My Man, Mahommed, Who Was An Eyewitness, Declared That He Could
Not Eat His Dinner For Three Days, So Great Was His Disgust At This
Horrible Feast.
Although my camp was entirely separate from that of Ibrahim, I was
dreadfully pestered by his people, who, knowing that I was well supplied
with many articles of which they were in need, came begging to my tent
from morning till evening daily.
To refuse was to insult them; and as my
chance of success in the exploration unfortunately depended upon my not
offending the traders I was obliged to be coldly civil, and nothing was
refused them. Hardly a day passed without broken guns being brought to
me for repair; and having earned an unenviable celebrity as a gunsmith,
added to my possession of the requisite tools, I really had no rest, and
I was kept almost constantly at work.
One day Ibrahim was seized with a dangerous fever, and was supposed to
be dying. Again I was in request: and seeing that he was in a state of
partial collapse, attended with the distressing symptoms of want of
action of the heart, so frequently fatal at this stage of the disease, I
restored him by a very powerful stimulant, and thereby gained renown as
a physician, which, although useful was extremely annoying, as my tent
was daily thronged with patients, all of whom expected miraculous cures
for the most incurable diseases.
In this manner I gained a certain influence over the people, but I was
constantly subjected to excessive annoyances and disgust, occasioned by
the conduct of their party towards the Latookas. The latter were
extremely unwise, being very independent and ready to take offence on
the slightest pretext, and the Turks, being now 140 strong, had no fear,
and there appeared every probability of hostilities. I was engaged in
erecting huts, and in securing my camp; and although I offered high
payment, I could not prevail on the natives to work regularly. They
invariably stipulated that they were to receive their beads before they
commenced work, in which case they, with few exceptions, absconded with
their advanced payment.
One day a native behaved in a similar manner to the Turks; he was,
accordingly, caught, and unmercifully beaten. Half an hour after, the
nogara beat, and was answered by distant drums from the adjacent
villages. In about an hour, several thousand armed men, with shields,
were collected within half a mile of the Turks' camp, to avenge the
insult that had been offered to one of their tribe. However, the Turks'
drum beat, and their whole force drew up to their flag under arms
outside their zareeba, and offered a determined front. I extract the
following entry from my journal. "These Turks are delightful neighbours;
they will create a row, and I shall be dragged into it in self-defence,
as the natives will distinguish no difference in a scrimmage, although
they draw favourable comparisons between me and the Turks in times of
peace. Not a native came to work at the huts today; I therefore sent for
the two chiefs, Commoro and Moy, and had a long talk with them. They
said that 'no Latooka should be beaten by common fellows like the
traders' men; that I was a great chief, and that if I chose to beat them
they would be content.' I gave them advice to keep quiet, and not to
quarrel about trifles, as the Turks would assuredly destroy the country
should a fight commence.
"At the same time, I told them that they did not treat me properly: they
came to me in times of difficulty as a mediator, but although they knew
I had always paid well for everything, they gave me no supplies, and I
was obliged to shoot game for my daily food, although they possessed
such enormous herds of cattle; neither could I procure materials or
workpeople to complete my camp. The parley terminated with an
understanding that they were to supply me with everything, and that they
would put a stop to the intended fight. In the evening a goat was
brought, and a number of men appeared with grass and wood for sale for
hut-building."
The following day, some of my people went to a neighbouring village to
purchase corn, but the natives insulted them, refusing to sell, saying
that "we should die of hunger, as no one should either give or sell us
anything." This conduct must induce hostilities, as the Turks are too
powerful to be insulted. I am rather anxious lest some expedition may
entail the departure of the entire Turkish party, when the Latookas may
seize the opportunity of attacking my innocents. The latter are now so
thoroughly broken to my severe laws, "thou shalt not take slaves;
neither cattle; nor fire a shot unless in self-defence," that they are
resigned to the ignoble lot of minding the donkeys, and guarding the
camp.
Latooka was in a very disturbed state, and the excitement of the people
was increasing daily. Two of my men went into the town to buy grass,
and, without any provocation, they were surrounded by the natives, and
the gun of one man was wrested from him; the other, after a tussle, in
which he lost his ramrod, beat a hasty retreat. A number of the soldiers
immediately collected, and I sent to the chief to demand the restoration
of the gun, which was returned that evening. I could literally procure
nothing without the greatest annoyance and trouble.
My men, by their mutiny and desertion at Gondokoro, had reduced a
well-armed expedition to a mere remnant, dependent upon the company of a
band of robbers for the means of advancing through the country. Instead
of travelling as I had arranged, at the head of forty-five well-armed
men, I had a miserable fifteen cowardly curs, who were employed in
driving the baggage animals; thus they would be helpless in the event of
an attack upon the road.
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