Denham could distinguish many of them through his telescope, making off into the mountains, while others came down bearing leopard-skins, honey, and slaves as peace offerings, as also asses and goats, with which the mountains abound. They, however, on this occasion, were not destined to suffer. The people of Musgu, whose country it had been reported that the Arabs were to plunder, sent two hundred slaves and other presents to the sultan. As they entered and left the palace they threw themselves on the ground, pouring sand on their heads, and uttering the most piteous cries.
The sultan all this time had not informed Boo-Khaloum what district he would allow him to attack, but observed that the Kerdie nations, being extremely tractable, were becoming Mussulmans without force.
Major Denham had several interviews with this intelligent but bigoted sultan, when he was greatly annoyed by the chief doctor of the court, or _fighi_, Malem Chadily, who, because he was a Christian, endeavoured to prejudice the mind of the sultan against him; indeed, the bigotry of this court far surpassed that usually found among black tribes who have become Mahommedans. The major had been drawing with a lead pencil, when he was carried into the presence of the sultan. Malem Chadily on this occasion pretended to treat him with great complaisance.
The courtiers were much astonished at seeing the effect produced by the pencils, and the ease with which their traces were effaced by india-rubber. Several words were written by the doctor and others, which were quickly rubbed out by the major. At last, the doctor wrote: "_Bismillah arachmani arachemi_" ("In the name of the great and most merciful God") in large Koran characters. He made so deep an impression on the paper, that after using the india-rubber the words still appeared legible, the _fighi_ remarking: "They are the words of God, delivered to our prophet: I defy you to erase them." The sultan and all around him gazed at the paper with intense satisfaction, exclaiming that a miracle had been wrought, and Denham was well pleased to take his departure.
Even Barca Gana afterwards, when Denham visited him in his tent, exclaimed, "Wonderful! wonderful!" And the _fighi_, or doctor, added, "I will show you hundreds of miracles performed alone by the words of the wonderful book." He then urged the major to turn Mahommedan.
"Paradise will then be opened to you," he remarked. "Without this, what can save you from eternal fire. I shall then see you, while sitting in the third heaven, in the midst of the flames, crying out to your friend Barca Gana and myself, 'Give me a drop of water!' but the gulf will be between us and then it will be too late." Malem's tears flowed in abundance during this harangue, and everybody appeared affected by his eloquence.
Poor Boo-Khaloum all this time was ill, from vexation more than sickness. At last he had another interview with the sultan, but returned much irritated, and told the major, as he passed, that they should move in the evening, and to the question if everything went well, he answered: "Please God." The Arabs, from whom he kept his destination a secret, received him with cheers. Whom they were going against they cared little, so long as there was a prospect of plunder, and the whole camp became a busy scene of preparation. Two hours after noon the march was commenced towards the mountains, which rose up in rugged magnificence on either side.
As the morning of the 28th of April broke, an interesting scene presented itself. The Sultan of Mandara, mounted on a beautiful, cream-coloured horse, and followed by a number of persons handsomely dressed, was on one side. Barca Gana's people, who were on the other, wore their red scarves or bournouses over their steel jackets. The major took up a position at the general's right-hand, when the troops, entering a thick wood in two columns, were told that at the end of it they should find the enemy. Maraymy kept closer to the major's side, as danger was approaching.
As they were riding along, several leopards ran swiftly from them, twisting their long tails in the air. A large one was seen, which Maraymy remarked was so satiated with the blood of a negro it had just before killed, that it would be easily destroyed. The Shooa soon planted a spear, which passed through the animal's neck. It rolled over, breaking the spear, and bounded off with the lower half in its body. Another Shooa attacking it, the animal, with a howl, was in the act of springing on the pursuer, when an Arab shot it through the head.
On emerging from the wood, the large Felatah town of Durkulla was perceived, and the Arabs were formed in front, headed by Boo-Khaloum.
They were flanked on each side by a large body of cavalry, who, as they moved on, shouted the Arab war-cry. Denham thought he could perceive a smile pass between Barca Gana and his chief, at poor Boo-Khaloum's expense.
Durkulla was quickly burned, and another small town near it. The few inhabitants found in them, being infants or aged persons, unable to escape, were put to death or thrown into the flames. A third town, called Musfeia, built on a rising ground, and capable of being defended against assailants ten times as numerous as the besiegers, was next reached. A strong fence of palisades, well pointed, and fastened together with thongs of raw hide, six feet in height, had been carried from one hill to the other. Felatah bowmen were placed behind the palisades and on the rising ground, with a _wady_ before them, while their horses were all under cover of the hills. This was a strong position. The Arabs, however, moved on with great gallantry, without any support from the Bornou or Mandara troops, and, notwithstanding the showers of arrows, some poisoned, which were poured on them from behind the palisades, Boo-Khaloum carried them in about half an hour, and dashed on, driving the Felatahs up the sides of the hills. The women were everywhere seen supplying their protectors with fresh arrows, till they retreated, still shooting on their pursuers. The women also rolled down huge masses of rock, killing several Arabs. Barca Gana, with his spearmen, at length advanced to the support of Boo-Khaloum, and pierced through and through some fifty unfortunates, who were left wounded near the stakes. The major rode by his side into the town, where a desperate skirmish took place, but Barca Gana with his muscular arm threw eight spears, some at a distance of thirty yards or more, which all told. Had either the Mandara or the sheikh's troops now moved up boldly, they must have carried the town and the heights above it. Instead of this, they kept on the other side of the _wady_, out of reach of the arrows. The Felatahs, seeing their backwardness, made so desperate an attack that the Arabs gave way. The Felatah horse came on. Had not Barca Gana and Boo-Khaloum, with his few mounted Arabs, given them a very spirited check, not one of their band would have lived to see the following day.
As it was, Barca Gana had three horses hit under him, two of which died almost immediately, while poor Boo-Khaloum and his horse were both wounded. The major's horse was also wounded in the neck, shoulder, and hind leg, and an arrow struck him in the face, merely drawing blood as it passed. He had two sticking in his bournous. The Arabs suffered terribly: most of them had two or three wounds; one dropped with five arrows sticking in his head, and two of Boo-Khaloum's slaves were killed near him.
No sooner did the Mandara and Bornou troops see the defeat of the Arabs than they, one and all, took to flight in the most dastardly manner and the greatest confusion. The sultan led the way, having been prepared to take advantage of whatever plunder the success of the Arabs might throw into his hands; but no less determined to leave the field the moment the fortune of the day appeared to be against them.
Major Denham had reason to regret his folly in exposing himself, badly prepared as he was for accident. By flight only could he save himself.
The whole army, which had now become a flying mass, plunged in the greatest disorder into the wood which had lately been left.
He had got to the westward of Barca Gana in the confusion, when he saw upwards of a hundred of the Bornou troops speared by the Felatahs, and was following the steps of one of the Mandara officers, when the cries behind, of the Felatah horse pursuing, made both quicken their pace.
His wounded horse at this juncture stumbled and fell. Almost before he was on his legs the Felatahs were upon him. He had, however, kept hold of the bridle, and, seizing a pistol from the holster, presented it at two of the savages who were pressing him with their spears. They instantly went off; but another, who came on more boldly just as he was endeavouring to mount, received the contents in his shoulder, and he was enabled to place his foot in the stirrup. Remounting, he again retreated, but had not proceeded many hundred yards when his horse once more came down, with such violence as to throw him against a tree at a considerable distance. At this juncture, alarmed by the horses behind him, the animal got up and escaped, leaving the major on foot and unarmed.
The Mandara officer and his followers were butchered and stripped within a few yards of him. Their cries were dreadful. His hopes of life were too faint to deserve the name. He was almost instantly surrounded, and speedily stripped, his pursuers making several thrusts at him with their spears, wounding his hands severely, and his body slightly. In the first instance they had been prevented from murdering him by the fear of injuring the value of his clothes, which appeared to them a rich booty.
His shirt was now torn off his back. When his plunderers began to quarrel for the spoil, the idea of escape came across his mind.
Creeping under the belly of the horse nearest him, he started as fast as his legs would carry him, to the thickest part of the wood. Two of the Felatahs followed. He ran in the direction the stragglers of his own party had taken. His pursuers gained on him, for the prickly underwood tore his flesh and impeded his progress. Just then he saw a mountain stream gliding along at the bottom of a deep ravine. His strength had almost failed him, when, seizing the long branches of a tree overhanging the water, he let himself down into it. What was his horror to observe a large liffa, the most venomous of serpents, rise from its coil as if in the very act of striking! His senses left him, the branch slipped from his hand, and he tumbled headlong into the water. The shock, however, revived him, and with three strokes of his arms he reached the opposite bank, which with great difficulty he crawled up. He, at length, felt that he was safe from his pursuers. Still, the forlorn situation in which he was placed, without even a rag to cover his body, almost overwhelmed him. Yet, fully alive to the danger to which he was exposed, he had began to plan how he could best rest on the top of a tamarind tree, in order to escape from panthers, when the idea of liffas, almost as numerous, excited a shudder of despair. While trying to make his way through the woods, he observed two horsemen between the trees, and, still further to the east, with feelings of gratitude, he recognised Barca Gana and Boo-Khaloum, with about six Arabs. Although they were pressed closely by a party of Felatahs, the guns and pistols of the Arabs kept the latter in check. His shouts were drowned by the cries of those who were falling under the Felatahs' spears and the cheers of the Arabs rallying; but, happily, Maraymy distinguished him at a distance. Riding up, the faithful black assisted the major to mount behind him, and, while the arrows whistled over their heads, they galloped off to the rear as fast as the black's wounded horse could carry them. After they had gone a mile or two, Boo-Khaloum rode up and desired one of the Arabs to cover the major with a houmous. This was the last act of Denham's unfortunate friend. Directly afterwards Maraymy exclaimed: "Look, Boo-Khaloum is dead!" The major turned his head, and saw the caravan leader drop from his horse into the arms of a favourite Arab. A poisoned arrow in his wounded foot had proved fatal.
The Arabs believed he had only swooned; but there was no water to revive him, and before it could be obtained he was past the reach of stimulants. At the same time, Barca Gana offered the major a horse; but Maraymy exclaimed: "Do not mount him; he will die!" He therefore remained with the black. Two Arabs, however, mounted the animal, and in less than an hour he fell to rise no more; and, before they could recover themselves, both the Arabs were butchered by the Felatahs.
At last a stream was reached. The horses, with the blood gushing from their noses, rushed into the water, and the major, letting himself down, knelt amongst them, and seemed to imbibe new life from the copious draughts of the muddy beverage he swallowed. He then lost all consciousness; but Maraymy told him that he had staggered across the stream and fallen down at the foot of a tree. Here a quarter of an hour's halt was made, to place Boo-Khaloum's body on a horse and to collect stragglers, during which Maraymy had asked Barca Gana for another horse, in order to carry the major on, when the chief, irritated by his defeat, as well as by having had his horse refused, by which means he said it had come by its death, replied: "Then leave him behind.
By the head of the Prophet! believers enough have breathed their last to-day! What is there extraordinary in a Christian's death?" His old antagonist, Malem Chadily, replied: "No; God has preserved him, let us not forsake him." Maraymy returned to the tree, awoke the major, and, again mounting, they moved on as before, though with less speed.
The effect produced on the horses wounded by arrows was extraordinary; immediately after drinking they dropped and instantly died, the blood gushing from their mouths, noses, and ears. More than thirty horses were lost at this spot from the effects of the poison.
After riding forty-five miles, it was past midnight before they halted in the territories of the Sultan of Mandara, the major thoroughly worn-out. The bournous thrown over him by the Arab teemed with vermin, and it was evening the next day before he could get a shirt, when a man gave him one, on the promise of getting a new one at Kouka. Maraymy all the time tended him with the greatest care while he slept for a whole night and day under a tree.
Denham here met with an unexpected act of kindness from Mai Meegamy, a dethroned sultan, now subject to the sheikh. Taking him by the hand, the sultan led him into his own leathern tent, and, disrobing himself of his trousers, insisted that the major should put them on. No act of charity could exceed this. Denham was exceedingly touched by it, but declined the offer. The ex-sultan, however, supposing that he did so under the belief that he had offered the only pair he possessed, seemed much hurt, and immediately called in a slave, whom he stripped of those necessary appendages of a man's dress, which he put on himself, insisting that Denham should take those he had first offered him.
Meegamy was his great friend from that moment, though he had scarcely spoken to him before he had quitted the sheikh's dominions.
In this unfortunate expedition, besides their chief, forty-five of the Arabs were killed, nearly all were wounded, and they lost everything they possessed, Major Denham having also lost his mule and all his property.
The wounds of many of the people were very severe, and several died soon afterwards, their bodies, as well as poor Boo-Khaloum's, becoming instantly swollen and black. Sometimes, immediately after death, blood issued from the nose and mouth, which the Bornou people asserted was in consequence of the arrows having been poisoned.
The surviving Arabs, who had now lost all their arrogance, entreated Barca Gana to supply them with corn to save them from starving, for the Sultan of Mandara refused to supply them with food, and even kept Boo-Khaloum's horse-trappings and clothes.
In six days the expedition arrived at Kouka. The sheikh was excessively annoyed at the defeat; but laid the blame, not without justice, on the Mandara troops, who had evidently behaved treacherously to their allies.
CHAPTER SIX.
TRAVELS OF DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON, CONTINUED.
MAJOR DENHAM AND DR. OUDNEY VISIT OLD BIRNIE--ACCOMPANY THE SHEIKH ON AN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE MUNGA--REVIEW OF TROOPS--SUBMISSION OF REBELS-- BARCA GANA DISGRACED--RETURN--ARRIVAL OF LIEUTENANT TOOLE--EXPEDITION TO THE SHARY--PEST OF FLIES--WELL RECEIVED BY THE SULTAN OF BEGHARRNI-- DEATH OF LIEUTENANT TOOLE--RETURNS TO KOUKA--ARRIVAL OF MR. TYRHWIT-- EXPEDITION AGAINST REBELS ON SHORES OF LAKE CHAD--BARCA GANA AGAIN DEFEATED AND WOUNDED--THE SHEIKH'S SEVERE LAWS AGAINST IMMORALITY.
Soon after the return of the unfortunate expedition to Mandara, the sheikh set out on another against a people to the west, called the Munga, who had never hitherto acknowledged his supremacy, and refused to pay tribute. Another complaint against them was, as he explained it, "that they were _kaffiring_--not saying their prayers--the dogs." This fault is generally laid to the charge of any nation against whom true Mahommedans wage war, as it gives them the power of making slaves of the heathens. By the laws of Mahomet, one believer must not bind another.
Major Denham and Dr Oudney were anxious to visit Birnie, the old capital of Bornou, and the sheikh left one of his chief slaves, Omar Gana, to act as their guide. Thence they were to proceed to Kabshary, there to await his arrival.
They set out with five camels and four servants, making two marches each day, from ten to fourteen miles, morning and evening.
The country round Kouka is uninteresting and flat, thickly covered with acacias.
The ruins of old Birnie, which they visited, convinced them of the power of its former sultan. The city, though now in ruins, covered a space of five or six square miles. The walls, in many places standing, consisted of large masses of red brickwork, three or four feet in thickness, and six to eight in height. Besides destroying the capital, the Felatahs had razed to the ground upwards of thirty large towns during their inroads.
The whole country which they passed after proceeding some way had become a complete desert, having been abandoned since the Felatahs commenced their inroads, and wild animals of all descriptions abounded in great numbers.
They heard that Kabshary had been attacked by the Munga people and burned; and news came that the Munga horse were reconnoitring all round them, and had murdered some men proceeding to join the sheikh.
One of the means the people had taken to defend themselves against the invaders, had been to dig deep holes, at the bottom of which sharp-pointed stakes were fixed, the pits being then carefully covered over with branches and grass, so as completely to conceal them. Similar pitfalls are used in many parts of Africa for entrapping the giraffe and other wild animals.
The major's servant, Columbus, and his mule not making their appearance, he was searching for him, when he found that the animal had fallen into one of these pits, the black having by a violent exertion of strength saved himself. The poor mule was found sticking on four stakes, with her knees dreadfully torn by struggling. She was, however, got out alive.
Escaping from various dangers, they joined the sheikh on the banks of a large piece of water called Dummasak. Hearing that a caravan had arrived at Kouka from Fezzan, they were anxious to return to the capital. They sent word to the sheikh, but their communication was not delivered, and, before they could see him, he and his troops had moved off. They were, however, on their way to Kouka, when Omar Gana overtook them, entreating them to return to the sheikh, who, angry at their having gone, had struck him from his horse, and directed him to bring them to the army without delay. They had nothing to do but to obey.
Many of the spots they passed presented much picturesque beauty. In several places were groups of naked warriors resting under the trees on the borders of the lake, with their shields on their arms, while hundreds of others were in the water, spearing fish, which were cooked by their companions on shore. The margin was crowded with horses, drinking or feeding, and men bathing, while, in the centre, hippopotami were constantly throwing up their black muzzles, spouting water.
The march of the Bornou army now commenced; but little order was preserved before coming near the enemy, everyone appearing to know that at a certain point an assembly was to take place. The sheikh took the lead, and close after him came the Sultan of Bornou; who always attended him on these occasions, though he never fought. The sheikh was preceded by five flags with extracts of the Koran on them, and attended by about a hundred of his chiefs and favourite slaves. A negro boy carried his shield, a jacket of mail, and his steel skull-cap, and his arms; another, mounted on a swift _mahary_, and fantastically dressed with a straw hat and ostrich feathers, carried his timbrel, or drum, which it is the greatest misfortune to lose in action. In the rear followed the harem; but on such occasions the sheikh takes but three wives, who are mounted astride on trained horses, each led by a slave boy, their heads and figures completely enveloped in brown silk bournouses, with an attendant on either side. The sultan has five times as many attendants as his general, and his harem is three times as numerous.
On reaching Kabshary, the sheikh reviewed his favourite forces, the Kanemboo spearmen, nine thousand strong. With the exception of a goat or sheep's skin, with the hair outwards, round their middles, and a few strips of cloth on their heads, they were nearly naked. Their arms were spear and shield, with a dagger on the left arm, reversed. The shield is made of a peculiarly light wood, weighing only a few pounds. Their leaders were mounted and distinguished merely by a _tobe_ of dark blue, and a turban of the same colour.
The sheikh's attendants were magnificently dressed, but his own costume was neat and simple, consisting only of two white figured muslin _tobes_, with a bournous, and a Cashmere shawl for a turban: over all hung the English sword which had been sent him. On the signal being made for his troops to advance, they uttered a fearful shriek, or yell, and advanced by troops of eight hundred to a thousand each. After striking their spears against their shields for some seconds, which had an extremely grand effect, they filed off on either side, again forming and awaiting their companions, who succeeded them in the same way.
There appeared to be a great deal of affection between these troops and the sheikh. He spurred his horse onwards into the midst of some of the troops as they came up, and spoke to them, while the men crowded round him, kissing his feet and stirrups. It was a most pleasing sight, and he seemed to feel how much his present elevation was owing to their exertions; while they displayed a devotion and attachment denoting the greatest confidence. The major assured him that, with these troops, he need fear but little the attempts of the Fezzaners on his territories.
The next day a number of captives--women and children--were brought in: one poor woman accompanied by four children--two in her arms and two on the horse of the father who had been stabbed for defending those he loved. They were uttering the most piteous cries. The sheikh, after looking at them, desired that they might all be released, saying: "God forbid that I should make slaves of the wives and children of any Mussalman! Go back: tell the wicked and powerful chiefs who urged your husbands to rebel and to _kafir_, that I shall be quickly with them, and will punish them instead of the innocent!"
This message had its effect; for, during the following day, many hundreds of the Munga people came in, bowing to the ground, and throwing sand upon their heads in token of submission. Several towns also sent their chiefs and submitted in this manner, bringing peace offerings, when the sheikh swore solemnly not to molest them further. Their principal leader, Malem Fanaamy, fearing to lose his head, would not come; but offered to pay two thousand slaves, a thousand bullocks, and three hundred horses as the price of peace. The offer was refused; and, compelled by his people, Malem Fanaamy made his appearance, poorly dressed, with an uncovered head. The sheikh received his submission; and, when he really expected to hear the order for his throat to be cut, he was clothed with eight handsome _tobes_, and his head made as big as six, with turbans from Egypt. This matter being settled, the army returned to the capital.
Major Denham soon after this visited a caravan which had come from Soudan, on its way to Fezzan. The merchants had nearly a hundred slaves, the greater part female, mostly very young--those from Nyffe of a deep copper colour, and beautifully formed; the males were also young, and linked together in couples by iron rings round their legs, yet they laughed and seemed in good condition. It is a common practice with the merchants to induce one slave to persuade his companions that on arriving at Tripoli they will be free and clothed in red--a colour of which negroes are passionately fond. By these promises they are induced to submit quietly until they are too far from their homes to render escape possible.
An extraordinary event occurred here, showing the despotic power of the sheikh. Barca Gana, his general, a governor of six large districts, had offended the sheikh, who sent for him, had him stripped in his presence, and a leathern girdle put round his loins, and, after reproaching him with his ingratitude, ordered that he should be forthwith sold to the Tibboo merchants, for he was still a slave. The other chiefs, however, falling on their knees, petitioned that their favourite general might be forgiven. The culprit at that moment appeared to take his leave. The sheikh, on this, threw himself back on his carpet, wept like a child, and suffered Barca Gana to embrace his knees, and, calling them all his sons, pardoned his penitent slave.
Poor Dr Oudney had never risen since his return from Munga, and Clapperton and Hillman were also dangerously ill.