I Promised To
Represent His Offer To The Governor-General On My Arrival At
Khartoum.
He agreed to give me a guide to the rivers Angrab and
Salaam, that were not far distant, and he at once pointed out to
me the two dark gorges, about twelve and sixteen miles distant,
in the chain of precipitous mountains from which they flowed.
He
described the country upon the other side of the mountains to be
the elevated plateau of Abyssinia, and he advised me to visit the
king before my departure from his territory; this I could not
conveniently accomplish, as my route lay in an opposite
direction. He begged me for a telescope, so that he should be
able to see the approach of the Turks (Egyptians) from a great
distance, as he explained that he had spies upon all the mountain
tops, so that no stranger could enter his country without his
knowledge. He confessed that my movements while in the Base
country had been watched by his spies, until he had felt assured
that I had no sinister motive. I laughed at the idea; he replied,
that we were most fortunate to have escaped an attack from the
natives, as they were far worse than wild beasts, and he
immediately pointed out several Base slaves who were present in
the crowd, who had been captured when children; they appeared to
be the same as the woolly-headed natives of the south bank of the
Blue Nile, and not at all peculiar in appearance. He cautioned me
against bathing in the stream, or drinking the water in the
neighbourhood of our camp, as it was extremely poisonous, and
would produce an irritation of the skin. I told him that I had
discovered copper, and that I attributed the poisonous quality of
the water to the presence of that mineral. This announcement was
received with a general expression of approbation. "That is very
curious," he said, "that we who live in this country are
ignorant, and that you, a stranger, should at once explain the
cause of the poison." He at once agreed to the suggestion, as he
said, that during the rains, when the torrents were full, the
water was not unwholesome, but in the dry weather, when the
supply was scanty, and the stream feeble, the strength of the
poison was necessarily increased. He assured me that, although
the pasturage was excellent, all cattle that drank in that hor or
stream became as thin as skeletons.
Mek Nimmur had been ignorant of the existence of copper, but he
informed me that gold dust was common in the sand of most of the
ravines, and that, if I would remain in his country, I might
discover considerable quantities. I informed him that I had
already discovered the existence of both gold and lead. He
requested me to give him every information respecting the lead,
as he should prefer it to gold, as he could manufacture bullets
to shoot the Turks (as the Egyptians are called by the
neighbouring tribes). After a long and satisfactory conversation,
I made my salaam, and retired. Immediately on my arrival at the
camp, I despatched Wat Gamma on horseback with Taher Noor, in
charge of a pair of beautiful double-barrelled pistols, with the
name of Tatham as the manufacturer; these were loaded, and I sent
a polite message, begging Mek Nimmur's acceptance of the present;
they were accompanied by a supply of ammunition.
In the evening Wat Gamma returned with the pistols; --they had
BURST! Mek Nimmur had requested him to fire at a mark, and one
barrel of each pistol had given way; thus, the double rifle and
the pistols of the same name "Tatham" had all failed; fortunately
no one was injured. I was afraid that this would lead to some
complication, and I was much annoyed; I had never used these
pistols, but I had considered that they were first rate; thus I
had given them to Mek Nimmur as a valuable present, and they had
proved their utter worthlessness. I immediately mounted my horse,
and with my revolver in my belt, and my beautiful single Beattie
rifle in my hand, I galloped off to Mek Nimmur; he was seated in
the same spot, watching the harvest of dhurra, enormous piles of
which were being thrashed by a number of Abyssinians. The instant
that I arrived, I went straight to him, and explained my regret
and disappointment at the failure of the pistols, and I begged
him to take his choice between my rifle and revolver. He behaved
remarkably well; he had begged my messenger to leave the broken
pistols with him, and not to mention the circumstance to me, as
he felt sure that I should feel even more annoyed than himself;
he now declined my offer, as he said I should require the weapons
during my proposed journey up the White Nile, and he could not
deprive me of their use. He was afraid of the revolver, as it was
too complicated, but I tore from my note-book a small piece of
paper, which I requested one of his people to stick upon a rock
about ninety yards distant. I took a steady shot with the single
rifle, and was fortunate enough to hit the paper exactly. This
elicited general applause, and Mek Nimmur called one of his
people, an Abyssinian, who he declared to be a celebrated shot,
and he requested that he might be allowed to fire the rifle. I
placed a similar mark upon the rock, and the Abyssinian fired
from a rest, and struck the stone, in a good line, about six
inches below the paper. The crowd were in raptures with the
rifle, which I at once insisted upon Mek Nimmur accepting. I then
made my salaam, and mounted my horse amidst general expressions
of approval.
On the following morning, Mek Nimmur sent us two camel-loads of
corn; a large gourd of honey, weighing about fifty pounds; and
four cows that must have been a detachment of Pharaoh's lean
kine, with a polite message that I was to select the FATTEST.
These cattle were specimens of the poisonous qualities of the
water; but, although disappointed in the substance of the
present, my people were delighted with the acquisition, and they
immediately selected a cow; but just as they were licking their
lips at the prospect of fresh meat, which they had not tasted for
some days, the cow broke away and made off across country.
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