The river had gradually been rising, and on the 25th of December the water entered the wells situated to the south of the town.
On the 4th of January, 1854, the first boat from Kabara reached Timbuctoo, and other boats arriving laden with corn, the supply shortly became plentiful and cheap.
The inundation attained its greatest height towards the end of January, an event possessing almost the same importance as that of the rising of the Nile.
The city depends entirely upon commerce, the only manufactures being confined to the art of the blacksmith and a little leather-work.
Another year, 1854, of the persevering traveller's stay in Negroland, began with the fervent prayer that he might return home before the end of it. His hopes were raised that he might soon be able to set off.
Numberless disappointments, however, occurred.
On the 17th of March, by the advice of his friends, he returned to the camp, such a step being deemed essential for the security of the town and their own personal interests. He was here kept till the 19th of April, and even then his friend the Sheikh El Bakay, could not overcome his habitual custom of taking matters easy, and the sun was already high in the sky and very hot before the camels were loaded and the caravan began to move.
In consequence of the progress the French were making in Algiers at this time, much suspicion was attached to the doctor, as the people could not but think that his journey to the country had some connection with them.
Even after this he was detained till the 17th of May, at an encampment amidst swamps, when at last the news arrived that the sheikh, who had left them, had gone on ahead, and all was joy and excitement.
On overtaking the sheikh, who, as he awoke from his slumbers, received the doctor with a gentle smile, despatches were delivered to him from England. One from Lord John Russell expressed the warmest interest in his proceedings, and others informed him that Dr Vogel, with two sergeants, had set out to join him, and that he would probably meet them in Bornou. He was much surprised that he received no news from his friend the vizier, as the parcel had evidently come by way of Bornou-- little aware, at the time, of the murder of that friendly officer.
The following day they passed through a dense forest, said to be frequented by lions. Keeping along the course of the river, which was here very shallow, crocodiles were seen in abundance, and anxiety was felt for the horses, which were pasturing on the fine rank grass at its borders.
Owing to the dilatory character of his friend the sheikh, the progress was very slow, but he was thus enabled to enter into conversation with the natives, and obtained much information.
On his way he visited Gogo, situated at the southern limits of the Great Desert, one portion on the banks of the river, and another on an island, that to the east having been inhabited by the Mahommedans, the other by idolators. He found the place, however, in a most ruinous condition, even the mosque itself being in a dilapidated state. Indeed, the once great city of Negroland now consists only of from three to four hundred huts, grouped in separate clusters and surrounded by heaps of rubbish, which indicated its former site. Here it is believed that Mungo Park was buried.
While encamped at a place called Borno, close to the banks of the river, a number of hippopotami made their appearance, snorting fiercely at being disturbed, and put their horses to flight. At times they interrupted the intercourse between the banks, and in the evening became still more noisy, when they wanted to come out for their usual feed.
He was fortunate in having so able a protector as the Sheikh El Bakay, who, in consequence of his supposed sacred character, was treated with honour whenever he went.
After visiting a number of places, both on the banks and eastward of it, he reached, on the 24th of August, Sackotoo. Here he received intelligence of the arrival of five Christians, with a train of forty camels, at Kukawa, and had little doubt that it was the expedition under Dr Vogel.
On the 14th of October he arrived in Kano, where he found everything prepared for his reception. He here received the intelligence that Sheikh Omar, of Kukawa, had been dethroned, his vizier slain, and that in a fierce battle a number of his other friends had fallen. He had made up his mind, therefore, to proceed to Aire, instead of returning to Bornou; but, subsequently hearing that Omar had been again installed, he kept to his former determination.
At length, escaping from greedy rulers, hostile populations, wild beasts, swamps, rains and fevers, he at length reached Bundi, near Kouka, on the 30th of November.
He had again left that place, when, riding through the forest with his head servant, he saw advancing towards him on horseback a young man, of fair complexion, dressed in a _tobe_, with a white turban, and accompanied by two or three blacks, also on horseback. The stranger was Dr Vogel, who dashed forward, when the two travellers gave each other a hearty reception on horseback. Dismounting in the forest, they unpacked their provisions and sat down to enjoy a social repast, Barth, however, being greatly disappointed that not a bottle of wine, for which he had an extraordinary longing, had been brought.
Vogel, with Corporal Church and Private Macguire, had come out to strengthen the expedition and to follow up Barth's discoveries. Vogel succumbed to the climate about a year afterwards, on a journey to Adamawa. After his death Macguire was killed on his way home, and Church returned with Dr Barth.
While Vogel pursued his journey to Zinda, Barth proceeded on to Kukawa.
He found the village of Kaleemri, which, on his outward journey, was so cheerful and industrious, now a scene of desolation--a few scattered huts being all at present to be seen. Such is, unhappily, the fate of numerous towns and villages in this distracted country.
His old friend, the Sheikh Omar, who had been reinstated, sent out a body of horsemen to give him an honourable reception on his return to Kukawa. Here he had to remain four months, greatly troubled by financial difficulties, and finding that a considerable portion of his property had been stolen by the rascality of one of his servants. His health, too, was greatly shattered.
It was not till the 4th of May that, in company with a Fezzan merchant, Kolo, he commenced his return journey, with a small caravan, towards Tripoli. At Barruwa they laid in a supply of dry, ill-smelling fish, which constitutes the most useful article of exchange in the Tebu country. The region to his right, over which he had previously passed, was now entirely covered with water from the overflowing of the Chad, which had submerged several villages.
He met with no unusual adventures during his long, tedious journey northward across the desert.
At Mourzouk he had the pleasure of meeting Mr Frederick Warrington. He here remained six days, discharging some of his servants, and among them his faithful Gatroni.
Some tribes of Arabs had here rebelled against the Turks, and he was in some danger while in their hands. Escaping, however, from them, he reached Tripoli in the middle of August, and, embarking at the end of four days, arrived safely, on the 6th of September, in London.
Although much of the country he had passed over was already known, no previous African traveller more successfully encountered and overcame the difficulties and dangers of a journey through that region.
The most important result of his adventurous journey was the discovery of a large river, hitherto unknown, falling into the Chad from the south, and of the still larger affluent of the Quorra, the mighty Binue, which, rising in the far-off centre of the continent, flows through the province of Adamawa.
The courage and perseverance of Dr Barth, while for five years travelling many thousand miles, amidst hostile and savage tribes, in an enervating climate, frequently with unwholesome or insufficient food, having ever to keep his energies on the stretch to guard himself from the attacks of open foes or the treachery of pretended friends, have gained for him the admiration of all who read his travels, and place him among the first of African travellers.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
CAPTAIN SPEKE'S DISCOVERIES OF THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
SPEKE'S PREVIOUS CAREER--JOINS AN EXPEDITION TO THE SOMALI COUNTRY--THE SOMALI--ARRIVE AT BERBERA--ATTACKED BY ROBBERS--HIS ESCAPE AND RETURN TO ADEN, AND FINALLY TO ENGLAND--JOINS CAPTAIN BURTON IN AN EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON--SETS OUT FOR BOMBAY, AND AFTERWARDS TO ZANZIBAR--ENGAGE SHEIKH SAID AND THEIR ESCORT--CROSS TO KAOLE--ARRIVE AT CAZE, AND RECEIVED BY THE ARAB MERCHANTS--PORTERS DESERT--ILLNESS OF CAPTAIN BURTON, AND CARRIED TO ZIMBILI--SETS OUT WITH FRESH PORTERS--A SIGHT OF THE TANGANYIKA LAKE--THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON--NEARLY BLIND-- UP THE LAKE TO UJIJI--ARRIVE AT KAWELE--THEIR JOURNEY ON THE LAKE CONTINUED--AN ALARM--CAMP AT NIGHT--SHELLS--A STORM--ARRIVE AT SULTAN CASANGA'S TERRITORY--THE PEOPLE--ARRIVE AT THE FISH MARKET OF KABIZIA--A SINGA--CROSS TO KASENGE--RECEPTION--THE CHIEF DESCRIBED--THE RESULTS OF SLAVERY--HEARS OF A LARGE RIVER--CANNOT OBTAIN A BOAT--RETURNS TO UJIJI--SETS OUT TO EXPLORE A RIVER THAT FALLS INTO THE LAKE--TRICKS OF THE PADDLERS--RETURNS TO UJIJI--HELP ARRIVES--RETURNS TO CAZE--SETS OUT TO EXPLORE THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE NYANZA LAKE--TRICKS OF HIS ESCORT--VILLAGES DESCRIBED--DETAINED BY A SULTANA--THE RECEPTION SHE GIVES SPEKE--ILLNESS IN THE CARAVAN--INON--LEAVING ISAMIRO, THE NYANZA APPEARS IN SIGHT--THE SCENE--HE CALLED THE LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA-- DESCENDS TO MUANZA--THE SOURCE OF THE NILE!--RETURN JOURNEY, AND ARRIVES AT CAZE--ARRIVES WITH CAPTAIN BURTON IN ENGLAND.
Captain, then Lieutenant, John Hanning Speke, the son of a gentleman of property in England, was an officer in the Indian army, and had taken part under Lord Gough in the great battles of Ramnugger, Chillianwalla, and others. He had, at intervals during leave, travelled in the Himalaya Mountains, as well as through other parts of India and in Thibet, for the purpose of collecting specimens of the fauna of those regions to form a museum in his father's house. While thus occupied, he formed the design of traversing Africa as soon as he could obtain furlough, visiting the Mountains of the Moon and descending the Nile with the same object in view.
At the end of ten years' service, on obtaining furlough, hearing that an expedition was to be sent by the Indian Government, under the command of Lieutenant Burton, to explore the Somali country, a large tract lying due south of Aden, and separated from the Arabian coast by the Gulf of Aden, he offered his services, and was accepted. Two other Indian officers, Lieutenants Stroyan and Heme, also joined the expedition.
The Somali are Mahommedans, descendants of Arabs who have intermarried with negroes. They are a savage, treacherous race, noted for their cheating and lying propensities; in figure tall, slender, light, and agile, scarcely darker than Arabs, with thin lips and noses, but woolly heads like negroes. Their ancestors, having taken possession of the country, drove out its former Christian inhabitants, who retreated northward.
Caravans, however, pass through their country to their only port and chief market, Berbera, which at the time of the fair is crowded with people, though entirely deserted for the rest of the year.
It was proposed that the expedition should follow the route of these caravans, or accompany one of them, and thus penetrate through the country, into the interior.
Considerable time was spent in making excursions for short distances, during which Lieutenant Speke shot a large number of wild animals; but unfortunately the _abban_, or petty chief, who undertook to be his protector and guide, proved to be a great rascal, and cheated and deceived him in every possible way.
The Somali are keen and cunning sportsmen, and have various methods of killing elephants, ostriches, and gazelles. They fearlessly attack an elephant, on foot, one man only being mounted on a horse, who gallops in front, and while the animal pursues him, the others rush in and hamstring him with their knives. Ostriches are caught by throwing down poison at the spots where they feed. The Somali also hunt them, on the backs of their hardy little ponies. The ostrich is a shy bird, and is so blind at night that it cannot feed. A Somali, knowing this, providing himself with provisions for two or three days, sets off in search of them; showing himself to the ostriches, he is discovered, but takes care to keep at a distance. They stalk off, and he follows at the same rate, but never approaches sufficiently near to scare them. At night the birds, unable to see, stop, but cannot feed. He, meantime, rests and feeds with his pony, resuming the chase the next day. He follows the birds in the same way as at first, they from constant fasting becoming weaker, till after the second or third day he is able to ride in among them and knock them down in succession.
The party had at length secured, after considerable trouble, the camels and horses they required, and were encamped at Berbera, which was completely deserted by its inhabitants, when they were surprised at night by a large band of robbers. Lieutenant Stroyan was killed and Lieutenant Speke was made prisoner and desperately wounded, but, springing to his feet just as a robber was about to run him through with his spear, he knocked over his assailant with his hands, though bound together, and made his escape to the sea-shore, to which the rest of the party had already fled. They were here taken on board a vessel, which had providentially put in the day before, and in her returned to Aden.
Although his first expedition had terminated so disastrously, on his arrival in England Lieutenant Speke again volunteered to accompany Lieutenant Burton on an expedition to survey that part of the centre of Africa, in the neighbourhood of the Mountains of the Moon, where an enormous lake was supposed to exist, equal in size to the Caspian Sea.
Returning to Bombay, Lieutenant Speke and Lieutenant Burton obtained their outfit, and set sail on the 3rd of December, 1856, for Zanzibar, on board the HEIC sloop of war, "Elphinstone."
At Zanzibar they were warmly welcomed by the consul, Colonel Hamerton, and well received by the Sultan Majid, who, from his intelligence and good disposition, appeared likely to be a favourite with his people.
As they had arrived during the dry season, they were unable to commence their journey, and some time was spent in visiting different parts of the coast.
Their intention was to proceed to Ujiji, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, which was then supposed to be the southern end of the great central lake. They engaged as their _kafila bashi_, or head of their caravan, a well-disposed man, Sheikh Said. A body of the sultan's Belooch soldiers, under a _jemadar_, or officer, and a party of slaves armed with muskets, formed their escort. Besides them, they had their private servants, Valentine and Gaetano, Goa men, who spoke Hindostanee, and a clever little liberated black slave, Bombay by name, who had been captured from his native place, Uhiyou, to the east of Lake Nyanza, and sold to an Arab merchant, by whom he was taken to India. Having served this master for several years, on his death he obtained his liberation, and made his way to Zanzibar. Here he took service in the army of the sultan, and was among those engaged by Lieutenant Speke. He was a remarkably quick, clever, honest little fellow, and in most instances could thoroughly be trusted.
Crossing to Kaole, on the mainland, on the 16th of June, 1857, they were detained there collecting baggage animals. The first five hundred miles of their journey to Caze, a place in the centre of Unyamuezi, the Land of the Moon, was performed with comparative ease, and they were subjected only to annoyances from the savage people and the grasping chiefs on the way.
Caze is occupied by Arab merchants as a central trading depot, and is rapidly increasing. It was supposed that Ujiji would be found much of the same character. Here they arrived on the 7th of November, 1857.
They were kindly received by the Arab merchants, especially by Sheikh Snay, and had a house appropriated to them.
The houses of the Weezee, the people among whom they were living, are built of mud, generally with flat tops: this description is called a _tembe_. Others, however, are in the form of haystacks, and are constructed with great care; the door is very small, so that only one person can enter at a time. The villages are surrounded with a strong fence, having taller stakes on each side of the entrance, which are decorated either with blocks of wood or the skulls of those who have been put to death.
The flat-roofed houses are built round a large court, the outer walls serving as the walls of the villages, all the doors opening into the interior.