30th. - We Halted At The Earnest Solicitation Of Chongi, As Well
As Of The Chopi Porters, Who Said They Required
A day to lay in
grain, as the Wichwezi, or mendicant sorcerers - for so they
thought fit to designate Petherick's
Elephant-hunters - had eaten
up the country all about them, and those who went before with
Bombay to visit their camp could get no food.
1st. - We halted again at the request of all parties, and much to
the delight of old Chongi, who supplied us with abundant pombe,
promised a cow, that we should not be put to any extra expense by
stopping, and said that without fail he would furnish us with
guides who knew a short cut across country, by which we might
reach the Wichwesi camp in one march, instead of going by the
circuitous route which Bombay formerly took. The cow, however,
never came, as the old man did not intend to give his own, and
his officers refused to obey his orders in giving one of theirs.
We left Koki with difficulty, in consequence of the Chopi porters
refusing to carry any loads, leaving the burden of lifting them
on the country people, as they said, "We have endured all the
trouble and hardships of bringing these visitors through the
wilderness; and now, as they have visited you, it is your place
to help them on." The consequence was, we had to engage fresh
porters at every village, each in turn saying he had done all the
work which with justice fell to his lot, till at last we arrived
at the borders of a jungle, where the men last engaged, feeling
tired of their work, pleaded ignorance of the direct road, and
turned off to the longer one, where villages and men were in
abundance, thus upsetting all our plans, and doubling the actual
distance.
To pass the night half-way was now imperative, as we had been the
whole day travelling without making good much ground. From the
Gani people we had, without any visible change, mingled with the
Madi people, who dress in the same naked fashion as their
neighbours, and use bows and arrows. Their villages were all
surrounded with bomas (fences), and the country in its general
aspect resembled that of Northern Unyamuezi. At one place, the
good-natured simple people, as soon as we reached their village,
spread a skin, deposited a stool upon it, and placed in front two
pots of pombe. At the village where we put up, however, the women
and children of the head man at first all ran away, and the head
man himself was very shy of us, thinking we were some unearthly
creatures. He became more reconciled to us, however, when he
perceived we fed like rational beings; and, calling his family in
by midnight, presented us with pombe, and made many apologies for
having allowed us to dine without a drop of his beer, for he was
very glad to see us.
Chapter XX
Madi
Junction of the Two Hemispheres - The First Contact with Persons
Acquainted with European Habits - Interruptions and Plots - The
Mysterious Mahamed - Native Revelries - The Plundering and Tyranny
of the Turks - The Rascalities of the Ivory Trade - Feeling for the
Nile - Taken to see a Mark left by a European - Buffalo, Eland, and
Rhinoceros Stalking - Meet Baker - Petherick's Arrival at
Gondokoro.
After receiving more pombe from the chief, and, strange to say,
hot water to wash with - for he did not know how else to show
hospitality better - we started again in the same straggling
manner as yesterday. In two hours we reached the palace of
Piejoko, a chief of some pretensions, and were summoned to stop
and drink pombe. In my haste to meet Petherick's expedition, I
would listen to nothing, but pushed rapidly on, despite all
entreaties to stop, both from the chief and from my porters, who,
I saw clearly, wished to do me out of another day.
Half of my men, however, did stop there, but with the other half
Grant and I went on; and, as the sun was setting, we came in
sight of what we thought was Petherick's outpost, N. lat. 3§ 10'
33", and E. long. 21§ 50' 45". My men, as happy as we were
ourselves, now begged I would allow them to fire their guns, and
prepare the Turks for our reception. Crack, bang, went their
carbines, and in another instant crack, bang, was heard from the
northerners' camp, when, like a swarms of bees, every height and
other conspicuous place was covered with men. Our hearts leapt
with an excitement of joy only known to those who have escaped
from long-continued banishment among barbarians, once more to
meet with civilised people, and join old friends. Every minute
increased this excitement. We saw three large red flags heading
a military procession, which marched out of the camp with drums
and fifes playing. I halted and allowed them to draw near. When
they did so, a very black man, named Mahamed, in full Egyptian
regimentals, with a curved sword, ordered his regiment to halt,
and threw himself into my arms, endeavouring to hug and kiss me.
Rather staggered at this unexpected manifestation of affection,
which was like a conjunction of the two hemispheres, I gave him a
squeeze in return for his hug, but raised my head above the reach
of his lips, and asked who was his master? "Petrik," was the
reply. "And where is Petherick now?" "Oh, he is coming." "How
is it you have not got English colours, then?" "The colours are
Debono's." "Who is Debono?" "The same as Petrik; but come along
into my camp, and let us talk it out there;" saying which,
Mahamed ordered his regiment (a ragamuffin mixture of Nubians,
Egyptians, and slaves of all sorts, about two hundred in number)
to rightabout, and we were guided by him, whilst his men kept up
an incessant drumming and fifing, presenting arms and firing,
until we reached his huts, situated in a village kept exactly in
the same order as that of the natives.
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