance against the jumping little
rascal, who pops behind a bush and pokes a gun straight at the bigger
brute's heart."--MARIE CORELLI.

.. vspace:: 2

Instead of following the Urema as on a previous
trip, we marched up the Pungwe almost as far as
Sarmento, an old Portuguese settlement, and then struck
off north to a long lagoon that lies on the western
extremity of Gorongoza's plain.  Here we found enormous
quantities of game, thousands of wildebeeste and zebra,
and many impala, waterbuck, and hartebeeste.  At night
a hyæna came and woke us up by drinking the soapy
water in our indiarubber bath, which was lying just
outside our tent.  We turned out and drove him away, but
had no sooner climbed into our beds again than he
returned and bolted with the bath, and, before we could
make him drop it, had mauled it to such an extent that
it was of no further use.

As after the first night we heard no lions, we decided to
move across to the Urema.  On the way we sighted three
eland, but though Sharp and I chased them for about
eight miles we were unsuccessful.

Towards the Urema the plain opens out to a great
width and becomes very swampy, and as the water had
just subsided, it was covered with short sweet grass.
Here we saw between 40,000 and 50,000 head of game,
mostly wildebeeste, which opened out to let us pass and
then closed in again behind.  It was a wonderful sight;
vast moving masses of life, as far as the eye could reach.
A fortnight later they had eaten up the grass, and most
of them were scattered about the surrounding country.
Some of the swamps were very bad, and we were finally
compelled to camp in the middle far from any wood.

The next day we struck camp and marched up the
Urema to a belt of trees which we could see in the
distance.  Several good streams, the most important being
the Umkulumadzi, flow down from the mountains, and
meandering across the plain, empty themselves into the
Urema.  Sharp and I went on ahead of our caravan,
and keeping well to the south-west to avoid swamps,
came on a nice herd of buffalo which we stalked.  At
our shots a few turned off into some long tufts of grass,
while the main body went straight away.  One,
evidently sick, came edging towards us, and I gave him two
barrels, Sharp doing likewise; I then gave him two
more and dropped him.  I kept my eye on where he lay
as we advanced to get a shot at the others, who had
again stood about 100 yards farther on, and he suddenly
rose at thirty yards and charged hard, nose in air, foaming
with blood, and looking very nasty.  I put both barrels
in his chest without the slightest effect, and then started
for the river, doing level time and shouting to Sharp to
do likewise; all the crocodiles in the universe seemed
preferable to that incarnation of hell.  But Sharp had
not yet learnt his buffalo, and waited for him.  I heard
a shot, and stopped in time to see the beast stagger for
a second with a broken jaw, then come on in irresistible
frenzy; but still Sharp stood as though to receive a
cavalry charge, crack rang out the rifle, and the great
brute came pitching forward on to its nose, and rolled
within three yards of Sharp's feet with a broken fetlock.
It was a magnificent sight, and the odd chance in a
hundred turned up.  Now Sharp knows his buffalo, and
is prepared to back himself, when one turns nasty, to
do his hundred in 9-4/5 seconds.

Except an elephant, there is nothing harder to stop
than a charging buffalo, as, when once he has made up
his mind, he means business; there is no turning him,
and if he misses he will round and come again and hunt
a man down like a dog.  Holding his head in the air as
he does in practice, and not low down as in the picture-books,
he gives no mark except the chest, which is rarely
a dropping shot.  Having hacked off his head (the
buffalo's), we went in pursuit of our caravan, and found
that Mahony had pitched camp in the most perfect spot
imaginable.  A strip of open park-like bush ran down
from the mountains, cutting the vast Gorongoza plain
into two portions, and abutting on the river, where it had
spread into a small lagoon with banks 20 ft. high.
Beyond lay another plain stretching away to the bush that
lies at the foot of the ridge which runs north and south,
and is the watershed of the Urema and the coast.  In
all directions from our camp we could see herds of game
grazing.  Flocks of fowl flighted up and down the watercourse,
huge crocodiles leered evilly at us as they floated
like logs on the oily water, broken only by the
plomp-plomp of the numerous fish, and now and then the head
of a mud-turtle rose like a ghost from below, without
even a ripple, drew a long hissing breath, and as silently
vanished.  As there was lions' spoor by the water, we
strolled out after tea and dropped a brace of zebra by
the edge of the bush.  After an eventful night, during
which leopards coughed, lions roared, hyænas dashed
into camp and bolted with my best waterbuck head, we
all turned out early.  Sharp went down the river,
while Mahony and I went to our baits.  The first had
completely vanished, and the second had been dragged
some three hundred yards under the shade of a
palm-tree.  Here we picked up the spoor of a big lion, who
had evidently got our wind as we left camp.  We
followed for about a mile along the bush, when Mahony
saw him watching us round the corner of an ant-hill.
The lion, seeing that he was observed, doubled like a
flash, and before Mahony could fire, had dashed into a
small patch of thick jungle.  We lost no time in
following, and were carefully picking our way through the
undergrowth, when I heard a deep grunt about twenty
yards to my right, and saw him, tail straight in the air,
vanishing through the bush.  Mahony rushed along the
jungle; while I made a desperate burst through the
thorn into the open.  I just caught a glimpse of the lion
going through the scattered palms towards the open
plain.  When I reached the end of the palms, he was
going hard about two hundred yards away.  Using the
double .500 magnum, I removed his tooth with the first
barrel, and with the second pulled him up short with a
shot in the hind leg.  Mahony then arrived on the scene
and gave him a .500, while I finished him off with two
shots from the .303.  He was a very old lion with his
teeth much broken, but had a good mane, and measured
as he lay from tip to tip 9 ft. 10-½ in.

As the moon was now full, I determined to sit up,
and having killed a zebra close to two small palms, I
built a screen of palm-leaves and awaited events.  The
first two nights nothing came but mosquitoes, and the
third night two hunting dogs turned up, but I didn't fire
for fear of disturbing some lions which I could hear in
the distance.  These dogs are very beautiful animals
with long bushy tails.  They hunt in large packs, and
must destroy an immense quantity of game.  Shortly
after the dogs had vanished a lion came to the jungle
which was about four hundred yards away, and
apparently detecting my scent, in spite of the competition
of the zebra, which was three days old, vented his
disapproval in three stupendous roars.  This is one of the
few occasions on which I heard a lion really roar, though
every night for months I have heard packs of them in
all directions.  The usual cry is a sort of vast sigh taken
up by the chorus with a deep sob, sob, sob, or a curious
rumbling noise.  The true roar is indescribable.  It is
so deceptive as to distance, and seems to permeate the
whole universe, thundering, rumbling, majestic.  There
is no music in the world so sweet.  Let me recommend
it to the Wagner school!  Thousands of German devotees,
backed by thousands of beers, could never approach
the soul-stirring glory of one *Felis leo* at home.  I then
heard him going away to the north, rumbling to
himself at intervals, and at 5 a.m. left my scherm[#] and
started in pursuit, hoping to come up with him at
daybreak in the plain.  I could still hear his occasional
rumblings, and, taking a line by the moon, made terrific
pace.  After leaving the ridge, I plunged into a dense
bank of fog that lay on the plain, but still managed to
keep my line, as the moon showed a lurid red and
remained visible till sunrise.  The lion had stopped his
meditations for some time, and imperceptibly the light
of day had eaten into the fog, when suddenly my
gun-boy "Rhoda" gripped me by the arm, his teeth
chattering like castanets, and said that he saw the lion in
front.  At the same instant I thought that I saw a body
moving in the mist about seventy yards away, now
looking like an elephant, now like a jackal.  Then the mist
swirled round, wrapping it in obscurity once more.  I
followed carefully, when suddenly an eddy in the fog
disclosed a male lion thirty yards away, wandering along
as if the whole world belonged to him.  He rolled his
head from side to side, swished his tail, poked his nose
into every bunch of grass, then stopped and stood
broadside on.  I raised the .500, but found that I had
forgotten to remove the bunch of cloth which served
for a night sight, and, before this was remedied, the
chance was gone.  Again I followed and again he turned,
when I dropped him with a high shoulder shot.  As the
grass was only 3 in. high and the lion not more than
thirty yards distant, we lay flat and awaited the turn
of events.  He lashed out, tearing up the ground with
his paws, then stood up and looked like going away.  I
fired again.  This gave him my whereabouts.  He swung
round and began stalking towards me to investigate
matters, so I snatched my .500 and knocked him over
with one in the chest.  We then retired to a more
respectful distance.  But he rose again, and once more
I fired.  Still he fought on, rolling about, rumbling,
groaning, and making frantic efforts to rise, till I crept
up close and administered a .303 forward shot in the
stomach, which settled him.  He died reluctantly even
then.  It is astonishing how difficult lions are to kill,
if the first shot is not very well placed.  I attribute it
to the fact that after the first shot there is practically
no subsequent shock to the system.  This is especially
remarkable in the larger brutes, such as the elephant,
rhino, or buffalo.  If the first shot is misplaced, one
can fire shot after shot, even through the heart, without
immediate effect.  He was a good lion, in the prime of
life, with mane, teeth, and claws perfect.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Fence or screen.

.. vspace:: 2

Sharp meanwhile had been making his first acquaintance
with that ingenious device of the devil's, the
jigger,[#] which confined him to the camp for a week with
a very ugly foot.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] *The jigger*, the "pulex penetrans."

.. vspace:: 2

Mahony, who had gone down-river, saw a male lion,
but failed to stop him with a long shot, but the next
day in the same place came unexpectedly on two
lionesses, both of which he wounded.  As they took refuge
in the grass, which was very extensive and thick, and
he saw a cub, he sent into camp for another gun.  Sharp
turned out in spite of his foot, and I followed immediately
when I returned to camp and found the note.  After a
hard spurt of six miles, I met them coming back in
triumph with the pelt of one lioness and five small rolls
of fur and ferocity slung on poles.  The cubs had been
captured with difficulty.  One only succumbed after
being bowled over with a sun helmet.  They were great
fun in camp, and throve amazingly on cooked liver, of
which they devoured enormous quantities.  Two of
them were males, and three of them (one male and
two females[#]) are now disporting themselves in the
Society's Gardens in Regent's Park.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] One female has since died.

.. vspace:: 2

Hoping to see something of the other lioness or the
lion I returned to the same place next day, and after
examining the neighbourhood of the grass, pushed on
still farther to the centre of the swamp.  In this swamp
the river spreads out into a vast network of channels,
with a small central lagoon.  Owing to the dryness of
the season, it was possible to cross most of the channels,
which were then merely mud-troughs, and to reach the
lagoon, which was about four hundred yards wide.
Here I witnessed a most extraordinary sight.  About
fifty hippo were lying about in the water, and on the
banks.  As the water was not in most parts deep enough
to cover them, they presented the appearance of so
many huge seals basking in the sun.  They climbed in
and out, strolled about, rolled in, splashing, shouting,
blowing, and entirely ignoring my presence.  After
watching them for some time, I sent my boys to the far
end to drive them past.  The boys yelled and threw
stones at them.  Suddenly the hippo took alarm and
rushed *en masse* for the narrow channel of the waterway.
Down this they swarmed, kicking the water 30 ft. in
the air, throwing their heads back, roaring, thundering,
and crashing along, while I stood on the bank at twenty
yards and took photographs, all of which unfortunately
failed.

.. _`It was a gruesome Sight`:

.. figure:: images/img-033.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: It was a gruesome Sight.

   It was a gruesome Sight.

The banks of every channel and mud-hole were lined
with huge yellow masses of crocodiles; thousands and
thousands of wildfowl (mainly Egyptian and spur-wing
geese), which were nesting in the hippo holes, kept up a
ceaseless din; herds and herds of game appeared as
though dancing in the mirage, and the whole scene
was one to delight the heart of a lover of nature.
There indeed one felt one was far from the madding
crowd.

During the night we were awakened by the most
terrific yells, and found that some crocodiles had gone
into the boys' quarters.  Fortunately they contented
themselves with removing about two hundredweight of
meat.

As the lions appeared to have left the country, we
moved up the river to our original camp for a week to
give the plain a rest, and bagged an eland.  Sharp
secured a good lioness in the lion donga.

On our return I shot a zebra for bait in the strip of
bush.  Turning out somewhat reluctantly at 5.30 a.m. with
no hopes of success, as the lions had been very quiet
all night, I was cutting the wind rather fine when I saw
a number of birds sitting at a respectful distance from
the carcase.  Approaching cautiously, I saw some brute
apparently pulling at something, but could not see
clearly what it was, as it was still more or less dark.  I
knew it must be a lion from its bulk, yet dared not think
so.  I retraced my steps for the wind and crept up to
within sixty yards under cover of a stunted palm.  Peering
cautiously round, I saw, in the middle of a circle of
some two hundred vultures, a grand old lion, leisurely
gnawing the ribs.  Behind him were four little jackals
sitting in a row.  It would be difficult to imagine a more
perfect picture.  In the background stretched the limitless
plain, streaked with mists shimmering in the growing
light of the rising sun.  Clumps of graceful palms fenced
in a sandy arena where the zebra had fallen.  Round its
attenuated remains, just out of reach of the swish of the
monarch's tail, was a solid circle of waiting vultures,
craning their bald necks, chattering and hustling one
another.  The more daring quartette sat within the
magic circle like four little images of patience, while the
lion in all his might and matchless grandeur of form,
leisurely chewed and scrunched the tit-bits, magnificently
regardless of the watchful eyes of the encircling
*canaille*.  Loath to break the spell, I watched the scene
for fully ten minutes, then, as he showed signs of moving,
I took the chance afforded of a broadside shot and
bowled him over with the .500 magnum.  I tried to reload
but the gun jammed.  The lion rose, and after looking
round for the cause of the interruption, without success,
started off at a gallop.  With a desperate effort I closed
the gun and knocked him over again.  He was a fine
black-maned lion, and measured as he lay in a straight
line from tip to tip 10 ft. 4 in.--a very unusual length.

Another morning, taking an early stroll, I met an old
cow hippo and a calf, wandering about far from the
river.  I accompanied them for some time watching
them, but when I caught the youngster by the tail the
old lady turned round in answer to its squeals, and
opening her mouth to its fullest extent, some 6 ft., gave
vent to a terrific roar, which reminded me that it was
breakfast-time.  On another occasion presumably the
same pair strolled past within one hundred yards of
our breakfast-table, but they out-distanced the boys
who went in pursuit, and plunged into the river, easy
winners.

As Sharp had shot a brace of hippo in our pool, we
had them dragged out on to the sandbank opposite, and
built a grass screen at the lower end of the hippo tunnel
which led down through the bush from the high ground
above the river.  Fortunately, as it afterwards
transpired, we took the precaution to block up the top
entrance with stones.  Here Sharp and I posted
ourselves for the night in hopes of lions.  When all was
quiet, scores of vast crocodiles came out of the pool, and
so successfully did they rend and tear the huge carcases
that in the morning nothing remained but a few bones.
It was a gruesome sight, the great loathsome reptiles
tearing vast blocks of hide like brown paper, then
crawling away to digest their morsel, then again advancing to
the attack, while a row of hyænas sat silhouetted against
the sky on the high bank opposite, or trotted uneasily to
and fro, moaning and howling unceasingly, yet fearing
to approach the evil mass of reptiles.  Crowds of
mosquitoes and sandflies added their plaintive song.
Suddenly with a mighty rush five hippo dashed down the
bank, then, recovering from their alarm, strolled quietly
by at five yards, the moonlight gleaming white on their
wet backs.

Having heard some lions at sunrise to the east I
started in pursuit, and, following along an extensive
dry donga that cut through the plain, found some fresh
spoor which I lost in the endless sea of dry long grass
that covered the greater part of the plain.  This I fired,
and then came round by the river, hoping to see some
of them if they were driven from their cover.  When
nearly home I saw a lion stand up in the low scrub
about a thousand yards away.  He had our wind, and
started across the bare plain at a gallop, making for the
long grass.  I set off in hot pursuit with my gun-boy.
When the lion stopped to look I stopped, hoping that
he would think I was not following him.  Whereupon
my boy, who would never learn the trick, sailed
gracefully over my shoulder.  The lion, apparently taking
us for some harmless mountebanks, slackened his
pace, and only reached the grass about five hundred
yards ahead of me.  Rushing in on his tracks, I was
fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of his mane above
the grass, as he crossed a place where the grass was
rather shorter than elsewhere.  He had turned at right
angles from his course, and had ceased to worry
himself about me.  Following hard, I got a chance at sixty
yards, and knocked him over with a shot from the .500
magnum high on the shoulder.  Owing to the smoke,
the lack of landmarks, and the height of the grass
(about 4 ft. 6 in.), I lost his exact whereabouts, and
after slipping in another cartridge, walked past him.
He suddenly rose at twenty-five yards and charged
straight.  The incredible rapidity of his onslaught and
the cover afforded by the grass rendered aiming
impossible.  I merely swung the gun on him and dropped
him at four yards with a shot in the neck, then hastily
retired.  After waiting for some time and hearing no
sound, I again advanced, this time with the greatest
caution.  I could soon distinguish his shoulder at ten
yards between the grass.  Not wishing to damage his
skin unnecessarily, I took my small rifle and fired at his
shoulder.  The shot had hardly struck when he again
rose and charged like lightning.  Another lucky shot
from the second barrel, which entered the old wound,
laid him out.  His head was within three yards of my
feet.  Even then he would not die, although unable
to rise, and it needed three more shots to finish him.
This was the first time I had been charged by a lion,
and I was amazed at the incredible rapidity of their
movements.  My respect for friend lion increased a
thousandfold.

The following day was evidently a lion's holiday, for
Mahony and I, following the river to where I had dropped
a zebra, put up two lionesses out of some scrub.  I hit
them both with a right and left.  Mahony also hit one,
which we secured.  But the other one crossed the
river, making a clean jump of 34 ft., and reached a large
patch of long grass where we lost her.  The wind dropped,
and consequently the grass would not burn.  Nor could
we follow her spoor.  Sharp, crossing the plain to the
Umkulumadzi, met a lion and a lioness, and killed the
lion with a shot in the neck.  On his way home he met
another lion, and with a shot at ten yards from the
10-bore removed a bunch of the mane.  The lion jumped
into a small patch of impassable reed from which he
could not be induced to move, so was wisely allowed to
stay, as handling a gun inside would have been
impossible.  This was our grand finale at lion camp, and
we again moved to our old spot by the water-hole in
the jungle, but without success.

The variation in the Lichtenstein hartebeeste was
very remarkable, the type in this jungle being a heavy
beast without face markings, the frontal bone very
prominent and the white rump indistinct, while near
Gorongoza's hills they were smaller, had a white blaze
on the forehead, and were without the peculiar frontal
prominence, the rump, too, being very white.  The
nocturnal attentions of the hyænas were most annoying,
diabolical peals of laughter in rapid succession making
sleep almost impossible.  Failing to find buffalo, we
again marched up the Pungwe, and to the lagoon where
we had started proceedings.

The first morning after losing a splendid eland, in
company with Mahony, I met a fretful porcupine taking
his morning constitutional.  We waited till he walked
within five yards and then gave chase.  For a time the
pace was hot, till I headed him off, and grabbed him,
by the long hair on his neck, which promptly gave way
(I mean the hair).  I was again closing on him, when he
suddenly backed, driving one quill through my boot,
1-½ in. through my little toe, and a dozen others into
my leg, one through the tendon.  One of my boys
was badly mangled in a similar manner, and it was only
after giving the fretful one a playful tap on the skull
that we made him fast.  I regret to say that two days
afterwards he died.

As the officials of a so-called Gorongoza Development
Co., with its headquarters on the Dingi-Dingi,
had seized our boys on their way to Fontesvilla with
trophies, and ill-used them, we marched to the Pungwe,
where I branched off to arrange matters, the others
following the river towards Sarmento.  I found seven
or eight yellow-visaged creatures, a Portuguese-French
mixture, who in three years had disposed of a capital of,
I believe, some hundreds of thousands of francs, with
the stupendous result of an asset comprising about fifty
acres of castor oil (one of the most ineradicable weeds of
the country).  The Governor, who was very polite, told
me that he was entitled to levy shooting licences, and
after some talk we closed the matter with a payment
of £10, which I should advise the shareholders of the
Gorongoza Development Co. to keep an eye on, as it is
the only return they are ever likely to see.  He also told
me that he should like a lion hunt, and had even sat
up by his fowl-house for that purpose.  Not long after
we met him, vinously inclined, in Beira--the cheque had
been cashed.  On the Pungwe we watched some native
blacksmiths at work.  Several of their tools were very
ingenious.

Again we marched north, and striking the Pungwe
by Tiga's Kraal, crossed the island and the Dingi-Dingi,
and eventually camped at the junction of a broad sandy
river with the Urema.  Sharp bagged a good buffalo
with a 42-inch head the first night; and the following
morning we found that a male lion had visited the
carcase, but retired before our arrival.  We tossed up
as to who should sit up that night, and I was unlucky
enough to win; unlucky, in that I spent one of the
most awful nights it has ever been my lot to endure.
Having built a small platform, 6 ft. from the ground,
I repaired thither with a thick blanket at sunset.  Soon
about thirty hyænas appeared, and continued fighting,
snarling, and uttering diabolical yells all night; while
battalions of mosquitoes refreshed themselves at my
expense, biting my knees, even through a camel's-hair
blanket and flannel trousers.

At last, about an hour before dawn, I fell asleep, and
was awakened at sunrise by a scuffling noise behind me.
I turned round, on murder intent, expecting to find a
belated hyæna, and beheld, ten yards away, a grand
old lion slowly dragging the carcase under the shade of
a tree.  Still half asleep, I reached for the 10-bore, and
killed him with a shot high on the shoulder, and went
back to breakfast, feeling thoroughly ashamed of myself.
I consider sitting up over a bait an unpardonable form
of murder, if there is the remotest possibility of shooting
a beast in fair hunt.

A few days later, when on the way to our camp in
the jungle, I overshot the track in some long grass,
and spent a terrible day in consequence.  I could not
be certain that I had crossed it, or if I had crossed, of
not doing so again if I returned.  The only safe course
was to follow some definite direction.  I judged the
whereabouts of the junction of the Gorongoza plain
and the Urema, and went straight ahead through thick
and thin.  Some of the bush was terrible, and the only
way to pass was by climbing along the boughs of the
trees above.  The experience gave me a clear idea of
how people lose themselves irretrievably, as I found it
needed a tremendous effort of will to compel myself to
go on and on.  The temptation to try another direction
is almost invincible, and nothing is easier than to lose
one's nerves on these occasions.  However, I at length
emerged, torn and bleeding from head to foot, and
throwing myself into the river, regardless of crocodiles,
lay there, drinking in the water through every pore.
Much refreshed, but with the unpleasant prospect of
spending the night there, I climbed up on to the path
that runs along the river-bank, and saw to my amazement
the spoor of two horses; this I followed up; and
half an hour later, as it was getting too dark to see, I
caught the glimmer of a fire in the distance.  Here I
found Mr. H. S. H. Cavendish of Lake Rudolph fame,
and Mr. Dodson of the British Museum, who had just
arrived on a shooting trip.

After an uncomfortable night in a horse's nose-bag
and a cloud of mosquitoes, I hurried to my camp to
relieve Sharp's anxiety, meeting a search-party of
natives on the road.  Next day I returned to Cavendish,
to see how the fever from which he was suffering had
progressed.  During lunch a native rushed in, saying
that he had been bitten by a night-adder (one of the
most deadly snakes in Africa).  I promptly collared him
by the arm, stopped the circulation with some string,
slit his finger crosswise with my pocket-knife, exploded
some gunpowder in the cut, while Dodson administered
repeated subcutaneous injections of permanganate of
potash.  Meanwhile the arm, chest, and left side swelled
to the most appalling proportions.  Cavendish then
appeared on the scene with a bottle of whisky, three
parts of which we poured down his throat.  Then we
told off three strong men to run the patient round the
camp till he subsided like a log into a drunken stupor.
The following morning he was still alive, but the
swelling was enormous, and the colour of his nails indicated
incipient gangrene.  Not knowing what else to do, we
put a pot on the fire, and made a very strong solution
of the permanganate which we kept gently simmering,
while six stalwart natives forced the unfortunate's hand
in and out.  His yells were fearful, but the cure was
complete.  The swelling rapidly subsided, the nails
resumed their normal colour, and the following morning,
with the exception of the loss of the skin of his hand, he
was comparatively well.

A note from Sharp informed me that the Portuguese
ruffians of the Gorongoza Development Co. had again
raided our camp when he was out shooting, had
removed the whole concern, beaten, threatened to shoot,
and eventually made prisoners of all our boys.

This considerate proceeding they repeated with
Mr. Illingworth's party.  Needless to remark, our protests
were received by the British Consul with the diplomatic
interest due to the subject, a request to formulate them
on paper, and an intimation that our trouble would be
superfluous, as nothing could be done.

Having heard that another Portuguese official, who
was reported to be looking for me, was in the vicinity, I
asked him to come to dinner.  Whereupon he refrained
from arresting me, and asked me to stay with him
instead; accordingly I returned with him to his station,
and the following morning marched into Fontesvilla and
caught the train to Beira, where I found Sharp busy
packing and sending off the trophies.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`The Zambezi and Shiré Rivers`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER III.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE ZAMBESI AND SHIRÉ RIVERS.

.. vspace:: 2

Though very loath to leave our happy hunting-grounds,
we had to tear ourselves away and make
preparations for the long march north, so went down
to Durban to lay in a few necessaries, an extra .303 in
case of accidents, and to obtain the time and rate of
our chronometer from the observatory.

On our return to Beira we embarked on the *Peters*
for Chinde, finding as fellow-passengers the Congo
Telegraph Expedition under Mr. Mohun--six white men,
one hundred Zanzibaris, thirty donkeys, and a few
cows, etc.

To our horror, on disembarking the next day, we
found that all our heavy luggage, tents, etc., had been
put on the wrong boat at Beira, and were on their
way to Delagoa Bay.  As the telegraph line is generally
in a state of collapse, owing to the white ants eating
the posts, and to vagaries on the part of the Portuguese
or natives, it took some days to inform the agent.

Chinde offers no attractions except to those who are
waiting for a home-going boat, so we made up our minds
to go on to Chiromo, and have a little shooting till our
things turned up, and we could proceed on our journey.

The African Lakes Corporation, to whom we had
consigned a splendid full-plate camera, denied any
knowledge of it.  We afterwards found that it had
passed through their hands, and had been stowed on
a sunny and rain-swept verandah for three months,
with a result that may be imagined.  They had also
inadvertently overlooked thirty of our cases of
provisions, which we found at the last moment in their
store.

Having borrowed a tent from Mr. Mohun, and being
tired of sardines as a staple article of diet, we made a
start up-river, only to find ourselves worse off afloat
than we had been ashore, the Company we had the
misfortune to travel by having apparently realized how
to provide the minimum of comfort with the maximum
of charge.

On each side of the steamer a barge was made fast,
so progress was not rapid.  It was the dry season.
The river was very low, and intervals of rest on
sandbanks were of frequent occurrence.  The banks being
very high, one very rarely saw the neighbouring country.
No game was ever to be seen, while on the broad river
only an occasional native canoe or a gunboat, bustling
down-stream, broke the monotony.

Every night the boat tied up to lay in a supply of
wood, sometimes near a native village, and occasionally
near a sugar plantation; at the latter we were
generally given some green vegetables, which were a
great boon.

The water is pumped up from the river and distributed
by channels over the cane-swamps, and in the time to
come, as more of the river-banks are taken up by these
Sugar Concessions, this drain on the water will make a
considerable difference to navigation in the dry season.

Amongst the legitimate productions of the cane, they
here manufacture Scotch whisky, the labels and bottles
being imported from the home markets in large
quantities.  The most important estate is managed by a
French company, superintended by ten Europeans
(mainly French).  The system of irrigation is very
complete, and the work of cleaning is done by
steam-ploughs, managed, of course, by Scotchmen.  Mills are
in course of erection, and the bottles, thistle and all
complete, will soon be in requisition.  Three hundred
hectares are already planted, and the Company intend
immediately planting five hundred more.

There is another important Sugar Company, owned by
the Portuguese and managed by a Scotchman.  The
output from its extensive plantations during the season,
which lasts three months, amounts to one hundred and
twenty tons a week.

It is a dreary, hot, monotonous journey.

The river is most uninteresting, of great breadth, with
low grass-covered banks and destitute of trees, except
near the delta, where there are some thriving cocoanut
plantations.  The stream is cut up by numerous islands
and sandbanks, haunted by vast flocks of geese, pelicans,
and flamingoes.

At Senna there are a few miserable huts, and a few
yet more miserable Portuguese, and at Songwe there is an
Indian settlement, where there is some trade from the
interior.

On reaching the Shiré we were transferred to an
animated tea-tray, by courtesy called a steamer, which
carried us to Chiromo.  The food for five Europeans for two
and a half days consisted of one ancient duck, three skinny
fowls, and a few tins of sardines.  There was no bread,
butter, milk, or Worcester sauce, without which life, or
rather native cookery, is intolerable.  Luckily, at the
villages on the way we were able to buy fowls, eggs, and
tomatoes.

Before reaching Chiromo we put in at the first
B.C.A. post, Port Herald, where dusky Napoleons ponder over
wild orgies of the past.  A broad road planted with shade
trees leads up to the collector's house, and cross-roads,
similarly planted, give quite a pleasant appearance to
the place, backed in the distance by a high mountain.

Chiromo is laid out at the junction of the Ruo and
Shiré rivers, while on the north-west side the station is
hemmed in by the vast Elephant Marsh, now a closed
game preserve, owing to the inconsiderate slaughter in
time past.  Lions can be heard almost every night, and
the day previous to our arrival a lion appeared in the
town in broad daylight, and carried off a native.  Though
the available population turned out to slay, he escaped
untouched.  Many shots were fired at him from many
varieties of guns, and the range varied from five to five
hundred yards.  But still he wandered round, the least
excited individual in the place.  Eventually the Nimrod
of Chiromo, who arrived late, hurt his feelings by
tumbling off a tree on to his back.  This was too much, and
he majestically stalked off into the Marsh, wondering at
the inscrutable ways of men.

Leopard spoor was also a common sight in the street
in the morning, while in the Ruo the crocodiles lived an
easy life, with unlimited black meat at their command
near the bathing-places.

From its position, the town is the inland port of British
Central Africa, and with the fast-growing coffee industry
will become a place of considerable importance.  Already
the building plots command a high price, and stands are
being eagerly bought up by the African Flotilla
Company and Sharrers' Transport Company, who are rapidly
ousting the African Lakes Corporation from their position
of hitherto unquestioned monopolists.  There are also
several German traders who display considerable activity,
apparently with satisfactory results, and there are rumours
of a coffee combination, financed by a prominent German
East Coast firm, making their headquarters here.

A large estate on the right bank of the Shiré, called
Rosebery Park, is owned by the African Flotilla
Company, which makes excellent bricks, and opposite the
town a fibre-extracting company has started work.  The
company has obtained Foulke's patent fibre-cleaning
machine, and a concession of the fibre-gathering rights
over all Crown lands, and another similar concession in
the Portuguese territory.

The plant employed is Sanseveira, of which there are
about twenty varieties, the most common in the
neighbourhood being *S. cylindrica* and *S. guiniensis*; the
former, owing to the greater ease with which it can be
worked, being the most valuable.  The length of leaf is
3 to 6 ft., and the diameter about ¾ in.  I found it
growing in immense quantities on the plains round
Chiperoni.

The treatment is very simple.  The green stuff is put
over rollers, which take it past a rapidly revolving brush
under a strong jet of water.  The resulting fibre is then
dried in the shade, tied into bundles, and is ready bleached
for the market.  Consequently the cost of production is
very low.  The fibre is fine, strong, and clean, and the
waste is very small, the proportion of fibre to reed being
4 per cent.  The strength is estimated at two and a half
times that of the best manilla.

The cost of fuel (wood) to run one engine for a day is
only four shillings, and as the fibre needs no cleaning,
only one process is necessary.

Mr. H. MacDonald, the Collector and Vice-Consul,
royally entertained us at his house, the only cool spot in
Chiromo.  His method of providing fish for dinner was
to fire a round from his .303 into the edge of the river,
when one or two fish would rise stunned to the surface.

The climate of the vicinity is very trying to Europeans;
the heat is intense, and, being a moist heat, is
at times insufferable.  We repeatedly registered 115°
and 120° in the shade, and owing to the amount of vapour
held suspended in the air, there was very little
diminution of temperature at night.

Periodical waves of fever prostrate the population
when the wind blows from the Elephant Marsh, and the
death-rate assumes alarming proportions.  A form of
Beri-Beri is also prevalent.

Large numbers of natives frequently apply for
permission to come over from the Portuguese country and
settle in British territory, and the population is thus
becoming very dense, and food is easily obtainable in
large quantities.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`CHIPERONI`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER IV.


.. class:: center medium bold

   CHIPERONI.

.. vspace:: 2

The Ruo, the main tributary of the Shiré river, which
two rivers at their angle of confluence enclose
Chiromo (native word, "the joining of the streams"),
rises in the Mlanje Hills, whence it flows in two main
streams which join about twenty-five miles north of its
junction with the Shiré.  Ten miles south of this are
the beautiful Zoa Falls.

As there was every prospect of having to wait some
weeks for the errant loads, we made arrangements for
some shooting, having heard great tales of the rhinoceros
on Mount Chiperoni, which lies about forty miles east of
the Ruo in Portuguese territory.  Having been provided
with porters by Mr. MacDonald, and obtained a permit
from the Portuguese, which entitled us to carry a gun
and shoot meat for the pot, we crossed the river and
marched up towards Zoa.

The country was exceedingly dry and burnt up:
consequently the little game that remained in the vicinity
was concentrated near the water.  After some hard days'
work under an impossible sun, I shot a klipspringer,
which, curiously enough, was down in the flat country,
and fully twenty miles from the nearest hills.  The bristly
hairs reminded me of a hedgehog, and came out in great
quantities during the process of skinning.  These
antelopes are exceedingly heavy in the hind quarters, short
in the legs, and have the most delicate feet imaginable.
We both searched high and low for koodoo, which were
reported to be plentiful, but without effect, though I
found a couple of worm-eaten heads lying in the bush;
and for some days we had no luck with sable, although
there was much fresh spoor; but eventually I succeeded
in bagging a fair bull.  No antelope looks grander than an
old bull sable, standing like a statue under some tree, his
mighty horns sweeping far back over his shoulders.  The
bristling mane gives a massive appearance to his
shoulders; there is something suggestive of the goat about
him, both in his lines and carriage: a giant ibex!

One evening some natives came to camp with a wonderful
catch of fish, amongst which I noticed four different
species.  One was a long, eel-shaped fish with a curious
bottle snout, and very small teeth.  The eye, entirely
covered with skin, was almost invisible.  There is a
closely allied fish in the Nile.  Another one resembled
a bream with very large fins.  A third resembled a carp
with enormous scales, and was very poor eating.  While
the fourth, which I have never seen elsewhere, and which
was unknown to Mr. MacDonald, who is a keen naturalist,
resembled a heavily-built carp with large scales and
prominent fins, and was of a beautiful green colour.

Sharp having decided to go to the north of Nyassa to
arrange transport across the plateau, then returned to
Chiromo, and I quickly followed.  But a few days later
I again crossed into Portuguese territory, and marched
east along the telegraph line to M'Serrire on the Liadzi,
a tributary of the Shiré.

The following morning, quietly strolling through some
dense bush, I saw two grand bull sable browsing on the
tender shoots of a massive creeper.  I fired at the better
of the two, and they both galloped away.  It was easy
to follow their spoor in the soft, peaty soil, and a quarter
of a mile away I came on him lying dead.  The shot
had passed through both lungs.  In the evening, when
tubbing, I was beset by bees who come in clouds for
the moisture, and after an exciting and one-sided
conflict I hurriedly withdrew, dashed in a state of nudity
through the astonished village, and sought refuge in a hut.
The stings induced a severe fever, and the next two days
were spent in bed and indignant meditation.

Hearing that some old Cambridge friends of mine
had arrived in Chiromo, I marched in and spent a
jovial evening with MacDonald, who was entertaining them.

A new detachment of Sikhs arrived under Lieut. Godfrey.
It was splendid to see the contrast between the
manners of these magnificent men and those of the local
negro.  The respect shown to all Englishmen by these
gentlemen of gentlemen, coupled with their proud
carriage and air of self-respecting-respectful independence,
contrasted well with the slouching, coarse insolence of
the hideous African.

A naïve individual arrived by the same boat for some
official post, and asked whether it was usual to leave
cards on the converted natives and their wives.  He
appeared to be a striking example of the appalling
ineptitude of many of the officials chosen for the difficult
and serious work they undertake.

Tales of rhinoceros and elephant fired me with the
desire to make a trip to Chiperoni, a large mountain mass
east of the Ruo; but my ignorance of the language
made such an undertaking difficult, so that I wasted
some days in endeavouring to find a companion.
Preparatory to starting, it was necessary to make friends
with the Portuguese official.  The usual man was away,
and his *locum tenens* was the captain of the gunboat,
which was moored to the bank opposite MacDonald's
house.

From previous experience, I had learnt that with
Portuguese and natives everything depended on
outward appearance; and, as my wardrobe was little
calculated to inspire respect, I went round the town and
gathered much gorgeous raiment, the finishing touch
being supplied by the doctor in the shape of a
red-and-white medal ribbon, torn from a pocket pincushion.
Resplendent in such gauds, with a heavy riding-whip,
spurs (I had noticed that spurs are indispensable to
Portuguese polite society, even at sea), and balancing a
No. 6 helmet on a No. 8 head, I was rowed across the
river in great pomp by the administration boat, midst
the blare of trumpets and waving of flags.

The Portuguese officer, a delightful gentleman, received
me with open arms, placed the whole country and all that
was therein at my disposal, and gave me a "Viesky-soda,"
insisting on drinking the same thing himself--a stretch of
hospitality that was attended with the direst results.

The following morning, having given up all hopes of
finding a companion, I collected a dozen raw natives and
a Chinyanja dictionary, and on November 10th crossed
the Ruo and marched twelve miles to the Liadzi, a
parallel stream to the Ruo, and also flowing into the Shiré.
Five miles further I forded the Zitembi, another parallel
stream of some volume.  This I followed up to a village
called Gombi (little bank), which is perched on a small
cliff at the junction of the Zitembi with a feeder.  I had
had considerable difficulty in obtaining guides, the natives
being very surly, and absolutely refusing any information
of the best means of reaching Chiperoni, or of the
probability of sport, and at Gombi things reached a
climax, the chief telling me that he wanted no white man
in his country, that the Portuguese forced them to work
for nothing, and demanded a 5 r. hut tax, that my men
would obtain no food, etc., etc., *ad nauseam*.  However,
seeing that I was not to be trifled with, he changed his
tone, and brought me flour and fowls, guides to show
me game, and a guide to Chiperoni for the morrow.  In
the afternoon I took a walk round and shot some meat,
seeing plenty of fresh rhino, buffalo, eland, sable, and other
buck spoor.  The country seemed so promising that I
decided, if unsuccessful at Chiperoni, to return for a few
days.  There was an albino woman in the village; all
her children, to the number of five, were also albino,
and at several other villages in the vicinity I saw
specimens, which would argue a strong hereditary tendency.
In many of the villages in the higher valleys there were
numerous cases of goitre, some very pronounced, and
an extraordinary number of lepers and idiots.  This was
attributable to the isolating influence of mountainous
regions, through difficulty of communication, and the
consequent tendency to inbreed.  The whole of the next
day I followed the Zitembi, till, at its junction with a
large feeder, about twenty-four miles from Gombi, there
is a village called Chirombo.  The stream, which is a
series of cascades, and lined with bamboo, is exceedingly
beautiful, and, by a reconnaissance on the morrow, I
ascertained that it rises on the north of Chiperoni.  From
here Chiperoni has quite an imposing effect.  It is a
terraced cone deeply seared by water-courses, and rises
from the middle of a basin formed by a circle of less
prominent peaks, the most important of which is
Makambi to the west.  Far away to the north-west were
visible the heights of Mlanje, while to the east stretched
an unending forest-clad plain that reaches to
Mozambique.  Woods of mahobahoba (the wild loquat) and
many flowering trees covered every rise, and the flat
interior of the basin; and the glorious golds, reds,
russets, and browns of our autumn, which in these climes
beautify the landscape in spring, were at their richest,
while a carpet of vivid green and purple flowers lay
spread beneath the shade.  It was a beautiful country,
cool, even at midday, cold at night, free from mosquitoes
and flies, and every mile or so an ice-cold stream
came tumbling down behind its curtain of ferns and
orchids.

Marching round the southern face of Chiperoni for
twenty miles, we came to a long ridge or arete which I
followed till within 500 ft. of the summit, which is rocky
and precipitous, but would offer no difficulty to a man
without a load.  Here I camped on a small plateau in
a glade of mahobahoba.  It was a delightful change after
the sweltering heat of Chiromo, and I could imagine
myself again in Switzerland as I looked out over miles of
rolling upland and undulating forest.  There were
numerous signs of elephant which were feeding on the small
sugary loquats, but I failed to find any, though I followed
one spoor for many miles.  From here we worked round
to the east face, till, being short of food, I was obliged
to follow one of the numerous streams down to the plain.
Here was a considerable but scattered population with a
large number of domestic pigeons, pigs, ducks, and cats.
The pigs were the ordinary bush-pig, while the pigeons,
which were blue rocks, must have been originally
introduced by the Portuguese.  The stream, which flows into
the Misongwe, a tributary of the Shiré, is called the
Machingiri, and there are numerous signs of rhino, though
few antelopes; however, I managed to bag a good sable.
As my boys were following very badly on the paths, I
cut straight across to Gombi through the forest, a very
long, waterless march, and on arrival found there was
not one boy a hundred yards behind; after that I had
no further difficulty with them.  At Gombi I decided to
stop for a few days, and the next morning, after spooring
a herd of sable for two hours, I shot a splendid bull.

I had told the chief, who was now most friendly, that
I was going to shoot sable, and he came and asked me
what I intended to kill the next day, and was much
amused when I jokingly replied that I should bring home
a rhinoceros.

With this end in view I started early, at 5.30 a.m., and
crossing the river, skirted along the foot of the hills, and
killed a bull hartebeeste for the Mahomedan boys, who
refuse to eat the meat of any beast that has not had its
throat cut before death.  Although this is a great nuisance
(as cutting the throat spoils the head skin), it is right
to respect such customs, and I always made a point of
killing something else, so that they should not suffer for
their belief.

At 7.30 I found fresh rhinoceros spoor which I followed
under a blazing sun till 12.30.  The country had been
very difficult, and I was just beginning to despair when
I heard a snort, and looking up, saw the rhino trotting
round the corner of an ant-hill, behind which he had been
sleeping.  On seeing me he stopped, snorting, blowing,
and stamping, looking exceedingly nasty.  I was
carrying my .303, and turning round for my 4-bore, I found
that all my boys had bolted up a small thorn tree, from
the branch of which they were hanging like a cluster of
bees.  They had thrown down the gun, and I was
compelled to stoop down and grope about for it in the
undergrowth.  The brute was blowing and snorting only
fifteen yards away, and I felt very uncomfortable, as in
my position I offered a magnificent target.  However, at
last I found the gun, and firing past his cheek, hit him
full on the edge of the shoulder.  Instantly there arose
a very hell of sound, squealing, stamping, and crashing
of bushes and grass.  The smoke hung like a pall around
me, and I thought he was charging.  Having nowhere to
run to, I stayed where I was, and suddenly his huge mass
dashed past the edge of the smoke-cloud, and I saw him
disappear at a tremendous pace into the grass.  We
followed hard, but though he bled freely and lay down
several times, we did not come up to him again till 3 p.m.,
when we found him standing at ten yards' distance in a
bushy nullah far up in the hills.  I fired the 4-bore at
his shoulder, knocking him down, but he rose again, and
tried to climb the far bank; so I fired the second barrel
hurriedly; the cartridge split at the back, and I was
knocked over a tree two yards behind.  That stopped
him, and three solid bullets from the .303 finished him.

I found that the first shot had penetrated about 2 ft.,
smashing all the shoulder, yet he travelled for two and
a half hours, over the steepest hills and through some
precipitous water-courses.

In cutting off his head, I found an old iron native
bullet in the muscle of his neck.

We were terribly exhausted from the desperate work in
a pitiless sun, and hastily grilled a portion of his liver,
which was excellent.

A twelve-mile trot brought us back to camp at 7 p.m.,
and the old chief turned out in state to meet me, and
falling upon his knees, rubbed his face in the dust in
token of admiration at my powers of prescience.

The natives departed in hundreds there and then to
cut up the meat, and arrived early the next morning
with the head intact; twenty boys carried it slung on
a pole.  Skinning it was a fearful business, and occupied
me till dark; toil that I have much regretted, since I
find that the skull, skin, and many other trophies and
curios have been unfortunately lost in transit.

The old chief again came to me and asked me what I
was going to kill.  I suggested eland for a change; and
knowing that there were several herds near where I had
killed the rhinoceros, I set off in that direction, my local
guides carefully placing a bunch of leaves under a bush
on the left-hand side of the path.  This, they informed
me, ensured success.

The country was full of splendid hunting-grounds; the
young grass was sprouting from the black, peaty soil, and
the new foliage of the trees afforded grateful shade,
beneath which one could walk for hours without
encountering any undergrowth.

The spoor of buffalo, rhinoceros, sable, and hartebeeste
was plentiful, but nothing would satisfy me except eland,
and it was not till midday that I found tracks fresh
enough to follow.  A six-mile burst brought me in sight
of a herd of twenty, and I was creeping round under cover
of some trees to obtain a good shot at the leading bull
when a boy, who had followed me from the village, let
off a dozen ear-piercing whistles to inform me that he
too had seen them.  Away dashed the eland, and any
one who has once followed alarmed eland does not eagerly
repeat the mistake.  They usually keep up a steady trot
till they are clear of the obnoxious neighbourhood, and
when they do stand are so wary that approach is
impossible.  The offending native was an ordinary type of the
creatures depicted in books as wonderful hunters and
trackers.  Personally I have never found a native of
Africa who was anything but an abominable nuisance
out hunting; and after many trials I strictly confined
my hunting attendants to one or two gun-bearers whom
I trained to act instantly on a definite set of signs, and
never used them for any purpose, except to occasionally
follow obvious spoor when I wanted to rest my eyes;
even then they needed watching, or they would go wrong.
The Bushmen are, of course, an exception to this rule.

On my way back to camp I was startled by a deafening
report and the shriek of a bullet past my head.  The
boy who was carrying my 4-bore had slipped the safety-bolt
back, and the trigger had caught in a twig.  He was,
of course, carrying the gun loosely on his shoulder, and
the effect of the explosion of fourteen drams of powder
was terrific.  It knocked him several feet off the path
and stunned him, while the gun described a graceful
parabola, and landed, muzzle downwards, on a patch of
soft soil, fortunately escaping damage.

A messenger arrived in the evening with a note to the
effect that the stray baggage had arrived, and the following
day I returned to Chiromo after a most enjoyable trip.





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.. _`BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA AND LAKE NYASSA`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER V.


.. class:: center medium bold

   BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA AND LAKE NYASSA.

.. vspace:: 2

At last, on November 28th, I left Chiromo and
started up the river once more in the good ship
*Scott*, and again realized the feelings of a pea on a drum.
Fortunately the skipper was so ill with fever that we
took charge of the boat ourselves, and thus contrived
to have something to eat.

We had lost six valuable weeks through our kit
having been put on the wrong boat at Beira, and as
Mohun's expedition had gone on in front we lost
eventually six weeks more, through the transport on the
Tanganyika plateau being temporarily demoralized.
Thus the carelessness of our agent delayed us in all
three months.  Such is African travel.  I no longer
fret when my train is ten minutes late.  Even after this
wait some of our things never turned up at all.
Mr. Commissioner Alfred Sharpe, C.B., the greatest and
most reticent of African Nimrods, was on board, but
we tried in vain to induce him to tell us some of his
experiences.  However, he gave me a piece of advice
that afterwards stood me in good stead: that, when
charged by an elephant, the safest course was to remain
quite still till the brute was within four yards, and
then to blaze in his face.  This almost invariably turns
the brute or makes him swerve; my experience has
certainly proved its efficacy.  Mr. Sharpe has the
reputation of being the hardest and most daring shikari
who ever followed an elephant; and many amusing
tales are current of how in the excitement of the chase
he would charge cow elephants to make them get out
of his way, in order that he might obtain his shot at
the leading bull.  In view of the success that attends
many of the imaginative literary efforts of missionaries
and week-end tourists on the subject of Africa, it is a
great pity that the few men like Alfred Sharpe and
Lawley of Beira railway fame, who have had gigantic
experience of Africa past and present, resolutely refuse
to record their invaluable data in a book.  Sir Harry
Johnston and Selous have set an admirable example,
and if a few more men of their stamp would write,
much of the misleading balderdash that now passes
current as representing the Dark Continent would be
happily crushed out of existence.

.. _`And I was compelled to stoop down and grope`:

.. figure:: images/img-064.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: I was compelled to stoop down and grope.

   I was compelled to stoop down and grope.

A slight mishap with the machinery delayed us for
several hours, and it was not till noon the following
day that we reached Makwira's village.  Young
Makwira, who is quite the young gentleman, in knickers,
stockings, spats, collar, and hard hat, provided us
with whiskies and milk, and discussed local politics,
displaying no little acumen.  I believe that it was his
father who used to be a terror to all travellers on the
Shiré, and that but a few years ago, when the elephant
still roamed in thousands on the Elephant Marsh,
undisturbed by the shrill whistle of the stern-wheeler
or the bark of the playful 4-bore.  It was either old
Makwira or another genial darky in the vicinity, who for
some time kept a tame Portuguese band, and utilized
the bandsmen when off duty as machila-carriers.[#]

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] *Machila*: Portuguese word acclimatized;
a hammock slung to a
pole and carried by a team of men.

.. vspace:: 2

The Elephant Marsh is a large tract of country lying
on the left bank of the Shiré river, north of Chiromo.
In days gone by it teemed with elephant, buffalo, and
game of all descriptions; but the persistent gunner
soon drove the elephant away and decimated the other
beasts.  And it was due, I believe, to Sir Harry
Johnston that it was made into a game reserve.  The effect
has been most beneficial.  Herds of waterbuck and
buffalo come to the banks of the river, and lazily watch
the steamers pass; and even elephant have been
occasionally seen of late playing in their old haunts.  A
more suitable spot for a reserve could not have been
selected.  The Shiré and Ruo rivers to the south-west
and east, and the highlands to the north, form natural
boundaries; there is plenty of water and ample grazing
at all times of the year.  Every night one may hear the
lions roaring.  By legislative foresight a game paradise
has been saved in the midst of one of the busiest and
most progressive of our African possessions.

At Makwira's we reluctantly bade farewell to
Mr. H. C. MacDonald, whose dry humour and all-embracing
hospitality had made my weary sojourn in Chiromo one
of the most delightful stages in our journey.  The
company on the steamer was rather embarrassed by the
extravaganzas of an evangelical madman, who had
arrived in the country in a state of destitution, and
who is probably by now, under the title D.B.S., a
burden on the community.  Such men should be caged,
or at least prevented from running loose amongst the
natives, and adding to the already well-nigh insuperable
difficulties of the administration.

A few hours' run brought us to Katunga's, the African
Lakes Corporation's port for Blantyre.  The Government
station is a little distance further up the river.
The crocodiles, which were very numerous, had been
causing much mortality amongst the natives; one had
even seized the station's bucket, which, for greater
safety, was lowered into the river to draw water from
the end of a long pole.

The Government station is the highest navigable
point of the river south of the rapids, and everything
has to be unshipped and carried round to the upper
river by native porters or wagons.  From Katunga's to
Blantyre there is a well-constructed road, with a
half-way house belonging to the African Lakes Corporation.
Captain Rhoades, of the B.C.A. navy, accompanied me
in a mule-cart, and we arrived at Blantyre, the
commercial centre of B.C.A., about sunset.  The road
quickly mounts from the Shiré valley on to the plateau
of the highlands.  Looking back over the valley from
the edge of the plateau the view is superb; and much
of the scenery through which the road passes is very
beautiful.  Most of the highlands are covered with
woods, which at that season were in the full glory of
their vernal tints; the grass was springing up green,
and carpeted with millions of beautiful purple flowers
resembling crocuses.  There were many specimens of
the mahobahoba tree, or wild loquat: the timber of
this tree is much prized for telegraph poles and similar
uses; and the broad dark-green leaves are exceedingly
handsome.  We passed several comfortable-looking
homesteads belonging to coffee-planters, and the fields of
neatly-planted coffee-shrubs staggering under their
burden of snowy blossom made me fancy that I was back
in the fruit-farms of Kent.

Coffee is the great industry of British Central Africa,
and one that is likely to bring the little protectorate into
the vanguard of our new possessions in the near future.
The quality is second to none; some of the crops have
realized the highest price on the London markets.  At
present the industry is more or less paralyzed, owing to
the majority of the planters having started operations
on borrowed capital, and, with one or two exceptions,
without previous experience of coffee.  But as soon as
the plantations are put on a sound business footing the
prosperity of the community should be assured, always
provided that the administration, by judicious legislation
as to rate of pay for labourers, prevents the labour
market from being spoilt.  The present rate of pay is
three shillings a month, and a rise must be prevented at
all costs.  The labour supply, properly handled, should
prove well-nigh inexhaustible, and, owing to the
immigration from the Portuguese sphere, is steadily
increasing.  I was informed by many men that the first
crop should pay the expenses of the first three years
during which there is no yield.  This is a magnificent
return, and by judicious combines, capitalization, and
concentration, Nyassa coffee should become an important
industry.  The coffee being of such quality, is only used
for blending at present, so that there is little chance of
over-production.  It is one of the few African countries
that has natural easy communication with the coast,
and when a light railway has been built, and shipping
and agency have been properly organized, the cost of
transport will be very small.  There is also undoubtedly
great scope for subsidiary and supplementary industries,
such as cocoa and rubber.

I consider that in British Central Africa there is an
excellent opening for British capital--an opening that
appears to be as yet practically unknown at home.
The fact is that Africa is supinely neglected where it
cannot flaunt the magic war-cry, Gold.  The Germans,
who are ever on the alert, are already alive to its
possibilities, and there were rumours of a great coffee
combine financed by well-known German East Coast
capitalists.  It is to be hoped that England will awake
to the chance before the ground has been cut from
under her feet, as has already been done in so many
places that I have visited.  The wily Teuton is very
much alive to the advantages afforded by British rule,
and has already levied heavy toll on the budding
possibilities of trade in our African dominions.  Our
trouble is that, with few exceptions, we do not send out
the right men, but consider that any one is good enough
for Africa.  This is far from being the case, as new
business lines have to be adopted to ensure success.
Adaptability and enterprise belong to genius and not to
mediocrity, and no country requires a more delicately-adjusted
combination of dash, tact, and perseverance
than Africa.

There is a passable hotel in Blantyre, and many fine
buildings in brick.  The missionaries have built a large
church, and laid out avenues of eucalyptus which have
grown wonderfully well.  Unfortunately, as in Rhodesia,
the white ants attack the roots when the trees attain a
certain height.  Extensive plantations would unquestionably
considerably modify the climate, which is far
from good.  The worst type of hæmoglobinuric fever is
very prevalent, and the death-rate is consequently high.
However, as more and more land is brought under
cultivation, the country should become healthier.  Probably
much of the fever that prevails is brought from the
lowlands, which must be traversed before arriving in the
higher altitudes: an improved service with the coast
will obviate this to some extent.  At Blantyre I met
with much kindness at the hands of Mr. Codrington, the
Commissioner of Northern Rhodesia, Major Harding,
C.M.G., who had been recruiting Angonis for the
B.S.A. Police, and Mr. Wilson of the Trans-Continental
Telegraph, an old school and Cambridge friend, whom I
was much surprised to find in this out-of-the-way
corner of the world.  Three days later I left with
Mr. Hall of the African Flotilla Company in machilas for
Zomba, the administrative capital.  We were to spend
the night at the Nomasi river, which we reached in a
torrential downpour.  Our delight, when we discovered
that the transport people had sent our tents and
provisions by the wrong road, may be imagined.
Fortunately we learned that Mr. Harrison, whom we had
met on the river, was camped in the vicinity, and he
kindly provided us with a shakedown and something
to eat.  The following day we reached Zomba, having
passed through many flourishing coffee estates.  Here
Mr. C. C. Bowring put us up and plied us with all the
obtainable luxuries and comforts, in the intervals of a
fight to the death with a swarm of irate bees who had
taken possession of the interior of the wall of his house.
The view across Lake Shirwa and the forests that clothe
the flat plains which surround the lake ranks amongst
the finest that I have seen in Africa.  Vast purple
masses of hills enclose the placid lake and its
forest-clad plains, and the eye roams on over an infinity of
broken upland and shimmering haze.  The Government
House is a large picturesque building standing in the
midst of a well-planted tropical garden, which had,
however, been lately ravaged by a flight of locusts.
There was tennis accompanied by a tea-party, presided
over by Miss Harrison, who has nursed many a sick man
back to life, and it seemed as if I had suddenly dropped
back into civilized England.  After two pleasant days
spent in these unwonted surroundings, I started in a
machila for Liwonde on the Upper Shiré, where I arrived
at sunset, and was entertained by Mr. Drummond Hay,
an old "Herzog" friend.  I am much shocked to hear
that he has since fallen a victim to the climate.

From Liwonde the S.S. *Monteith* took me to Fort
Johnston, which is the port of Lake Nyassa, and is
situated a few miles south of the bar at the outlet of
the lake.  A short distance from Fort Johnston the
river opens out and forms the small lake Pamalomba,
formerly a great haunt of elephant.  The lake is very
shallow, and as the steamer passes along, the disturbed
mud emits enormous volumes of marsh gas: so great
is the quantity that the water has the appearance of
violently boiling.  There have been several instances
of men being blown out of their cabins, owing to their
having ignited the gas by absent-mindedly striking a
match.  When Sharp passed with Mr. Mohun, somebody
threw a lighted match overboard.  Instantly a
sheet of flame passed over the barge that was being
towed alongside, and two saddles were seriously burnt.

As we arrived at Fort Johnston late in the evening, I
elected to sleep on board, and was much gratified to
find that two couples of married German missionaries,
not content with having monopolized the only two
cabins, had rigged up a large canvas enclosure and were
sleeping on deck.  Consequently, I was compelled to
place my blankets by the wheel and sleep in the wind
and dew.

Mr. Wallis, the Vice-Consul, entertained me.  He has
laid the new town out most admirably, and I could
scarcely believe that it had all been done in a few months.
The place was alive with rats, who amused themselves
all night by tobogganing down my face, rushing along
my body, and taking flying leaps from my feet into outer
darkness.

Commander Cullen took me over H.M.S. *Gwendoline*,
the large new gunboat that had just been launched for
patrolling the lake.  It is a splendid work to have
accomplished, when the difficulties of transporting some of the
heavy portions round the rapids are taken into consideration.
I was also introduced to a budding diplomatist,
who informed me with pride that he had fired a
soft-nosed bullet at an elephant at one thousand yards.
The elephant escaped.

On December 15th I started on the voyage up the
lake in the S.S. *Domira*, and at midday made Monkey
Bay.  It is a most beautiful little spot, and reminded
me forcibly of the South Sea Islands.  Bold rocky
headlands plunge into the lake and enclose a white strip of
sand with straggling villages at the back.  The water is
clear as crystal, and broken by the heads of hundreds of
natives diving, swimming, and splashing about.  Ringing
peals of laughter echo in the rocks and startle the
troops of baboons that sit watching with curious eyes
the trim little steamer.  Picturesque groups of natives
are scattered about the beach, and the little picaninnies
are playing on the skeleton of a wrecked Arab dhow,
little dreaming what that dhow had meant to their
fathers a few years before.  In the afternoon I strolled
out, hoping to get a shoot at koodoo, for which the place
is famous.  But the koodoo were not at home; however,
I saw several impala, and shot a small buck which
I believe to have been the duiker described by Sir Alfred
Sharpe as a probable new species.  Unfortunately, my
natives devoured the skull and the rats ate the skin.
It was a small, reddish-brown buck, similar in build to
a klipspringer, with wiry hair and thick, high-standing
hind quarters.

The next wooding station was Domira Bay, and on
the 17th we arrived at Kota-Kota, which used to be
the headquarters of the Arab slave traffic across the
lake, and the starting-point of the Arab raids towards
Mweru.  Mr. Swann, the collector, who has had many
years' experience of Tanganyika in the old Arab days,
entertained me, and gave me two Angoni spears which
had been taken in the Mpeseni trouble.  There are
several missionaries at Kota-Kota.  They have started
football, and in a rash moment I was induced to play--a
freak which I regretted for many days afterwards,
as it brought on a sharp attack of fever.

Kota-Kota is exceedingly beautiful, as indeed is all
the coast of Lake Nyassa.  The hills are heavily wooded,
and their bases are broken by the waves into fantastic
caves and rocky promontories against which plays the
white line of surf.  Small rocky islands stand out here
and there, and form the resting-place of myriads of
cormorants.

Here I first saw the extraordinary "Kungu" fly,
which is, I believe, peculiar to Lake Nyassa.  They
resemble small may-flies, and at certain seasons of the
year rise from the water in such stupendous clouds that
they blot out the whole horizon.  Seen in the distance,
they have exactly the appearance of a rainstorm coming
across the lake.  When they are blown landwards they
make every place uninhabitable by the stench which
arises from the countless millions that lodge and die
on every inch of sheltered ground.  I myself have seen
them lying a foot deep in a room, and I was told that
they are often much worse.  The natives sweep them
up and make cakes of them.  I tasted one, and found it
by no means bad.  The next morning we reached Bandawe,
another important station, where there is a large
mission-house with extensive plantations of pineapples
and some splendid mango trees.  At Nkata Bay, a few
miles further up the coast, a native came and begged
us to go and see his master, who was very ill.  Accordingly
we set off in the dark, and found Mr. Broadbridge
of the African Trans-Continental Telegraph down with
a severe attack of fever; we did what we could for
him, and he shortly recovered.  After a short stop at
Luawi to pick up wood, we steamed into Florence Bay,
and at Miss MacCallum's invitation I accompanied her
up to the Livingstone Mission at Mount Waller.
Mr. Stewart, one of the missionaries, who has been for some
time working among the northern Angonis, told me
that he had been investigating the history of the
Angonis, who are descendants of the Zulus.  There were
two great treks north of the Zulus in the time of Chaka.
One, under Moselikatse, marched to Matabeleland,
leaving the ancestors of the present Matabele, and then
north across the Zambesi.  There they came into
conflict with the Barotse, and were driven east, eventually
settling in Southern Angoniland of to-day, which lies
south-west by west of Lake Nyassa.

The other trek marched north through the Sabi
district, leaving the present Shangaans on their way, and
then crossed the Zambesi by the Kabrabasa rapids and
passed near Lake Rukwa.  Here the chief died and the
trek split up: one part went north of Tanganyika and
settled near the south-west of the Victoria Nyanza,
where they were rediscovered by Stanley; another
part marched round the northern shore of Lake Nyassa;
and yet another returned south and founded Northern
Angoniland of to-day.

Dr. Robert and Mrs. Laws treated me with the
greatest hospitality; he took me round the mission,
and showed me the results of their four years' work
since the founding of the station.  Dr. Robert Laws was
one of the first explorers of Nyassaland, and was in
no small way responsible for the checkmating of the
Portuguese pretensions to what is now British Central
Africa.  The station is admirably situated on a plateau
surrounded by hills with valleys intervening, and
commands extensive views across the lake to Amelia Bay
and the Livingstone Mountains, and to the west towards
the valley of the Loangwa or Northern Angoniland.
There is a large printing-machine which the natives
work under the superintendence of Mr. Thomson.  Here
books and magazines and much work of great merit are
produced.  The processes of stereotyping and
picture-reproducing on zinc are thoroughly understood by the
skilled natives.  In the workshops are several
carpenters, one of whom in a few hours made me a folding
camp-chair that accompanied me to Cairo.  The farm
and the quarry are both managed by natives.  Dr. Laws'
system is to employ native teaching as much as possible.
If ability, whole-hearted earnestness, and hard work
can accomplish any good in missionary endeavour,
Dr. Laws ought to succeed.  Laden with butter and gigantic
water-melons, I returned to the boat, and the following
day we reached Karonga's, the starting-point for the
Stevenson Road.





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.. _`KARONGA TO KITUTA ACROSS THE TANGANYIKA PLATEAU`:

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   CHAPTER VI.


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   KARONGA TO KITUTA ACROSS THE TANGANYIKA PLATEAU.

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On arrival at Karonga I was much disappointed to
find that Sharp, tired of waiting, had left two
days before to try and arrange transport on Tanganyika.
As it was the season for sowing their crops, very
few carriers were available, and it was evident that I
should have to wait some time before I could obtain
sufficient men to transport our loads.  I commenced
operations by repacking all the food-boxes and
discarding everything that was not absolutely necessary, as
well as the considerable quantity of stuff that had
spoilt through being improperly packed.  The firm
responsible, either as a practical joke or an experiment
in the cultivation of fungus, had packed chocolate in
paper wrappers and laid them in hay in a leaky wooden
box.  As a practical joke it was weak, but as a venture
in fungi-culture a complete success.  In fact,
unpacking the boxes reminded me forcibly of the days when,
as a youthful disciple of Isaac Walton, I used to dig
for worms in the garden manure-heap.  A series of
remarkable tins of sausages added materially to the
excitement of these excavations, one and all having
assumed the outward and visible form of a Rugby
football; while as to the inward invisible grace, I was
careful to throw them down wind, when they exploded
on contact with the ground in a manner most satisfactory,
to the utter consternation of six Kaffir dogs and a hyæna.
They, having followed up the wind of the first (a
comparatively mild one), were so overcome by its successors
that they clapped their tails between their legs, and,
with a dismal howl, fled, convinced of the superiority
of the white man, even in what they had hitherto
considered the black man's monopoly.  Native rumour has
it that they are running still.

Having arranged everything and reduced the loads
to a minimum, I succumbed to a dose of fever, and
spent Christmas Day in bed, on a cup of tea.
Dr. Castellote, the medical officer of Mr. Mohun's expedition,
was most kind, and when I had sufficiently recovered,
we went out together for a few days' shooting on the
River Songwe, which, flowing into the extreme
north-western point of Lake Nyassa, forms part of the
Anglo-German boundary-line.

Before starting, however, I went to a neighbouring
village and called for volunteers to accompany us on
our long journey north.  I informed the people in the
guest's resting-place, which is kept apart in every village,
that the journey would take many moons; that we
should go to Tanganyika, that north of Tanganyika
we should find another lake, then mighty mountains
that made fire, then another lake, then still mightier
mountains so high that the water became as stones;
then a fourth lake, out of which flowed a great river
which, after several moons, took one to the dwelling-places
of the white man--large even as hills--where the
white men were even as the sands of the lake-shore;
that there we should find the sea--the water without
end--and that I would send back in steamers large as
villages those who came with me, so that they might
return to their homes and tell their brothers of all the
wonderful things they had seen.  The people were much
impressed and evidently considered me a very extra
special line in liars.  They asked me how I knew what
was there--"had I been there to see?"  I told them
that the white man knew much, and what he did not
know he could find in books (showing them one).
Then they realized that I must be even a finer liar
than they had at first taken me to be.  After a little
more talking four stalwart Watonga volunteered to
come, thinking it a pity not to see more of such a
transcendent Ananias.  One of them, Makanjira, was a small
chief on the lake-shore, and those four men stuck to
me through thick and thin, and all arrived safely at
Cairo; but I regret to say that I have just heard that
one of them, Chacachabo, died during the voyage down
the coast.  The next day a nude dirty little ruffian
came and asked to go too; he, though but a small
boy, came through safely, and is now setting up a reputation
as a liar on his own account.  Later on I obtained
twelve more recruits, whom I handed over to Mr. Mohun's
sergeant to be drilled: these men, as it will
later transpire, deserted *en masse* a few days north of
Ujiji.  They were Asiska, and a very unwholesome lot
of ruffians.

The doctor and I started off along the lake-shore on
a couple of donkeys lent to us by Mr. Mohun.  We had
much trouble in inducing them to cross a large stream
that flows into the lake a few miles north of Karonga,
and eventually had to take them bodily by the four
legs and throw them in.

At Chikopolo's there is a Government station in
charge of a few native police; here we stayed for a day,
but finding nothing more interesting than waterbuck
and reedbuck, moved north and camped on the Songwe,
which is a stream of considerable importance, and
navigable for several miles from the lake.  I was informed
that there was a German post on the northern bank
of the river at its junction with the lake, and
accordingly went across to pay my respects.  On arrival I
found that the station was in charge of a Goanese
native, who promptly endeavoured to annex my rifle,
saying that I had brought it into the country without
a permit.  I called upon Mirambo, a splendid old Arab
who used to be a great man in the country.  He
entertained me with true Arab courtesy, and loaded
my boys with magnificent pine-apples and lemons
when I went away.  It was pitiable to see the poor old
man, who a few years ago had commanded thousands,
putting on the faded relics of his greatness to do me
honour.

On the way back to camp I came upon an enormous
native fishing weir: there were two or three natives
wading waist-deep in the water above the weir pulling
fish out of the baskets, while down-stream, with nothing
but the crazy sticks between, the water was being lashed
into foam by the gyrations of scores of huge crocodiles.
I shot fourteen in as many minutes, averaging fifteen
feet in length.  The natives flocked in to express their
satisfaction, and actually brought me a present of some
fish.  There were a few pookoo on the plain.  They
are most beautiful little antelopes and carry themselves
exactly like a waterbuck.  The hair is reddish, long, and
curly, and the hide (as with all the waterbucks) very
tough and thick.  It has been obtained by comparatively
few sportsmen, as it is only found on the Upper
Zambesi, Loangwa, Chambesi, and Mweru district.

On the 13th I moved my camp twelve miles up the
river to a village called N'kana.  Here the hills close
in upon the river, but leave a series of delightful little
green glades, most likely places for finding roan antelope,
which are numerous in the country.  But I was
unsuccessful, though there was some spoor about.  While
crossing one of these small glades, a shout of Njoka
(snake) from my gun-bearer made me spring to one side.
I found that I had put my foot so close to a sleeping
puff-adder that it would have been impossible to have
slipped a visiting-card between us.  The brute still slept;
on, till I crushed the life out of it with an enormous
log of wood.  It rather scared me, as I was hunting
with bare legs.  All this country is infested with
puff-adders, which are the most dangerous snakes in Africa,
as they do not dart away like other snakes, but lie
sleeping in the dust till they are trodden upon.  They
differ from other snakes in that they strike backwards.
Later on, near the Chambesi, I actually trod upon one;
it struck, but missed me, and turned a back somersault
in the air, leaving the ground entirely.  After that I
always wore gaiters or stockings.  I have heard of
another instance of a puff-adder springing clear of the
ground.  This is rendered possible by their habit of
striking backwards.  The natives complained of the
hut tax and of being forbidden to kill game: they said
that many had crossed over into the German sphere;
but they have all come back in a hurry.

Failing to find roan antelope, I marched back to
Chikopolo's across the hills, and was much struck by
the number of butterflies in the woods; some of them
were very beautiful, but so rapid was their flight that
it was exceedingly difficult to catch them.  Everywhere
there was splendid cattle country, but unfortunately
very little cattle.  Before the rinderpest the
whole of the Songwe valley was black with buffalo;
now I do not believe there is a single beast, except in
some jungle two days' march to the north, which the
natives told me was haunted by a few buffalo and
elephants.  And only a very few head survive of the
countless herds of cattle which were characteristic of
the Wankonde.  The Wankonde are a very pleasant-mannered,
intelligent people, who were saved from
absolute extinction at the hands of the Angoni, Watonga,
and Arabs by the British occupation of the country.
Ethnologically they are extremely interesting: their
ethnographical position in the races has not yet been
satisfactorily ascertained.  Their huts, which are very
neat and picturesque, are sometimes square, sometimes
round, and worked in a pattern of round knobs of clay
stuck in between the rush walls.  Many are built on a
raised clay foundation with a trench to draw off the
rain.  The roof is worked in fancy patterns.  Their
metal work is first-class, in fact the most finished that
I have seen on the east side of Africa.  They have a fair
breed of cattle, goats, and sheep, and grow pineapples,
bananas, and pumpkins in profusion.  Probably owing
to Arab influence their villages are well laid out, and
the banana palms are planted in carefully aligned
avenues.  The Arab influence on their music is obvious.
And despite Arab influence they are an exceedingly
moral race.  Being a peaceful, pastoral, and agricultural
people, they fell an easy prey to their warlike neighbours
and the slave-raiding Arabs.  Lugard speaks of them
as having been shot down in the most merciless manner
by the Arabs in his time.

The natives informed me that Mr. Mohun and Captain
Verhellen, the Belgian officer in command of the
telegraph escort, were camped on the Songwe, so I
marched back and joined them.  They were out for a
short hunting-trip, and I found them ignominiously
slaughtering a goat for meat, although the whole plain
was alive with game.  On examining Mr. Mohun's rifle,
which he had just bought from a local man of God, I
found that the barrel was so badly worn that it was
almost possible to insert the whole cartridge at the
muzzle.  That explained his having fired forty shots
without effect.  In the evening we strolled out together,
and after a very difficult stalk I pulled off a long shot
of three hundred yards at a good bull pookoo.  Captain
Verhellen informed me that he had seen four small grey
antelopes, one of which he had wounded and lost.  I
could not imagine what they could be; so on the
following morning turned out with his boy to show me where
he had seen them.  I had only walked about three
miles when I saw one standing in a patch of green
grass.  It appeared to be a reedbuck of a beautiful
bright silver-grey colour.  There was a small ant-hill
between the buck and me which made stalking easy,
and I approached without difficulty to within sixty
yards.  I was just pressing the trigger when an ordinary
reedbuck sprang out at my feet and dashed away with
a shrill whistle; this started the grey one, and I only
got a running snapshot.  The bullet struck it in the
stern but failed to stop it, and the second barrel only
grazed the side.  I galloped wildly in pursuit, but the
buck kept on its course for nearly two miles before it
stopped.  The distance between us was fully four
hundred yards, but I had to take the shot, as it was
watching me, and was evidently prepared to resume its flight.
The bullet struck it far back, and it again galloped
away, the second barrel going wide.  Fortunately the
plain was extensive and the grass in most places short,
so that I managed to keep it in view for the next four
miles.  Then it stood again, near some bushes; I
endeavoured to approach under cover of these, but was
again spotted, and the weary chase recommenced.  The
country became more broken, and I lost sight of the
brute for some time, but eventually saw it lying down
a thousand yards away.  I approached to a tree, whence
I could see if it moved, and waited in the hope that it
would get stiff and allow me to come within certain
shooting-range.  After waiting half an hour I
commenced to stalk it, crawling flat on my stomach; there
was a convenient bush within fifty yards of where it
was lying, and I made for this.  After half an hour's
desperate crawl through thorns in a blazing sun, I reached
the much-desired spot, and peering cautiously round the
edge found, to my infinite disgust, that it had moved on.
I searched high and low, but could find no trace, and
soon lost the spoor which showed but faintly on the
grass.  As a last effort I made a circuit of two miles,
but returned to where I had lost it without result.
Then I sat down, waiting for my boys to arrive with my
water-bottle.  The pace had been so hot that they
were completely lost, and I waited in vain.  The fever
from which I was still suffering made my thirst
intolerable, and I rose with the intention of returning to
camp.  Then a bright idea struck me, and taking the
siren whistle which I carried on my belt, I blew a piercing
blast.  A rustle! and the buck leapt out of some grass
which I imagined would not have covered a mouse,
and dashed off.  To throw down the whistle was the
work of a second, and a quick double-barrel brought the
little brute at last to grass.  I was more than delighted,
and realizing that I had obtained a new species of antelope,
as the eyes, lips, horns, and hoofs showed no trace of
albinoism, skinned it with loving care, and carried it
back to camp.  Dr. Sclater of the Zoological Society
has kindly described it for me.  I called it Thomasina's
reedbuck (*Cervicapra Thomasinæ*) after the lady who
is now my wife.

The following day I slew another good bull pookoo,
which took more killing than any buck I have ever
shot.  The pookoo's tenacity of life is proverbial among
those who are acquainted with this most beautiful little
antelope.  They have a curious gland about 4 in. below
the head in the side of the neck.

The Wankonde play a curious little musical instrument
resembling in conception a zither: the strings (six
or seven in number) are stretched on a back of hollow
reeds; it is held under the leg when sitting, and fingered
like the Maderia machette with the right hand, the
strings being stopped with the left.  They also play
on a bow with a gourd or cocoanut-shell as a sounder,
and a species of guitar.

Having received a note to the effect that porters
had at last come in, I returned to Karonga to prepare
for my final march of two hundred and ten miles west
to Tanganyika.

On the way I stopped for a day with Mr. Fox, who
was managing the telegraph construction across the
plateau.  The line was just opened to Karonga from
Salisbury, and Mr. Mohun had put up the first telephone
seen on Lake Nyassa between Karonga and Mr. Fox's
camp.  The work of construction up the west coast
of Lake Nyassa had been attended with the greatest
possible difficulties from the precipitous and
densely-wooded nature of the country, and the pestilential
climate.  These had, however, by superhuman efforts,
been overcome in the stipulated time by the handful of
men engaged on the work.  A wide track, straight as an
arrow, up hill, down dale, across abysmal chasms, and
through swamps, had been cleared, and iron posts set
in iron shoes supported the wire.  No one at home can
realize the stupendous difficulties that have been
overcome.  But I from observation know, and take off
my hat in awed admiration of that gallant band who,
quietly, relentlessly, and without a murmur, have
accomplished the seemingly impossible.  It stands out in bold
relief as a colossal monument of what the Anglo-Saxon
can do, and will ever sigh to the African wind the greatness
of that master mind which, in spite of the fossilized
apathy of the British Government, has raised a British
South Africa to be a dominant factor in the world's
history of the future.  It was instructive to mark the
characteristic distinction between Mr. Rhodes' telegraph
expedition and the expedition of the King of the
Belgians.  On the one hand was an unassuming handful of
men (without a single armed man), whose very existence
might easily have been overlooked by the casual passer-by.
Yet behind them lay many hundreds of miles of perfected
work which brought the far interior of Africa within a
minute of Cape Town; before them stretched an
arrow-like clearing to Tanganyika (two hundred miles long),
waiting for the transport service to bring poles and wire.
Quiet men, rotten with fever, were being carried to and
fro--inspecting, measuring, and trenching.  Above their
base floated a diminutive Union Jack; no pomp, no
fuss, not even a bugle; yet all worked like clock-work.
On the other hand, a huge camp thundering with the
tramp of armed men, uninhabitable from the perpetual
blare of bugles, a very wilderness of flags.  Gorgeous
and fussy Belgians strutting about in uniforms, screaming
and gesticulating, with a few sad-visaged Englishmen
doing the work--piles and piles of loads--and ever
those bugles.  It resembled the triumphant march of
an army through the land, and the cost must have
been appalling.  Yet months after they had eventually
arrived at Mtowa, nothing had been accomplished.
The petty jealousy of the local officials proved an
impenetrable barrier, and now if anything has been
accomplished, the wire has been merely slung on trees.
According to the latest reports, there had been trouble
with the natives, and the whole expedition had been
broken up, with the loss of most of the plant.  There
is undoubtedly a quiet something about the Anglo-Saxon
that gets there somehow.

Fever overcame me once more, and I was confined to
my bed for several days; but at last, on January 24th,
I made a start, and marched to Mpata, the first
camping-place on the Stevenson Road.  The Stevenson Road
is a clearing through the bush that covers the greater
part of the plateau, and barely deserves the title of road,
although in some places a few logs have been thrown
across the streams, and the more swampy portions have
been trenched.

The second stage brings one to Mkongwés, about
twenty-seven miles from Karonga.  Chumbu, the next
halting-place, is fourteen miles further.  The country is
very hilly, and the scenery not very attractive.  At
intervals, intersecting the road, the telegraph clearing
sweeps on in its relentless line, looking like a gigantic
ride, where one expects every minute to see the white
tail of a scared bunny or a gorgeous cock-pheasant
bowling along as though on wheels.  But one looks in vain;
no sign of life breaks that monotonous line stretching
away over the far hills till the trees at the side merge
together, and it is lost in the far distant horizon.

A very long day's march brought us to Fort Hill, the
frontier station of Nyassaland, which is in charge of a
few black police.  It had been very wet, as the rains
had broken, and I was exceedingly thankful to take
cover in the substantial house which is in the centre of
the stockade.  I had a bull-calf with me, and gave it in
charge of one of my Askaris, who retaliated in the usual
annoying way of natives by coming and asking for some
string to lead it by.  Asking for string is a common and
intangible form of insolence, as they make string from
the bark of several kinds of trees, very common all over
the country.  But this time I scored.  I had a large coil
of Alpine rope weighing about 20 lbs.  I gave him this,
and told him on pain of death not to cut it.  Then he
said, "It did not matter, he would make some."  But
I was relentless.  "He had asked for string, and I never
refused a reasonable request."  That youth never again
asked for string.  At Nyala the telegraph people have
built a substantial house, which is to be a telegraph
station and general depository of material; they have
selected an admirable position.  A large blood-sucking
fly made life rather a burden; they settled so quietly
that one never felt them till they had driven a proboscis,
like a red-hot bodkin, half an inch into one's neck or
face.  Amazing downpours every morning added to the
joys of life, and for several days I had to live in wet
clothes and sleep in wet blankets, while it was almost
impossible to start a fire.  I had a sou'-wester and an oilskin,
but they were of no avail.  The rain fell like a wave, and
with such force that it splashed up underneath, and one
was soon drenched to the neck by capillary attraction.
Passing through Mpansa we reached Ikawa on the 31st.

Ikawa is the first station of Northern Charterland, on
the Tanganyika Plateau.  Mr. Mackinnon, the collector,
had gone to the Chambesi district to neutralize the
political machinations of a fractious missionary.

Nine miles further on is Fife, the A.L.C. station, and
the oldest settlement on the plateau.  Mr. McCulloch,
who has been in charge for several years, tells some
delightful stories about his exciting experiences in the
old days of Arab predominance.  Two members of
Lieut. Schleufer's expedition, which was endeavouring to
transport a steamer for the German Government to Lake
Tanganyika, were camped outside the walls waiting for
porters.  They had some heavy loads with them on carts,
and had taken seven weeks to make the journey from
Karonga.  Fife is the half-way house between Nyassa
and Tanganyika.  From the verandah I looked out with
longing eyes over the vast Awemba country that lies at
the foot of the plateau.  The view was superb, and
typical of Africa in its misty uncanniness.  Mr. McCulloch
has planted splendid gardens, and we revelled in green
peas, new potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, and many other
European vegetables, all of which grow luxuriantly on
these altitudes.  In the days of overcrowding not far
distant there will be a fine country for European
settlement on the Tanganyika Plateau.  There is much fever
at present, but I think most of it is brought from the
low countries.  The nights were quite cold, and fires
necessary for comfort.  Mr. McCulloch has a wonderful
knowledge of the native; he is considered as a chief by
the large village close to the station, and is much respected
by the native chiefs for many miles round.  I purchased
some beautiful wooden snuff-bottles from the Mambwe
people, and some extraordinary ear-plugs which are worn
by the women in the lobe of the ear; some of them were
2 in. in diameter.

The Anglo-German Boundary Commission had just
completed its task, and the new boundary enclosed many
of the large labour centres in the German sphere: some
of the chiefs, however, availed themselves of the time
limit allowed by proclamation, and came across to
British territory.  But the Germans, contrary to the terms
of the agreement, had posted native police to intercept
and terrorize them into remaining.  The Germans did
not behave very well over the boundary settlement, but
insisted on retaining a small strip of territory that fell to
their share, but which cut across the Stevenson Road,
though they were offered a handsome *quid pro quo* elsewhere.
However, the British collector set to work at once,
and in a few days took the road round the obstructing strip.

At Ikomba, another B.S.A. station, I found that
Mr. Forbes had gone home, and promptly looted the
excellent new potatoes which I found in his garden.  On
February 9th I reached Mambwe, and from there made
a trip down to the Awemba country, which is described
in the next chapter.  On our return to Mambwe I was
laid up with a very severe attack of fever which did not
leave me for two months, till I reached the highlands
around Kivu.  I was delirious for some time, but
improved sufficiently to be carried to Kawimbi, a mission
station near Abercorn.  Mr. and Mrs. May were most
kind to me; the station is very pretty, and looks like
an English village with its picturesque little cottages and
numerous flower-beds.  The following morning I was
carried on to Abercorn, although the missionaries kindly
pressed me to stay, promising to nurse me and make me
well.  I was sorely tempted, but felt bound to hurry on.
At Abercorn I utterly collapsed for several days, and in
the intervals of delirium eked out a precarious existence
on Worcester sauce and limes.  Here I heard a lion story.
The hero of the story (also the author) having been
told that a leopard was taking toll of the goats, built a
platform in a tree and sat up over a goat.  Nothing,
however, turned up; but in the morning, tired of doing
nothing, he fired an arrow at a venture into a patch of
grass, and on going to pick it up, found that it had
transfixed the heart of a stupendous black-maned lion.
Considering the state of my health, I thought this rather
unkind.  At last I was sufficiently recovered to move
once more, and was carried in a machila, under
Mr. Boyd's care, to Kituta, the A.L.C. station at the
south-eastern extremity of Tanganyika.  The first glimpse of
those waters, round which so many dark tragedies have
been enacted, cheered me considerably.  I had realized
another ambition, and had arrived at the real
starting-point of our Odyssey.

Kituta is a beautiful but pestilential spot, chiefly
remarkable for its abominable smells.  It is also the scene
of another lion story which deserves perpetuation.

There was once a very nervous agent in charge of the
station with a particular horror of lions.  One of these
brutes commenced eating the natives of the village;
so the agent barricaded himself in his room and slept
with six native watchmen in case of attack.  Hearing,
or thinking that he heard, the lion prowling round, he
fired out of the window and knocked a hole through the
administration boat.  The following night he again
heard sounds and fired, bagging the collector's donkey
at the first shot.  A certain well-known sportsman, who
was hunting in the vicinity, wrote in and congratulated
him on shooting his first lion.  He rose to the occasion,
and now silences all sceptics by producing the letter,
and has acquired quite a reputation as a hunter of big
game.

While purchasing trade-cloth for the journey north,
the carelessness of the British manufacturer was again
brought home to me.  All the loads contained different
lengths, and as the marks had been rubbed off, the
operation lasted several hours instead of ten minutes;
and they were so badly packed that after a week's
knocking about most of them came undone, and the
contents were consequently in part spoiled.  I wonder
when the British exporter will realize the advisability
of studying the requirements of his markets.  Kituta
was at one time the call-place of many Arab caravans,
but now it has sunk into insignificance, although there
is a flourishing rubber trade in the country, which is
paying very handsomely.





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.. _`THE CHAMBESI`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER VII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE CHAMBESI.

.. vspace:: 2

On reaching Mambwe I had the good fortune to find
Mr. C. R. Palmer, the assistant-collector, on the
point of starting for the Chambesi, with the object of
waking up one or two of the chiefs who had been tardy
in sending in labour.  His offer to take me with him, and
his glowing description of the game to be found there,
were so tempting that next morning I found myself on
the march to Tanzuka, a border village of the Mambwe;
and on the following day we entered the country
of the Awemba, a very powerful tribe apparently of
Zulu origin.  The difference between these people and the
neighbouring Mambwe is as cheese from chalk: whereas
the latter are of the ordinary dirty, stunted, cringing or
insolent, ill-fed type of Central Africa, the former are of
a very striking caste.  Among the upper class are some
magnificent specimens of the native, tall men of powerful
build, with much of the well-bred carriage of the Zulu;
their noses are straight and thin cut, their colour bronze;
and their hair, which they wear in grotesque tufts down
the middle of their head, is the only conspicuous negro
characteristic.  Many of the young women, with their
regular features, beautiful colour, and small, delicate
hands and feet, are quite pleasing.  Until the advent of
the Chartered Co. they led the rollicking life of the old
Zulus; herding cattle and depending for the meaner
necessaries of life and the replenishing of their harems
on the efforts of their neighbours.  Far and wide they
used to raid even to the Atonga country on the east
coast of Tanganyika, and many and wonderful are the
tales told of their stupendous forced marches, when the
weaker members used to fall out and die from sheer
exhaustion.  All the chiefs of any standing maintain
bands, composed of singers, drummers, and players on
the castanets, in which they take great pride.  On the
approach of any visitors to whom they wish to do honour,
the band is sent forward to meet them; the leading part
is usually taken by a man who sings the theme, some of
them having remarkably fine voices, while the refrain
is taken up by other men, playing drums of hollow wood
with lizard or snake skin stretched over the apertures,
and a chorus of boys rattling pods containing dry seeds;
the whole is accompanied by grotesque dancing, the
main object of which appeared to be to go as near falling
down as possible without actually doing so.  The strain,
like most African music, plays on about three notes
with untiring repetition, and, though rather pleasing at
first, palls after the fourth or fifth hour.  Should a chief
find any singer of unusual power, he promptly removes
his eyes to prevent him from going elsewhere, and many
men thus mutilated are to be seen in every district.  In
fact mutilation in various forms appears to be the chief
recreation of these autocrats.  Mr. Palmer told me of
three youths who came in to him without their eyes,
which had been removed by their chief, because he thought
his people were getting out of hand; so to teach them
that he was still master he had selected haphazard these
three unfortunates.  I also heard of some women who
had had their ears, lips, hands, and breasts cut off, and
who actually travelled a distance of about sixty miles
immediately afterwards to the collector of the district.
I myself saw many men who had similarly lost their
ears, lips, hands, or privates, and sometimes all these
parts.

Mr. Law, the able collector at Abercorn, who is known
to the natives by the appellation of the "Just man" (and
who, by the way, charged me £25 for my rhino about
six hours before I sailed north), when on some punitive
expedition in the Awemba country, captured a delightful
example of the grim humour of these pleasing gentry.
It consisted of a large sable horn rudely adorned and
fitted with a mask, into which the patient's head was
fitted, his throat having been previously cut with a
ferocious-looking knife, chiefly remarkable for its
bluntness; the blood spurting forth into the horn rang a
bell, a performance that gave general satisfaction, with,
I suppose, one exception.  Some of their old kraals are
veritable fortresses, consisting of an outer ringed palisade
banked with clay and loopholed; inside is a deep trench,
and again an inner palisade similarly banked and
loopholed, with, in many cases, a third palisade containing
the chief's huts.  The site is invariably selected on the
edge of a dense thicket, into which the women and cattle
are driven on the advent of strangers; nearly every
respectable member of society has a gun imported by
Arab traders from the north and Portuguese from the
south, and there must be several thousand in the country.
Such is the people who have been changed in half a
dozen short years from a cruel, murdering, widespread
curse into a quiet agricultural fraternity; and by
whom?  By a mere handful of men with less than a
hundred native police, agents of that oppressor of the
native, the Chartered Company; and this without fuss
and practically without bloodshed.  The chief industries
of the country are pombe[#]-drinking and the making of
bark cloth, which is a strong fibrous textile of a pleasing
reddish-brown colour, made by beating out the bark of
the fig-tree with little wooden hammers, till of the
required thinness.  A curious custom prevails here, and
one that I have not noticed elsewhere in Africa, of
wearing mourning for dead relatives; bands of cloth
being tied round the head.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Pombe: an intoxicating drink made from millet.

.. vspace:: 2

The following day we arrived at Changala's kraal;
he is a large, powerful man, with a face expressive of
determination and character.  He came out two miles
to meet us, carried on the shoulders of one of his men,
as is the custom (for the chiefs never walk), with a
following of two or three hundred people.  He, as in
fact did all the Awemba, gave us a very hearty
reception.  Having amicably settled all outstanding
questions with Changala, we visited Makasa, the big man
of the country, whose head village lies about twenty-six
miles south-east of Changala's.  He is a portly old
gentleman of unprepossessing countenance, and rather
inclined to make trouble--at a distance; however,
guessing our intentions, he had made great preparations
for our reception.  On arrival we found our tents already
pitched and grass shelters built above them to keep off
the sun; while large crowds of obsequious gentlemen
came out to meet us and insisted on carrying in our
machilas at a run, a form of attention that would not
be appreciated by Accident Insurance Companies.  His
village, which cannot contain less than five hundred huts,
is of the usual Awemba pattern, and is a great centre of
the bark-cloth industry.

Tales of rhino and elephant galore raised our hopes to
the highest pitch, and after a day's rest we launched
forth into the game country--a triangular patch of
country that lies at the junction of the Chambesi, and
its main tributary the Chosi--camping near Chipiri, the
original site of the French mission.  Here we got our
first glimpse of the Chambesi, which, flowing with a
devious course into Lake Bangweolo, is the real source of
the Congo.  It rises between Mambwe and Abercorn,
and at Chipiri is already a river of some size, flowing
through a beautiful grass plain clothed with patches of
waving spear-grass.  The plain, varying in width from
a half to five miles, is hemmed in by forest bush and
park land, dotted over with innumerable ant-hills, some
30 ft. in height, and is the haunt of countless herds of
pookoo, two of which graced our larder shortly after
pitching camp.

The next afternoon we moved further down the river
to the Mafunso; and our carriers started a rhino on
the path, the spoor of which we followed in thick brush.
But, getting our wind, he departed with a derisive squeal,
and, though I nearly came up with him again, I was
compelled to give up the chase by nightfall, and only
found camp with considerable difficulty.  Still further
down the river we camped in a delightful hunting-country,
the Chambesi plain lying to our south, the vast plain
of the Chosi to our east, and north, just behind the
camp, strips of bush alternating with glades and groves
of mahobahoba.  The bush was ploughed up with rhino
spoor, and that afternoon both Palmer and I unsuccessfully
followed spoor of the morning.  Never having seen
roan antelope, I was very anxious to shoot one, and the
following day started out with that intention.  I found
several fresh spoors, but failed to make anything of
them, but on my way home I found recent lion tracks.
These I followed for about two hours; at times it was
very difficult, their soft pads leaving no impression on
the carpets of dead leaves in the patches of bush, but I
managed by casting round to pick the track up again
when at fault, and eventually, hearing a low growl, I
caught a glimpse of four yellow bodies disappearing
round the end of a bush-covered ant-hill.  I ran as fast
as possible to the other side and almost into their midst;
they had tried the old, old lion tactics of doubling.
At sight of me they stood, and I put in a right and left;
off they galloped, I in hot pursuit, following, as I thought,
the first, who had got a fair shoulder-shot, and not
wishing to lose sight of her, because of the thickness of some
of the bush.  I could just see her bounding round an
ant-hill, and was making a desperate spurt to see if she
would double, when I rushed round the corner of a bush
right on to the top of a tail.  I lost no time in skipping
to one side; however, she was at her last gasp, gnawing
her forepaw and making that peculiar deep gurgle,
once heard, never forgotten, the lion's death-groan.  I
found she was the recipient of the first barrel, and the
one I was following, which had dropped for a moment
to my second barrel, must have crossed when I lost
sight of them behind an ant-hill.  Then to my disgust
I remembered that I had had a solid bullet in my second
barrel in case of an unexpected rhino.  I picked up her
spoor and followed her all round the country for about
three hours, but she was playing the fool with me, and
though several times I must have been very near, I
never obtained another sight of her.  The other two,
which were three parts grown, found her after a while,
and their spoor led over the top of all the ant-hills,
where they had stopped to watch me till I came too
close.  To judge by the blood, I had hit her too far
back, and the solid bullet going right through would
make very little impression.  This was the second time
I had dropped a right and left and lost one, and I was
grievously disappointed.  The one I killed was a superb
lioness with unusually long hair, and she measured
8 ft. 5-½ in., from tip to tip, in the flesh.  Owing to the hot,
rainy weather I had much difficulty in curing the skin,
but eventually made a complete success of it.  I made
a raised quadrangular frame, upon which I stretched the
skin, with a grass roof to keep off the showers; then, in
default of any better preservative, I had wood-ash
continually rubbed in by relays of men.

Making short afternoon marches and hunting in the
morning, we gradually worked down the river to the
Chosi junction, then up the Chosi, which is a fine stream
about forty yards wide, with a large body of water, till
we arrived at Kalungu, a small isolated village, and the
only one between Makasa's village and the Chosi.  I
made a circuit of the plain, waded some swamps, and
emerged on a second plain.  Here, in the distance, I
saw three huge unwieldy monsters slowly threading
their way in and out of the numerous ant-hills, till they
vanished behind one larger than the rest.  I had left
my glasses behind, and owing to the slight mirage could
not be sure whether they were rhino or hippo.  Having
loaded the double 4-bore, I hurried forward, creeping
from ant-hill to ant-hill, till at last I arrived in a line
with the one behind which the brutes were still hidden.
Crawling cautiously up, I climbed to the top, the big
gun at the present, then peered over while my heart
beat the devil's tattoo.  There they were, not fifteen
yards off, three of them, neither rhino nor hippo, but
camp boys, with three loads of wood by their sides,
peacefully smoking a hubble-bubble.  I looked at them,
then back at the sickly grey face of my gun-bearer, his
teeth chattering with fright, and then marched into
camp, to find that Palmer had shot a splendid roan on
the high road.

Turning out early the next morning I struck the spoor
of the herd of roan, and after sixteen miles through water
ankle-deep, came up with them; but they saw me first,
and I only succeeded in dropping a good cow, which
stood on an ant-hill to have a last look at me.  I had
arranged to join Palmer and the boys at Nondo, which
lies at the junction of the Mwenda and Chosi, but found
that he had gone further up the Mwenda and camped
at Chupi, which lies on the border of Luwala, the *pièce
de résistance* of our trip.  At Nondo the Chosi forms a
wide pool, formerly the abode of numerous hippo till
the advent of one of the French priests, who murdered
the majority, for the satisfaction, I suppose, of seeing
them float down-stream.  The same enterprising individual,
with other kindred spirits, organized a drive of
the herds of pookoo on the plain.  Huge fences were
built at one end with funnel-shaped openings, where the
gallant sportsmen stationed themselves, and, if report
speaks true, slaughtered about two hundred.  I wonder
how many they wounded?  By the side of the pool is
an enormous pile of old hippo skulls that is regarded
with superstitious awe by the natives, and close by is
a sacred tree, the burial-place of some old chief, where
quite a respectable herd of cattle has accumulated from
the native offerings.  East of the Chosi there is another
Awemba god, who dwells in a thicket decorated by a
wonderful collection of horns.

When a big chief dies, they smoke him for a year
and then bury him in bark-cloth.  The general belief is
that his spirit enters into a lion, an animal that they
hold in superstitious awe, and refuse to kill.

From Chupi we marched into Luwala, a hitherto
unexplored tract of country.  During the rains it is under
water, and is consequently quite uninhabited, a few
natives only camping there for fishing purposes, as the
waters begin to leave the plain.  On the north and east
it is bounded by the Chosi for a distance of about sixty
miles, and on the west by a slight ridge covered with
bush, through which numerous streams flow and lose
themselves in the marshes, eventually draining into the
Chosi by the Mwenda.

Unfortunately we were too late in the season, the
rains having already broken, and were consequently
unable to penetrate far from the west side; even there
we were compelled to wade from camp to camp through
water from 6 in. to 3 ft. deep.  The natives told us that
when the rains are drying up, immense numbers of game
come out from the bush to feed on the new grass round
the rapidly diminishing pools, and that often they could
see as many as half a dozen rhino at a time.  It is also
a favourite haunt of the comparatively few elephant
that still roam over this country.  On the first day's
trek we crossed rhino spoor about four to five hours
old, and as Palmer, who was out of form, was unwilling
to risk a long chase, I started off in pursuit.  After
following for about an hour, I passed quite close to a
large herd of roan containing three or four magnificent
bulls, which stood and watched me at about forty yards.
I was sorely tempted, but held to my principle of never
leaving a spoor except for something better.  For some
time the rhino had been travelling very fast, but
suddenly the spoor freshened, and from the side of an
ant-hill I saw a great pink body in the distance moving
slowly through the grass.  It is curious how decidedly
pink hippo and rhino look at a distance.  As there were
many large ant-hills about I followed the spoor right
out, and coming round the corner of one, suddenly saw
him about forty yards off just walking out into the huge
bare plain; but the birds, many of which were on his
back, saw me and gave the alarm.  In turning he gave
me my broadside chance, and I fired the 4-bore,
burning fourteen drams and throwing a four-ounce spherical
ball; then, as he swung round to bolt, I popped in a
forward raking second barrel, which quickened his pace
considerably.  He rushed round in a half-circle to try
and get my wind, while I peppered him with .303 solid
bullets, which appeared to have about the same effect
as hailstones.  When he got my wind he stopped short
and faced me, then swayed from side to side, staggered,
recovered himself, and finally, with a shrill squeal,
toppled over, kicking his four fat little legs in the air,
and gave up the ghost, or the rhino's equivalent, there
being nothing very spectral about these incongruous old
survivals of the past.  Choleric, dyspeptic, unsociable
old fellows with a lordly contempt for, and fixed
determination to suppress all such indecent innovations as
guns, Cape wagons, and Mombasa railway-trains, they
always remind me of those fire-eating, civilian-repressing,
cheroot-smoke-belching Bagstocks who frequent
Madeira, the Lake of Geneva, and other temperate and
economical resorts, and who glare at all newcomers
with that peculiar bloodshot ferocity only to be acquired
by many years of curry, Bombay duck, and unlimited
authority over servile millions.  Owing to the difficulty
of providing food for the large mob of Mambwe who
had accompanied us to see in safety their old masters,
the Awemba, the meat was very acceptable.  The rhino
was a large bull.  Being particularly anxious to preserve
the head, I took the trouble to cut through the hide all
round to be sure of having sufficient neck-skin, and, to
avoid any possibility of mistake, I left a boy by the
carcase; yet in the evening it arrived in two
detachments, having been considerately hacked in two to
facilitate carriage.

After floundering about the country for miles and
camping on isolated ant-hills, surrounded by sheets of
water, and as, owing to the continued rains in the hills,
the water was daily rising, we were compelled to retreat
north-west.  Here we made two more ineffectual efforts
to penetrate into the interior.  So, cursing the rains, we
marched to the Luchewe, the largest of the streams
which flow into Luwala, and following its valley, arrived
at Kyambi, the mission station of the Pères Blancs.
Here, with their usual enterprise and abilities, they have
constructed a splendid two-storied building with a large
cloister-like verandah, surrounded, as are all their other
stations, by a solid, fortified wall; outside they have
collected a large village and laid out extensive irrigated
gardens well stocked with bananas, limes, lemons, and
other fruits.  The priests were most charming hosts.
Their hospitality is, indeed, famed throughout Central
Africa.

From Kyambi we marched straight into Mambwe,
where we arrived drenched to the skin; and two days
later I was down with an attack of fever which lasted
till I reached the highlands of Kivu.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`TANGANYIKA`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER VIII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   TANGANYIKA.

.. vspace:: 2

At last, on April 2nd, we sailed from Kituta in the
*Good News*.

Mr. Mohun and a large number of his Zanzibaris were
with me.  Consequently there was not much room.  The
*Good News* was originally the property of an English
Mission on the Lake, and when the Mission moved to
find healthier quarters, the steamer was sold at a
ridiculously low figure to the African Lakes Corporation,
although, I believe, the Administration of Northern
Rhodesia offered a larger sum.  A large hole had been
knocked in her bottom and filled up with cement;
and the machinery was tied together with string and
strips of sardine-tins.  Vast cockroaches were in
possession, and night was made hideous by their peregrinations;
some of them were almost as large as mice, and
it was a great strain on one's mosquito-curtain when they
climbed up the sides in droves.  Mr. Mohun endured
them all night, but I, in a very few minutes, gave up
the unequal fight and retired on deck.

Our noble captain, who was quite new to the lake,
did not know where he was going, nor did he care.  His
idea of navigating a boat consisted in sleeping in his
bunk until the natives told him we had arrived
somewhere; even then, he never inquired what the place
was.  His only anxiety was lest he should oversleep
himself and miss a meal.

In the evening we arrived at the Congo Free State
post of M'liro, which is at the south-western corner of
the lake, a few miles over the Anglo-Congolese boundary.

On board I discovered two of the boys who had gone
up with Sharp, and who had been left at Kituta.  At
Kituta I had given instructions that they were to be
sent back; so the following morning, having crossed
the lake to a wooding station, on the eastern shore, I
turned them off with their pay and cloth to buy food
on the road; but one of them, on adventure bent, slipped
on board again.  During the night, finding the sleeping-places
rather limited, he calmly threw a crate containing
twenty-eight fowls, belonging to Mr. Mohun, overboard.

On April 4th we recrossed the lake and arrived at the
French Mission Station of M'bala.  This station is of
several years' standing, and the Fathers, who are seven
in number, with several lay brothers, have built
themselves a substantial and comfortable home.  They have
also built a magnificent cathedral, capable of holding
many hundred devotees.  I am afraid it would need a
large expenditure of cloth and medals to fill it.  There
are also elaborate workshops, and the gardens, which
are very extensive, are planted with numbers of flourishing
fruit trees.  The coffee-shrubs were particularly
remarkable for their size and yield.  On the walls were
many gigantic sable heads.  The horns of one that I
measured were 46-½ in.; while many others were almost
as long.  All these antelope had been shot in the
immediate vicinity by native hunters employed on the
mission station.  It was here that the record sable head
which Mr. Boyd presented to me was obtained; and
it is evident that these sable must be the largest in
the world.  They also had a few rhino horns, which had
been shot in the neighbourhood.

They gave us a tremendous dinner, with a bewildering
profusion of courses and some luscious kinds of fruit,
amongst which the *ceil-de-boeuf* was particularly soothing;
and delicious Algerian wine flowed freely round the
festive board.  There are two or three white sisters at
the station; it was very sad to see how ill they looked.

After dinner, some natives brought in a large catch
of fish, amongst which was a splendid kind of
white-fleshed salmon.  The Fathers informed me that this
fish, at that time of the year, runs up the small streams,
and jumps up waterfalls of considerable height.

The charming point about these white Fathers is that
they never ply one with fantastic accounts of the work
which they are doing.  When we regretfully took our
leave, they presented us with several large baskets of
potatoes, tomatoes, pomegranates, and many other fruits
and vegetables.

Along this shore there are enormous dug-out canoes,
and we were carried to and from the steamer in one very
fine specimen, probably 40 ft. in length.

On the run up to M'towa, we encountered a terrific
sea, and were for several hours in imminent danger of
turning turtle.  The wind rushes down the narrow gulleys
between the mountains that enclose the lake, and lashes
the waters into a very frenzy.  The arrival of these
squalls is very sudden and impossible to predict;
consequently, sailing on Lake Tanganyika is a most
dangerous amusement.  All the natives were most abominably
ill, everything was wet, and the cabin and the captain
formed an impossible combination.

Early in the morning the tempest subsided and we
made M'towa, which is the chief Congo station on the
lake.  Here all the officials in the district had collected,
having ignominiously fled from the rebels.  One gentleman
who had retired from a station further up the lake,
had thrown all the station ammunition and ivory into
the lake, solely on a report that the rebels were within
a hundred miles.  The rebels, hearing of the action,
went to the place and quietly fished up both the ivory
and the cartridges, thereby gaining a new lease of life.
At M'towa the Belgians had built elaborate defences
and had protected all the approaches with barbed wire;
and in case the rebels should come they had cut down
all the bananas, and were consequently short of food.
There were one or two unfortunate Scandinavians in the
service, who were being thrown out as pickets.  One
of these gentlemen came and asked us for some poison,
in case he should be caught by the rebels with his totally
inadequate force.

This chaotic condition has now lasted for five years,
and there appears to be no man capable of grappling
with the situation; it seems to me a great pity that
they did not allow Commandant Henry, whom I afterwards
met on the Nile, to follow up his preliminary
successes against the rebels.  Had he been given a free
hand, in all probability the revolution would have been
crushed long since.

Mr. Mohun's expedition was camped on a hill about a
mile from the Government station, and they complained
of most indifferent treatment at the hands of the local
officials.  Although they had been ready to start operations
for more than six weeks, the officials had failed to
provide them with any labour.  It was obvious that
there was much jealousy and friction between the
expedition and the authorities.  Fortunately, the King of
the Belgians had sent Mr. Mohun a supplementary
commission, which would give him the free hand necessary
to the successful carrying out of his difficult task.

I was very pleased to again meet Sharp, as we had
been separated for nearly three months.  He was looking
very ill, having only recently been laid up with fever in
Ujiji.  Dr. Castellote, the medical officer of Mr. Mohun's
expedition, and who I am grieved to learn has recently
died of fever, hearing of Sharp's sorry plight, crossed
the lake and brought him over to the comparatively
healthy uplands near M'towa.

Sharp had visited the station of the white Fathers on
the east coast of the lake, where we had only put in to
obtain wood.  He told me that there was an elaborate
church of brick with stained-glass windows, where he
had attended service.  He had been much amused at
watching dirty little nigger boys from the village passing
in at one door, draped in the usual filthy strip of greasy
cloth, and presently emerging from another door clad in
scarlet cassocks and lace tippets, waving censers, etc.

Bidding a regretful farewell to our good telegraph
friends, and wishing them every luck in their venture,
Sharp and I, with a mean temperature of 104°, repaired
across the lake to Ujiji.

It was with feelings of curiosity that I looked out for
the first time on the one historic spot in Central Africa.
A few mango trees and a few white buildings scattered
about on the top of the long, gently sloping shore of
the lake: such was Ujiji, the meeting-place of Stanley
and Livingstone, and the heart of the great slave-raiding
ulcer of the past.

After considerable difficulty, we landed all our
belongings by means of some unstable dug-out canoes; and
having piled them on the beach, left them in charge of
our boys, while we rode on donkeys, sent to us by the
Greek merchant, through a gruesome array of grinning
skulls that still lie scattered about the beach, the last
relic of the days of Arab predominance.

We were given beds in an old mission-house which is
now tenanted by two Greek traders, who, by their
enterprise, richly deserve the success which they are enjoying.
The old mission-house is substantially built, and is
surrounded by enormous mango and guava trees.

Having fixed up our loads, we crawled up to the
Government house to pay our respects to Hauptmann
Bethe, the German chief of the station; he is a most
delightful specimen of a German officer.  He treated
us with every kindness and showered the most lavish
hospitality upon us.  Without his cordial co-operation,
we should never have been able to take the route *via*
Kivu, on which we had set our hearts.  He strongly
advised us to go by the hackneyed route by Tabora
and the Victoria Nyanza, the road by which Dècle went
from Ujiji to Uganda, and which is the high-road for all
the caravans that ply between the Victoria Nyanza and
Tabora, and Ujiji and Tabora.  He informed us that it
would be most risky to take the route which we intended
without at least a hundred armed men.

He also told us that the Congolese rebels had sent a
deputation to him to tell him that they intended once
more to attack the Belgians.  They asked whether, in
the event of failure, they would be allowed to hand their
guns in to him, and to come over and settle in German
territory.  This is an indication of the natives' feeling
towards the Congo Free State Administration.

Unfortunately both Sharp and I were too ill to see
much of Ujiji and its interesting people.  Many charming
old Arabs, clad in gorgeous array, came and paid their
respects, and sent us many presents, such as fruit, eggs,
and vegetables.  It was sad to see these venerable old
gentlemen in their then condition, and to think of how,
in the good old days gone by, they had held undisputed
sway over many, many thousand square miles.

The day after our arrival we lunched with Hauptmann
Bethe and his staff.  We were plied with the most
bewildering succession of drinks; starting with port, then
through successive courses of champagne, brandy, beer,
Vermouth, and claret, we slowly wended our way, with
the temperature 110° in the shade.  This diet, the
Germans informed us, was absolutely essential to avoid
fever.  They protested that no teetotaller who had
arrived in Ujiji had ever left Ujiji for any other place in
this world; and certainly the Germans who were there
were living examples of the efficacy of their treatment.

The courtesy, assistance, and confidence which we
received in the German sphere shone bright in contrast
with much of the treatment which we received under
our own flag; and our warmest thanks are due to those
whole-hearted Germans who are upholding the honour
of the Fatherland on the far distant shore of Tanganyika.

My fever, which had now lasted for more than three
weeks, took a decided turn for the worse, and I began
to lose the proper control of my hands.  Sharp, on the
other hand, was slightly better.

We witnessed several dances.  It was quite easy to
start one, by providing the funds necessary to obtain a
considerable quantity of native beer, when the natives
would arrive in hundreds in the market-place and
perform the wildest and most grotesque dances imaginable.
Hauptmann Bethe arranged a most elaborate one for
our edification.

At last, on April 12th, we had organized our caravan
of one hundred and thirty men, and made a start up
the lake.  We had been compelled to leave some loads
behind, and it was not till four in the afternoon that
the last man left the courtyard.  We had had no
difficulty in recruiting as many men as we wanted, as the
Germans afforded us every facility.

We only marched out sufficiently far to get our caravan
quite clear of Ujiji; and the Germans kindly sent out
a few soldiers to avoid any trouble with the men, the
last farewell of the natives being invariably accompanied
by much pombe.  However, they all turned up, and we
got them into some sort of order.  I had brought from
Nyassa sixteen boys--ten of whom had been drilled for
a few days by one of Mr. Mohun's Zanzibari sergeants--two
of them were kitchen boys, and the other four
gun-bearers and tent-pitchers: this made our caravan one
hundred and fifty strong.

Sharp ignored the mosquitoes the first night, and in
consequence suffered severely from blood poisoning of
the hands.  The path led through a fertile country, but
as the high grass overhung the narrow track, it was
very wet travelling and not conducive to a speedy
recovery from fever.  The way became gradually worse
and we had many sharp rises to face, and many small
streams to cross, while satisfactory camping-grounds were
hard to find.  On the fourth day, after a struggle up an
almost perpendicular hill, we camped at an elevation
of nearly 6,000 ft., and obtained some lovely views over
the country to the east--high, tree-covered hills, with a
few native huts and their accompanying gardens in
clearings where the ground was not too steep, and, down
below, deep valleys covered with dense bush--while to
the west we could just catch a glimpse of the lake backed
by the rugged and forbidding-looking hills on the Congo
side.

A cold white mist came up in the afternoon, and put
all thoughts of scenery away, driving us to refuge in
tightly-closed tents.

Next day we mounted still higher--about 7,000 ft.--and
the scenery amply repaid the exertion.  From thence
we made a rapid descent by a path so steep and rough
that we had to glissade at times with the aid of a strong
spear.  At the villages here we found the people
wearing wooden tweezers on their noses; on inquiry we
discovered that they injected snuff mixed with water,
and then put the apparatus on to keep the concoction
from wasting away at once.  A day or two later we
reached the lake-shore, and the path, such as it was,
came to an end.  We now had to make our way along
the shingle.  The bush overhung the water every few
yards, and as it was mostly mimosa, or other equally
prickly matter, we had to wade round to avoid it--often
up to our middles in the water--while an occasional
mountain torrent necessitated our being carried on our
boys' shoulders.  As the lake was swarming with
crocodiles, this was rather exciting.  Our Nyassa boys, who
had earned the name of the Guinea-fowls, owing to their
dress of dark-blue bird's-eye cotton and greeny-blue
fezzes, had been a great comfort, pitching our tents
and doing all the little odd jobs inseparable from camp
life, and we were congratulating ourselves on having
some natives of a different race to our Manyema porters.

The heat and continual wetting now began to tell on
the fever which we had not been able to shake off, so
we hired two big canoes, and putting our deck-chairs
in the largest, over which we rigged up an awning, we
proceeded by water while our boys plodded through the
shingle.  On reaching the halting-place after our first
day's canoeing, we were horrified to find that our ten
Askaris and the cook had bolted, leaving their rifles and
bayonets on the path.  Though I was bad with fever
I got a fresh crew for the big canoe, and made all haste
back to our last night's camp.  Nothing was to be seen
or heard of the fugitives, and though I offered the
Sultani (chief) of the village heavy rewards for each captive,
we never heard any more of them, but trust that they
did not escape their deserts when they reached Ujiji, if
the natives on the way let them go free, which is more
than doubtful.  I had left Sharp to try his 'prentice
hand at cooking, and returning wet through, very tired
and full of fever, found his attempt at soup had ended
in a few bones and a blob of fat at the bottom of the
pan!  The heat was intense, never a breath of air, and
no shade, while the rays of the burning sun were refracted
from the face of the water.  At every camp one or more
of the neighbouring chiefs came to pay his respects,
bringing with him a present, according to his standing,
of pombe, native beer, bananas, three or four fowls, and
in the case of a big "swell," two or three goats or sheep.
Each chief was followed by as large a retinue as he could
gather, and most of them were dressed in semi-Arab
fashion--a long, white shirt or "kanzu," a coloured
cloth, and a turban or white head-dress.  The natives
had many knives of local manufacture, the sheaths of
which were ornamented with well-carved patterns, while
their spears were very thin and light, and often adorned
with brass and copper wire.  Of course we had to make
return presents of cloth and beads to an equal value.
Eggs were rather hard to obtain, and it was still more
difficult to make the natives believe that we did not
want them for electioneering purposes.  My fever was
now so bad that I had to depute my baking to Sharp,
who was becoming quite a passable cook under my
tuition, and retire to bed as soon as I could get my
tent pitched.  To add to our enjoyment Sharp got a
sunstroke and a dose of fever, and we were consequently
reduced to the most pitiable plight.  My temperature
went up to 106.9, and left me too weak to move, while
Sharp, ill as he was, made superhuman efforts to look
after me.  At last, after several days of intolerable
misery, we eventually arrived at Usambara, where the
German official, Lieutenant von Gravert, took us in
hand.  Under his care we recovered slightly.

Usambara, with characteristic German thoroughness,
has been well laid out.  Substantial buildings have been
put up, good gardens made, and an immense avenue of
pawpaws and bananas planted from the Government
House to the lake shore.  A small sailing-boat adds
materially to the comfort and efficiency of the
commanding officer.

Every morning a large market is held, and the natives
bring in enormous supplies of fish, bananas, beans, grains
of different sort (even rice), and fowls.  The German
black troops keep splendid order, and the station has the
most flourishing air.  I am a great believer in the
Germans' African methods.  Of course they are severely
handicapped by having such a poor country to work
upon.  But their methods are thorough and eminently
practical, and not characterized by the stinginess which
paralyzes most of our African efforts.  The men selected
for the work are given a practically free hand, and are
not cramped by the ignorant babblings of sentimentalism.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE RUSISI VALLEY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER IX.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE RUSISI VALLEY.

.. vspace:: 2

At last, on May 7th, we were sufficiently recovered
to move, and bidding farewell to our good friend,
Lieutenant von Gravert, we left Usambara and made a
short march along the lake shore to Kijaga, a deserted
Government station near the most easterly mouth of
the Rusisi.

Being still much too weak to walk, I was carried in a
hammock slung from a pole by a team of twelve natives
of Usige kindly recruited for me by Lieutenant von
Gravert, who were to take me to Dr. Kandt's
headquarters on Kivu, where the climate of the highlands,
it was hoped, would render me sufficiently strong to
continue my journey on foot.

After the trained "machila" teams of Nyassaland
they were very crude, and many amusing incidents arose
from their inexperience.  However, they were willing,
and served me very well.

The northern shore of the lake is flat and sandy, and
for a long distance from land the water is very shallow;
even at a distance of two miles hippopotami could walk
on the bottom with their heads above water.  The
natives are great fishermen, and own many dug-out
canoes; they fish mainly at night.  There was little
moon at the time, and we could see scores of canoes
punting about, each with a great flaming torch in the
bows, and the fishermen with poised spears eagerly
scanning the water.  The effect of the number of
dimly-defined canoes gliding to and fro on the oily water, of
the strong reflection of the flaming torches, and of the
phosphorescent wash was most picturesque.

The Rusisi, which is the outflow of Lake Kivu, falls
into Lake Tanganyika through five mouths, four of
which are close together slightly to the east of the centre
of the northern shore, while the fifth is on the extreme
western point under the gigantic hills that line the
western shore.  The enclosed deltas are very flat and
swampy, and in part covered with forest, the haunt of
many elephant, a large portion of which are said by the
Arabs to be tuskless.

During many weary days of sickness at Usambara, I
had gazed up that mighty valley, the vast flat gently
merging into endless vistas of purple hills, behind winch
lay the mysterious waters of Kivu and the giant
volcanoes (the pulse of Africa), flanked by two massive
walls of mountains--the path that led to the yet
unknown, the first real stage of the task that we had set
ourselves!  And for long it seemed as though I had
struggled thus far only to die at the very gate.  The
extraordinary beauty of the scene fascinated me, and
with its eddying mists and fading hills, redolent of
mystery, it seemed a fitting entry to an unknown
land.

At Kijaga we rose to find that our cook and the three
boys whom we had engaged at Usambara had bolted in
the night, taking with them their month's pay and two
months' rations.  We immediately sent a note in to
Von Gravert, and his police very cleverly caught them
two days later, although they tried to go down to Ujiji
by a path that leads over the hills at the back of the
station.  The capture was a very clever one, and reflects
great credit on the German administrative organization.

Our cow-boys were a great nuisance; they refused to
go near one of the cows which kicked, and they evidently
considered that the little milk they succeeded in
extracting from the others had been earned by the trouble
of extraction, consequently what eventually arrived for
us was limited in quantity.  A strong protest, backed
by mild physical correction, produced a larger quantity,
but it was sour, and on inquiry we found that they had
drunk our fresh milk, and for a small consideration
purchased some sour milk from a neighbouring chief; they
foolishly brought it stone cold, ostensibly fresh from the
cow.  They assured us that all the cows in that country
produced sour milk.

For the first fifteen miles the valley is absolutely flat,
and deposits of semi-fossilized shells indicate a
historically recent upheaval.

There are two streams, the Mpanda and Kazeki, flowing
from the east; the former has a considerable volume
of water.

The flat, which is about two miles wide, is covered
with very short, poor-looking grass, and dotted here
and there with magnificent specimens of the candelabra
euphorbia, looking in the distance like gigantic cabbages.
An occasional palm-tree breaks the desolate monotony,
and a very occasional small antelope lends a suggestion
of life.

To the west the Rusisi makes a long curve towards
the enclosing mountain range, and in places spreads out
into swampy lagoons apparently of some extent.

Our carriers had been giving much trouble, lagging
behind and not arriving till two or three hours after our
arrival, hoping thereby to escape fatigue duties.  It was
most desirable to have the caravan as compact as possible
on the march, in view of possible troubles with the
natives.

We allowed them, therefore, half an hour's margin, and
every one who arrived after that, without having obtained
permission in the morning for sickness or some valid
reason, was made to stand with his load on his head in
the middle of camp as long as was deemed sufficient for
his particular case.  We found this much more effectual
as a punishment than fines (a system to be deprecated,
except in Government stations).  The native enjoys his
afternoon nap, he likes to stroll into the neighbouring
villages, show his best clothes off before the local beauties,
and pass the time of day with the village cronies.  It
jars on him to have to stand doing nothing while he
sees his friends chatting and discussing their bananas
and the topics of the day.  One such punishment usually
sufficed for at least a month, and a native must be very
much impressed to remember anything for as long as
that.

Fifteen miles from Kijaga there is a bunch of large
villages.  The chief is called Balamata.  They are
situated on the advance spur of a line of conical peaks
which divide the main valley into two sections: the
western branch, which trends north-west by north, is
the valley of the Rusisi; while the eastern branch, which
trends north-east by north, comes from Kirimbi and
Imbo.  Close to Balamata a small stream flows from
the central peaks towards the eastern valley, and as
we did not pass any stream of consequence, I imagine
that this small stream and the whole of the drainage of
the valley loses itself in the swamp which I could plainly
see a few miles to the east.

Passing round the western side of Balamata's peaks,
we found the country similar to the first stage of the
valley, flat and dotted with euphorbia, the mean
altitude being slightly higher than the lake level.  We
passed over two extraordinary ravines dug out of the
flat country.  One was evidently a dry stream-bed, but
the other appeared to have no outlet, and I could find
no satisfactory clue to its origin.

The Rusisi here flows under the eastern wall; it is a
large body of water flowing through wide expanses of
papyrus, and is probably navigable for small steamers
to a point forty miles north of the lake.

The population is very scanty.  The scattered villages
and their cattle-pens are enclosed by artificial
hedges of euphorbia.

A large stream, the Kagunozi, flows down from the
east a few miles north of Balamata's, and three miles
further north is the village of Buvinka, a chief of some
importance.

North of Buvinka's, a large stream called the Kabulantwa
flows into the Rusisi from the east, which appears
to be very broken and mountainous in the distance.
We had much difficulty in crossing the stream with
our cattle and goats, owing to the power of the current.
Several goats were washed away, but with the exception
of two, all were eventually rescued by the boys, who
were expert swimmers.  In places the stream narrowed
considerably, forming foaming rapids, and it was splendid
to see some of the Manyema shooting down like arrows
in pursuit of an old billy-goat, eventually dragging him
half drowned on to the bank.  Some of the cows refused
to enter the water, and had to be forcibly dragged
across by ropes.

Opposite the junction of the Kabulantwa and the
Rusisi, the western range of hills sends a long spur down
into the valley, culminating in a well-defined conical
peak, which abuts on the river, and is a splendid
landmark for many miles north and south.

The dominant peaks at the back are very striking,
and apparently at least 7,000 ft. high; they are very
rugged, and in parts heavily wooded.

A few miles north of the Kabulantwa the valley again
splits into two; the eastern branch is drained by a
small and very rapid stream called the Muhira, which
appears to be a highroad for elephant crossing the
valley.  The western branch is the valley of the Rusisi;
it is very flat, and covered with coarse grass with slight
thorn-scrub at the sides; part of it is marshy.

We camped in a scattered village of considerable size,
thickly planted with bananas.  The Rusisi flows close
by, cutting its way through a dyke, which crosses the
valley.  The country here was much more broken, and
our camp was about 300 ft. above the lake level.

.. _`One or more of the neighbouring Chiefs came to pay his Respects`:

.. figure:: images/img-129.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: One or more of the neighbouring Chiefs came to pay his Respects.

   One or more of the neighbouring Chiefs came to pay his Respects.

The natives have a good supply of cattle, and live in
scattered villages of considerable size; they are well set
up, with good faces, high foreheads, and not prognathous
to a conspicuous degree; they all carry long, slight,
spears with small heads, and long sword-knives with
elaborately-decorated sheaths.  They also use a
long-bladed axe with a hook on the end for cutting bananas,
the handle of which is also elaborately decorated with
iron, copper, and brass.  On their arms they wear many
wire rings and large wooden bracelets of curious shape.

In the evening I discovered an enormous jigger in my
small toe, and one of my Watonga boys skilfully removed
it; the bag of eggs was the size of a marrowfat pea, and
as there was only the bone and top part of my toe left
I was afraid that I should lose it; however, after giving
me some trouble, it yielded to the persuasive influence
of that panacea for all African ills, permanganate of
potash, and healed.

During the night a hyæna grabbed one of the goats,
and tore the poor brute so badly that it had to be killed.
The following morning, after crossing some very
broken country, and fording a deep stream called the
Nyamgana, we arrived at the first of the three
Soudanese forts, established by the Germans on the Rusisi
to prevent raids of the Congolese rebels.

The treaty boundary, between the Congo and German
East Africa of 1885, runs from the mouth of the Rusisi
to cut the 30th degree east longitude, at a point 1° 20'
south of the equator.  Hence all these three posts are
well within the Congo Free State.  The Germans have
cleverly availed themselves of the Congolese chaos, and
having placed these advance posts for the plausible
object of defending their country, by occupying the
natural line of defence afforded by the river, are now
pleading effective occupation.  In the meanwhile
Dr. Kandt, under the auspices of the German Government,
is investigating the possibilities of the country.  On his
report the Germans will know whether the country is
worth a struggle.

The fort is well placed on a flat-topped hill
overhanging the river, which here races along between
precipitous rocks, and although it is only in charge of a
native officer, it is clean and well kept.  The troops
are Wanyamwesi, officered by Soudanese.

We camped on the north bank of the Nyakagunda, a
large stream flowing from the east; here again a line
of rounded hills (a long spur of the mass of hills that
hems in the north end of the valley) cuts the valley
into two branches.  The main or Rusisi branch is still
flat and grass-covered, and obviously an old lake-bed;
while the eastern branch, down which flows the
Nyakagunda, is broken by many small hills.

About an hour before sunset some natives rushed in
to say that they had seen elephant close to camp;
they said that they were travelling, so that there was
not a moment to be lost.  To put the 4-bore together
was a question of seconds, and hurriedly collecting the
few necessaries, and ordering my "machila" team to
follow, as I was still very weak, I dashed off in the direction
indicated.  Sharp had, unfortunately, not yet unpacked any
of his 10-bore cartridges, and as every minute was precious
at that time of day, it would have been useless to wait.

About two miles from camp we found the elephants;
they had stopped, and were standing round a clump
of euphorbia.  Making a detour to catch the wind, I
approached them, 4-bore in hand, and with one boy
carrying the .303 behind me.  There was absolutely
no cover, but, to my astonishment, they took not the
slightest notice of me.  Gathering confidence from this,
I went quite close and inspected them.  There were
twenty-nine in all, mostly cows, some of which,
however, had enormously long, thin tusks.  Taking care
to avoid any sudden movements which would be likely
to attract their attention, I passed to leeward of them,
so close to some that I could have touched them with
my rifle.  The three bulls were at the far end, and I
at length made up my mind which one to take.  The
cartridge missed fire, and at the same moment the
middle bull, which had appeared small, lifted his head
from behind a small euphorbia and showed a pair of
very massive tusks, almost black from use.  Inwardly
blessing the miss-fire, I went up to within six yards of
him, when the one I had left caught a puff of my wind
and cocked his ears; that was all he did; he never
made a sound of any description, yet the whole
twenty-nine (many of which had their backs turned, or were
completely hidden by the euphorbia) moved off
instantly.  As the black-tusked male swung round, I
gave him the first barrel on the shoulder, and again
the second barrel at nine yards; he dropped on to one
knee, but never even lost his stride; the others closed
round him, and helped him away, and that was the
last I saw or heard of my first elephant.  I was too
weak to follow far, and the next morning I sent out
some of our boys with local natives, but they never
found him.  When hunting elephant and other game,
the extraordinary ease with which they pass on the
danger-signal has often made me wonder whether they
have another sense, which we, by disuse, have practically
lost.  Perhaps even with us it survives in a rudimentary
form, causing the inexplicable phenomena of second
sight, mesmerism, etc., etc.

The next morning we followed the eastern branch,
and passing many steep hills, crossed a pass 5,500 ft.
high, and again descended into the main valley.  Numerous
small streams intersected the hills, and at each ford
clouds of gorgeous butterflies enlivened the scene,
attracted apparently by the moisture.  On the way we
crossed many fresh tracks of elephant, and on the
western slope of the valley a large herd had followed
the track in the early morning.  At the base of the
slope we had much difficulty in fording a deep and
rapid river, called the Kasilo; several goats and a calf
were washed away, and the rest were only saved by the
brilliant swimming of the Watonga contingent.  Thence
two hours' hard travelling brought us to the second
German Soudanese fort, situated on a small hill
overlooking the Rusisi, where it issues from its broken
course through the mountains which dam the south
end of Lake Kivu, preparatory to its seventy-five-mile
run through the flat valley bed to Lake Tanganyika.

The Soudanese officer in command was most courteous
and personally presented all the local potentates, who
brought us supplies of bananas, flour, and goats.  He
also promised to try and trace my lost elephant, but
said that if, as was most probable, it had crossed the
river it would be impossible to recover ivory from the
obstreperous chiefs in the Congo Free State.  Here, as
during the whole of our journey from Tanganyika, the
mosquitoes were appalling; colossal of stature, they
arrived in myriads at sunset, and continued their
plaintive wail till the cool hour before dawn.

On the morrow we left the Rusisi once more, and
passed to the east of many striking conical hills along
the flat plain of the Kasilo (which obviously in remote
ages was the course of the outlet of Lake Kivu), for a
distance of four miles, crossing several small
tributaries of the Kasilo on our way.  We turned west, and
climbing the high plateau through which the Rusisi has
now forced its way, camped on a high ridge 2,000
ft. above the plain.  There were numerous villages and
large herds of cattle, which at night are enclosed in pens
strongly stockaded.  Here we had entered the terrible
Ruanda country, and the paramount chief of the
district, Ngenzi, the most powerful satrap of the King of
Ruanda, came and paid his respects.  From his pleasant
manner we little guessed what a source of trouble he was
to prove in the near future.  Small boys followed us on
the march with huge wooden utensils filled with fresh
milk, and our welcome was most cordial.  Forests of
bananas stretched far as the eye could reach to the
north, east, and west, and vast fields of peas and beans
bore witness to the fertility and prosperity of the
country.

To the south lay the mighty valley of the Rusisi,
stretching away between its enclosing walls of hills, till,
in the far distance, gleamed the waters of Tanganyika.

Bidding a last farewell to those historic waters, we
plunged into the wild turmoil of hills which surround
Kivu, and after a six hours' tramp, accompanied on the
way by Ngenzi and his hundred followers (not
forgetting the inevitable cup-bearer with his gourd of
pombe and the regal sucking-straw), climbed on to a
ridge from which we saw the waters of Kivu lying at
our feet.

The mighty sheet of water, dotted with a hundred
isles and hemmed in by a thousand imposing hills, was
of surpassing beauty; the only one of the vast lakes of
Central Africa which had not been first gazed upon by
British eyes.





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.. _`LAKE KIVU`:

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   CHAPTER X.


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   LAKE KIVU.

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An abrupt descent led us through many straggling
villages and endless banana plantations to the
German Soudanese post on the extreme south-west
point of the lake.

We camped on a small rise opposite the Government
stockade and overlooking the lake; the outlet is a long,
thin arm, narrowing to where the Rusisi tumbles over
the first cascades, and starts on its broken course through
the hills to the point whence it finally issues on its
long, long journey by Tanganyika to the sea.  The
body of water leaving the lake is small, but, with the
numerous tributaries from east and west, soon swells
to a considerable size; and forty miles from Tanganyika
it is of about the same volume as the Thames at
Richmond.

The south-western extremity of Kivu is really a small
lake in itself, separated as it is from the main body of the
lake by a narrow neck, which is again almost blocked
by a network of islands.

On all sides long straggling promontories jut out into
the water, cutting the coast-line into a multitude of
lochs and bays.

They are the spurs of the wild groups of hills which
enclose Kivu on the east, south, and west sides, and
which, ever increasing in height as they recede from the
lake-shore, eventually culminate in the mighty peaks
which crown the enclosing walls of this vast Rift Valley,
in which Tanganyika, Kivu, the Albert Edward, and
the Albert Lakes are but residuary pools.

Miles and miles of banana plantations clothe the
lower hills, and vast fields of peas give a touch of green
to the purples, reds, and yellows of the luxuriant
pastures.  There are no trees in all the Kivu region nearer
than the summits of the distant peaks and the slopes of
the volcanoes, with the exception of a very occasional
solitary tree on the extreme summit of some of the
conspicuous hills.  These latter are left untouched, despite
the value of wood, and would appear to be held in
reverential awe; they form conspicuous landmarks,
which may be the primary cause of the superstitions
that attach to them.  Their existence points to the
country having been at one time more or less wooded;
and the trees which served no essential purpose have
fallen before the requirements of the enormous
population.

This same enormous population, and the pervading
air of prosperity, are a striking indication of the
possibilities of native races left to work out their own
destiny.

The far-famed unity and power of the Ruanda people
have deterred the Arabs from making slave-raids into
their country, and with the exception of one or two
Belgian looting expeditions, which fortunately met with
no success, they have been left in peace.

All the southern and eastern coast-line drops abruptly
into the lake, and there is no beach or marshland such
as are found on the other lakes of Central Africa, but
the feeding-streams, at their junction with the lake,
become papyrus swamps.

There were only ten soldiers in the fort, and they
rolled in the lap of luxury, calmly relieving the
neighbouring population of what they (the soldiers)
considered superfluities, such as goats, sheep, fowls, etc.
This is the invariable result of placing natives in a
post of responsibility without constant supervision.

As to their duties, they had none; and it was patent
that the sole *raison d'être* of these posts was to be able
on the day of reckoning to show a definite asset, a
claim to effective occupation--in fine, a fulfilment of
the duties imposed upon European powers by the Berlin
Conference.

The Soudanese officer in charge was most friendly,
and the neighbouring chiefs arrived in long procession
and paid their respects.  They presented us with several
goats and sheep, and when we expressed the wish to
purchase more, they brought them along in a ceaseless
stream.  Subsequently we discovered that the affable
Soudanese officer and his brother ruffians, hearing of
our approach, had annexed several herds from some
villages two days north; these were the beasts that
arrived in such bewildering profusion.  They had
insisted on the owners accepting a handful of beads,
thereby establishing a claim to legitimate purchase, and
compelled the local natives to bring the beasts in to
us as their own property.

There are numerous small villages in the vicinity of
the post, and the people, who live in the most wretched
huts, thrown up like hayricks, appear to have been
very thoroughly bled by their undesirable neighbours.

An extraordinary feature of Kivu, and the rivers and
small lakes of the Kivu system, is the absence of
hippopotami and crocodiles.  As they swarm in Tanganyika
and the Rusisi to the south, and in the Rutchuru
and Albert Edward Lake to the north, this is very
remarkable.  Probably the abrupt nature of the shore,
the depth of water, and the absence of sandbanks and
shelving beaches may account for it.  The only possible
landing-and-resting-places would be the papyrus swamps
that I have mentioned as existing at the mouths of the
streams; and the water, hurrying down from high
altitudes, and shaded from the sun by the papyrus, is
here intensely cold, and therefore unsuited to their
requirements.

The natives brought us quantities of fish similar in
appearance to bream, and of most delicate flavour.
The same fish is common in Tanganyika and the Albert
Edward.  This was the only species that I saw in Kivu,
and the natives told me that there are no large fish,
such as are found in the other lakes.  A conspicuous
feature is the extraordinary number of large otters,
which are to be seen in scores swimming and diving in
every bay.  Lake Ngami in South Africa is also
remarkable for the number of otters, the skins of which
are obtainable in quantities from the natives.

There are many butterflies on the rich pasture-land,
the most common kind being almost identical with our
*Coleas edusa*.

After a day's rest we marched to Ishangi, the base of
Dr. Kandt, who is making an exhaustive study of all
the "district."  He was most kind, and gave us much
useful information and advice.

His work is being done with characteristic German
thoroughness.  In a recent surveying expedition, in the
course of which he travelled 560 miles, he found his
error on rounding up the trip amounted to less than a
quarter of a mile.  This astounding result was obtained
by counting every step, and taking three bearings a
minute.  It is this amazing attention to detail which
makes the Teuton so formidable a competitor.  Amongst
many most interesting specimens, he had the finest pair
of tusks that it has ever been my fortune to see.
Unfortunately we had no scales, and it was impossible to
judge of their weight.  The elephant had been shot
in Mushari, the country where I afterwards narrowly
escaped being eaten.  Hearing from the natives that
the beast was in a small gully close to camp, Dr. Kandt
sallied forth with four soldiers; only the back of the
elephant was visible over the scrub, and they fired a
volley at four hundred yards.  One lucky shot hit the
knee and disabled the beast, when the gallant doctor
established a valid claim to having killed an elephant,
as he naïvely remarked, by finishing it off.  Close to
Ishangi is Lubengera, the site of a former Congo Free
State station, where a few black troops had been posted
to raid cattle from the rich cattle districts of
Lubengera and Bugoie.

The mean of my aneroid readings on the lake level
was 5,000 ft., and the height of the hills contiguous
with the lake ranged between 5,500 and 6,000 ft.

At Ishangi we purchased some spears, amongst others
an interesting specimen from Bunyabungu, on the west
side of the lake.  It was simply a long, coarse spike, and
the natives said that the people of Bunyabungu could
not manage the final stage of beating it out into a blade.
Dr. Kandt warned us about the thieving propensities
and light-fingered ability of the Wa Ruanda, and told
us how he had suffered from their depredations.  One
thief had entered his closed tent under the nose of the
sentry, and abstracted a pair of trousers from under
the pillow on which the doctor was lying.  Another had
removed the fly of his headman's tent.  Consequently,
the following night we took the precaution of carefully
closing our tents, and of placing all the loads in the
third tent, with men sleeping at each end.  Notwithstanding,
the following morning a tin box weighing 60
lbs. had been taken from my tent, and had completely
vanished, while two canvas kit-bags had been abstracted,
cut open, and the desirable contents removed.  Thus,
at one fell swoop, we lost our sextant, artificial
horizon, boiling-point thermometers, a bag of one hundred
sovereigns, all my trousers, stockings, and socks, and
many valuable papers, books, and photographs.  On
this discovery we summoned the chief, our old friend
Ngenzi, who had been hanging on our flanks for about
forty miles.  He arrived with a supercilious smile and
a host of attendants.  Having explained the situation,
I asked him what he intended to do.  "There are many
bad men in my country of whom I know nothing," he
answered, and again that evil smile flitted over his
countenance.  It was obvious that bluffing was to be
the order of the day; so, taking the same line, we
clapped him into the guard-tent, stopped his drinks
and smokes, put a guard with fixed bayonets over him,
and delivered an ultimatum to the effect that, unless the
stolen goods were restored intact by midday, we should
take further steps.  Of course he protested absolute
ignorance, but the sudden and resolute nature of our
proceedings took him unawares, and for once the guile
of the native failed him.  Instead of protesting to a
finish, which would have left us powerless to act, he
produced by his men a few of the articles that seemed
most important to him, such as caps and native shirts.
This proved his complicity, and at twelve noon we
decided to act.  Sharp opened a case of Snider
cartridges, issued rounds to the ten men who carried guns,
and prepared the camp for defence; while I took my
revolver and an old French cutlass purchased in
Cornhill, and with my two Watonga carrying my rifles,
climbed the hill on which the chief village was situated.
Hundreds of natives with spears turned out and showed
signs of an intention to resist me.

I harangued them, explained what had happened, and
told them that my quarrel was with Ngenzi, and with
Ngenzi only; that he had allowed thieves to come and
steal the goods of strangers in his country, strangers who
had come to see their country, to pass through it on a
long journey to far lands, and who had come in peace
paying for what they (the natives) brought, receiving
and giving presents.  I then told them that I was
going to take all Ngenzi's cattle, drive it in to the German
post, and let the Germans, their overlords, decide
between us.  I warned them that any man coming to
the camp would be shot, but that they might bring
food as usual for sale.  Eventually, without firing a
shot, I collected and drove in to the camp one hundred
and ninety head of cattle.

They made a few tentative rushes at me, but were
repulsed by the simple expedient of waving the cutlass
in the air.  Such were the terrible Ruanda people, whose
reputation has spread far and wide, and whose country
has been left alone for fear of their military organization.
At least five thousand men sat on the hill-tops and
watched three men with a revolver, cutlass, and two
rifles drive off one hundred and ninety head of cattle;
and I am inclined to think that most Central African
warfare could be settled as easily.  Had I had despatches
to write I might have acted differently.

The Germans, overestimating the power of the Ruanda
kingdom, had weakened the white man's prestige by
subsidizing Ngenzi with extravagant gifts of cloth; and he
imagined that he could bleed any one who came into his
country.

I have always utterly refused to pay "hongo"[#] to
any native, and never give presents until I have
received one.  Then, if the present is a liberal one, I
give a yet more liberal present; but if the present is
niggardly, I give the exact market value of the goods
received, unless, of course, the niggardliness is due to
poverty.


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[#] Tax on people passing through chief's territory.

.. vspace:: 2

We placed a strong guard over the cattle, and removed
our camp from the undesirable vicinity of the villages
to a round, flat-topped hill half a mile to the south.  At
one end we pitched our three tents and arranged the boys'
tents to complete the circle.  Inside we fixed a long rope
plaited from banana fibre, and kept in position by spears.
Inside this circle we drove all the cattle, and we placed
pickets round the side of the hill to guard against
surprise or an attempt to stampede the herd.  The moon
rose about midnight, and during the hours of darkness
Sharp and I took it in turns to go the rounds.  The
noise was appalling, as some of the cows had lost their
calves; and one or two attempts were made to break
through, but we succeeded in quieting them before the
panic became general.  Thanks to our precautions, the
night passed without incident, and in the morning Sharp
drove the whole herd over to Ishangi and gave them into
the charge of the Soudanese, whom we had summoned
from the post at the tail of Kivu.

Of course, immensely exaggerated accounts of our
proceedings spread throughout the land, and the chief near
Dr. Kandt went to him and asked him whether he had
better fly from the country.  He was promptly reassured,
and the doctor kindly came over to see if he could be of
any assistance, while the Soudanese officer sent his men
to scour the outlying villages to see if they could find
any of our property, but without avail.

Fortunately the natives did not attack Sharp on the
road, and with the exception of some difficulty in
crossing bogs, he arrived without mishap.

We sent in an exhaustive report to Lieut. von Gravert,
and released Ngenzi with a caution.  He promptly made
up for lost time in the way of tobacco and pombe, and
was most respectful.  That sinister smile has for ever
faded from his dusky features, and I am sure the lesson
has been of inestimable benefit to him.

For many days to come it was curious to see the
military appearance of our Manyema: no one stirred from
the camp without two spears, a sword-knife, and, if
possible, a gun with fixed bayonet.

The smaller fry were delighted at the humiliation of
the mighty Mtusi, and many came in to do obeisance
and thank us for our action.

Society in Ruanda is divided into two castes, the
Watusi and the Wahutu.

The Watusi, who are practically identical with the
Wahuma, are the descendants of a great wave of Galla
invasion that reached even to Tanganyika.  They still
retain their pastoral instincts, and refuse to do any work
other than the tending of cattle; and so great is their
affection for their beasts, that rather than sever
company they will become slaves, and do the menial work
of their beloved cattle for the benefit of their conquerors.
This is all the more remarkable when one takes into
consideration their inherent pride of race and contempt
for other peoples, even for the white man.  They are
most jealous of their descent, and no Mtusi woman ever
marries any one but a Mtusi.  A Mtusi man will take
another woman as a working wife, but his true wife is
invariably of his own stock, and her children alone can
succeed to his position.

The half-castes, and individuals with any trace of
Mtusi blood, form a medium between the full-blooded
Watusi and the aborigines, whom they call Wahutu, but
associate only with the upper class, or are the paramount
chiefs of insignificant districts.  Many signs of superior
civilization, observable in the peoples with whom the
Watusi have come into contact, are traceable to this
Galla influence.

The hills are terraced, thus increasing the area of
cultivation, and obviating the denudation of the fertile slopes
by torrential rains.  In many places irrigation is carried
out on a sufficiently extensive scale, and the swamps are
drained by ditches.  Artificial reservoirs are built with
side troughs for watering cattle.  The fields are in many
instances fenced in by planted hedges of euphorbia and
thorn, and similar fences are planted along the narrow
parts of the main cattle tracks, to prevent the beasts
from straying or trampling down the cultivation.

There is also an exceptional diversity of plants
cultivated, such as hungry rice, maize, red and white millet,
several kinds of beans, peas, bananas, and the edible
arum.  Some of the higher-growing beans are even
trained on sticks planted for the purpose.  Pumpkins
and sweet potatoes are also common; and the Watusi
own and tend enormous herds of cattle, goats, and sheep.
Owing to the magnificent pasturage, the milk is of
excellent quality, and they make large quantities of butter.
They are exceedingly clever with their beasts, and have
many calls which the cattle understand.  At milking-time
they light smoke-fires to keep the flies from
irritating the beasts.

All the dairy utensils are of wood, and are kept
scrupulously clean; but they have an unpleasant method of
repairing cracked jars by filling up the crevices with
cow-dung, and of using the urine as the cleansing
medium.

They are tall, slightly-built men, of graceful,
nonchalant carriage, and their features are delicate and
refined.  I noticed many faces that, bleached and set
in a white collar, would have been conspicuous for
character in a London drawing-room.  The legal type was
especially pronounced.

Centuries of undisputed sway have left their mark
in the *blasé*, supercilious manner of the majority; and
in many ways they are a remarkable and far from
unattractive people.

The Wahutu are their absolute antithesis.  They are
the aborigines of the country, and any pristine originality
or character has been effectually stamped out of
them.  Hewers of wood and drawers of water, they do
all the hard work, and unquestioning, in abject servility,
give up the proceeds on demand.  Their numerical
proportion to the Watusi must be at least a hundred to one,
yet they defer to them without protest; and in spite of
the obvious hatred in which they hold their overlords,
there seems to be no friction.

Formerly there was a far-reaching and effective feudal
system, which constituted the proverbial strength of the
kingdom of Ruanda.

The king was supreme, and the sole owner of all the
cattle in the country; the large provinces were
administered by prominent Watusi, usually blood-relations of
his Majesty, whose power locally was absolute, but who
were directly responsible to him for the acts of the
subordinate chiefs and for the loss of cattle.  Each
subordinate, again, had the use of a portion of the cattle, for
which he was directly responsible to the satrap of the
district.  The king's title is "Kigeri;" "Ntwala" is
the title of the satraps; and the term "Sultani" is
usually applied to the smaller chiefs.  The old Kigeri died,
and the rule passed to his son Musinga, who appears to
have been a mere child.

There is a native superstition against the Kigeri being
seen by strangers, and consequently a substitute, an
individual known to the natives as Pamba Rugamba, has
been presented to the Germans who have visited the
Residence.  The child appears also to have died, and
the power now is divided between Kisunga and Gwamu
or Mwami.  Mwami was the name told to me by many
natives, but it appears to be merely a title, as other
natives addressed me as "Mwami."  These two men
were described as the sons of the old Kigeri, possibly
by another wife than the mother of Musinga; but son
is such an elastic term with natives that they may have
been nephews.  This division has materially weakened
the strength of the Ruanda kingdom.

In Africa almost every kingdom is divided against itself,
as well as against every other, so that unity is indeed
strength.  And it was this unity which constituted the
power of Ruanda and of the Zulus, just as at the present
day it constitutes the power of the mighty Dinka and
Shilluk tribes of the Nile.

While Sharp was away I purchased several curios from
the natives, and amongst others a most curious bracelet
that I was informed came from the Nyema district of
the Congo.  It consisted of a semi-tubular circle of iron,
the hollow being filled up with a crude ivory mosaic
held in place by rubber.

The Germans, who have a favourable opinion of the
possibilities of the Ruanda country, are talking of sending
emigrants there.  The soil is very rich, but the country
is so inaccessible that I fail to see how they could be
self-supporting--a desirable condition for emigrants--or
how they could cultivate anything for export that would
bear the cost of transport.

Amongst the natives who brought produce for sale
were two pigmies; they were most curious little fellows,
and appeared to be immensely powerful.  I fancy they
were not quite pure-bred dwarfs, or else they had been
enslaved when young, as they had none of the shyness
so characteristic of this singular little people, and
appeared to be living with the local natives.

To the south-east the enclosing line of hills culminates
in four large peaks of 8,000 to 9,000 ft.  All four are
conspicuous landmarks for many miles.

A favourite device of the Manyema carriers, when in
a country of thieves, is to conceal a load of cloth during
the night; in the morning they arrive in great distress,
and say that a load has been stolen; nothing can be
done; the unsuspecting traveller abuses the natives, the
land, and other things, and the wily Manyema annexes
the lost load on his return home.  To obviate this, we
informed them that every man in future would be held
responsible for his own load, and that he would have to
make good, out of his pay, any loss or damage.  This was
doubly necessary, as Swahilis and Manyema generally
contrive to find a boy or starveling who will carry their
load for a consideration.  Apropos of this point, I find
the following in my diary: "Talk about Charles Kingsley's
description of sweating as a result of civilization!
Here we have porters hiring natives who hire others to
the fourth degree, each walking along like a gentleman
and pocketing his proportion.  There is nothing new in
this world."

The difficulty of preventing our Manyema ruffians
from swindling the natives was almost insuperable.
After the Ngenzi fracas, I discovered that they were
making capital out of our action to extort things from
the natives; so I insisted that for a time every
transaction should be performed before me.  If a carrier
wished to buy a bunch of bananas from a native, he
brought the native with the bananas to my tent, and
they bargained, and the price was paid in my presence.

One of the blackest of our villains promptly sent his
small boy out into a neighbouring plantation, whence he
issued in the scanty garb of a local native with a bunch
of bananas.  The villain, the boy, and the bananas
appeared before me, and they solemnly performed the
bargaining and payment.  But I had been waiting for
that villain, and without appearing to do so, watched
the issue.  They all repaired to their tent, and the boy
resumed his garments, when they fell to on what they
fondly believed was a cheap feed--a belief which a
ceaseless succession of fatigue-duties soon dispelled.

Three fiords, several miles in length, necessitated a
wide detour.  The scenery was superb: a lacework of
bays, lochs, and inlets with endless choppy waves of hills
sweeping away to the great purple surf of the distant
ranges; islets galore, and the vast rugged mass of the
island of Kwijwi as a background.

For several days we had much trouble in allaying the
fears of the natives; terrible accounts had preceded us,
and the entire population fled to the hills on our
approach.  The fact of our carriers being Manyema, a name
of terror throughout Central Africa, was not reassuring
to the poor creatures, whose only knowledge of
Manyema had been gathered from the Congo Free State
soldiers, who for a time had been posted on Kivu, and
from reports of the atrocities committed by the revolted
troops during the past five years.  Accounts also of the
cannibals who were battering at the gates of Bugoie
must have reached them from their northern kinsfolk.
Black masses of natives in a silvery sea of glinting
spearheads watched us from every hill-top.  Fortunately we
had several days' food for our men, and when the natives
saw that we passed through without touching even a
bunch of bananas, they were reassured, and a few were
eventually induced to approach and talk.  We caught
two of our men stealing, and inflicted condign punishment
before a small body of natives who were in camp,
explaining the circumstances, and telling them, in case of
a repetition of the offence, to come and lay a complaint.
But it would be easier to stop a monkey from scratching
than a Manyema from stealing; and as the state of
unrest of the native population was a grave danger, and
petty thefts would probably have precipitated an attack,
which we were ill prepared to repulse, we confined all
our boys to camp, made water-carrying for the whole
camp a fatigue-duty, and established a market where
the natives might sell their produce under our personal
supervision.  I explained the expediency of our action,
and told them that there were some such abandoned
ruffians amongst them that they must all suffer for the
misdeeds of the miscreants.  They appeared satisfied,
but as we were sitting down to lunch, I noticed an
unusual stir in the lines.  On going out I found that they
were all packing up their belongings and preparing to
depart; about thirty were already moving off.  It was
obviously an attempt to bluff us, as the experience of
the boys who ran away at Tanganyika had taught them
that it would be impossible to avoid detection even if
they succeeded in passing through Ngenzi's country,
which they knew would be impossible in view of the then
state of the natives.  It was a critical moment.  If the
camp broke up, the entire expedition would be inevitably
massacred by the Ruanda.  I took my rifle and dashed
off in pursuit, accompanied by my two Watonga; while
Sharp, revolver in one hand and rifle in the other,
threatened to shoot the first man who moved.  Rushing over
a rise, I saw the ringleader, one of our worst villains, and
the originator of the idea, leading about two hundred
yards away; I fired at him, just as he turned the corner
of the hill, fully intending to drop him.  The bullet
removed his fez.  Down he dropped into the grass, and the
whole thirty did likewise.  After a few shots in the air,
to keep up their anxiety, I sent a headman out to order
them back to camp, saying that the affair was now ended,
and that I should not know who had left camp.  As I
expected, every one was present at roll-call, half an
hour after dark.  The position was saved.  In the course
of a long harangue, I informed them again of the absolute
necessity of confining them to camp till the natives
should be reassured; explained that I had spared the
ringleader this time, and had removed his hat to show
him with what ease I could have killed him had I wished
to do so (a remark that my gun-bearer, Makanjira,
assured them was true); said that it was for their benefit
that we desired friendly relations with the population;
we had no desire to see a lot of dirty natives, we wished
nothing from them; had we not, as they well knew,
food for many weeks in boxes?  But if the natives
refused to come, where would they be able to buy goats,
fowls, tobacco, and all the things that rejoiced the
stomachs of men?

The bluff was outbluffed, and with ringing cheers the
men returned to their fires to jabber and howl with
laughter far into the night.  From discontent to merry
laughter is but a momentary transition with the African.

From the ridge on which we were encamped we looked
down upon a perfect spot, a long arm of the lake winding
in between striking hills, terminating in a small bay.
Banana palms with the tiny villages nestling in their
midst fringed the shore.  Weird little islands covered
with ibis and demoiselle crane were dotted about.  A
wall of papyrus showed where the tumbling stream that
danced down the encircling hills entered the lake, and
the glorious colouring and strong shadows brought out
the picture into striking relief.  Sharp said it reminded
him of Japan; there was an air of *dolce far niente* heavy
with the lush glamour of the tropics that carried me back
to the South Seas.

The following day we succeeded, after much shouting,
in inducing a half-bred Mtusi to come to us.  We gave
him a present, and told him to go and explain that we
wanted to buy provisions; and that if the natives would
not come we should be compelled, much against our will,
to take what was necessary.  He departed, promising to
do so, but nobody appeared.  After waiting several hours,
I took ten men out with me, and cut sufficient bananas
for the men; and though I tried for two days to induce
the chief to come for payment, he never appeared.  This
was the sole occasion during the whole of my long trip
in Africa when I had to commandeer anything from the
natives.  I quite agree with Colonel Lugard when he says
that it is unnecessary.  This was the last time that we
had any difficulty with the natives.  Seeing that we
refrained from looting their fields, they plucked up
courage, and came in the same numbers as when we first
entered the country.  The hordes of warriors whom we
had seen sitting on the tops of the hills in the distance
came and mingled freely with our men, and a brisk trade
started in the numerous products of the country.  From
many of our camps the scenery was most beautiful; as
we rounded the south-eastern corner of the lake, the
whole expanse of water opened out before us.  The track
we followed often led over hills 1,500 ft. above the lake;
and from many positions we could look down on the vast
oily expanse of water, deep set in its basin of innumerable
hills, dotted with a thousand islets, stretching far
away till it was lost in the shimmering haze of the
northern shore, where, crisp and clear, towered the mighty
mass of Mount Götzen, whose jet of smoke alone broke
the steel-blue dome of sky.

Close to this part are the sources of the Nyavolongo,
which are the real sources of the Victoria Nile.  At the
actual angle of the lake there is an extensive valley, which
is the real frontier of Ngenzi's district, Mukinyaga.  Every
available inch of this extensive fertile valley is covered
with luxuriant crops of beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and
millet.  To the east, up this valley, lies the road to the
old Kigeri's residence, which is about five days' march
from the lake.

Here there is a district which is divided up amongst
many chiefs, and which seems to have no representative
name.  At the mouth of the stream that flows down this
valley, the lake shores, if possible, are still more broken
than elsewhere.  The hills which cover the country
around Kivu appear to have been sprinkled out of a
pepper-pot, they are in the main disconnected, and the
country seems almost to have boiled.  The hollows are
in places filled with papyrus swamps, many of which
have drained dry, and now form level lawns a few feet
above the lake.

The population round this valley is enormous.  The
northern wall of the valley rises very abruptly, and the
path led along precipitous passes.  The scenery is most
striking.  From the top of this plateau we caught our
first glimpse of the volcanoes, the sharp outline of the
four main peaks standing out clear and crisp above the
misty haze that surrounds their base.

One day's march brought us to the district of
Lubengera, which is remarkable for the number of Watusi.
There seems to be no prominent chief among them.  The
banana plantations are of amazing extent, and literally
clothe many of the hills from top to bottom.  In this
district especially we remarked the extreme neatness of
the fields and the scattered nature of the villages.  The
Ruanda do not live together in great numbers, but are
scattered far and wide over the country; their villages
would perhaps be more aptly described as farms.

It is remarkable that throughout the whole of this
country, as in the valley of the Rusisi, there were no
antelope, and until we arrived near the wooded slopes of
the volcanoes, where a few of the natives had bushbuck
skins, we never saw any traces of their having been obtained.

All the natives of Ruanda are great smokers; they
use small, neatly-made, and sometimes grotesquely-carved,
black clay pipes.  At this stage we were much
troubled by complaints from our boys of petty thefts.
On going thoroughly into the question, I found that
besides the numerous slave boys whom our Manyema
carriers had brought up from Ujiji, they had picked up
many more on the road.  Some of these had recently
bolted, taking everything upon which they could lay
their hands.  As it was desirable to stop this, we had all
the boys' boys brought up, and registered them.  All
those who could not show that they had come either
from Ujiji or Usambara were given twenty-four hours'
notice to quit.  I also forbade our carriers to hire local
natives to carry their loads, and thus rendered our
caravan on the march much more compact, and thereby less
open to attack.

On the far coast of the lake two striking hills were
plainly visible; these are evidently placed on the two
promontories which I have suggested as existing in my
map.  From the numerous observations which I took, I
came to the conclusion that the islands to the north of
Kwijwi have either risen since Count Götzen's visit, or
else that he underestimated their size; which seems
scarcely possible, as he actually landed on one or two
of them.

As we were approaching the north end of the lake,
several attempts were made to raid the camp at night,
and at one place in particular the thieves were very
resolute, and succeeded in stealing many small things
from the boys.  The sentry came and woke me up
during the night, and told me that persistent attempts
were being made to enter the camp; so I went out, and
taking up my position outside the lines, under the cover
of a small bush, I succeeded in capturing one of the
thieves by collaring him low.  This form of attack was
unexpected, and though he was greased he failed to
escape.  The following morning he was handed over to
the chief, and suffered the usual penalty of convicted
thieves, his head being cut off and placed on the path,
as a warning to others.  This fortunate capture definitely
settled the thieving question.

After crossing the Kashale, we entered the populous
and fertile district of Bugoie.  The chief is variously
called Gwamu or Mwami, and is now, as I have before
stated, one of the joint kings of Ruanda.  All the way
up this coast the scenery is exquisite; nowhere, except
in the sounds of New Zealand, have I ever seen
anything so fine, and the nearer we approached to the
mighty volcanoes, the more dazzlingly beautiful and
the more imposing it became.

At one of our camps we were besieged by an army
of biting and poisonous ants, and I was just turning
in when they assaulted my tent.  Countless thousands
swarmed all over my blankets and into my boxes and
my clothes, and over every available inch both of my
person and belongings.  Calling my boys to my rescue,
we endeavoured to save at least a blanket, and fled
precipitately.  But so thick were they that it was
impossible to escape them.  However, eventually the main
body had moved on to other people's quarters, and I
succeeded in rescuing my camp-bed, which I fixed up
in another tent with all four legs in basins of water;
by this means I managed to pass the night without
more than three or four hundred around me.  Sharp,
who at first had looked upon it as a great joke, became
the main object of their attentions during the small
hours of the morning.

Here the people became very friendly again, and one
chief provided us with two guides and two cattle-men,
who undertook to go with us as far as the northern
slopes of the volcanoes.  One of these guides and one
of the cattle-men bolted the following day with a few
trifles, but the other two stuck to us well, and found
our company so agreeable that they even followed me
right through to the Nile, where they met a sad fate.

The Ruanda people are even more superstitious than
most Central African natives.  They wear medicine
(native name *dawa*) to guard them against every
conceivable ill, such as pains in the stomach, leopards,
death, etc., etc.  It is curious that the natives, like the
lower animals, seem to be unable to grasp the fact that
they will die; such a thing as a natural death they
cannot understand, and always attribute the event to
some form of violence, which, if not obvious, they
describe as the effect of the "evil eye."  The tip of a
cow's horn, inlaid with ivory, is considered particularly
efficacious against a pain in the side; and if a man
wears two small leather bottles round his neck, he can
never die.  A large red bean is a sure preventive against
leopards.  One native wore an extraordinary bracelet;
it was made of wood, and beautifully worked with various
metals; the total weight must have been at least two
pounds.  He promised to come into camp and sell it to
me; but, having promised, naturally did not come.  Of
all the liars in Africa, I believe the people of Ruanda
are by far the most thorough.  I have pointed to a
mountain 13,000 ft. high, at a distance of three miles,
and asked my native guide whether there was a
mountain there: he would say "No!"  On the march, if
I asked whether there was water near, and he told me
"yes," I knew that it would take at least six hours to
find the next stream, and therefore camped where I
was; if, however, he said that there was no water, one
could be perfectly certain of finding several streams
within the course of the next ten minutes.  Even amongst
themselves they appear to talk in the same way, and
many of the instances, such as I have mentioned, are
so extraordinary that I cannot help thinking that it is
a custom.  I believe at one place on the coast there is
a form of Swahili which is spoken backwards, or rather
the end of the word is put first.  It seems to me to be
just conceivable that the same train of reasoning may
affect the habits of speech of the Wa Ruanda.

The natives assured me that there were many elephant
on the north side of the volcanoes and also to the west,
in the countries of Mushari and Gishari; for this reason
I was sorely tempted to doubt their existence;
however, from Dr. Kandt's remarks we thought it would be
worth while, later on, to go and see.

.. _`On the Track of the Cannibals`:

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   :align: center
   :alt: On the Track of the Cannibals.

   On the Track of the Cannibals.

We had a lot of trouble with our cattle-folk.  The
head cattle-man was a most persistent, pertinacious
scoundrel, and as soon as he was detected in one villainy
he invariably tried another; the result being that,
although we had ten cows, there was barely enough milk
for two people, and butter was quite out of the question.
So we determined to take the thing in hand, and make
a big effort to find out where the leakage was.  As we
had expected, under our personal supervision, there was
a quantity of milk, enough for us both, and plenty with
which we could make butter.

The method of making butter, a task which was
entrusted to the headman's wife, is as follows: The woman
squatted down on the ground, and taking an enormous
flat gourd, containing milk which had been kept for
three days, she proceeded to rock it to and fro, bringing
it up short against her thigh.  She assured us that, for
the purpose of obtaining butter, it was absolutely
necessary to insert two small pieces of wood as medicine.
Judging from the quantity of butter, I doubted its
efficacy; and suspecting that there was some new
villainy in hand, as we obtained about a quarter of an
ounce of butter from a bucket full of milk, we waited till
the process was complete, and then told her to bring the
gourd to us.  All my doubts as to the efficacy of the
two bits of wood were removed when I discovered that
they were just large enough to jam in the neck of the
gourd, and that, perched on the top of them, was a pound
and a half of butter.  She was quite unabashed at the
discovery, and evidently mentally prayed that she would
have better luck next time, which I have no doubt she
did, although not in that particular method.

On our last march up the side of the lake the cattle
were, owing to the steep nature of the road, left a long
way behind; a band of natives attacked them, but the
cattle-guard, firing a few rounds, which did more harm
to themselves than to anybody else, repulsed the attack.
Hearing about it, I sent Makanjira, my gun-bearer,
back, and with his help they brought them all in without
mishap.

At the north-east corner of the lake there is an abrupt
descent, and to the north of the lake the country is flat,
gently sloping to the base of the large, active volcano.





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.. _`THE VOLCANOES`:

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   CHAPTER XI.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE VOLCANOES.

.. vspace:: 2

At the base of the descent there is a small bay, the
resort of many fishermen, and beyond, two small
isolated peaks, on the slope of one of which we camped.
In the evening I climbed to the top of the one nearest
to the lake to take observations of all the promontories
down the east coast.

I think the view is the finest I have ever seen.  Far to
the south stretched the mighty expanse of water; dark
promontories of every shape and size jutted far into the
lake; Kwijwi stood out in bold outline; and the mighty
wall of mountains on the west was dimly visible on the
far horizon.  Below me stretched a great plain, the
eastern part densely covered with fields of millet and
banana plantations, dotted with a thousand huts.  In
all the fields hundreds of women were working, and
small herds of cattle and goats were slowly wending their
way to the lake.  To the west, the plain was covered
with young forest.  To the north towered the terrific
mass of Mount Götzen, vomiting forth a great volume
of black smoke.  The old volcanoes towered aloft above
the clouds, which swirled in constant eddies about their
base.  Entranced with the view, I waited till the sun
declined and dropped like a molten ball behind the bold
outline of the hills; then the moon came up, bathing
the waters of the lake in silvery light.

The natives visited our camp in hundreds, and brought
numerous presents of goats and sheep, and an unlimited
quantity of supplies for sale.  We told them that we
wanted to buy eggs--a request that always astonishes
the natives, who are not used to the ways of white men,
as they themselves never eat them.  One old gentleman
rushed away, and shortly returned, bringing a dirty
basket with a frowsy old hen and about fifteen small
chickens emerging from the eggs, and was surprised
because we said they were of no use to us.  We tried to
explain that we preferred them fresh, and he evidently
thought that we were making a fool of him.

Here we were informed that in the pass between the
volcanoes there was no water, and that we should have
to purchase what we required at great price from the
natives, who obtain a purple liquid by tapping the stems
of the banana palms.

The large volcanoes, of which there are six, fall
naturally under two heads.  The two western ones are still
active; the highest I have described on my map as
Mount Götzen, in honour of Count Götzen, who was the
first to discover Kivu, and who made the ascent of the
peak which I have named after him.  Owing to the
impossibility of obtaining representative names to these
mountains, I have suggested names for them.  On one
of the mountains on which I camped, I obtained no less
than thirty-six names of the same place.  Mount Götzen
is a stupendous mass, and has three craters.  The central
crater, described by Count Götzen, is very extensive; the
bottom of the crater is quite flat, and has two cleanly-drilled
vent-holes; the northern and the southern craters
are now extinct.  It is covered with the densest
imaginable forest, almost to the summit; and Count Götzen
found it absolutely necessary, during his ascent, to fetch
all water from the lake.

Slightly to the north-west of this peak another volcano,
covering an enormous area, has formed since Count
Götzen's passage through the country.  He mentions
considerable activity at the end of the ridge; and two
years before I passed through the country there had
been a terrific eruption, in the course of which this
volcano formed; its crater is several miles in
circumference.  I have described it as Mount Sharp, after my
fellow-traveller.

The eastern system is still more imposing.  The four
main peaks have long been extinct, and the form of the
highest, which I have described as Mount Eyres, after
Mrs. Eyres of Dumbleton Hall, Evesham, is very striking,
reminding me forcibly of the Matterhorn, as seen
from the Riffelalp.  The height of Mount Eyres is over
13,000 ft., and its summit was almost invariably covered
with snow in the morning.  A dense, impenetrable forest
runs up to a height of 11,500 ft., above which there is
open woodland.  The actual summit, or last 500 ft., is
practically bare.  The top has the appearance of slightly
overhanging, and shows some bold rock faces.  The next
volcano in the chain I have described as Mount Kandt,
after the eminent scientist who is making such exhaustive
studies of Ruanda and the north-west territories of the
German sphere.

We insisted upon all our boys buying gourds for water,
in case of there being any difficulty in obtaining it on
the road.  The waterless stage to be traversed was a
long one, and we therefore only made a short march, and
camped at the last watering-place, which was about four
miles from the lake.  This was the site of Gwamu's
village.  Gwamu himself, following the traditions of the
Ruanda kings, retired to the mountains, but left his
headman to receive us with a handsome present of goats
and necessaries.

The population here was enormous, every available
inch of country was cultivated, and this portion of
Bugoie is undoubtedly the most prosperous, the most
densely populated, and the most fertile spot that I
have seen in Africa.

Fifteen miles to the east, the range that encloses the
Rift Valley culminates in a striking peak.  It is known
to the natives as Hembe è Bugogo.  This peak is at a
pronounced angle in the range; and northwards the
enclosing hills recede towards the east.  The volcanoes
themselves are a quite distinct system, having risen out
of the bed of the Rift Valley.

On the following day we started on our waterless march
with many misgivings.  Our route lay along the base
of the hills, then over a small chain of extinct volcanic
craters, then across the flat, swampy plain, which lies to
the east of Mount Götzen.  In all directions there are
isolated, extinct craters, still perfect in form, and
invariably terraced and covered with crops of peas and
beans.

We camped in the vicinity of three large, straggling
villages.  The natives were not very friendly at first,
although the headman of Gwamu had accompanied us,
and about tea-time one of our men rushed in to say
that the herds had been attacked and that they had
lost thirty goats and sheep, and that one man had been
wounded with a spear.  I hurried out to the scene, but
it was too late to do any good, and I returned, bringing
in the remnants of our flocks.

The path then passed over the summit of the pass
between Mount Götzen and Mount Eyres.  I found the
height to be approximately 7,000 feet.  Half a mile from
our camp I discovered a small cave open at both ends,
in which there was a pool of water, which the natives
refused to drink; whether from superstition or because
the water is poisonous, I could not say.

At the base of Mount Eyres there are several small
craters, and on the north side of the base there is a little
rugged patch of country, where the path descends into
abrupt ravines, and passes through a strip of the most
luxuriant tropical forest, on the far side of which the
wonderful pastures, characteristic of this country,
recommence.  Here, we were told, was the elephant country.

Gwamu's headman was still with us, and he brought
in many of the surrounding chiefs.  At first they were
very friendly and brought us plenty of supplies for sale,
the article of exchange in greatest request being salt.
Judging from their phenomenal mendacity, I can quite
understand their need of it.

Here we purchased several bows made by the dwarfs.
They are quite distinct from any other bow that I have
seen.  The arc is in two pieces, an outside sheath of
split cane with another piece of wood let in to the groove;
both are neatly bound together by reed, and the string
is composed of one blade of a very tough reed which
grows in the forest.  We also procured some strings of
beads which the natives said had come from the west;
they are very primitive, and appear to have been made
of some kind of shell.

The following morning we went out in search of
elephant.

The forest was full of traps set by the Pigmies.  The
ordinary type was a bamboo bent towards the game-path
with a string fastened to the ground, where it was
tied in a running noose; by this means, I am informed,
they catch many pigs and small quadrupeds of the
forest.  They also fix spears, weighted with heavy blocks
of wood, in the trees, and the elephant passing underneath
releases the spear by breaking the cord with which
it is attached; but I think their usual method of slaying
elephant is by firing poisoned arrows into them--having
done which, they follow the unfortunate beast for days,
until it drops.

The country was so impenetrable that hunting was a
practical impossibility, so two days later I started with
ten boys to see if I could find an easier hunting-ground.
I passed round to the north of Mount Eyres, and pitched
my camp on an eminence of 9,000 ft., overlooking the
Rutchuru Valley.  Here I immediately found fresh
elephant-tracks.  A herd of ten had passed towards the
north, and a solitary old bull had gone towards the
forest on the mountain slope.  This I elected to follow,
and in an hour and a half I could hear him not far away,
tearing down branches of trees.  His spoor was bigger
than any spoor I have ever seen, and the size of the
brute, when I first saw him, filled me with astonishment.
Unfortunately he was not standing broadside on, and it
was impossible for me to go round.  From where I
stood, I could see the small glade in which he was
standing, but could only see a portion of his head and the
ridge of his back.  I watched him for some time picking
the leaves off a tree; then, having eaten all the leaves
within reach, without apparent effort he seized the trunk
of the tree about 16 ft. from the ground and laid it flat.
The tree had a diameter of more than 2 ft.  Fearing
that he might move into the impenetrable jungle that
surrounded us, I took the shot, difficult as it was; he
fell, but instantly recovered himself and dashed away,
getting the second barrel in his flank as he did so.  For
several hours I followed him, without getting another
shot, though I found where he had again fallen down
and lost much blood.  A few hundred yards further on
I heard him in some very thick bush; my guide, who
was following on the spoor, refused to advance, and I
had perforce to take the lead.  The wind was very
shifty, and he suddenly detected our presence, venting
his disapproval in a series of unpleasant grunts.
Suddenly, hearing a great crashing of bushes, I thought
that he was moving away, and hurried forward as fast
as the difficult track would allow, in the hopes of
catching a glimpse of him.  The noise was terrific, and it
suddenly dawned upon me that, so far from moving off,
he was coming on.  I was powerless to move--a fall
would have been fatal--so waited; but the forest was
so dense that I never saw him till his head was literally
above me, when I fired both barrels of the double .500
magnum, which I was carrying, in his face.  The whole
forest seemed to crumple up, and a second later I found
myself 10 ft. above the ground, well home in a
thorn-bush, while my gun was lying ten yards away in the
opposite direction; and I heard a roar as of thunder
disappearing into the distance.  A few seconds later,
the most daring of my boys, Zowanji, came hurrying
along with that sickly green hue which a negro's face
assumes in moments of fear, and with his assistance I
descended from my spiky perch.  I was drenched with
blood, which fortunately proved to be not mine, but
that of the elephant; my gun, which I recovered, was
also covered with his blood, even to the inside of the
barrels.  The only damage I sustained was a slightly
twisted knee.  I cannot say whether the elephant
actually struck me, or whether I was carried there by the
rush of country.

Following on his tracks, I found enormous pools of
blood, and half a mile further on I again heard grunts,
which showed that he had caught my wind.  He rushed
about, uttering those strident shrieks that are so terrifying,
but, after his last experience, refused to charge.  I spent
an exceedingly nervous five minutes, while he devastated
half an acre of forest.  Then he moved on again,
and it was not till two hours later that I caught him up.
He was standing in a dense bamboo thicket, and I fired
the .500 at his head; he fell to the shot, but quickly
recovered and went away.  Yet another time I caught
him up, and approached within ten yards, but the thicket
was so dense that I could not see an inch of his body.
I might have turned his flank, but in so doing should
have given him my wind, and I funked it.  He shortly
moved on, and after twice falling pulled himself together,
and went through the bamboo forest at an increased
pace.  I followed hard, but never saw him again, and
at sunset was compelled to give up the chase.

We were at an altitude of 9,000 ft. and spent the
night sitting naked round a fire, while the rain beat out
any lingering sentiments for elephant-hunting that had
survived the day's work.  The old volcanic soil of these
forests is so porous that above the valley there are no
streams.  We had had nothing to eat or drink since
6 a.m., and it was not till 11.30 the following morning
that we found a cattle-station in the forest.  Here we
drank a quantity of milk, and eventually arrived in camp
at two in the afternoon.  My boys were almost dead with
fatigue, and I myself slept for fifteen hours without
rocking.

In following elephant through these forests it was
necessary to cut one's way with a native axe on the
path that the elephant had traversed only five minutes
before.  At times, for many yards one never touched
the ground, but had perforce to climb along the
tree-trunks, and the dense vegetable growth, constantly
slipping and falling into thorn-bush and nettles, all of which
the elephant would take in his stride; while the bush
was so solid that, after the elephant had brushed it aside,
it flew back to its original position.

This nettle, which, I believe, is peculiar to these
volcanoes, is the most appalling creation that I have
ever dreamed of.  Some were 10 ft. in height, and it
was impossible to brush them aside; they were covered
with myriads of long, almost invisible, spines, which
penetrated khaki, flannel, and everything except leather.
The pain produced by contact with them was nearly
unbearable, but fortunately subsided in about ten
minutes.  At times they were so bad that my natives
could no longer move, and I had to beat down a track
before they could pass.  Many times they sat down and
howled like babies.  Some of the trees that had been
torn down by the elephant were of enormous dimensions,
and I had never before even guessed at the stupendous
power of the African elephant.

I found that the country here was no easier than
that which I had just left, and therefore marched north
down the long sloping spur that leads into the valley
of the Kako.

The district round the base of Mount Eyres is called
Bwisha.  It is ruled by a powerful chief called
Kahanga.  His main village was elaborately protected by
a palisade, around which trees and creepers had been
planted to consolidate the structure, and it was
surrounded by many smaller villages.  The whole of the
adjacent country was densely planted with banana, and
all the intervening land was covered with fields of peas,
beans, and millet.

My track led down a small stream that flowed into
the Mungawo, which is the western head-waters of the
Kako, as the southern part of the Rutchuru is called;
it is consequently one of the most distant sources of
the Albert Nile.  The territory between the Mungawo
and the Kako is called Shoni; here I made many
inquiries about elephant, and, as usual, was informed that
there were none actually there, but that there were
tremendous quantities elsewhere.

Kahanga was at first rather suspicious, but plucking
up courage at the insignificant proportions of my
caravan, he eventually became very communicative, and
told off some men to guide me round the country.

Leaving this village I marched to the east, along the
base of four extinct volcanoes, to find out the real
truth of the vexed question of Mfumbiro.

Mfumbiro, as a mountain, is unknown to the natives,
but I eventually ascertained that it is merely a native
word which means "The place where there is fire."  And
when I reached the country where Mount Mfumbiro
had been supposed by an imaginative treaty-maker
to be, I was informed that "Mfumbiro" was used by
the natives in that part to represent the district of the
active volcanoes.

In reaching my destination I passed through many
almost impenetrable forests of bamboo, and crossed the
head-waters of the main stream of the Kako.  The
natives appeared to be rather disturbed, and suspicious
of my intentions.  With such a weak caravan I did
not desire to have any trouble; I therefore hastily
retreated to the base of Mount Eyres once more.

Close to Kahanga's village there is a small pool,
probably a relic of the lake that once filled this Rift
Valley, as there are a few hippopotami therein, and the
hilly nature of the country that surrounds this small
lake renders it improbable that they have any
connection with the outside world.

From here I made my first attempt to cross the great
lava streams that fill the trough of the valley, with the
intention of inspecting Mushari, which Dr. Kandt had
told me teemed with elephant.  Inquiries which I made
confirmed his report, and the natives appeared
particularly anxious for me to go there.  It was not till
my eventual arrival in Mushari that I really understood
the reason of their anxiety.

When I had penetrated a short distance into the
tangled scrub that has sprung up on the edge of the
lava-stream, my guide mysteriously disappeared; and
as it was already late in the day, and I knew that there
was no chance of obtaining water till I reached the
hills on the far side, I returned.  Passing round the base
of the terrace which overhangs the lava-stream, I
eventually arrived back at our main camp.  On the
way I traversed a wonderful succession of plantations
and villages.  The natives bring all their water from a
distance of six miles.

I found that Sharp, after losing two stone in frantic
efforts to find elephant, had given up the game as a bad
job, and together we started to make another attempt
to cross into Mushari.

The natives stated that there was a track round
Mount Götzen, and it was not until we had actually
started that they informed us that it was impossible
to take cattle there.  One man volunteered to show
the way, but at the last moment endeavoured to escape.
However, he was caught, and a string was tied round his
neck.  I explained to him that I could not risk being
left without a guide, and had therefore been compelled
to take that precaution, promising him, however, a
supplementary present when he had completed his
task, as compensation for his offended dignity.  He
then protested that the track was impossible, saying
that there was no water for two days, nor any food, and
that the path was so bad that it would cut everybody's
feet to pieces.  Sharp and I accordingly arranged that
it would be better to see what the path was like before
moving with the whole caravan.  For this purpose I
started with half a dozen men, carrying my necessaries,
while Sharp returned to our camping-place.

I and my boys set out for the slopes of Mount Götzen,
and on the way managed to pick up two more guides.
After climbing a very steep hill, we arrived on a flat
terrace, where there were many signs of elephant; this
we crossed and plunged into the dense forest,
characteristic of the slopes of these volcanoes.  The track
was almost indistinguishable, and the recent depredations
of elephant had rendered it practically impassable.
After eight hours' work we found that it would be
impossible to reach a pool of water which, my guide
acknowledged, existed at some distance.  At this point
two of the guides mysteriously vanished, and I sincerely
congratulated myself on having tied the third one up.

I waited for my boys to close up, but waited in vain:
all except two had lost the track, and though I fired
round after round, there was no response.  Everything,
with the exception of the inside of my tent, was with
the boys who had strayed.  To afford some shelter we
fixed up this part of the tent on some poles, which we
cut with a sword-bayonet.

Torrential rains fell all night, but unfortunately we
had no means of catching the water, as the roof of
foliage above our heads caught the fall and poured it
on to us through unexpected channels.  It was
exceedingly cold, and we had no food.  However, the night
passed somehow, and the following morning, retracing
our steps and firing shots at intervals, we eventually
discovered the other boys.  The sun was very hot, and
selecting an open glade, we sat down and dried ourselves,
while making a square meal.

In the midst of my meal I had an idea that somebody
from behind was looking at me; and turning round, I
saw the hideous, distorted features of a pigmy leering
at me in open-mouthed astonishment through the bush
against which I was resting.  When he saw that he was
detected he dashed away at an incredible pace, and my
boys failed to catch him.  These pigmies are usually
described by travellers as implacably hostile to strangers,
but I never had any trouble with them, although I came
in contact with many.

Having no water or food, I had, for the second time,
to abandon the attempt to reach Mushari, and sorrowfully
retraced my steps to camp, burning on my way the
hut of the guide who had bolted; a punishment that
he richly deserved, as he had undertaken to come for
payment and had left me, thinking that I should be
lost, and taking with him my axe.

In this part of Africa the natives use the word
"tanganyika" for any lake or extensive body of water.

On my way into camp I saw another pigmy in one
of the villages.  He had brought honey to trade with
the Ruanda people for grain.  The natives informed
me that the pigmies have no settled villages, nor do they
cultivate anything.  They live the life of the brute in the
forests, perpetually wandering in search of honey or in
pursuit of elephant; when they succeed in killing
anything, they throw up a few grass shelters and remain
there till all the meat is either eaten or dried.  They
depend upon the other natives for the necessary grain,
which they either steal or barter for elephant-meat or
honey.  All their knives, spear-heads, and arrow-heads
they likewise purchase from other people, but they make
their own bows and arrows.  So well are these made
that they are held in great esteem by the surrounding
people.  This pigmy fled on my approach, and although
the country was perfectly flat, and therefore my boys
were on equal terms when they tried to catch him, he
easily escaped.  The pace at which he ran was
extraordinary.  It is curious to notice how perfectly adapted
they are to the surroundings in which they live; the
combination of immense strength necessary for the
precarious hunting-life they lead, and of compactness,
indispensable to rapid movement in dense forest, where
the pig-runs are the only means of passage, is a wonderful
example of nature's adaptability.

After a few days' rest I made my third and successful
attempt to cross the lava-beds, which I describe in the
following chapter on Mushari.

Sharp undertook to take the live stock and the main
caravan round the southern slope of Mount Götzen,
and to eventually meet me in Mushari.  This involved
a waterless tramp of twenty-five miles, unless he could
find the pool of water spoken of by Count Götzen as
existing in a small crater on the lava-bed between Mount
Götzen and the lake.

On the road he had to pass near the place where he
had lost our thirty sheep and goats, and he determined
to recapture them, if possible.  Seeing a large flock
being driven off across the plain he gave chase, followed
by two of his boys, while the main caravan halted.
After a sharp dash over the roughest country imaginable,
semi-disintegrated lava and scrubby bush, he succeeded
in collecting twenty-five goats, and in driving them
to his camping-place.  The natives meanwhile collected
in large numbers and fired volleys of arrows at him,
all of which fortunately missed their mark.  When
he rejoined the main body of his caravan he found that
two men had been wounded by arrows.  An enormous
concourse of natives rapidly gathered on the
surrounding hills.

Having pitched his camp and put the place in a
position of defence, he was hailed by a deputation from
the chief, who said that he wished to pay Sharp
"hongo."  Sharp promptly informed them that the chief must
arrive with wood, water, and thirty-five goats, as
compensation for the loss which we had sustained and the
trouble which they had caused us.  All this the chief
undertook to do.  He was a fine native, standing over
6 ft.  After a long delay he returned with three goats,
and without wood or water.  So he was promptly
bound with his four headmen and placed in the
guard-tent.  After much prevarication and some little delay
the goats were produced, and with them a small tusk
of ivory; whereupon the prisoners were released and
their hearts made glad by a handsome present of cloth
and beads to show that, now that the account was
squared, there was no ill-feeling.

The following day he had much difficulty in getting
his caravan through the difficult country, and failing to
find water, he was compelled to descend to the shore of
Kivu, where a sharp attack of fever delayed him for
some days.

The boys, who had picked up wild rumours of the
existence of bad men in the country to be penetrated,
almost mutinied, and Sharp was fortunately relieved of
the necessity of risking a mutiny through pushing on by
the receipt of a note from me to the effect that he must
return at once, as the country was full of cannibals
and devastated from end to end.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`Mushari and its Cannibals`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   MUSHARI AND ITS CANNIBALS.

.. vspace:: 2

After these two unsuccessful attempts to reach
Mushari--first, north by Kahanga's country, and
secondly, by the path that runs round the base of
Mount Götzen--I determined to cut straight across the
lava-streams, in spite of everything that the natives
said to dissuade me.  Lies, lies, lies, I was sick to
death of them, and resolved to go to Mushari by the
direct route, cost what it might, the behaviour of my
pagazi,[#] which caused my second attempt to fail,
making me only the more determined to show them
that their little games were of no use.  In vain I sent
out to the villages for guides, none were forthcoming;
frightened, as I afterwards discovered, by my boys, they
obstinately assured me there was no way across; that
we should die of thirst, be eaten by lions, and so forth,
*ad nauseam*.  I gave out orders that all my boys were
to make sandals, and prepare food and water for two
days.  In the morning three-quarters of them hobbled
up on sticks, pleading sickness; and when I finally
started, half of them burst into tears and swore that
they were not slaves, to be led into the wilderness to
die.  When we reached the edge of the lava-stream,
there were no shoes or food or water; but when I once
stepped on to the stones, the whole scene changed.
Beads were produced, natives with sandals for sale
brought forth, guides sprang up in bewildering plenty,
and, as I had half suspected, I found there was a well-used
track across.  There is one thing to be said for the
Manyema: they play their game right out to the end.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Porters.

.. vspace:: 2

We went south-west for four hours across the eastern
stream, making about half a mile an hour; it is like
a very broken glacier such as that which lies under the
north-west side of the Aiguille du Dru near Chamounix,
huge blocks of lava piled one upon the other, and sharp
as razors.  The length is about twenty miles, and
breadth about two in the narrowest part.  Further north
it branches off to the east and west, the western branch
mingling with the great western stream about fifteen
miles from the pass between Mount Götzen and Mount
Sharp.  The natives say that the lava came down two
years ago, and that great numbers of elephants were
killed; I myself saw the bones of one in our
comparatively short traverse.

Already there are patches of bush several miles in
extent where the stream eddied, stayed by some extra
strong clump of trees, and so wonderful is the tropical
growth produced by the combination of damp and
fertile soil, that in another twenty years all obvious
trace of the great eruption will have been erased.  The
trees on all the higher spurs which were above the level
of the streams were snapped off short by the wind, and
lie in regular rows towards the main centres of
disturbance.  The eruption must have been accompanied by
considerable seismic waves, huge rents occurring in the
surrounding forests; and very beautiful these rents are,
being already converted by a luxuriant nature into
exotic ferneries.  After leaving the lava the path led
west into the bush, and about 4 p.m. we reached a pool
of water formed by an old crater.  My inquiry as to the
death-rate caused much merriment, and the evening
passed with howls of joy and those unearthly noises
which in Africa pass current for song.

Here we were joined by numbers of natives coming
from Mushari with loads of food.  On inquiry I found
that they were refugees, having been driven out by the
Baleka or Bareka, a tribe of cannibals from the Congo
who had raided their country.  They told me that those
who had survived were living in the forest, and that
great numbers were dying every day of hunger.  On
the morrow we skirted along the base of the new volcano
for about fourteen miles through the most beautiful
glades, coming across several pools of water.  Dead
natives lined the path, showing that the tales of our last
night's companions were only too true.  Towards
evening we reached the great western stream, and here we
met several natives who were living amongst the stones
in the most awful misery, hardly daring even to make
a fire.  They said that they had been living thus for
six months.  When driven to despair by hunger, they
would make a dash for an armful of half-ripe grain,
each time losing some of their number by the Baleka,
who were watching all the paths.  I lined their bellies
and warmed their hearts (identical organs, I believe, in
the African and perhaps some others) with beans; and
in the morning we advanced into the dreaded land.
All the paths up the hills that led to the uplands of
Mushari were lined with grain and torn skins, relics of
those unfortunates who had been caught; and dried
pools of blood, gaunt skeletons, grinning skulls, and
trampled grass told a truly African tale.  On arriving
at the top of the ridge a beautiful rolling country opened
out before us, dotted with clusters of grass huts and
stately trees; russet patches of ripening mtama
contrasted with the emerald green of the wild banana, range
upon range of purple hills melted into the nether-world
of a tropical horizon.  But we were not to enjoy the
scenery long, for distant howls showed that we had
been observed, silhouetted as we were against the sky;
and strings of black figures, brandishing spears and
howling at the expected feast, came running down from
a neighbouring hill.  I was still uncertain as to the
exact state of affairs.  The refugees and the numerous
corpses made it obvious that there was something in
the wind, but I imagined that it was merely an ordinary
case of native fractiousness, some intertribal squabble,
such as occurs every day in these remote corners of the
Dark Continent, and that the Baleka and their doings
were merely a characteristic effort of the African
imagination.  But the diabolical noise made by the onrushing
natives decided me that the matter was serious.  I
questioned my guide as to their intentions, and was
scarcely reassured by his naïve remark: "They are
coming to eat us."  Accordingly I kept quiet behind
a clump of grass till they were quite close and there was
no further doubt of their intentions, and opened fire
with my light rifle.  They disappeared like rabbits into
the standing crops.

We then hurried on to the huts from which we had
seen these people come; but they were too quick for us,
and fled.  A cloud of vultures hovering over the spot
gave me an inkling of what I was about to see, but
the realization defies description; it haunts me in my
dreams, at dinner it sits on my leg-of-mutton, it bubbles
in my soup--in fine, Watonga would not eat the potatoes
that grew in the same country, and went without food
for forty-eight hours rather than do so: ask your
African friends what that means; negroes have not
delicate stomachs.  Loathsome, revolting, a hideous
nightmare of horrors; and yet I must tell briefly what
I saw, for the edification of any disciple of the
poor-dear-black-man, down-with-the-Maxim, Africa-for-the-African
Creed, who may chance to peruse these pages.

*Item*.--A bunch of human entrails drying on a stick.

*Item*.--A howling baby.

*Item*.--A pot of soup with bright yellow fat.

*Item*.--A skeleton with the skin on lying in the middle
of the huts; apparently been dead about three months.

*Item*.--A gnawed thigh-bone with shreds of half-cooked
meat attached.

*Item*.--A gnawed forearm, raw.

*Item*.--Three packets of small joints, evidently
prepared for flight, but forgotten at the last moment.

*Item*.--A head, with a spoon left sticking in the brains.

*Item*.--A head, one cheek eaten, the other charred;
hair burnt, and scalp cut off at top of forehead like the
peel of an orange; one eye removed, presumably eaten,
the other glaring at you.

*Item*.--Offal, sewage.

*Item*.--A stench that passeth all understanding, and,
as a fitting accompaniment, a hovering cloud of crows
and loathly, scraggy-necked vultures.

Every village had been burnt to the ground, and as I
fled from the country I saw skeletons, skeletons
everywhere; and such postures, what tales of horror they
told!  Let this suffice, worse than all this I saw, and
that I have not exaggerated one jot or tittle, may God
bear me witness!  I would not have entered into these
revolting details, but that I think it advisable that
those who have not the chance of seeing for themselves
should know what is going on every day in this country.
A beautiful yellow covers this spot on the map, with a
fringe of red spots with flags attached, denoting (as the
map informs you) stations of the Congo Free State.
And yet a peaceful agricultural people can be subjected
to horrors like this for months (*without any one knowing*).
And why?  Because the whole system is bunkum--the
so-called partition of Africa.  The stations marked do
not exist; and read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest
this fact: I have to pay a licence *to carry a gun* in the
country.

The next day I reached Kishari, and found that this
beautiful and well-watered country had been converted
into a howling wilderness, Kameronse having suffered
to the same extent.  Thus a tract of country about
3,000 square miles in extent has been depopulated and
devastated.  I do not believe that two per cent. of the
thousands of inhabitants have survived the massacre
and famine: in Kishari and Kameronse there is not
one single soul.  And all this is directly attributable to
the revolted Askaris of the Congo: they led the attack
with thirty guns, took all the cattle, and then departed,
leaving this horde of hyænas in their wake; and a similar
fate has, I suppose, befallen all those tribes between
Tanganyika and Albert Edward through whose country
they passed.

The partition or occupation of Africa with a view to
sound colonization--that is, to fit the country as a
future home for surplus population--is the obvious duty
of the nations which form the vanguard of civilization.
This is the object of our occupation of the various
territories under the British flag, and of the Germans
in the East and South-west Africa, and, I believe, of
the French in the north, to make new markets and
open up country for coming generations; to suffer
temporary loss for the future benefit of overcrowded
humanity.  Experience and the suitability of our
institutions are the reasons of our success.  The
predominance of militarism is the reason of the hitherto
comparative failure of the two great land powers, and
corruption and senile decay are the reasons of the abject
failure of the nation that led the van of colonization.
However, *experientia docet*, and Germany, at least, is
laying a sound foundation for a broader colonial policy,
while Portuguese occupation is only a negative failure.
But what can be said in favour of permitting a vast
tract of country to be run merely as a commercial
speculation without more legitimate objective than that
of squeezing as much rubber and ivory out of the natives
as possible; of arming large numbers of savages and
entrusting them to inexperienced men from a land of
untravelled commercials to whom expatriation is akin
to disgrace; of making the administrators of districts
to all intents and purposes farmers of the taxes?
However sound the intentions of the fountain-head, there
can be no responsible administration without a
connection with a definite home government.  Men do not
take employment in Africa for the joke of the thing.
Hopes of preferment or pecuniary profit are what induce
them to give up the comforts of civilization, and where
the former is lacking the latter must be offered, or only
the dregs of other trades will be forthcoming.

Then followed two of the worst days of my life.
Rapid movements alone could save us from annihilation,
and we travelled from sunrise to sunset, camping in
patches of forest, and concealing our route by
leaving the paths and forcing our way through the grass.
Mummies, skulls, limbs, putrefying carcases washing
to and fro in every limpid stream, marked the course
of the fiendish horde.  An insufferable stench filled the
land, concentrating round every defiled homestead.
This was the Congo Free State.  Fear of being rushed at
night made sleep well-nigh impossible, tired as we were.
The country was exceedingly beautiful.  Wild stretches
of undulating hills, streaked with forest and drained
by a hundred streams, each with its cargo of bloated
corpses, made a terrible combination of heaven and
hell.  It was a scene that made one wonder if there
be a God.  To the west I could see two lakes nestling
between the hills.  A stream connects the two, and
empties out at the south end, flowing, I imagined,
towards the Congo.  Flights of gorgeous butterflies floated
here and there, and, settling on the gruesome relics,
gave a finishing touch to the horrors of that land.

Leaving Kishari, we passed over the watershed, about
9,500 ft., and descended into Kameronse.  Here we were
met by the same scenes of desolation; the whole country
had been swept clean--not so much as a sweet potato,
which grow almost as weeds, was left.  As we were
skirting along a large papyrus swamp, which absorbs all the
neighbouring streams, we came on the fresh spoor of
natives.  I had only just seized my gun, for which I
had to wait about ten minutes, when a woman, girl, and
two small boys appeared.  These my natives captured;
and no sooner did the woman realize that she had fallen
into undesirable quarters, than she offered to show us
where her relations lay.  I followed the direction
indicated with great caution, the way leading through very
tall and thick grass; and as I turned a corner, my guide
flashed past me like a streak of lightning, and I found
myself confronted by half a dozen gentlemen of
anthropophagic proclivities on supper intent.  The unexpected
apparition of a white man checked their rush, and
dodging a spear, I got my chance and dropped one with a
shot through the heart, two others escaping by my
magazine failing to feed the barrel.  We rushed on in
pursuit, and shortly came on their encampment in a banana
grove; here were the same ghastly relics as we had seen
before.  It appeared that they had raided an outlying
village of Bugoie the previous night, and had caught two
unfortunate wretches, whose remains were baking and
stewing in pots.  From the number of the rude huts
there must have been at least fifty Baleka, but they had
disappeared into the grass and papyrus, and we saw no
more of them.  Some baskets of grain were lying about,
and these the Manyema eagerly seized upon; but I could
not bring myself to eat any, and my Watonga were
equally fastidious, although we had been almost without
food for three days.  Our captives were terribly thin,
and these outlying bands of raiders are evidently leading
but a hand-to-mouth existence; and as the Baleka have
cut their boats adrift by wiping out the whole country
behind them (in their wanton madness they even cut
down the banana palms), I am afraid the people of Bugoie
will eventually succumb, although hitherto they have
held out.  As yet they have only had to repel the attacks
of small bands, the main mass of the Baleka being still
occupied in demolishing the mtama fields of northern
Mushari.  When the general onslaught begins, I think
they will have to give way before the thousands of
savages rendered desperate by the impossibility of retreat,
and those, too, men of superior courage.  Those Baleka
that I had the chance of observing at close quarters were
well made and pleasant-featured, averaging not more
than 5 ft.  Their possessions--baskets, shields, knives,
etc.--are very crude, and their dress consists of air and an
occasional scrap of hide, human or otherwise.  Whether
they have a definite country or not, I cannot say; some
natives told me that they have, many days' journey
west of Kivu, while the majority say that they lead a
nomadic existence like a flight of locusts, eating up just
as effectually whatever they come across.  At a rough
estimate, there cannot have been less than 5,000 of them
in the countries I passed through.

The next morning we came on another small encampment,
which, fortunately, had been unable to see our
fires, owing to the dense bush, although we were not
half a mile away.  To my amazement our guide, seeing
one gentleman apart from the rest and unarmed, rushed
in and speared him.  The others turned on me, but were
dispersed with a couple of shots.  This was the last we
saw of the Baleka, as, in the evening, we reached the
outskirts of Bugoie, but skulls and charred relics for
many miles bore witness to their recent raids.  Very
glad I was of a night's rest, for although the moral and
sometimes physical effect of firearms on these unsophisticated
people is very great, still the danger of being
rushed at night, or in the dense forest and long grass,
made it very anxious work; also the smallness of my
caravan--twelve carriers with only two sniders, and such
excitable curs at the end of them that I forbade them to
fire--made us a tempting prey for any large number of
natives we might meet; however, this was balanced by
the rapidity of our movements and unexpected appearance,
which would have been impossible with a larger
caravan.

Such was the country that had been described to me
by Dr. Kandt, who had visited it six months before, as
a beautiful district teeming with peaceful agricultural
folk.  The natives informed me that of all that
flourishing community but sixty remained.  I was very anxious
about Sharp, fearing that he might enter the country
by a different road to that by which I had just left.
Had he arrived hampered by a large caravan and cattle,
he must inevitably have been destroyed.  Hoping that
he was still south of the volcanoes, I hurried east through
the forest that is springing up on the great lava-bed
thrown out by the last eruption but one.  Here too the
path was strewn with skulls, showing the desperate
efforts that the Baleka had made to force an entry into
Bugoie.  Late in the afternoon we arrived at an old
volcanic cone.  This was the outpost of Bugoie, and the
few wretched survivors, seeing us approaching through
the forest, naturally mistook us for Baleka, and quickly
prepared for battle.  It was only after an hour's shouting
that we allayed their fears.  With some difficulty we
managed to procure a jar of bad water, which we sadly
needed, having had nothing to drink since daybreak,
and we endeavoured to appease our ravening hunger
with a brace of pumpkins, which was all the poor
creatures had to offer us.  Their destitution was complete,
and filled me with pity, but I was powerless to assist
them.  It was impossible to obtain any definite
information about Sharp, and it was with the direst
forebodings that I started the following morning, as I knew
that there was now no chance of intercepting him.
However, an hour later I met an elderly pigmy in the forest
and managed to induce him to talk.  He was a splendid
little fellow full of self-confidence, and gave me most
concise information, stating that the white man with
many belongings had passed near by two days before,
and had then gone down to the lake-shore, where he
was camped at that moment.  These people must have
a wonderful code of signs and signals, as, despite their
isolated and nomadic existence, they always know
exactly what is happening everywhere.  He was a typical
pigmy as found on the volcanoes--squat, gnarled, proud,
and easy of carriage.  His beard hung down over his
chest, and his thighs and chest were covered with wiry
hair.  He carried the usual pigmy bow made of two
pieces of cane spliced together with grass, and with a
string made of a single strand of a rush that grows in
the forests.

I sent off two of my boys with a note to Sharp, and
pushed on as fast as possible to the food districts of
Bugoie, where my boys ate so much that I despaired
of their surviving.  For the next two days I was very
ill, owing to my having eaten a number of green bananas
in the first banana plantation that I entered.  The
scarcity of water made it still more difficult to endure
the pangs of hunger during the last day of our march.

Having partially recovered, I marched back to my
northernmost camp and waited for Sharp.  The natives,
thinking that I could be imposed upon with my small
caravan, ignored my presence, and in face of several
requests refused to bring in food for sale.  The country
was very rich in produce, so I warned the chief that
unless he brought in food in the ordinary way for sale
I should be obliged to come and take what I wanted,
as I could not starve.  I was just preparing to carry out
my threat, when Sharp arrived, and the chief soon turned
up with a diseased sheep and about a quart of flour,
which I promptly clapped on to his head, while Sharp
roared with laughter at him.  He tried hard to maintain
his dignity, but with little effect: a little, tub-bellied
man, he presented the most ridiculous spectacle imaginable
as he stalked out of camp half black, half white,
preceded by his awed followers.  In the afternoon he
returned with plenty of supplies, and after receiving a
handsome present in exchange, retired quite satisfied.
After making yet two more attempts after elephant, in
the course of which I came on many cattle-yards hidden
in the deepest recesses of the forest, we gave it up as
hopeless, and determined to press on to the Albert
Edward Lake.  During one of my elephant hunts I came
on the skeleton of a gigantic ape, larger than anything I
have ever seen in the anthropoids, but I never saw a
live specimen, though the natives assured me that they
were plentiful, and were a great source of annoyance to
the villages, being in the habit of carrying off stray
women.

While exploring with a small number of followers, I
observed some ape-like creatures leering at me from
behind banana-palms, and with considerable difficulty
my Ruanda guide induced one of them to come and be
inspected.  He was a tall man with the long arms,
pendent paunch, and short legs of the ape, pronouncedly
microcephalous and prognathous.  At first he was
terribly alarmed, but soon gained confidence, and when I
asked him about game and elephant, he gave me most
realistic representations of them and of how they should
be attacked.  I failed to exactly define their status, but
from the contempt in which they were held by the Wa
Ruanda their local caste must be very low.  The stamp
of the brute was so strong on them that I should place
them lower in the human scale than any other natives
I have seen in Africa.  Their type is quite distinct from
the other people's, and, judging from the twenty to thirty
specimens that I saw, very consistent.  Their face, body,
and limbs are covered with wiry hair, and the hang of
the long, powerful arms, the slight stoop of the trunk,
and the hunted, vacant expression of the face, made up
a *tout ensemble* that was a terrible pictorial proof of
Darwinism.  Two of them accompanied me to Mushari.
On the road they showed me the ease with which they
can make fire with their fire-sticks.





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.. _`THE RUTCHURU VALLEY AND THE ALBERT EDWARD LAKE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XIII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE RUTCHURU VALLEY AND THE ALBERT EDWARD LAKE.

.. vspace:: 2

On June 26th we started on our march to the Albert
Edward Lake, and camped that night near
Kahanga's village.  Many of the more important men came
and paid their respects to us, but Kahanga himself did
not turn up.  We inquired of his Prime Minister for
what reason he had not done so, and were informed that
he was ill; but having, as I thought, seen him, as I passed,
looking far from ill, I made further inquiries, and
discovered that he was afraid of our caravan, and imagined
that if he came to our camp we should make him prisoner
and demand a big ransom of ivory.  I can only imagine
that he had heard of other white men behaving in this
manner.  I tried hard to induce him to come, but in
vain.  As when I was there before with only a few boys
he had been exceedingly friendly, it is obvious under
what disadvantages one labours when travelling through
Africa with a big caravan.

The following day we crossed the Mungawo, and
following the ridge of the spur which runs down to the
junction of the Mungawo and the Kako through the
Shoni district, we camped on a bluff overlooking the
Kako itself.

The Kako, as the southern portion of the Rutchuru is
called, is a large body of water, many feet deep, and
quite unfordable.  Its banks are clothed with dense
forests.

The people of Shoni were most friendly, and we
purchased a large supply of beans.  At this camp I saw a
waterbuck, the first antelope that we had seen for many
weeks.

We crossed the river by a native bridge formed of
trunks of trees thrown across and bound together with
fibre.  Beneath, the Kako thundered, a mighty torrent,
and the cloud of spray had left a saline deposit on the
rocks, which was much appreciated by our cattle.

The name of the district into which we had entered
was Imukubsu.  From here we had a magnificent view
of the volcanoes, and having dropped 4,000 ft. we were
enabled to see what an imposing mass Mount Eyres is;
its form on this side is an exact facsimile of the
Matterhorn from the Riffelalp.

Here we purchased some of the curious hippo spears
that are used by all the natives on the Albert Edward
Lake; they have a large piece of cork or light wood on
the end of the haft which floats the spear if they miss
their aim.  We also purchased some medicine for
producing rain; it was a small goat's horn filled with the
congealed blood of chickens.

Our Baleka prisoners were most amusing.  Their joint
clothing when captured consisted of one string of beads,
half a dozen wire bracelets, and a human tooth as a
pendant to a necklace of elephant hair.  They were very
hungry, and quite pleased with their quarters.  It was
a terrible sight to see how they tore and devoured
half-raw meat, but apparently they missed the flavour which
they had particularly affected, as they could never satisfy
themselves.  Because of the quantity of food they
consumed, our boys viewed them with considerable
disfavour.  We issued for their use a large block of soap,
and insisted on their bathing in every available stream;
after that we presented them with some blue cloth and
a red blanket, draped in which they appeared quite
respectable, although the style of costume did not seem
to lend itself to their figures or type of beauty.

The western side of the valley is covered with luxuriant
forest, and the eastern side consists of rolling grass land
till fifteen miles from the lake, when the country settles
down into one vast plain.

The people of Imukubsu appear to be practically
independent of the Kigeri, although they are undoubtedly
part of the Ruanda stock.

Here four streams flow down from the east, the most
important being the Fuko.  At the outlet of the Fuko
the Kako becomes the Rutchuru, and the district to the
east is called Bukoma, and is very sparsely inhabited.
Still further to the east lies the district of Ijomba, which
centres round two rather prominent peaks.  Six miles
further north there is again a considerable population,
and large plantations of bananas.

The following day we crossed a stream of considerable
breadth, filled with papyrus; the water was very deep,
and we had great difficulty in the crossing of our goats
and sheep.  Marching through a desolate country with
no population, we arrived at a good stream called the
Gwenda.  The bed of this stream is very curious; the
country drops suddenly 100 ft., forming a broad,
flat-bottomed valley, down the middle of which the Gwenda
has carved out a deep trough.  The valley is so flat that
it cannot be due to erosion, and is probably a
recently-dried-up arm of the lake.

From there we crossed a vast plateau, covered with
short grass; and it was not until three in the afternoon
that we reached an insignificant stream, on the banks
of which were a few poverty-stricken villages.

The type of native had changed entirely; they
informed us that they were Wanyabinga, and that the
name of their country was Wataka.  They refused
cloth or beads, saying that they had no use for such
things, their only garment consisting of well-cured
skins.

The following morning we marched through similar
country, and saw many tracks of elephant.  I was leading
the caravan that day, and was suddenly stopped by the
cry of "Elephant!"  I hastily put my big gun together,
and saw a herd of fifty elephant cross the path and
descend on to the flat plain below; they reminded me
forcibly of an old print of the Spanish Armada, as they
sailed past through the long grass; their huge ears
flapping to and fro gave the impression of sails; and their
gliding action over the uneven ground was exactly
similar to the motion of a ship.  The grass covered their
legs, and the peculiar swinging action of the elephant,
who moves both the legs on one side at the same time,
gives the appearance of the beast being on wheels.
Sending a note back to Sharp, I hurried off in pursuit, as
they swept into an extensive patch of dense thorn jungle.
The track was easy to follow, owing to the number that
had passed, and after a sharp burst of half an hour I
saw one standing broadside on, about thirty yards ahead.
I tried for the brain-shot with my .303.  He threw his
trunk into the air, and fell like a rock--dead.  Two more
appeared at the shot, and looked at me; I fired, and the
whole herd crashed away; then I remembered that the
magazine of my gun had been loaded with expanding
bullets.  I rushed after them, but failed to catch them
up, and I had the greatest difficulty in retracing my
steps; the elephant had forced a way through the
thornbush, and it was comparatively easy, in the excitement
of pursuit, to follow, as I could push the thorns open in
front as the elephant had done before me; but on my
return journey it was almost impossible to get through,
as the thorns, which had swung back in their place, had
to be pulled towards one to allow a passage.  However,
eventually I arrived at my dead elephant, full of thorns,
and torn to pieces.  It was only a small bull, but it was
my first, and as I strolled back to the caravan, the beast's
tail in my hand, I was a proud man.

I had some difficulty in getting out of the jungle.  In
trying to do so I arrived unexpectedly in a village hidden
in the thicket.  The people, hearing my shots, had put
the village in a state of defence.  It was surrounded by
almost impenetrable jungle, except at two places, where
there was an elaborate gate and stockade.  The gate
had been filled up with a pile of heavy logs, pointing
outwards and upwards, which rendered entrance impossible
from without, but, to their astonishment, I arrived
through the thicket.  As I promptly leaned my rifle
against a hut and put out my hand to greet them, their
suspicions were allayed, and they gave me some water;
then one of their number showed me the path out of
the jungle, and I rejoined the caravan.  Half a mile
further on we camped by two muddy pools on the
outskirts of the thicket.

The natives became quite friendly, and brought us
large quantities of a small kind of bean, and helped us
to cut out the tusks.  Our carriers came to see the
elephant, and forming a ring round it, chanted a song in
its honour, and each man threw a handful of grass on
its side to show his respect, but, of course, would not eat
the meat.  Curiously enough, the natives also refused
to eat the meat, although they were very poor; they
informed us that they would eat hippo meat, but not
elephant, which seemed to me a very subtle distinction.
We cut off a portion of the trunk and boiled it gently
for twelve hours, but did not eat much of it when it
came to table; the meat was excellent, but the two
unpleasant tubes through the middle, and the wrinkled
black skin with its short, stubby bristles, did not give
an appetizing, appearance to the *plat*.  However, the
youthful cannibals devoured it, although there must have
been at least ten pounds, in the short space of an hour.
The two elderly cannibals disappeared during the night.
It was evidently a move on the part of our boys, who
resented the proportion of presents that fell to the
cannibals' lot.

The reports of the country in front were not encouraging,
so we bought up a considerable quantity of beans;
and the following morning marched across the plain,
and arrived near another village, similar to the one we
had left, which was also carefully hidden in the jungle.
This village was elaborately stockaded, and the natives
absolutely refused to allow me to enter; however, I
eventually succeeded in obtaining a guide, and we
continued our march till we arrived at a small lagoon, where
our guide promptly left us.  Here we saw a considerable
number of topi-hartebeeste and Uganda kob; these,
with the exception of one waterbuck mentioned above,
were the only game that we had seen for many long
weeks; and it was a great treat to have a change from
the inevitable goat.

Here the plain opened out to a tremendous width and
had the most desolate appearance, all the short grass
being burnt; and the only relieving features were a
few patches of thorn-scrub and an occasional candelabra
euphorbia.  Having no guide and no idea of what was
before us, it was rather a risky undertaking to go ahead
without reconnoitring; but retreat was impossible, owing
to the scarcity of provisions, and the quantity of game
rendered actual starvation improbable.

The following morning we launched forth, and after a
long march, as I was beginning to get doubtful as to
whether we should find water, I sighted the Rutchuru
river, which here swings back towards the east.  There
was a considerable quantity of Uganda kob, topi-hartebeeste,
and Chanler's reedbuck, and on the path we saw
several traces of lions, while the river teemed with
hippopotami.  The country is very barren, and there are
numerous salt-pans, which at a distance appear like
snow.

While the tents were being pitched, we went out and
quickly secured a supply of meat.  The Manyema, like
all tribes that have come under the influence of the
Arabs, refused to eat the meat of any animal that had
not had its throat cut while still alive; they also refuse
to eat hippo, elephant, or pig, but, curiously enough, are
not so particular about rhinoceros.

We deemed it advisable to camp here for a day, while
we went out in different directions to inspect the country,
as we could still, by a forced march, manage to reach
food countries if we found it impossible to proceed.

I went down the river, and six miles north came
unexpectedly through a belt of reeds on to the lake-shore.
Where the Rutchuru enters the lake there is a very
extensive swamp, the haunt of thousands of birds (pelicans,
geese, and various storks), and many hippo.  Here I
found a very sparse fishing population; their huts were
built in the swamp, and they themselves travelled about
in dangerous-looking canoes.  They were very shy, and
it was only after repeated efforts that I succeeded in
inducing two men to come and talk; from them I
purchased a few fish, giving them beads in exchange; and
I made many inquiries as to the country that we had
to traverse.  They informed me that there were no
villages for many days, and that the few villages that
existed at some distance from the lake were reduced to
pitiable straits by the drought, and the raids of some
tribe from the east.

Hence it was obviously impossible to proceed without
laying in a stock of provisions; so we shot several
antelope and made our men dry the meat over fires.

I was suffering from slight fever, and consequently
Sharp undertook to return with boys and purchase as
many loads as possible of beans.

The fever brought on a very bad foot; I had rubbed
all the skin off the heel with elephant-hunting, and had
been walking on it ever since; and owing to the poisonous
influence of the fever, it swelled to a great size, and
was in such an unhealthy condition that when I pushed
my finger into the swelling it left a cavity which did not
swell out again for some minutes.  As it was impossible
to stop in the country, I had to make arrangements to
be carried, and all the time that I was in camp, sat with
my foot in a basin filled with a strong solution of
permanganate of potash, applying a poultice of Elliman's
Embrocation at night.

Here the water of the Rutchuru was almost too salt
to drink, and we were not sorry to reach the lake, where,
although the water was salt, it was drinkable.

Sharp shot several fine kob and topi, the horns being
equal to anything recorded in Rowland Ward's book,
*Horns and their Measurement*.

The water at the edge of the lake was very shallow.
Two days from the Rutchuru my leg became so bad that
we were compelled to stop; and as the supply of food
was already running short, we sent some of our boys
back to buy a fresh supply.

Here we were visited by some natives who, having
heard our shots, came down the lake in canoes to find
out who we were; they had a few guns which they had
purchased from some Swahili traders; and as they
entered the camp they fired a salute in our honour.
The chief, who was a most intelligent native, asked us
whether we wanted to buy any ivory.  We told him to
bring it to us, so that we might see whether it was worth
purchasing.  He brought a small tusk of 30 lbs., and
said that he had another very large tusk, which he dared
not bring unless we made blood-brotherhood with him.
This we did, our headman serving as proxy.

The mode of procedure was as follows: Our headman
sat down opposite the native's representative, each
party having a sponsor, while the eldest of the natives
constituted himself master of the ceremonies.  Two
small pieces of meat were procured, and each sponsor
held one in his hand; the master of the ceremonies then
explained that we were to become blood-brothers of the
chief, and evoked a series of curses on either party that
might not be true to the pledge.  The words of his
weird incantation were,--

"May hippopotami run against him; may leopards
tear him by night; may hunger and thirst gripe him;
may his women be barren; may his children wither,
even as the grass withers; may crocodiles rend him;
may lions howl round his couch by night; may elephants
crush him," etc.

Having thus evoked all imaginary curses on the
delinquent's head, he made a slight incision on each of the
parties' chest.  The blood that flowed from the cut
having been smeared on the two pieces of raw meat,
each party had to devour the piece smeared with the
blood of the other.

A loaded gun had been placed between them, and
when the ceremony was complete, this was fired into the
air; while the chief and his attendants fired another
volley.  Thereupon I had the 4-bore brought forth, and
told off my headman to fire it, while my gun-bearer
supported him--an advisable precaution.  The tremendous
report, the obvious recoil, and the shriek of the huge
bullet impressed them mightily.

We then called the chief up and taught him to shake
hands, saying that it was the Englishman's method of
making blood-brotherhood; and that now that we had
performed the rites of both people, the Wanyabinga
and the Englishman, there could be no possibility of the
compact ever being broken.  And we pointed out our
flag,[#] which was flying over the camp, and told him
that wherever in future he saw that flag, he might know
that he would be well received and treated with justice.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] This flag was accepted by her late Majesty the Queen.

.. vspace:: 2

They then filed off with a handsome present of cloth,
delighted with the result of their visit; and the
following morning they arrived with the tusk, which was a
large one, weighing about 80 lbs.  But we did not
purchase it, explaining to them that we had only come
there to see the country, and to hunt elephant for our
own amusement, and that we were not like the Swahili
traders whom they had met.  We allowed them to bring
the tusk, so that they might see that they could repose
absolute confidence in us.  With the tusk they brought
several loads of sweet potatoes, and we gave them a
present in exchange.

The chief was a very pleasant and intelligent native,
and during the next two days Sharp made several short
trips with him.  One day the chief and all his men
showed us how they hunted antelope with dogs.  The
dogs were well trained; they rounded the beast and
drove it within reach of the hunters, who succeeded in
spearing it.

The whole of the southern coast of the Albert Edward
is the home of hundreds of hippopotami, and the beach
is lined with masses of their dung; all night they kept
up a tremendous concert of bellowing and grunts, which
rendered sleep well-nigh impossible.

My foot having meanwhile sufficiently healed to allow
me to be carried, we advanced along the shore of the lake,
and camped at the edge of the extensive swamp at the
mouth of the three main streams which flow into the
lake from the south-east.  Here it was obvious that
there had been a recent and abrupt rise in the country,
the old lake-bed being sharply defined.

From this point I perceived that my observations
would materially diminish the area of the lake; the
suggested coast-line on extant maps practically
corresponds with the last lake level.  Judging from the
comparatively insignificant size of the vegetation on the
recently-exposed lake-bed, the last rise and level must
have been historically recent and quite sudden; in fact,
a remarkable point was that this vegetation corresponds
in age to the vegetation found on the lava-beds that
had been poured out by the volcanoes immediately prior
to the late terrific eruption.

Owing to the swampy nature of the country, we were
compelled to again march south-east; and after crossing
a flat table-land, again descended on to the last level of
the lake, where we crossed the first of the south-eastern
streams, called the Sasa.  Here an arm of the late lake
level runs five miles inland, and is three miles broad.
Then we again climbed on to the table-land, which is the
last lake-level but two, and camped on the site of two
deserted villages.

Our blood-brother was still with us, and he informed
us that these villages had been raided by a tribe from
the east, and that the surviving inhabitants had retired
to the impenetrable thorn-jungle, or had fled to the
Rutchuru valley.

From this camp we looked down on a great swampy
plain which absorbs the waters of these three
south-eastern streams.  In many places geysers were shooting
vast jets of steam into the air, and the course of the
rivers was defined by dense strips of luxuriant jungle.

The surrounding country must be rising very rapidly,
and the geysers are an indication of considerable volcanic
activity.  By the last rise the lake has lost a hundred
and twenty square miles; and the loss occasioned by the
last rise but one must have amounted to several hundreds
of square miles.

The map of this lake-shore emphasizes the
extraordinary similarity of form in all the great lakes of
Central Africa, with the one exception of the Victoria
Nyanza.  A glance at the map will show that the angular
inclination and general form of Lake Nyassa, Lake
Tanganyika, Lake Albert Edward, and Lake Albert have a
wonderful resemblance to one another.

The next day we again descended on to the last lake
level, and crossed the Ntungwe river.  This river we
crossed by means of an ingenious native bridge, which
would suggest that the country at some time not very
remote was much more densely populated.  After passing
through one or two insignificant villages, we camped
by a small lagoon.  The following morning we crossed
the third stream which feeds these swamps, but I could
not ascertain its name; and we were compelled to make
a detour to the east to avoid some very dense strips of
jungle, in which we found some carefully-hidden villages,
strongly fortified by stockades.  The natives had
carefully closed the entrance, but appeared to be quite
friendly; and here, with great regret, we said farewell
to our Wanyabinga brother.

Our day's march brought us once more to the lake-shore,
which was still swampy; and as reed was growing
at a distance of one mile from the shore, it was evident
that the lake was still very shallow, and in all probability
the next few years will see another very considerable
change in its area.

A few miles further on there is a small bay, where are
two insignificant villages close to the lake.  Here the
natives cultivate dwarf banana-plants, and eke out a
precarious existence by trapping hippopotami.  They
build a stout scaffold of logs and fasten thereto a
booby-trap, consisting of a heavily-weighted spear-head.

These villages were on the frontier of Visegwe's country,
who is one of Kaihura's chiefs.  Here my fever assumed
a serious form; my temperature at one time rose to
108.4, but the motherly attentions of Sharp pulled me
through; and when I was sufficiently recovered to be
moved, he procured a gigantic dug-out canoe, in which
I was paddled to Katwe, the frontier post of the Uganda
Protectorate.

Sharp marched up the lake-shore, and with the assistance
of Kazinga, ferried all the loads and boys across the
narrow neck of Lake Ruisamba.  The ferry is not more
than four hundred yards wide, and with considerable
trouble the cattle were induced to swim the distance.
Two natives seized each beast by the horns, and, swimming
by its side, assisted it across.  Fortunately there
were no crocodiles in the vicinity.  The canoes were of
extraordinary structure, and are peculiar to Lake Albert
Edward, although they approximate to the type of
canoe to be found on the Victoria Nyanza; some of
them are very large.  They are made of axe-hewn boards,
sewn together with banana fibre.





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.. _`KATWE TO TORO`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XIV.


.. class:: center medium bold

   KATWE TO TORO.

.. vspace:: 2

As we had never heard that the boundary between
the Uganda Protectorate and the Congo Free
State had been definitely settled, we were surprised to
find the Congo flag flying almost within shooting
distance of the fort; and on our sending over to buy fish,
we found that the natives across the border were not
allowed to sell to us.  Furthermore, the Soudanese officer
in charge told us that the trade in salt had almost died
out, as the Congo officials stopped their natives from
bringing ivory or food to barter.  It is hard to
understand why the hard-and-fast line of the thirtieth parallel
has been adhered to, when there is the natural boundary
of the Semliki.  With that boundary there would be no
severance of the possessions of a chief, whereas now
some of the land of Kaihura is Belgian and some English,
and an uneducated native cannot be expected to serve
two masters with different laws and widely-separated
methods of treating him.

In the fort we were also shown the bullet-marks of
the rebel Congo troops, who had attacked the fort
because the Effendi refused to give up the fugitive Belgian
lieutenant who had taken refuge there.  As Colonel
Lugard remarks in his *Rise of our East African Empire*,
the fort stands in a very strong position; but there
was no Congo fort in his time.

We here enjoyed the shelter of a roof for the first
time for many months, despite the uncomfortable
accessories of thousands of mosquitoes and armies of rats.

The Effendi kindly revictualled our forces, as we were
not allowed to trade on our own account, and we gladly
turned our backs on the bare ridges of the fort, and the
curiously-coloured salt lake, and started on the
eighty-mile march to Fort Gerry.

Elephant were reported as numerous throughout the
country, and we looked forward to a little sport as a
change, more especially as an Askari had shot a fine bull
two days before, when he was out bathing in one of the
streams we had to cross.  We started on an excellent
cleared road, myself in a machila, as the fever had left
me too weak to walk, and passing several volcanic lakes
and extinct craters, camped close by a large salt lake
round the edge of which the spoor of many antelope was
visible, and in which a few hippo snorted and splashed.

Hundreds of reedbuck dashed wildly about the plains,
and a few kobus and waterbuck were seen in the
distance, but, the grass being very short, there was no
chance of a stalk.

Every day we crossed one or more beautiful clear
streams, running down gullies from Mount Ruwenzori,
the principal one being the Wimi; but nowhere did we
ever get more than a glimpse of the outlying shoulders
of the mountain, the higher peaks being always hidden
in mist.

Elephant spoor was plentiful, but grass fires had cleared
the whole of the plain and driven all the game to the
foot-hills or swamps, and day after day our hopes of
elephant were doomed to disappointment.

We met a Congo official--a Belgian--returning from
a visit to Fort Gerry to his station, Fort Mbeni on the
Semliki, whence there is a rapid and easy route or
high-road to the Congo, of which the missionary, Mr. Lloyd,
has lately given a startling account in *The Graphic*.

On July 27th we camped within sight of the hills,
where Kasagama reigns by favour of the British Government,
happy in the knowledge of the final extinction of
his old enemy, Kabbarega; and on the morrow we
gathered that we were nearing the end of our journey,
by the amount of "Amerikani"[#] and the quantity of
crucifixes, the hall-marks of the Protestant and Catholic
sects.  Next we saw a large church in a walled enclosure,
and two Pères Blancs came out to welcome us, and insist
on our trying their excellent Algerian wine.  They were
much interested on hearing that we had come up from
Tanganyika, and asked many questions about the
brethren of their order down south.  Hospitably they
accompanied us a short way till we reached the boundaries of
the Church of England mission, whose territory they
would not pass, except on urgent business, to the
Government station.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] White trade cloth.

.. vspace:: 2

Kasagama's hill, on the left, is a magnificent situation
for a palace (or fort), dominating as it does the missions
nestling below it, and the Boma on an adjacent hill.
The king received us a day or two later under the escort
of the English missionaries.

The high-road led past the English mission, where
extensive building operations in brick were going on,
down a steep hill and across a primitive and dangerous
bridge, built by the 11th Company of Soudanese, under
the late Colonel Sitwell, to keep them quiet during the
mutiny, and up a steep hill to the fort, where we were
most hospitably received by Mr. S. S. Bagge, one of the
founders of the Uganda Protectorate, who has spent
nearly nine years in the country, having acquired the
pioneering mania in that hot-bed of pioneers, the Western
States of America.  Captain J. A. Meldon was in charge
of the troops.  English newspapers and books were most
welcome, after being separated from them for many
months.  Our own literature consisted of Whitaker,
Shakespeare, and Keats.

Two days after our arrival at Fort Gerry, our boys
began to get troublesome, as they had nothing to do,
and pombe (native beer) was plentiful; and one
evening they raided the milk belonging to the Soudanese
officer, and beat his boys, for which the culprits were
duly admonished.  Next day they all declared a desire
to go home again to Ujiji.  We were anxious to take
them on to Wadelai, there being no hopes of getting
local porters to go anywhere except to Kampala; and
at length, after much parleying, arranged that thirty
of them should go to Wadelai with me, and the rest to
Kampala with Sharp, to lay in supplies for the Nile
journey, and then the whole lot could return by the
Victoria Nyanza to Mwanza in German territory, and
thence home in safety, *via* Tabora.

Meantime stories of enormous tuskers were dinned into
our ears, and Captain Meldon having very kindly offered
to accompany us, we determined to go and have a
fortnight's elephant-hunting, as a little relaxation after our
arduous march.  On inquiry as to licences, we were
horrified to find a £25 licence necessary, which entitled
the payer to kill two elephant only.  Permission might
be obtained from the Commissioner of a district to kill
others at £12 each--truly a preposterous regulation, in
view of our subsequent experiences; however, having
come so far, more or less with the objective of
elephant-shooting, we paid up like men, and started off on the
main road to Kampala.

The country, as usual in Toro, consisted of undulating
hills intersected by papyrus swamps, with a few banana
plantations, very sparsely populated, and showing no
signs of game except some old elephant spoor.

The second march brought us to a very likely country,
and the natives said there were many elephant in the
vicinity.  Sharp went out, but did not see any, the grass
and thorn-scrub being almost impassable.  Thence a four
hours' walk brought us to the top of a small range of
hills, from the crest of which I saw an elephant standing
in the thick cane-brake on the opposite slope.  The main
part of the caravan, with Sharp and Meldon, was some
distance in front, as the difficulty of carrying my machila
through the swamps made my progress slow.  Praying
that the wind would hold, I was carried as near as the
brake would allow, and after a short walk, in the course
of which I fell into an elephant-pit, found the unsuspecting
old gentleman under a tree, and killed him with a
single .303 bullet in the brain.  He was a stupendous
old bull, 11 ft. 6 in. at the shoulder, with a 64-in. foot
(dry), and his teeth, 5 ft. 10 and 6 ft. 2, weighed 86 and
85 lbs.  This success filled the others with envy, and
a native coming in during lunch with news of a herd of
forty, not very far off, Meldon and Sharp rushed off,
only to return at sundown hot and tired, having hit
and lost a decent bull, while I had gone out to inspect
an old gentleman who came and waved his ears at me
from a neighbouring hill, but which I spared, not being
satisfied with his ivories.

Leaving a few boys to bring the ivory and one foot,
we trekked early next day to the ridge overlooking the
river, passing fresh spoor and elephant tracks almost
every minute, and, while looking for a likely
camping-ground, saw a small herd of elephant in the valley.
Sharp immediately went in pursuit, and unfortunately
for him the Soudanese officer followed, and by cutting
the line of elephant, gave the leaders the wind, and thus
spoilt an excellent chance.  From our camp on the hill
we had a splendid view of ten miles or so of the Msisi
valley and the hills opposite, and all day long, elephant,
singly, in small herds, and, eventually in the afternoon,
in large herds of two hundred or more, perambulated
up and down, giving us the most magnificent chance of
making their acquaintance.

Sharp returned at lunch, hot and miserable, having
shot a cow elephant--the grass being so high that it was
impossible to judge beforehand what he fired at.  The
whole of the morning we heard shots from the far side
of the river fired by Waganda or Wanyoro hunters, and
presently, in a great cloud of dust, a herd of at least
a hundred elephant crossed the river and wandered
towards our camp.  It was a most impressive sight, as
they swept the long grass down in front of them as flat
as if a steam-roller had passed over it.  They stopped
for a time about half a mile below us, blowing water
and dust over their backs, while we tried to pick out the
biggest bull with our glasses.  We must have seen a
thousand to fifteen hundred elephant that day, and
heard thirty or forty shots from native guns across the
Msisi.

Next day there wasn't an elephant in sight, but we
could hear the natives banging away up-river, and as
the elephant near camp began to smell we trekked up
the valley.  Here the downtrodden grass showed that
the big herd had moved off south.

Having exceeded our time-limit, we decided to return
to Fort Gerry and start for the north.  Taking all the
ivory into Fort Gerry for registration, I left Sharp on
the road with a few boys to hunt, intending to make
the necessary arrangements at the station, and then to
send out the boys to him for the march to Kampala;
but the evening of my return was celebrated by a pombe
revel amongst my boys, and when I went down to see
what the noise was about, I was attacked by twenty or
thirty of them with spears, and was obliged to fire my
revolver at the ringleader.  This scared them, and the
whole hundred broke out of camp, scattering the
Soudanese guards, who were supposed to keep them in order.
Next day all the boys came in a body and demanded to
be sent home; so, to avoid trouble, we rounded them
by strategy into a cattle-kraal, and put a strong guard
over them; and after giving them posho (cloth to buy
food), and obtaining a guard from Kasagama to see them
out of the country, I packed them off to Katwe.  Sharp
arrived next day, having done the fifty miles in two
marches.  Ten of our boys were in chain-gang for
behaving badly during our absence, and these and Sharp's
lot I persuaded to go with me to Wadelai, and thence
by high-road to Kampala, and by Victoria Nyanza back
to Tabora and Ujiji.

Out of our fourteen calves two alone had survived,
and we had been obliged to kill two cows, as they could
not travel further.  Six cows we exchanged with
Kasagama for a tusk of 138 lbs., and six others I sold for
180 r., giving the other cow and calf to Mr. Bagge.
During our absence elephant-hunting, four of King
Kasagama's cows died, so I rescinded the bargain, and gave
two of my tusks and a present of cloth for the big one,
and handed the surviving cattle over to Mr. Bagge.
Curiously enough, the six I sold to the Soudanese Effendi
were still well, while Mr. Bagge's cow and calf had both
died.  Too good food and too much time to eat it, after
a march of two hundred and fifty miles, had evidently
overpowered them.

At this stage of my journey, Mr. Sharp, to my great
regret, was forced by the ties of urgent business to return
home.  The Nile was such an uncertain quantity that
he was unable to risk the possibility of being buried in
the wilds for another two years.  He therefore marched
through Toro and Uganda to the Mombasa rail-head,
and took passage to England *via* the Red Sea.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`TORO TO MBOGA`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XV.


.. class:: center medium bold

   TORO TO MBOGA.

.. vspace:: 2

Leaving Fort Gerry and all its hospitalities on
August 28th, I skirted along the northern spur
of Ruwenzori, passing between the little volcanic lakes
Vijongo, and after three hours' walking, arrived at the
edge of the first escarpment.  Here there is a sheer drop
of 1,500 ft. from the undulating table-land of Toro proper
to the scrub-clad terrace about eight miles wide, which
in its turn overlooks the Semliki valley, a further drop
of 500 ft.  From the edge of the first escarpment the
view is truly magnificent; to the south looms the mighty
bulk of Ruwenzori, a purple mass, peak piled upon peak,
black-streaked with forest, scored with ravine, and ever
mounting till her castellated crags shoot their gleaming
tips far into the violet heavens.  But it is only for a
brief hour at sunset or sunrise: then again the mists
swirl up her thousand gorges, again the storm-cloud
lowers and broods grumbling round her virgin snows as
though jealous of the future--a future of Cook's tours,
funicular railways, personally-conducted ascents (with
a sermon and ginger-beer thrown in).  Well! thank God
I have seen her first--seen her as she has stood for
countless ages, wrapped in impenetrable mystery,
undesecrated by human tread since the awful travail that gave
her birth.  "The Mountains of the Moon"--the very
name breathes mystery and romance, and fitly have
romance and the myths of the ancients played round
her crest, for is she not part mother of the Nile?
Alas! even as we gaze she fades away, a murky glow lights up
the evening sky, again she starts into bold relief, 'tis
her last farewell!  The mists eddy round those frowning
crags, creeping here, drifting there, and the curtain drops,
hiding all but the great black base.  Such is Ruwenzori,
when she deigns to show herself; and only when there
is rain in the air is she thus condescending.

Scarcely less striking is the outlook to the north.
Deep shade is already on the terrific slope at our feet,
while the setting sun still lights up the vast basin of
the Semliki and the Albert Lake.  We seem to be standing
on the brink of a new world, ourselves in shade cast
by the western spur, and the eye wanders on over sunlit
plain picked out with silver streaks, where in places we
catch a glimpse of the Semliki, and on till the lake lies
gleaming like a sea of quicksilver, and yet on and on,
ever-fading steel-blue to grey, till we can just see the
black outlines of the hills against the blue-green sky,
flecked with the gauzy pink of the after-glow.  Then
like a flash all is grey, for we are very near the equator,
and we turn in to "kuku"[#] stew and the luxury of
new potatoes and tomatoes.  Those kukus!  They are
like Sinbad's old man of the sea, you cannot shake them
off, for they are really indispensable.  Their only
resemblance to their English namesake is in name, for
neither are they fine birds nor do they fly; nor, if they
did fly, would they confine their vocal efforts to the
period of their flight, but would, I am sure, still retain
that inimitable faculty of producing at all, and more
especially unseasonable, times, the most startling and
by-no-means-(not-even-by-death)-repressible cries that
have justly made them so beloved of African travellers.
As I have had so many opportunities of observing the
African variety of this world-wide domestic nuisance,
less favoured observers may find a few remarks not out
of place.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] *Kuku*: native word for fowl.

.. vspace:: 2

First, they are essentially gregarious.  I have often
seen large flocks collecting on any strange piece of
clothing or blanket, especially if such blanket be placed out
to dry after rain.

Secondly, they are capable of feeling and showing
great affection for man.  In fact, the united efforts of
three servants have often failed to prevent them coming
into my tent during the heat of the day, and, just out of
respect, leaving a few superfluous inhabitants behind.

Thirdly, like the nightingale, they sing at night, taking
especial delight in those ditties that have a good, full
chorus.

Fourthly, they never lay fresh eggs--only eggs that
have qualified for the seventh heaven.  Presumably, as
the native likes a good, full egg, it is the old tale of the
survival of the fittest, and the hen who can lay a real
Blondin has been spared.  If so, this must dislodge all
geological estimates of the date of the creation, as nothing
short of incalculable ages could have brought the breed
to its present state of perfection.  For a long time I
considered this elegant bird exempt from the natural
process of decay, as no reasonable period after decease
produced any modification in its adamantine structure,
but a certain incident not unconnected with soup
dispelled this excusable illusion.

And lastly, but not leastly, this diabolical fowl, although
it can hang head downwards in a temperature of 140°
for many hours without showing any signs of
inconvenience other than a slightly intensified complexion,
and although it greets with contumely blows inflicted
with the various missiles to be found at a moment's
notice in an average tent, yet, should it be left with
natives other than its rightful owner for one short hour,
it is so overcome with modesty that it reverts rapidly
and without perceptible residue into its original invisible
components.

The extent to which the kuku enters into one's very
existence in Africa is, I feel sure, a sufficient excuse for
this digression.  In fact, I believe that, were it not for
the counter-irritation produced by the camp goats, I
should have "kuku" on the brain.

Having successfully wrestled with the athletic cause
of this digression, and unsuccessfully with a prehistoric
gun that a neighbouring chief brought me for medical
treatment, and dreamt that a rooster with 10 ft. tusks
was dancing the double shuffle on my chest, I descended
into the valley, and after two hours' walking reached
the Semliki, a fine river, here sixty to seventy yards
wide, with a current of about five miles an hour.  When
I had, with the greatest difficulty, wedged myself in a
very long, very unstable, and appallingly leaky piece of
firewood (called by courtesy a canoe), and had with
still greater difficulty dissuaded fifteen gentlemen from
risking the voyage in my company, in the lucid intervals
of the amazement with which I viewed the frantic efforts
of my Charon (for such he was like to prove) to keep the
stick's head up-stream, I gathered from a benevolent
philanthropist on shore that a woman had been taken
that morning by a crocodile from the very spot where
we came to land, and that on no account must I permit
my boys to go to the water's edge, as the crocodiles were
very numerous and very daring.  However, suitably
cheered by this information, and in defiance of all such
paltry laws of nature as gravity, we eventually did
succeed in landing safely on the other side; how or why I
cannot say, as only the two ends of the canoe were in
the water, the middle, where I sat, being slightly raised
above the surface.  I suppose the whole concern had
warped.  Whatever the cause, I did not fancy trusting
my baggage in her, so I sent up the river, and after much
yelling and more delay, another more serviceable concern
was produced.  Having fixed on a place for my tent,
I left the boys to attend to the passage of my
belongings, and went out in search of dinner.

The plain, which here is about six miles wide, is
covered with short grass and dotted with clumps of
euphorbia and thorn-bush, and is the home of
countless reedbuck and herds of Uganda kob.  During the
rains it is the playground of troops of elephant and of
the few survivors of the teeming herds of buffalo that
formerly roamed over all this country.  I had no
difficulty in bringing two bucks to grass, as the country
offered magnificent stalking-ground, and the meat
made a very agreeable change after the everlasting
mutton.  The Uganda kob (*Cobus Thomasi*) very closely
resembles the pookoo (*Cobus Vardoni*), though its coat,
which is of a beautiful reddish colour, is less foxy and
not so long in the hair as that of the pookoo.  They both
have the regular gait of the waterbuck, that so forcibly
reminds one of our own red deer.  But whereas the
pookoo never seems to run in herds of more than twenty
or thirty, I have seen as many as three hundred Thomasi
together.  The leading buck of this herd, which I shot,
had horns 20 in. in length.

Here, as elsewhere, I was much impressed by the two
different types of native, the sharp, intelligent, almost
delicate features and the lithe limbs of the aristocrats
(of Galla origin) contrasting very forcibly with the coarse,
squat, ape-like appearance of the rabble.  Some of the
lower class have really no ostensible claims to being
human, beyond the ability to produce fire.  Covering
even of the most rudimentary description is totally
ignored by both sexes.  Leaving the Semliki, we travelled
west to the hills of Mboga, and shortly left the plain
below, rising into a country of miniature cañons,
intersected by numerous ravines full of elephant-grass.  Here
we camped and sent out scouts in all directions to
search for njojo (the local name for elephant).  I had
just made myself comfortable when news was brought
of elephant to the south, so I set off without delay, only
to find a herd of small cows.  On my return to camp
my boys told me that there was an elephant quite close,
and pointed him out, standing under a tree in the middle
of the elephant-grass in the ravine at our feet.  As
the sun was very hot, I concluded that he was likely
to stop where he was, and setting a boy on an ant-hill to
watch him, I sat down to lunch.  He did stop where
he was till I had finished lunch, and then moved on,
and as it was useless to go into the grass, 15 to 25
ft. high, without a definite landmark such as the tree
would have proved, I was fain to dodge about, watching
him, when I could get an occasional glimpse, and to
wait for another chance.  Several times I lost sight
of him altogether, and then again would see an ear.
At last, as he appeared to be coming near the stream,
which here ran close underneath the bank on which I
was standing, I went down through the thorns and grass
and waited, but in vain.  Again I mounted the bank,
but could see no signs of him till I was turning
campwards in despair, when my boy saw the grass move,
and this time quite close to the stream.  Down we
scrambled once more and stood in the bed of the stream
listening.  Then the crack of a twig and the waving
of the tops of the grass showed that he was coming,
and he glided past a slight gap in the thicket like some
spectre, but I could not get a shot, although within
twenty yards.  I never can understand how they
manage to glide through the most tangled jungles almost
without sound unless they are alarmed, when it seems
as if all hell were loosed.  I followed quickly down
the stream, the grass now completely hiding him, and
suddenly came on him drinking in a small mud-hole,
at about fifteen yards distance.  He gave me a half
side-shot, and I fired at his head, giving him a second
as he swung round.  Down he came like an avalanche,
and lay thrashing the reeds with his trunk.  Fearing
that he might get up again, I approached to give him
the *coup de grâce*.  I was already within six yards, but
still unable to see him, when a cold puff on the back of
my neck gave me warning of a chance in the wind.  I
stepped back as he struggled to his feet, and his great
trunk came quivering forward within two yards of my
face.  Again the wind steadied, and as I stood
motionless as a rock, he failed to see me, swung round, and
made off.  Three shots I poured into him, then waited,
sick at heart, listening to the crash-crash as he went
away, till again I heard that welcome roar of rending
tree and rush.  He was down: a long gurgle and a sob,
and all was over.  Although a small elephant, he carried
beautiful teeth, 7 ft. 9 in. and 7 ft. (tip broken), and
weighing 72 lbs. and 69 lbs.

I reached camp just at dusk, and found that Changera,
one of the Mboga chiefs, had come in to see me.  His
country lies between Tavara's and Kavalli's, and
stretches from the top of the Congo Semliki watershed
to the Semliju.  The following morning I went down
to see how they were cutting out the tusks, and found
that hordes of Balegga had swarmed down from the
hills for the meat.  A weird sight it was: stark naked
savages with long greased hair (in some cases hanging
down on their shoulders) were perched on every
available inch of the carcase, hacking away with knives and
spears, yelling, snarling, whooping, wrestling, cursing,
and munching, covered with blood and entrails; the
new arrivals tearing off lumps of meat and swallowing
them raw, the earlier birds defending their worms in the
form of great lumps of fat paunch and other delicacies;
while others were crawling in and out of the intestines
lake so many prairie marmots.  Old men, young men,
prehistoric hags, babies, one and all gorging or gorged;
pools of blood, strips of hide, vast bones, blocks of
meat, individuals who had not dined wisely but too
well, lay around in bewildering profusion; and in two
short hours all was finished.  Nothing remained but the
gaunt ribs like the skeleton of a shipwreck, and a few
disconsolate-looking vultures perched thereon.

The Balegga live in the hills to the north of Mboga
proper, though many of them are now under Changera,
having fled south from the Belgians.  They are good
specimens of the real Central African savage, rather
short, but well-set-up, innocent of clothing as a babe
unborn, and blessed with an inordinate and insatiable
craving for meat, which at that time was, if possible,
intensified by the failure of their crops, owing to the
drought.  They wear their hair in long thin plaits,
liberally smeared with grease, which gives them a very
wild appearance, especially when, as I noticed in some
cases, it hangs down over their face.  In the intervals
of gorging and hacking, they amused themselves by
smearing the caked blood over their hair and bodies--a
proceeding that gave general satisfaction.  I gathered
from them that many had lately come south to Mboga
(which is at present administered from Fort Gerry) to
avoid the persecution of the Belgians, who had killed,
as they said, great numbers both of them and their
neighbouring tribes to the north.  They indignantly
denied my soft impeachment of cannibalism, but from
extraneous sources I gathered that any lightly grilled
portion of my anatomy that might happen to wander
round their way would be, so to speak, a "gone coon."

The neighbouring chief, Tabara by name, apparently
suffering from that troublesome complaint known to
the faculty as "swelled head," amused himself for the
next two days by sending in an intermittent fusillade
of insolence; "it was not his business to come and
see every white man who came into the country," etc.,
etc., *ad nauseam*.  As I had never sent for him, being
unaware even of the gentleman's existence, and as I
found on inquiry that he was a chief independent of
Kasagama, and owing allegiance to the official at Fort
Gerry only, I concluded that my mubaka[#] provided
by Kasagama was the cause of the trouble, or that he
imagined I was Belgian.  I therefore sent a message to
him to the effect that I had no doubt he was a most
admirable individual, but, strange to relate, till the
arrival of his message I had been unaware of his
existence; that my object in coming to the country was
to shoot elephant, and not to interview obscure natives.
The effect was remarkable: the following morning he
turned up with a numerous following, carrying an
umbrella and a very dangerous camp-stool, and presented
me with sundry goats, fowls, and other edibles.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] A sort of courier.

.. vspace:: 2

The prevailing type of elephant in these parts differs
so essentially from that of Toro, that I have been forced
to the conclusion that there are two distinct varieties;
a theory in which the natives universally concur.

When in Toro I saw more than a thousand elephant,
and without exception they carried a thick, heavy
type of tusk, the elephant themselves being unusually
large and solid.

In Mboga, on the other hand, the prevailing type was
a much smaller elephant, with very long thin tusks.
Two cows shot by Mr. Bagge carried tusks about 4 ft.,
and no thicker than the butt-end of a billiard-cue.

The average height of old bulls in Mboga is about
9 ft., while the only two that I shot in Toro were 11
ft. and upwards, and several others that I had a chance of
observing closely must have been about the same size.
The Indian notion of twice the circumference of the foot
equalling the height does not hold with the African
species; I generally found that it fell short of the height
by about 8 or 10 in.  In a subsequent chapter I have
dealt fully with this question.

A few days later, answering to the call of elephant, I
came on a herd of cows, one of which I shot, hoping to
be able to send the calf into Fort Gerry.  The little
fellow stood about 3 ft. high, and stalked towards us
in the most majestic manner, rumbling and grunting
on a 12 ft. scale at least.  So confident was his advance
that my boys, guns and all, fled without more ado,
and it was only when I had caught him by the tail that
they ventured back.  His strength was amazing, and
it needed the united efforts of myself and four boys to
throw him.  However, we eventually managed to tie
his legs together, and laid him under a tree squealing
and shrieking like a steam-engine.  Whether in his
vocal efforts he broke a blood-vessel, or whether owing
to the heat of the sun, the sad fact remains that after
I had made all arrangements for his transport to Fort
Gerry he left the earthly trials of pitfalls and 4-bores at
sunset.  I was very much disappointed, as I had hoped
that if he had survived he might have been of service
in the future, should a progressive Government, departing
from the usual practice of thinking of the matter
when it is too late, endeavour to make use of the vast
transport treasure that is now roaming the papyrus
swamps of Toro.  In the greater part of Africa the
elephant is now a thing of the past; and the rate at which
they have disappeared is appalling.  Ten years ago
elephant swarmed in places like B.C.A., where now
you will not find one.  Still, there is yet an accessible
stronghold of the pachyderm in Toro, where at the
lowest possible estimate there must be fifteen thousand
elephant.  Why is not an effort made, and that at once
(for in a few years' time it will be too late), to secure this
vast means of transport to posterity?  What an inestimable
boon to the country, and what an easy solution
of half the labour problem that is already such a thorn in
the side of the southern administrations!  I suppose it
is on the same principle on which a paternal Government
sends its servants out to a pestilential spot where the
sole recreation is shooting, and then forbids them that
recreation, while allowing every native who can
command a gas-pipe and a handful of powder to sally forth
and slay a tithe of what he wounds, regardless of sex
and age; or on which the same paternal Government
allows the aforesaid servants to take out and pay for
a licence permitting them to shoot two elephant, and
then confidentially informs them that all ivory shot by
servants of the Protectorate, either within or without
the Protectorate's dominions, is the property of the
Government; however (note the wild, unreasoning
generosity), servants returning home may, with the
permission of the Commissioner, be allowed to take a
pair of tusks as a trophy.  Upon what possible theory
this preposterous claim is based I fail to conceive, unless
the Government assumes that the leisure of their servants
is included in their salary, in which case they may claim
the pictures of an amateur artist who may be in their
service, or his letters home, or anything else equally
reasonable.  It is the spirit of the thing that is so
pitiable, and it seems so unnecessary, for nobody doubts
but that the Exchequer can manage to stagger along
somehow, even though deprived of the support that
the miserable dozen tusks or so would afford; and,
after all, the right to shoot and keep a couple of elephant
is not an extravagant recompense for two years' isolation
in a wilderness devoid of recreation.

I then moved my camp some miles to the west, on a
hill overlooking a large patch of very dense elephant-grass.

The next morning I went south to a deep gorge filled
with dense forest, where some elephant were reported.
We descended a steep grass slope into the gorge itself,
which was cut up in all directions by elephant and
buffalo spoor.  Suddenly, with much puffing, pawing,
and snorting, some buffalo rushed past at about forty
yards, at the same time starting some elephant, which
we heard crashing up the slope.  Leaving the buffalo
to puff and snort, we struck the elephant spoor and
cautiously approached to where we could hear them
grunting and rumbling.  By stooping low it was
possible to follow the path with comparative ease, but
the bush was so thick that we could not see two yards
ahead.  Having approached within ten yards, I stood,
hoping that some movement would show me their
exact whereabouts; but though they quickly recovered
from their fright and started feeding, I could see nothing
but the occasional waving of the leaves above where
they were standing.  After a quarter of an hour of
this amusement, during which I was balancing myself
on a slippery bank of clay, I descended again, and coming
dead up-wind succeeded in getting within two yards of
one.  A thick tangle of lianas alone separated us, and
although I could hear him breathing, and felt sure he
must hear my heart thumping, I could see nothing.  I
know nothing in the world more exciting than hunting
elephant in this description of country.  One approaches
so close, and yet can see nothing; the only thing to do
is to wait, in hopes of some movement bringing them
into view.  Then they make such extraordinary noises,
and at every crash of a branch torn down one thinks
they are stampeding or coming towards one.  Again,
the wind is so shifty in cover, and one puff will set them
all off, very possibly in the least desirable direction.  A
dropping shot is almost out of the question, and when
wounded they have a nasty knack of looking to see
who did it; a whole regiment of lions cannot produce
the same moral effect as one elephant when he cocks
his ears, draws himself up to his full height, and looks
at you, letting off at the same time a blood-curdling
scream, while in all probability others invisible are
stampeding on all sides with the din of an earthquake.
They are so vast (one I measured was actually 15 ft. from
edge of ear to edge of ear) that they seem to block
out the whole horizon; one seems to shrivel, and the
very gun to dwindle into a pea-shooter; try as I will,
I can never quite stomach it, and always feel inclined
to throw down my rifle and run till I drop.

At last the elephant, having an idea that something
was amiss, moved, and showing his head, received a
mate to that idea in the shape of a .303 bullet.  Down
the bank he rushed, taking the bark off one side of a
tree, while I stepped round the other.  I got another
shot home as he passed, and head over heels he went
like a bolting rabbit.  Trees, bush, blocks of earth,
vanished like chaff, till a mighty old veteran trunk
pulled him up short about fifty yards below.  There
he lay, his legs in the air, screaming and vainly
struggling to regain his feet, a path like the sea-wall at
Brighton leading down to him.  A few more shots
finished him.

The next day I was again in this gorge, and after
vainly floundering about on the spoor of a small
elephant, and complimenting in suitable terms a swarm
of biting ants which eventually left me indistinguishable
from a splash of pickled cabbage, I saw a fine old
tusker grazing in the short grass on the top of the further
bank.  To cross was a matter of minutes, as I knew
that at any moment he might descend into the gorge,
and on emerging I saw him still in the same place.
Walking up quite close, I dropped the poor old brute
with one shot.  He had very long teeth for their weight,
8 ft. 4 in. (tip slightly broken), and 7 ft. 4 in. (tip broken),
and weighing 76 and 73 lbs. respectively.  Standing on
his ribs--that is, about 6 ft. from the ground--I saw some
more grazing on the other side of a branch gully, so I
set off in pursuit; but some of the half-starved natives,
who would follow me about the country, and had been
lurking behind some bushes, spoilt my chance of a
shot by darting out up-wind of the herd, presumably
to catch any elephant that might drop.

For several days matters were very quiet, and though
I ranged far and wide, one day following buffalo spoor
for several hours, I saw nothing; till again I was
wakened by the welcome cry of "njojo," and snatching
a hasty breakfast, set off, this time backed by the
double 10-bore paradox which had been sent out after
me, and had arrived the previous day; and very
thankful I felt for its support.  My double 4-bore had gone
home with Sharp, who had left his paradox in its
stead as the more useful all-round gun.  And though I
had my double .500 magnum, the firm that provided
my cartridges had sent out all expanding bullets,
despite the fact of my having ordered half with solids;
just to humour me, however, they labelled the packets
"solid bullets," so that I never found out till north
of Tanganyika.  Two other firms distinguished
themselves in a similar manner, one by shipping my double
.303 in a case, without so much as a cleaning-rod, much
less a screwdriver or spare pin, and the other by
providing me at the trifling cost of 2s. 6d. each with damaged
cartridge-cases for my 4-bore; the majority of them
were badly split at the rim, sufficiently split to fill
rapidly when held in water, and though they had been
carefully repolished, on close inspection the old firing
marks were quite obvious.  The consequent result was
that the first shot I fired I was knocked over a fallen
tree two yards behind me.

Our native took us across the marsh lying below
the camp by a path that in its various intricacies led
into a pit of water 20 ft. deep, into which they fondly
hoped some elephant would walk; then through
numerous villages where the banana-groves, owing to the
depredations of elephant, looked more like street
barricades, till we eventually emerged from the odoriferous
fog of drying elephant meat on to the ridge where I
had last camped.  He then told us that two elephant
had come into the bananas during the night and had
retired up the gorge.  Skirting along the edge of the
plateau, we soon saw them in the elephant-grass below,
and descending with difficulty through the tangled mat
of grass, I took up my position behind a tree and waited,
hoping that when they moved I might have a favourable
chance.  One was standing under a small tree about
four hundred yards away; and the other, at a distance
of two hundred yards, was up to his belly in mud, his
stern alone showing round a tuft of grass.  Previous
experience had taught me that it was useless to go down
into the grass, so I had perforce to stay where I was
and possess my soul in patience.  After some time the
one under the tree moved, and in a leisurely manner
strolled up to his companion.  As he emerged from the
long grass round the mud-hole I had one glimpse of
his tusks, and, quite satisfied, I took the only chance
I was likely to obtain, and fired a half-side head shot.
He drew himself up into a bunch of indignant protest,
as much as to say, "Who the devil did that?"  But
a second shot failing to elucidate the matter, he swung
round and crashed away across the gully, while
number two bolted straight ahead.  I rained shot into him
while he swerved round and followed in the wake of
his companion.  Then I dashed along the side of
the slope, stumbling, tripping, rolling, and diving over
grass that I could not force my way through, till a
sudden drop of 10 ft. landed me face first on the
bed of a stream, invisible above through the grass,
but painfully tangible below.  Fortunately my rifle
did not suffer proportionately, and scrambling out I
reached a small ridge from which I could see my
elephant standing about three hundred yards off.  Again
I fusilladed him till out of range, and then followed,
falling twice to the elephant's once.  He was nearly
spent, but managed to reach some extra long grass,
where I lost sight of him for some time, till at length
he crawled out into the shade of a tree under the
opposite bank.  The gorge was narrow at this point, so
that he was not more than one hundred yards off when
I reopened the bombardment.  For a long time he
took the phut-phut of the bullets without showing the
slightest emotion.  Then suddenly over he went like a
tree under the axe.  He struggled to his feet once more,
only to fall for the last time under the continued hail.
Cutting across the dip, I climbed on to the bank about
twenty yards above him; but the grass was so dense
that I could not see him, although considerably above
the level of the tangle where he was lying.  His great
sobs told me that all was over, and anxious to put him
out of his misery, I went down, having to approach
within two yards before I could see him, and finished
him off with the 10-bore, his head being invisible.  To
my amazement he had only one tusk, 7 ft. 9 in., and
98 lbs.; and as I was sure that I had seen two tusks,
I came to the conclusion that this must be number
two, and that number one had dropped at the same
time that I did.  So following back on the spoor, I
came on the other elephant, lying four hundred yards
from where I had first hit him, but, lo and behold! he
also had only one tusk, 7 ft. 7 in., and 86 lbs.  So
certain was I of having seen two tusks that I followed
his spoor back, thinking that possibly there might have
been a third hidden by the grass, but it was not so,
and to this day I believe he took the other tusk off
and threw it away, as a sort of Jonah!  On arriving
at camp I found that letters and tomatoes had arrived
from Toro.  Our pagasi had attempted their old games
about three days' journey south of the Albert Edward
and had been attacked with the loss of twenty men,
amongst them Sulimani, the root of all the disturbances.
His successor in office, who, like other gentlemen of
his kidney, combined loudness of talk in times of peace
with extraordinary fleetness of foot in times of danger,
was the first to bring the news to Toro.





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.. _`SEMLIKI VALLEY AND KAVALLI'S COUNTRY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XVI.


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   SEMLIKI VALLEY AND KAVALLI'S COUNTRY.

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Leaving this country with regret, I descended into
the valley once more and marched north, crossing
the Semliki to avoid the swamps mentioned by Colonel
Lugard at the westerly bend of the river, and recrossed
about six miles from where the river enters the lake.
For some distance the mournful monotony of aloe and
euphorbia is broken by groves of the stately borassus
palm.  The few miserable Wanyoro, who are sparsely
scattered over the plain, were absolutely destitute.
The prolonged drought had dried up the maize and
millet, and the beans, which form their main food
supply, were finished, so that three hippo that I killed
for them raised me to a giddy pinnacle of fame; my
tent became, for the time being, a second Lourdes,
droves of pilgrims pouring in to pay homage to my .303.
Their astonishment, when I showed them the size of the
bullet and how the magazine worked, was most
ludicrous.  They had heard how it would drop a huge
elephant without a wriggle of his trunk, and they had
heard the three shots and could see the three hippo
tied to the bank, and had imagined, I suppose, that
it was a sort of 7-pounder; so that when they held a
cartridge with its pencil-like bullet in their hand, and
the truth gradually dawned on them, they would drop
it like a hot potato.  Some, when I started the mechanism,
fairly took to their heels.  A native's estimate of
a gun varies proportionately with the size of the bore,
and his idea of killing range is ten yards, or, if the
sportsman is something of a marksman, perhaps twenty.  I
was fortunate in bringing off several shots at about four
hundred to five hundred yards at nsunu,[#] and natives,
having no unit of distance, consider everything from
two hundred yards to about five miles as the same
thing.  I have several times heard my gun-bearer,
Makanjira, who is a great admirer of the gun, solemnly
explaining to an open-mouthed audience how he had
seen me kill beasts at such a distance, pointing to a
hill some three or four miles away.  Consequently, its
powers were magnified to the most prodigious
proportions, and on the march excited natives would point to
mere specks on the horizon, inform me they were buck,
and expect me to kill them on the instant; they never
gave me any of the credit--it was the gun, the
wonderful gun, and I only obtained a reflected glory as its
possessor.  After crossing the river, I found the natives
very nervous and suspicious, and though I visited the
village near which I camped, and induced the chief to
come to the river-bank to see one of the hippo, which
I told him he might have, the following morning, on
sending for a guide, I found that they had "shot the
moon," carrying off their half-dozen miserable goats,
and fled into the bush.


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[#] Nsunu: *Cobus Thomasi*.

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As the guide promised me by the chief on the other
side was not forthcoming, and not wishing to delay any
longer, as the sun was terrible on these arid plains,
I started without one, and, after two hours' walking,
found that I had penetrated well into the marshes at
the south end of the lake.  In trying to skirt round the
arm of water and sudd that stretches to the south, we
soon found ourselves in an apparently boundless sea
of one of Nature's truly African inventions, a tall grass,
8 to 10 ft. high, the roots forming a hopeless tangle of
matted whipcord reaching 2 ft. from the ground, and
effectually hiding the honeycomb of old hippo and
elephant-holes 2 ft. deep below, while the stems and
leaves are covered with myriads of invisible spines,
which detach themselves in one's skin and clothes, and
set up the most intense irritation.

After floundering through this sea of misery for a
couple of hours, we were extricated by the promised
guide, who had followed on our tracks, and eventually
arrived at a miserable patch of huts; we came so
unexpectedly on the people that they had not time to
fly, and a few explanations soon put them at their ease.
I found that they were Wanyabuga, the same people who
were so friendly to Lugard and belonged to Katonzi,
a nominal vassal of Kasagama's, and who is now the
sole survivor of Lugard's three blood brothers, Katonzi,
Kavalli, and Mugenzi.  They do not cultivate, but
depend on the Balegga and Wakoba for grain, which they
barter for fish and salt.  They are quite distinct in
appearance from the surrounding tribes.  The type is a
tall (5 ft. 8 in.), large-limbed, square-shouldered negro,
bull-necked, bullet-headed, with a very low forehead
and coarse features; colour very dark; but they have
a jolly expression, and were some of the pleasantest
natives I ever dealt with.  It was curious to see even
amongst these people, who live a life apart from their
surroundings, the occasional delicate features, gazelle-like
eyes, light colour, lithe limbs, and genteel nonchalance
of the Galla influence.

At the south end of the Albert Edward, where the
Rutchuru flows into the lake, forming similar marshes
to those of the Semliki, there is a people living exactly
the same life.  Unfortunately, owing to their extreme
shyness, I could find out very little about them, but
from their mode of life, methods of fishing, and general
appearance, I have no doubt that they are closely
allied; probably survivors of former inhabitants who
have found a last refuge in these intricate waterways
and impenetrable marshes.  The similarity in the names
of these two peoples is significant.

It is a strange amphibious existence in these simmering
wastes of weed and water, the stillness of which is
only broken by the occasional blow of a hippo, the splash
of a fish or crocodile, the wild cry of the numerous
flights of wild-fowl, and the everlasting plaint of the
fish-eagle.  A perpetual mirage hovering over the scene
adds to the general mystery; groups of huts suddenly
appear where all was shimmering light, and as
suddenly vanish; a canoe with its two upright punters
glides past apparently in the sky, a goose suddenly
assumes the proportions of an elephant, and an elephant
evolves out of what one took to be a goose; and thus
the scene is ever changing, till the grey of evening and
the crisp light of the rising sun bring out in strong relief
the placid sheets of water, the long brown bands of
weeds, the tiny islands with their little huts perched
among the waving reeds, the thin strips of sand with
their occasional waddling hippo, the little black canoes
slowly gliding in and out amongst the weed-beds and
tufts of grass, and the continual flight of flocks of white
ibis.

I never tired of sitting on the shore and watching
the long string of little black canoes slowly wending
their way towards me, bringing in fish and salt, to
trade with the group of Balegga who were waiting with
loads of beans and millet flour.

The small stretch of country lying between the Semliki,
the Albert Lake, and the hills is called Kitwakimbi,
and is distinct from Bukande, which begins at the foot
of the hills and reaches back to the watershed.

My Wanyabuga friends provided me with two guides,
who, after wasting two hours in visiting obscure villages,
all of which were deserted, and answering my protests
at our zigzag route by ambiguous allusions to marshes,
eventually landed me within four hundred yards of
where I had started, and suggested that I should camp.
Having with difficulty persuaded them that I was
annoyed, which they evidently considered unreasonable on
my part, they smilingly explained that it was far from
their homes, and they had hoped to find me other guides.
However, vague allusions to the presence of a "kiboko"[#]
convinced them of the inexpediency, not to say positive
danger, of further nonsense, and they gaily proceeded on
their way, chortling hugely at the success of what they
thought a very merry prank.  They led me to a
deserted village opposite Kasenyi, a small island about a
mile from the mainland, and the present headquarters
of Katonzi.  The Wanyabuga-Balegga market was in
full swing, but vanished like mist at my sudden
appearance, and it was only by going down to the beach
stripped to the waist, and a happy allusion to brothership
with "Kapelli," that I induced them to bring their
canoes to the shore again.  "Kapelli" is the native
name of that gallant officer Colonel Lugard, and to
have left a name in Africa that opens all doors and all
hearts is the finest monument to his exploits that a
man can have.  They flocked in to see me under Tunja,
Katonzi's eldest son, who brought several loads of food,
and informed me that Katonzi had left two days before
for Toro.  They asked all kinds of questions about
"Kapelli" and Mr. Grant, who was with Lugard in his
expedition to release the Soudanese, and wanted to
know why he had never come back, and had the
English deserted their country after promising to protect
them?  I answered all their questions to the best of
my ability, and when I showed them Lugard's book and
the photograph of Grant, which, to my surprise, they
immediately recognized, their delight knew no bounds.


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.. class:: noindent small

[#] *Kiboko*: whip made of hippo hide.

.. vspace:: 2

The mosquitoes here defy description; even at mid-day
I had to eat my food walking about, and my evening
and morning toilet, combined as it was with a Dan
Lenoesque extravaganza, if performed on the Empire
stage would assuredly have brought down the house.
I crawled into my mosquito-net with the greatest
caution, disposed all my weighty belongings, such as boots
and cartridge-bags, in a circle round my bed to keep
down the edges of the net, exhausted all my candle-ends
in exploding the odd hundred or two that had crawled
in with me, and was quickly lulled to sleep by the dismal
drone of myriads, happy in the knowledge that they
were outside; sleep, gentle sleep, during which I evolved
in one short hour from my own insignificant self through
the alarming stages of Daniel in the lion's den, and a
cold bread poultice, to the stern reality that they were
inside; and they were, hundred and hundreds of them.
In vain I searched for some hole or possible inlet, and
eventually had to resign myself to the inevitable, buoyed
up by the meagre consolation that I had discovered that,
like the light of the glow-worm, the mosquito is
possessed of the properties of the Röntgen rays.

Early the next morning Tunja came to tell me that
Katonzi was coming back, and at midday he arrived in
person.  He is a dismal old nigger, and though somewhat
rapacious, not a bad fellow.  His first request was
to see the wonderful book, and then how I struck a
match, an accomplishment that tickled him immensely.
He then naïvely asked me to give him my guns, saying
that Lugard had given them two guns, but that the
Belgians had taken them away.  I asked him why all
the people were so frightened, and where they had all
gone; whereupon he proceeded to recount the same
tales of misery and oppression that I had heard the day
before, from which I gathered that a Congo Free State
official rejoicing in the name of "Billygee" had
suddenly swooped down on the country a year ago, and
after shooting down numbers of the natives had
returned west, carrying off forty young women, numerous
children, and all the cattle and goats, and putting a
finishing touch to the proceedings by a grand
pyrotechnic display, during which they bound the old women,
threw them into the huts, and then fired the roofs.
Several absolutely independent witnesses informed me
that this had been done actually in the presence of
Billygee and the gentlemen who accompanied him.  Katonzi's
two sons, Tunja and Kutaru, were bound and taken
away, but released after two months.  Kavalli's eldest
son is now in their hands, while a younger one escaped
to the Balegga.  As I have mentioned before, when in
Mboga the Balegga told me similar tales; here I was
repeatedly given accounts that tallied in all essentials,
and further north the Wakoba made the same piteous
complaints; and I saw myself that a country apparently
well populated and responsive to just treatment in
Lugard's time (and that under very trying conditions,
owing to the numbers of destitute aliens in the country--to
wit, the Soudanese) is now practically a howling
wilderness; the scattered inhabitants, terrified even of
one another, and living almost without cultivation in
the marshes, thickets, and reeds, madly flee even from
their own shadows.  Chaos--hopeless, abysmal chaos--from
Mweru to the Nile; in the south, tales of cruelty
of undoubted veracity, but which I could not repeat
without actual investigation on the spot; on Tanganyika,
absolute impotence, revolted Askaris ranging at
their own sweet will, while the white men are throwing
their ivory and cartridges into the lake, and cutting
down their bananas for fear the rebels should take them;
on Kivu, a hideous wave of cannibalism raging unchecked
through the land, while in the north the very white
men who should be keeping peace where chaos now
reigns supreme, are spending thousands in making of
peace a chaos of their own.  I have no hesitation in
condemning the whole State as a vampire growth,
intended to suck the country dry, and to provide a happy
hunting-ground for a pack of unprincipled outcasts and
untutored scoundrels.  The few sound men in the
country are powerless to stem the tide of oppression.

The departure of my mubaka provided by King
Kasagama had taken a great load off my mind; he was too
heavy a swell for me to keep pace with, dressed in white
breeks, yellow putties, red fez, and three fancy cloths,
to say nothing of a red and yellow belt; and his terrible
anxiety lest he should miss a chance of putting up a
large white umbrella with a green lining was so infectious
that finally I found myself watching the clouds with one
eye and the mubaka with the other, knowing that at
the first ray of sunshine he would emerge from his hut
and perform for my edification.  In the cloudy intervals
he devoured such masses of solid food that even with
my experience of native capacity I became quite alarmed,
and between the struttings and bursting-point tests, he
had very little time to devote to my affairs, so that I
was very glad to see the last of him.

Katonzi, after relating his own troubles, and thinking,
I suppose, that it was my turn to have a few, proceeded
to paint the most gruesome pictures of what was in
front.  With tears in his eyes he begged me to turn
back, saying that if I died the white men would blame
him; he informed me that all was wilderness beyond--no
food, no paths, all the people dead.  Putting his
hand to his head, he explained how they had all just
done so, lain down and expired.[#]  Pressed as to the
reason of this general collapse, he eagerly shook his
head and murmured "Muungu" (Kismet).  Though
summing up the majority of these perils as "nigger
gibberish," I was rather alarmed at the sudden death
business, thinking that perhaps it was smallpox or the
Bombay plague; but this, like the rest, was simply
imagination.  It is strange how natives get these ideas
into their heads.  I do not think it was gratuitous lying,
as all his people, as far as I could see without any
other reason than belief in the sudden death, were afraid
even to hunt in the direction indicated; and he
certainly had nothing to gain by stopping me from going
forward, since he had no interest in the country.
However, I thought it advisable to buy several days'
provisions, and to do this it was necessary to draw the
Balegga from the hills; all my overtures had failed so
far, and I saw that the only way to start was to lay
ground-bait for them by killing elephant or buffalo.
With this object in view I sallied forth with a guide
who was to take me to the elephant country.  He
wandered about for two or three hours in country that an
elephant would not look at through a telescope, and
whenever I said that I wanted elephant, he nodded his
head and said, "Oh yes, elephant."  Then suddenly, as
if a bright idea had struck him, he said, "Oh yes,
*elephant*!" and promptly walked back through camp
to a narrow spit jutting out into the lake and about
a quarter of a mile distant.  As I could see water on
both sides and short grass in front, I thought he meant
hippo, or was mad, inclining to the latter belief; but
no, he was quite confident, and stalked along muttering
to himself, "Yes, elephant!  Yes, elephant!" (as much
as to say, "Who would have thought it?"); and sure
enough there were nine elephant in the reeds in the lake
at the end of the spit.  The place was a mass of vegetation
and honeycombed with elephant-holes.  I dropped
one with a single shot.


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.. class:: noindent small

[#] I have since realized that he was referring
to the sleeping sickness
which entered this district at that time.

.. vspace:: 2

As I had expected, after a day of very hot sun, the
odour was too tempting, and the Balegga swarmed down
from the hills and brought me what food I wanted.  I
went for a stroll in the evening, and came on a small
herd of buffalo; they were very small compared with
the South African species, and amongst them were three
light brown ones, a bull, cow, and three-parts-grown
calf.  They were very beautiful animals, with a black ridge
of hair running along the neck and the top of the
shoulders.  I shot the bull, and as my pagasi had as much
as they could carry, I told the natives to cure the hide
and send it with the head into Toro, so I hope to be
able to have it described.  When I first saw them I
thought they were eland, and it was with the greatest
surprise that I found they had a buffalo's head attached.
The small one was as light in colour as a reedbuck,
and the other two a similar colour round the rump and
the belly.[#]  I could gather no information from the
natives as to whether they had seen others; all they
knew was that the buffalo was an evil beast, had once
been very numerous, but was now finished.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] I have since found, on reference to the British Museum, that they
were the Congo buffalo.  This proves that their distribution is further
East than was imagined.  The fact that they were running in the same
herd as the black Eastern variety is of considerable scientific interest.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`ALBERT LAKE AND UPPER NILE TO WADELAI`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XVII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   ALBERT LAKE AND UPPER NILE TO WADELAI.

.. vspace:: 2

An hour's walk into the valley of death brought us
to a cluster of villages with a large population,
which was in a state of utter destitution.  The people,
who were very nervous at first, eventually gathered
round in numbers with the same tale of rapine and
murder, and the chief gave me a guide to take me to
the foot of the hills.  Another hour brought us to Nsabe,
which, though generally depicted on maps in large
letters, consists of about five dirty little muck-heaps,
only recognizable as human habitations by the filthy
smell that emanated from them.  All the inhabitants
fled, leaving their spears, bows, and beer in their hurry,
and no amount of shouting and yelling would induce
them to return.  Our guide promptly made a bundle
of the spears and other movables, with a view to
appropriation, which when complete I placed against a tree,
accompanying the movement by a vigorous application
of my boot to the toughest portion of his anatomy.
Incorrigible, bullying, thieving curs, one is often tempted
to think that the Boer method of treating natives is,
after all, the only one they deserve.  Their Mark Tapleyism
is their sole redeeming feature, and that is attributable
to the incapacity of their intellect to hold anything
but the impression of the moment.  Although of the
same tribe and close neighbours, I expect he would have
thoroughly enjoyed seeing me burn and loot the place;
it is the same everywhere--a guide amongst his own
people is a worse thief even than a Manyema porter.
He then took us by a devious route to the shore of the
lake, and seemed greatly astonished to find that the
village he had mentioned did not exist; nor had it left
any trace behind.  I could see by the way he was
behaving that he intended to bolt, and knowing that
without a native of the country there was very little
chance of inducing the people, in their frightened state,
to remain in their villages, I kept a close eye on him.
As I expected, when I sat down on the shore to wait
for the boys to close up, he began edging off towards the
jungle; but when he looked round to see if it was all
clear, he found himself covered by my .303.  I had him
brought back, and explained to him that his chief had
sent him to show the way to the foot of the hills, that he
had led me into the wilderness and could now lead me
out, the two alternatives being villages, another guide,
and a present, or a race with a .303 bullet.  He chose
the former, and seeing that fooling was a glut in the
market, promptly took us to a village of the Wakoba
called Kahoma, and in Kahuma's country.  Here all
the people fled, but he followed, and persuaded them to
bring food to trade.  They, too, had been raided, and
had lost two women and two children captured.  They
could not tell me how many white men or Askaris there
were, as they had not waited to see.  The majority of
them are fine, well-made men, and intensely black.
One in particular took my fancy.  He was a tremendous
swell, with anything from 15 to 20 lbs. of red clay on
his head, an enormous ivory bracelet, and multitudes of
iron rings.  The Wakoba live all along the lake-shore
and in the fringe of the hills, and, curiously enough, their
villages are mixed indiscriminately with those of the
Balegga, with whom they seem to be on the best of
terms, although the two peoples are quite distinct, the
Balegga being real out-and-out bestial little savages,
while the Wakoba are much above the Central African
average of intelligence, with quite a wide knowledge of
local affairs.  They are both in a state of parallel
expansion, the Balegga working to the north into the
Lendu country, and the Wakoba in the opposite
direction encroaching on the Wanyabuga.

Two miles north of Kahoma the hills come down to
the water's edge, leaving only a narrow shingly beach,
and thenceforward our progress became painfully slow;
at intervals the headlands jut out into the water, and
the work of transporting the loads round these
obstructions with only two or three small and very
unstable canoes was one of considerable difficulty, even
the latitude of Doctor Johnson's dictionary proving
insufficient on occasions; scores of little streams come
tumbling down into the lake, each one forming a small
delta, on many of which there are Wakoba villages with
a few banana palms, and signs of scratching on the
hillside, where I presume something was intended to
grow, but had turned dizzy and given up the attempt.
After Kahanama's, which is in Kahuma's sphere, Mpigwa
is the big man, and I passed through many of his
villages, some of the largest being Kabora, Zingi (?), Bordo,
Nsessi, and Kiboko.  Most of the scenery is very fine,
the little white cascades gleaming in the shadow of
immense trees, many of which are covered with scarlet
and yellow blossoms, and in the midst of luxuriant
tangles of vegetation the great gaunt slabs of slimy
rock deep-set in their snow-white bed of sand, over
which the little waves come tumbling in, gurgling and
splashing round their feet and moaning and sobbing into
a thousand miniature caves; while great apes and little
brown-eyed monkeys drop from branch to branch and
sit leering and gibbering at us as we paddle past.

The continual wetting and rock-climbing had the most
disastrous effect on my already attenuated wardrobe,
and for two or three days I was compelled to disport
myself clad in a simple shirt, which, thanks to a classical
education and consequent ignorance of the art of
washing, had contracted to the modest and insufficient
dimensions of a chest-preserver, while assuming the durable
but inappropriate consistency of a piece of oil-cloth.
The roseate hues of early dawn "weren't in it" with my
nether limbs after the first day's exposure to a pitiless
sun, and I became a sort of perambulating three-tiered
Neapolitan ice, coffee, vanilla and raspberry, a
phenomenon that greatly astonished a savage who surprised
me in my bath, and who immediately fetched all his
kith and kin to see; on the second day, however, the
alarming desertion of a third of my epidermis so pained
me mentally and physically, that after a great effort I
produced a double-barrelled garment that in the absence
of Poole-bred critics served its turn.

Of the various arts and crafts that one is called upon
to undertake in Africa, such as cooking, shoe-mending,
washer-womaning, doctoring, butchering, taxiderming,
armoury work, carpentering, etc., *ad infinitum*, I think
perhaps tailoring is the most trying; the cotton will *not*
go into the eye of the needle, and the needle *will* go into
one's fingers, and then when you think it is all over, you
find you have sewn the back of your shirt to the front,
or accomplished something equally unexpected and
equally difficult to undo.

At Nsessi, two miles south of Kiboko, there is a superb
waterfall; it has a drop of about 500 ft., and is divided
into three stages, all at a different angle to one another,
falling 100 ft., then swirling round at an angle, plunging
into the next pool, and then a last long slide to the level
of the lake.  Stupendous silver-trunked trees, with
foliage the colour of the ilex and brilliant splashes of scarlet
bloom, crowd round on either side of the gorge
wherever the wild rocks afford a footing; above towers a
pointed peak showing bright above the dense gloom of
the gorge, and a white stripe of sand fringes the little
village, nestling in its banana grove, at the base.

These natives lead a curious existence, shut in between
precipitous hills and the lake, their sole means of
communication with one another being their leaky little
10 ft. dug-outs.  They are wonderfully clever at handling them,
and perform the extraordinary feat of crossing the lake,
dodging in and out between the waves in the most
marvellous manner.  As a means of transport they are not
to be recommended; the shape of a cross-section being
that of an egg with its top off, one slides in with
comparative ease like a pickle into a pickle-jar: once in, as
with the pickle, extrication is a matter of time and
patience.  It needs one of Lear's Jumblies to feel
thoroughly at home, as they leak like a sieve, and only
perpetual bailing will keep them afloat.

The first day, in the sweet innocence of youth, I set off
to round a headland with my guns and a tin box
containing my indispensables on board, fearing to trust them
to a native.  All went smoothly at first, till I had arrived
well off the rocks with a slight swell on and no landing-place
near, and then she began slowly to heel over, while
water seemed to be rushing in through the wood itself.
After prodigious efforts I succeeded in running into the
rocks, the water being then within an inch of the
gunwale.  I saved my guns and box, but smashed the canoe,
and after that turned passenger.  It looks so easy when
they come dancing along, each with a native kneeling
in the stern and plying a huge curved-bladed paddle;
but it is a very different thing when one is wedged in
oneself; physically incapable of squatting in a kneeling
posture, as a native does, one finds bailing out an
impossibility; the whole of the bottom of the canoe seems
to be covered with boots, and the incurved edges catch
the wooden bailing-dish and jerk the contents into
one's lap.

Although the lake teems with fish, many of large size,
the Wakoba make no attempt to catch them, trusting to
the occasional chance of purchasing from the natives on
the other shore or from Kasenyi.

One day I shot a baboon at the natives' request, a
performance, by the way, that I shall not repeat, nor
would I recommend it to any one but the most hardened
villain.  A frantic scramble took place for the flesh,
and when I asked them what it tasted like, they "smole
a smile."  Amongst the countless troops of monkeys that
are for ever coughing and dancing amongst the rocks and
trees, I saw a small family of very beautiful little fellows
with bright fox-red fringes down their sides, but I could
not bring myself to shoot at them after seeing that
unfortunate baboon, although I have never seen them
described, or elsewhere in Africa.

At Viboko I was compelled to wait, the shore in front
being impracticable and the heights behind unscaleable,
till Mswa sent down the canoes, which I had requested
by numerous envoys.  My boys were badly in need of
a rest, the work having been very trying since
Kahanama's, and the fever from which I was suffering made
it equally acceptable to me.  In the afternoon two natives
arrived, saying that a muzungu[#] was coming down to
meet me with ten canoes.  After inquiries as to what
kind of Askaris he had, etc., etc., I gathered that it
must be a Belgian official, so killed the fatted calf in
the guise of a skinny sheep and sundry osseous frames
masquerading as dorkings, and then plunged for the
second time into the turgid flow of Zola's *Rome*, to cleanse
my French of probable Swahili trespassers.  I even
exhumed a tie, and having produced a menu that exhausted
all the possible combinations and permutations of an
African larder, awaited anxiously his arrival, picturing
to myself the joys of a little talkee-talkee once more.  A
stiff southerly breeze evidently was delaying them, and
it was not till after dark that we heard the wild
canoe-song of the flotilla, which had rounded the point and
caught sight of our camp-fires.  Giving a last twirl to
my moustache and a nautical hitch to the Poolesque
garment aforesaid, and composing my features to the
iron-clad smirk indispensable to such occasions, I advanced
to do the honours, and grasped the hand of a dirty,
greasy little negro clad in, or rather smeared over with,
a prehistoric piece of cloth!  Here was my muzungu! here
my gallant Belgian staggering under the gold braid
of a hat of that peculiarly unbecoming shape affected by
French guards and German tourists, and majestically
trailing the orthodox 30-franc sword!  Inquiries elicited
the fact that the parasitic relic of Manchester above
mentioned established a valid claim to the title of muzungu
in these parts.  However, he had brought the canoes,
so I readily forgave him, and next day we arrived at the
old Soudanese station, Mswa.  Mswa is the name of the
chief, who is a vassal of Tukenda, and Mahagi is the
name of the country itself.  He is an intelligent old
native, and remembered seeing that ubiquitous officer,
Bt.-Major Vandeleur, D.S.O., when he crossed from
Kibero, and was delighted at the photograph which
forms the frontispiece to his book entitled *Campaigns on
the Nile and Niger*.  Here let me recommend travellers
to take out photographs of men who have gone before
them; the effect is wonderful on those natives who can
grasp the idea, though, of course, to many natives a
picture is merely a piece of paper.  It convinces those who
can understand it that you are speaking the truth--a
possibility so utterly foreign to the native mind.  After
exchanging presents he retired, promising to bring more
boys in the morning to work the canoes; but in the
morning none were forthcoming, and after waiting some
time while Mswa rushed frantically round the country,
shouting to his people, who walked off into the grass
and laughed at him, I concluded that he was either
incompetent or trying to make a fool of me, and, to his
consternation, manned the canoes with my own men and
started.  As I expected, enough men were immediately
forthcoming, but too late, and I held on my way.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] *Muzungu*: white man.

.. vspace:: 2

We did not reach Mahagi till after dark.  Here the
hills again recede from the lake-shore, leaving an alluvial
plain from one to two miles wide, which is densely
populated by Lures, while in the hills there are numerous
villages of Balegga.  Tukenda is the big man, whose
influence reaches from south of Mswa to Boki; he has a
small herd of cattle and large flocks of goats, and his
people are evidently flourishing and very friendly.  So
dense is the population that the natives have been
emigrating down the lake, and have started new villages on
the unoccupied sand-spits.  At Boki a grand old tusker
came sailing by the camp, and after a stern chase and
much expenditure of powder, condescended to strike his
colours.  He was a perfect specimen of the Toro type
above described, standing 11 ft. 1 in. at the shoulder,
with a forefoot of 62 in., and measuring 5 ft. 6 in. round
the elbow, while his tusks were 6 ft. 10 in. and 7 ft 1 in. long,
weighing respectively 72 lbs. and 76 lbs.  A small
patch of forest about two miles by one mile comes down
from the hills to the lake-shore, and as my boys had
heard elephant there when cutting wood, I went for a
stroll after the midday heat of the sun.  Never have I
seen a more delightful or interesting scene; countless
herds of elephant had trampled down the undergrowth,
leaving vast shady chambers joined in all directions by
galleries.  Some of these chambers were fully an acre in
extent, and every vestige of vegetation underfoot had
been crushed into a level carpet, upon which it was a
pleasure to walk.  As one entered these delightful
retreats, troops and troops of monkeys lined the branches
and gazed on us with fearless curiosity; while two or
three hundred of the beautiful black-and-white colobus
monkey performed the most amazing acrobatic feats
overhead.  Emerging on the far side I saw a herd of ten
elephant.  They were standing in long grass, but
fortunately there was a small ant-hill close by; climbing
up this I found them all with ears widespread advancing
in line towards me, and had it not been for the
fortuitous existence of this point of vantage they would
have walked right on top of us, the grass being about
8 ft. high.  They presented a glorious spectacle as they
came sailing along, all canvas set (I can find no other
word to express the motion of an elephant in grass), ten old
tuskers, their ivory now and again gleaming white above
the grass; on they came till, when within thirty yards,
one turned and gave me a chance.  He dropped to the
shot, but quickly recovered; succumbing, however, after
two more.  I damaged three more considerably before
exhausting the magazine, and then dashed off in
pursuit, passing one which had dropped about five hundred
yards off, and reached an ant-hill from which I could see
number three evidently very sick.  I dropped him with
a forehead shot, but he recovered, and eventually reached
the forest carrying another ten bullets.  Here I followed
again, but it was impossible to keep his spoor owing to
the perfect maze of tracks, and after wandering around
for some time, I climbed up an ant-hill with a large
funnel down the middle.  From this elevation I saw him
standing not more than fifteen yards away.  I fired the
10-bore, which staggered him, and knocked me down the
funnel, but I scrambled out again just in time to give
him the second barrel, which brought him down at the
same time that I once more retired into my Stygian
retreat; a 3 in. ridge of crumbling earth 15 ft. from the
ground is not the most advisable basis from which to
fire a 10-bore paradox.  All these elephant were of the
same type, huge solid beasts with shortish, thick tusks;
6 ft. 10 in., 7 ft. 3 in., 5 ft. 6 in., 5 ft. 6 in., 6 ft. 4 in.,
6 ft. 5 in., and weighing 76 lbs., 78 lbs., 56 lbs., 56 lbs.,
60 lbs., and 61 lbs. respectively.

The next day I found the fourth that I had hit very
hard.  He had fallen within two hundred yards of the
other two, but owing to the long grass I had not seen
him.  His tusks weighed 49 lbs., and measured 6 ft. and
5 ft. 10 in., making a total of 633 lbs. for the day.

Between Boki and Munyagora there is a ten-mile stretch
of inhospitable scrub covered with a species of acacia,
with huge white thorns springing in pairs from hard
bulbous excrescences.  Formerly there was a settlement
named Mjamori about half way, but the chief Akem has
fled with his people to Munyagora; he told me that he
had fled from the Belgians.  I here made the discovery
that "Billygee" is a generic term for the Congo officials,
and not, as I had previously imagined, the name of an
individual.  From Munyagora to Igara, which lies at the
bend of the river, the country is thickly populated.  The
Lures build very primitive shelters and surround each
village with a scherm of thorn-tree; they do not appear
to cultivate the soil, but breed large numbers of goats,
which look very sleek and comely.  The country, which
is very barren and parched, is admirably adapted to
that abominable quadruped, which is never so happy
as when confined to a little sand and the rancid smell
of its own kind.

I was an object of the greatest curiosity, especially to
the ladies of these communities, who came in large
numbers to inspect me (front seats at bath time being in
great request), and who, whether from a ridiculous sense
of modesty or a laudable desire to do honour to the
occasion, donned over and above the national costume of a
small piece of string tied round the waist, a hopelessly
inadequate apron of dried grass: a garment that, from
the simplicity of its cut and the small quantity of
material employed in its composition, I should have no
hesitation in classing with the species of female
extravagance known, I believe, to the fair sex as tailor-made.
The men, who seem to be of a hopeful disposition, spend
much time in making wicker baskets resembling two
lobster-pots fastened together like a cottage loaf; these
they leave in the river tied to sticks and without bait.
I saw many hundreds of these, and large numbers of
natives visiting them, but only one fish, though my
olfactory sense warned me of the vicinity of at least one
more.  They have a pretty little myth about buying
food from the Balegga for fish, and as they do not kill
their goats and certainly had not been buying lately, I
cannot imagine what they live on; but I do know that
in six hours they removed every scrap of five large bull
elephant, hides, bones, and all; a small trifle of about
twenty tons; so conclude they live a kind of
boa-constrictor's existence.  Many of the young men aggravate
the natural ugliness of their faces by inserting pieces of
glass about 5 in. long in their under-lip.  One and all
carry small bows, with reed arrows tipped with long
thin spikes of iron neither barbed nor feathered.  Most
of the chiefs and elders are obviously of different race,
some having the Galla features more or less pronounced.
Here at the north end of the lake one emerges quite
suddenly from the "Bantu" peoples to the Nilotic, and
the line of division is wonderfully sharply defined.  There
are numbers of reedbuck and nsunu, and in the bush
a small very red oribi of which I failed to procure a
specimen.  I also saw a herd of hartebeeste, and shot a
cow; they closely resembled the Lichtenstein, though
the rump was not so white, and the horns lie closer
together and stand more erect than those of Lichtenstein.
Mr. Cape tells me that Jackson's hartebeeste, which it
appears to resemble in other respects, is a considerably
larger beast; so that it is to be hoped that he will be
able to take a skull and hide home for identification.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`WADELAI TO KERO`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XVIII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   WADELAI TO KERO.

.. vspace:: 2

I arrived at Wadelai on October 1st, and found
Lieut. Cape, R.A., in command; the boma is
built on a small hill overlooking the miniature lake, and
is slightly south of Emin's old site.  Here, as elsewhere,
the drought had been very serious, and the country
consequently looked bare and uninviting.  After Rhodesia,
B.C.A., and Northern Rhodesia, it was difficult to
believe that this land of administrative chaos had been
occupied for six years.  The mail arrived three weeks
overdue, and some loads which had or ought to have
been already a month on the road, were three weeks
afterwards still untraceable, although the whole distance
is only a fortnight's march, while station loads sent off
yet three weeks earlier were still unheard of.  Nowhere
has the Government made any effort to introduce even
bananas, much less fruit-trees, vegetables, wheat, or rice;
no system of mail service has been organized, and no
regulations as to import, duties, etc., had been issued.
At Toro I asked for information about the transit dues,
naturally objecting to pay the ordinary export duty of
15 per cent. on ivory which I had obtained outside the
Protectorate.  My request was ignored, and at Wadelai
I was met by a demand for duties based on regulations
apparently issued for our benefit, but by an error of
judgment bearing a date subsequent to our crossing the
frontier.  From this I can only gather, either that the
possibility of the country becoming a trade-route (one of
the *raisons d'être*, I presume, of the railway) had never
been entertained, or that it was part of the penny-wise,
pound-foolish policy that robs officials of their hunting
trophies, and maintains, at the preposterous figure of
14 rupees 8 annas a month, a large number of Waganda
boatmen on the Nile, where they die like flies of
dysentery brought on by unsuitable food.  The country is
quite unsuited to these Waganda, who are all banana-eaters,
millet being the staple food; and this, coupled
with the great difference in altitude, is killing them by
dozens, while the banks of the Nile itself are lined with
capable canoemen, who could be engaged at 3s. a month;
14 r. 8 a. a month to raw natives, many of whom are
mere boys, is sufficient in itself to damn any country's
future which will be dependent on its agriculture.  Where
would B.C.A. be with wages for raw labour at £1 a
month?  It is an uphill fight now at 3s. rate; 8 r. a
load from Kampala to Fajao, a fourteen days' march,
what produce will bear transport rates like this?
Similarly the pay of the Soudanese is absurd; they actually
do not know what to do with their money; and the only
result of the late rise in their pay is that they no longer
cultivate on their own account, but buy everything at
exorbitant rates from the natives.  They would have
been equally contented and equally well off with half
the sum, the effect of the other half being increased
drunkenness and a general rise in the price of native
produce.  The Government should have its own plantations
or make allotments to the station natives, instead
of the present system of money rations, as it will be
very difficult to induce the natives to work while they
can sell enough produce at exorbitant rates to obtain
their few luxuries, and in the near future to pay their
hut-tax.  Another gross piece of folly was the
introduction of the rupee instead of the English currency.

It was very pleasant to find some one to talk to again;
in six weeks one finds out what a terribly uninteresting
fellow one is.  After a rest of three or four days spent
in waiting for the overdue mails and the arrival of the
Waganda canoe fiasco, Lieutenant Cape took me out to
see the Shuli country and for a general trot round, the
*pièce de résistance* to be an old bull giraffe that Sheikh
Ali, the local potentate, reported to be in his neighbourhood.
My host was fortunate enough to be able to leave
the station for a few days, though we were hampered in
our movements by his having to keep within a day's
march.  This, I believe, was the second time he had
succeeded in getting away for a day or two in his year's
residence.  The really important work of inspecting the
country and winning the confidence of the natives had
to give way to the soldierly occupation of sorting mails,
and retailing beads and yards of cloth, which could be
equally well done by an Indian at 10 or 15 r. a month.
This playing at shop is, as far as I could judge, the sole
*raison d'être* of these stations, and perhaps a desire on
the part of the Government to show the unfortunate
officer who has been inveigled into this Downing
Street-warranted paradise what an insignificant thing he and
his wants (at home we should say necessaries of life)
are compared with a Dinka's boots or a Baluchi's ginger.
The whole transport of the Protectorate has been
paralyzed to supply a miserable mob of Baluchis with rations
which their white officers would gladly have bought at
their weight in gold, and who have been, are, and will
be utterly useless in the country.  Heaven knows what
they have cost, and Heaven, I presume, knows why they
were brought, for I am sure no one else does.  There was
not one single pound of flour in any station that I passed
through, and no white man had been able to obtain a
load of the common necessaries of life for months,
because what little transport there was had been
monopolized to hurry through the Soudanese belts, blankets,
comic opera uniforms, and boots, which they take off
and give to their boys to carry when they walk.  One
gallant officer amused me much by telling me that the
one touch of civilization of the past year had been a
ginger-pudding made from a surplus ounce of the Indians'
rations.

We had a delightful trip, killing a good elephant, 71
lbs. and 61 lbs. (broken tusks); but the giraffe turned out
to be an unsociable old gentleman and not on view; we
were always nearly coming on him, but never quite came.
The country was full of rhino, the difficulty being to
avoid them.  One day natives came in to report an
elephant in the Shuli country, and we hurried off to the
spot.  Here we found that he had killed a woman who
had met him unexpectedly on the path.  Unfortunately
we failed to avenge her, as, after following for some hours,
we lost the spoor owing to the hardness of the ground.
The following morning they brought us news of buffalo,
which turned out to be three rhino lying under a tree.
They started off, making a great variety of strange
sounds, and after a stern chase we slew the old bull,
which stood 5 ft. 5 in. at the shoulder, and measured
12 ft. in length.  Unfortunately we had also wounded
one of the cows during the bombardment, and so had a
long tramp to finish her.  On the morrow we again had
news of buffalo, and this time found, but they escaped
without a shot, Cape's .303 missing fire.  For some reason
or other they travelled hard, and just as we were coming
close again, a confounded old cow rhino, which was
evidently sleeping close to their track, charged Cape most
viciously.  Fortunately he turned her at three yards
with a double barrel from the .303, and she rushed past
me with a youngster, tail and nose in air and squealing
like a steam-whistle, in hot pursuit.  I dropped her with
a spine-shot from my .303, but to our annoyance she
recovered after dragging her hind quarters for fifty yards,
and led us a long and exhausting dance in a desperate
sun.  She was a saucy old lady, but our battery was too
much for her, and she never charged again, although
after the first burst she made no frantic efforts to go
away.  A very long shot from Cape's 8-smoothbore
glanced off her shoulder.  Curiously enough, I had an
exactly similar experience with my rhino on the
Chambesi: the first shot from my 4-bore glanced off the
shoulder, although a broadside shot at thirty yards and
striking 18 in. below the ridge.  Of course both these
guns fired spherical balls.  In Cape's case I distinctly
heard the bullet strike, and then again strike the trees
far away.  I regret to say we never caught the calf; he
stayed behind in the grass at an early stage of the fracas;
he was the funniest-looking little chap imaginable, and
reminded me of the mock turtle; if taught to follow, he
would have made quite a sensation in the Park.  The
elephant, which measured 11 ft. 6 in. at the shoulder,
58 in. round the fore foot, 18 ft. round the edge of the
ear, 4-½ ft. from the earhole to the outside edge, was
chiefly remarkable for the complacent way in which he
received a really extraordinary sequence of lead; we
kept up a running bombardment over about half a mile;
and it was not till Cape put an experimental shot into
his leg that we could induce him to take any notice of
us.  This brought him round sharp, and I popped a shot
in, in front of the eye, which knocked him down.  Even
then he made desperate efforts to get up again, and would
have succeeded had it not been for the slope on which
he was lying, and the fact that his legs were up-hill.

About this time life became rather a burden, owing
to the terrific storms that broke over us nightly.  The
first one removed my tent as you would a candle-extinguisher,
and left me exposed to a torrent of ice-cold
water (one can hardly call it rain, as it comes in one
solid mass, like an inverted bath).  This experience--and
a more awful one I cannot conceive--made us both
rather nervous, and the greater portion of the succeeding
three nights was spent in anxious wakefulness,
desperate hammerings at pegs and holding of poles, to
the accompaniment of a running and not too polite
commentary on Nature and her ways, sustained in a
high falsetto to keep up one another's courage.  But
this became rather wearying, and we consequently
returned to Wadelai.  The Shulis, whose country lies
to the east of the Lures, and extends from the Somerset
Nile to about 48 north, are similar in appearance to
their Lure neighbours.  They hunt game by means of
nets and regularly organized battues, and seem to be
fair shikaris compared to the other people in this part
of Africa.  They appear to be braver than the Lures,
who are the most abject curs.  Near Mahagi I have
seen elephant's droppings on the roofs of the huts,
and the fields trodden flat, and this in spite of there
being a number of guns in the country, while we did
succeed in inducing some Shulis to follow the spoor
of the murderous elephant above-mentioned, but at the
chatter of a monkey they hurriedly disappeared, and
it needed ten minutes to collect them again.  They
build very neat villages, laid out on a definite plan, and
very superior to the primitive hayricks of the Lures.
An outer ring of huts, with the spaces between stoutly
palisaded, encloses alternate rings of grain-stores and
huts, while the centre is occupied by a dining and
"jabbering" place, formed by piling stout poles in
tiers; these, like most of their other possessions, being
stained with a kind of red clay.  In some central
position a large pigeon-loft is built, in which all the small
babies are stowed and shut up for the night; a very
excellent idea, and one that might be introduced at
home.  Many of the young bloods wear neat head-dresses
made of human hair, with an outer layer of beads and
culminating in a peak in front, which is tipped with an
old cartridge-case or other gaudy object.  They paint
their bodies in gruesome patterns with red-and-white
clay, and do not distress themselves about the
proprieties.  They still own considerable herds of cattle
and enormous flocks of goats and sheep, and their
cultivations are very extensive.  Numbers of chiefs
came to pay their respects, glad of the opportunity of
doing so without passing through Lure country, which
they must do to visit Wadelai.  One old gentleman
arrived with a cane-bottomed chair, which he said had
once belonged to Emin; he also distinctly remembered
Sir Samuel Baker.  His two chief wives came and called
on us; they were pleasant-featured women, and scrupulously
clean, but their appearance was much spoilt by
the inevitable piece of glass and enormous earrings.
This wearing of a piece of glass in the lower lip is very
curious, and peculiar, I believe, to the Shulis and Lures.

On October 22nd, giving up all hopes of my loads,
I sent back my Manyema *via* Kampala, and embarking
in my man-of-war with five trusty Watonga, my small
boy from Ujiji, and my two Wa Ruanda, I started down
stream once more, and profiting by a strong current,
made considerable progress, and encamped on the left
bank by one of the first villages of the Madi.  The
Madi are a fine race, closely allied to the Lures; they
surround their villages with a dense thorn hedge, and
the only means of ingress is through small holes 2 ft. high.
They make beautiful arrows with barbs of a
great variety of patterns.

Here the mosquitoes were terrible, and as they were
small enough to penetrate the mesh of my net, sleep
was out of the question, while my wretched natives
spent the night in reminiscences of the happy lands
flowing with milk and honey now left far behind.  On
the following day the river widened considerably, in
some places resembling a lake rather than a river.  In
the vicinity of Bora, the old Egyptian station, it must
be at least four miles broad, and the current is almost
imperceptible, except where the sudd is so extensive as
to leave only one or two small channels.  There are
enormous numbers of hippopotami in these reaches,
and they constitute a very real danger to navigation.
One of the Uganda canoes, in emerging from the
Unyama, a river opposite Dufilé, was attacked, and only
escaped by running into the sudd.  Captain Delmé
Radcliffe, the officer commanding this district, was
attacked in the steel boat; and an infuriated old bull
chased me for fully half a mile, at one time being
within five yards of the stern, but a well-placed shot
from my revolver eventually induced him to desist
from the pursuit.  The Madi attack them with a harpoon-head,
fastened to the end of a shaft by a twist of the
rope to which it is attached, and so arranged as to
detach itself after the delivery of the stroke from the
shaft, which remains in the hand of the hunter, while
the rope is free to run out until the float, which is tied
to the other end, can be thrown overboard.  The ridge
of hills that commences at Wadelai gradually increases
in height, till at Bora the hills become quite imposing;
then they rapidly diminish, and a few miles south of
Dufilé vanish completely, giving place after a few miles
of level ground to some isolated kopjes.  On the left
bank a range of hills runs parallel to the Nile, opposite
Wadelai, but at a distance of about twenty miles from
the river; then they bend to the east and merge into
the formidable peaks that dominate Dufilé and the
Karas rapids.  On the bank of the river, and even in
mid-stream, there are some picturesque kopjes black
with cormorants.  In the vast wastes of weed and water
through which one passes it is easy to trace the
formation of the formidable barriers which further north
render navigation almost impossible.  There is a small
plant, similar in form to our well-known London Pride,
which grows in the water, and is entirely independent
of the soil, deriving its sustenance from the water by
means of a tangle of roots resembling seaweed, and which
descend to a depth of 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft.  This plant
grows in enormous quantities at the mouth of the
Semliki, and in the placid reaches of the Victoria Nile, and
single plants and even large masses are carried by the
wind and current, and eventually are caught by a
snag, a bed of water-lilies, or a bank of sand; they are
soon followed by others, and by degrees the mass
becomes enormous.  Then grass-seeds are dropped by
birds or driven by the wind, and the mass is quickly
matted by the grass; driftwood, plants, and refuse of
all sorts soon accumulate, and the rotting remains and
mud that settles from the stream form a solid bottom.
Then come the papyrus and the dense reeds, and what
was originally a stick or a water-lily has in a few months
become a solid island.  There are numbers of Uganda
kob and hartebeeste on the banks, but remarkably few
ducks or geese.  The neighbourhood of old Dufilé
appears to be very densely populated, and at my camp,
near the old site, I was visited by numbers of natives,
who told me that the Belgian post was further down,
below the commencement of the rapids, and that the
Belgians had been recently fighting a tribe living in
the hills.

The following morning, after narrowly escaping
shooting the rapids, owing to a mistake in Bt.-Major
Vandeleur's map, which transposes the river Unyama and the
stream which flows in farther north, I reached Afuddu,
a post built in the bottom of a crater several miles
from anywhere, and surrounded by dense bush.  A
more concise summing up of Uganda methods than that
afforded by the placing of Afuddu would be difficult to
conceive.  Subsequent inquiries elicited the monstrous
fact that the site had been chosen because of a
magnificent shady tree which serves as an open-air
dining-room: in fine, two white men and a hundred odd
Soudanese are condemned to live in a mosquito-bush
situated in a hollow surrounded by hills, two hours
from the river and off the main road to Fort Berkeley,
for the shade afforded by a tree during meal-times.
Naturally the site is now to be changed, which means
the loss of a year's work.  I was much distressed to
find Lieut. Langton of the 21st Lancers, the O.C., in
bed with black-water fever.  Fortunately two days
later Dr. Walker arrived from Lamogi, and when I
left all danger was past.  The Commandant of new
Dufilé sent over wine and other luxuries for the invalid,
and sent me a most pressing invitation to go and shoot
with him, which, owing to my anxiety to arrive at Fort
Berkeley, and obtain the latest news, I was unable to
accept.

After three days' wallowing in the unheard-of luxury
of glass, china, silver, milk and butter galore, for which
Afuddu is justly famous, I set off with thirty Madi
porters provided by a neighbouring chief, and crossing
the line of hills north of the Unyama, camped on the
Asua, which in the rains is a very formidable river.  On
the road I saw my first herd of giraffe, but owing to the
necessity of avoiding delay, the country being uninhabited,
and consequently foodless, I had to rest content with a
long look through my binoculars.  I was much impressed
with their immense height and extraordinary action.
The road to Fort Berkeley crosses the plateau several
miles east of the Nile, and passes through a stony,
inhospitable country, the haunt of numerous rhinoceros,
antelope, and elephant.  Scores of rocky streams flow
west to the Nile.  In the neighbourhood of the large
hills, four days from Afuddu, their banks are clothed
with dense masses of bamboo.  The third day out we
passed through the deserted fields and villages of a
chief, Krefi, who, owing to some difference as to the
porterage of food with the authorities at Fort Berkeley,
has moved with all his people from the road towards
the interior.  This has been a sad blow to the transport
of the region, as formerly a relay of porters and food
were to be obtained, whereas now the porters from Afuddu
have to do the whole five days to Alimadi's villages,
and that without being able to obtain food on the road,
an innovation which they naturally resent.  At Alimadi's
I found a detachment of Soudanese from Fort Berkeley
buying food.  Alimadi himself is a decent old chief, and
still owns a few head of cattle; I believe the only
herd in the vicinity that has survived the depredations
of the Dervishes.  Between here and Fort Berkeley the
road traverses the sites of numerous villages, the
inhabitants of which have either fled or been slain.  Fort
Berkeley is quite in keeping with the other stations on
the Nile, having been carefully placed under a brow
which commands the interior of the zariba.  A swamp
to the west between the fort and the river, and an
extensive swamp to the south, add to the general
salubrity of the situation.  The nearest food-centres are
two days' march, with the consequent result that half
the garrison is constantly away buying food.  The
Maxim has been mounted behind a large acacia tree,
which effectively screens it from an imaginary enemy,
but at the same time confines its firing area to the inside
of the fort, and gives a general finish-off to the situation.
The station has been provided with an Egyptian clerk,
who can only write Arabic, which is not required, and
whose duties are consequently limited to holding a
tape-yard at the Stores issue, for which herculean task
he receives the very respectable sum of a hundred
rupees a month.

Captain Dugmore, D.S.O., the officer in command,
received me with every kindness, and nearly broke my
heart by assuring me that I should spend Christmas
with him.  I had counted on being home by Christmas;
a vain hope, as it afterwards transpired, and his
prediction came near being fulfilled.  He was engaged in
completing a magnificent water-wheel *à la Chinoîse*,
compounded of broken-up chop-boxes and empty tins.
The extraordinary relics employed in its construction
and the ingenuity displayed filled me with amazement.
But, alas! its life was short, for after three days of
service it collapsed in a high wind, which, considering
that the only elements available for the construction
of its axle were some green wood and a sardine-tin,
was not remarkable.  Here, as elsewhere, all the crops
had failed, owing to the drought, and Captain
Dugmore's wheat, though cherished with loving care, was
gradually disappearing before the ubiquitous termite.
As the launch was away, we were in the ignominious
position of being dependent on the Belgians for a ferry
across the river.  Shabby! shabby! is the only word
for our methods in Africa.  At present on the Nile we
have one steel boat refloated off Mahagi, and below
the cataracts one steam-tub.  Add to this a few useless
Waganda canoes, one of which, after an initial cost
of, say, £100, carries one load, and all of which are
warranted to spoil half their contents owing to the
enormous leakage inevitable in canoes consisting of
planks sewn together by fibre, and you have our Upper
Nile fleet; while the Belgians, whose transport
difficulties are at least equal to ours, have a large steamer
and a dozen fine steel whale-boats, with several more
in construction and on the road.  The majority of the
Belgians (there are about twenty on the Nile) are well
lodged in burnt-brick houses, while, with the exception
of a weird construction in sun-dried brick at Fort
Berkeley, all our officers are housed, like the natives, in
grass and mud huts.  The sum of the situation is this.
The Belgians under Chaltin reached the Nile, drove out
the Dervishes from Redjaf after some stiff fighting,
followed them up, and eventually, by repeated activity
and the effective occupation and fortification of Kero
on the 5-½° parallel, compelled them in self-defence to
evacuate Bohr.  They then put their steamer on the
river, and by a reconnaissance towards the Bahr-el-Ghazal,
ascertained that the Dervishes had left the
country, presumably to join the Khalifa in Kordofan.
In the meanwhile Colonel Martyr's expedition arrives
on the scene, and after establishing four posts--Wadelai,
Lamoji, Afuddu, and Fort Berkeley--in the most unsuitable
positions, succeeds in launching a small steam-tub
capable of holding about ten men, and in which it is
impossible to put both wood and supplies at the same
time.  Everybody, the officers of the expedition included,
imagined that an effort was to be made to effect a
junction with the Egyptian forces--an excellent
opportunity of acquiring a maximum of "kudos" at a
minimum of cost, a chance that does not come to all
men--and the chance slid by.

From Bohr to Gaba Shambeh there is an excellent
waterway, and at the same time that we were bolting
from the mosquitoes and imaginary difficulties, some
Senegalese with a French officer were flying the
tri-colour at Gaba Shambeh, and were advancing their
interests *via* Abu-kuka towards Bohr.  After such
dismal failures, and in view of the prevailing chaos, it
is hardly to be wondered at that the Commissioner
found it advisable to issue general orders to the effect
that any officials writing home to their friends, and
mentioning abuses in letters which should appear in the
Press, would be held responsible.  At Fort Berkeley I
seemed to have come to a full stop.  The steam-tub,
with Dr. Milne and Capt. Gage, who had suddenly
started with Commandant Henry and the Belgian
steamer on a reconnaissance towards Khartoum, was
still away, and though they had been absent more than
two months there was no reliable news.  But the
arrival of Inspector Chaltin, the victor of the Dervishes
at Redjaf, opened up new possibilities.  In response to
his cordial invitation Captain Dugmore and I repaired
to Redjaf in a Belgian whale-boat, and in the intervals
of an amazing sequence of various wines and spirituous
liquors, Inspector Chaltin kindly invited me to join
him at Kero, adding that he would make inquiries about
the possibility of going from Bohr overland, and offering
me every assistance in his power.

Accordingly, a few days later I found myself again
at Redjaf, the guest of the charming commanding
officer of the station, Commandant Colin.  Here I learnt
that I was to proceed slowly down river in the company
of M. Beaupain, the judge, a most ardent sportsman,
and to whom I am indebted for many kindnesses.  The
mushroom-stone mentioned by Baker in *Ismaïlia* is
still extant, though hardly of the dimensions depicted.
The Dervishes had thrown up enormous earthworks,
and the outline of the old station and the foundations
of the houses are still visible; while, as at Bedden,
lime-trees and oil-seed acacia imported by Emin are
flourishing.  A few hours' paddling brought us to Lado, which
is a howling waste in a wilderness of swamps.  Here
the river is already of considerable breadth and a
network of enormous islands, many of which were covered
with crops of red millet, which looked very promising
despite the drought.  The agricultural possibilities of
these thousands of isles and islets immediately after
flood as a rule are very great; at highest river most are
inundated, but sowings after the first fall give
enormous crops, the soil, which is composed of alluvium and
decaying vegetation, being of extraordinary richness.
The formation of many is very curious, resembling
nothing so much as a coral island, a solid bank of
varying thickness enclosing a lagoon, with the stream flowing
all round.  Lieut. Engh received me with the greatest
hospitality, and we spent several delightful days in this
historic waste.  There is here a fine herd of cattle
looted from the Dervishes.  The earthworks of the old
station are enormous, and need a garrison of fully one
thousand men.  At present there is a small palisaded
enclosure in one corner which contains the station, and
the approaches are commanded by two Krupp guns
and a Maxim posted on a brick tower.  But Inspector
Chaltin talks of removing the main station from Kero
to Lado, owing to its greater agricultural possibilities,
in which case the whole extent of the earthworks will
be utilized.  Between here and Redjaf are enormous
swamps, which further north on the Kero road become
still more extensive, in places opening out into vast
lagoons.  The lagoon immediately to the south of Kero
is about fifteen miles in circumference, though not more
than half a mile wide at the river neck.  To the east
lie the hills of Gondokoro, and beyond them other
ranges of hills with a large population and many cattle.
These are the last eminences till we reach the hills of
Kordofan, and the country settles down into one vast
dismal flat, a wilderness of water, weed, and scrub; the
haunt of thousands of hippo, elephant, and dismal
marabout storks; the paradise of malaria, misery, and
mosquitoes.

Six hours' paddling brought us to Kero, the frontier
station of the Congo Free State, on the 5-½° parallel, which
is their temporary limit as arranged by treaty with the
French.  The station is a marvellous example of energy,
although only in existence for one year.  A large and
well-built brick house for the inspector has been
completed, and the majority of the whites, to the number
of about ten, are housed in baked-brick cottages.  There
are several large whale-boats, and more in course of
erection.  At one time there were a thousand Askaris,
a number which has been reduced since the reconnaissance
of Commandant Henry towards the north, which
ascertained that the Dervishes had retreated *via*
Rumbek and Mashra er Rek towards Kordofan.  The high
bank on which the station stands being the promontory
at a sharp bend of the river, is being rapidly eaten
away by the stream, and the water-edge is now thirty
yards further back than a year ago.  This shows to
what an extent and with what marvellous rapidity the
Nile changes its course.  The quantity of fish is
prodigious, and an Anzande fisherman keeps the station
daily supplied with fish of the best quality.  Some
attain to a weight of 200 lbs., and several enormous
specimens have been obtained by dynamite explosions
which are the evening amusement.  The Anzande
method is very ingenious.  The fisherman selects a
shallow spot, and with a clever knack throws a
funnel-shaped net weighted round the rim, and attached by
the apex to a cord, by means of which he feels if any fish
have been covered; he then slowly draws in, and the
weights, thus closing together, form a bag with the fish
struggling in the meshes.  Several times I saw him take
a dozen large fish at a time, and half an hour's work
in almost the same spot sufficed to provide fish for all
the white men, and many to spare.  The food question
is one of considerable difficulty, grain being only
obtainable at a distance of several days, which necessitates
the continued absence of half the garrison.  However,
the natives managed to eke out their daily ration of one
small cup of red millet with fish, an occasional hippo
or antelope, and a kind of plum which grows in profusion
in the district; it has a hard outer shell, then one-tenth
of an inch of sweet fibre which leaves an after-taste of
quinine, and finally a hard stone containing a kernel that
cooked tastes like a mixture of prussic acid and
quintessence of quinine; however, the natives devour them with
avidity, and also extract an oil which I am told is quite
tasteless--a fact that, after tasting one of the kernels,
I am prepared to take on trust.  There is also a small
berry tasting like an old apple, from which they make
a form of bread, which at first sight I pardonably
mistook for clay.  There was plenty of snap about the
Congo State soldiers, who paraded daily with drums
and bugles, and it was easy to see by the general
efficiency and the progress made in a short time that the
country was under a strong man, the whole Nile district
forming a very agreeable contrast to the Tanganyika
chaos.

.. _`BALEGGA WAITING FOR ELEPHANT`:

.. figure:: images/img-289.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: BALEGGA WAITING FOR ELEPHANT.

   BALEGGA WAITING FOR ELEPHANT.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`KERO TO ABU-KUKA AND BACK TO BOHR`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XIX.


.. class:: center medium bold

   KERO TO ABU-KUKA AND BACK TO BOHR.

.. vspace:: 2

As considerable anxiety was felt as to the fate of the
steamer, which had been now three months
absent without sending news, Inspector Chaltin decided
to send Commandant Renier with a whale-boat to
Shambeh to endeavour to obtain information, and very
kindly offered me the opportunity of accompanying him,
with orders to assist me forward in every possible way.
As I was suffering from congestion of the liver, which
prevented me from standing up straight, and from a
remittent fever which showed no inclination to
disappear, I gladly availed myself of the chance, knowing
that activity alone would keep the fever in check, and
that it was advisable to reach the sea as soon as possible.
The camp was beaten up for volunteers to go with me
overland either from Bohr or Shambeh, as circumstances
might dictate, with the result that one small boy, a
Dinka, and a mad criminal in chains, were forthcoming,
with which formidable recruits on December
20th, I, an old Egyptian Dervish prisoner with a broken
leg, a dozen soldiers, and sundry nondescripts, departed
in one of the large whale-boats.  I carried away with
me many pleasing souvenirs of Inspector Chaltin's
hospitality, and everybody's kindness and welcome, and
also the sincere hope that never should I set eyes on
Kero or any other spot on the Upper Nile again.

For several miles the stream follows the bank, then
branches off to the east, and for miles and miles loses
itself in a labyrinth of isles of weed.  In vain we searched
for a landing-place, and it was not till 5 p.m. that we
found a small plantation of millet with a few wretched
Baris stifling in a fog of mosquitoes on a mud-bank.
The following day we paddled for hours, seeing nothing
but tall reeds, hippo, and sand-spits, and eventually
reached the left bank again at a spot called Semsem,
owing to the immense plantations of that grain which
existed here in the time of the Dervishes.  Here there
is a bank nearly 6 ft. high, with a large tree tenanted
by hundreds of marabouts; to the south-west and
north are swamps, and to the east, beyond the river,
stretches one vast howling melancholy--reach upon
reach of reed and rush, strips of lagoon, and again
rush and reed, till on the far horizon a thin purple
haze shows the line of the right bank.

The few Baris that we met on the islands informed
us that they had come thither because they had been
worsted in an encounter with the Dinkas to the north-west.
Their villages were very scattered, the huts being
dotted in ones and twos throughout their fields of
millet.  They beat the ground immediately
surrounding their huts into a hard concrete, which they kept
well swept, and upon which they dry the seeds of the
nenuphar preparatory to pounding it into flour.  As
most of their huts were covered with strings of drying
meat and strips of hippo hide, they would appear to
be expert hippopotamus hunters.  All their canoes are
very tiny, and they work them with consummate skill.
The amount of fish that they spear is wonderful.  It is
very sad to think how the Baris have been wiped out
by the Dervishes.  It will be remembered what a
formidable people they were in Sir Samuel Baker's time;
putting thousands of warriors into the field, and owning
vast herds of cattle.  Now, with the exception of those
who took refuge in the Gondokoro hills, they are to all
intents and purposes extinct.  A few scattered
settlements of miserable fisher-folk alone show the extent
of the former Bari kingdom.  The whole road from
Krefi's kraal to Fort Berkeley is lined with the stone
foundations of former Bari villages, and the country
is strewn with discarded stones, used for grinding the
corn.  There is still, according to report, plenty of
cattle in the Gondokoro hills, but with that exception
and the exception of the few beasts owned by Ali-madi,
all those vast herds spoken of by Baker have been
looted and destroyed.  Fortunately the Dervish wave
did not reach further than Dufilé, so that the southern
Nile above the rapids was left untouched.  The country
east of the Nile, except on the actual river-banks, was
also practically untouched, hence the Eastern Dinkas
escaped their depredations, and still own enormous
heads of cattle.  The Western Dinkas were less
fortunate, as the Dervishes from the Bahr-el-Djebel and
the Bahr-el-Ghazal penetrated far into the Niam-Niam
country, and were at one time a serious menace to the
Congo Free State.  This is the only valid excuse for
the Belgian occupation of the Nile; but I think the
result could have been equally well accomplished by
protecting the Congo Nile watershed.  Still, the Belgians
carried out their expedition with consummate ability,
and all honour is due to Inspector Chaltin for his able
leadership.  It was a gross error of statesmanship that
ever permitted them to obtain a footing on the Nile.
For, however good their intentions, their methods are
not ours; and their presence cannot but tend to unsettle
the natives.

The key to the difference between their methods and
ours lies in the fundamentally distinct objects for which
we acquire territory.  We acquire territory for generations
yet unborn, trusting thereby to find an outlet for
surplus population in the congested days to come.  It
is to the future benefit of the race that we look.  We
expect no immediate return.  It is as with a man who
starts farming, and with an eye to the future buys the
call on the surrounding country.  But with the Belgians
it is quite different.  They expect immediate returns.
They say this country is no good, we can get no ivory
or rubber, why do we stay here?  And they are
advising the evacuation of the Nile stations.  It is as
with a man who leases a vast tract of country and
cuts down all the timber for sale, hoping thereby to
obtain a large and immediate return on his money,
ignoring the future, or believing his lease to be merely
temporary.  The greatest difficulty with which the
Belgians have to contend--one that paralyzes all their
efforts, however genuine--is the character of the tribes
from whom they recruit their soldiers.  I myself, having
had experience of Manyema, can fully appreciate their
difficulties in this respect.  The majority of the tribes
drawn upon are cannibals, and they are so low in the
scale of civilization, and in many cases so vice-sodden
from their association with Arabs of the Tippoo Tib
fraternity, that it is impossible to make any impression
upon them.  Most natives can be touched in their pride
or sense of the responsibility of a soldier's position.  But
these brutes are mere brutes, feeling the whip if it is
laid on sufficiently thoroughly, and nothing else.  As
I pointed out to Inspector Chaltin, if the Congo State
would draw its soldiers mainly from the northern
tribes, such as the Makrakas and Niam-Niams, they
would obtain the raw material that could be trained to
a sense of responsibility and self-esteem.  The ruffians
that they employ at present cannot be trusted for one
hour away from the superintendence of a white man.
Cases of outrages committed by the mail-carriers on
even the natives on the British side of the river are of
daily occurrence.  I can bear witness to the distress
that they caused Inspector Chaltin, but they are
inevitable with the existing state of the Free State forces.
Another potent factor is the inadequacy of the
commissariat arrangements; the Belgians are at present
endeavouring to maintain about one thousand five hundred
men in a country destitute of supplies.  They have to
make expeditions ten days' march into the interior to
obtain any supplies at all.  And I am convinced by the
frequency of the shooting affrays that their methods
of obtaining these supplies are not, in our ideas,
legitimate.  Knowing, too, the difficulty that we have in
buying provisions for one hundred men only on the
British side, and having seen the trade goods taken
out by the Belgians, I am sure that "commandeering"
is largely resorted to.  Anyhow it is significant that all
the natives on the Congo Free State side are retiring
further and further inland, while the natives on the
British side are rapidly resettling on the river-bank,
from which they were driven by the Dervishes.  Owing
to the difficulty that the Belgians find in obtaining
supplies, the ration per man is one small cup of millet
a day; out of this he has probably to feed a slave boy,
one or two wives, and Heaven knows how many children.
Yet they all look sleek and fat.  How do they manage
it?  The conclusion is obvious.  When I was hunting
with Captain Dugmore, the local natives on our side dare
not go alone into the bush, as they said that they would
be caught and eaten.  Another great source of weakness
is the Belgian method of treating their natives.
They are too familiar with them, and then, when, as
the inevitable result, the natives become impertinent,
brutally severe.  In treating natives it is indispensable
to emphasize the distinction between black and white,
yet at the same time to let the native see that you
respect him in his own line, but take your own absolute
superiority for granted.  Hair-splitting justice is a *sine
qua non*; and, I believe, herein lies our success with
inferior peoples; it is the one thing that they can
understand, and which inspires more respect than
anything else.

On the third day we met the first Dinkas, miserable,
amphibious objects, eking out a precarious existence on
a semi-submerged island; here we camped, in a visible--nay,
tangible--atmosphere of rotting fish, mud-caked
niggers, marabouts, and kites; and at sunset, with a
long-drawn expectant howl the mosquitoes arrived:
little ones, big ones, black ones, mottled ones, a whirling,
wailing fog of miniature vampires, that kept up the
mournful dirge till the cold hour before sunrise, when
with a sigh of relief we pushed off in our boat, and after
five hours' paddling reached Bohr, which lies on the
right bank at a sudden bend of the river.  The original
zaribas of the Dervishes and the more substantial
earthworks thrown up when they heard of the occupation of
Kero are already falling to pieces, and the elephant now
takes his midday siesta midst the grinning skulls and
calcined bones that are scattered about, all equally
regardless of the wanton brutality of the near past.  The
past fades fast in Africa; yet another year, and the
cotton-bush will have hid the mouldering relics of the
earthworks, and the white ant will have seen the last
grin of those gruesome jaws.

The fort of the Dervishes was of very considerable
extent; about five hundred yards by six hundred yards,
the long side lying on the river.  There are still signs
of a primitive effort at drainage, and the enormous
quantity of cotton shrubs are a proof of the suitability
of the soil to this product could it be brought within
touch of a market.  There are also unlimited numbers
of gum-trees and tamarinds.

We had a few dynamite cartridges with us, and we
obtained a good supply of fish by a couple of explosions.
Amongst the numerous kinds that floated up to the
surface was a curious fish similar to the species that I
have mentioned as having been brought to me from
the Ruo river near Chiromo.  It was a long, eel-like fish,
with the eyes covered by skin, the dorsal fin running
down to and joining the diminutive tail.  The snout
was long and tubular, and the flesh lay in long, thin,
delicate flakes like the flesh of the skate.  Another
species had the head and fore-part of the body encased
in an adamantine shield armed with dangerous spikes on
the back and by the pectoral fins.  Its tail was shaped
like the tail of a shark, which it resembles in general
form, although the mouth was not underneath as with
the shark's.  A third species, very common all over this
section of the Nile, much prized, and justly so, for the
richness of its flesh, is covered with disproportionately
enormous scales of circular form; its general form
approximates to that of a red mullet.  The commonest
kind was the gorgeous tiger-fish, which is one of the
most beautiful fish that swim.

There are large numbers of natives in the vicinity, and
when we had at length convinced them of our pacific
intentions, they brought milk and quantities of fish and
fowls.  It appears that such was the anxiety of the
Dervishes in departing that the Dinkas succeeded in
relieving them of their cattle.  As a protection against
mosquitoes the natives smother themselves in wood-ash,
and the long lines of tall, gaunt, grey spectres slowly
threading their way into the bush, each with a bright,
broad-bladed spear, and a small gourd of milk or a
decaying fish, present a very curious spectacle.  Having
stopped for a day to buy supplies, amongst which was
a goat, rather less meaty than my hand, whose two
hind legs combined would have had no chance against
an English mutton-chop, we once more launched forth
into the weary waste.  We camped successively on a
mud-bank tenanted by a few forlorn natives, from whom
we obtained a small supply of grain at an exorbitant
rate, and on a network of sun-dried hippo-holes whose
authors resented our intrusion all night, expressing their
disapproval by that strange variety of coughs, bellows,
grunts, squeals, and roars peculiar to that misshapen
pachyderm.  Here we fired the 20 ft. reeds to modify
the mosquito plague.  They were very dry except at
the base, and the terrific sheet of flame, capped by a
vast cloud of smoke catching the red lights from the
fire, afforded a picture of indescribable grandeur.  It
thundered away like a mighty sea of molten iron, licking
up the country as it sped eastward; and we "smiled
loud out" to think of the billions of mosquitoes that
were perishing in its line; and the funny old hippo
roared in astonishment, blinking their pink eyes at the
alarming spectacle.

On the third day, having seen throughout the whole
voyage from Bohr one tree at a distance of several miles,
we were startled during lunch by the cry of "Steamer!"
and rounding a bend in the river we saw the British
steam-tub labouring up-stream with a bunch of ribbons
that had once been a Jack flying at her stern.  She was
soon alongside, and we found on board Mr. Mulders, a
naturalized American Dutchman, who built the Belgian
steamer, in command, and two Belgians, one of whom
was confined to his bed by a severe attack of sciatica
which necessitated his return to Kero.  In answer to
our eager inquiries we learnt that they had spent the
three months in the sudd, making prodigious efforts to
cut a channel, and that eventually, after living
waist-deep in water, sleeping on water, eating strange birds
and being eaten by mosquitoes, steaming for miles in
search of a stick or grain, they had abandoned their
steamer, leaving her in charge of a few Askaris, and
the whole party, including the French officer from
Shambeh, who daringly followed them in a flotilla of
native canoes, had started in the boats with the idea
of dragging them by main force over the vegetation.
The British boat was sent back with the sick men for
supplies and mails, and with orders to return and patrol
the vicinity of the obstructions at intervals of a week,
blowing her whistle and endeavouring to find out whether
the party would return, and, if no news had been
obtained by the middle of March, to return with the
Belgian steamer to Kero.

I consider this successful attempt of Capt. Gage of
the 7th Dragoon Guards, and Dr. Milne, as one of the
most daring feats ever accomplished in the history of
African travel.  They suffered indescribable hardships
for nearly four months, during all which time they
hardly slept one night on land; but were compelled to
see the long hours of darkness through, night after night,
cramped up in a small boat or lying on the vegetation,
tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, and with very
little more substantial than native porridge to keep
their spirits up.  Day after day, nothing but that vast
expanse of weed of a hopelessness beyond civilized
conception; day after day dragging their boats through
and over stinking bogs and spongy masses of weed
tenanted by a thousand crocodiles--not knowing where
they were, nor, in characteristic British fashion, caring,
yet ever keeping their face forward, strong in the
knowledge that perseverance must succeed.  Their food ran
short, and to return was impossible.  Had they not
come unexpectedly upon Major Peake's steamers they
would probably all have perished.  Very few people can
ever have any conception of the magnitude and apparent
hopelessness of their task.  The terror of those
stupendous wastes!  They have eaten like rust into my very
heart, as they must do with all those who launch forth
into their seemingly unending desolation.

From information I found it was impossible to land
anywhere north of Bohr on the right bank, so decided
that the only course open to me was to return to that
salubrious resort.  Commandant Renier kindly offered
to take me on if I thought it worth while to make the
attempt; however, it was obviously useless, and with a
heavy heart I started back on my tracks.  We steamed
up-river until we came to the enormous Lake Powendael,
which lies between the river and the left bank six hours
north of Bohr, and there we anchored till morning, when
we sent a boat ashore in search of wood.  The lake is
about twenty miles by ten, and very shallow, numerous
banks covered with ducks, geese, pelicans, and other
strange birds showing above the surface.  The Dervishes
were reported to have sunk their steamer here, but an
exhaustive search by the small boat failed to find
sufficient water to cover it; probably it was sunk in the
channel near Abu-kuka or Shambeh, as these are almost
the only spots where it is possible to reach the left bank.
The following day we reached Bohr, and as one of my
Wa Ruanda who had been sick was finished off by
mosquitoes, and my Dinka had bolted with what he could
lay his hands on, my numbers were reduced to my four
Watonga, two small boys, one Ruanda, the criminal
lunatic, and the youth from Kero.  With these it was
obviously impossible to start, and Commandant Renier
kindly offered me some Askaris.  Five boys from Sierra
Leone turned up in answer to a call for volunteers, and
with my numbers swelled to the vast total of fourteen,
I made a start on December 30th.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`IN DINKA-LAND`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XX.


.. class:: center medium bold

   IN DINKA-LAND.

.. vspace:: 2

The native information as to my route was decidedly
discouraging, but knowing by now the value of
native information, it was with reasonable hopes of
success that I disposed of my bed and other luxuries,
and put the first of three hundred miles behind me.  As
I started late, I camped at the first large village that I
met, a distance of six miles from Bohr.  Here there was
an enormous population living round the extensive
lagoons that stretched in all directions, and after the first
few minutes of suspense, a brisk trade started in fish and
grain, and eventually in milk.  On the following day we
succeeded in dodging several lagoons, but had to wade
up to our necks and cross another nearly a mile wide on
a very treacherous layer of vegetation.  Skirting the edge
of the water, we came on a herd of twenty elephant,
and I dropped a good bull with a couple of .303's in the
head.  The quantities of goats and sheep possessed by
the natives were extraordinary, enormous herds grazing
in every direction in the rich vegetation growing in the
swamps.  After cutting off meat from the elephant, I
followed one of the numerous paths which led inland,
and meeting hundreds of natives on the way, arrived
at a large, scattered village, where we camped.

The main population, which is very dense, lives in
the bush at a distance of sometimes several miles from
the river, and water is one of the most expensive supplies,
though, except in seasons of severe drought, such as when
I passed through, there are evidently numerous pools
scattered all over the bush.  Owing to the drought there
was no grain obtainable, and the natives were eating the
seeds of a water-plant resembling a crown-artichoke (the
nenuphar) and the kernels of the before-mentioned plums.
A very affable and intelligent gentleman, who had
accompanied me for some miles, offered his services as
guide, which I gladly accepted, and after marching for
an hour I arrived at another extensive village.  Here,
as elsewhere, all the huts were isolated and surrounded
by a fence of thorns to ward off the lions, which were
very numerous.  On the path we met hundreds and
hundreds of natives, many of enormous stature, 6 ft. 4
to 6 ft. 6, who were going to cut up the elephant, and
they were all very friendly.  At the village I waited for
my boys to close up, but after some time one was still
missing, and as boys whom I sent back told me that
they could not find him, I packed my people and
belongings into one of the thorn-fences, and went back with
one soldier and some Dinkas whom I persuaded to
accompany me.

About a mile away I met my headman and my guide
of the morning returning with the delinquent, who was
none other than the criminal lunatic.  It appears that
he had decided to return home, and, as a preliminary,
had distributed my blankets, mosquito-curtain, and
clothes amongst the natives.  By an extraordinary stroke
of luck I recovered them intact, with the trivial
exception of one of my two shirts; it was due to my guide,
and he and the two men who brought them in were
handsomely rewarded; so was the runaway.  The flies
by day, the mosquitoes by night, rendered life well-nigh
impossible, and with visions of impassable swamps,
waterless deserts, and famine in front, I heartily wished
myself quit of Africa and all its abominations, as I have
so often done before, and shall no doubt so often do again.
In the afternoon, at the urgent request of many hungry
Dinkas, I sallied forth and slew a good bull elephant.
I had chased him for several miles, pouring in lead
whenever I could see him, till at last he stood.  This gave
me my chance, and he dropped to a shot in the head.
But as I was going up to inspect him, he suddenly rose
and sloped away.  I fired four shots from the 10-bore
at him as he passed.  At the fourth he stopped, turned
his head towards me, and quite deliberately began to
advance, examining carefully with his trunk every
palm-bush.  There was no unseemly haste about his action.
He meant investigating the matter.  My position was
most uncomfortable, as, if I fired, I should give him my
whereabouts, and certainly could not drop him; while,
if I moved from the cover of the diminutive palm-tree
behind which I was standing, he would immediately
see me, and the country was too open to escape.  So,
for lack of another alternative, I waited.  On he came
quite quietly, that snake-like trunk writhing round every
corner, till there were but two more palm-trees between
him and me: out went that trunk once more; he stopped,
swayed slowly to and fro, and fell with a mighty
crash--dead.  His tusks must have weighed about 60
lbs. apiece.  It was heart-breaking to leave them lying there,
and to think that I had had to kill such a magnificent
beast for the sake of his meat.  The natives were very
much delighted, and evidently thought me a great
institution, and for several days afterwards I was pestered
with requests to shoot elephant, till I began to wish I
had never seen such a beast.  They promised to take
the tusks of those I had slain to Bohr, and to give them
to the steamer when she returned, but I don't suppose
I shall see them again.[#]


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] They turned up seven years later,
the natives having kept them
for me till a Government station was established.

.. vspace:: 2

The river, which is here one vast sea of grass, the
opposite bank being quite invisible even from an
eminence of 20 ft., continually branches inland in the form of
long, narrow, meandering lagoons, which, I suppose, are
apologies for rivers in this part of the world.  As some
of them are several miles in length, progress is very
difficult, and every moment I dreaded to see a new one.
However, I successfully dodged most of them, but had
some trouble with one a mile broad, which we eventually
passed by wading, the water being in places up to my
boys' necks.  At one time my small boy, with my
revolver, prismatic compass, and coat, disappeared
completely, but was extricated by an obliging Dinka of
about 6 ft. 7 in.  The prevalence of crocodiles, and a
slimy bottom pitted with elephant-holes, did not
facilitate matters.

Enormous numbers of Dinkas came to see me beaten
by this obstruction; and after two hours' exhausting
conversation in signs, during which I displayed all my
remaining trade goods, I had still failed to induce a
guide to show me the way across.  In native fashion
they all wanted to see what I would do.  At last, utterly
disgusted, I started to wade, intending to swim if we
could not manage otherwise, as I dare not waste the two
or three days that would be necessary to march round.
When they saw that I was quite determined, several came
with me and showed me the shallowest path across.
They were hugely delighted when I presented them with
a Jubilee medal and some beads, but said that they
dare not go any further, as the next village was not
their village, signifying that if they went they would be
speared.  A short march soon brought us to the village
in question.  The natives were rather nervous at first,
but soon brought us plenty of rotten fish and a little
milk.  Here my surviving Ruanda man succumbed to
the attacks of the mosquitoes, which defied description;
he had been ailing for some time, and being too desperate
to keep them off, he was literally sucked dry.  It was
absolutely necessary to turn in half an hour before sunset
and to make all the preparations possible for the night.
I piled all my belongings round the edge of my net, and
kept a green wood fire burning at each end: then I lay
inside, smoked native tobacco (of remarkable pungency),
and prayed for morning.  As soon as the sun went down
they started operations.  It was like having a tame
whirlwind in one's tent.  They could not possibly have been
worse: had there been thousands more it would not
have mattered, as not a single one more could have found
room on any exposed part of one's anatomy.  Every
night two or three hundred contrived to enter my net;
I have no idea how.  The most pernicious and poisonous
kind was a very small black mosquito, that might
possibly have penetrated the mesh.  I used to turn out
in the morning feeling perfectly dazed from the amount
of poison that had been injected during the night.  The
natives of the country obviate the nuisance by lining
their huts with a deep layer of burnt cow-dung, in which
they lie.  They also smear a paste made of this ash and
cow's urine all over their bodies.  The women carefully
collect all the dung and spread it out to dry.  In the
evening, when the cattle are brought in to be milked,
they burn it.  The smoke serves to keep the flies from
the beasts during the milking.  Then all the ash is
collected and placed in the huts.

Following the river, we made good progress till a halt
was called by the presence of a stupendous old bull
elephant with magnificent tusks, who was dozing on the
path.  We shouted to him to get out of the way, and he
slowly turned round, stalked towards us, and when
within fifty yards curled up his trunk, spread his ears,
rumbled and came.  Crash went every load, and I found
myself in a medley of tent and boxes, pots and pans,
with a double .303 loaded with soft-nosed bullets, looking
at him in amazement; but the shot fortunately turned
him, and away he went, screaming and trumpeting,
giving my blankets a parting kick as he swung round.
This is the only time I have seen one aggressive without
due cause.  Owing to the absence of water and the
quantity of plum-trees, of which they are very fond,
there were enormous numbers of elephant along the
river-bank, and except where they were on the path
we scarcely noticed them, every day passing several
herds.  I was wild when I thought of the prodigious but
futile efforts that Sharp and I made round the volcanoes
to find them, when we had porters galore, while now,
having no porters, I looked upon them as a nuisance,
owing to the delay they caused.  Here, and for some
days afterwards, close to the line of bush, there was a
well-defined river with a stream of one and a half to two
miles an hour, which would be navigable for flat-bottomed
punts.  The numbers of hippo were incredible, literally
thousands and thousands.  At every two hundred yards
there was a great purple bank of twenty, fifty, or a
hundred lying with their bodies half exposed, while
others were wandering about in every direction on the
vegetation, islands, and mud-banks.  They practically
ignored our presence, though we often passed within
ten yards of them.  Other game was scarce; I only
saw a few waterbuck, bushbuck, and once the track of
a giraffe, though plenty of guinea-fowl, and a few ducks
and geese; but these were of little use, as, on opening
my last box of shot-cartridges, they fell to pieces, being
eaten through and through with rust.  At one village
a native produced a recent number of *Black and White*,
carefully wrapped up in a piece of goatskin, and pointed
out with great glee a picture of Dreyfus; as I had no
interpreter, and the natives no longer understood my
ten words of pigeon Arabic, I have not the remotest
conception how it came into this outlandish spot.  It
was very difficult to obtain supplies, owing to the general
famine, so I shot another elephant, which came down
to water near camp, and made my boys smoke a
three-days' supply of meat.  The following day we saw two
large herds of elephant, one mainly composed of good
bulls.  Some, showing splendid ivories, refused for a
long time to leave the path.  We were compelled to
stone them.  Then, making good progress, we camped
opposite a ferry, which led to an island where I could
see some natives.  They quickly collected, and in a few
minutes there was a crowd of several hundred, with a
solid hedge of spears glinting in the sun.  At first they
were very doubtful; then, suddenly realizing that it
was all right, they swarmed across, yelling and
whooping, and in one minute my diminutive camp was one
howling black mass.  At first things looked rather
anxious, but some slaps on the back and a long-winded
repetition of arâm, which appears to be the local form
of salaam, quickly spread a broad grin over the mass;
they brought me a present of about thirty large fish,
and there was soon a brisk trade in milk, of which they
had an unlimited supply, so that all my men had a good
wholesome feed.  They proved very friendly, and I
much regret that our conversation was strictly limited
to arâm, which, however, appears to have considerable
significance, being invariably responded to by much
grunting and a peculiar clucking noise like the soliloquy
of an old hen.  Every one in Dinka-land carries a
long-bladed spear, a pointed fish-spear, and a club made of
a heavy purple wood, while the important gentlemen wear
enormous ivory bracelets round their upper arm; strict
nudity is the fashion, and a marabout feather in the
hair is the essence of *chic*.  They are all beautifully
built, having broad shoulders, small waist, good hips,
and well-shaped legs.  The stature of some is colossal.
It was most curious to see how these Dinkas, living as
they do in the marshes, approximate to the type of the
water-bird.  They have much the same walk as a heron,
picking their feet up very high, and thrusting them well
forward.  Their feet are enormous.  Their colossal
height is, of course, a great advantage in the reed-grown
country in which they live.  They are the complete
antithesis of the pigmy, as the country in which they
live is the complete antithesis of the dense forest that
is the home of the dwarfs.  Many of these strange
African peoples form most interesting reading to a student
of evolution.  The adaptability of a race to its surroundings
is wonderful.  The favourite pose of a Dinka is in
reality the favourite pose of a water-bird.  It is most
interesting to note that surroundings should produce a
similar type in families as remote from one another as
birds and men.

My headman woke me in the morning with the pleasing
information that my home-sick criminal had disappeared
in the night, so the body of my tent had to go by the
board, a severe loss, as afterwards transpired.  During
this day's march and a part of the next, the population
changed entirely, the well-bred Dinkas giving place to
a miserable fishing-folk, who are presumably the Woatsch
spoken of, as reported to live here, by Sir S. Baker.
They are an extraordinary people, of a very low stage
of civilization, and showed abject terror at the sight of
beads and cloth.  I imagine they took me for a god, as
each village, man, woman, and child, persisted in
escorting me for a mile or so, doing the honours with a
deafening chant, and continually pointing to the sun; this,
though very flattering, hardly acted as a sedative on
my fever, and I was heartily thankful to leave them
behind; at one spot there must have been fully five
hundred men who formed a solid phalanx round me,
and sang at the top of their voices for a distance of two
miles.  They appeared not to have the remotest conception
of barter, and hid their faces when I produced any
of my trade goods, so that it was impossible to buy any
food.  Even during the night small bands approached
to a respectful distance and chanted, and at one
watering-place about a hundred loathsome hags danced a wild
fandango around me, uttering the shrillest cries
conceivable, and accompanying them with a measured flap-flap
of their long pendant dugs; then, as a grand finale, all
threw themselves on their faces at my feet, and with
one ear-piercing shriek dispersed into the bush, leaving
me under the impression that I was in the Drury Lane
pantomime, outside two bottles of champagne.  Never
in all Africa had I met such embarrassing and impossible
people.  In the intervals of these trying performances
I noticed that the country was slightly more elevated,
and that there was a profusion of large trees.  This
would be the best position for a Government station.
But it soon settled down again into the dismal flat of
sun-baked clay, thorn, and palm-scrub, which in places
recedes, leaving large plains that are flooded in ordinary
seasons; here there were numbers of small buck, and I
saw a beautiful male *Cobus maria*.  It was a most
handsome little beast, and was running with a large herd
of other waterbuck, and had the same action as the
Uganda kob.  I was much disappointed, from lack of
porterage, to lose the opportunity of procuring such a
rare specimen.  The variety of aquatic birds was
enormous; amongst others, a beautiful black-and-white ibis;
but I looked in vain for *Balæniceps rex*.  The kites,
marabouts, and vultures were a great nuisance.  On
several occasions a kite actually took my dinner out
of the frying-pan on the fire while the cook's back was
turned.

After the singing gentry, it was with no little relief
that I met some respectable Dinkas again with large
herds of cattle; they, too, appeared to be ignorant of
the elements of barter, and it was only after an hour's
dumb-crambo business that they brought an antediluvian
fish as a feeler; this I immediately bought at
great price, and then they realized that there was
something in the idea, and brought a good supply.  They
have absolutely none of the fear of, and respect for, the
white man that one finds all over Africa except in the
regions of Exeter Hall legislation, but merely regard one
as a great joke, and, on the whole, not such a bad sort
of fool.  They are all the most inveterate, pertinacious,
and annoying beggars, and evince the greatest astonishment
when one refuses to distribute one's belongings
gratis amongst them.  One in particular amused me,
a 6 ft. 4 giant, who took a fancy to my last pair of
trousers, and when, pleading modesty, I refused his
request, he stamped and howled like a spoilt child.  He
then proceeded to make himself very objectionable, and
forced his way into my tent, refused to quit, and brandished
his club.  This was too much, so I suddenly took him by
the scruff of the neck and the seat of where he wished
my trousers to be, and, trusting in the superiority of a
beef and beer diet over one of fish and thin milk, to his
intense amazement, ran him out of camp, and imparted
a final impetus with a double-barrelled drop-kick, backed
by a pair of iron-shod ammunition boots.  I was
surprised to find how weak he was, despite his colossal
stature.  The others took it as a huge joke, and an hour
afterwards he returned and behaved himself very well,
on the morrow guiding me for some miles.

From here the country changes completely, opening
out into a limitless plain, dotted here and there with
clumps of borassus palm, growing on small, flat-topped
eminences which are the only possible camping-grounds.
The channel (which I christened the Gertrude Nile, and
which had never hitherto been more than half a mile
from the bush) bends away to the west and spreads out
into large marshes, though its course is still obvious,
and the plain, which is a mass of matted, half-burnt
reed, hippo and elephant holes, is scored with numerous
channels of water and mud, and towards the bush, which
is soon at least fifteen miles from the river, is covered
with small ant-hills.  There is an enormous population
on these plains, with huge herds of cattle and goats,
though it is impossible to say where they live, and they
are wonderfully clever at hiding their cattle, and light
smoke fires to prevent them from making a noise.  I
marched for hours without seeing a native, but when
pitching camp I could see hundreds and hundreds
advancing in Indian file from all directions, or if I took
a line that led far from water, a group would appear
like magic to put me right.  There was something
uncanny about knowing that one was watched by hundreds
without ever seeing more than an occasional individual
perched on one leg, the other foot resting on his knee,
on the top of a far ant-hill, and looking like a long black
stork.  The first day that I camped in the plain I was
visited by at least a thousand natives.

With the exception of one or two slight fracas with
my boys, they were well-behaved, and I bought a large
supply of fish; but the second day about fifteen hundred
turned up, and having nothing to sell, became very
obstreperous.  They tried to steal, so I ordered the
vicinity of my tent to be cleared, and hustled several
fairly roughly.  One turned on me, and I knocked him
down, cutting my hand badly on his teeth.  They took
my rough handling very well, but immediately resented
any movement of my boys, and one silly young blood
danced a dangerous war-dance, brandishing his spear
round one of my Askaris, till I broke it for him, and
gave him two or three reminders with a heavy
hippo-whip.  They then became very much excited, and I
spent the rest of the afternoon with my hand on my
revolver, momentarily expecting a general *émeute*, when,
no doubt, we should have fared badly.  Fortunately,
there were two respectable old gentlemen who did their
best to keep the younger blades quiet.  One man bolted
with a bit of cloth; a miss-fire from my .303 saved his
life, and one of the old gentlemen, not knowing that I
had pulled the trigger, signed to me to hold, and had
the cloth fetched back; he then succeeded in clearing
the camp of about half the turbulent rabble, for which
I was very thankful.  They then began to slowly file
off, but about a hundred, including some of the most
noisy ruffians, remained; these I quickly cleared with
a heavy whip in one hand and my revolver in the other.
They did not like the whip and smiled at the revolver,
evidently thinking it a sort of club, till I shot a
confiding marabout which was watching the proceedings, when
there was a race for first place to less dangerous quarters.

On the march we came upon a belated hippo out on
the plain, and there was a great hunt, about two
hundred natives chasing him and plunging their spears into
his body, till at last, covered with blood, he turned to
bay, when I finished him off with a shot in the head.

A few miles further on I shot a Senegal hartebeeste,
which gave us a supply of meat.  On the third day we
succeeded in shaking off our too attentive friends, and
although we marched for six hours only made seven
miles, owing to the necessity of feeling one's way round
the swamps and the difficult nature of the ground.  In
many places the burnt vegetation was of the consistency
of coke, and severely cut my boys' feet.  The plain still
widened, and the Gertrude Nile tended more decidedly
towards the west.  The bush was no longer visible, but
to the west of the swamps there appeared to be a slight
ridge with a dense covering of borassus.

We camped near a cattle village, and the people seemed
friendly, though, as usual, somewhat turbulent.  Two
came into the camp after dark, evidently to see if we
were on the alert, and were summarily ejected.  In the
morning about a hundred came and gave considerable
trouble, and persisted in following us on the march.  I
noticed that two or three were closing round each of
my boys, while at the same time about twenty were
packing behind me.  I turned round to drive them off,
when my fools of Watonga were suddenly seized with a
panic, and, throwing their loads down, ran towards me,
shouting, "We are all lost!"  Of course that started
the game, and my best Congo soldier fell, stabbed to
the heart, and two more went down with cracked skulls.
I took the chief and his right-hand man with a double
barrel, then turning round, found my boy had bolted
with my revolver.  At the same moment a Dinka
hurled his spear at me; I dodged it, but he rushed in
and dealt me a swinging blow with his club, which I
fortunately warded with my arm, receiving no more damage
than a wholesome bruise.  I poked my empty gun at
his stomach, and he turned, receiving a second afterwards
a Dum-dum in the small of his back.  Then they broke
and ran, my army with eight guns having succeeded in
firing two shots.  I climbed up a high ant-hill that was
close, and could see them watching at about three
hundred yards for our next move, which was an unexpected
one, for I planted a Dum-dum apparently in the stomach
of one of the most obtrusive ruffians, whom I recognized
by his great height.  They then hurried off and bunched
at about seven hundred yards, and another shot, whether
effectual or not I could not see, sent them off in all
directions, and the battle was finished.  It was all over
in a shorter time than it takes to tell the tale, but while
it lasted it was fairly warm.  I never expected to see
my happy home again, nor did I feel much happier
when I had time to look round.  I was alone; at my
feet lay my Congo Askari, in the last spasmodic shudder
of death; a few yards away lay three more of my men,
streams of blood slowly trickling from gaping wounds
in their heads.  The distorted figures of the three
Dinkas, shot at close quarters, were the only other
breaks in the dismal monotony of the marsh.  I shouted,
and slowly--one by one--my miserable curs emerged
from patches of reed and bog-holes.  Then the three
wounded came-to from their swoon; one was very
slightly hurt, but the other two were quite mad for
days after.  It was necessary, therefore, to throw away
still more of our belongings.  There was only one thing
that could go, and that was Sharp's 60g. Holland and
Holland paradox, half of which is peacefully reposing
under some scrub, while the other half is at the bottom
of a mud-hole.  After dressing the heads of the two
soldiers, who, with the trifling exception of insanity,
did not seem much the worse, one for a gash 2 in. long
and down to the bone on his temple, and the other for
two gaping holes on the top of his skull, we hurried on,
fearing the Dinkas might return *en masse*.  But they
contented themselves with watching us, and when I
dropped the topmost man of a bunch of five on an
ant-hill at six hundred yards, they only made further
observations at a distance of a mile.

The news spread like wildfire, for, several miles further
on, when passing within half a mile of a village, a band
of ten old men came towards me, waving their arms in
the air to show that they were unarmed.  I went to
meet them, and when quite close they started the old
singing business, so I hurried off, after treating them to
several arâms with an attempted pacific intonation.
They then sent milk after me, but I waved them off,
thinking it advisable to try by forced marches to break
the line of communication.

Shortly afterwards, crossing a swamp on a dangerous
bridge of weed burnt to the water level, I saw a specimen
of *Balæniceps rex* standing quite close to me.  I was on
the point of firing, when a hippo put his head through
the bridge at about ten yards, and regretfully I had to
shoot him instead for his beef.  Half a dozen Dinkas
appeared, and, after making a great pacific demonstration,
approached and helped to finish him off.  He
took several shots, and each time I fired they ran to a
distance of at least two hundred yards, so they had
evidently heard of the morning's proceedings.  After
cutting off some meat we continued our march, and it was
not till 4 p.m. that I found another place where it was
possible to camp, having buried most of my beads on
the road to further lighten the loads.  For the same
purpose, in the evening I made a distribution of cloth
and burnt a quantity, together with all my boys' rags.

.. _`THERE WERE NUMBERS OF DINKAS FISHING HERE`:

.. figure:: images/img-320.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: THERE WERE NUMBERS OF DINKAS FISHING HERE.

   THERE WERE NUMBERS OF DINKAS FISHING HERE.

The night passed peacefully, though I thought it
advisable to put on a double sentry, and on the morrow,
weary of swamps, I struck east towards the great burnt
plain, and then marched due north, trusting to luck for
water.  I found numerous holes where the water had
not quite dried up, and met many isolated groups of
desponding natives spearing a loathsome four-legged
reptile or fish, some of which, for lack of more delicate
fare, I had to eat; and after marching for about fifteen
miles, I again came on extensive swamps which stretched
far to the east, and seemed likely to give me much
trouble, if not to effectually prevent me going further.
Being totally ignorant of the country, and without
means of asking the simplest question of the natives,
I had been fearing all along that I should arrive at some
impassable obstacle.  I was very anxious on this point,
as it would have been impossible to return.  Arriving
unexpectedly on the edge of the first pool, I found it
one mass of small duck, with a spur-winged goose
standing up in the middle.  I fired at him with my .303, and
he dropped, the bullet striking him with most unusual
noise.  My boy, wading in, returned not only with the
goose, but also two duck.  The bullet had struck the
goose's back, removing his intestines and half his breast,
then cut off the head and broken the wing of No. 1 duck,
and neatly cleaned No. 2.  It was a Dum-dum, and
must have exploded like a shell.  I have often noticed
that the bullets with the most penetration, such as the
solid, nickel-coated, and the Dum-dum, shatter small
animals and birds more effectually than the more
expansive bullets, such as the Jeffrey and the lead-nose.
This stroke of luck provided a very welcome change
to my mournful diet of doubtful fish, occasional milk
flavoured with cow's urine, which is used for washing
the dairy utensils, and a strange cheese of my own
manufacture.

We camped on the top of a layer of burnt vegetation
overlying a morass, and my tent nearly disappeared in
the night, while I was seized with furious bouts of
vomiting, caused by the quantity of salt in the water.  To
make matters more cheerful, I discovered that my last
two tins of tobacco were mouldy, and I only wished that
I could enjoy it as much as the mosquitoes appeared to
do, who settled in clouds on the rim of my pipe waiting
their turn for a space on my epidermis.  Several either
climbed inside or bit me through a pair of ammunition
boots.  I had a severe cold and a stiff arm; my cook
boy had dysentery; one of the Congo soldiers had a
dreadful foot, which rendered walking a terrible torture;
and the two gentlemen with cracked skulls were
semi-delirious, so that, on the whole, we were a jovial party,
our joviality being materially increased by the impossibility
of making a fire, owing to lack of fuel.

In the morning we repeated the same tactics, and after
finding plenty of water early in the march, only reached
a camping-place at sunset.  The country became slightly
more cheerful, several trees about the dimensions of a
healthy cabbage appearing on the horizon, and I saw
the spoor of several giraffe, though where the giraffe
themselves contrived to hide was more than I could
guess.  Our camp was near a large village where there
were at least one thousand five hundred head of cattle,
besides sheep and goats, and the chief brought me a
fine fat bull-calf, which settled the nervous question of
food for two days.  These people, too, had evidently
heard of the fracas, and only approached my camp in
small bands, for which I was very grateful.

There were numbers of Dinkas fishing here.  Their
method is as follows: About a dozen men, each taking
a large basket open at the bottom and with a hole at
the top, advance in line through the shallow portions
of the lagoon.  Grasping the basket by the hole at the
top, they dash it down on to the mud in front of them.
I suppose if they catch a fish inside they pull it out
of the hole at the top.  I never saw them catch one,
although they appeared to be quite hopeful.

The styles of coiffure affected by the Southern Dinkas
had now changed, the prevailing fashion being to wear
the hair long and frizzed out like a mop, while some of
the young exquisites caked it with a white clay brought
out to a peak behind.  The rambling village, with its
groups of figures and long lines of home-coming cattle
dimly seen in the smoke of a hundred fires as I
approached at sunset, was very picturesque.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`IN NUERLAND`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XXI.


.. class:: center medium bold

   IN NUERLAND.

.. vspace:: 2

The following two days I still kept to the plain, on
the first day finding plenty of water, and
camping near a mud-trough where the water was flowing
west; but on the second day we wandered into a waterless
wilderness, and taking a north-west course marched
for hours before we reached a stream.  Our sufferings
were intolerable, increased as they were by the salt
nature of the water which we had been drinking for
days.  Half the boys fell by the road, and lay helpless
till relieved by the water I sent back.  I was beginning
to despair of saving them, when from the only ant-hill
for miles I saw a flight of birds, and after an hour's
sharp burst I arrived at a large vlei, where to my joy
I found that the water was flowing north, and was less
salt.  At an early stage of that day's march I had to
leave yet another load.  Soon after starting I saw a
herd of at least four hundred hartebeeste, and on the
vlei, where we camped, the numbers of ducks, geese, and
pelicans were extraordinary.  At my first shot I killed
two large spurwings, and a few more rounds provided
geese for all the camp, while I revelled in the luxury of
*pâté de foie maigre*; but the little plump teal, knowing
that I had no shot-gun, kept flighting backwards and
forwards in thousands.  Two guns might have had an
evening's sport that they would have remembered for
a lifetime.  A few miles from camp I met some Nuer
who had come to meet me.  The chief, who was very
sociable, though, like all, an incorrigible beggar, had
been to Fashoda in the old times, and again my classic
Arabic came into play.  He asked after Emin, and
seemed surprised to hear of his death, and also after
Wadelai and Lado, and was particularly anxious to
know if there was still a zariba at Bohr.  He laid great
stress on this point, asking me over and over again, so
I imagined he wished to verify reports he had received
of the flight of the Dervishes.

The following day I marched to the junction of the
Kohr with the Bahr-el-Zaraf.  In Justus Perthe's old
map it is suggested that this Kohr is the outlet of the
streams crossed by Lupton Bey in the hills east of
Gondokoro.  This cannot be so, as the natives at Bohr
assured me that there was no water many days east;
and if these streams are the feeders of this Kohr, they
must, by the contour of the country, pass close to Bohr.
Nor could the channel be dry, as the Kohr held plenty
of water.  Hence I am inclined to think that Lupton's
streams either flow into the Nile south of Bohr, or pass
down the other side of the watershed into the Pibro,
the largest tributary of the Sobat.  As Lupton went
overland from Gondokoro to Bohr, and does not mark
any significant feeder of the Nile, it is probable that the
latter hypothesis is correct.  That is, that they flow
into the vast marsh recently located as the headwaters
of the Pibro.  If this is correct, the Kohr must also
drain out of the Pibro marsh, in which case the country
between the Sobat and the Bahr-el-Zaraf is an island.

The whole length of the bank was cut up with giraffe
and elephant spoor, and as I could see for miles and
miles in every direction and never saw one, I suppose
they come great distances for water.  The Kohr, though
evidently from the exposed mud-flats of considerable
width in the rains, was here not more than twenty
yards wide and four feet deep; and the numbers of
hippo and clouds of pelicans and cranes made sleep
almost impossible.

The surrounding country assumed a little more
character, long lines of palm-trees enlivening the awful
monotony of that heart-breaking plain.  The Nuer,
though well-set-up, appear not to have the same unusual
stature as the Dinkas; they wear circlets of cowries
round their hair, which they grow long like a mop;
the woolly buttons of the negroid, though visible from
time to time up till now, have quite disappeared.
Nothing impressed me so much as the vast flocks of birds.
With five shots from a rifle I killed three geese, eight
duck, and two pelicans, and that from camp: had I
fired at some of the flocks I saw on the march I might
have doubled the result.

Following the river, which has a very devious course,
I saw large numbers of natives, and they were all very
friendly, insisting on indulging in the trying practice of
spitting in one's hand or on one's chest, which signifies
intense respect; the Dinkas have the same objectionable
custom.

For two days I saw numbers of natives with large
herds of cattle and plenty of small palm-tree canoes,
but a very limited supply of grain, and on the third day
I came to a small Kohr with about a dozen large
villages.  Hundreds of natives came out to meet me, and
I had some difficulty in driving them off, as, confident
in their numbers, they were inclined to be boisterous.

A few miles further on, one of my Congolese soldiers,
who, against all orders, lagged behind a few minutes,
mysteriously disappeared, and an exhaustive search
failed to find any trace either of him or of natives.  The
country was very open, and he was carrying a rifle, so
they must have spirited him away very cleverly.  From
here to the mouth of the Zaraf there is only one village,
so that for food I was entirely dependent on my rifle.
At first there was no difficulty, as the river swarmed
with hippo, and there were numbers of hartebeeste,
Mrs. Gray's waterbuck, leucotis, reedbuck, waterbuck,
and roan.  A magnificent bull of the latter species I
at first took to be a sable, owing to the extraordinary
length of his horns, and with the cussedness of his kind
he stood and watched us all pass at a distance of thirty
yards.  But for several days afterwards I had the
greatest difficulty in obtaining meat, subsisting entirely
on pelicans, one day being even reduced to marabout
soup, and it was not till within thirty miles of the mouth
that I again came into a game country, where the bush
comes down to the river.  Here I saw numerous giraffe,
and one day marched for hours through small herds of
cow elephant.  It was curious that I saw nothing but
bulls on the Nile swamps, while on the Zaraf there were
huge numbers of breeding cows, and I only saw the
spoor of a very few bulls, and those were mostly small.
For days the muddy tide rolls slowly on between banks
of sun-baked mud, unrelieved by swamps or vegetation.
The flocks of birds no more break the depressing
monotony, naught but great, loathly crocodiles, that slip
without a sound into the turgid flow, bald-pated
marabouts, and screaming kites.  No sign of hope; a vast
reserve for God's foulest creatures, and a fitting one.
Ye gods, what a land!  The old boyhood's desire to
shriek and break something that invariably recurred
on Sunday morning broke out afresh, and I felt that I
was near that indefinable boundary beyond which is
madness.

About thirty miles south of the Abiad an extensive
Kohr, which was dry when I passed, flows into the Zaraf.
Close by there is a small ridge a few feet above the level
of the surrounding country; here I camped and saw a
great variety of game.  Four giraffe came and peered
over a bush at me while I was having my bath, and
thoroughly enjoyed the novel spectacle.  They showed
no inclination to move away, and I had a splendid chance
of having a good look at them.  The situation was
quaint.  It struck me as an admirable study for René
Bull or Mr. Shepherd.

Soon after sunset two grand old lions commenced
calling to one another, and I could hear them gradually
approaching across the plain.  They met about a mile
from my camp, and after a round of hearty greetings,
settled down into silence.  As the wind was in their
direction, I ordered all my boys up close to my tent
and made two large fires.  They still remained silent,
so I knew that they were near; but after waiting some
time I concluded that they did not mean business, and
turned in. I had only just crept inside my mosquito-curtain
when the sentry called out to me that they
were in camp.  I scrambled out, but was just too late!
They had calmly strolled past in the full light of the
fire, and I saw a tail disappear round the corner of a
bush.  Snatching up a blazing log, we dashed out, but,
of course, never saw them, as there was too much bush;
however, they were not in a hurry, and an occasional
sniff showed that they were still inspecting, but they
would not show in the firelight again, and, whenever I
went out, sneaked off, till, getting tired of the game,
they strolled away grumbling across the plain, and
treated me to a farewell roar that will long linger in
my ears as Savage Africa's farewell!

For on the morrow my troubles ended.  We were
plodding wearily along, wondering how to tide over the
next four days, which I had estimated as the time necessary
to reach the Sobat, when I saw in the far distance a
curved pole swaying in the wind.  For a long time it
puzzled me; then I realized that it must be the mast of
a boat, but dared not believe it, though certain that no
palm-stem could swing to that angle.  Presently I saw
figures moving to and fro, and then one in white cloth,
and soon we had evidently been noticed.  A short
council of war took place, and then an unmistakable
Soudanese soldier came out to meet me, carefully
inserting a cartridge in his rifle as he approached.
Throwing my rifle on to my left shoulder, with a conciliatory
and pacific smile I advanced with outstretched hand,
and evidently convinced him that I was at least
harmless, for with a 3 ft. 6 grin he drew his cartridge and
shook the proffered hand with vigour.  I learned that
Captain Dunn, R.A.M.C., was up the Zaraf for a few
days' shooting, and that he was expected back in camp
in a few minutes.

I could scarcely believe that it was all over, that my
troubles were ended!  Those four days, that I
imagined still remained, had been a nightmare to me.  All
my men were sick; the majority of them had to be
pushed along at the point of the spear, to prevent them
from lying down and giving up the struggle.  There were
no more hippo and very little game: all our grain had
long been exhausted, and but two pipefuls of sour tobacco
remained.  And then, at a sudden bend of the river,
all this nightmare was dispelled!  It was over!  From
being so long without vegetables, my hands had begun
to turn black, and the continual anxiety of the last
month, day and night, had told its tale on my nerves.
With what unspeakable content I sat down and waited
for Dunn's arrival it would be impossible to describe.  I
had not to wait long, for a few minutes later Captain
Dunn emerged from the bush.  The following
conversation ensued:--

Captain Dunn: "How do you do?"

I: "Oh, very fit, thanks; how are you?  Had any sport?"

Dunn: "Oh, pretty fair, but there is nothing much
here.  Have a drink?  You must be hungry; I'll hurry
on lunch.  Had any shooting?  See any elephant?"

Then we washed, lunched, discussed the war, and
eventually Dunn asked where the devil I had come from,
saying that at first he had taken me for another
confounded Frenchman, and was trying to hunt up some
French.  All this six hundred odd miles from anywhere
in the uttermost end of the earth--the Nile swamps.
Verily we are a strange people.  How De Tonquedec,
the Frenchman, laughed at the tale!

Then we dropped slowly down-stream in the boat, and
in the light of the myriad stars discussed the strange
world into which the Father Nile was slowly carrying
me.  A whirl of thoughts made sleep impossible, and
as I pondered over many things I thought long on the
Fashoda incident.  In the course of a chequered career
I have seen many unwholesome spots; but for a
God-forsaken, dry-sucked, fly-blown wilderness, commend me
to the Upper Nile; a desolation of desolations, an
infernal region, a howling waste of weed, mosquitoes,
flies, and fever, backed by a groaning waste of thorn
and stones--waterless and waterlogged.  I have passed
through it, and have now no fear for the hereafter.
And for this choice spot thousands of homes might
have been wrecked, and the whole of civilization rushed
into a cockpit of mutual slaughter.  Let me recommend
France to send the minister responsible for the Marchand
expedition for a short sojourn in the land: no fitter
punishment could be found.  What a sensible idea it
would be if ministers of rival nations, foreseeing a
dispute, were to buy in a large store of choice wines and
cigars, leave them at home, and decide to spend the
time, till the dispute should be amicably settled, in the
bone of contention.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE SOBAT TO CAIRO`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XXII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE SOBAT TO CAIRO.

.. vspace:: 2

I awoke in the morning to find the gyassa[#] moored
off the base camp of Major Peake's sudd-cutting
expedition.  Close by lay a trim, smart-looking
gun-boat.  AH was bustle and stir on board, and it was
obvious that they were getting up steam.  I drank in the
sight, momentarily expecting to see it fade before my
eyes, and to find myself once more wearily plodding
through those maddening swamps.  The transition from
ceaseless anxiety and hungry misery to full-bellied
content and tobacco-soothed repose had been so sudden;
I was as a man who, after long time staggering in the
dark, is suddenly thrust into the full glare of sunlight,
and could hardly grasp that it was at last all over.
Nothing to do but sit and be carried along towards clean
shirts, collars, glasses, friends--all that makes life a
thing of joy.  How many people realize what all these
things mean?  How many people have ever caught
the exquisite flavour of bread-and-butter? the restful
luxury of clean linen? the hiss of Schweppe's?  One
must munch hippo-meat alone, save one's sole shirt
from contact with water as from a pestilence lest it fall
to pieces, and drink brackish mud for days, to realize
all this.  Sensations are but contrasts, and in the strong
picture contrasts must be strong.  We all have our
allotted portions of black and white paint; how we lay
it on is a question of temperament.  One mixes the
pigments carefully and paints his life an even grey.
Another dashes in the light and shade with a palette-knife.
Such an one is the wanderer in strange climes.


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.. class:: noindent small

[#] Nile sailing-boat.

.. vspace:: 2

Captain Hayes-Sadler, the Governor of Fashoda, was
in command of the gunboat, and kindly offered to take
me down to Khartoum.  They told me that Captain
Gage, Dr. Milne, Commandant Henri, Lieut. Bertrand,
and Lieut. de Tonquedec had all passed about four days
before.  De Tonquedec, a most delightful and
entertaining man, was the last Frenchman to evacuate the
Nile.  He had been sent up to supplement the
occupation begun by Marchand, and had done by far the
finest work of all.  No undertaking has ever been more
absurdly overrated than Marchand's expedition to
Fashoda.  It was seized upon by the military party, and
boomed to the echo as a set-off to the Dreyfusards.  As
a matter of fact, he never touched an inch of new country,
but merely carried out successfully a very able bit of
transport organization with everything in his favour--sound
lieutenants, unlimited funds, and one of the
best-equipped expeditions that ever set foot in Africa,
supported by excellent native troops in his Senegalese.
All the labour of the country was retained for him, and
compulsion used where there was any difficulty in
obtaining carriers.  Hundreds of miles of navigable water
took his goods almost to the Congo-Nile divide, and
thence it was simply a question of moving from post to
post till the watershed was crossed, and he could place
his boats on the navigable waters of the Nile.  The
only real difficulty, that of reoccupying the
Bahr-el-Ghazal posts, had been already accomplished by the
Belgians, whom the French kicked out.  Once on the
navigable Nile, they had but to go with the current
till they reached Fashoda; the waters of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal and Lake No happening to be comparatively
free from sudd obstructions.  They were strong enough
to defy resistance at the hands of the Shilluks, who
have nothing but ambatch canoes, and once entrenched
at Fashoda they would have been poor creatures if they
could not have beaten off a handful of Dervishes.  As
an able example of African transport it stands in the
van of similar undertakings, but as a daring or
dangerous feat it does not stand in the same class as Gage
and Milne's descent of the Nile, or De Tonquedec's
performance.  His duty was a most hazardous one, as,
with nothing but a handful of Senegalese and a
sous-officier, he penetrated overland through the terrible
Dinkas to the Upper Nile, and occupied Gaba Shambeh.
Marchand is a world-word.  When I arrived at
Marseilles and inquired after De Tonquedec, nobody had
ever heard of him.

Fortune favoured me when I started on the descent
of the Nile.  I knew that Khartoum had fallen, but
nothing more.  I had imagined that the Redjaf Dervishes
were still occupying Bohr and the Upper Nile, and that
the Khalifa was still at large on the Fashoda district
of the Nile.  But shortly after I started the Dervishes
fled from Bohr before the advance of the Belgians, and
while I was wearily plodding along, Sir Francis Wingate
killed the Khalifa, and annihilated the Dervish army
at Om Debrikat.  The Abyssinians had finally retired
from the Sobat, and by this happy combination of luck
I had a clear route, though I did not know it, and my
anxiety lest I should unexpectedly stroll into a Dervish
or Abyssinian camp was considerable.  Captain
C. G. Steward, R.A., D.S.O., was in command of the base
camp, and was sadly fretting at having had his orders
to proceed to South Africa cancelled.

There were several gunboats employed on the sudd-cutting
operations.  Many of the Dervish prisoners had
been sent south for the work, and were looking
uncommonly well, which speaks volumes for the efficient
transport system.  The method of procedure was as
follows:--The sudd, which at times is 30 ft. thick and
sufficiently solid for the elephant to pass over, was cut
into large blocks.  A wire hawser was then attached,
and the mass was pulled away by two steamers.  When
it floated clear it was cut up, and allowed to drift away
with the stream.  Many of these floating masses had
accumulated opposite the base camp, and bade fair to
form another sudd obstruction.  In places where a
portion was cut out, the water from the pressure caused
by the pent-up river surged forth like a wave, bringing
up water-logged canoes, bloated crocodiles, and various
other unexpected apparitions.  The fish rose in
incredible swarms to these breathing-places.  At one place
the men took off their loose trousers, tied the ends,
and baled out over four hundred large fish in less than
an hour.  The work was so hard that no one had time
to get fever, and the health of the expedition had been
excellent.  After several months of desperate toil, the
undertaking is now happily completed, and there is a
clear riverway from Khartoum to Redjaf; and Fort
Berkeley, the outpost of the Uganda Protectorate,
instead of being nearly four months from Mombasa,
is now within one month of Cairo.  A weekly service
of steamers should effectually prevent the sudd from
re-forming.  By judicious treatment, possibly on the
lines that I have suggested in a subsequent chapter,
the waterway might be made permanent, and its navigable
facilities greatly improved.  There is, undoubtedly,
as pointed out by Gordon, the great difficulty of fuel,
but probably in the near future oil will obviate this.

A few hours' steaming took us past the Sobat junction,
where there is now but a small post of Soudanese
under a native officer, and to the world-famed Fashoda.
Here I handed over the first trans-continental post-bag,
which I had brought through with me, to Captain
Hayes-Sadler, who stamped the post-cards with the
gorgeous red seal of Fashoda.  Here, too, I received
the first letter that had reached me for eighteen months,
in which I learned that my oldest friend had fallen at
Glencoe, at the very beginning of the war--to wit,
Lieut. John Taylor, of the King's Royal Rifles.  Curiously
enough, the last letter that I had received on leaving
civilization had been from him.  Verily Africa is an
accursed land.  Many of the good friends whom I had
met during our journey have already gone, and again
and again I hear of fresh gaps in the chain.

I went and looked at the little French fort built of
bricks that were taken from the ruined buildings of
Fashoda.  It is a very insignificant structure, and I
should have been very sorry to be inside with a
seven-pounder playing on the fort.  There are still a few
pawpaw trees planted by Marchand, the shrivelled fruit
of which we took on board, and utilized as vegetable
marrows.  The Rek or King of the Shilluks lives near
Fashoda; he is the descendant of a hundred kings, or
something of that kind.  I am not sure that his pedigree
does not go back to the time of the Pharaohs.  I had
the pleasure of seeing his mop-headed Majesty ride past,
attended by numerous courtiers.  The Shilluk villages
are about a mile away from the channel of the Nile, to
avoid being flooded during the rains.  The Dervishes
kidnapped many thousands of the flower of their youth
for military service.  The Rek is a delightful old
gentleman, and presented Captain Hayes-Sadler with an order
not unconnected with crocodiles.  The Shilluks are a
most moral people, and live contentedly under an ample
code of laws admirably suited to their social condition
and mode of life.  Any attempt to interfere with the
belief and customs of such a people seems unwise.  In
view of the appalling misery and want at home, it is
difficult to justify the large sums of money spent in
upsetting the, in many cases, admirable existing state
of society in Africa.  Centuries have evolved a state of
society most suitable to the surroundings and
conditions of life.  Why try to upset it?  On the voyage
down to Fashoda I saw many Shilluk fishermen wading
in the shallow water, and endeavouring to spear fish.
The spear used is of great length, and the pointed end
is tied back to form a bow, by which means the point
is induced to run along the top of, instead of sticking
into, the mud.  It seemed an unprofitable business,
but, like most natives, they appear quite hopeful.  They
train their hair into gigantic mops, and dye it red with
cow-dung.  Many of the men have splendid features,
and are extremely handsome.  They hunt the hippo
with great daring, pursuing the beasts in tiny ambatch
canoes, which are often broken up by the infuriated
bulls.  They plunge a barbed spearhead into the skin,
and then paddle ashore with the end of the attached
rope; every one lends a hand, and the struggling brute
is eventually hauled ashore and despatched.

North of Fashoda we saw many herds of waterbuck,
hartebeeste (*Senegalensis?*), and roan grazing on the
flats which lie between the marshy banks and the bush.
One evening I was standing on deck, and noticed ahead
of the steamer an animal sitting on the top of the bank
watching us.  As we passed alongside, it moved, and
we saw that it was a splendid leopard.  It strolled away
quite unconcernedly, watching us round its shoulder,
and slowly swishing its long tail to and fro; then it
went and sat under a tree, whence it lazily regarded
us till we were out of sight.  At Djebel Ain we had to
leave the gunboat, as the extraordinarily low Nile
prevented steamers from crossing the ford, and we were
forced to proceed to the next navigable stretch in a
large gyassa or native boat.  Djebel Ain is the end of
the northern telegraph line, and I could at last wire
and relieve the anxiety of my friends and relations.  It
was just fourteen months since I had left the end of
the southern, or Mr. Rhodes's, section.  Hayes-Sadler's
Soudanese orderly, who looked after me, was a most
delightful old gentleman.  He could not quite
understand me, and was continually demanding explanations
of me: "Whence comes he, this man?"  "Is he a
soldier?"  Hayes-Sadler explained that I was not, but
was travelling for the pleasure of seeing the country.
"Ah! you are a strange people, you English Effendis:
how comes it that he wears not the moustache even as
the other Effendis?"  He was informed that I was of
a slightly different ginss (tribe) to the others, and was
quite satisfied at the explanation.  After that he
referred to me as "the Great White Effendi from the
South."  "He is a strange man, and verily comes from
afar; yet I like that man--I look upon him as the apple
of my eye," he informed his master.  He was a splendid
fellow, and I much enjoyed his polite and gentlemanly
attentions after the dirty creatures with whom I had
so long been in contact.

At the northern end of the ford we found the steamer
waiting for us, and I first met Captain Gage and
Dr. Milne, of whom I had heard so much.  We were a
numerous and jolly party on board, and with the
exception of a morning's sand-grouse shooting, in the
course of which eight guns bagged something over one
hundred and fifty brace in a couple of hours, we arrived
without further incident at Omdurman.  Here we were
bewildered with true Egyptian Army hospitality, and
our time was spent in wildly flying from mess to mess.

The Sirdar gave a great dinner, at which he invited
all the British and Egyptian commanding officers to
meet the "tourists" from the south.  Our simultaneous
arrival was an extraordinary coincidence: Milne and
Gage from the east, De Tonquedec, Bertrand, and Henri
from the west, I from the south, and Hayes-Sadler from
the north, and that in what was almost the uttermost
end of the earth.  After the dinner there was a great
Soudanese dance; all the battalions broke up into their
tribes and danced their tribal dances by torchlight:
the spectacle was most weird.  Sir Francis Wingate
kindly asked me to stay with him at the Palace, which
is already nearly completed.

The Soudan railway soon carried us down to Wady
Halfa, thence a steamer to Assuan, and again the
railway, and we once more stood in the roar of multitudes
at the station in Cairo.  And now it is all over.  A few
dangers avoided, a few difficulties overcome, many
disappointments, many discomforts, and those glorious
days of my life are already dim in the haze of the past.
Here I stand, in the prosaic land of certainty and
respectability!  But far, far away, on those Urema flats,
where the night-wind sighs to the grazing herds, my
thoughts soar to the plaintive wail of the fish-eagle, and
my heart throbs in unison with the vast sob-sob of the
grandest of all created beasts, that mighty sound that
is the very spirit of the veld, the great untrammelled
field of Nature, far from all carking cares, pettiness,
hypocrisy, and cant: where men may stretch themselves
in generous emulation, find their apportioned level,
and humbly worship at the great shrine of creation.





.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILWAY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHAPTER XXIII.


.. class:: center medium bold

   THE TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILWAY.

.. vspace:: 2

Of the railway as far as Tanganyika I will say little,
as I did not follow the route that has been
selected.  Its main scheme is already laid down.

But the route to be followed beyond the south end
of Tanganyika is another matter, and one that will
need much discussion.

Mr. Rhodes told me that he intended to take it across
from Ujiji to the south end of the Victoria Nyanza,
where presumably it would connect with Uganda and
the rail-head of the Mombasa railway at Ugowe Bay
by steamers.  Thence it would pass through the Lake
Rudolph district and along the western base of the
Abyssinian highlands to the Blue Nile.  The arguments for
this route are wood-supply, the supposed wealth and
the supposed comparative salubrity of the countries
traversed.  Before offering my suggestion it win be
advisable to inquire into the aims and objects of the Cape
to Cairo railway.  As far as I have seen, no individual
of those who furiously denounce or optimistically
uphold the project has ever grasped the real essential of
such a connection; they have either sneered at it as a
wild dream, or concluded that it is intended to run as an
opposition means of transport to the ocean liners.  This,
of course, it will never do, nor yet is it a wild dream.
The railway and the telegraph are to be the vertebra
and spinal cord which will direct, consolidate, and give
life to the numerous systems that will eventually connect
the vast central highroad with the seas.

Building railways is a speculation, but one that up to
date has proved very satisfactory in Africa.  There is
a saying that "trade follows the flag," but I think it
would be more correct to say that "the flag reluctantly
follows trade," and I know that "trade hurries along in
front of the railway."  The amount of small industries
and unexpected traffic that crop up on the advent of the
railway is wonderful; I suppose because there is no trade
in virgin Africa strictly speaking, and the line wakes it
to life by opening up new possibilities and ideas to the
native.

Until the railway comes no one can judge of the
capabilities of the country; it lies dormant.  The appalling
transport question, the inaccessibility, and the high cost
of living weigh too heavily upon the land.  The magic
talisman, gold, alone will lead men far from touch with
civilization.

But apart from all commercial considerations, on
moral grounds alone the railway or a through
connection is an immediate necessity--in fine, a duty
inseparable from the responsibilities that we have assumed.
Lord Salisbury, in speaking of the Uganda railway,
recognizes this when he says: "That" (*i.e.* the
completion of the railway) "means the subjugation, and
therefore the civilization, of the country.  Nothing but
that railway could give us a grip of the country which
would enable us to take the responsibility of such a vast
extent of territory."

No other system than the through connection would
have the same wide-reaching influence for the same
expenditure; and the start that its completion will
give to radiating enterprise is incredible.  It is but the
vertebral principle in Nature, and applies as surely to a
continent as to a worm.

The moral obligation, I repeat, is immediate and
inseparable from our bounden duty to develop the country,
to "subjugate" and thereby "civilize" the natives, and
thus justify our assumption of rights in Africa.

But I also feel convinced that commercially the
enterprise is sound.  It is, of course, well-nigh impossible to
form estimates of returns in a country that is absolutely
stagnant, reposing in abysmal depths of barbarism; but
the soil is there, the climate is there, the wild luxuriance
of Nature is there, the labour is there, and it needs but
the magic touch of the railway to weld them all into
one producing whole.  It is experimental, I allow, but
all enterprise is based on experiment.  We are too apt
to take things as they are, and not to inquire into what
things were before, and by analogy what things similarly
placed are likely to become.  We reason--"Africa is
a waste; India is a garden; and India will remain a
garden, and Africa will remain a waste."  The day is
not far distant when Africa will pour out her wealth
of cattle, grain, minerals, rubber, cotton, sugar, copra,
spices, and a thousand other products to a grateful
world.  And over and above this, will give a home of
comfort to millions of Europeans now suffocated by
lack of breathing-space, and afford a field of investment
for the pent-up millions of capital that are crowding
returns down to an impossible minimum.  What better
advertisement to draw these millions into circulation
than a railway opening up the unknown!

The extension of the railway northwards from
Buluwayo through the Mafungabusi, Sengwe, and Sangati
coal-fields and the Bembesi, Lower Sebakwe, and Lower
Umfuli gold-finds is, of course, a commercial certainty;
and the second section through the notoriously wealthy
Lo Maghonda gold-field is equally assured.  But beyond
that, after it crosses the Zambesi at the Victoria Falls, all
estimates must be mainly hypothetical.  The Katanga
copper-fields, the enormous quantities of rubber, which
are now giving such magnificent returns to the few
traders in the country, and the recently-reported
gold-finds by Mr. George Grey augur well for the future;
but I cannot agree with Mr. Rhodes in some of his
contentions urged on an unresponsive Government as
arguments for their support of the northern extension.

He urges the native labour question, hoping to bring
large supplies of natives south to work in the mines.
This wholesale exportation and importation of labour, I
am sure, is most pernicious to the general welfare of
the country.  It raises the cost of labour throughout
the districts affected, and, as I have attempted to show
elsewhere, is bound eventually to bring all labour up
to the highest rate that has been obtained.

Say, for the sake of argument, that there are ten
thousand natives in Buluwayo working for £4 a month, and
ten thousand natives are induced to come south from
Tanganyika, having contracted to work for so many
months at 10s. a month.  The Tanganyika natives will
discover the current rates at Buluwayo, and will think
that they have been swindled; if they do not break out
into open revolt, they will return to their homes and
spread the news, thereby prevent others from coming
south at the 10s. figure, and raise the price of labour
in their country far above its original level of 3s. a
month.  More may be induced to go at, say 30s. a
month, and thus by degrees the price of labour throughout
Africa south of Tanganyika will rise to £4.  The
original Buluwayo native will never work for less than
the £4, and if crowded out by the imported natives, will
form a most turbulent element in the country, and still
the rate will go on rising.  Exactly this process is going
on now, but gradually, owing to the number of natives
who come south being insignificant compared to what
it would be with the facilities offered by a railway.

If the natives can be induced to settle, well and good.
But it is not right that other districts should be made
to pay for the administrative follies of districts which
have not tackled the native question in the beginning.
But more than this, the natives whom Mr. Rhodes
wishes to bring to the mines do not exist; the country
between the Zambesi and, Tanganyika is not densely
populated as a whole, and even now the labour supply
is not adequate to the demand on the Tanganyika
plateau.

Again, he urges that the line will benefit the British
Central Africa Protectorate by affording a means of
transport of greater regularity and efficiency than the
present system of river transport.  This will never be.
With organization and concentration the river route to
Nyassaland will have no equal in South Africa for
cheapness.  From Chickwawa to Chinde at the mouth
of the Zambesi there is an uninterrupted waterway of
two hundred and fifty miles.  It is obvious that a
railway, two thousand miles long, with considerable haulage
to the railway, can never compete with a waterway of
two hundred and fifty miles.  But he touches the right
note again when he points out the necessity for providing
against a repetition of the horrors of the Matabele
rebellion with the turbulent tribes north of the Zambesi.
The Angoni may yet, and the Awemba certainly will,
prove a most turbulent element in society in Northern
Rhodesia.

Such are roughly the pros and cons of the question of
the advisability of a through connection.

From Cape Town to Buluwayo, a distance of one
thousand three hundred and sixty miles, the railway is
completed, and already giving handsome returns for the
capital invested.  From Buluwayo there will be a line
passing through Gwelo to Salisbury to connect the Beira
line, which, owing to its comparatively short mileage,
will tap much of the commerce of Rhodesia.

The main line will branch north-west from Buluwayo,
pass through the district of the Guay river, and cross
the Zambesi at the Victoria Falls, where the curious
formation will offer but slight difficulty to the construction
of a bridge.  Thence it will pass north to a point
near Sitanda on the Upper Kafukwe, and east along the
Congo-Zambesi watershed to a point near the Loangwa
river, then again north along the watershed till it crosses
the Chambesi, and from there to Kituta at the south
end of Lake Tanganyika.

Thus far is a practical certainty of the next few years,
the distance yet to be spanned amounting to eight
hundred and sixty miles.

Beyond Kituta there is room for discussion.  A
splendid waterway of four hundred miles leads to the mouth
of the Rusisi river, which might be navigated for thirty
miles.  This, however, might be rendered inadmissible
by the existence of a bar which I consider probable, in
which case the lake steamer could not navigate the river,
as flat-bottomed boats cannot weather the seas on these
lakes.  Usambora would be the most suitable port at
the north end, and from here a light railway could be
laid for sixty miles along the flat bottom of the Rusisi
valley with no more difficulty than the Soudan railway
was laid.

From this point to Lake Kivu, which would be best
touched at the loch immediately to the west of Ishangi,
the distance is thirty miles, and a rise in level of 2,000
ft. has to be negotiated.  But the configuration of the
eastern valley, which I have mentioned as the probable
old course of the Rusisi, would to a certain extent
facilitate the sudden rise.

From this point to the bay at the north-eastern corner
of the lake there is an excellent waterway of sixty miles.
From this bay a light railway would pass through the
neck between Mounts Götzen and Eyres, having to rise
a further 2,000 ft. to the highest point that the line would
attain to throughout its entire length.  Thence by easy
gradients it would drop to the Albert Edward Plains,
which lie 3,000 ft. below the crest of the pass.  Although
this drop takes place in a distance of twenty miles, the
contours of the country offer every facility.  The line
would then pass along under the eastern wall of the
trough up the eastern side of the Albert Edward, across
the narrow neck of Lake Ruisamba, and thence to Fort
Gerry, or probably round the west of Ruwenzori and
down the Semliki valley to the Albert Lake.  It will be
seen that I ignore the waterway afforded by the Albert
Edward, although seventy-five miles long.  I will
explain my reasons subsequently.  The objection to
utilizing the Semliki valley is that, owing to the supineness
of the British Government, it is in the Congo territory.
Why we should have deviated from our policy of
insisting on our rights in the Nile valley at this point I
never could imagine, unless the ministers or delegates
responsible were ignorant of the fact that the Semliki is
as much a portion of the Nile as is the Bahr-el-Djebel.
It is the obvious route for the railway, being the course
of the huge rift valley that contains all these lakes, and
although there is a drop of 1,500 ft. before the level of
the Albert Lake is reached, it has immense advantages
over the Fort Gerry route.  Passing by Fort Gerry, the
line would have to climb 2,000 ft. and then descend
3,000 ft. down the precipitous face that hems in the
Semliki valley north-east of Ruwenzori proper.  Another
most important point in favour of the Semliki valley is
that it is densely wooded, while to the east there is very
little wood.

From the south end of Lake Albert to Dufilé at the
head of the rapids there is a waterway of two hundred
miles.  From Dufilé to Redjaf the river is broken and
rendered unnavigable by about one hundred miles of
shallows and rapids.  This stretch would have to be
spanned by another light railway which would branch
and tap the Shuli country to the east.  Finally from
Redjaf there is an uninterrupted watenvay of one
thousand miles to Khartoum, whence there is rail and steamer
communication with Cairo.  As an alternative to this,
the Dufilé-Redjaf line could be continued at very trifling
cost across country to the Sobat Junction, which would
perhaps be necessary to avoid the navigation and fuel
difficulties of the Bahr-el-Djebel waterway.  The line
could be carried slightly to the east of my route through
the swamps, and the hard, flat, well-wooded bush country
presents no difficulties to railway construction.  I
was debarred from passing that way by the dearth of
water consequent on the extraordinary drought.  Such
is the route that appears to me to have undoubted
advantages.  When once Kituta is reached, now merely
a matter of a few years, a further construction of four
hundred and ten miles of railway will render steam
communication between the Cape and Cairo an accomplished
fact.  The scarcity of fuel on this route has been
suggested as a difficulty.  I will now return once more
to Kituta, and point out the fuel centres on the line I
have suggested.

There are ample forests on both shores of Tanganyika,
which will afford an inexhaustible supply of fuel for ages.
By utilizing the waterway both shores are tapped, and
the well-nigh insurmountable obstacles to railway
construction offered by the precipitous mountains that hem
in the lake are turned.

From Tanganyika to Kivu there are no difficulties,
with the exception of the rise that I have mentioned
just south of the Kivu Lake.  Again, by utilizing the
Kivu Lake enormous difficulties are avoided in the
impossible country that surrounds the lake.  The hills are
very high, very steep, very numerous, very erratic, and
often disconnected by ridges or any gradients that would
assist construction.  Immediately north of the lake the
country again becomes easy, and another inexhaustible
supply of fuel is found on the volcanoes, while the
country is extremely rich, and wonderfully healthy, and
carries the densest population that I have seen in Africa.

The Rutchuru valley offers no difficulties, and another
fuel country is found at the south-eastern corner of the
Albert Edward Lake, while the country along the eastern
side to Katwe is so easy and flat that it would probably
be worth while to ignore the waterway as I have already
indicated.

Of the Semliki valley I can only speak from observation
of the northern half, which is as flat as a billiard-table;
but as the drop is not very considerable, the southern
half should present no serious obstacle, while it offers
a magnificent fuel supply.  The Semliki is a well-defined
river, and could be easily bridged.  Thus the whole
course is free of natural obstacles, sufficiently provided
with fuel, supplies, and labour, and, over and above,
being direct, taps all these lakes, which in themselves are
the foci of the trade of large districts.  By adopting this
course, in an incredibly short space of time, and at a
figure many millions short of the estimated cost of a
through line, the first and most important objects of the
connection will be attained: namely, the consolidation
of our influence--the strengthening of the Administration,
and thus the lessening of the numbers of soldiers
necessary to ensure order--immense cheapening of
communication and of the cost of telegraph up-keep.  Even
were the through railway cheaper, this combination of
rail and steamboat will be sufficient to feel the pulse of
the country, and if the results justify the further
expenditure, the line can easily be completed, while its
main objects have been attained years earlier than would
otherwise be possible.  As all porterage has to be done
by natives in Central Africa, a railway is even more
necessary than where wagon transport is available.
Owing to the impossibility of bringing anything heavy into
the country, many industries are debarred even from
being experimented upon.  There is still a considerable
amount of ivory in native hands throughout the lake
region, and the amount of rubber is stupendous; both
these products will bear heavy transport charges, and
are in themselves sufficient to make a beginning until
a brisk trade has been stimulated in other products.[#]


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[#] *E.g.* the Congo railway.

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These lakes, and the vast rift valley that contains them,
are the natural highway which is fed by both sides of
the continent.  It must be remembered that Africa
differs from other continents in the paucity of its
outlets and means of outlet; no continent is so poorly
endowed with harbours and navigable rivers for its size,
excepting, perhaps, Australia, which is the antithesis of
Africa in that its wealth lies along the coasts, while the
centre is the pearl of Africa.  Hence any route which
offers natural advantages is of supreme importance.

The chief argument against this combination of rail
and boat is the amount of handling that it will entail.
I believe this is of no significance:--

First, because, as I have pointed out, there will be no
through traffic.  All the traffic will be local, in that it
will be destined to feed the nearest radius that leads to
the coast, or for the interchange of local produce.

Secondly, because of the immense difference in the
capital to be sunk, and the cheapness of water transport
compared to rail transport.

Thirdly, because of the large area tapped.  Much of
the freight would have to be brought in either case by
water to the railway, and might as well be brought to
one point as to another.

Fourthly, because labour is so plentiful, and as yet so
ridiculously cheap that the cost would be very trifling.

Trade is allowedly conservative, but once it has been
directed into a certain channel it needs a huge effort to
divert it.  Let us, then, establish a route as speedily as
possible.

Finally, I wish I could induce some of the numerous
philanthropists at home to see that by aiding enterprise
of this description they strike at the very root of the
slave trade, Belgian atrocities, cannibal raids, and the
numerous other African diversions; and that in a few
years they will assist to educate, elevate, civilize, and
perhaps eventually to Christianize, the African natives
more effectually than would be done in centuries by
spasmodic mission work.





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.. _`NATIVE QUESTIONS`:

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   CHAPTER XXIV.


.. class:: center medium bold

   NATIVE QUESTIONS.

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The enormous extent of Africa, and the consequent
infinity of tribes widely divergent in origin, character,
and habits, make it almost impossible to generalize
on this most abstruse subject.

Still some principles may be laid down for the great
negroid population of Africa which, as far as my
experience goes, apply in most instances.  I will ignore
platitudes as to the equality of men irrespective of
colour and progress, and take as an hypothesis what is
patent to all who have observed the African native, that
he is fundamentally inferior in mental development and
ethical possibilities (call it soul if you will) to the white
man.

He approaches everything from an entirely different
standpoint to us.  What that standpoint is, what his
point of view is, by what mental refraction things are
distorted to his receptive faculty, I cannot pretend to
explain.  I have failed to find any one who could.  But
the fact remains, that if a native is told to do anything,
and it is within the bounds of diabolical ingenuity to
do it wrong, he will do it wrong; and if he cannot
do it wrong, he will not do it right.  I can but suggest
as an explanation that he is left-minded as he is generally
left-handed.  The following anecdotes will illustrate my
meaning.  They all came under my personal observation,
and tend to show the impossibility of following a
native's reasoning, if he does reason.

When I engaged the Watonga on Lake Nyassa, I informed
them of all the salient features that they would
see on the road, such as lakes, mountains that spat fire,
mountains so high that the water became as stones, etc.
As we passed each of these features I reminded them of
what I had said, showing them that I had not lied, as
they had imagined before starting.  When the journey
was nearly finished, I pointed out that everything had
appeared as I had said, and asked them what they
thought of it.  Then spake the headman: "Lord, you
are a wonderful lord.  You told us of the four lakes,
and how many days' journey it would take to pass them;
you told us of the smoking mountains and the great
mountains of the white water; of the elephants and the
meat with necks like trees (giraffe); yet you have not
been there before, as we well know.  And as you would
not have us, your servants, think you a liar, *you put
them there*."

Again, I had told them of the size of the white man's
houses; and when we arrived at Khartoum I showed
them the palace as an example.  They smiled and said:
"Yes, it is very wonderful; but that is no house, *it has
been dug out of a hill*."

When travelling up the Zambesi, I gave Sharp's
Somali boy a Van Houten's cocoa-tin to open, telling
him to make cocoa.  He disappeared for a time, and
returned with a tin-opener with which he proceeded to
tear off the bottom of the tin.  Having successfully
accomplished this, he thrust a spoon in and pushed the
lid off, with the result that all the cocoa fell out on to
the ground.  Then he looked at me with an expression
of supreme contempt, as though to say: "I always
thought the white men fools, but not quite such fools
as to make a thing like that."  He must have opened
hundreds of tins before, both hermetically sealed ones
and ordinary ones.  Yet to this day he thinks me an
idiot.

The small boy who was responsible for arranging my
tent had been carefully instructed always to place my
belongings in a certain order.  Occasionally, through his
having put my bed on an uneven piece of ground, I
would tell him to change it to the other side, which
meant reversing my boxes and table to bring them into
the correct relative position.  In doing this he was never
satisfied till he had also reversed the square mat, and
when I laughed at him for doing so he left the mat and
put the boxes wrong, nor could he put them right till
he had reversed the mat.  This was most curious, and
I could never grasp to my satisfaction what his train of
reasoning was.

One day, when hauling a canoe up a very shallow
tributary of the Nile, one of my boys, finding that he
could not pull to advantage from the bed of the river,
climbed inside and made superhuman efforts to drag it
along.  He quite failed to see the cause of my laughter,
sulked, and refused to pull any more.

The answers of some natives who had been taken to
England after a trip across Africa were instructive as
showing the trend of a negro's mind.  Questioned as to
what appeared most wonderful to them, one replied:
"The white man, when he wants anything, goes to the
wall; then he obtains what he requires, light, drink,
servants--in fact, everything."  Another replied: "The
selling-houses with rows and rows of meat, countless
sheep and lumps of meat."  And the third replied:
"The little houses that run about the roads with
horses."  Of all the marvellous sights of civilization, three
impressions stuck--bells, butchers' shops, and omnibuses.
These few instances are sufficient to indicate in what
unexpected channels the native's thoughts flow.  His
character is made up of contending elements, and is
best explained by saying that he has no character at all.
It is a blend of the child and the beast of the field.  He
is swayed by every wind that blows, yet may seize upon
an idea and stick to it with remarkable tenacity, in spite
of the most cogent arguments to and obvious advantages
involved in the contrary.

He is as imitative as a monkey, and consequently is
very apt at picking up crafts, gestures, and styles that
are new to him, but is so bound down by tradition and
custom that he never applies the improved methods of
the white man to anything that he is accustomed to do
in his own way.

His mind is so inactive and blank that he can carry
for miles loads that he cannot pick up from the ground,
by merely sinking his entity.  He becomes mentally
torpid, with the result that the effort is solely physical.
A white man, though physically stronger, would fret
himself into a state of utter fatigue in a quarter of the
time.

In trifles he is impatient, yet will argue a question for
a week till it is threshed out to the bitter end, and will
accomplish with unceasing thoroughness a piece of carving
or basket-work that takes months to perfect.

In debate he is extremely subtle, and in politics differs
materially from the white man in that he can hold his
tongue.  On principle he never tells the truth, and
consequently never expects to hear it.  He is extremely
suspicious, and his maxim is, "Mistrust every one."  Yet
a judicious laugh will inspire him with complete
confidence.  "When in doubt laugh," I have found a
safe maxim in dealing with natives, and a well-timed
laugh saved many ugly situations during our sojourn in
the land.

He hates to be hurried; with him there is no idea of
time.  "Do not the days succeed one another?---then
why hurry?" is his idea.  He cannot understand at all
the hurrying man.

His stage of evolution, which is but slightly superior
to the lower animals, is the explanation of many of the
seemingly inexplicable traits in his character, traits
which are conspicuous in the bees and ants, and in
varying degrees remarkable in other animals that have
attained to some more or less complete communism.
For instance, a native will share as a matter of course
the last bite with any one of the same clan (a
relationship that is expressed by the word "ndugu"), yet he
will watch starve with the most perfect equanimity
another native who, even though of the same tribe, does
not come within that mystic denomination.  Should,
however, even his "ndugu" become very sick or otherwise
incapable of taking his part in the battle of life,
he is left to take care of himself as best he can, and
everything is devoted to the sustenance of those who
are still capable.  In this respect the native is inferior
to the elephant, who will at considerable risk to
themselves endeavour to assist a wounded comrade from the
field of battle.  The fundamental basis of native society
is local communism and disregard for all outside that
commune; though at times the various communes that
constitute a tribe will combine for some object of equal
benefit to all.  The rarity, however, of this combination
for a purpose is what constitutes the essential weakness
of all African peoples.  The old Zulu *régime*, and the
till recently remarkable cohesion of the Ruanda people,
are the conspicuous exceptions, and are proof of what
possibilities lie to the hand of dusky Napoleons in Africa.
The Arabs fully realized and availed themselves of this
inherent lack of combination amongst the tribes.  The
success of their policy of disintegration should serve as
a useful example for our African statesmen.  Many of
our failures are to be attributed to our not having grasped
the dominant fact that every chief who is left in possession
of his power is a source of strength to ourselves, to
be used as a counterpoise to every other chief similarly
placed.  It stands to reason that several definite units--to
wit, clans consolidated under the ægis of responsible
men--can be more easily brought to focus than a
heterogeneous mass, incomplete in itself, and which will be
bound to gravitate to any adventurer who may acquire
a temporary hearing.  The great mass, strangled as it
is by innate superstition, hidebound by tradition, and
so situated as to be incapable of enlightenment other
than the most microscopically gradual, can never be
brought thoroughly under white rule.  It must be ruled
by its constituted and therefore accepted chiefs, who
alone can be made responsible to the Administration.
How to bring these chiefs under our influence without
lessening their local prestige, and how to infuse the
necessary element of competition *inter se*, are the problems
the solution of which will materially facilitate the thorny
path of African administration.  A curious quality, and
one in some degree referable to this low stage of evolution,
is their inability to grasp the idea of a natural death.
If a man's head is smashed, they can associate the
obvious cause and effect, but any death less easily
explained is attributed to some such factor as the "evil
eye."  This is invariable with the Soudanese tribes, and
is a source of unending trouble to the officers in
command of Soudanese troops.  Again, the utter disregard
for the future would argue a social stage inferior to the
bees.  No native can be induced to look to the morrow.
Over and over again we served out rations to our men,
for, say, a week, and informed them that by no possible
means could they obtain food during that week; yet on
every occasion they ate it all the first day or threw away
what they could not eat, trusting, in their characteristic
optimism, that something would turn up.  Nor do they
ever learn from experience.  Every year that the rains
fail or their crops are for some reason deficient, they are
caught and philosophically starve, yet two days more
of work would place them beyond all possibility of famine.

Another very essential factor has to be taken into
consideration in an endeavour to grasp the native
character.  That is the lack of the two sentiments, gratitude
and pity, which enter so largely into the workings of the
European mind.  As far as I am aware, in all the Bantu
dialects there is no word that remotely suggested either
of these virtues.  In the Swahili tongue the word asanti
(thank you) has been borrowed from another language
for the benefit of the mixed Hindu-Persian and Arab
elements who constitute Swahili society.  A few
anecdotes will exemplify this lack.

I was paddling across the Shiré river to Chiromo, when
a native asked me to give him a lift across.  I did so,
and no sooner had he landed, than he asked me for a
present for having done so.

Another boy, who had been bitten by a deadly snake,
came to me for treatment.  With considerable difficulty,
and the expenditure of my last bottle of whisky, I saved
his life.  Having completely recovered, he helped
himself to such of my movables as he could conveniently
annex, and absconded.

Their lack of the sense of pity is shown in their brutal
treatment of animals, of the sick, and of those who are
too old to work.  Even the Portuguese or Spanish
treatment of animals is Christian compared to a native's
method.  They are impervious to the sufferings of others,
and rather regard them as a joke.  On one occasion
several boys were standing under a tree, when a snake
dropped from a branch, and bit one of the boys on the
cheek, causing the most intense pain which ended only
in death.  The other boys thought it great fun, and
were distorted with laughter at the agonized convulsions
of the unfortunate.

A further proof of the lack of these senses is their
utter inability to understand them in others.

An amusing case that came to my notice is a proof in
point.  An official had engaged a cook at 10s. a month,
who for three months gave complete satisfaction.  At
the end of that time he called the native before him,
and explained that as he had done his work so well, his
wages would be raised to 15s. a month.  The cook
appeared to be rather puzzled, and went away.  The
following morning he returned and demanded 15s.,
arguing that he was the same now as he had been before
and that therefore he ought to have 5s. more for each of
the three months which he had spent in his service.
From that day he became useless, and eventually left,
firm in the conviction that he had been swindled out
of 15s.

Another man of my acquaintance saved a small child
from a crocodile.  The child's hand was badly torn,
but after careful tending, with the help of a doctor
brought at considerable expense from the nearest station,
he was sent home completely cured.  Thereupon the
child's father and mother arrived on the scene, and
demanded a large present because the child had been
kept so long.

Gratitude or pity in others they attribute to fear, or
the desire to get the better of them.  They look upon
kindness as a thing suspicious, a move to cloak some
ulterior design.  Nor can they understand leniency, but
consider it weakness.  They themselves are either abject
grovellers or blustering bullies.  The Arab understands
this, and rules with a rod of iron; the natural result of
which is that natives prefer Arab service to British, the
philanthropy of which they do not understand, and either
mistrust or despise.  Strict justice they do understand;
but it must be based on the "eye for an eye, tooth for a
tooth" school.  The unreasoning philanthropy which is
the latest phase of our "unctuous rectitude" is as pearls
before swine, and, as with other nations, so with natives,
merely renders us objects of pity.

I trust that these few points are sufficient to indicate
the difficulties that lie before the student of native
character.  Yet in spite of this, there exists a certain
section of the community at home who presume to
dictate the methods to be adopted in dealing with
natives.  Strong in their magnificent ignorance of the
local requirements, racial characteristics, and the
factors that make society, men are found who will
condemn such acts as the desecration of the Mahdi's tomb.
These individuals, unless specialists, would never dream
of discoursing on the treatment of horses, spectral
analysis, or any other subject requiring special study,
yet, with a confidence sublime in its assurance, they
will launch forth into the still more abstruse subject of
native administration.  Nothing is more to be
deprecated than this meddling on the part of the
stay-at-homes, in the methods adopted by the men specially
selected to undertake the difficult task of ruling these
peoples.  We select the men whom we think most
capable of promoting the prosperity of the countries in
question, and instead of allowing them to find out by
experience the methods most productive of good, we
cramp their efforts by well-intentioned but fatal
limitations on points of which we are necessarily profoundly
ignorant.  If, as a section of the press would lead us to
believe, we are compelled to assume that every man
who leaves this country *ipso facto* becomes an
abandoned ruffian, the sooner we shut up our branch shops,
and retain our servants under the watchful eye of the
man in blue, the better for all concerned.  But if, on
the other hand, we are confident that we are promoting
the welfare of the community at large by assuming
these responsibilities, and believe that we can find
reliable men to carry on the work, the least that we can
do is to allow those men to profit by and regulate their
methods on the experience that they must necessarily
acquire, and which is necessarily denied to us.  The
fact that the method most productive of good in Africa
is not the same as the method most productive of good
at home is no evidence of the inadvisability of its
adoption.  A thousand and one factors known only to the
man on the spot must be assumed.  In the halcyon days
that are no doubt coming, no one will be allowed to
hold an important position in the Government who
has not gone through the mill of travel.  "What do
they know of England who only England know?"  What
indeed!  In an empire like ours, of which the
British isles are already but the viscera, it is
inconceivable that men who are largely responsible for the
administration of that empire should display the gaping
ignorance of the elements of which it is composed,
which daily passes without comment.  This external
interference is of paramount importance.  It is
crushing all our African ventures, and with the
rapidly-increasing facility of communication attendant on
telegraphic construction, its effect is becoming daily more
conspicuous.  In the old days men were bound to act
on their own initiative; now the tendency is to shirk
responsibility by appealing to headquarters.  This
paralyzes decisive action, which alone is effective in dealing
with natives.  A general outline of policy should be
adopted on the recommendation of the best available
experts, but every possible detail should be left to the
discretion of the local official.  Many of the ridiculous
restrictions that are made are nothing short of insults
to the men affected by them.  Imagine placing one
man in charge of a district such as Toro--Toro is larger
than Ireland, and consequently the position is one of
enormous responsibility--and telling that man that he
must not give more than twenty-five lashes to a native.
It is grotesque.  Twenty-five lashes would kill an
average Toro native, but a hundred lashes barely make the
dust fly off a Manyema porter.  Surely details of this
description should be left to the judgment of the man
who can weigh the facts of the case.

But few people at home realize what an alarming and
ever-growing difficulty has to be faced in the African
native problem.  It is a difficulty that is unique in
the progress of the world.  In Australia, Tasmania,
New Zealand (in a minor degree), and America the
aborigine has faded out of existence before the
irresistible and to him insufferable advance of the white
man.  But not so the African, who in this sense differs
entirely from other savages.  Under the beneficent
rule of the white man he thrives like weeds in a
hot-house.  Originally, the two great checks on
population were smallpox and internecine strife.  These have
been minimized by the advent of white rule, and the
resulting rate of increase is one to stagger the
statistician.  The stately Maori, the wild Australian, the
chivalrous Tasmanian, and the grim Redskin have
given up the struggle, and are fast going the way of the
mammoth and the dodo, but in white-teethed content
the negro smiles and breeds apace, mildly contemptuous
of the mad Englishman who does so much for him and
expects so little in return.  What is to be done with this
ever-increasing mass of inertia?  We have undertaken
his education and advancement.  When we undertake
the education of a child or beast we make them work,
realizing that work is the sole road to advancement.
But when we undertake the education of a negro, who,
as I have endeavoured to show, is a blend of the two,
we say, "Dear coloured man, thou elect of Exeter Hall,
chosen of the negrophil, darling of the unthinking
philanthropist, wilt thou deign to put thy hand to the
plough, or dost prefer to smoke and tipple in undisturbed
content?  We, the white men, whom thy conscience
wrongly judges to be thy superiors, will arrange thy
affairs of state.  Sleep on, thou ebony idol of a jaded
civilization, maybe anon thou wilt sing 'Onward,
Christian Soldiers!'"

A good sound system of compulsory labour would do
more to raise the native in five years than all the
millions that have been sunk in missionary efforts for the
last fifty; but at the very sound of "compulsory
labour," the whole of stay-at-home England stops its
ears, and yells, "Slavery!" and not knowing what
"slavery" is, yells "Slavery!" again, nor ever looks at
home nor realizes that we are all slaves.  Have we not
compulsory education, taxes, poor-rates, compulsory
this and compulsory that, with "jail" as the
alternative?  Nor are we paid by the State for being
educated.  Then let the native be compelled to work so
many months in the year at a fixed and reasonable rate,
and call it compulsory education.  Under such a title,
surely the most delicate British conscience may be at
rest.  Thereby the native will be morally and physically
improved; he will acquire tastes and wants which will
increase the trade of the country; he will learn to
know the white man and his ways, and will, by providing
a plentiful supply of labour, counterbalance the
physical disadvantages under which the greater part of
Africa labours, and thus ensure the future prosperity of
the land, whereby, with the attendant security of
tenure and of the rights of the individual, he will have
that chance of progressive evolution which centuries of
strife and bloodshed have denied him.  Inducements
might be offered to chiefs to make plantations of wheat,
rice, coffee, and other suitable products, by exempting
a number of their men, proportionate to the area
cultivated, from the annual educational course.

This perpetual wail of "slavery," which is always
raised to combat legitimate and reasonable discussion,
is due to ignorance, to the inability to discriminate
between the status of slavery and slave-raiding.
Slave-raiding was a curse beyond belief, and is now, happily,
to all intents a nightmare of the past, but the status
of slavery is still widespread, and with many peoples
is necessary and beneficent.  The line between slavery
and freedom is a very nice distinction.  We can all
be called upon to fight or to give up our goods for the
common weal, or, as we phrase it, for the cause of
progress.  Then why should not other peoples be called
upon to work for the cause of progress?  There is a
sound maxim in the progress of the world: "What
cannot be utilized must be eliminated."  And drivel as
we will for a while, the time will come when the negro
must bow to this as to the inevitable.  Why, because
he is black and is supposed to possess a soul, we should
consider him, on account of that combination, exempt,
is difficult to understand, when a little firmness would
transform him from a useless and dangerous brute into
a source of benefit to the country and of satisfaction
to himself.

I invariably had trouble with my natives when they
were not occupied.  The native has no means of
amusing himself, nor idea of making occupation, and
consequently, like women similarly situated, has recourse to
chatter and the hatching of mischief.  Work, I am
convinced, is the keynote to the betterment of the African;
and he will not work for the asking.  No amount of
example will assist him.  What are the results of several
hundred years' communication with the Portuguese?
A few natives wear hats, and the women's morals have
deteriorated.  Africa labours under many
disadvantages--remoteness from markets, inaccessibility, dearth of
waterways, and in parts a pestilential climate; but it
has one great advantage in an inexhaustible supply of
potential labour, which, if properly handled, should
place it on terms of equality with countries more
favourably endowed by Nature.

The first essential in opening up new country in
Africa is for the Administration to fix a rate of pay,
and to make that rate a low one.  If it is left to
competition the rate is bound to be forced up by contending
trading companies.  The first profits from new country
are usually large, and the difficulty of obtaining labour
very great before the native has gained confidence.
Hence the rate dependent on competition is a fictitious
one, and cannot be sustained under the conditions that
will prevail subsequent to the harvesting of the first-fruits
of the land.  But it will be well-nigh impossible
ever to lower the rate to meet diminishing profits.
At first sight this seems severe on the native, but in
reality it is not so.  As he is, he has every necessary of
life, and everything that we give him is a luxury.  The
taste for pay is a cultivated taste, and three shillings
really gives him as much satisfaction as three pounds.
The native on the Tanganyika plateau works more
cheerfully for his three shillings a month than the
Rhodesian native does for his two pounds, and yet
beads and cloth are much more costly on the plateau
than in Rhodesia.  There is a short-sighted inclination
amongst British officials to give the native more than
he requires or even asks for, presumably simply because
he is a native.

At one station I required a certain amount of labour,
and as there was no precedent to go upon, we called
up some of the local natives, and asked them for what
sum they would be willing to do the work in question.
They mentioned a figure which they evidently
considered preposterous, but which, as a matter of fact,
was very small.  The official thereupon told them that
they would get more.  This naturally aroused their
suspicions, and some of those who had at first been
willing failed to turn up.  It must always be
remembered that the untutored native will work as readily
for three shillings as he will for three pounds; and if
he does not want to work, he will not do so for thirty
pounds.  The actual rate of pay carries no weight with
him.  It is merely a matter of whether he is in the mood.
But, of course, if he has once received a certain figure
he will never work for less, even if he is in the mood
to do so.  Were he to do so he would imagine that he
had been swindled.

The Portuguese, for the simple reason that they themselves
practically never pay their natives at all, failed
to grasp the necessity of controlling the labour market
in the Beira district, with the result that the wages of
an ordinary carrier or labourer are one pound a month,
and of an untrained house-boy from two pounds to
three pounds a month.  These sums were gladly paid in
the original days of boom and prosperity, but in these
days of comparative gloom they are feeling the pinch.
Large supplies of labour are brought down from the
Zambesi to minimize the difficulty, but with the sole
result that this fictitious rate is spread to the regions
that are being tapped when the labourers return to
their homes.  By this means the evil is gradually
working up the Shiré river to British Central Africa.
Rhodesia has, to a considerable extent, blighted her prospects
by not grappling with the subject, in spite of the hysteria
of those whose knowledge of natives, their ways, and
of the best methods of dealing with them appears to
be derived from week-end studies of the becollared
fraternity who affect Margate and Brighton sands.

The name of Englishman is held high throughout
Africa, and the Union Jack is the surest passport in the
land.  Let this be the answer to those who casually
assume that because a man goes to Africa he necessarily
becomes a brute, no matter what his social status,
education, or previous mental condition.  It is obviously to
the interest of men who live as an infinitesimal minority
amongst hordes of savages, to find out what means are
most conducive to the proper control of those hordes,
and to inspire them with that respect and assurance
of justice, without which they will be in continual
revolt, as has been the case with the natives of the Upper
Congo since the substitution of Belgian and polyglot
officials for the original staff of British and Americans.
However, the damage is done, and I think the
proposed remedy of importing "the teeming millions" of
Lake Tanganyika (who, by the way, do not exist) a
false and dangerous one.  The imported natives,
finding that they obtain less pay than the natives of the
country, although they have come far from their own
homes, break out in discontent, and, maybe, open
revolt (as did the Angoni police, recruited and sent to
Salisbury by Major Harding, C.M.G.), and when they
return home spread the feeling of dissatisfaction far and
wide.  The Yaos who were sent to Mauritius were even
a greater failure, and cannot but have the most
pernicious influence on their return.  Uganda has been
similarly doomed as an agricultural country by the
chaotic incompetence that supervened after the Lugard
*régime*.  British Central Africa alone of the young
African States has steered a straight course through the
stormy seas of labour questions.  But British Central
Africa has profited by its hitherto comparative
insignificance, and, under the able guidance of Sir Harry
Johnston, has found the right channel unruffled by
the whirlwinds of adverse criticism, which have played
with such unceasing ferocity upon Rhodesia.  It seems
hardly reasonable that one district should be called
upon to pay for the mistakes made in another.

The establishment of native locations on a large
scale in the districts that require labour will tend to
ameliorate the labour scarcity and maintain wages at a
reasonable level.  On farms and plantations there is
comparatively little difficulty in obtaining labour.  The
native is useless without his women-folk, but is easily
induced to settle down in any spot required, if allotted
so much land and allowed to bring his family, while at
the same time a fillip is given to production when he
finds that his women can add to his income by cultivating
the various requirements of the white man.

To summarize; the questions of paramount importance are:--

\1. *To make the Administration the sole labour agents*.

By this means the supply of labour can be evenly
distributed through the year, or according to the
country's requirements.  The rate of pay can be fixed and
maintained at a rational level.  Undesirable people can
be prevented from obtaining labour, and thereby
adversely influencing the native.  The native is protected
against the employer, and guaranteed proper treatment
by knowing that he has a court of appeal where he can
obtain information and air his grievances.

\2. *To rule through the chiefs, and refrain from injuring
their prestige*.

Centuries cannot give the white man the power over
the individual native that the recognized chief holds
without question.  The substitution of one chief for
another is of no use unless the original chief is killed
and his rightful heir instated.  These matters are
religion with natives.  "Once a chief always a chief,
even when dead," is their belief.  To get a grip on an
important chief and yet leave him his power is a
difficult matter; and as these preliminary questions will
affect the whole future of the country, the first step
in administration should be entrusted to really able
men, and not, as is too often the case, to any trader,
hunter, or out-of-a-job who happens to be in the
neighbourhood and to know a little of the language.  By
leaving the chiefs their power, administration is greatly
facilitated by the resulting concentration of responsibility.
All the petty questions and difficulties (which
are often such dangerous ground, until the local
customs are fully understood) devolve on the chief, and
if there is any serious trouble the responsibility can be
instantly located.

The prestige of the chiefs should be maintained in
every possible way, such as exempting them from the
hut-tax, allowing them a small armed escort, etc.

I realized the immense importance of this ruling
through the chiefs when in the Chambesi district of
Northern Rhodesia.  Two chiefs of considerable
influence, namely, Makasa and Changala, really administer
the country under the direction of the collector.  A
criminal was wanted, and Changala handed him over
in thirty-six hours; had he not done so, all the police
in the district might have hunted for a year without
success.

\3. *More attention must be paid to maintaining the
prestige of the white man*.

This is of paramount importance.  There is rather
a tendency amongst the officials to lower the non-official
in the eyes of the native.  This is fatal.  The prestige
must be maintained at all costs, as it is the sole hold
that we have over the native.  The rabble that is
inseparable from a mining community is a great difficulty.
But still much harm is caused by the ignorance of the
youthful officials who are in positions for which they
are in no wise fitted.

\4. *Officials should be forced to acquire a knowledge of
the language*.

The Germans set us a good example in their East
Coast Protectorate, where a man must go through a
preliminary course at the coast before being admitted
to any position in the interior.  I have seen much harm
done by the employment of interpreters, who are
invariably bribed, and only say what they wish to be said.
This destroys the confidence of the native.  I have
always remarked the eagerness with which the native
appeals to the white man who can converse direct
with him.

\5. *The constant moving of officials from place to place
should be avoided*.

The native requires a long time to learn to know a
white man and to feel confidence in him.  In many places
a game of general post with the officials seems to be the
chief occupation of the Administration.

\6. *The official should be enabled and encouraged to travel
round his district*.

This is the surest means of inspiring confidence.  At
present most of the officials whom I met were tied to
their stations by such statesmanlike duties as weighing
out beads, measuring cloth, and copying out orders;
all of which might be cheaply and effectually done by
an Indian clerk.  Travelling round and learning the
natives is usually severely repressed at headquarters.

.. vspace:: 3

.. _`Map of the Route`:

.. figure:: images/img-380-t.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE "FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO" (northern half of map)

   MAP TO ILLUSTRATE "FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO" (northern half of map)

.. vspace:: 2

.. figure:: images/img-382-t.jpg
   :align: center
   :alt: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE "FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO" (southern half of map)

   MAP TO ILLUSTRATE "FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO" (southern half of map)

.. vspace:: 3

.. class:: noindent

[Transcriber's note: larger versions of these maps 
(img-380.jpg and img-382.jpg) have been
provided, but they are not linked into this etext.]

.. vspace:: 3

.. class:: center medium white-space-pre-line

   PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT
   THE PRESS OF THE PUBLISHERS

.. vspace:: 6

.. pgfooter::