The South And
South-East Of Cassala Is Wild And Mountainous, Affording
Excellent Localities For Hill Stations During The Unhealthy
Rainy
season; but such sanitary arrangements for the preservation of
troops are about as much heeded by the Egyptian Government
As by
our own, and regiments are left in unwholesome climates to take
their chance, although the means of safety are at hand.
The Taka country being the extreme frontier of Egypt, constant
raids are made by the Egyptians upon their neighbours--the
hostile Base, through which country the river Gash or Mareb
descends. I was anxious to procure all the information possible
concerning the Base, as it would be necessary to traverse the
greater portion in exploring the Settite river, which is the
principal tributary of the Atbara, and which is in fact the main
and parent stream, although bearing a different name. I heard but
one opinion of the Base--it was a wild and independent country,
inhabited by a ferocious race, whose hand was against every man,
and who in return were the enemies of all by whom they were
surrounded--Egyptians, Abyssinians, Arabs, and Mek Nimmur;
nevertheless, secure in their mountainous stronghold, they defied
all adversaries. The Base is a portion of Abyssinia, but the
origin of the tribe that occupies this ineradicable hornet's nest
is unknown. Whether they are the remnant of the original
Ethiopians, who possessed the country prior to the conquests of
the Abyssinians, or whether they are descended from the
woolly-haired tribes of the south banks of the Blue Nile, is
equally a mystery; all we know is that they are of the same type
as the inhabitants of Fazogle, of the upper portion of the Blue
River; they are exceedingly black, with woolly hair, resembling
in that respect the negro, but without the flat nose or
prognathous jaw. No quarter is given on either side, should the
Base meet the Arabs, with whom war is to the knife. In spite of
the overwhelming superiority of their adversaries, the Base
cannot be positively subdued; armed with the lance as their only
weapon, but depending upon extreme agility and the natural
difficulties of their mountain passes, the attack of the Base is
always by stealth; their spies are ever prowling about unseen
like the leopard, and their onset is invariably a surprise;
success or defeat are alike followed by a rapid retreat to their
mountains.
As there is nothing to be obtained by the plunder of the Base but
women and children as slaves, the country is generally avoided,
unless visited for the express purpose of a slave razzia.
Cultivation being extremely limited, the greater portion of the
country is perfectly wild, and is never visited even by the Base
themselves unless for the purpose of hunting. Several beautiful
rivers descend from the mountain ranges, which ultimately flow
into the Atbara; these, unlike the latter river, are never dry:
thus, with a constant supply of water, in a country of forest and
herbage, the Base abounds in elephants, rhinoceroses,
hippopotami, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, and great
numbers of the antelope tribe.
Cassala, thus situated on the confines of the Taka country, is an
important military point in the event of war between Egypt and
Abyssinia, as the Base would be invaluable as allies to the
Egyptians; their country commands the very heart of Abyssinia,
and their knowledge of the roads would be an incalculable
advantage to an invading force. On the 14th July I had concluded
my arrangements for the start; there had been some difficulty in
procuring camels, but the all-powerful firman was a never-failing
talisman, and, as the Arabs had declined to let their animals for
hire, the Governor despatched a number of soldiers and seized the
required number, including their owners. I engaged two wild young
Arabs of eighteen and twenty years of age, named Bacheet and Wat
Gamma: the latter being interpreted signifies "Son of the Moon."
This in no way suggests lunacy, but the young Arab had happened
to enter this world on the day of the new moon, which was
considered to be a particularly fortunate and brilliant omen at
his birth. Whether the climax of his good fortune had arrived at
the moment he entered my service I know not, but, if so, there
was a cloud over his happiness in his subjection to Mahomet the
dragoman, who rejoiced in the opportunity of bullying the two
inferiors. Wat Gamma was a quiet, steady, well-conducted lad, who
bore oppression mildly; but the younger, Bacheet, was a fiery,
wild young Arab, who, although an excellent boy in his peculiar
way, was almost incapable of being tamed and domesticated. I at
once perceived that Mahomet would have a determined rebel to
control, which I confess I did not regret. Wages were not high in
this part of the world,--the lads were engaged at one and a half
dollar per month and their keep. Mahomet, who was a great man,
suffered from the same complaint to which great men are (in those
countries) particularly subject: wherever he went, he was
attacked with claimants of relationship; he was overwhelmed with
professions of friendship from people who claimed to be
connexions of some of his family; in fact, if all the
ramifications of his race were correctly represented by the
claimants of relationship, Mahomet's family tree would have
shaded the Nubian desert.
We all have our foibles: the strongest fort has its feeble point,
as the chain snaps at its weakest link;--family pride was
Mahomet's weak link. This was his tender point; and Mahomet, the
great and the imperious, yielded to the gentle scratching of his
ear if a stranger claimed connexion with his ancient lineage. Of
course he had no family, with the exception of his wife and two
children, whom he had left in Cairo. The lady whom he had
honoured by an admission to the domestic circle of the Mahomets
was suffering from a broken arm when we started from Egypt, as
she had cooked the dinner badly, and the "gaddah," or large
wooden bowl, had been thrown at her by the naturally indignant
husband, precisely as he had thrown the axe at one man and the
basin at another, while in our service:
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