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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Wanderings in Three Continents</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Sir Richard Burton</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: William Henry Wilkins</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: A. D. McCormick</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 24, 2021 [eBook #67003]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Carol Brown, Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WANDERINGS IN THREE CONTINENTS ***</div> - -<!--Page 001--> -<div class="chapter"> -<h1 class="h1head">WANDERINGS IN<br /> -THREE CONTINENTS</h1> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Page 002--><!--Blank Page--> -<!--Page 003--><!--Blank Page--> -<!--Page 004--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 442px"> - <a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" - alt="Illustration: Richard F. Burton" - /> - <p class="credit">Allen & Co. Ph. Sc.</p> - <p class="caption">Richard F. Burton<br /> -الحاج عبداله -</p> -</div><!--end figure--> - -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Page 005--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="h1head">WANDERINGS IN<br /> -THREE CONTINENTS</h2> - -<p class="p4 center smaller">BY THE LATE</p> -<h2 class="h2head">CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD F. BURTON, <abbr title="Knight Commander">K.C.M.G.</abbr></h2> - -<p class="p4 center indent20">EDITED, WITH A PREFACE, BY -W. H. WILKINS, <abbr title="Master of Arts">M.A.</abbr>, F.S.A. -EDITOR OF THE BURTON <abbr title="manuscripts">MSS.</abbr> -AND AUTHOR OF “THE ROMANCE -OF ISABEL LADY -BURTON,” ETC.</p> - -<p class="p2 center small">WITH A PHOTOGRAVURE PORTRAIT AND</p> -<p class="center small">WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. D. MᶜCORMICK</p> - -<div class="p2 figcenter"> - <img src="images/oakleaf.jpg" - alt="Illustration: leaf decoration" - /> -</div> - -<p class="center">London: HUTCHINSON & CO</p> - -<p class="center">Paternoster Row <img src="images/littleleaves.jpg" - alt="Illustration: leaf decorations" - /> - 1901</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Page 006--><!--Blank Page--> -<!--Page 007--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<table summary=""> - -<tr><th class="ls">CONTENTS<br /><hr class="short" /></th></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="2" class="right smaller pad4">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left pad2">PREFACE</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">I—​THE VISITATION OF EL MEDINAH</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">II—​THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCAH</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">A RIDE TO HARAR</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">TO THE HEART OF AFRICA</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">I—​THE JOURNEY</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">II—​THE LAKE REGIONS</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">THE CITY OF THE MORMONS</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">I—​THE JOURNEY</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad3">II—​THE CITY AND ITS PROPHET</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">A MISSION TO DAHOMÉ</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">A TRIP UP THE CONGO</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left pad1">THROUGH SYRIA TO PALMYRA</td> - <td class="right pad4"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td></tr> -</table> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Page 008--><!--Blank Page--><!--Page 009--> - -<div class="chapter"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii"></a> -<h3 class="p4 h3head ls">PREFACE</h3> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">BURTON was a many-sided man. The following -volume of posthumous essays reveals him in -the aspect in which he was best known to the world—​as -a traveller and explorer. It will add comparatively -little to the knowledge of the Burton student; to -the general reader it will contain much that is new, -for though Burton wrote and published many bulky -volumes of travel in years gone by, none of them -assumed a popular form, and it may be doubted if -any, save his “Pilgrimage to Meccah and El Medinah,” -reached the outer circle of the great reading public. -Most of his books are now out of copyright, many -are out of print, and few are easily obtainable. This -volume, therefore, will supply a need, in that it gives -in a popular form a consensus of his most important -travels in three continents. It will also, I hope, -remind his countrymen of the achievements of this -remarkable man, and bring home to many a deeper -sense of what we have lost in him. This was the -view taken by Lady Burton, who had hoped to -<!--Page 010--> -incorporate these essays in her memorial edition of -“The Labours and Wisdom of Sir Richard Burton,” -a work cut short by her death. Upon me, therefore, -has devolved the task of editing them and preparing -them for publication. They form the second volume -of the Burton MSS. which have been published since -Lady Burton’s death, and I am the more encouraged -to give them to the world by the success which -attended the previous volume, “The Jew, the Gypsy, -and El Islam.” The reception of this book, though -published under obvious difficulties, and eight years -after the author’s death, showed that the interest in -the great traveller’s work was in no degree abated.</p> - -<p>The essays that follow were all prepared by Burton -himself, and most of them were read by him in the -form of lectures before sundry geographical and -scientific societies at different times. For instance, -the description of his expeditions to El Medinah, -Meccah, Harar, and Dahomé were delivered by -him as a course of four lectures before the Emperor -and Empress of Brazil at Rio in 1866. The account -of his Central African expedition was read, I believe, -at Bath, the one on Damascus and Palmyra at -Edinburgh, the one on the Mormons in London. I -have deleted the local and topical allusions, which -arose from the circumstances under which they were -delivered; I have filled in a word or two where -the notes were too sketchy; but that is all. -<!--Page 011--> -Otherwise, the manuscript is reproduced exactly as -it left the author’s hands. In his own words, -simply and unaffectedly, Burton here gives an -epitome of his principal travels in three continents.</p> - -<p>In this condensed form the essays necessarily -lose something. On the other hand, they gain much. -Careful and accurate as all Burton’s books of travel -were, his passion for detail sometimes led him into -tediousness. He crammed his notebooks so full -that he had occasionally a difficulty in digesting -the large mass of information he had acquired. He -was addicted to excessive annotation. For instance, -in his book on the Mormons, the large text occupied -on some pages only three lines, the rest of the -page being broken up by closely printed notes, -extracts from Mormon books and sermons, which -can only be considered as superfluous. Extraneous -matter of this kind has been omitted here, and the -result is a clear gain to the narrative.</p> - -<p>The book covers the period from 1853 to 1870, -the most active years of Burton’s active life. It -opens most fitly with an account of his pilgrimage -to El Medinah and Meccah. This famous expedition -was the turning-point of Burton’s career; in a sense -it may be said to have been the beginning of it. -Though he had already shown much promise and -some performance, and was known to many in India -as a linguist, soldier, writer, and man of unusual -<!--Page 012--> -ability, he was yet unknown to the greater world -outside. But after his pilgrimage to Meccah his -fame became world-wide and enduring. I say this -in no spirit of exaggeration. When all that Burton -wrote and wrought has passed away into that -limbo of forgetfulness which awaits the labours of -even the most distinguished among us, this at least -will be remembered to his honour, that he was -the first Englishman to penetrate to the Holy of -Holies at Meccah. I write the first Englishman -advisedly. Burckhardt, a Swiss explorer, had gone -part of the way before him, and since his day one -or two have the made the pilgrimage, but, though -it was a sufficiently difficult task when they performed -it, it was much more difficult when Burton did it -in 1853. He was not a man to do things by halves. -He made the pilgrimage thoroughly, living absolutely -the life of the Moslems, wearing their clothes, -eating their food, joining in their prayers, sacrifices, -and ritual, and speaking their language; he did all -this, carrying his life in his hand, for one false step, -one prayer unsaid, one trifling item of the shibboleth -omitted, and the dog of an infidel who had dared -to profane the sanctuary of the Prophet would have -been found out, and his bones would have whitened -the desert sand. Not that Burton went to profane -the tomb of the Prophet. Far from it. From his -early manhood he had been a sympathetic student -<!--Page 013--> -of the higher aspects of El Islam. He had come -to see that in it, above and beyond all the corruptions -and abuses which clung around the Saving Faith, there -existed an occult force which had made it a power -among men. Not only in his achievement, but in -the way he did it, Burton manifested those great -qualities which have made the English race what it is; -he showed tenacity, pluck, and strength of purpose, -and, withal, he accomplished his purpose unobtrusively. -None knew until he came back how great a task -he had achieved.</p> - -<p>It was the same with all that Burton undertook. -He did his work thoroughly, and he did it without -any beating of drums or blaring of trumpets. “Deeds, -not words,” was his rule; “Honour, not honours,” -his motto. His expedition to Harar the following -year was almost as arduous as his pilgrimage to -Meccah. No European had ever before passed the -gates of the city in Somaliland. But Burton passed -them, and stayed in Harar some days. Again, his -long and dangerous expedition into Central Africa, -which occupied nearly three years, showed in a -marvellous manner his resource, his courage, and -his powers of endurance. On the unfortunate controversy -which afterwards arose between himself and -Speke it is not necessary to enter here; but this -much, at least, may be said. In the discovery of Lake -Tanganyika Burton was the pioneer; his was the -<!--Page 014--> -brain which planned and commanded the expedition, -and carried it through to a successful issue. It was -he who first achieved with inadequate means and -insufficient escort what Livingstone, Cameron, Speke, -Grant, Baker, and Stanley achieved later.</p> - -<p>Of the remaining essays there is little to be said. -Burton’s description of the Mormons in Great Salt -Lake City printed here is, I think, very much better -than his bulky book on the same subject, “The City -of the Saints.” In the larger work Burton ventured -on prophecy, always unsafe, and predicted a great -future for Mormondom and polygamy, a prediction -which has not so far been verified by events. On -the other hand, this account of his mission to Dahomé -certainly loses by excessive condensation. “The Trip -up the Congo” and “The Interior of Brazil” -are lightning sketches of expeditions which involved -much preparation and trouble to carry them through. -“Palmyra” is a formal survey rather than an account -of an expedition. It is interesting, as it marks an -epoch in (one had almost written, the end of) Burton’s -active life. In 1870 he was suddenly recalled from -Damascus by Lord Granville, and his career was -broken.</p> - -<p>After his appointment to the post of Consul at -Trieste he went on some expeditions, notably to -Midian, but they were tame indeed compared with -those to Meccah, Harar, and Central Africa. At -<!--Page 015--> -Trieste the eagle’s wings were clipped, and the man -who had great energy and ability, a knowledge of -more than a score of languages, and an unrivalled -experience of Eastern life and literature, was suffered -to drag out eighteen years in the obscurity of a -second-rate seaport town. True, it was not all lost -time, for ample leisure was given him at Trieste for -his literary labours. If he had been thrown in a -more active sphere, his great masterpiece, “Alf -Laylah Wa Laylah” (“The Arabian Nights”) might -never have seen the light.</p> - -<p>But when all is said and done, the most fruitful -years of Burton’s career, the richest in promise and -performance, were those that began with the pilgrimage -to Meccah and ended with his recall from -Damascus. They were the very heart of his life: -they are the years covered by this book.</p> - -<p class="sigright">W. H. WILKINS.</p> - -<p><span class="smaller date">October 1901.</span></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Page 016--><!--Blank Page--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 017--><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH</span><br /> - -1853</h3> -<!--Page 018--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 019--><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="One">I</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE VISITATION OF EL MEDINAH</span></h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">THE Moslem’s pilgrimage is a familiar word to -the Christian’s ear, yet how few are acquainted -with the nature or the signification of the rite! -Unto the present day, learned men—​even those who -make a pretence to some knowledge of the East—​still -confound Meccah, the birthplace, with El Medinah, -the burial-place, of Mohammed, the Arab law-giver. -“The Prophet’s tomb at Meccah” is a mistake which -even the best-informed of our journals do not disdain -to make.</p> - -<p>Before, however, entering upon the journey which -procured for me the title “haji,” it is necessary -for me to dispose of a few preliminaries which must -savour of the personal. The first question that -suggests itself is, “What course of study enabled an -Englishman to pass unsuspected through the Moslem’s -exclusive and jealously guarded Holy Land?”</p> - -<p>I must premise that in the matter of assuming an -Oriental nationality, Nature was somewhat propitious -to me. Golden locks and blue eyes, however <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">per se</i> -desirable, would have been sad obstacles to progress -<!--Page 020--> -in swarthy Arabia. And to what Nature had begun, -art contributed by long years of laborious occupation.</p> - -<p>Finding Oxford, with its Greek and Latin, its -mysteries of <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">δε</span> and <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">γαρ</span>, and its theology and mathematics, -exceedingly monotonous, I shipped myself -for India and entered life in the 18th Sepoy Regiment -of the Bombay Presidency. With sundry intervals of -travel, my career between 1843 and 1849 was spent -in Scinde. This newly conquered province was very -Mohammedan, and the conquerors were compelled, -during the work of organisation, to see more of the -conquered than is usual in England’s East Indian -possession. Sir Charles Napier, of gallant memory, -our Governor and Commander-in-Chief, honoured -me with a staff appointment, and humoured my -whim by allowing me to wander about the new land -as a canal engineer employed upon its intricate canal -system. My days and nights were thus spent among -the people, and within five years I was enabled to -pass examinations in six Eastern languages.</p> - -<p>In 1849 (March 30th-September 5th) an obstinate -rheumatic ophthalmia, the result of overwork, sent -me back to Europe, where nearly three years were -passed before I was pronounced cured. Then, -thoroughly tired of civilisation and living “dully -sluggardised at home,” and pining for the breath -of the desert and the music of the date-palm, I -volunteered in the autumn of 1852 to explore the great -waste of Eastern and Central Arabia—​that huge white -blot which still disgraces our best maps. But the -<!--Page 021--> -Court of Directors of the then Honourable East -India Company, with their mild and amiable chairman, -after deliberation, stoutly refused. They saw in me -only another victim, like Stoddard Connolly and the -brave brothers Wyburd, rushing on his own destruction -and leaving behind him friends and family to trouble -with their requisitions the peace and quiet of the -India House.</p> - -<p>What remained to me but to prove that what might -imperil others was to me safe? Supplied with the -sinews of travel by the Royal Geographical Society, -curious to see what men are mostly content to hear -of only—​namely, Moslem inner life in a purely -Mohammedan land—​and longing to set foot within -the mysterious Meccah which no vacation tourist -had ever yet measured, sketched, photographed, and -described, I resolved, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coûte qu’il coûte</i>, to make the -attempt in my old character of a dervish. The safest -as well as the most interesting time would be during -the pilgrimage season.</p> - -<p>The Moslem’s hajj, or pilgrimage, means, I must -premise, “aspiration,” and expresses man’s conviction -that he is but a wayfarer on earth wending towards a -nobler world. This explains the general belief of the -men in sandaled shoon that the greater their hardships, -the sorer to travel the road to Jordan, the higher -will be their reward in heaven. The pilgrim is urged -by the voice of his soul—​“O thou, toiling so fiercely -for worldly pleasure and for transitory profit, wilt -thou endure nothing to win a more lasting boon?” -<!--Page 022--> -Hence it is that pilgrimage is common to all ancient -faiths. The Sabæans, or old Arabians, visited the -Pyramids as the sepulchres of Seth and his son -Sabi, the founder of their sect. The classical philosophers -wandered through the Valley of the Nile. The -Jews annually went up to Jerusalem. The Tartar -Buddhists still journey to distant Lamaserais, and -the Hindus to Egypt, to Tibet, to Gaya, on the -Ganges, and to the inhospitable Caucasus. The -spirit of pilgrimage animated mediæval Europe, -and a learned Jesuit traveller considers the processions -of the Roman Catholic Church modern vestiges -of the olden rite.</p> - -<p>El Islam—​meaning the covenant in virtue of which -men earn eternal life by good works in this world—​requires -of all its votaries daily ablution and prayer, -almsgiving on certain occasions, one month’s yearly -fast, and at least one pilgrimage to the House of Allah -at Meccah and the mountain of Ararat. This first, -and often the single, visit is called Hajjat el Islam, -or pilgrimage of being a Moslem, and all those -subsequently performed are regarded as works of -supererogation. The rite, however, is incumbent only -upon those who possess a sufficiency of health or -wealth. El Islam is a creed remarkable for common -sense.</p> - -<p>The journey to El Medinah is not called hajj, -but ziyarat, meaning a ceremonial visitation. Thus -the difference between worship due to the Creator -and homage rendered to the creature is steadily placed -<!--Page 023--> -and kept before the Moslem’s eyes. Some sects—​the -Wahhabi, or Arabian Puritans, for instance—​even condemn -as impious all intercessions between man and -his Maker, especially the prayers at the Prophet’s -grave. The mass, however, of the Mohammedan -Church, if such expression be applicable to a system -which repudiates an ecclesiastical body, considers this -visitation a “practice of the faith, and the most -effectual way of drawing near to Allah through the -Prophet Mohammed.”</p> - -<p>The Moslem’s literature has many a thick volume -upon the minutiæ of pilgrimage and visitation. All -four Sumni, or orthodox schools—​<abbr title="namely">viz.</abbr>, Hunafi, Shafli, -Maliki, and Hanbali—​differ in unimportant points -one with the other. Usually pilgrims, especially those -performing the rite for the first time, begin with -Meccah and end with El Medinah. But there is no -positive command on the subject. In these days -pilgrims from the north countries—​Egypt and Syria, -Damascus and Bagdad—​pass through the Prophet’s -burial-place going to and coming from Meccah, making -a visitation each time. Voyagers from the south—​as -East Africa, India, and Java—​must often deny themselves, -on account of danger and expense, the spiritual -advantages of prayer at Mohammed’s tomb.</p> - -<p>I have often been asked if the pilgrim receives any -written proof that he has performed his pilgrimage. -Formerly the Sherif (descendant of Hasan), or Prince, -of Meccah gave a certificate to those who could -afford it, and early in the present century the names -<!--Page 024--> -of all who paid the fee were registered by a scribe. -All that has passed. But the ceremonies are so complicated -and the localities so peculiar that no book -can thoroughly teach them. The pretended pilgrim -would readily be detected after a short cross-questioning -of the real Simon Pure. As facilities -of travel increase, and the rite becomes more popular, -no pilgrim, unless he comes from the edge of the -Moslem world, cares to bind on the green turban -which his grandfather affected. Few also style themselves -haji, unless for an especial reason—​as an -evidence of reformed life, for instance, or a sign of -being a serious person.</p> - -<p>Some also have inquired if I was not the first -“Christian” who ever visited the Moslem’s Holy -Land. The learned Gibbon asserted—​“Our notions -of Meccah must be drawn from the Arabians. As no -unbeliever is permitted to enter the city, our travellers -are silent.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_1" id="fnanchor_1"></a><a href="#footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span> -But Haji Yunus (Ludovico di Bartema) -performed the pilgrimage in <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 1503; Joseph Pitts, -of Exeter, in 1680, Ali Bey el Abbasi (the Catalonian -Badia) in 1807, Haji Mohammed (Giovanni Finati, -of Ferrara) in 1811, and the excellent Swiss traveller -Burckhardt in 1814, all passed safely through the -Hejaz, or Holy Land. I mention those only who -have written upon the subject. Those who have -not must be far more numerous. In fact, any man -may become a haji by prefacing his pilgrimage with a -solemn and public profession of faith before the Kazi in -<!--Page 025--> -Cairo or Damascus; or, simpler still, by applying through -his Consulate to be put under the protection of the -Amir el Haji, or Commander of the Pilgrim Caravan.</p> - -<p>If I did anything new, it was this—​my pilgrimage -was performed as by one of the people. El Islam -theoretically encourages, but practically despises and -distrusts, the burma, or renegade. Such a convert -is allowed to see as little as possible, and is ever -suspected of being a spy. He is carefully watched -night and day, and in troublous times he finds it -difficult to travel between Meccah and El Medinah. -Far be it from me to disparage the labours of my predecessors. -But Bartema travelled as a Mameluke in the -days when Mamelukes were Christian slaves, Pitts was -a captive carried to the pilgrimage by his Algerine -master, Badia’s political position was known to -all the authorities, Finati was an Albanian soldier, -and Burckhardt revealed himself to the old Pacha -Mohammed Ali.</p> - -<p>As regards the danger of pilgrimage in the case -of the non-Moslem, little beyond the somewhat -extensive chapter of accidents is to be apprehended -by one conversant with Moslem prayers and formulæ, -manners and customs, and who possesses a sufficient -guarantee of orthodoxy. It is, however, absolutely -indispensable to be a Mohammedan in externals. -Neither the Koran nor the Sultan enjoins the killing -of Hebrew or Christian intruders; nevertheless, in -1860, a Jew, who refused to repeat the Creed, was -crucified by the Meccan populace, and in the event -<!--Page 026--> -of a pilgrim declaring himself to be an infidel the -authorities would be powerless to protect him.</p> - -<p>The question of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Cui bono?</i>—​of what good I did to -others or to myself by the adventure—​is not so easily -answered. My account of El Medinah is somewhat -fuller than that of Burckhardt, whose health was -breaking when he visited it. And our caravan’s -route between the Holy Cities was not the beaten -track along the Red Sea, but the little-known eastern -or desert road. Some critics certainly twitted me -with having “turned Turk”; one might turn worse -things. For the rest, man is ever most tempted by -the useless and the impossible.</p> - -<p>To appear in character upon the scene of action -many precautions were necessary. Egypt in those -days was a land of passports and policemen; the -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">haute-police</i> was not inferior to that of any European -country. By the advice of a brother-officer, Captain -Grindley, I assumed the Eastern dress at my lodgings -in London, and my friend accompanied me as interpreter -to Southampton. On April 4th, 1853, a -certain Shaykh Abdullah (to wit, myself) left home in -the P. & O. Company’s steamer <span class="title">Bengal</span>, and before -the end of the fortnight landed at Alexandria. It was -not exactly pleasant for the said personage to speak -broken English the whole way, and rigorously to -refuse himself the pleasure of addressing the other -sex; but under the circumstances it was necessary.</p> - -<p>Fortunately, on board the <span class="title">Bengal</span> was John Larking, -a well-known Alexandrian. He was in my secret, -<!--Page 027--> -and I was received in his house, where he gave me a -little detached pavilion and treated me as a munshi, or -language-master. My profession among the people -was that of a doctor. The Egyptians are a medico-ridden -race; all are more or less unhealthy, and they -could not look upon my phials and pill-boxes without -yearning for their contents. An Indian doctor was -a novelty to them; Franks they despised; but how -resist a man who had come so far, from east and -west? Men, women, and children besieged my door, -by which means I could see the people face to face, -especially that portion of which Europeans as a rule -know only the worst. Even learned Alexandrians, -after witnessing some of my experiments in mesmerism -and the magic mirror, opined that the stranger was a -manner of holy man gifted with preternatural powers. -An old man sent to offer me his daughter in marriage—​my -sanctity compelled me to decline the honour—​and -a middle-aged lady offered me a hundred piastres -(nearly one pound sterling) to stay at Alexandria -and superintend the restoration of her blind left eye.</p> - -<p>After a month pleasantly spent in the little garden -of roses, jasmine, and oleanders, I made in early June -a move towards Cairo. The first thing was to procure -a passport; I had neglected, through ignorance, to -bring one from England. It was not without difficulty, -involving much unclean dressing and expenditure -of horrible English, that I obtained from H.B.M.’s -Consul at Alexandria a certificate declaring me to be -an Indo-British subject named Abdullah, by profession -<!--Page 028--> -a doctor, and, to judge from frequent blanks in the -document, not distinguished by any remarkable conformation -of eyes, nose, or cheek. This paper, duly -countersigned by the zabit, or police magistrate, would -carry me anywhere within the Egyptian frontier.</p> - -<p>At Alexandria also I provided a few necessaries for -the pilgrimage: item—​a change or two of clothing; a -substantial leather money belt to carry my gold in; a -little cotton bag for silver and small change, kept ready -for use in the breast pocket; a zemzimiyah, or water-bag -of goatskin; a huge cotton umbrella of Cairene -make, brightly yellow, like an overgrown marigold; -a coarse Persian rug, which acted as bed, table, chair, -and oratory; a pea-green box, with red and yellow -flowers, capable of standing falls from a camel twice -a day, and therefore well fitted for a medicine chest; -and, lastly, the only peculiar article—​<abbr title="namely">viz.</abbr>, the shroud, -without which no one sets out <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> to Meccah. -This <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">memento mori</i> is a piece of cotton six feet long by -five broad. It is useful, for instance, when a man is -dangerously sick or wounded; the caravan, of course, -cannot wait, and to loiter behind is destruction. The -patient, therefore, is ceremonially washed, wrapped up -in his kafan, partly covered with sand, and left to -his fate. It is hard to think of such an end without -horror; the torturing thirst of a wound, the sun -heating the brain to madness, and, worst of all—​for -they do not wait for death—​the attacks of the jackal, -the vulture, and the ravens of the wilds. This shroud -was duly sprinkled, as is the custom, with the holy water -<!--Page 029--> -of the Zemzem well at Meccah. It later came to a -bad end amongst the villainous Somal in Eastern Africa.</p> - -<p>Equipped in a dervish’s frock, I took leave of my -kind host and set out, a third-class passenger, upon -a steamer facetiously known as the <span class="title">Little Asthmatic</span>. -In those days the rail had not invaded Egypt. We -had an unpleasant journey up the Mahmadiyah Canal -and the Nile, which is connected by it with Alexandria. -The usual time was thirty hours. We took three -mortal days and nights. We were nearly wrecked -at the then unfinished Barage, we saw nothing of the -Pyramids but their tops, and it was with a real feeling -of satisfaction that we moored alongside of the old -tumble-down suburb, Bulak.</p> - -<p>My dervishhood was perfectly successful. I happened -by chance to touch the elbow of an Anglo-Indian officer, -and he publicly and forcibly condemned my organs of -vision. And I made an acquaintance and a friend on -board. The former was a shawl and cotton merchant, -Meyan Khudabaksh Namdar, of Lahore, who, as the -caravanserais were full of pilgrims, lodged me at his -house for a fortnight. The conversations that passed -between us were published two years later in 1855.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_2" id="fnanchor_2"></a><a href="#footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></span> -They clearly pointed to the mutiny which occurred two -years afterwards, and this, together with my frankness -about the Suez Canal,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_3" id="fnanchor_3"></a><a href="#footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></span> did not tend to make me a -favourite with the then effete Government of India.</p> - -<p>My friend was a Turkish trader, named Haji -<!--Page 030--> -Wali-el-din. He was then a man about forty-five, of -middle stature, with a large round head closely shaven, -a bull neck, limbs sturdy as a Saxon’s, a thin red beard, -and handsome features beaming benevolence. A -curious dry humour he had, delighting in “quizzing,” -but in so quiet, quaint, and solemn a way that before -you knew him you could scarce divine his drift. He -presently found for me rooms next his own at the -wakalah, or caravanserai, called Jemeliyah, in the Greek -quarter, and I tried to repay his kindness by counselling -him in an unpleasant Consular suit.</p> - -<p>When we lived under the same roof, the haji and -I became inseparable. We walked together and dined -together, and spent the evening at a mosque or other -place of public pastime. Sometimes we sat among -the dervishes; but they are a dangerous race, travelled -and inquisitive. Meanwhile I continued to practise my -profession—​the medical—​and devoted myself several -hours a day to study in the Azhar Mosque, sitting -under the learned Shaykh Mohammed Ali Attar. The -better to study the “humours,” I also became a -grocer and druggist, and my little shop, a mere hole -in the wall, was a perfect gem of Nilotic groceries. -But although I sold my wares under cost price to fair -customers, my chief clients were small boys and girls, -who came, halfpence in hand, to buy sugar and pepper; -so one day, determining to sink the thirty shillings -which my stock in trade had stood me, I locked the -wooden shutter that defended my establishment and -made it over to my shaykh.</p> - -<p><!--Page 031--> -The haji and I fasted together during the month -of Ramazan. That year it fell in the torrid June, -and it always makes the Moslem unhealthy and unamiable. -At the end preparations were to be made for -departure Meccah-wards, and the event was hastened -by a convivial <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">séance</i> with a bacchanalian captain -of Albanians, which made the gossips of the quarter -wonder what manner of an Indian doctor had got -amongst them.</p> - -<p>I was fortunate enough, however, to hire the services -of Shaykh Nur, a quiet East Indian, whose black skin -made society suppose him to be my slave. Never -suspecting my nationality till after my return from -Meccah, he behaved honestly enough; but when -absolved by pilgrimage from his past sins, Haji Nur -began to rob me so boldly that we were compelled -to part. I also made acquaintance with certain sons -of the Holy Cities—​seven men from El Medinah and -Meccah—​who, after a begging-trip to Constantinople, -were returning to their homes. Having doctored -them and lent them some trifling sums, I was invited -by Shaykh Hamid El Shamman to stay with him at -El Medinah, and by the boy Mohammed El Basyuni -to lodge at his mother’s house in Meccah.</p> - -<p>They enabled me to collect proper stores for the -journey. These consisted of tea, coffee, loaf sugar, -biscuits, oil, vinegar, tobacco, lanterns, cooking-pots, -and a small bell-shaped tent costing twelve shillings. -The provisions were placed in a kafas, or hamper, -of palm sticks, my drugs and dress in a sahharah, -<!--Page 032--> -or wooden box measuring some three and a half feet -each way, covered with cowskin, and the lid fitting -into the top. And finally, not wishing to travel by -the vans then allotted to the overland passengers, I -hired two dromedaries and their attendant Bedouins, -who for the sum of ten shillings each agreed to -carry me across the desert between Cairo and Suez.</p> - -<p>At last, after abundant trouble, all was ready. At -3 p.m., July 1st, 1853, my friend Haji Wali embraced -me heartily, and so did my poor old shaykh, who, -despite his decrepitude and my objections, insisted -upon accompanying me to the city gate. I will not -deny having felt a tightening of the heart as their -honest faces and forms faded in the distance. All -the bystanders ejaculated, “Allah bless thee, Y’all -Hajj (O pilgrim!), and restore thee to thy family -and thy friends.”</p> - -<p>We rode hard over the stretch of rock and hard -clay which has since yielded to that monumental -work, the Suez Canal. There was no <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ennui</i> upon -the road: to the traveller there was an interest in -the wilderness—​</p> - -<p class="center small">Where love is liberty and Nature law—​</p> - -<p class="unindent">unknown to Cape seas and Alpine glaciers and even -the boundless prairie. I felt as if looking once more -upon the face of a friend, and my two Bedouins—​though -the old traveller described their forefathers -as “folke full of all evylle condiciouns”—​were -excellent company. At midnight we halted for a little -<!--Page 033--> -rest near the Central Station, and after dark on the -next evening I passed through the tumble-down gateway -of Suez and found a shelter in the Wakalah Tirjis—​the -George Inn. My Meccan and Medinah friends -were already installed there, and the boy Mohammed -El Basyuni had joined me on the road.</p> - -<p>It was not so easy to embark at Suez. In those -days the greater body of pilgrims marched round the -head of the Red Sea. Steamers were rare, and in the -spirit of protection the Bey, or Governor, had orders -to obstruct us till near the end of the season. Most -Egyptian high officials sent their boats laden with -pious passengers up the Nile, whence they returned -freighted with corn. They naturally did their best -to force upon us the delays and discomforts of what -is called the Kussayr (Cosseir) line. And as those -who travelled by the land route spent their money -fifteen days longer in Egyptian territory than they -would have done if allowed to embark at Suez, the -Bey assisted them in the former and obstructed them -in the latter case.</p> - -<p>We were delayed in the George Inn four mortal days -and nights amidst all the plagues of Egypt. At last -we found a sambuk, or small-decked vessel, about to -start, and for seven dollars each we took places upon the -poop, the only possible part in the dreadful summer -months. The <span class="title">Silk El Zahab</span>, or <span class="title">Golden Thread</span>, -was probably a lineal descendant from the ships of -Solomon harboured in Ezion Geber. It was about -fifty tons burden, and we found ninety-seven, instead -<!--Page 034--> -of sixty, the proper number of passengers. The farce -of a quarter-deck ten feet by eight accommodated -eighteen of us, and our companions were Magribis, -men from North-Western Africa—​the most quarrelsome -and vicious of pilgrims.</p> - -<p><a name="fight" id="fight"></a>We sailed on July 6th, and, as in an Irish packet -of the olden time, the first preliminary to “shaking -down” was a general fight. The rais (captain) -naturally landed and left us to settle the matter, -which ended in many a head being broken. I played -my poor part in the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mêlée</i> by pushing down a heavy -jar of water upon the swarm of assailants. At last -the Magribis, failing to dislodge us from the poop, -made peace, and finding we were sons of the Holy -Cities, became as civil as their unkindly natures -permitted. We spent twelve days, instead of the -normal five, in beating down the five hundred and -fifty direct miles between Suez and Yambu.</p> - -<p>Every second day we managed to land and stretch -our limbs. The mornings and evenings were mild -and balmy, whilst the days were terrible. We felt as -if a few more degrees of heat would be fatal to us. -The celebrated coral reefs of the Red Sea, whence -some authors derive its name, appeared like meadows -of brilliant flowers resembling those of earth, only -far brighter and more beautiful. The sunsets were -magnificent; the zodiacal light, or after-glow, was -a study; and the cold rays of the moon, falling upon -a wilderness of white clay and pinnacle, suggested -a wintry day in England.</p> -<!--Page 035--> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/i_018.jpg" - alt="Illustration: Fight on the Silk El Zahab" - /> - <p class="credit">[<span class="decoration"><a href="#fight">See Page 18.</a></span></p> - <p class="caption">THE FIGHT ON THE <span class="title">SILK EL ZAHAB</span>.</p> -</div> - -<!--Page 036--><!--Blank Page--> - -<!--Page 037--> -<p>At last, after slowly working up a narrow creek -leading to the Yambu harbour, on July 17th we -sprang into a shore-boat, and felt new life when -bidding eternal adieu and “sweet bad luck” to the -<span class="title">Golden Thread</span>, which seemed determined to wreck -itself about once per diem.</p> - -<p>Yambu, the port of El Medinah, lies S.S.W. of, -and a little over a hundred and thirty miles from, -its city. The road was infamous—​rocky, often -waterless, alternately fiery and freezing, and infested -with the Beni Harb, a villainous tribe of hill Bedouins. -Their chief was one Saad, a brigand of the first -water. He was described as a little brown man, contemptible -in appearance but remarkable for courage and -for a ready wit, which saved him from the poison and -pistol of his enemies. Some called him the friend of -the poor, and all knew him to be the foe of the rich.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to see at Yambu, where, -however, we enjoyed the hammam and the drinking-water, -which appeared deliciously sweet after the -briny supplies of Suez. By dint of abundant bargaining -we hired camels at the moderate rate of -three dollars each—​half in ready money, the rest -to be paid after arrival. I also bought a shugduf, -or rude litter carrying two, and I chose the boy -Mohammed as my companion. The journey is -usually done in five days. We took eight, and we -considered ourselves lucky fellows.</p> - -<p>On the evening of the next day (July 18th) we set -out with all the gravity of men putting our heads -<!--Page 038--> -into the lion’s jaws. The moon rose fair and clear -as we emerged from the shadowy streets. When we -launched into the desert, the sweet, crisp air delightfully -contrasted with the close, offensive atmosphere -of the town.</p> - -<p>My companions all, as Arabs will do on such -occasions, forgot to think of their precious boxes -full of the plunder of Constantinople, and began -to sing. We travelled till three o’clock in the morning -(these people insist upon setting out in the afternoon -and passing the night in travelling). And the Prophet -informs us that the “calamities of earth,” meaning -scorpions, serpents, and wild beasts, are least dangerous -during the dark hours.</p> - -<p>After a pleasant sleep in the wilderness, we joined -for the next day’s march a caravan of grain carriers, -about two hundred camels escorted by seven Turkish -Bashi Buzuk, or Irregular Cavalry. They confirmed -the report that the Bedouins were “out,” and declared -that Saad, the Old Man of the Mountain, had -threatened to cut every throat venturing into his -passes. That night the robbers gave us a mild taste -of their quality, but soon ran away. The third march -lay over an iron land and under a sky of brass to a -long straggling village called, from its ruddy look, El -Hamra (the Red); it is the middle station between -Yambu and El Medinah. The fourth stage placed -us on the Sultan’s high-road leading from Meccah -to the Prophet’s burial-place, and we joined a company -of pious persons bound on visitation.</p> -<!--Page 039--> - -<p>The Bedouins, hearing that we had an escort of -two hundred troopers, manned a gorge and would not -let us advance till the armed men retired. The fifth -and sixth days were forced halts at a vile place called -Bir Abbas, where we could hear the distant dropping -of the musketry, a sign that the troops and the hill-men -were settling some little dispute. Again my -companions were in cold perspirations about their -treasures, and passed the most of their time in -sulking and quarrelling.</p> - -<p>About sunset on July 23rd, three or four caravans -assembled at Bir Abbas, forming one large body for -better defence against the dreaded Bedouins. We -set out at 11 p.m., travelling without halting through -the night, and at early dawn we found ourselves in -an ill-famed narrow known as Shuab El Haji, or the -Pilgrim’s Pass. The boldest looked apprehensive as -we approached it. Presently, from the precipitous -cliff on our left, thin puffs of blue smoke rose in the -sultry morning air, and afterwards the sharp cracks -of the hill-men’s matchlocks were echoed by the rocks -on the right. A number of Bedouins could be seen -swarming like hornets up the steeper slopes, carrying -huge weapons and “spoiling for a fight.” They took -up comfortable positions on the cut-throat <a name="TN1a" id="TN1a"></a><a href="#TN1">embankment</a> -and began practising upon us from behind their -breastworks of piled stones with perfect convenience -to themselves. We had nothing to do but to blaze -away as much powder and to veil ourselves in as dense -a smoke as possible. The result was that we lost -<!--Page 040--> -twelve men, besides camels and other beasts of burden. -My companions seemed to consider this questionable -affair a most gallant exploit.</p> - -<p>The next night (July 24th) was severe. The path -lay up rocky hill and down stony vale. A tripping -and stumbling dromedary had been substituted for -my better animal, and the consequences may be -imagined.</p> - -<p>The sun had nearly risen before I shook off the -lethargic effects of such a march. All around me -were hurrying their beasts, regardless of rough -ground, and not a soul spoke a word to his neighbour. -“Are there robbers in sight?” was the natural -question. “No,” responded the boy Mohammed. -“They are walking with their eyes; they will presently -sight their homes.”</p> - -<p>Half an hour afterwards we came to a huge mudarrij, -or flight of steps, roughly cut in a line of black -scoriaceous basalt. Arrived at the top, we passed -through a lane of dark lava with steep banks on both -sides, and in a few minutes a full view of the Holy -City suddenly opened upon us. It was like a vision -in “The Arabian Nights.” We halted our camels as -if by word of command. All dismounted, in imitation -of the pious of old, and sat down, jaded and hungry -as we were, to feast our eyes on the “country of -date-trees” which looked so passing fair after the -“salt stony land.” As we looked eastward the -sun rose out of the horizon of blue and pink hill, -the frontier of Nejd staining the spacious plains with -<!--Page 041--> -gold and purple. The site of El Medinah is in the -western edge of the highlands which form the plateau -of Central Arabia. On the left side, or north, was -a tall grim pile of porphyritic rock, the celebrated -Mount Ohod, with a clump of verdure and a dome -or two nestling at its base. Round a whitewashed -fortalice founded upon a rock clustered a walled city, -irregularly oval, with tall minarets enclosing a conspicuous -green dome. To the west and south lay -a large suburb and long lines of brilliant vegetation -piercing the tawny levels. I now understood the full -value of a phrase in the Moslem ritual—​“And when -the pilgrim’s eyes shall fall upon the trees of El -Medinah, let him raise his voice and bless the Prophet -with the choicest blessings.”</p> - -<p>In all the panorama before us nothing was more -striking, after the desolation through which we had -passed, than the gardens and orchards about the town. -My companions obeyed the command with the most -poetical exclamations, bidding the Prophet “live for -ever whilst the west wind bloweth gently over the -hills of Nejd and the lightning flasheth bright in the -firmament of El Hejaz.”</p> - -<p>We then remounted and hurried through the Bab -El Ambari, the gate of the western suburb. Crowded -by relatives and friends, we passed down a broad, dusty -street, pretty well supplied with ruins, into an open -space called Barr El Manakhah, or “place where camels -are made to kneel.” Straight forward a line leads -directly into the Bab El Misri, the Egyptian gate of -<!--Page 042--> -the city. But we turned off to the right, and -after advancing a few yards we found ourselves -at the entrance of our friend Shaykh Hamid’s -house. He had preceded us to prepare for our -reception.</p> - -<p>No delay is allowed in the ziyarat, or visitation of -the haram, or holy place, which received the mortal -remains of the Arab Prophet. We were barely allowed -to breakfast, to perform the religious ablution, and to -change our travel-soiled garments. We then mounted -asses, passed through the Egyptian, or western, gate, -and suddenly came upon the mosque. It is choked -up with ignoble buildings, and as we entered the -“Dove of Mercy” I was not impressed by the -spectacle.</p> - -<p>The site of the Prophet’s mosque—​Masjid el -Nabashi, as it is called—​was originally a graveyard -shaded by date-trees. The first walls were of adobe, -or unbaked brick, and the recently felled palm-trunks -were made into pillars for the leaf-thatched roof. The -present building, which is almost four centuries old, is -of cut stone, forming an oblong of four hundred and -twenty feet by three hundred and forty feet. In the -centre is a spacious uncovered area containing the -Garden of Our Lady Fatimah—​a railed plot of ground -bearing a lote-tree and a dozen palms. At the -south-east angle of this enclosure, under a wooden -roof with columns, is the Prophet’s Well, whose -water is hard and brackish. Near it meets the City -Academy, where in the cool mornings and evenings -<!--Page 043--> -the young idea is taught to shout rather than to -shoot.</p> - -<p>Around the court are four riwaks, or porches, not -unlike the cloisters of a monastery; they are arched -to the front, backed by the wall and supported inside -by pillars of different shape and material varying from -dirty plaster to fine porphyry. When I made my -visitation, the northern porch was being rebuilt; it was -to be called after Abd El Majid, the then reigning -Sultan, and it promised to be the most splendid. The -main colonnade, however, the sanctum containing all -that is venerable in the building, embraces the whole -length of the southern short wall, and is deeper -than the other three by nearly treble the number of -columns. It is also paved with handsome slabs of -white marble and marquetry work, here and there -covered with coarse matting and above this by unclean -carpets, well worn by faithful feet.</p> - -<p>To understand the tomb a few preliminary remarks -are necessary. Mohammed, it must be remembered, -died in the eleventh year of his mission and the -sixty-third of his age, corresponding with <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 623. -He was accustomed to say, “In whatsoever spot a -prophet departs this life, there also should he be -buried.” Accordingly his successor ordered the grave -to be dug in the house of the young widow Ayisha, -who lived close to the original mosque. After her -husband’s burial she occupied an adjoining room -partitioned off from the tomb at which men were -accustomed to pray. Another saying of the Prophet’s -<!--Page 044--> -forbade tombs to be erected in mosques; it therefore -became necessary so to contrive that the revered spot -should be in, and yet not in, the place of worship.</p> - -<p>Accordingly they built a detached tower in the -south-eastern corner of the mosque, and called it -the hujrah, or chamber. It is from fifty to fifty-five -feet square, with a passage all round, and it extends -from floor to roof, where it is capped by the green -dome which strikes the eyes on approaching the city. -The external material of the closet, which also serves -to protect the remains from infidels and schismatics, -is metal filagree painted a vivid grey green, relieved -by the brightly gilt or burnished brass-work forming -the long and graceful Arabic characters. On the -south side, for greater honour, the railing is plated -over in parts with silver, and letters of the same -metal are interlaced with it.</p> - -<p>Entering by the western Door of Safety, we paced -slowly towards the tomb down a line of wall about -the height of a man, and called the “illustrious fronting.” -The barrier is painted with arabesques and -pierced with small doors. There are two niches richly -worked with various coloured marble, and near them -is a pulpit, a graceful collection of slender columns, -elegant tracery, and inscriptions admirably carved. -Arrived at the western small door in the dwarf wall, -we entered the famous spot called El Ranzah (the -“Garden”), after a saying of Mohammed: “Between -my grave and my pulpit is a garden of the gardens -of Paradise.” On the north and west sides it is -<!--Page 045--> -not divided from the rest of the porch, to the south -rises the dwarf wall, and eastward it is bounded by -the west end of the filagree tower containing the tomb.</p> - -<p>The “Garden” is the most elaborate part of the -mosque. It is a space of about eighty feet in length -tawdrily decorated to resemble vegetation: the carpets -are flowered, and the pediments of columns are cased -with bright green tiles, and the shafts are adorned -with gaudy and unnatural growths in arabesques. It -is further disfigured by handsome branched candelabra -of cut crystal, the work, I believe, of an English house. -Its peculiar background, the filagree tower, looks -more picturesque near than at a distance, where it -suggests the idea of a gigantic birdcage. The one -really fine feature of the scene is the light cast by the -window of stained glass in the southern wall. Thus -little can be said in praise of the “Garden” by day. -But at night the eye, dazzled by oil lamps suspended -from the roof, by huge wax candles, and by minor -illuminations, whilst crowds of visitors in the brightest -attire, with the richest and noblest of the citizens, sit in -congregation to hear services, becomes far less critical.</p> - -<p>Entering the “Garden” we fronted towards Meccah, -prayed, recited two chapters of the Koran, and gave -alms to the poor in gratitude to Allah for making it -our fate to visit so holy a spot. Then we repaired -to the southern front of the chamber, where there -are three dwarf windows, apertures half a foot square, -and placed at eye’s height from the ground. The -westernmost is supposed to be opposite to the face -<!--Page 046--> -of Mohammed, who lies on the right side, facing, as -is still the Moslem custom, the House of Allah at -Meccah. The central hill is that of Abubaki, the -first Caliph, whose head is just behind the Prophet’s -shoulder. The easternmost window is that of Omar, -the second Caliph, who holds the same position with -respect to Abubaki. In the same chamber, but -decorously divided by a wall from the male tenants, -reposes the Lady Fatimah, Mohammed’s favourite -daughter. Osman, the fourth Caliph, was not buried -after his assassination near his predecessors, but there -is a vacant space for Isa bin Maryam when he shall -return.</p> - -<p>We stood opposite these three windows, successively, -beginning with that of the Prophet, recited the blessings, -which we were directed to pronounce “with awe and -fear and love.” The ritual is very complicated, and -the stranger must engage a guide technically called -a muzawwir, or visitation-maker. He is always a -son of the Holy City, and Shaykh Hamid was mine. -Many a piercing eye was upon me: the people -probably supposed that I was an Ajemi or Persian, -and these heretics have often attempted to defile the -tombs of the two Caliphs.</p> - -<p>When the prayers were at an end, I was allowed to -look through the Prophet’s window. After straining -my eyes for a time, the oil lamps shedding but a -dim light, I saw a narrow passage leading round the -chamber. The inner wall is variously represented to -be made of stone planking or unbaked bricks. One -<!--Page 047--> -sees nothing but thin coverings, a curtain of handsome -silk and cotton brocade, green, with long white letters -worked into it. Upon the hangings were three inscriptions -in characters of gold, informing readers that -behind there lie Allah’s Prophet and the two first -Caliphs. The exact place of Mohammed’s tomb is, -moreover, distinguished by a large pearl rosary and -a peculiar ornament, the celebrated Kankab el Durri, -or constellation of pearls; it is suspended breast high -to the curtain. This is described to be a “brilliant -star set in diamonds and pearls” placed in the dark -that man’s eye may be able to endure its splendours; -the vulgar believe it to be a “jewel of the jewels -of Paradise.” To me it suggested the round glassy -stoppers used for the humbler sort of decanters, but -then I think the same of the Koh-i-Nur.</p> - -<p>I must allude to the vulgar story of Mohammed’s -steel coffin suspended in mid-air between two magnets. -The myth has won a world-wide reputation, yet -Arabia has never heard of it. Travellers explain it -in two ways. Niebuhr supposes it to have risen from -the rude ground-plan drawings sold to strangers, and -mistaken by them for elevations. William Banks -believes that the work popularly described as hanging -unsupported in the mosque of Omar at Jerusalem was -confounded with the Prophet’s tomb at El Medinah -by Christians, who until very lately could not have -seen either of these Moslem shrines.</p> - -<p>A book which I published upon the subject of my -pilgrimage gives in detail my reason for believing -<!--Page 048--> -that the site of Mohammed’s sepulture is doubtful as -that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_4" id="fnanchor_4"></a><a href="#footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></span> They are, -briefly, these four: From the earliest days the shape -of the Prophet’s tomb has never been generally known -in El Islam. The accounts of the grave given by -the learned are discrepant. The guardianship of the -spot was long in the hands of schismatics (the Beni -Husayu). And lastly, I cannot but look upon -the tale of the blinding light which surrounds the -Prophet’s tomb, current for ages past, and still -universally believed upon the authority of attendant -eunuchs who must know its falsehood as a priestly -glory intended to conceal a defect.</p> - -<p>To that book also I must refer my readers for a -full description of the minor holy places at El Medinah. -They are about fifty in number, and of these about a -dozen are generally visited. The principal of these -are, first, El Bakia (the Country of the Saints), to the -east of the city; on the last day some seventy thousand, -others say a hundred thousand, holy men with faces -like moons shall arise from it; the second is the -Apostle’s mosque at Kubas, the first temple built in -El Islam; and the third is a visitation to the tomb -of Mohammed’s paternal uncle, Hamzeh, the “Lord -of Martyrs,” who was slain fighting for the faith in -<span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 625.</p> - -<p>A few observations concerning the little-known -capital of the Northern Hejaz may not be unacceptable.</p> - -<p>Medinah El Nahi (the City of the Prophet) is usually -<!--Page 049--> -called by Moslems, for brevity, El Medinah, or the -City by Excellence. It lies between the twenty-fourth -and twenty-fifth degrees of north latitude, corresponding -therefore with Central Mexico; and being high -raised above the sea, it may be called a <i lang="es" xml:lang="es">tierra temprada</i>. -My predecessor, Burckhardt, found the water detestable. -I thought it good. The winter is long and rigorous, -hence partly the fair complexion of its inhabitants, -who rival in turbulence and fanaticism their brethren -of Meccah.</p> - -<p>El Medinah consists of three parts—​a town, a -castle, and a large suburb. The population, when I -visited it, ranged from sixteen thousand to eighteen -thousand souls, whereas Meccah numbered forty-five -thousand, and the garrison consisted of a half-battalion, -or four hundred men. Mohammed’s last -resting-place has some fifteen hundred hearths enclosed -by a wall of granite and basalt in irregular layers -cemented with lime. It is pierced with four gates: -the Syrian, the Gate of Hospitality, the Friday, and -the Egyptian. The two latter are fine massive -buildings, with double towers like the old Norman -portals, but painted with broad bands of red pillars -and other flaring colours. Except the Prophet’s -mosque, there are few public buildings. There are -only four caravanserais, and the markets are long -lines of sheds, thatched with scorched and blackened -palm-leaves. The streets are what they should always -be in torrid lands, dark, deep, narrow, and rarely -paved; they are generally of black earth, well watered -<!--Page 050--> -and trodden to harden. The houses appear well -built for the East, of square stone, flat roofed, double -storied, and enclosing spacious courtyards and small -gardens, where water basins and trees and sheds “cool -the eye,” as Arabs say. Latticed balconies are here -universal, and the windows are mere holes in the -walls provided with broad shutters. The castle has -stronger defences than the town, and inside it a tall -donjon tower bears, proudly enough, the banner of the -Crescent and the Star. Its whitewashed lines of wall -render this fortalice a conspicuous object, and guns -pointing in all directions, especially upon the town, -make it appear a kind of Gibraltar to the Bedouins.</p> - -<p>For many reasons strangers become very much -attached to El Medinah and there end their lives. -My servant, Shaykh Nur, opined it to be a very -“heavenly city.” Therefore the mass of the population -is of foreign extraction.</p> - -<p>On August 28th arrived the great Damascus caravan, -which sets out from Constantinople bringing the -presents of the Sublime Porte. It is the main stream -which absorbs all the small currents flowing at this -season of general movement from Central Asia towards -the great centre of the Islamitic world, and in 1853 -it numbered about seven thousand souls. It was -anxiously expected at El Medinah for several reasons. -In the first place, it brought with it a new curtain for -the Prophet’s chamber, the old one being in a tattered -condition; secondly, it had charge of the annual -stipends and pensions for the citizens; and thirdly, -<!--Page 051--> -many families had members returning under its -escort to their homes. The popular anxiety was -greatly increased by the disordered state of the -country round about, and moreover the great caravan -was a day late. The Russian war had extended its -excitement even into the bowels of Arabia, and -to travel eastward according to my original intention -was impossible.</p> - -<p>For a day or two we were doubtful about which -road the caravan would take—​the easy coast line or -the difficult and dangerous eastern, or desert, route. -Presently Saad the robber shut his doors against us, -and we were driven perforce to choose the worse. -The distance between El Medinah and Meccah by -the frontier way would be in round numbers two -hundred and fifty (two hundred and forty-eight) miles, -and in the month of September water promised to -be exceedingly scarce and bad.</p> - -<p>I lost no time in patching up my water-skins, in -laying in a store of provisions, and in hiring camels. -Masad El Harbi, an old Bedouin, agreed to let me -have two animals for the sum of twenty dollars. My -host warned me against the treachery of the wild men, -with whom it is necessary to eat salt once a day. -Otherwise they may rob the traveller and plead that -the salt is not in their stomachs.</p> - -<p>Towards evening time on August 30th, El Medinah -became a scene of exceeding confusion in consequence -of the departure of the pilgrims. About an hour -after sunset all our preparations were concluded. The -<!--Page 052--> -evening was sultry; we therefore dined outside the -house. I was told to repair to the shrine for the -ziyarat el widoa, or the farewell visitation. My -decided objection to this step was that we were all -to part, and where to meet again we knew not. I -therefore prayed a two-prostration prayer, and facing -towards the haram recited the usual supplication. -We sat up till 2 p.m. when, having heard no signal -gun, we lay down to sleep through the hot remnant -of the hours of darkness. Thus was spent my last -night at the City of the Prophet.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_1" id="footnote_1"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_1"><span class="muchsmaller">[1]</span></a> - “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” <abbr title="chapter one">chap. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_2" id="footnote_2"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_2"><span class="muchsmaller">[2]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Vide</i> Burton’s “Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah,” <abbr title="chapter three">chap. iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_3" id="footnote_3"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_3"><span class="muchsmaller">[3]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="chapter four">chap. vi.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_4" id="footnote_4"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_4"><span class="muchsmaller">[4]</span></a> - “Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah,” by Richard F. Burton.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 053--><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="Two">II</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCAH</span></h4> - -<p><span class="sc">On</span> Wednesday, August 31st, 1853, I embraced my -good host, Shaykh Hamid, who had taken great -trouble to see me perfectly provided for the journey. -Shortly after leaving El Medinah we all halted and -turned to take a last farewell. All the pilgrims -dismounted and gazed long and wistfully at the -venerable minarets and the Prophet’s green dome—​spots -upon which their memories would ever dwell -with a fond and yearning interest.</p> - -<p>We hurried after the Damascus caravan, and -presently fell into its wake. Our line was called -the Darb el Sharki, or eastern road. It owes its -existence to the piety of Zubaydah Khatun, wife of -the well-known Harun el Rashid. That esteemed -princess dug wells, built tanks, and raised, we are -told, a wall with occasional towers between Bagdad -and Meccah, to guide pilgrims over the shifting -sands. Few vestiges of all this labour remained in -the year of grace 1853.</p> - -<p>Striking is the appearance of the caravan as it -draggles its slow length along</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">The golden desert glittering through</div> -<div class="i0">The subtle veil of beams,</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent"><!--Page 054--> -as the poet of “Palm-leaves” has it. The sky is -terrible in its pitiless splendours and blinding beauty -while the simoon, or wind of the wild, caresses the -cheek with the flaming breath of a lion. The filmy -spray of sand and the upseething of the atmosphere, -the heat-reek and the dancing of the air upon the -baked surface of the bright yellow soil, blending with -the dazzling blue above, invests the horizon with a -broad band of deep dark green, and blurs the gaunt -figures of the camels, which, at a distance, appear -strings of gigantic birds.</p> - -<p>There are evidently eight degrees of pilgrims. The -lowest walk, propped on heavy staves; these are the -itinerant coffee-makers, sherbet sellers, and tobacconists, -country folks driving flocks of sheep and goats with -infinite clamour and gesticulation, negroes from distant -Africa, and crowds of paupers, some approaching the -supreme hour, but therefore yearning the more to -breathe their last in the Holy City. Then come the -humble riders of laden camels, mules, and asses, which -the Bedouin, who clings baboon-like to the hairy back -of his animal, despises, saying:—​</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Honourable to the rider is the riding of the horse;</div> -<div class="i0">But the mule is a dishonour, and a donkey a disgrace.</div> -</div></div> - -<p>Respectable men mount dromedaries, or blood-camels, -known by their small size, their fine limbs, -and their large deer-like eyes: their saddles show -crimson sheep-skins between tall metal pommels, and -these are girthed over fine saddle-bags, whose long -tassels of bright worsted hang almost to the ground. -<!--Page 055--> -Irregular soldiers have picturesquely equipped steeds. -Here and there rides some old Arab shaykh, preceded -by his varlets performing a war-dance, compared -with which the bear’s performance is graceful, -firing their duck-guns in the air, or blowing powder -into the naked legs of those before them, brandishing -their bared swords, leaping frantically with -parti-coloured rags floating in the wind, and tossing -high their long spears. Women, children, and -invalids of the poorer classes sit upon rugs or -carpets spread over the large boxes that form the -camel’s load. Those a little better off use a shibriyah, -or short coat, fastened crosswise. The richer prefer -shugduf panniers with an awning like a miniature -tent. Grandees have led horses and gorgeously painted -takhtrawan—​litters like the bangué of Brazil—​borne -between camels or mules with scarlet and brass -trappings. The vehicle mainly regulates the pilgrim’s -expenses, which may vary from five pounds to as -many thousands.</p> - -<p>I will not describe the marches in detail: they much -resemble those between Yambu and El Medinah. We -nighted at two small villages, El Suwayrkiyah and -El Suyayna, which supplied a few provisions to a -caravan of seven thousand to eight thousand souls. -For the most part it is a haggard land, a country of -wild beasts and wilder men, a region whose very -fountains murmur the warning words, “Drink and -away,” instead of “Rest and be thankful.” In other -places it is a desert peopled only with echoes, an -<!--Page 056--> -abode of death for what little there is to die in it, -a waste where, to use an Arab phrase, “La Siwa -Hu”—​“There is none but <span class="sc">He</span>.” Gigantic sand -columns whirl over the plains, the horizon is a sea -of mirage, and everywhere Nature, flayed and scalped, -discovers her skeleton to the gazer’s eye.</p> - -<p>We passed over many ridges of rough black basalt, -low plains, and basins white with nitrous salt, acacia -barrens where litters were torn off the camels’ backs by -the strong thorns, and domes and streets of polished -rock. Now we travelled down dry torrent-beds of -extreme irregularity, then we wended our way along -cliffs castellated as if by men’s hand, and boulders -and pillars of coarse-grained granite, sometimes thirty -feet high. Quartz abounded, and the country may -have contained gold, but here the superficial formation -has long since been exhausted. In Arabia, as in the -East Indies, the precious metal still lingers. At Cairo -in 1854 I obtained good results by washing sand -brought from the coast of the Red Sea north of Wijh. -My plan for working was rendered abortive by a -certain dictum, since become a favourite with the -governing powers in England—​namely, “Gold is -getting too plentiful.”</p> - -<p>Few animals except vultures and ravens meet the -eye. Once, however, we enjoyed a grand spectacle. -It was a large yellow lion, somewhat white about the -points—​a sign of age—​seated in a statuesque pose -upon a pedestal of precipitous rock by the wayside, -and gazing upon the passing spectacle as if monarch -<!--Page 057--> -of all he surveyed. The caravan respected the wild -beast, and no one molested it. The Bedouin of Arabia -has a curious custom when he happens to fall in with -a lion: he makes a profound salaam, says many complimentary -things, and begs his majesty not to harm -a poor man with a large family. If the brute be not -hungry, the wayfarer is allowed to pass on; the latter, -however, is careful when returning to follow another -path. “The father of roaring,” he remarks, “has -repented of having missed a meal.”</p> - -<p>On Friday, September 9th, we encamped at Zaribah, -two marches, or forty-seven miles, from Meccah. -This being the north-eastern limit of the sanctuary, -we exchanged our everyday dress for the pilgrim -garb, which is known as el ihrám, or mortification. -Between the noontide and the afternoon prayers our -heads were shaved, our beards and nails trimmed, and -we were made to bathe. We then put on the attire -which seems to be the obsolete costume of the ancient -Arabs. It consists of two cotton cloths, each six feet -long by three or four feet wide, white, with narrow -red stripes and fringes—​in fact, that adopted in the -Turkish baths of London. One of these sheets is -thrown over the back and is gathered at the right side, -the arm being left exposed. The waistcloth extends -like a belt to the knee, and, being tucked in at the -waist, supports itself. The head is bared to the rabid -sun, and the insteps, which must also be left naked, -suffer severely.</p> - -<p>Thus equipped, we performed a prayer of two -<!--Page 058--> -prostrations, and recited aloud the peculiar formula -of pilgrimage called Talbiyat. In Arabic it is:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem decoration"> -<div class="i0">Labbayk, ’Allahumma, Labbayk!</div> -<div class="i0">La Sharika laka. Labbayk!</div> -<div class="i0">Jun ’al Hamda wa’ n’ Niamata laka w’ al Mulh!</div> -<div class="i0">La Sharika laka. Labbayk!</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">which I would translate thus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem decoration"> -<div class="i0">Here I am, O Allah, here am I!</div> -<div class="i0">No partner hast thou. Here am I!</div> -<div class="i0">Verily the praise and the grace are thine, and the kingdom!</div> -<div class="i0">No partner hast thou. Here am I.</div> -</div></div> - -<p>The director of our consciences now bade us be -good pilgrims, avoiding quarrels, abusive language, -light conversation, and all immorality. We must -religiously respect the sanctuary of Meccah by sparing -the trees and avoiding to destroy animal life, excepting, -however, the “five instances,”—​a crow, a kite, -a rat, a scorpion, and a biting dog. We must abstain -from washes and perfumes, oils, dyes, and cosmetics; we -must not pare the nails nor shave, pluck or cut the -hair, nor must we tie knots in our garments. We were -forbidden to cover our heads with turban or umbrella, -although allowed to take advantage of the shade, and -ward off the sun with our hands. And for each -infraction of these ordinances we were commanded -to sacrifice a sheep.</p> - -<p>The women followed our example. This alone -would disprove the baseless but wide-world calumny -which declares that El Islam recognises no soul in, -and consequently no future for, the opposite sex. -<!--Page 059--> -The Early Fathers of the Christian Church may -have held such tenet, the Mohammedans never. -Pilgrimesses exchange the lisam—​that coquettish -fold of thin white muslin which veils, but does not -hide, the mouth—​for a hideous mask of split, dried, -and plaited palm-leaves pierced with bull’s-eyes to -admit the light. This ugly mask is worn because -the veil must not touch the features. The rest of -the outer garment is a long sheet of white cotton, -covering the head and falling to the heels. We -could hardly help laughing when these queer ghostly -figures first met our sight, and, to judge from the -shaking of their shoulders, they were as much amused -as we were.</p> - -<p>In mid-afternoon we left Zaribah, and presently -it became apparent that although we were forbidden -to take lives of others, others were not prevented -from taking <em>ours</em>. At 5 p.m. we came upon a -wide, dry torrent-bed, down which we were to travel -all night. It was a cut-throat place, with a stony, -precipitous buttress on the right, faced by a grim -and barren slope. Opposite us the way seemed to -be barred by piles of hills, crest rising above crest -in the far blue distance. Day still smiled upon the -upper peaks, but the lower grounds and the road -were already hung with sombre shade.</p> - -<p>A damp fell upon our spirits as we neared -this “Valley Perilous.” The voices of the women -and children sank into deep silence, and the -loud “Labbayk!” which the male pilgrims are -<!--Page 060--> -ordered to shout whenever possible, was gradually -stilled.</p> - -<p>The cause soon became apparent. A small curl -of blue smoke on the summit of the right-hand -precipice suddenly caught my eye, and, simultaneously -with the echoing crack of the matchlock, a dromedary -in front of me, shot through the heart, rolled on -the sands. The Utajbah, bravest and most lawless -of the brigand tribes of the Moslem’s Holy Land, -were determined to boast that on such and such a -night they stopped the Sultan’s caravan one whole -hour in the pass.</p> - -<p>There ensued a scene of terrible confusion. Women -screamed, children cried, and men vociferated, each one -striving with might and main to urge his animal beyond -the place of death. But the road was narrow and -half-choked with rocks and thorny shrubs; the vehicles -and animals were soon jammed into a solid and -immovable mass, whilst at every shot a cold shudder -ran through the huge body. Our guard, the irregular -horsemen, about one thousand in number, pushed -up and down perfectly useless, shouting to and -ordering one another. The Pacha of the soldiers had -his carpet spread near the precipice, and over his pipe -debated with the officers about what should be done. -No one seemed to whisper, “Crown the heights.”</p> - -<p>Presently two or three hundred Wahhabis—​mountaineers -of Tebel Shammar in North-Eastern Arabia—​sprang -from their barebacked camels, with their elf-locks -tossing in the wind, and the flaming matches -<!--Page 061--> -of their guns casting a lurid light over their wild -features. Led by the Sherif Zayd, a brave Meccan -noble, who, happily for us, was present, they swarmed -up the steep, and the robbers, after receiving a few -shots, retired to fire upon our rear.</p> - -<p>Our forced halt was now exchanged for a flight, -and it required much tact to guide our camels clear -of danger. Whoever and whatever fell, remained -on the ground; that many were lost became evident -from the boxes and baggage which strewed the -shingles. I had no means of ascertaining our exact -number of killed and wounded; reports were contradictory, -and exaggeration was unanimous. The -robbers were said to be one hundred and fifty in -number. Besides honour and glory, they looked -forward to the loot, and to a feast of dead camel.</p> - -<p>We then hurried down the valley in the blackness -of night, between ribbed precipices, dark and angry. -The torch smoke and the night fires formed a canopy -sable above and livid below, with lightning-flashes -from the burning shrubs and grim crowds hurrying -as if pursued by the Angel of Death. The scene -would have suited the theatrical canvas of Doré.</p> - -<p>At dawn we issued from the Perilous Pass into -the Wady Laymun, or Valley of Limes. A wondrous -contrast! Nothing can be more soothing to the brain -than the rich green foliage of its pomegranates and -other fruit-trees, and from the base of the southern -hills bursts a babbling stream whose</p> - -<p class="center small"><i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Chiare fresche e dolci acque</i></p> - -<p class="unindent"><!--Page 062--> -flow through the garden, cooling the pure air, and -filling the ear with the most delicious of melodies, -the gladdest sound which nature in these regions -knows.</p> - -<p>At noon we bade adieu to the charming valley, -which, since remote times, has been a favourite resort -of the Meccan citizens.</p> - -<p>At sunset we recited the prayers suited to the -occasion, straining our eyes, but all in vain, to catch -sight of Meccah. About 1 a.m. I was aroused by a -general excitement around me.</p> - -<p>“Meccah! Meccah!” cried some voices. “The -sanctuary, oh, the sanctuary!” exclaimed others, and -all burst into loud “Labbayk!” not infrequently -broken by sobs. With a heartfelt “Alhamdu lillah,” -I looked from my litter and saw under the chandelier -of the Southern Cross the dim outlines of a large -city, a shade darker than the surrounding plain.</p> - -<p>A cool east wind met us, showing that it was raining -in the Taif hills, and at times sheet lightning -played around the Prophet’s birthplace—​a common -phenomenon, which Moslems regard as the testimony -of Heaven to the sanctity of the spot.</p> - -<p>Passing through a deep cutting, we entered the -northern suburb of our destination. Then I made -to the Shamiyah, or Syrian quarter, and finally, at -2 a.m., I found myself at the boy Mohammed’s -house. We arrived on the morning of Sunday, -September 11th, 1853, corresponding with Zu’l -Hijjah 6th, 1269. Thus we had the whole day -<!--Page 063--> -to spend in visiting the haram, and a quiet night -before the opening of the true pilgrim season, which -would begin on the morrow.</p> - -<p>The morrow dawned. After a few hours of sleep -and a ceremonial ablution, we donned the pilgrim -garb, and with loud and long “Labbayk!” we hastened -to the Bayt Ullah, or House of Allah, as the great -temple of Meccah is called.</p> - -<p>At the bottom of our street was the outer Bab El -Salam, or Gate of Security, looking towards the east, -and held to be, of all the thirty-nine, the most -auspicious entrance for a first visit.</p> - -<p>Here we descended several steps, for the level of -the temple has been preserved, whilst the foundations -of the city have been raised by the decay of ages. -We then passed through a shady colonnade divided -into aisles, here four, and in the other sides three, -pillars deep. These cloisters are a forest of columns -upwards of five hundred and fifty in number, and -in shape and material they are as irregular as trees. -The outer arches of the colonnade are ogives, and -every four support a small dome like half an orange, -and white with plaster: some reckon one hundred -and twenty, others one hundred and fifty, and -Meccan superstition declares they cannot be counted. -The rear of the cloisters rests upon an outer wall of -cut stone, finished with pinnacles, or Arab battlements, -and at different points in it rise seven minarets. -These are tall towers much less bulky than ours, -partly in facets, circular, and partly cylindrical, built -<!--Page 064--> -at distinct epochs, and somewhat tawdrily banded -with gaudy colours.</p> - -<p>This vast colonnade surrounds a large unroofed -and slightly irregular oblong, which may be compared -with an exaggeration of the Palais Royal, Paris. -This sanded area is six hundred and fifty feet long -by five hundred and twenty-five broad, dotted with -small buildings grouped round a common centre, and -is crossed by eight narrow lines of flagged pavement. -Towards the middle of it, one hundred and fifteen -paces from the northern colonnade and eighty-eight -from the southern, and based upon an irregularly -oval pavement of fine close grey gneiss, or granite, -rises the far-famed Kaabah, or inner temple, its -funereal pall contrasting vividly with the sunlit walls -and the yellow precipices of the city.</p> - -<p>Behold it at last, the bourn of long and weary -travel, realising the plans and hopes of many and -many a year! This, then, is the kibbal, or direction, -towards which every Moslem has turned in prayer -since the days of Mohammed, and which for long -ages before the birth of Christianity was reverenced -by the patriarchs of the East.</p> - -<p>No wonder that the scene is one of the wildest -excitement! Here are worshippers clinging to the -curtain and sobbing as though their hearts would -break; here some poor wretch with arms thrown -high, so that his beating breast may touch the stone -of the house, appears ready to faint, and there men -prostrate themselves on the pavement, rubbing their -<!--Page 065--> -foreheads against the stones, shedding floods of tears, -and pouring forth frenzied ejaculations. The most -careless, indeed, never contemplate it for the first time -without fear and awe. There is a popular jest against -new-comers that in the presence of the Kaabah they -generally inquire the direction of prayer, although -they have all their lives been praying towards it as -the early Christian fronted Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>But we must look more critically at the celebrated -shrine.</p> - -<p>The word Kaabah means a cube, a square, a -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maison carrée</i>. It is called Bayt Ullah (House of -God) because according to the Koran it is “certainly -the first temple erected for mankind.” It is also -known as the “Bride of Meccah,” probably from the -old custom of typifying the Church Visible by a young -married woman—​hence probably its face-veil, its -covering, and its guard of eunuchs. Externally it -is a low tower of fine grey granite laid in horizontal -courses of irregular depth; the stones are tolerably -fitted, and are not cemented. It shows no signs of -decay, and indeed, in its present form, it dates only -from 1627. The shape is rather a trapezoid than -a square, being forty feet long by thirty-five broad -and forty-five high, the flat roof having a cubit of -depression from south-west to north-east, where -a gold or gilt spout discharges the drainage. The -foundation is a marble base two feet high, and presents -a sharp inclined plane.</p> - -<p>All the Kaabah except the roof is covered with -<!--Page 066--> -a kiswatu garment. It is a pall-like hanging, the -work of a certain family at Cairo, and annually -renewed. The ground is dully black, and Koranic -verses interwoven into it are shining black. There -is a door curtain of gold thread upon red silk, and -a bright band of similar material, called the face-veil -of the house, two feet broad, runs horizontally round -the Kaabah at two-thirds of its height. This covering -when new is tucked up by ropes from the roof; -when old it is fastened to large metal rings welded -into the basement of the building. When this -peculiar adjunct to the shrine is swollen and moved -by the breeze, pious Moslems believe that angels -are waving their wings over it.</p> - -<p>The only entrance to the Kaabah is a narrow door -of aloe wood, in the eastern side. It is now raised -seven feet, and one enters it hoisted up in men’s arms. -In <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 686, when the whole building took its present -shape, it was level with the external ground. The -Kaabah opens gratis ten or twelve times a year, -when crowds rush in and men lose their lives. -Wealthy pilgrims obtain the favour by paying for it. -Scrupulous Moslems do not willingly enter it, as -they may never afterwards walk about barefooted, -take up fire with their fingers, or tell lies. It is not -every one who can afford such luxuries as slippers, -tongs, and truth. Nothing is simpler than the interior -of the building. The walls are covered with handsome -red damask, flowered over with gold, tucked up -beyond the pilgrim’s reach. The flat roof apparently -<!--Page 067--> -rests upon three posts of carved and ornamented -aloe wood.</p> - -<p>Between the three pillars, and about nine feet from -the ground, run metal bars, to which hang lamps, -said to be gold. At the northern corner there is a -dwarf door; it leads into a narrow passage and to -the dwarf staircase by which the servants ascend to -the roof. In the south-eastern corner is a quadrant-shaped -sofa, also of aloe wood, and on it sits the -guardian of the shrine.</p> - -<p>The Hajar el Aswad, or black stone, of which -all the world talks, is fixed in the south-eastern -angle outside the house, between four and five feet -from the ground, the more conveniently to be kissed. -It shows a black and slaggy surface, glossy and pitch-like, -worn and polished by myriads of lips; its -diameter is about seven inches, and it appears only -in the central aperture of a gilt or gold dish. The -depth to which it extends into the wall is unknown: -most people say two cubits.</p> - -<p>Believers declare, with poetry, if not with reason, -that in the day of Atast, when Allah made covenant -concerning the souls that animate the sons of Adam, -the instrument was placed in a fragment of the lower -heaven, then white as snow, now black by reason of -men’s sins. The rationalistic infidel opines this sacred -corner-stone to be a common aerolite, a remnant of -the stone-worship which considered it the symbol -of power presiding over universal reproduction, and -inserted by Mohammed into the edifice of El Islam. -<!--Page 068--> -This relic has fared ill; it has been stolen and broken, -and has suffered other accidents.</p> - -<p>Another remarkable part of the Kaabah is that -between the door and the black stone. It is called -the multazem, or “attached to,” because here the -pilgrim should apply his bosom, weep bitterly, and -beg pardon for his sins. In ancient times, according -to some authors, it was the place for contracting -solemn engagements.</p> - -<p>The pavement which surrounds the Kaabah is about -eight inches high, and the inside is marked by an -oval balustrade of some score and a half of slender gilt -metal pillars. Between every two of these cross rods -support oil lamps, with globes of white and green -glasses. Gas is much wanted at Meccah! At the -north end, and separated by a space of about five feet -from the building, is El Hatrim, or the “broken,” -a dwarf semi-circular wall, whose extremities are -on a line with the sides of the Kaabah. In its -concavity are two slabs of a finer stone, which cover -the remains of Ishmael, and of his mother Hagar. -The former, I may be allowed to remark, is regarded -by Moslems as the eldest son and legitimate successor -of Abraham, in opposition to the Jews, who prefer -Isaac, the child of Sarai the free woman. It is an -old dispute and not likely to be soon settled.</p> - -<p>Besides the Kaabah, ten minor structures dot the -vast quadrangle. The most important is the massive -covering of the well Zemzem. The word means -“the murmuring,” and here the water gushed from -<!--Page 069--> -the ground where the child Ishmael was shuffling his -feet in the agonies of thirst. The supply is abundant, -but I found it nauseously bitter; its external application, -however, when dashed like a douche over the -pilgrim, causes sins to fall from his soul like dust.</p> - -<p>On the south-east, and near the well, are the -Kubbatayn, two domes crowning heavy ugly buildings, -vulgarly painted with red, green, and yellow bands; -one of these domes is used as a library. Directly -opposite the Kaabah door is a short ladder or staircase -of carved wood, which is wheeled up to the entrance -door on the rare occasions when it is opened. North -of it is the inner Bab El Salam, or Gate of Security, -under which the pilgrims pass in their first visit to -the shrine. It is a slightly built and detached arch of -stone, about fifteen feet of space in width and eighteen -in height, somewhat like our meaningless triumphal -arches, which come from no place and go nowhere. -Between this and the Kaabah stands the Makam -Ibraham, or Station of Abraham, a small building -containing the stone which supported the Friend of -Allah when he was building the house. It served for -a scaffold, rising and falling of itself as required, -and it preserved the impressions of Abraham’s feet, -especially of the two big toes. Devout and wealthy -pilgrims fill the cavities with water, which they rub -over their eyes and faces with physical as well as -spiritual refreshment. To the north of it is a fine -white marble pulpit with narrow steps leading to the -preacher’s post, which is supported by a gilt and -<!--Page 070--> -sharply tapering steeple. Lastly, opposite the northern, -the western, and the south-eastern sides of the Kaabah, -stand three ornamental pavilions, with light sloping -roofs resting on slender pillars. From these the -representatives of the three orthodox schools direct -the prayers of their congregations. The Shafli, or -fourth branch, collect between the corner of the well -Zemzem and the Station of Abraham, whilst the -heretical sects lay claim to certain mysterious and -invisible places of reunion.</p> - -<p>I must now describe what the pilgrims do.</p> - -<p>Entering with the boy Mohammed, who acted as -my mutawwif, or circuit guide, we passed through -the inner Gate of Security, uttering various religious -formulas, and we recited the usual two-prostration -prayer in honour of the mosque at the Shafli place -of worship. We then proceeded to the angle of -the house, in which the black stone is set, and there -recited other prayers before beginning tawaf, or -circumambulation. The place was crowded with -pilgrims, all males—​women rarely appear during the -hours of light. Bareheaded and barefooted they -passed the giant pavement, which, smooth as glass -and hot as sun can make it, surrounds the Kaabah, -suggesting the idea of perpetual motion. Meccans -declare that at no time of the day or night is the -place ever wholly deserted.</p> - -<p>Circumambulation consists of seven shauts, or -rounds, of the house, to which the left shoulder is -turned, and each noted spot has its peculiar prayers. -<!--Page 071--> -The three first courses are performed at a brisk trot, -like the French <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pas gymnastique</i>. The four latter -are leisurely passed. The origin of this custom is -variously accounted for. The general idea is that -Mohammed directed his followers thus to show -themselves strong and active to the infidels, who had -declared them to have been weakened by the air -of El Medinah.</p> - -<p>When I had performed my seven courses I fought -my way through the thin-legged host of Bedouins, and -kissed the black stone, rubbing my hands and forehead -upon it. There were some other unimportant -devotions, which concluded with a douche at the well -Zemzem, and with a general almsgiving. The circumambulation -ceremony is performed several times -in the day, despite the heat. It is positive torture.</p> - -<p>The visit to the Kaabah, however, does not entitle -a man to be called haji. The essence of pilgrimage -is to be present at the sermon pronounced by the -preacher on the Holy Hill of Arafat, distant about -twelve miles from, and to the east of, Meccah. This -performed even in a state of insensibility is valid, -and to die by the roadside is martyrdom, saving all -the pains and penalties of the tomb.</p> - -<p>The visit, however, must be paid on the 8th, 9th, -and the 10th of the month Zu’l Hijjah (the Lord -of Pilgrimage), the last month of the Arab year. At -this time there is a great throb through the framework -of Moslem society from Gibraltar to Japan, and those -who cannot visit the Holy City content themselves -<!--Page 072--> -with prayers and sacrifices at home. As the Moslem -computation is lunar, the epoch retrocedes through -the seasons in thirty-three years. When I visited -Meccah, the rites began on September 12th and ended -on September 14th, 1853. In 1863 the opening -day was June 8th; the closing, June 10th.</p> - -<p>My readers will observe that the modern pilgrimage -ceremonies of the Moslem are evidently a commemoration -of Abraham and his descendants. The -practices of the Father of the Faithful when he issued -from the land of Chaldea seem to have formed a -religious standard in the mind of the Arab law-giver, -who preferred Abraham before all the other prophets, -himself alone excepted.</p> - -<p>The day after our arrival at Meccah was the Yaum -El Tarwiyah (the Day of Carrying Water), the first -of the three which compose the pilgrimage season -proper. From the earliest dawn the road was densely -thronged with white-robed votaries, some walking, -others mounted, and all shouting “Labbayk!” with -all their might. As usual the scene was one of -strange contrasts. Turkish dignitaries on fine -horses, Bedouins bestriding swift dromedaries, the -most uninteresting soldiery, and the most conspicuous -beggars. Before nightfall I saw no less than -five exhausted and emaciated devotees give up the -ghost and become “martyrs.”</p> - -<p>The first object of interest lies on the right-hand -side of the road. This was a high conical hill, known -in books as Tebel Hora, but now called Tebel Nur, -<!--Page 073--> -or Mountain of Light, because there Mohammed’s -mind was first illuminated. The Cave of Revelation -is still shown. It looks upon a wild scene. Eastward -and southward the vision is limited by abrupt hills. -In the other directions there is a dreary landscape, -with here and there a stunted acacia or a clump of -brushwood growing on rough ground, where stony -glens and valleys of white sand, most of them water-courses -after the rare rains, separate black, grey, and -yellow rocks.</p> - -<p>Passing over El Akabah (the Steeps), an important -spot in classical Arab history, we entered Muna, -a hot hollow three or four miles from the barren -valley of Meccah. It is a long, narrow, straggling -village of mud and stone houses, single storied and -double storied, built in the common Arab style. -We were fated to see it again. At noon we passed -Mugdalifah, or the Approacher, known to El Islam -as the Minaret without the Mosque, and thus distinguished -from a neighbouring building, the Mosque -without the Minaret. There is something peculiarly -impressive in the tall, solitary, tower springing from -the desolate valley of gravel. No wonder that the -old Arab conquerors loved to give the high-sounding -name of this oratory to distant points in their -extensive empire!</p> - -<p>Here, as we halted for the noon prayer, the Damascus -caravan appeared in all its glory. The mahmal, or -litter, sent by the Sultan to represent his presence, -no longer a framework as on the line of march, now -<!--Page 074--> -flashed in the sun all gold and green, and the huge -white camel seemed to carry it with pride. Around -the moving host of peaceful pilgrims hovered a crowd -of mounted Bedouins armed to the teeth. These -people often visit Arafat for blood revenge; nothing -can be more sacrilegious than murder at such a -season, but they find the enemy unprepared. As -their draperies floated in the wind and their faces -were swathed and veiled with their head-kerchiefs, -it was not always easy to distinguish the sex of the -wild beings who hurried past at speed. The women -were unscrupulous, and many were seen emulating the -men in reckless riding, and in striking with their sticks -at every animal in their way.</p> - -<p>Presently, after safely threading the gorge called -the pass of the Two Rugged Hills, and celebrated for -accidents, we passed between the two “signs”—​whitewashed -pillars, or, rather, tall towers, their walls -surmounted with pinnacles. They mark the limits of -the Arafat Plain—​the Standing-Ground, as it is called. -Here is sight of the Holy Hill of Arafat, standing -boldly out from the fair blue sky, and backed by the -azure peaks of Taif. All the pilgrim host raised loud -shouts of “Labbayk!” The noise was that of a storm.</p> - -<p>We then sought our quarters in the town of tents -scattered over two or three miles of plain at the -southern foot of the Holy Hill, and there we passed -a turbulent night of prayer.</p> - -<p>I estimated the total number of devotees to be fifty -thousand; usually it may amount to eighty thousand. -<!--Page 075--> -The Arabs, however, believe that the total of those -“standing on Arafat” cannot be counted, and that -if less than six hundred thousand human beings are -gathered, the angels descend and make up the sum. -Even in <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 1853 my Moslem friends declared that -a hundred and fifty thousand immortal beings were -present in mortal shape.</p> - -<p>The Mount of Mercy, which is also called Tebel -Ilál, or Mount of Wrestling in Prayer, is physically -considered a mass of coarse granite, split into large -blocks and thinly covered with a coat of withered -thorns. It rises abruptly to a height of a hundred and -eighty to two hundred feet from the gravelly flat, -and it is separated by a sandy vale from the last -spur of the Taif hills. The dwarf wall encircling it -gives the barren eminence a somewhat artificial look, -which is not diminished by the broad flight of steps -winding up the southern face, and by the large -stuccoed platform near the summit, where the -preacher delivers the “Sermon of the Standing.”</p> - -<p>Arafat means “recognition,” and owes its name -and honours to a well-known legend. When our first -parents were expelled from Paradise, which, according -to Moslems, is in the lowest of the seven heavens, -Adam descended at Ceylon, Eve upon Arafat. The -former, seeking his wife, began a journey to which -the earth owes its present mottled appearance. -Wherever he placed his foot a town arose in the -fulness of time; between the strides all has remained -country. Wandering for many years he came to the -<!--Page 076--> -Holy Hill of Arafat, the Mountain of Mercy, where -our common mother was continually calling upon his -name, and their recognition of each other there gave the -place its name. Upon the hill-top, Adam, instructed -by the Archangel Gabriel, erected a prayer-station, -and in its neighbourhood the pair abode until death.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to know that Adam’s grave is -shown at Muna, the village through which we had -passed that day. The mosque covering his remains -is called El Kharf; his head is at one end of the long -wall, his feet are at the other, and the dome covers -his middle. Our first father’s forehead, we are told, -originally brushed the skies, but this stature being -found inconvenient, it was dwarfed to a hundred and -fifty feet. Eve, again, is buried near the port of -Meccah—​Jeddah, which means the “grandmother.” -She is supposed to lie, like a Moslemah, fronting the -Kaabah, with her head southwards, her feet to the -north, and her right cheek resting on her right hand. -Whitewashed and conspicuous to the voyager from -afar is the dome opening to the west, and covering -a square stone fancifully carved to represent her -middle. Two low parallel walls about eighteen feet -apart define the mortal remains of our mother, who, -as she measured a hundred and twenty paces from -head to waist and eighty from waist to heel, must -have presented in life a very peculiar appearance. -The archæologist will remember that the great idol -of Jeddah in the age of the Arab litholatry was a -“long stone.”</p> - -<!--Page 077--> -<p>The next day, the 9th of the month Zu’l Hijjah, -is known as Yaum Arafat (the Day of Arafat). After -ablution and prayer, we visited sundry interesting -places on the Mount of Mercy, and we breakfasted -late and copiously, as we could not eat again before -nightfall. Even at dawn the rocky hill was crowded -with pilgrims, principally Bedouins and wild men, who -had secured favourable places for hearing the discourse. -From noon onwards the hum and murmur of the -multitude waxed louder, people swarmed here and -there, guns fired, and horsemen and camelmen rushed -about in all directions. A discharge of cannon about -2 p.m. announced that the ceremony of wukuf, or -standing on the Holy Hill, was about to commence.</p> - -<p>The procession was headed by the retinue of the -Sherif, or Prince, of Meccah, the Pope of El Islam. -A way for him was cleared through the dense mob of -spectators by a cloud of macebearers and by horsemen -of the desert carrying long bamboo spears tufted with -black ostrich feathers. These were followed by led -horses, the proudest blood of Arabia, and by a -stalwart band of negro matchlock men. Five red -and green flags immediately preceded the Prince, who, -habited in plain pilgrim garb, rode a fine mule. The -only sign of his rank was a fine green silk and gold -umbrella, held over his head by one of his slaves. He -was followed by his family and courtiers, and the rear -was brought up by a troop of Bedouins on horses -and dromedaries. The picturesque background of -the scene was the granite hill, covered, wherever foot -<!--Page 078--> -could be planted, with half-naked devotees, crying -“Labbayk!” at the top of their voices, and violently -waving the skirts of their gleaming garments. It -was necessary to stand literally upon Arafat, but we -did not go too near, and a little way off sighted the -preacher sitting, after the manner of Mohammed, on -his camel and delivering the sermon. Slowly the -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cortège</i> wound its way towards the Mount of Mercy. -Exactly at afternoon prayer-time, the two mahmal, -or ornamental litters, of Damascus and Cairo, took -their station side by side on a platform in the lower -part of the hill. A little above them stood the Prince -of Meccah, within hearing of the priest. The pilgrims -crowded around them. The loud cries were stilled, -and the waving of white robes ceased.</p> - -<p>Then the preacher began the “Sermon of the -Mount,” which teaches the devotees the duties of the -season. At first it was spoken without interruption; -then: loud “Amin” and volleys of “Labbayk” exploded -at certain intervals. At last the breeze became -laden with a purgatorial chorus of sobs, cries, and -shrieks. Even the Meccans, who, like the sons of -other Holy Cities, are hardened to holy days, thought -it proper to appear affected, and those unable to -squeeze out a tear buried their faces in the corners -of their pilgrim cloths. I buried mine—​at intervals.</p> - -<p>The sermon lasted about three hours, and when -sunset was near, the preacher gave the israf, or -permission to depart. Then began that risky part -of the ceremony known as the “hurrying from -<!--Page 079--> -Arafat.” The pilgrims all rushed down the Mount -of Mercy with cries like trumpet blasts, and took the -road to Muna. Every man urged his beast to the -uttermost over the plain, which bristled with pegs, -and was strewn with struck tents. Pedestrians were -trampled, litters were crushed, and camels were thrown; -here a woman, there a child, was lost, whilst night -coming on without twilight added to the chaotic -confusion of the scene. The pass of the Two Rugged -Hills, where all the currents converged, was the -crisis, after which progress was easier. We spent, -however, at least three hours in reaching Mugdalifah, -and there we resolved to sleep. The minaret was -brilliantly illuminated, but my companions apparently -thought more of rest and supper than of prayer. -The night was by no means peaceful nor silent. Lines -of laden beasts passed us every ten minutes, devotees -guarding their boxes from plunderers gave loud -tokens of being wide awake, and the shouting of -travellers continued till near dawn.</p> - -<p>The 10th of Zu’l Hijjah, the day following the -sermon, is called Yaum Vahr (the Day of Camel Killing), -or EEd El Kurban (the Festival of the Sacrifice), the -Kurban Bairam of the Turks. It is the most solemn -of the year, and it holds amongst Moslems the rank -which Easter Day claims from Christendom.</p> - -<p>We awoke at daybreak, and exchanged with all -around us the compliments of the season—​“EEd -Kum mubarak”—​“May your festival be auspicious.” -Then each man gathered for himself seven jamrah -<!--Page 080--> -(bits of granite the size of a small bean), washed them -in “seven waters,” and then proceeded to the western -end of the long street which forms the village of -Muna. Here is the place called the Great Devil, -to distinguish it from two others, the Middle Devil -and the First Devil, or the easternmost. The -outward and visible signs are nothing but short -buttresses of whitewashed masonry placed against a -rough wall in the main thoroughfare. Some derive -the rite from the days of Adam, who put to flight -the Evil One by pelting him, as Martin Luther did -with the inkstand. Others opine that the ceremony -is performed in imitation of Abraham, who, meeting -Sathanas at Muna, and being tempted to disobedience -in the matter of sacrificing his son, was commanded -by Allah to drive him away with stones. Pilgrims -approach if possible within five paces of the pillar, and -throw at it successfully seven pebbles, holding each -one between the thumb and forefinger of the right -hand, either extended, or shooting it as a boy does -a marble. At every cast they exclaim: “In the name -of Allah, and Allah is almighty! In hatred to the -Fiend and to his shame I do this!” It is one of -the local miracles that all the pebbles thus flung -return by spiritual agency whence they came.</p> - -<p>As Satan was malicious enough to appear in a -rugged lane hardly forty feet broad, the place was -rendered dangerous by the crowd. On one side -stood the devil’s buttress and wall, bristling with -wild men and boys. Opposite it was a row of -<!--Page 081--> -temporary booths tenanted by barbers, and the space -between swarmed with pilgrims, all trying to get -at the enemy of mankind. A monkey might have -run over the heads of the mob. Amongst them -were horsemen flogging their steeds, Bedouins urging -frightened camels, and running footmen opening paths -for the grandees, their masters, by assault and battery. -We congratulated each other, the boy Mohammed -and I, when we escaped with trifling hurts. Some -Moslem travellers assert, by way of miracle, that no -man was ever killed during the ceremony of rajm, -or lapidation. Several Meccans, however, assured -me that fatal accidents are by no means rare.</p> - -<p>After throwing the seven pebbles, we doffed -our pilgrim garb, and returned to ihlal, or normal -attire.</p> - -<p>The barber placed us upon an earthen bench in -the open shop, shaved our heads, trimmed our beards, -and pared our nails, causing us to repeat after him: -“I purpose throwing off my ceremonial attire, according -to the practice of the Prophet—​whom may Allah -bless and preserve! O Allah, grant to me for every -hair a light, a purity, and a generous reward! In -the name of Allah, and Allah is almighty!” The -barber then addressed me: “Naiman”—​“Pleasure -to thee!”—​and I responded: “Allah, give <em>thee</em> -pleasure!” Now we could at once use cloths to -cover our heads, and slippers to defend our feet from -fiery sun and hot soil, and we might safely twirl our -mustachios and stroke our beards—​placid enjoyments -<!--Page 082--> -of which we had been deprived by the ceremonial -law.</p> - -<p>The day ended with the sacrifice of an animal to -commemorate the substitution of a ram for Ishmael, -the father of the Arabs. The place of the original -offering is in the Muna Valley, and it is still visited -by pilgrims. None but the Kruma, the Pacha, and -high dignitaries slaughter camels. These beasts are -killed by thrusting a knife into the interval between -the throat and the breast, the muscles of the wind-pipe -being too hard and thick to cut; their flesh is -lawful to the Arabs, but not to the Hebrews. Oxen, -sheep, and goats are made to face the Kaabah, and -their throats are cut, the sacrificer ejaculating: “In -the name of Allah! Allah is almighty!” It is -meritorious to give away the victim without eating -any part of it, and thus crowds of poor pilgrims -were enabled to regale themselves.</p> - -<p>There is a terrible want of cleanliness in this -sacrifice. Thousands of animals are cut up and left -unburied in this “Devil’s Punchbowl.” I leave the -rest to the imagination. Pilgrims usually pass in -the Muna Valley the Days of Flesh Drying—​namely, -the 11th, the 12th, and the 13th of the month -Zu’l Hijjah—​and on the two former the Great, -the Middle, and the Little Satan are again pelted. -The standing miracles of the place are that beasts -and birds cannot prey there, nor can flies settle upon -provisions exposed in the markets. But animals are -frightened away by the bustling crowds, and flies are -<!--Page 083--> -found in myriads. The revolting scene, aided by a -steady temperature of 120° Fahr., has more than once -caused a desolating pestilence at Meccah: the cholera -of 1865 has been traced back to it; in fine, the safety -of Europe demands the reformation of this filthy -slaughter-house, which is still the same.</p> - -<p>The pilgrimage rites over, we returned to Meccah -for a short sojourn. Visitors are advised, and wisely, -not to linger long in the Holy City after the conclusion -of the ceremonies. Use soon spoils the -marvels, and, after the greater excitements, all becomes -flat, stale, and unprofitable. The rite called umrah, -or the “little pilgrimage,” and the running between -Mounts Safa and Marwah, in imitation of Hagar -seeking her child, remain to be performed. And -there are many spots of minor sanctity to be visited, -such as the Jannal El Maala, or Cemetery of the Saints, -the mosque where the genii paid fealty to the Prophet, -the house where Mohammed was born, that in which -he lived with his first wife, Khadijah, and in which -his daughter Fatimah and his grandsons Hasan and -Hussayn saw the light, the place where the stone -gave the founder of El Islam God-speed, and about a -dozen others. Men, however, either neglect them -or visit them cursorily, and think of little now beyond -returning home.</p> - -<p>I must briefly sketch the Holy City before we bid -it adieu.</p> - -<p>Meccah, also called Beccah, the words being -synonymous, signifies according to some a “place -<!--Page 084--> -of great concourse,” is built between 21° and 22° of -N. Lat. and in 39° E. Long. (Greenwich).<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_5" id="fnanchor_5"></a><a href="#footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></span> It is -therefore more decidedly tropical than El Medinah, -and the parallel corresponds with that of Cuba. The -origin of the Bayt Ullah is lost in the glooms of -time, but Meccah as it now stands is a comparatively -modern place, built in <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 450 by Kusayr the -Kuraysh. It is a city colligated together like Jerusalem -and Rome. The site is a winding valley in the midst -of many little hills; the effect is that it offers no -general <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup d’œil</i>. Thus the views of Meccah known -to Europe are not more like Meccah than like Cairo -or Bombay.</p> - -<p>The utmost length of the Holy City is two miles -and a half from the Mab’dah, or northern suburb, -to the southern mound called Jiyad. The extreme -breadth may be three-quarters between the Abu -Kubays hill on the east and the Kaykaan, or -Kuwaykaan, eminence on the west. The mass of -<!--Page 085--> -houses clusters at the western base of Abu Kubays. -The mounts called Safa and Marwah extend from Abu -Kubays to Kayhaan, and are about seven hundred -and eighty cubits apart. The great temple is near -the centre of the city, as the Kaabah is near the -middle of the temple. Upon Jebel Jiyad the Greater -there is a fort held by Turkish soldiery; it seems -to have no great strength. In olden time Meccah -had walls and gates; now there are none.</p> - -<p>The ground in and about the Holy City is sandy -and barren, the hills are rocky and desert. Meat, -fruits, and vegetables must be imported <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> Jeddah, -the port, distant about forty-five miles. The climate -is exceedingly hot and rarely tempered by the sea -breeze. I never suffered so much from temperature -as during my fortnight at Meccah.</p> - -<p>The capital of the Hejaz, which is about double -the size of El Medinah, has all the conveniences of -a city. The streets are narrow, deep, and well watered. -The houses are durable and well built of brick mixed -with granite and sandstone, quarried in the neighbouring -hills. Some of them are five stories high, and -more like fortresses than dwelling-places. The lime, -however, is bad, and after heavy rain, sometimes ten -days in the year, those of inferior structure fall in -ruins. None but the best have open-work of brick -and courses of coloured stone. The roofs are made -flat to serve for sleeping-places, the interiors are -sombre to keep out the heat; they have jutting upper -stories, as in the old town of Brazil, and huge latticed -<!--Page 086--> -hanging balconies—​the maswrabujah of Cairo, here -called the shamiyah—​project picturesquely into the -streets and the small squares in which the city abounds.</p> - -<p>The population is guessed at forty-five thousand -souls. The citizens appeared to me more civilised -and more vicious than those of El Medinah, and their -habit of travel makes them a worldly-wise and God-forgetting -and Mammonist sort of folk. “Circumambulate -and run between Mounts Safa and -Marwah and do the seven deadly sins,” is a satire -popularly levelled against them. Their redeeming -qualities are courage, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bonhomie</i>, manners at once -manly and suave, a fiery sense of honour, strong -family affections, and a near approach to what we call -patriotism. The dark half of the picture is pride, -bigotry, irreligion, greed of gain, debauchery, and -prodigal ostentation.</p> - -<p>Unlike his brother of El Medinah, the Meccan -is a swarthy man. He is recognised throughout the -east by three parallel gashes down each cheek, from -the exterior angles of the eyes to the corners of the -mouth. These mashali, as they call them, are -clean contrary to the commands of El Islam. The -people excuse the practice by saying that it preserves -their children from being kidnapped, and it is -performed the fortieth day after birth.</p> - -<p>The last pilgrimage ceremony performed at Meccah -is the Tawaf el Widaaf, or circumambulation of -farewell, a solemn occasion. The devotee walks -round the House of Allah, he drinks the water of -<!--Page 087--> -the Zemzem well, he kisses the threshold of the door, -and he stands for some time with his face and bosom -pressed against the multazem wall, clinging to the -curtain, reciting religious formulas, blessing the -Prophet, weeping if possible, but at least groaning. -He then leaves the temple, backing out of it with -many salutations till he reaches the Gate of Farewell, -when, with a parting glance at the Kaabah, he turns -his face towards home.</p> - -<p>I will not dwell upon my return journey—​how, -accompanied by the boy Mohammed, I reached Jeddah -on the Red Sea, how my countrymen refused for a -time to believe me, and how I sadly parted with my -Moslem friends. My wanderings ended for a time, -and, worn out with fatigue and with the fatal fiery -heat, I steamed out of Jeddah on September 26th in -the little <span class="title">Dwarka</span>, and on October 3rd, 1853, after -six months’ absence from England, I found myself -safely anchored in Suez Harbour.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_5" id="footnote_5"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_5"><span class="muchsmaller">[5]</span></a> - Both latitude and longitude are disputed points, as the following -table shows. The Arabs, it must be remembered, placed the first -meridian at the Fortunate Islands:</p> - -<table class="fn" summary=""> -<tr><td class="left">The Atwal</td> - <td class="center">makes the latitude</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">40′</td> - <td class="right">, longitude</td> - <td class="right">67°</td> - <td class="right">13′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Kanun</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">20′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">67°</td> - <td class="right">0′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Ibu Said</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">31′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">67°</td> - <td class="right">31′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Rasm</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">0′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">67°</td> - <td class="right">0′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Khúshyar</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">40′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">67°</td> - <td class="right">10′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Masr el Din</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">40′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">77°</td> - <td class="right">10′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">D’Anville</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">22°</td> - <td class="right">0′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">77°</td> - <td class="right">10′</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Niebuhr</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">21°</td> - <td class="right">30′</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - <td class="right">77°</td> - <td class="right">10′</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="footnote unindent">Humbodlt, therefore, is hardly right to say: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“L’erreur est que le Mecque -paraissait déjà aux Arabes de 19° trop a l’est” (“Correspondence,”</span> -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 459).</p> -<!--Page 088--><!--Blank Page--> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 089--><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a> -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">A RIDE TO HARAR</span><br /> - -1854-1855</h3> -<!--Page 090--><!--Blank Page--> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 091--> -<h4 class="p4 h4head"><span class="title">A RIDE TO HARAR</span></h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">THE pilgrimage to Meccah being a thing of the -past, and the spirit of unrest still strong within -me, I next turned my thoughts to the hot depths of -the Dark Continent. Returning to Bombay early in -1854, I volunteered to explore the Land of the Somali, -the eastern horn of Africa, extending from Cape -Guardafui (<abbr title="North Latitude">N. Lat.</abbr> 12°) to near the Equator. For -many years naval officers had coasted along it; many -of our ships had been lost there, and we had carefully -shot their wreckers and plunderers. But no modern -traveller had ventured into the wild depths, and we -were driven for information to the pages of Father -Lobo, of Salt, and de Rienzi.</p> - -<p>My project aimed at something higher; and indeed -it was this journey which led directly to the discovery -of the sources of the Nile, so far as they are yet -discovered.</p> - -<p>I had read in Ptolemy (<abbr title="One, paragraph">I., par.</abbr> 9) the following -words: “Then concerning the navigation between -the Aromata Promontory (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">i.e.</i>, Guardafui) and Rhapta -(the ‘place of seven ships,’ generally supposed to be -north of Kilwa), Marianus of Tyre declares that a -certain Diogenes, one of those sailing to India … -<!--Page 092--> -when near Aromata and having the Troglodytic region -on the right (some of the Somali were still cave-dwellers), -reached, after twenty-five days’ march, the lakes (plural -and not dual) whence the Nile flows and of which -Point Raphta is a little south.”</p> - -<p>This remarkable passage was to me a revelation; it -was the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mot de l’enigme</i>, the way to make the egg -stand upright, the rending of the veil of Isis. The -feat for which Julius Cæsar would have relinquished -a civil war, the secret which kings from Nero to -Mahommet Ali vainly attempted to solve, the -discovery of which travellers, from Herodotus to -Bruce, have risked their lives, was reduced to comparative -facility. For the last three thousand years -explorers had been working, literally and metaphorically, -against the stream, where disease and savagery had -exhausted health and strength, pocket and patience, at -the very beginning of the end. I therefore resolved -to reverse the operation, and thus I hoped to see the -young Nile and to stultify a certain old proverb.</p> - -<p>The Court of Directors of the Honourable East -India Company unwillingly sanctioned my project: I -was too clever by half, and they suspected that it -concealed projects of annexation or conquest. All -that my political views aimed at was to secure the -supremacy of my country in the Red Sea. Despite -Lord Palmerston and Robert Stephenson, I foresaw -that the Suez Canal would be a success, and I proposed -to purchase for the sum of £10,000 all the ports -on the East African shore as far south as Berbera. -<!--Page 093--> -This was refused; I was sternly reprimanded, and -the result will presently appear.</p> - -<p>In July of the same year we reached Aden from -Bombay. Our little party was composed of Lieutenant -Herne and Lieutenant Stroyan, with myself in command. -Before setting out I permitted Lieutenant -J. H. Speke to join us; he was in search of African -sport, and, being a stranger, he was glad to find -companions. This officer afterwards accompanied me -to Central Africa, and died at Bath on Thursday, -September 15th, 1864.</p> - -<p>Aden—​“eye of Yemen,” the “coal-hole of the -East” (as we call it), the “dry and squalid city” -of Abulfeda—​gave me much trouble. It is one of -the worst, if not <em>the</em> worst, places of residence to -which Anglo-Indians can be condemned. The town -occupies the crater floor of an extinct volcano whose -northern wall, a grim rock of bare black basalt known -as Jebel Shamsham, is said to be the sepulchre of -Kabil, or Cain, and certainly the First Murderer lies -in an appropriate spot. Between May and October -the climate is dreadful. The storms of unclean dust -necessitate candles at noon, and not a drop of rain -falls, whilst high in the red hot air you see the clouds -rolling towards the highlands of the interior, where -their blessed loads will make Arabia happy. In -Yemen—​Arabia Felix—​there are bubbling springs -and fruits and vineyards, sweet waters, fertilising suns, -and cool nights. In Aden and its neighbourhood all -is the abomination of desolation.</p> - -<!--Page 094--> -<p>The miseries of our unfortunate troops might have -been lightened had we originally occupied the true -key of the Red Sea, the port of Berbera on the -Somali coast opposite Aden. But the step had been -taken; the authorities would not say “Peccavi” and -undo the past. Therefore we died of fever and -dysentery; the smallest wound became a fearful -ulcer which destroyed limb or life. Even in health, -existence without appetite or sleep was a pest. I -had the audacity to publish these facts, and had once -more to pay the usual penalty for telling the truth.</p> - -<p>The English spirit suffers from confinement behind -any but wooden walls, and the Aden garrison displayed -a timidity which astonished me. The fierce faces, -the screaming voices, and the frequent faction fights -of the savage Somali had cowed our countrymen, and -they were depressed by a “peace at any price” policy. -Even the Brigadier commanding, General (afterwards -Sir) James Outram, opposed my explorations, and the -leader was represented as a madman leading others to -a certain and cruel death.</p> - -<p>I at once changed my plans. To prove that the -journey presented no real danger, I offered to visit -alone what was considered the most perilous part -of the country and explore Harar, the capital of -the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">terra incognita</i>. But to prevent my being -detained meanwhile, I stationed my companions on -the African coast with orders to seize and stop -the inland caravans—​a measure which would have -had the effect of releasing me. This is a serious -<!--Page 095--> -danger in Abyssinian travel: witness the case of -Pedro Cavilham in 1499, and the unfortunate Consul -Cameron in our own day. Those “nameless -Ethiopians,” the older savages, sacrificed strangers to -their gods. The modern only keep them in irons, -flog them, and starve them.</p> - -<p>At the time I went few but professed geographers -knew even the name of Harar, or suspected that within -three hundred miles of Aden there is a counterpart -of ill-famed Timbuctu. Travellers of all nations had -attempted it in vain; men of science, missionaries, -and geographers had all failed. It was said that some -Hamitu prophet had read decline and fall in the first -footsteps of the Frank, and that the bigoted barbarians -had threatened death to the infidel caught within -their walls. Yet it was worth seeing, especially in -those days, when few were the unvisited cities of the -world. It has a stirring history, a peculiar race and -language, it coins its own money, and it exports the -finest coffee known. Finally it is the southernmost -town in Tropical Africa.</p> - -<p>On April 28th, 1854, in an open boat, I left Aden -alone, without my companions, re-becoming El Hajj -Abdullah, the Arab. My attendants were Mohammed -and Guled, two Somali policemen bound to keep my -secret for the safety of their own throats. I afterwards -engaged one Abdy Abokr, a kind of hedge-priest, -whose nickname was the “End of Time,” meaning -the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ne plus ultra</i> of villainy. He was a caution—​a -bad tongue, a mischievous brain, covetous and -<!--Page 096--> -wasteful, treacherous as a hyena, revengeful as a -camel, timorous as a jackal.</p> - -<p>Three days of summer sail on the “blind billows” -and the “singing waves” of the romantic Arab -geographers landed us at Zayla, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alias</i> Andal, the -classical Sinus Avaliticus, to the south-west of Aden. -During the seventh century it was the capital of a -kingdom which measured forty-three by forty days’ -march; now the Bedouin rides up to its walls. The -site is the normal Arabo-African scene, a strip of -sulphur-yellow sand with a deep blue dome above -and a foreground of indigo-coloured sea; behind it -lies the country, a reeking desert of loose white sand -and brown clay, thinly scattered with thorny shrub -and tree. The buildings are a dozen large houses -of mud and coralline rubble painfully whitewashed. -There are six mosques—​green little battlemented -things with the Wahhali dwarf tower by way -of minaret, and two hundred huts of dingy palm-leaf.</p> - -<p>The population of fifteen thousand souls has not -a good name—​Zayla boasting or vanity and Kurayeh -pride is a proverb. They are managed by forty -Turkish soldiers under a Somali Governor, the Hajj -Shermarkuy, meaning “one who sees no harm.” -The tall old man was a brave in his youth; he -could manage four spears, and his sword-cut was -known. He always befriended English travellers.</p> - -<p>The only thing in favour of Zayla is its cheapness. -A family of six persons can live well on £30 per -<!--Page 097--> -annum. Being poor, the people are idle, and the -hateful “Inshalla bukra”—​“To-morrow if Allah -pleases”—​and the Arab “tenha paciencia,” “amanha,” -and “espere um pouco” is the rule.</p> - -<p>I was delayed twenty-seven days whilst a route -was debated upon, mules were sent for, camels -were bought, and an abban, or protector-guide, was -secured. Hereabouts no stranger could travel without -such a patron, who was paid to defend his client’s -life and property. Practically he took his money -and ran away.</p> - -<p>On the evening of November 27th, 1864, the -caravan was ready. It consisted of five camels laden -with provisions, cooking-pots, ammunition, and our -money—​that is to say, beads, coarse tobacco, American -sheeting, Indian cotton, and indigo-dyed stuffs. The -escort was formed by the two policemen, the “End -of Time,” and Yusuf, a one-eyed lad from Zayla, with -the guide and his tail of three followers. My men -were the pink of Somali fashion. They had stained -their hair of a light straw colour by plastering it with -ashes; they had teased it till it stood up a full foot, -and they had mutually spirted upon their wigs melted -tallow, making their heads look like giant cauliflowers -that contrasted curiously with the bistre-coloured -skins. Their tobes (togas) were dazzlingly white, -with borders dazzlingly red. Outside the dress was -strapped a horn-hilted two-edged dagger, long and -heavy; their shields of rhinoceros hide were brand -new, and their two spears poised upon the right -<!--Page 098--> -shoulder were freshly scraped and oiled, and blackened -and polished. They had added my spare rifle and -guns to the camel loads—​the things were well enough -in Aden, but in Somali we would deride such strange, -unmanly weapons. They balanced themselves upon -dwarf Abyssinian saddles, extending the leg and -raising the heel like the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">haute école</i> of Louis <abbr title="fourteen">XIV</abbr>. -The stirrup was an iron ring admitting only the big -toe, and worse than that of the Sertanejo.</p> - -<p>As usual in this country, where the gender masculine -will not work, we had two cooks—​tall, buxom, -muscular dames, chocolate skinned and round faced. -They had curiously soft and fluted voices, hardly to -be expected from their square and huge-hipped figures, -and contrasting agreeably with the harsh organs of -the men. Their feet were bare, their veil was confined -by a narrow fillet, and the body-cloth was an -indigo-dyed cotton, girt at the waist and graceful -as a winding sheet. I never saw them eat; probably, -as the people say of cooks, they lived by sucking -their fingers.</p> - -<p>And here a few words about the Somali, amongst -whom we were to travel. These nomads were not -pure negroes; like the old Egyptians, they were a -mixed breed of African and Arab. The face from -the brow to the nostrils is Asiatic, from the nostrils -to the chin showed traces of negro blood. The hair -was African; they decorated it by a sheep-skin wig -cut to the head and died fiery orange with henna. -The figure was peculiar, the shoulders were high -<!--Page 099--> -and narrow, the trunk was small, the limbs were -spider-like, and the forearm was often of simian -proportions.</p> - -<p>The Somali were a free people, lawless as free. The -British Government would not sanction their being -sold as slaves. Of course they enslaved others, and -they had a servile caste called Midyan, who were -the only archers. They had little reverence for their -own chiefs except in council, and they discussed -every question in public, none hesitating to offer the -wildest conjectures. At different times they suggested -that I was a Turk, an Egyptian, a Marah man, a -Banyan, Ahmad the Indian, the Governor of Aden, -a merchant, a pilgrim, the chief of Zayla or his son, -a boy, a warrior in silver armour, an old woman, a -man painted white, and lastly, a calamity sent down -from heaven to tire out the lives of the Somali.</p> - -<p>The Somali were bad Moslems, but they believed -in a deity and they knew the name of their Prophet. -Wives being purchased for their value in cows or -camels, the wealthy old were polygamous and the -young poor were perforce bachelors. They worked -milk-pots of tree-fibre like the beer-baskets of Kaffir-land. -They were not bad smiths, but they confined -their work to knives, spear-heads, and neat bits for -their unshod horses. Like the Kaffirs, they called -bright iron “rotten,” and they never tempered it. -Like all Africans, they were very cruel riders.</p> - -<p>These nomads had a passion for independence, and -yet when placed under a strong arm they were easily -<!--Page 100--> -disciplined. In British Aden a merry, laughing, -dancing, and fighting race, at home they were a -moping, melancholy people; for this their lives of -perpetual danger might account. This insecurity -made them truly hard-hearted. I have seen them -when shifting camp barbarously leave behind for the -hyenas their sick and decrepit parents. When the -fatal smallpox breaks out, the first cases are often -speared and the huts burned over the still warm -corpse.</p> - -<p>The Somali deemed nothing so noble as murder. -The more cowardly the deed is, the better, as showing -the more “nous.” Even the midnight butchery of -a sleeping guest is highly honourable. The hero -plants a rish, or white ostrich feather, in his tufty -pole and walks about the admired of all admirers, -whilst the wives of those who have not received this -order of merit taunt their husbands as <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">noirs fainéants</i>. -Curious to say, the Greek and Roman officers used -to present these plumes to the bravest of their officers -for wearing on their helmet.</p> - -<p>My journey began with the hard alluvial plain, -forty-five to fifty-eight miles broad, between the sea -and the mountains. It belonged to the Eesa, a tribe -of Somali Bedouins, and how these “sun-dwellers” -could exist there was a mystery. On the second -day we reached a kraal consisting of gurgi, or -diminutive hide huts. There was no thorn fence -as is required in the lion-haunted lands to the west. -The scene was characteristic of that pastoral life -<!--Page 101--> -which supplies poetry with Arcadian images and -history with its blackest tragedies. Whistling shepherds, -tall thin men, spear in hand, bore the younglings -of the herd in their bosoms or drove to pasture -the long-necked camels preceded by a patriarch with -a wooden bell. Patches of Persian sheep with snowy -bodies and jetty faces flecked the tawny plain, and -flocks of goats were committed to women dressed -in skins and boys who were unclad till the days of -puberty. Some led the ram, around whose neck a -cord of white heather was tied for luck. Others -frisked with the dogs, animals by no means contemptible -in the eyes of these Bedouin Moslems. All begged -for bori—​the precious tobacco—​their only narcotic. -They run away if they see smoke, and they suspect -a kettle to be a mortal weapon. So the Bachwanas -called our cannon, “pots.” Many of these wild -people had never tasted grain and had never heard -of coffee or sugar. During the rains they lived on -milk; in the dries they ate meat, avoiding, however, -the blood. Like other races to the north and south, -they would not touch fish or birds, which they compared -to snakes and vultures. “Speak not to me -with that mouth that has tasted fish!” is a dire -insult.</p> - -<p>The Eesa were a typical Somali tribe; it might -have numbered one hundred thousand spears, and it -had a bad name. “Treacherous as an Eesa,” is a -proverb at Zayla, where it is said these savages -would offer you a bowl of milk with the left hand -<!--Page 102--> -and would stab you with the right. Their lives were -spent in battle and murder.</p> - -<p>The next march, a total of fifty-two miles, nearly -lost us. Just before reaching the mountains which -subtend the coast, we crossed the warm trail of a -razzia, or cavalcade: some two hundred of the Habr -Awal, our inveterate enemies, had been scouring the -country. Robinson Crusoe was less scared by the -footprint than were my companions. Our weak -party numbered only nine men, of whom all except -Mohammed and Guled were useless, and the first -charge would have been certain death.</p> - -<p>Escaping this danger, we painfully endured the -rocks and thorns of the mountains and wilds. The -third march placed us at Halimalah, a sacred tree -about half-way between this coast and our destination—​Harar. -It is a huge sycamore suggesting the -hiero-sykaminon of Egypt. The Gallas are still -tree-worshippers, and the Somali respect this venerable -vegetable as do the English their Druidical -mistletoe.</p> - -<p>We were well received at the kers (the kraals or -villages). They were fenced with large and terrible -thorns, an effectual defence against barelegged men. -The animals had a place apart—​semi-circular beehives -made of grass mats mounted on sticks. The furniture -consisted of weapons, hides, wooden pillows and -mats for beds, pots of woven fibre, and horse gear. -We carried our own dates and rice, we bought meat -and the people supplied us with milk gratis—​to sell -<!--Page 103--> -it was a disgrace. Fresh milk was drunk only by -the civilised; pastoral people preferred it when artificially -curdled and soured.</p> - -<p>We soon rose high above sea-level, as the cold -nights and the burning suns told us. The eighth -march placed us on the Ban Marar, a plain twenty-seven -miles broad—​at that season a waterless stubble, -a yellow nap, dotted with thorny trees and bushes, -and at all times infamous for robbery and murder. -It was a glorious place for game: in places it was -absolutely covered with antelopes, and every random -shot must have told in the immense herds.</p> - -<p>Here I had the distinction of being stalked by a -lion. As night drew in we were urging our jaded -mules over the western prairie towards a dusky line -of hills. My men proceeded whilst I rode in rear -with a double-barrelled gun at full cock across my -knees. Suddenly my animal trembled and bolted forward -with a sidelong glance of fear. I looked back -and saw, within some twenty yards, the king of beasts -creeping up silently as a cat. To fire both barrels in -the direction of my stalker was the work of a second. -I had no intention of hitting, as aim could not be -taken in the gloaming, and to wound would have been -fatal. The flame and the echoed roar from the hills -made my friend slink away. Its intention was, -doubtless, to crawl within springing distance and then -by a bound on my neck to have finished my journey -through Somaliland and through life. My companions -shouted in horror “Libah! libah!”—​“The -<!--Page 104--> -lion! the lion!”—​and saw a multitude of lions that -night.</p> - -<p>After crossing the desert prairie, we entered the -hills of the agricultural Somali, the threshold of the -South Abyssinian mountains. The pastoral scene -now changed for waving crops of millet, birds in -flights, and hedged lanes, where I saw with pleasure -the dog-rose. Guided by a wild fellow called -Altidon, we passed on to the Sagharah, the village -of the Gerad, or chief, Adan. He had not a good -name, and I was afterwards told he was my principal -danger. But we never went anywhere without our -weapons, and the shooting of a few vultures on the -wing was considered a great feat where small shot is -unknown. “He brings down birds from the sky!” -exclaimed the people.</p> - -<p>I must speak of the Gerad, however, as I found -him—​a civil and hospitable man, greedy, of course, -suspicious, and of shortsighted policy.</p> - -<p>His good and pretty wife Kayrah was very kind, and -supplied me with abundance of honey wine, the merissa -of Abyssinia. It tasted like champagne to a palate -long condemned to total abstinence, without even tea.</p> - -<p>We were now within thirty direct miles of Harar, -and my escort made a great stand. The chief Adan -wanted to monopolise us and our goods. My men, -therefore, were threatened with smallpox, the bastinado, -lifelong captivity in unlit dungeons, and similar -amenities.</p> - -<p>On June 2nd, 1855, sent for our mules. They -<!--Page 105--> -were missing. An unpleasantness was the consequence, -and the animals appeared about noon. I saddled my -own—​no one would assist me. When, mounted and -gun in hand, I rode up to my followers, who sat sulkily -on the ground, and observing that hitherto their acts -had not been those of the brave, I suggested that -before returning to Aden we should do something of -manliness. They arose, begged me not to speak such -words, and offered to advance if I would promise to -reward them should we live and to pay blood-money -to their friends in case of the other contingency. -They apparently attached much importance to what is -vulgarly termed “cutting up well.”</p> - -<p>Now, however, we were talking reason, and I -settled all difficulties by leaving a letter addressed to -the Political Resident at Aden. Mohammed and -Guled were chosen to accompany me, the rest remaining -with the Gerad Adan. I must say for my -companions that once in the saddle they shook off -their fears; they were fatalists, and they believed in -my star, whilst they had the fullest confidence in their -pay or pension.</p> - -<p>The country now became romantic and beautiful—​a -confusion of lofty stony mountains, plantations of the -finest coffee, scatters of villages, forests of noble trees, -with rivulets of the coolest and clearest water. We -here stood some five thousand five hundred feet high, -and although only nine degrees removed from the -Line, the air was light and pleasant. It made me -remember the climate of Aden, and hate it.</p> - -<!--Page 106--> -<p>We slept <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i>, and on January 3rd we first -sighted Harar City. On the crest of a hill distant -two miles it appeared, a long sombre line strikingly -contrasting with the whitewashed settlements of the -more civilised East, and nothing broke the outline -except the two grey and rudely shaped minarets of the -Jami, or Maritz (cathedral). I almost grudged the -exposure of three lives to win so paltry a prize. But -of all Europeans who had attempted it before me -not one had succeeded in entering that ugly pile of -stones.</p> - -<p>We then approached the city gate and sat there, as -is the custom, till invited to enter. Presently we were -ordered to the palace by a chamberlain, a man with -loud and angry voice and eyes.</p> - -<p>At the entrance of the palace we dismounted by -command, and we were told to run across the court, -which I refused to do. We were then placed under -a tree in one corner of the yard and to the right of -the palace. The latter is a huge, windowless barn -of rough stone and red clay, without other insignia -but a thin coat of whitewash over the doorway.</p> - -<p>Presently we were beckoned in and told to doff our -slippers. A curtain was raised, and we stood in the -presence of the then Amir of Harar, Sultan Ahmed -bin Sultan Abibaki.</p> - -<p>The sight was savage, if not imposing. The hall -of audience was a dark room, eighty to ninety feet -long, and its whitewashed walls were hung with rusty -fetters and bright matchlocks. At the further end, on -<!--Page 107--> -a common East Indian cane sofa, sat a small yellow -personage—​the great man. He wore a flowing robe -of crimson cloth edged with snowy fur, and a narrow -white turban twisted round a tall conical cap of red -velvet. Ranged in double ranks perpendicular to the -presence and nearest to the chief were his favourites -and courtiers, with right arms bared after the fashion -of Abyssinia. Prolonging these parallel lines towards -the door were Galla warriors, wild men with bushy -wigs. Shining rings of zinc on their arms, wrists, -and ankles formed their principal attire. They stood -motionless as statues; not an eye moved, and each -right hand held up a spear with an enormous head of -metal, the heel being planted in the ground.</p> - -<p>I entered with a loud “As ’salem alaykum”—​“Peace -be upon ye!”—​and the normal answer was -returned. A pair of chamberlains then led me forward -to bow over the chief’s hand. He directed me to sit -on a mat opposite to him, and with lowering brow and -inquisitive glance he asked what might be my business -in Harar. It was the crisis. I introduced myself -as an Englishman from Aden coming to report that -certain changes had taken place there, in the hope -that the “cordial intent” might endure between the -kingdoms of Harar and England.</p> - -<p>The Amir smiled graciously. I must admit that -the smile was a relief to me. It was a joy to my -attendants, who sat on the ground behind their master, -grey-brown with emotion, and mentally inquiring, -“What next?”</p> - -<!--Page 108--> -<p>The audience over, we were sent to one of the -Amir’s houses, distant about one hundred paces from -the palace. Here cakes of sour maize (fuba), soaked -in curdled milk, and lumps of beef plenteously -powdered with pepper, awaited us. Then we were -directed to call upon Gerad Mohammed, Grand Vizier -of Harar. He received us well, and we retired to rest -not dissatisfied with the afternoon’s work. We had -eaten the chief’s bread and salt.</p> - -<p>During my ten days’ stay at Harar I carefully -observed the place and its people. The city was -walled and pierced with five large gates, flanked by -towers, but was ignorant of cannon. The streets—​narrow -lanes strewed with rocks and rubbish—​were -formed by houses built of granite and sandstone -from the adjacent mountains. The best abodes were -double storied, long and flat roofed, with holes for -windows placed jealously high up, and the doors -were composed of a single plank. The women, I -need hardly say, had separate apartments. The city -abounded in mosques—​plain buildings without minarets—​and -the graveyards were stuffed with tombs—​oblongs -formed by slabs placed edgeways in the ground.</p> - -<p>The people, numbering about eight thousand souls, -had a bad name among their neighbours. The Somali -say that Harar is a “paradise inhabited by asses”; -and “hard as the heart of Harar” is a byword. -The junior members of the royal family were imprisoned -till wanted for the throne. Amongst the -men I did not see a handsome face or hear one -<!--Page 109--> -pleasant voice. The features were harsh and plain, -the skin was a sickly brown, the hair and beard -were short and untractable, and the hands and feet -were large and coarse. They were celebrated for -laxity of morals, fondness for strong waters, much -praying, coffee-drinking, and chewing tobacco and -kat, a well-known theme plant. They had a considerable -commerce with the coast, which was reached -by a large caravan once a year.</p> - -<p>The women were beautiful by the side of their -lords. They had small heads, regular profiles, straight -noses, large eyes, mouths almost Caucasian, and light -brown skins. The hair, parted in the centre and -gathered into two large bunches behind the ears, -was covered with dark blue muslin or network, -whose ends were tied under the chin. Girls collected -their locks, which were long, thick, and wavy—​not -wiry—​into a knot <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à la Diane</i>; a curtain of short -close plaits escaping from the bunch fell upon the -shoulders. The dress was a wide frock of chocolate -or indigo-dyed cotton, girt round the middle with -a sash; before and behind there was a triangle of -scarlet with the point downwards. The ornaments -were earrings and necklaces of black buffalo horn, -the work of Western India. The bosom was -tattooed with stars, the eyebrows were lengthened -with dyes, the eyes were fringed with antimony, -and the palms and soles were stained red. Those -pretty faces had harsh voices, their manners were -rude, and I regret to say that an indiscreet affection -<!--Page 110--> -for tobacco and honey wine sometimes led to a public -bastinado.</p> - -<p>At Harar was a university which supplied Somaliland -with poor scholars and crazy priests. There -were no endowments for students—​learning was its -own reward—​and books (manuscripts) were rare and -costly. Only theology was studied. Some of the -graduates had made a name in the Holy Land of -Arabia, where few ranked higher than my friend Shaykh -Jami el Berteri. To be on the safer side he would -never touch tobacco or coffee. I liked his conversation, -but I eschewed his dinners.</p> - -<p>Harar—​called Gay or Harar Gay by her sons—​is -the capital of Hadiyah, a province of the ancient -Zala empire, and her fierce Moslems nearly extirpated -Christianity from Shoa and Amara. The local -Attila Mohammed Gragne, or the “Left-Handed,” -slew in 1540 David III., the last Ethiopian monarch -who styled himself “King of Kings.”</p> - -<p>David’s successor, Claudius, sent imploring messages -to Europe, and D. Joao III. ordered the chivalrous -Stephen and Christopher da Gama, sons of Vasco -da Gama, to the rescue. The Portuguese could -oppose only three hundred and fifty muskets and a -rabble rout of Abyssinians to ten thousand Moslems. -D. Christopher was wounded, taken prisoner, and -decapitated. Good Father Lobo declares that “where -the martyr’s head fell, a fountain sprung up of wonderful -virtue, which cured many hopeless diseases.”</p> - -<p>Eventually Gragne was shot by one Pedro Leao, -<!--Page 111--> -a Portuguese soldier who was bent upon revenging -his leader’s fall. The Moslem’s wife, Tamwalbara, -prevented the dispersion of the army, making a slave -personate her dead husband, and drew off his forces -in safety. A strong-minded woman!</p> - -<p>My days at Harar were dull enough. At first -we were visited by all the few strangers of the city, -but they soon thought it prudent to shun us. The -report of my “English brethren” being on the coast -made them look upon me as a mufsid, or dangerous -man. The Somali, on the other hand, in compliment -to my attendants, were most attentive. It was -harvest home, and we had opportunity of seeing the -revels of the threshers and reapers—​a jovial race, -slightly “dipsomaniac.”</p> - -<p>Harar also was the great half-way house and resting -place for slaves between Abyssinia and the coast. -In making purchases, the adage was, “If you want -a brother in battle, buy a Nubian; if you would -be rich, an Abyssinian; if you require an ass, a -negro.”</p> - -<p>I sometimes called upon the learned and religious, -but not willingly—​these shaykhash, or reverend men, -had proposed detaining me until duly converted -and favoured with a “call.” Harar, like most African -cities, was a prison on a large scale. “You enter it -by your own will; you leave it by another’s,” is -the pithy saw.</p> - -<p>At length, when really anxious to depart, and -when my two Somali had consulted their rosaries -<!--Page 112--> -for the thousandth time, I called upon the Gerad -Mohammed, who had always been civil to us. He -was suffering from a chronic bronchitis. Here, then, -lay my chance of escaping from my rat-trap. The -smoke of some brown paper matches steeped in -saltpetre relieved him. We at once made a bargain. -The minister was to take me before the Amir and -secure for me a ceremonious dismission. On the -other part, I bound myself to send up from the -coast a lifelong supply of the precious medicine. -We both kept faith. Moreover, after returning to -Aden I persuaded the authorities to reward with -handsome presents the men who held my life in -their hands and yet did not take it.</p> - -<p>After a pleasing interview with the Amir, who did -his best to smile, we left Harar on January 13th, -1855. At Sagharah, where the villagers had prayed -the death-prayer as we set out for the city, we were -received with effusion. They now scattered over -us handfuls of toasted grain, and they danced with -delight, absorbing copious draughts of liquor. The -“End of Time” wept crocodile’s tears, and the -women were grateful that their charms had not -been exposed to the terrible smallpox.</p> - -<p>After a week’s rest we prepared to make the coast. -I was desirous of striking Berbera, a port south of -Zayla, where my friends awaited me. The escort -consented to accompany me by the short direct road, -on condition of travelling night and day. They -warned me that they had a blood feud with all the -<!--Page 113--> -tribes on the path, that we should find very little -water and no provisions, and that the heat would -be frightful. Truly, a pleasant prospect for a weary -man!</p> - -<p>But if they could stand it, so could I. The weaker -attendants, the women, and the camels were sent back -by the old path, and I found myself <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> on -January 26th, accompanied by my two Somali and -by a wild guide known as Dubayr—​the “Donkey.” -My provaunt for five days consisted of five biscuits, -a few limes, and sundry lumps of sugar.</p> - -<p>I will not deny that the ride was trying work. -The sun was fearful, the nights were raw and damp. -For twenty-four hours we did not taste water; our -brains felt baked, our throats burned, the mirage -mocked us at every turn, and the effect was a kind -of monomania. At length a small bird showed us a -well and prevented, I believe, our going mad. The -scenery was uniform and uninteresting—​horrid hills -upon which withered aloes raised their spears; plains -apparently rained upon by showers of fire and stones, -and rolling ground rich only in “wait a bit” thorns, -made to rend man’s skin and garment. We scrupulously -avoided the kraals, and when on one occasion -the wild people barred the way we were so intolerably -fierce with hunger and thirst that they fled from us -as though we were fiends. The immortal Ten -Thousand certainly did not sight the cold waters of -the Euxine with more delight than we felt when -hailing the warm bay of Berbera. I ended that -<!--Page 114--> -toilsome ride to and from Harar of two hundred -and forty miles at 2 a.m. on January 30th, 1855, -after a last spell of forty miles. A glad welcome -from my brother expeditionists soon made amends -for past privations and fatigues.</p> - -<p class="center">*  *  *  *  *</p> - -<p>And now to recount the most unpleasant part of -my first adventure in East Africa.</p> - -<p>Having paid a visit to Aden, I returned to Berbera -in April, 1855, prepared to march upon the head -waters of the Nile.</p> - -<p>But Fate and the British authorities were against -me. I had done too much—​I had dared to make -Berbera a rival port. They were not scrupulous at -Aden, even to the taking of life.</p> - -<p>My little party consisted of forty-two muskets, -including three officers and myself. The men, however, -were not to be trusted, but after repeated -applications I could not obtain an escort of Somali -policemen. Matters looked ugly, and the more so -as there was no retreat.</p> - -<p>The fair of Berbera, which had opened in early -October, was breaking up, and the wild clansmen -were retiring from the seaboard to their native hills. -The harbour rapidly emptied; happily, however, for -us, a single boat remained there.</p> - -<p>We slept comfortably on April 18th, agreeing to -have a final shot at the gazelles before marching. -<a name="attack" id="attack"></a>Between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. we were roused by a -rush of men like a roar of a stormy wind. I learned -<!--Page 117--> -afterwards that our enemies numbered between three -and four hundred. We armed ourselves with all -speed, whilst our party, after firing a single volley, -ran away as quickly as possible.</p> - -<!--Page 115--> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/i_096.jpg" - alt="Illustration: Attack on the camp" - /> - <p class="credit">[<span class="decoration"><a href="#attack">See Page 96.</a></span></p> - <p class="caption"><span class="sc lowercase">THE ATTACK ON THE CAMP AT BERBERA.</span></p> -</div> -<!--Page 116--><!--Blank Page--> - -<p>The unfortunate Lieutenant Stroyan was run through -with a spear; he slept far from us, and we did not -see him fall. Lieutenants Herne and Speke and I -defended ourselves in our tent till the savages proceeded -to beat it down. I then gave the word to sally, -and cleared the way with my sabre. Lieutenant Herne -accompanied me and—​wonderful to relate—​escaped -without injury. Lieutenant Speke was seized and -tied up; he had eleven spear-thrusts before he could -free himself, and he escaped by a miracle. When outside -the camp, I vainly tried once more to bring up -our men to the fray. Finding me badly hurt they -carried me on board the boat. Here I was joined by -the survivors, who carried with them the corpse of -our ill-fated friend.</p> - -<p>Sad and dispirited, we returned to Aden. We had -lost our property as well as our blood, and I knew too -well that we should be rewarded with nothing but -blame. The authorities held a Court of Inquiry in -my absence, and facetiously found that we and not they -were in fault. Lord Dalhousie, the admirable statesman -then governing in general British India, declared -that they were quite right. I have sometimes thought -they were.</p> -<!--Page 118--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 119--><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a> -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">TO THE HEART OF AFRICA</span><br /> -1856-1859</h3> -<!--Page 120--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 121--><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="One">I</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE JOURNEY</span></h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">I  HAD long wished to “unveil Isis”—​in other words, -to discover the sources of the Nile and the Lake -regions of Central Africa—​and to this end I left London -in September, 1856, for Bombay. Here I applied for -Captain Speke to accompany me as second in command, -as he wished much to go. My subsequent dispute -with Speke is well known, and I will not refer to it -here. I took him with me out of pure good nature, -for, as he had suffered with me in purse and person -at Berbera the year before, I thought it only just to -offer him the opportunity of renewing an attempt to -penetrate to the unknown regions of Central Africa. -I had no other reasons. He was not a linguist, nor -a man of science, nor an astronomical observer, and -during the expedition he acted in a subordinate capacity -only. The Court of Directors refused him leave, but -I obtained it from the local authorities in Bombay. I -may here add that the Royal Geographical Society had -given me a grant of £1,000, and that the Court of -Directors of the East India Company had given me -two years’ leave.</p> - -<p>I landed at Zanzibar from Bombay on December 19th, -<!--Page 122--> -1856, and received much kindness from Lieutenant-Colonel -Hamerton, Her Majesty’s Consul. First of -all I made an experimental trip, and this and the study -of Zanzibar occupied my time until May 14th, 1857, -when I left Zanzibar for the second time, and on the -27th of the same month I landed at Wale Point, on -the east coast of Africa, about eighty-four miles from -the town of Bagamoyo.</p> - -<p>I wanted to engage one hundred and seventy porters, -but could only get thirty-six, and thirty animals were -found, which were all dead in six months, so I had -to leave a part of my things behind, including a greater -part of my ammunition and my iron boat. I paid -various visits to the hippopotamus haunts, and had my -boat uplifted from the water upon the points of two -tusks, which made corresponding holes in the bottom. -My escort were under the impression that nothing -less than one hundred and fifty guns and several cannon -would enable them to fight a way through the perils -of the interior. I was warned that I must pass through -savages who shot with poisoned arrows, that I must -avoid trees—​which was not easy in a land of forest—​that -the Wazaramo had forbidden white men to enter -their country, that one rhinoceros had killed two -hundred men, that armies of elephants would attack -my camp by night, and that the hyena was more -dangerous than the Bengal tiger—​altogether, not -a cheerful outlook.</p> - -<p>Most of these difficulties were raised by a rascal -named Ramji, who had his own ends in view. Being -<!--Page 123--> -a Hindoo, he thought I was ignorant of Cutchee; so -one day I overheard the following conversation between -him and a native.</p> - -<p>“Will he ever reach it?” asked the native, meaning -the Sea of Ujiji; to which Ramji replied:</p> - -<p>“Of course not; what is he that he should pass -through Ugogo?” (a province about half way).</p> - -<p>So I remarked at once that I did intend to pass -Ugogo and also reach the Sea of Ujiji, that I did -know Cutchee, and that if he was up to any tricks, -I should be equal to him.</p> - -<p>On June 26th, 1857, I set out in earnest on a -journey into the far interior.</p> - -<p>On this journey I had several queer experiences. -At Nzasa I was visited by three native chiefs, who -came to ascertain whether I was bound on a peaceful -errand. When I assured them of my unwarlike -intentions, they told me I must halt on the morrow -and send forth a message to the next chief, but as -this plan invariably loses three days, I replied that -I could not be bound by their rules, but was ready -to pay for their infraction. During the debate upon -this fascinating proposal for breaking the law, one -of the most turbulent of the Baloch, who were native -servants in my train, drew his sword upon an old -woman because she refused to give up a basket of -grain. She rushed, with the face of a black Medusa, -into the assembly, and created a great disturbance. -When that was allayed, the principal chief asked me -what brought the white man into their country, and -<!--Page 124--> -at the same time to predict the loss of their gains -and commerce, land and liberty.</p> - -<p>“I am old,” he quoth pathetically, “and my -beard is grey, yet I never beheld such a calamity as -this.”</p> - -<p>“These men,” replied my interpreter, “neither buy -nor sell; they do not inquire into price, nor do -they covet profit.”</p> - -<p>An extravagant present—​for at that time I -was ignorant of the price I ought to pay—​opened -the chiefs’ hearts, and they appointed one of their -body to accompany me as far as the western half -of the Kingani valley. They also caused to be -performed a dance of ceremony in my honour. A -line of small, plump, chestnut-coloured women, with -wild, beady eyes and thatch of clay-plastered hair, -dressed in their loin-cloths, with a profusion of bead -necklaces and other ornaments, and with their ample -bosoms tightly corded down, advanced and retired -in a convulsion of wriggle and contortion, whose fit -expression was a long discordant howl. I threw -them a few strings of green beads, and one of these -falling to the ground, I was stooping to pick it up -when Said, my interpreter whispered, in my ear, -“Bend not; they will say ‘He will not bend even -to take up beads.’”</p> - -<p>In some places I found the attentions of the fair -sex somewhat embarrassing, but when I entered the -fine green fields that guarded the settlements of -Muhoewee, I was met <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en masse</i> by the ladies of the -<!--Page 125--> -villages, who came out to stare, laugh, and wonder -at the white man.</p> - -<p>“What would you think of these whites as -husbands?” asked one of the crowd.</p> - -<p>“With such things on their legs, not by any -means!” was the unanimous reply, accompanied by -peals of merriment.</p> - -<p>On July 8th I fell into what my Arab called the -“Valley of Death and the Home of Hunger,” a -malarious level plain. Speke, whom I shall henceforth -call my companion, was compelled by sickness to ride. -The path, descending into a dense thicket of spear -grass, bush, and thorny trees based on sand, was -rough and uneven, but when I arrived at a ragged -camping kraal, I found the water bad, and a smell -of decay was emitted by the dark, dank ground. It was -a most appalling day, and one I shall not lightly forget. -From the black clouds driven before furious blasts -pattered raindrops like musket bullets, splashing the -already saturated ground. Tall, stiff trees groaned -and bent before the gusts; birds screamed as they -were driven from their resting-places; the asses stood -with heads depressed, ears hung down, and shrinking -tails turned to the wind; even the beasts of the wild -seemed to have taken refuge in their dens.</p> - -<p>Despite our increasing weakness, we marched on -the following day, when we were interrupted by a -body of about fifty Wazaramo, who called to us to -halt. We bought them off with a small present of -cloth and beads, and they stood aside to let us pass. -<!--Page 126--> -I could not but admire the athletic and statuesque -figures of the young warriors, and their martial -attitudes, grasping in one hand their full-sized bows, -and in the other sheaths of grinded arrows, whose -black barbs and necks showed a fresh layer of -poison.</p> - -<p>Though handicapped by a very inadequate force, in -eighteen days we accomplished, despite sickness and -every manner of difficulty, a march of one hundred -and eighteen miles, and entered K’hutu, the safe -rendezvous of foreign merchants, on July 14th. -I found consolation in the thought that the expedition -had passed without accident through the -most dangerous part of the journey.</p> - -<p>Resuming our march through the maritime region, -on July 15th we penetrated into a thick and tangled -jungle, with luxuriant and putrescent vegetation. -Presently, however, the dense thicket opened out into -a fine park country, peculiarly rich in game, where -the giant trees of the seaboard gave way to mimosas, -gums, and stunted thorns. Large gnus pranced -about, pawing the ground and shaking their formidable -manes; hartebeest and other antelopes -clustered together on the plain. The homely cry -of the partridge resounded from the brake, and the -guinea-fowls looked like large bluebells upon the -trees. Small land-crabs took refuge in pits and holes, -which made the path a cause of frequent accidents, -whilst ants of various kinds, crossing the road in -close columns, attacked man and beast ferociously, -<!--Page 127--> -causing the caravan to break into a halting, trotting -hobble. The weather was a succession of raw mists, -rain in torrents, and fiery sunbursts; the land -appeared rotten, and the jungle smelt of death. -At Kiruru I found a cottage and enjoyed for the -first time an atmosphere of sweet, warm smoke. My -companion would remain in the reeking, miry tent, -where he partially laid the foundations of the fever -which afterwards threatened his life in the mountains -of Usagara.</p> - -<p>Despite the dangers of hyenas, leopards, and -crocodiles, we were delayed by the torrents of rain -in the depths of the mud at Kiruru. We then -resumed our march under most unpromising conditions. -Thick grass and the humid vegetation -rendered the black earth greasy and slippery, and the -road became worse as we advanced. In three places -we crossed bogs from a hundred yards to a mile in -length, and admitting a man up to the knee. The -porters plunged through them like laden animals, -and I was obliged to be held upon the ass. At last -we reached Dut’humi, where we were detained nearly -a week, for malaria had brought on attacks of marsh -fever, which, in my case, thoroughly prostrated me. -I had during the fever fit, and often for hours afterwards, -a queer conviction of divided identity, never -ceasing to be two persons that generally thwarted and -opposed each other. The sleepless nights brought -with them horrid visions, animals of grisliest form, -and hag-like women and men.</p> - -<p><!--Page 128--> -Dut’humi is one of the most fertile districts in -K’hutu, and, despite its bad name as regards climate, -Arabs sometimes reside here for some months for the -purpose of purchasing slaves cheaply, and to repair -their broken fortunes for a fresh trip into the interior. -This kept up a perpetual feud amongst the chiefs of -the country, and scarcely a month passed without -fields being laid waste, villages burnt down, and the -unhappy cultivators being carried off to be sold.</p> - -<p>On July 24th, feeling strong enough to advance, we -passed out of the cultivation of Dut’humi. Beyond -the cultivation the road plunged into a jungle, where -the European traveller realised every preconceived idea -of Africa’s aspect at once hideous and grotesque. -The general appearance is a mingling of bush and -forest, most monotonous to the eye. The black, greasy -ground, veiled with thick shrubbery, supports in the -more open spaces screens of tiger and spear grass -twelve and thirteen feet high, with every blade a -finger’s breadth; and the towering trees are often -clothed with huge creepers, forming heavy columns -of densest verdure. The earth, ever rain-drenched, -emits the odour of sulphuretted hydrogen, and in -some parts the traveller might fancy a corpse to -be hidden behind every bush. That no feature of -miasma might be wanting to complete the picture, -filthy heaps of the meanest hovels sheltered their -miserable inhabitants, whose frames are lean with -constant intoxication, and whose limbs are distorted -with ulcerous sores. Such a revolting scene is -<!--Page 129--> -East Africa from Central K’hutu to the base of the -Usagara Mountains.</p> - -<p>After a long, long tramp the next day through rice -swamps, we came to the nearest outposts of the -Zungomero district. Here were several caravans, -with pitched tents, piles of ivory, and crowds of -porters. The march had occupied us over four -weeks, about double the usual time, and a gang of -thirty-six Wanyamwezi native porters whom I had -sent on in advance to Zungomero naturally began to -suspect accident.</p> - -<p>Zungomero was not a pleasant place, and though -the sea breeze was here strong, beyond its influence -the atmosphere was sultry and oppressive. It was the -great centre of traffic in the eastern regions. Lying -upon the main trunk road, it must be traversed by -the up and down caravans, and during the travelling -season, between June and April, large bodies of some -thousand men pass through it every week. It was, -therefore, a very important station, and the daily -expenditure of large caravans being considerable, there -was a good deal of buying and selling.</p> - -<p>The same attractions which draw caravans to -Zungomero render it the great rendezvous of an -army of touts, who, whilst watching the arrival of -ivory traders, amuse themselves with plundering the -country.</p> - -<p>Zungomero is the end of the maritime region, and -when I had reached it, I considered that the first -stage of my journey was accomplished.</p> - -<p><!--Page 130--> -I had to remain at Zungomero about a fortnight -to await the coming of my porters. In this hot-bed -of pestilence we nearly found “wet graves.” Our -only lodging was under the closed eaves of a hut, -built African fashion, one abode within the other; -the roof was a sieve, the walls were a system of -chinks, and the floor was a sheet of mud. Outside -the rain poured pertinaciously, the winds were raw -and chilling, and the gigantic vegetation was sopped -to decay, and the river added its quotum of miasma. -The hardships of the march had upset our Baloch -guard, and they became almost mutinous, and would -do nothing for themselves. They stole the poultry -of the villagers, quarrelled violently with the slaves, -and foully abused their temporal superior, Said bin -Salim.</p> - -<p>When we were ready to start from Zungomero, -our whole party amounted to a total of one hundred -and thirty-two souls, whom I need not, I think, -describe in detail. We had plenty of cloth and -beads for traffic with the natives, a good store of -provisions, arms, and ammunition, a certain amount -of camp furniture, instruments, such as chronometers, -compasses, thermometers, etc., a stock of stationery, -plenty of useful tools, clothing, bedding, and shoes, -books and drawing materials, a portable domestic -medicine chest, and a number of miscellaneous articles. -As life at Zungomero was the acme of discomfort, -I was glad enough to leave it.</p> - -<p>On August 7th, 1857, our expedition left Zungomero -<!--Page 131--> -to cross the East African ghauts in rather -a pitiful plight. We were martyred by miasma; -my companion and I were so feeble that we could -hardly sit our asses, and we could scarcely hear. It -was a day of severe toil, and we loaded with great -difficulty.</p> - -<p>From Central Zungomero to the nearest ascent -of the Usagara Mountains is a march of five hours; -and, after a painful and troublesome journey, we -arrived at the frontier of the first gradient of the -Usagara Mountains. Here we found a tattered kraal, -erected by the last passing caravan, and, spent with -fatigue, we threw ourselves on the short grass to -rest. We were now about three hundred feet above -the plain level, and there was a wondrous change -of climate. Strength and health returned as if by -magic; the pure sweet mountain air, alternately -soft and balmy, put new life into us. Our gipsy -encampment was surrounded by trees, from which -depended graceful creepers, and wood-apples large as -melons. Monkeys played at hide-and-seek, chattering -behind the bolls, as the iguana, with its painted -scale-armour, issued forth; white-breasted ravens -cawed, doves cooed on well-clothed boughs, and the -field cricket chirped in the shady bush. By night -the view disclosed a peaceful scene, the moonbeams -lying like sheets of snow upon the ruddy highlands, -and the stars shone like glow-lamps in the dome -above. I never wearied of contemplating the scene, -and contrasting it with the Slough of Despond, -<!--Page 132--> -unhappy Zungomero. We stayed here two days, -and then resumed our upward march.</p> - -<p>All along our way we were saddened by the sight -of clean-picked skeletons and here and there the -swollen corpses of porters who had perished by the -wayside. A single large body passed us one day, -having lost fifty of their number by smallpox, and -the sight of their deceased comrades made a terrible -impression. Men staggered on, blinded by disease; -mothers carried infants as loathsome as themselves. -He who once fell never rose again. No village -would admit a corpse into its precincts, and they -had to lie there until their agony was ended by the -vulture, the raven, and the hyena. Several of my -party caught the infection, and must have thrown -themselves into the jungle, for when they were -missed they could not be found. The farther we -went on, the more we found the corpses; it was a -regular way of death. Our Moslems passed them -with averted faces, and with the low “La haul” -of disgust.</p> - -<p>When we arrived at Rufutah, I found that nearly -all our instruments had been spoilt or broken; and -one discomfort followed another until we arrived at -Zonhwe, which was the turning-point of our expedition’s -difficulties.</p> - -<p>As we went on, the path fell easily westwards -through a long, grassy incline, cut by several water-courses. -At noon I lay down fainting in the sandy -bed of the Muhama, and, keeping two natives with -<!--Page 133--> -me, I begged my companion to go on, and send -me back a hammock from the halting-place. My -men, who before had become mutinous and deserting, -when they saw my extremity came out well; -even the deserters reappeared, and they led me to -a place where stagnant water was found, and said -they were sorry. At two o’clock, as my companion -did not send a hammock, I remounted, and passed -through several little villages. I found my caravan -halted on a hillside, where they had been attacked -by a swarm of wild bees.</p> - -<p>Our march presented curious contrasts of this -strange African nature, which is ever in extremes. -At one time a splendid view would charm me; -above, a sky of purest azure, flecked with fleecy -clouds. The plain was as a park in autumn, burnt -tawny by the sun. A party was at work merrily, -as if preparing for an English harvest home. -Calabashes and clumps of evergreen trees were -scattered over the scene, each stretching its lordly -arms aloft. The dove, the peewit, and the guinea-fowl -fluttered about. The most graceful of animals, -the zebra and the antelope, browsed in the distance. -Then suddenly the fair scene would vanish as if -by enchantment. We suddenly turned into a tangled -mass of tall, fœtid reeds, rank jungle, and forest. -After the fiery sun and dry atmosphere of the -plains, the sudden effect of the damp and clammy -chill was overpowering. In such places one feels -as if poisoned by miasma; a shudder runs through -<!--Page 134--> -the frame, and cold perspiration breaks over the -brow.</p> - -<p>So things went on until September 4th, which -still found us on the march. We had reached the -basin of Inenge, which lies at the foot of the Windy -Pass, the third and westernmost range of the Usagara -Mountains. The climate is ever in extremes; during -the day a furnace, and at night a refrigerator. Here -we halted. The villagers of the settlements overlooking -the ravine flocked down to barter their -animals and grain.</p> - -<p>The halt was celebrated by abundant drumming -and droning, which lasted half the night; it served -to raise the spirits of the men, who had talked of -nothing the whole day but the danger of being -attacked by the Wahumba, a savage tribe. The -next morning there arrived a caravan of about four -hundred porters, marching to the coast under the -command of some Arab merchants. We interchanged -civilities, and I was allured into buying a few yards -of rope and other things, and also some asses. One -of my men had also increased his suite, unknown -to me at first, by the addition of Zawada—​the -“Nice Gift.” She was a woman of about thirty, -with black skin shining like a patent leather boot, a -bulging brow, little red eyes, a wide mouth, which -displayed a few long, scattered teeth, and a figure -considerably too bulky for her thin legs. She was -a patient and hardworking woman, and respectable -enough in the acceptation of the term. She was -<!--Page 135--> -at once married off to old Musangesi, one of the -donkey-men, whose nose and chin made him a -caricature of our old friend Punch. After detecting -her in a lengthy walk, perhaps not a solitary one, -he was guilty of such cruelty to her that I felt -compelled to decree a dissolution of the marriage, -and she returned safely to Zanzibar. At Inenge -another female slave was added to our troop in -the person of Sikujui—​“Don’t Know”—​a herculean -person with a virago manner. The channel of her -upper lip had been pierced to admit a bone, which -gave her the appearance of having a duck’s bill. -“Don’t Know’s” morals were frightful. She was -duly espoused, in the forlorn hope of making her a -respectable woman, to Goha, the sturdiest of the -Wak’hutu porters; after a week she treated him -with sublime contempt. She gave him first one and -then a dozen rivals, and she disordered the whole -caravan with her irregularities, in addition to breaking -every article entrusted to her charge, and at last -deserted shamelessly, so that her husband finally disposed -of her to a travelling trader in exchange for -a few measures of rice. Her ultimate fate I do not -know, but the trader came next morning to complain -of a broken head.</p> - -<p>After Inenge we were in for a bad part of the -journey, and great labour. Trembling with ague, -with swimming heads, ears deafened by weakness, and -limbs that would hardly support us, we contemplated -with horrid despair the apparently perpendicular path -<!--Page 136--> -up which we and our starving asses were about -to toil.</p> - -<p>On September 10th we hardened our hearts and -began to breast the Pass Terrible. After rounding -in two places wall-like sheets of rock and crossing a -bushy slope, we faced a long steep of loose white soil -and rolling stones, up which we could see the porters -swarming more like baboons than human beings, and -the asses falling every few yards. As we moved -slowly and painfully forward, compelled to lie down -by cough, thirst, and fatigue, the sayhah, or war-cry, -rang loud from hill to hill, and Indian files of -archers and spearmen streamed like lines of black -ants in all directions down the paths. The predatory -Wahumba, awaiting the caravan’s departure, -had seized the opportunity of driving the cattle and -plundering the village of Inenge.</p> - -<p>By resting every few yards, we reached, after about -six hours, the summit of the Pass Terrible, and here -we sat down amongst aromatic flowers and pretty -shrubs to recover strength and breath.</p> - -<p>On September 14th, our health much improved -by the weather, we left the hilltop and began to -descend the counterslope of the Usagara Mountains. -For the first time since many days I had strength -enough to muster the porters and inspect their loads. -The outfit which had been expected to last a year had -been half exhausted within three months. I summoned -Said bin Salim, and told him my anxiety. Like a -veritable Arab, he declared we had enough to last until -<!--Page 137--> -we reached Unyamyembe, where we should certainly -be joined by reinforcements of porters.</p> - -<p>“How do you know?” I inquired.</p> - -<p>“Allah is all-knowing,” said Said. “The caravan -will come.”</p> - -<p>As the fatalism was infectious, I ceased to think -upon the subject.</p> - -<p>The next day we sighted the plateau of Ugogo and -its eastern desert. The spectacle was truly impressive. -The first aspect was stern and wild—​the rough nurse -of rugged men. We went on the descent from day -to day until September 18th, when a final march of -four hours placed us on the plains of Ugogo. Before -noon I sighted from a sharp turn in the bed of a river -our tent pitched under a huge sycamore, on a level -step. It was a pretty spot in the barren scene, grassy, -and grown with green mimosas, and here we halted -for a while. The second stage of our journey was -accomplished.</p> - -<p>After three days’ sojourn at Ugogo to recruit the -party and lay in rations for four long desert marches, -we set forth on our long march through the province -of Ugogo. Our first day’s journey was over a grassy -country, and we accomplished it in comparative comfort. -The next day we toiled through the sunshine -of the hot waste, crossing plains over paths where the -slides of elephants’ feet upon the last year’s muddy -clay showed that the land was not always dry. During -this journey we suffered many discomforts and difficulties. -The orb of day glowed like a fireball in our -<!--Page 138--> -faces; then our path would take us through dense, -thorny jungle, and over plains of black, cracked earth. -Our caravan once rested in a thorny copse based upon -rich red and yellow clay; once it was hurriedly -dislodged by a swarm of wild bees, and the next -morning I learnt that we had sustained a loss—​one -of our porters had deserted, and to his care had been -committed one of the most valuable of our packages, -a portmanteau containing “The Nautical Almanac,” -surveying books, and most of our papers, pen, and ink.</p> - -<p>At last we arrived at Ziwa, a place where caravans -generally encamped, because they found water there. -At Ziwa we had many troubles. One Marema, the -Sultan of a new settlement, visited us on the day of -our arrival, and reproved us for sitting in the jungle, -pointing the way to his village. On my replying we -were going to traverse Ugogo by another road, he -demanded his customs, which we refused, as they were -a form of blackmail. The Sultan threatened violence, -whereupon the asses were brought in from grazing -and ostentatiously loaded before his eyes. He then -changed his tone from threats to beggary. I gave -him two cloths and a few strings of beads, preferring -this to the chance of a flight of arrows during the -night.</p> - -<p>When we resumed our journey, the heat was awful. -The sun burnt like the breath of a bonfire, warm -siroccos raised clouds of dust, and in front of us the -horizon was so distant that, as the Arabs expressed -themselves, a man might be seen three marches off.</p> - -<p><!--Page 139--> -October 5th saw us in the centre of Kanyenye, -a clearing in the jungle of about ten miles in diameter. -The surface was of a red clayey soil dotted with -small villages, huge calabashes, and stunted mimosas. -Here I was delayed four days to settle blackmail with -Magomba, the most powerful of the Wagogo chiefs. -He was of a most avaricious nature. First of all I -acknowledged his compliments with two cottons. -On arrival at his headquarters, I was waited on by -an oily Cabinet of Elders, who would not depart -without their “respects”—​four cottons. The next -demand was made by his favourite, a hideous old -Princess with more wrinkles than hair, with no hair -black and no tooth white; she was not put right -without a fee of six cottons. At last, accompanied -by a mob of courtiers, appeared the chief <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">in magnifico</i>. -He was the only chief who ever entered my tent in -Ugogo—​pride and a propensity for strong drink -prevented such visits. He was much too great a -man to call upon Arab merchants, but in our case -curiosity mastered State considerations. Magomba -was an old man, black and wrinkled, drivelling and -decrepid. He wore a coating of castor-oil and a loin-cloth -which grease and use had changed from blue -to black. He chewed his quid, and expectorated -without mercy; he asked many questions, and was -all eyes to the main chance. He demanded, and -received, five cloths, one coil of brass wire, and four -blue cottons. In return he made me a present of -the leanest of calves, and when it was driven into -<!--Page 140--> -camp with much parade, his son, to crown all, put -in a claim for three cottons. Yet Magomba, before -our departure, boasted of his generosity—​and indeed -he was generous, for everything we had was in his -hands, and we were truly in his power. It was, indeed, -my firm conviction from first to last in this expedition -that in case of attack or surprise by natives I had -not a soul except my companion to stand by me, -and all those who accompanied us would have either -betrayed us or fled. We literally, therefore, carried -our lives in our hands.</p> - -<p>We toiled on and on, suffering severely from the -heat by day and sometimes the cold by night, and -troubled much with mutinous porters and fears of -desertion, until at last we reached the heart of the -great desert, or elephant ground, known as Fiery -Field. On October 20th we began the transit of this -Fiery Field. The waste here appeared in its most -horrid phase; a narrow goat-path serpentined in and -out of a growth of poisonous thorny jungle, with -thin, hard grass straw growing on a glaring white -and rolling ground. The march was a severe trial, -and we lost on it three boxes of ammunition. By-and-by -we passed over the rolling ground, and plunged -into a thorny jungle, which seemed interminable, but -which gradually thinned out into a forest of thorns -and gums, bush and underwood, which afforded a -broad path and pleasanter travelling. Unfortunately, -it did not last long, and we again had a very rough -bit of ground to go over. Another forest to pass -<!--Page 141--> -through, and then we came out on October 27th -into a clearing studded with large stockaded villages, -fields of maize and millet, gourds and watermelons, -and showing numerous flocks and herds. We had -arrived at Unyamwezi, and our traverse of Ugogo -was over.</p> - -<p>The people swarmed from their abodes, young and -old hustling one another for a better stare; the man -forsook his loom and the girl her hoe, and we were -welcomed and escorted into the village by a tail of -screaming boys and shouting adults, the males almost -nude, the women bare to the waist, and clothed only -knee-deep in kilts. Leading the way, our guide, -according to the immemorial custom of Unyamwezi, -entered uninvited and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sans cérémonie</i> the nearest -village; the long string of porters flocked in with bag -and baggage, and we followed their example. We -were placed under a wall-less roof, bounded on one -side by the bars of the village palisade, and surrounded -by a mob of starers, who relieved one another from -morning to night, which made me feel like a wild -beast in a menagerie.</p> - -<p>We rested some days at Unyamwezi—​the far-famed -“Land of the Moon”—​but I was urged to advance -on the ground that the natives were a dangerous race, -though they appeared to be a timid and ignoble -people, dripping with castor and sesamum oil, and -scantily attired in shreds of cotton or greasy goat-skins. -The dangers of the road between Unyamwezi and -Ujiji were declared to be great. I found afterwards -<!--Page 142--> -that they were grossly exaggerated, but I set forth -with the impression that this last stage of my journey -would be the worst of all. The country over which -we travelled varied very much from day to day, being -sometimes opened and streaked with a thin forest of -mimosas, and at other times leading us through jungly -patches. Going through a thick forest, one of the -porters, having imprudently lagged behind, was clubbed -and cruelly bruised by three black robbers, who relieved -him of his load. These highwaymen were not unusual -in this part, and their raids formed one of the many -dangers we had to guard against.</p> - -<p>On November 7th, 1857, the one hundred and -thirty-fourth day from the date of leaving the coast, -we entered Kazeh, the principal village of Unyamwezi, -much frequented by Arab merchants. I always got -on well with the Arabs, and they gave me a most -favourable reception. Striking indeed was the contrast -between the open-handed hospitality and hearty -goodwill of this truly noble race and the niggardliness -of the savage and selfish Africans. Whatever I -alluded to—​onions, plantains, limes, vegetables, tamarinds, -coffee, and other things, only to be found -amongst the Arabs—​were sent at once, and the very -name of payment would have been an insult.</p> - -<p>Kazeh is situated in Unyamyembe, the principal -province of Unyamwezi, and is a great meeting-place -of merchants and point of departure for caravans, -which then radiate into the interior of Central -Intertropical Africa. Here the Arab merchant from -<!--Page 143--> -Zanzibar meets his compatriot returning from the -Tanganyika and Uruwwa. Many of the Arabs settle -here for years, and live comfortably, and even -splendidly. Their houses, though single storied, are -large, substantial, and capable of defence; their -gardens are extensive and well planted. They receive -regular supplies of merchandise, comforts, and luxuries -from the coast; they are surrounded by troops of -concubines and slaves; rich men have riding asses -from Zanzibar, and even the poorest keep flocks -and herds.</p> - -<p>I was detained at Kazeh from November 8th until -December 14th, and the delay was one long trial -of patience.</p> - -<p>It is customary for stranger caravans proceeding -towards Ujiji to remain six weeks or two months -at Unyamyembe for repose and recovery from the -labours which they have endured; moreover, they -are expected to enjoy the pleasures of civilised -society, and to accept the hospitality offered them -by the resident Arabs. In Eastern Africa, I may -mention, six weeks was the same as the three days’ -visit in England.</p> - -<p>The morning after our arrival at Kazeh a great -number of our porters left us, and the rest of our -party apparently considered that Unyamyembe, and -not Ujiji, was the end of the exploration. Several -of them were mutinous when I told them they -would not be rewarded for safe-conduct until we -had reached the end of the up march, which was not -<!--Page 144--> -here; and these difficulties took a long time to settle. -Kazeh, indeed, proved in effect a second point of -departure, easier only because I had now gained -some experience. Another cause of delay was the -sickness of many of our people, and it took some -time for them to shake off the ague which they had -contracted. Indeed, the wing of Azrael seemed -waving over my own head. Nevertheless, on the -morning of December 15th I started off afresh, -charmed with the prospect of a fine open country, -and delighted to get away from what had been to -me a veritable imprisonment.</p> - -<p>I will not describe the details of our march, which -went on without a break. Christmas Day found us -still marching, and so on day after day, if I except -an enforced halt of twelve days at Msene. On -January 10th, 1858, I left Msene, with considerable -difficulty through the mutiny of porters; and so we -pressed on, more or less with difficulty, until at last -a formidable obstacle to progress presented itself. -I had been suffering for some days; the miasmatic -airs of Sorora had sown the seeds of a fresh illness. -On the afternoon of January 18th, 1858, I was seized -with an attack of fever, and then paralysis set in -from the feet upwards, and I was completely <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">hors -de combat</i>. There seemed nothing left for me but -to lie down and die. One of my chief porters -declared that the case was beyond his skill: it was -one of partial paralysis, brought on by malaria, and -he called in an Arab, who looked at me also. The -<!--Page 145--> -Arab was more cheerful, and successfully predicted -that I should be able to move in ten days. On -the tenth I again mounted my ass, but the paralysis -wore off very slowly, and prevented me from walking -any distance for nearly a year. The sensation -of numbness in my hands and feet disappeared even -more slowly than that. I had, however, undertaken -the journey in a “nothing like leather” frame of -mind, and was determined to press on. So we pressed.</p> - -<p>We had now left the “Land of the Moon” behind -us, and entered upon a new district. The road -before us lay through a howling wilderness, and -the march lay along the right bank of a malarial -river, and the mosquitoes feasted right royally upon -our bodies, even in the daytime. A good deal of -the ground was very swampy, and it then stretched -over jungly and wooded hill-spires, with steep -ascents and descents. Everywhere was thick, fœtid, -and putrescent vegetation. The heaviness of this -march caused two of our porters to levant and -another four to strike work. It was, therefore, necessary -for me to again mount ass ten days after -an attack of paralysis. So we dragged on for the -next week, throughout the early days of February, -a weary toil of fighting through tiger and spear -grass, over broken and slippery paths, and through -thick jungle. But these difficulties were lightly -borne, for we felt that we must be nearing the end -of our journey.</p> - -<p>On February 13th we resumed our travel through -<!--Page 146--> -screens of lofty grass, which thinned out into a -straggling forest. After about an hour’s march, as -we entered a small savannah, I saw our Arab leader -running forward and changing the direction of the -caravan. Presently he breasted a steep and stony -hill, sparsely clad with thorny trees. Arrived at the -summit with toil, for our fagged beasts now refused -to proceed, we halted for a few minutes and gazed.</p> - -<p>“What is that streak of light which lies below?” -I inquired of Seedy Bombay, one of our porters.</p> - -<p>“I am of opinion,” quoth Seedy, “that is the -water.”</p> - -<p>I gazed in dismay. The remains of my blindness, -the veil of trees, and broad ray of sunshine illuminating -but one reach of the lake, had shrunk its -fair proportions. Prematurely I began to curse my -folly in having risked life and health for so poor -a prize, and even thought of proposing an immediate -return with a view of exploring the Nyanza, or -Northern Lake. Advancing, however, a few yards, -the whole scene suddenly burst upon my view, filling -me with wonder, admiration, and delight. My -longing eyes beheld the Tanganyika Lake as it lay -in the lap of the mountain, basking in the gorgeous -tropical sunshine. Our journey had not been in vain.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 147--><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="Two">II</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE LAKE REGIONS</span></h4> - -<p>I <span class="sc">shall</span> never forget my first glimpse of Tanganyika. -Below and beyond a short foreground of rugged -and precipitous hill-fold, down which the footpath -zigzagged painfully, a narrow strip of emerald green -shelved towards a ribbon of glistening yellow sand, -here bordered by sedgy rushes, there cleanly cut by -the breaking wavelets. Further in front stretched -the waters, an expanse of soft blue, in breadth varying -from thirty to thirty-five miles, and sprinkled by -the crisp east wind with tiny crescents of snowy foam. -The background in front was a high and broken -wall of steel-coloured mountain. To the south, and -opposite the long, low point, lay bluff headlands, and, -as the eye dilated, it fell upon a cluster of outlying -islets, speckling a sea horizon. Villages, cultivated -lands, the frequent canoes of the fishermen on the -waters, and, as we came nearer, the murmur of the -waters breaking upon the shore, gave variety and -movement to the landscape. The riant shores of -this vast lake appeared doubly beautiful to me after -the silent and spectral mangrove creeks on the East -African seaboard, and the melancholy, mononotous -<!--Page 148--> -experience I had gone through of desert and jungle, -tawny rock and sunburnt plain, or rank herbage -and flats of black mire. Truly it was a feast of -soul and sight. Forgetting toils, dangers, and the -doubtfulness of return, I felt willing to endure double -what I had endured. I had sighted the fabled lake, -and all the party seemed to join with me in joy. -Even my purblind companion found nothing to -grumble at except the “mist and glare before his -eyes.”</p> - -<p>Arrived at Ukaranga I was disappointed to find -there a few miserable grass huts that clustered around -a single “tembe,” or inn, then occupied by its proprietor, -an Arab trader. I found that that part of -Ukaranga contained not a single native canoe, and -there seemed no possibility of getting one, the innkeeper -being determined that I should spend beads for -rations and lodgings among him and his companions, -and be heavily mulcted for a boat into the bargain. -The latter manœuvre was frustrated by my securing -a solid-built Arab craft for the morrow, capable of -containing from thirty to thirty-five men. It belonged -to an absent merchant, and in point of size it was -second on Tanganyika, and, being too large for -paddling, the crew rowed, instead of scooping up the -water like the natives. I paid an exorbitant price -for the hire of this boat.</p> - -<p>Early in the morning of the following day, February -14th, we began coasting along the eastern shore of -the lake in a north-westerly direction, towards the -<!--Page 149--> -Kawele district, in the land of Ujiji. The view was -exceedingly beautiful, and the picturesque and varied -forms of the mountains, rising above and dipping -into the lake, were clad in purplish blue, set off by -the rosy tints of the morning. As we approached -our destination, I wondered at the absence of houses -and people. By the Arabs I had been taught to -expect a town, a port, and a bazaar excelling in -size that of Zanzibar, instead of which I found a -few scattered hovels, and our craft was poled up -through a hole in a thick welting of coarse grass -to a level landing-place of flat shingle. Such was -the disembarkation quay of the great Ujiji.</p> - -<p>We stepped ashore. Around the landing-place -a few scattered huts represented the port-town. -Advancing some hundred yards through a din of -shouts and screams, tom-toms and trumpets, which -defies description, and mobbed by a swarm of black -beings whose eyes seemed about to start from their -heads with surprise, I passed a relic of Arab civilisation, -the bazaar. It was on a plot of higher ground, and -there, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., weather permitting, -a mass of standing and squatting negroes buy and -sell, barter and exchange, offer and chaffer, with -a hubbub heard for miles. The articles exposed for -sale were sometimes goats and sheep and poultry, -generally fish, vegetables, and a few fruits, and palm -wine was a staple commodity. Occasionally an ivory or -a slave was hawked about. Such was the little village -of Kawele. The Tanganyika is ever seen to advantage -<!--Page 150--> -from its shores, and here I found a lodging in a -ruinous tembe inn, built by an Arab merchant, -where I was lodged in comparative comfort, though -the tembe was tenanted only by ticks and slaves.</p> - -<p>As the tembe was to be my home for a space, -my first care was to purify the floor by pastilles of -asafœtida and fumigations of gunpowder; the second -to prepare the roof for the rainy season. Improvement, -however, was slow, for the natives were too -lazy to work, and the porters took the earliest -opportunity of deserting. I, however, managed to -provide a pair of cartels, with substitutes for chairs -and tables. Benches of clay were built round the -rooms, but they proved useless, being found regularly -every morning occupied in force by a swarming, -struggling colony of white ants. The roof, long -overgrown with tall grass, was fortified with mud; -it never ceased, however, to leak like a colander, and -presently the floor was covered with deep puddles, -then masses of earth dropped from the soft sides of -the walls, and, at last, during the violent showers, -half the building fell in.</p> - -<p>On the second day of my arrival I was called -upon by Kannena, the headman of Kawele. He was -introduced, habited in silk turban and a broadcloth -coat, which I afterwards heard he had borrowed from -the Baloch. His aspect was truly ignoble; a short, -squat, and broad-backed figure, and his apology for -a nose much resembled the pug with which the -ancients provided Silenus. On this, his first appearance, -<!--Page 151--> -he behaved with remarkable civility, and -proceeded to levy his blackmail, which was finally -settled at ten coil-bracelets and two fundi of beads. -I had no salt to spare, or much valuable merchandise -might have been saved. Their return was six small -bundles of grain. Then Kannena opened trade by -sending us a nominal gift, a fine ivory, weighing at -least seventy pounds, and worth, perhaps, £100. -After keeping it a day or two I returned it, -saying I had no dealings in ivory and slaves. -This, it appears, was a mistake, as I ought, by a -trifling outlay, to have supported the character of a -trader. The Wajiji did not understand. “These -are men who live by doing nothing!” they exclaimed, -and they lost no time in requesting me to quit -their territory. To this I objected, and endeavoured -to bribe them off. My bribes, I suppose, were not -sufficient, for we at once began to see the dark side -of the native character. Thieves broke into our -out-houses, our asses were wounded by spears, and -we were accused of having bewitched and killed -their cattle. Still, other travellers fared even worse -than we did.</p> - -<p>At first the cold, damp climate of the lake regions -did not agree with us; perhaps, too, the fish diet -was over-rich and fat, and the abundance of vegetables -led to little excesses. All energy seemed to have -abandoned us. I lay for a fortnight upon the earth, -too blind to read and write except at long intervals, -too weak to ride, and too ill to talk. My companion, -<!--Page 152--> -Speke, who, when we arrived at the Tanganyika -Lake, was almost as groggy upon his legs as I was, -suffered from a painful ophthalmia and a curious -distortion of face, which made him chew sideways, -like a ruminant. The Baloch complained of influenzas -and catarrhs, and their tempers were as sore as their -lungs and throats.</p> - -<p>But work remained undone, and it was necessary -to awaken from my lethargy. Being determined to -explore the northern extremity of the Tanganyika -Lake, whence, according to several informants, issued -a large river flowing northwards, I tried to hire -from an Arab merchant the only dhow, or sailing -boat, then in existence, since the wretched canoes of -the people were quite unfit for a long cruise. I -entrusted the mission first of all to my Arab, Said -bin Salim, but he shirked it, and I therefore directed -my companion to do his best. I got the dhow, and -set about stocking it with provisions for a month’s -cruise. I had great difficulty in obtaining sufficient -provisions, the prices demanded were so exorbitant. -After many delays I at last sent my companion away, -supplied with an ample outfit, escorted by two Baloch, -and attended by his men, across the Bay of Ukaranga. -I was then left alone.</p> - -<p>During my twenty-seven days of solitude the time -sped quickly; it was chiefly spent in eating and -drinking, dozing and smoking. Awaking at 2 a.m. -or 3 a.m., I lay anxiously expecting the grey light -creeping through the door chinks; the glad tidings of -<!--Page 153--> -its approach were announced by the cawing of the -crows and the crowing of the village cocks. When -the golden rays began to stream over the red earth, -my torpid servant was called out, and he brought me -a mass of suji, or rice-flour boiled in water, with a -little cold milk as a relish. Then entered the -“slavey” of the establishment, armed with a leafy -branch, to sweep the floor and slay the huge wasps -that riddled the walls of the tenement. This done, -he lit the fire, as the excessive damp rendered -this precaution necessary. Then ensued visits of -ceremony from Said bin Salim and another, who -sat, stared, and seeing that I was not yet dead, -showed disappointment in their faces and walked -away. So the morning wore on. My servant was -employed with tailoring, gun-cleaning, and similar -light work, over which he grumbled perpetually, -whilst I settled down to diaries and vocabularies, -a process interrupted by sundry pipes. We had -two hours’ sleep at noon, and I may say that most -of the day I lay like a log upon my cot, smoking -almost uninterruptedly, dreaming of things past and -visioning things present, and sometimes indulging -myself in a few lines of reading and writing.</p> - -<p>Dinner was an alternation of fish and fowl, butchers’ -meat being extremely rare at Ujiji. At evening I -used to make an attempt to sit under the broad eaves -of the tembe and enjoy the delicious spectacle of -this virgin nature. I was still very weak.</p> - -<p>At 7 p.m., as the last flush faded from the occident, -<!--Page 154--> -the lamp, a wick in a pot full of palm oil, was brought -in, Said bin Salim would appear, and a brief conversation -led to the hour of sleep. A dreary, dismal -day, yet it had its enjoyments.</p> - -<p>On March 29th the rattling of the matchlocks -announced my companion’s return. I never saw a -man so thoroughly moist and mildewed; he justified -even the French phrase, “Wet to the bone.” -His paraphernalia were in a similar state; his guns -were grained with rust, and his fireproof powder -magazine had admitted the monsoon rain. I was -sorely disappointed; he had done literally nothing. -I cannot explain where the mismanagement lay, but -the result was that he had come back to me without -boat or provisions to report ill-success.</p> - -<p>It now became apparent that the rainy season was -drawing to a close, and the time for navigation was -beginning. After some preliminaries with Said bin -Salim, Kannena, who had been preparing for a cruise -northward, was summoned before me. He agreed -to convey me; but when I asked him the conditions -on which he would show me the mtoni, or river, -he jumped up, discharged a volley of oaths, and -sprang from the house like a baboon. I was resolved, -however, at all costs, even if we were reduced to -actual want, to visit this mysterious stream. I made -other overtures to Kannena, made him many promises, -and threw over his shoulders a six-feet length of -scarlet broadcloth, which made him tremble with joy. -I ultimately secured two large canoes and fifty-five men.</p> - -<p><!--Page 155--> -On April 12th my canoe, bearing for the first -time the British flag, stood out of Bangwe Bay, and, -followed by my companion in another canoe, we -made for the cloudy and storm-vexed north. There -were great rejoicings at our arrival at Uvira, the -northernmost station to which merchants had at that -time been admitted. Opposite still, rose in a high, -broken line the mountains of the inhospitable Urundi, -apparently prolonged beyond the northern extremity -of the waters. The breadth of the Tanganyika here -is between seven and eight miles. Now my hopes -were dashed to the ground; the stalwart sons of -the chief Maruta visited me, and told me that they -had been to the northern extremity, and that the -Rusizi enters into, and does not flow out of, the -Tanganyika. I was sick at heart. It appears that -my companion had misunderstood, and our guide -now told us that he had never been beyond Uvira, -and never intended to go; so we stopped here nine -days, and I got such a bad ulceration of the tongue -that I could not speak. The chiefs came and claimed -their blackmail, and also Kannena, so I had to pay -up all for nothing, as the gales began to threaten, and -our crews insisted on putting to lake on May 6th.</p> - -<p>We touched at various stages about the lake, and -anchored at Mzimu, but we left again at sunset; -the waves began to rise, the wind also, and it rained -in torrents. It was a doubt whether the cockleshell -craft could live through a short, choppy sea in heavy -weather. I sheltered myself in my mackintosh as best -<!--Page 156--> -I might. Fortunately the rain beat down the wind -and the sea, or nothing could have saved us. The -next morning Mabruki rushed into my tent, thrust -a sword into my hands, and declared the Warundi -were upon us, and that the crews were rushing to -the boats and pushing them off. Knowing that they -would leave us stranded in case of danger, we hurried -in without delay; but no enemy appeared. It was -a false alarm.</p> - -<p>On May 11th we paddled about a grassy inlet; on -the 12th we paddled again, and the next day we spent -in Bangwe Bay. We were too proud to sneak home -in the dark; we had done the expedition, and we -wanted to be looked at by the fair and howled at -by the valiant.</p> - -<p>The next morning we appeared at the entrance of -Kawele, and had a triumphal entrance. The people -of the whole country-side assembled to welcome us, -and pressed waist-deep into the water. My companion -and I were repeatedly called for, but true merit is -always modest. We regained our old tembe, were -salaamed to by everybody, and it felt like a return -home. The upshot of it all was this—​we had expended -upwards of a month exploring the Tanganyika -Lake.</p> - -<p>I had explored it thoroughly. My health now -began to improve, my strength increased; my feet -were still swollen, but my hands lost their numbness, -and I could again read and write. A relieved mind -had helped on this recovery—​the object of my expedition -<!--Page 157--> -was now effected—​and I threw off the burden of -grinding care with which the prospect of a probable -failure had sorely laden me.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_6" id="fnanchor_6"></a><a href="#footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p>The rainy monsoon broke up after our return to -Kawele, and the climate became most enjoyable, but -it was accompanied by that inexplicable melancholy -peculiar to tropical countries. I have never felt this -sadness in Egypt and Arabia, but I was never without -it in India and Zanzibar. We were expecting stores -and provisions, but we got not one single word from -the agents who were to forward our things, and want -began to stare us in the face. Money was a necessity, -or its equivalent. I had to engage porters for the -hammocks, feed seventy-five mouths, to fee several -chieftains, and to incur the heavy expenses of two hundred -and sixty miles’ marching back to Unyamyembe, -so I had to supplement the sum allowed me by -the Royal Geographical Society with my own little -patrimony. One thousand pounds does not go very -far when it has to be divided amongst two hundred -greedy savages in two and a half years.</p> - -<p>On May 22nd our ears were gladdened by the -sound of musket-shots announcing arrivals, and then, -after a long silence of eleven months, there arrived -a caravan with boxes, bales, porters, slaves, and a -parcel of papers and letters from Europe, India, and -Zanzibar. How we pounced upon them! Here we -first knew of the Indian Mutiny. The caravan -<!--Page 158--> -arrived at a crisis when it was really wanted, but as -my agent could not find porters for all the packages, -he had kept back some of them, and what he sent -me were the least useful. They would suffice to -take us back to Unyamyembe, but were wholly inadequate -for exploring the southern end of Tanganyika, -far less for returning to Zanzibar <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> the Nyassa -Lake and Kilwa, as I had hoped to do.</p> - -<p>On May 26th, 1858, we set out on our homeward -journey, and left Kawele <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> for Unyamyembe. -I shall never forget my last sunrise look on -Tanganyika. The mists, luminously fringed with -purple, were cut by filmy rays; the living fire shot -forth broad beams over the light blue waters of the -lake, and a soft breeze, the breath of the morning, -awoke the waves into life.</p> - -<p>I had great difficulties in getting away, but at nine -o’clock we departed with a full gang of porters, and -advanced until the evening. Many troubles arose: -a porter placed his burden upon the ground and -levanted, and being cognac and vinegar it was deeply -regretted; then the Unyamwezi guide, because his -newly purchased slave girl had become footsore and -unable to walk, cut her head off. All these disagreeables -I was obliged to smooth down as best I could. -Then there was a great dread of savage tribes, and -there was also a fear of conflagration, a sort of prairie -fire.</p> - -<p>A sheet of flame, beginning with the size of a spark, -would overspread the hillside, advancing on the wings -<!--Page 159--> -of the wind with the roaring, rushing sound of many -hosts, where the grass was thick, shooting huge forked -tongues high into the air, and tall trees, the patriarchs -of the forest, yielded their lives to the blast. Onward -the fire would sweep, smouldering and darkening where -the rock afforded scanty fuel, then flickering, blazing -up, and soaring on again over the brow of the hill, -until the sheet became a thin line of fire, gradually -vanishing from the view.</p> - -<p>On October 4th, after a week of halts and snails’ -marches, we at last reached Hanga, our former quarters -in the western confines of the Unyamyembe district. -Here my companion was taken seriously ill, and -immediately after our arrival at this foul village, where -we were lodged in a sort of cow-house, full of vermin -and exposed directly to the fury of the cold gales, he -complained, in addition to the deaf ear, an inflamed -eye, and a swollen face, of a mysterious pain, which he -knew not whether to attribute to the liver or the -spleen. Shortly after this his mind began to wander, -and then he underwent three fits of an epileptic -description, which more closely resembled those of -hydrophobia than any I have ever witnessed. He was -haunted by a crowd of hideous devils, giants, and lion-headed -demons, who were wrenching and stripping the -sinews and tendons of his legs. He began to utter a -barking noise, with a peculiar chopping motion of the -mouth and tongue. When the third spasm was over, -he called for pen and paper, and, fearing that increased -weakness of mind and body might prevent any further -<!--Page 160--> -exertion, he wrote an incoherent letter of farewell to -his family. That, however, was the crisis, and he -afterwards spent a better night; the pains were -mitigated, or, as he expressed it, “the knives were -sheathed.”</p> - -<p>As we were threatened with want of water on the -way, I prepared for that difficulty by packing a box -with empty bottles, which, when occasion required, -might be filled at the springs. The zemzemiyah, or -travelling canteen of the East African, was everywhere -a long-necked gourd, slung to the shoulder by a string. -But it became offensive after some use, and could never -be entrusted to a servant for a mile before its contents -were exhausted.</p> - -<p>We left Hanga, my companion being now better, -on October 13th. Seven short marches between that -place and Tura occupied fifteen days, a serious waste -of time, caused by the craving of the porters for their -homes.</p> - -<p>The stages now appeared shorter, the sun cooler, -the breeze warmer, for, after fourteen months of -incessant fevers, we had become tolerably acclimatised; -we were now loud in praise, as we had been in censure, -of the water and air. Before re-entering the Fiery -Field the hire for carrying hammocks became so exorbitant -that I dismissed the bearers, drew on my jackboots, -mounted the Zanzibar ass, and appeared once -more as the mtongi of a caravan. My companion was -also now able to ride.</p> - -<p>At Eastern Tura, where we arrived on October 28th, -<!--Page 161--> -a halt was occasioned by the necessity of providing -and preparing food for the week’s march through the -Fiery Field. The caravan was then mustered, and it -completed altogether a party of one hundred and -fifty-two souls.</p> - -<p>On November 3rd the caravan, issuing from Tura, -plunged manfully into the Fiery Field, and after seven -marches in as many days—​we halted for breath and -forage at the Round Stone—​Jiwe la Mkoa. Here -we procured a few rations, and resumed our way on -November 12th, and in two days exchanged, with a -sensible pleasure, the dull expanse of dry brown bush -and brushwood for the fertile red plain of Mdaburn. -At that point began our re-transit of Ugogo, where I -had been taught to expect accidents; they resolved -themselves into nothing more than the disappearance -of cloth and beads in inordinate quantities. The -Wanyamwezi porters seemed even more timid on the -down journey than on the up march. They slank -about like curs, and the fierce look of a Mgogo boy -was enough to strike terror into their hearts. One of -them would frequently indulge me in a dialogue like -the following, which may serve as a specimen of our -conversation in East Africa:—​</p> - -<p>“The state, Mdula?” (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">i.e.</i>, Abdullah, a word unpronounceable -to negroid organs).</p> - -<p>“The state is very! (well), and thy state?”</p> - -<p>“The state is very! (well), and the state of -Spikka?” (my companion).</p> - -<p>“The state of Spikka is very! (well).”</p> - -<p><!--Page 162--> -“We have escaped the Wagogo, white man O!”</p> - -<p>“We have escaped, O my brother!”</p> - -<p>“The Wagogo are bad!”</p> - -<p>“They are bad!”</p> - -<p>“The Wagogo are very bad!”</p> - -<p>“They are very bad!”</p> - -<p>“The Wagogo are not good!”</p> - -<p>“They are not good!”</p> - -<p>“The Wagogo are not at all good!”</p> - -<p>“They are not at all good!”</p> - -<p>“I greatly feared the Wagogo, who killed the -Wanyamwezi!”</p> - -<p>“Exactly so!”</p> - -<p>“But now I don’t fear them. I call them ——​s and -——​s, and I would fight the whole tribe, white -man O!”</p> - -<p>“Truly so, O my brother!”</p> - -<p>And so on for two mortal hours.</p> - -<p>The transit of Ugogo occupied three weeks, from -November 14th to December 5th. In Kanyenye -we were joined by a large caravan of Wanyamwezi, -carrying ivories. On December 6th we arrived -at a halting place in the Ugogi Dhun, and were -greeted by another caravan, freshly arrived, commanded -by Hindus, who, after receiving and returning -news with much solemnity, presently drew forth a -packet of papers and letters, which as usual promised -trouble, and the inevitable—​to me—​“official -wigging.” I also received the following pleasant -letter:--</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p class="unindent"><!--Page 163--><span class="sc">Dear Burton</span>,</p> - -<p class="">Go ahead! Vogel and Macguire dead—​murdered. Write -often to</p> - -<p class="sigright">Yours truly,</p> -<p class="flushright">N.S.</p> -</div><!--end blockquote--> - -<p>At Ugogo, which, it will be remembered, is considered -the half-way station between Unyamyembe and the -coast, we were detained a day through difficulties with -porters, who declared there was a famine upon the -road we had previously traversed, and also that a -great chief, who was also a great extortioner, was -likely to insist upon our calling upon him in person, -which would involve a change of route. However, -there was nothing to be done but to take the road. -We loaded on December 7th, and began the passage -of the Usagara Mountains, going this time by the -Kiringawana route.</p> - -<p>Travelling by a roundabout way, we arrived at -the village of the chief Kiringawana on December -19th, and the next day proceeded to palaver. After -abundant chaffering, the chief accepted from the -expedition three expensive coloured cloths and other -things, grumbling the while because we had neglected -to reserve for him something more worthy his acceptance; -he returned a fat bullock, which was instantly -shot and devoured.</p> - -<p>We resumed our march on December 22nd, which -was almost entirely down-hill. We crossed in a -blazing sun the fœtid plain, and after finding with -some difficulty the jungly path, we struck into a -<!--Page 164--> -pleasant forest. Presently we emerged again upon -the extremity of the Makata Plain, a hideous low -level of black vegetable earth, peaty in appearance, -and bearing long puddles of dark and stagnant rain-water—​mere -horse-ponds, with the additional qualities -of miasma and mosquitoes. The transit of this plain -took some days.</p> - -<p>The dawn of Christmas Day, 1858, saw us toiling -along the Kikoboga River, which we forded four -times. The road presently turned up a rough rise, -from whose crest began the descent of the Mabruki -Pass. The descent was very steep and rough; the -path, spanning rough ground at the hill base, led us -to the plains of Uziraha in K’hutu.</p> - -<p>We had reserved a bullock in honour of Christmas -Day, but as he was lost, I ordered the purchase of -half a dozen goats to celebrate it, but the porters -were too lazy to collect them. My companion and -I made good cheer upon a fat capon, which acted as -roast beef, with a mess of ground-nuts sweetened with -sugar-cane, which did duty as plum-pudding.</p> - -<p>We started off again and entered Zungomero on -December 29th. An army of black musketeers, in -scanty but various and gaudy attire, came out to -meet us, and with the usual shots and shouts conducted -us to the headman’s house. They then stared -at us, as usual, for half a dozen consecutive hours, -which done, they retired to rest.</p> - -<p>We stayed at Zungomero some time and celebrated -the New Year there, but January 21st, 1859, enabled -<!--Page 165--> -us to bid it adieu and merrily take to the footpath -way. We made Konduchi on February 3rd, after -twelve marches, which we accomplished in fourteen -days. There is little of interest or adventure to -record in this return line, for we travelled over much -the same ground we had done before.</p> - -<p>As the mud near Dut’humi was throat-deep, we -crossed it lower down—​a weary trudge of several -miles through thick, slabby mire, which admitted a -man to his knees. In places, after toiling under a -sickly sun, we crept under tunnels of thick jungle -growth, the dank and fœtid cold causing a deadly -sensation of faintness, which was only relieved by -the glass of æther sherbet, a pipe or two of the -strongest tobacco, and half an hour’s rest.</p> - -<p>On January 30th our natives of Zanzibar screamed -with delight at the sight of the monkey-tree, -an old, familiar sight to them. On February 2nd -we greeted, with doffed caps, and with three times -three and one more, as Britons will do on such -occasions, the kindly, smiling face of our father -Neptune as he lay basking in the sunbeams between -earth and air. February 3rd saw us winding -through the poles decorated with skulls—​a sort of -negro Temple Bar—​which pointed out the way into -the little village of Konduchi.</p> - -<p>Our return was attended with much ceremony: the -war-men danced, shot, and shouted; a rabble of -adults, youths, and boys crowded upon us; the fair -sex lulliloo’d with vigour; and a general procession -<!--Page 166--> -conducted us to a hut, swept, cleaned, and garnished -for us by the principal banyan of the village, and there -they laughed and stared at us until they could laugh -and stare no more.</p> - -<p>We were detained at Konduchi for some days, and -on February 9th the battela and the stores required -for our trip arrived from Zanzibar, and the next -day saw us rolling down the coast towards the Island -of Zanzibar, where we landed on March 4th, 1859. -I was taken ill there, and my companion went home -alone—​thereby hangs a tale. But I recovered after -a while, and left Zanzibar for Aden to catch the -homeward boat. I bade adieu to the “coal-hole of -the East” on April 28th, 1859, and in due time -arrived once more on the shores of Old England, -after an absence of two years and eight months.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_6" id="footnote_6"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_6"><span class="muchsmaller">[6]</span></a> - At the time of which I write (1858) the Tanganyika had never -before been visited by any European.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 167--><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">THE CITY OF THE MORMONS</span><br /> -1860</h3> -<!--Page 168--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 169--><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="One">I</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE JOURNEY</span></h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">I  HAD long determined to add the last new name—​Great -Salt Lake City—​to my list of Holy Cities; -to visit the new rival, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">soi-disant</i>, of Memphis, Benares, -Jerusalem, Rome, and Meccah; and to observe the -origin and working of a regular go-ahead Western -revelation. Mingled with the wish of prospecting -the city of the Mormons from a spiritual point of -view was the mundane desire of enjoying a little -skirmishing with the savages, who had lately been -giving the “pale-faces” tough work to do.</p> - -<p>The man was ready, the hour hardly appeared propitious -for other than belligerent purposes. Throughout -the summer of 1860 an Indian war was raging -in Nebraska; the Comanches, Kiowas, and Cheyennes -were “out”; the Federal Government had despatched -three columns to the centres of confusion; intestine -feuds amongst the aborigines were talked of; the -Dakota, or Sioux, had threatened to “wipe out” -their old foe the Pawnee. Both tribes were possessors -of the soil over which the road to Great -Salt Lake City ran. Horrible accounts of murdered -post-boys and cannibal emigrants, grossly exaggerated -<!--Page 170--> -as usual, filled the papers. “Going amongst the -Mormons!” said a friend to me at New Orleans. -“They are shooting and cutting one another in all -directions. How can <em>you</em> expect to escape?” But -sagely reflecting that “dangers which loom large from -afar generally lose size as one draws near,” and that -even the Mormons might turn out less black than -they were painted, I resolved to run the risk of the -“red nightcap” from the bloodthirsty Indians and -the poisoned bowie-dagger from the jealous Latter-Day -Saints. I therefore applied myself to then -audacious task of an expedition to the City of the -Mormons.</p> - -<p>There were three roads to be chosen from—​the -three main lines, perhaps, for a Pacific railway between -the Mississippi and the Western Ocean—​the northern, -the central, and the southern. The first, or British, -was not to be thought of, since it involved semi-starvation, -a possible plundering by the Bedouins, and, -what was far worse, five or six months of slow travel. -The third, or southern, took twenty-four days and -nights, and the journey was accompanied by excessive -heat in a malarial climate, to say nothing of poisonous -food. There remained only the central road, which -has two branches; of these I chose the great emigrant -road from Missouri to California. The mail coach -on this line was not what one would call luxurious, -and the hours of halting-places were badly selected. -The schedule time from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Joseph, Missouri, to Great -Salt Lake City was twenty-one days; we accomplished -<!--Page 171--> -it, it turned out, in nineteen. I therefore travelled -to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Joseph, disrespectfully known as <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jo, bought -my ticket, and prepared to start.</p> - -<p>An important part in my preparations was the kit, -which in my case was represented as follows:—​One -India-rubber blanket, pierced in the centre for a poncho, -and with buttons and elastic loops, which converted -it into a carpet bag. I ought to have added a -buffalo robe as a bed, but ignorance prevented. With -one’s coat as a pillow, a buffalo robe, and a blanket, -one might defy the dangerous “bunks” of the stations. -For weapons I carried two revolvers. In those days, -from the moment of leaving <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Joseph to the time -of reaching Placerville or Sacramento, the pistol ought -never to be absent from a man’s right hand, nor the -bowie-knife from his left. Contingencies with Indians -and others might happen, when the difference of an -instant might save life. In dangerous places the revolver -should be discharged and loaded every morning, both -for the purpose of keeping the hand in and doing -the weapon justice. A revolver is an admirable tool -when properly used. Those, however, who are too -idle or careless to attend to it had better carry a pair -of “Derringers.” I took also some opium, which is -invaluable on the prairie, and some other drugs against -fever. The “holy weed, Nicotian,” was not forgotten, -for cigars were most useful, as the driver either -received or took the lion’s share. The prairie -traveller was not very particular about his clothes; -the easiest dress was a dark flannel shirt, worn over -<!--Page 172--> -the normal article, no braces, but a broad leather belt -for a six-shooter and a “Kansas tooth-pick,” a long -clasp-knife. The nether garments were forked with -good buckskin, or they would infallibly have given -out, and the lower ends were tucked into the boots, -after the sensible fashion of our grandfathers. In -cold weather—​the nights were rarely warm—​there was -nothing better than an old English shooting-jacket; -for riding or driving a large pair of buckskin gloves, -or rather gauntlets, were advisable, and we did not -forget spurs. The best hat was a brown felt, which, -by boring holes around the brim to admit a ribbon, -could be converted into a riding-hat or a nightcap, -as you pleased. Having got my kit and purchased -my ticket, I was ready to start.</p> - -<p>Precisely at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, August 7th, 1860, -there appeared in front of the Patee House, the Fifth -Avenue Hotel of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Joseph, the vehicle destined to -be my home for the next three weeks. I scrutinised -it curiously. It was what was known as a “concord -coach,” a spring waggon, of which the body is shaped -something like an English tax-cart considerably magnified. -It paid no regard to appearances, but was safe, -strong, and light. The wheels were five to six feet -apart, affording security against capsizing; the tyres -were of unusual thickness, and polished like steel by -the hard, dry ground. The waggon bed was supported -by iron bands, and the whole bed was covered with -stout osnaburg, supported by strong bars of white -oak. There was a sunshade, or hood, in front where -<!--Page 173--> -the driver sat, a curtain behind, which could be raised -or lowered at discretion, and four flaps on each side, -either folded up, or fastened down with hooks and -eyes. The coach was drawn by a team of four mules, -which were much preferred to horses as being more -enduring. The rate of travel, on an average, was five -miles an hour. This was good; between seven and -eight was the maximum, which sank in hilly country -to three or four.</p> - -<p>We were detained more than an hour before we -started. Our “plunder,” as they called the luggage, -was clapped on with little ceremony, and when all -was packed away (and a good deal of the comfort of -the journey depended on the packing), we rattled -through the dusty roads of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jo, got on the steam -ferry, which conveyed us from the right to the left -bank of the Missouri River, and landed us in -“bleeding” Kansas. We then fell at once into the -emigrant road, as it was called, to the Far West, a -great thoroughfare at this point, open, broad, and -well worn as a European turnpike or a Roman military -road, and undoubtedly the best and longest natural -highway in the world.</p> - -<p>At first the scene was one of a luxuriant vegetation; -but after an hour of burning sun and sickly damp, -the effects of the late storms, we emerged from the -waste of vegetation on to the region of the Grand -Prairie. Over the rolling surface, which rarely broke -into hill or dale, lay a tapestry of thick grass, already -turning to a ruddy yellow under the influence of -<!--Page 174--> -approaching autumn. Nothing, I may remark, is more -monotonous, except the African and Indian jungle, -than these prairie tracks. You saw, as it were, the -ends of the earth, and looked around in vain for -some object upon which the eye might rest; it wanted -the sublimity of repose so suggestive in the sandy -deserts, and the perpetual motion so pleasing in the -aspect of the sea.</p> - -<p>Passing through a few wretched shanties called Troy, -in Syracuse, we arrived about three o’clock at Cold -Springs, where we were allowed an hour’s halt to -dine and change mules. The scene was the “rale” -Far West. The widow body to whom the shanty of -the station belonged lay sick with fever, and the aspect -of her family was a “caution to snakes.” The ill-conditioned -sons dawdled about, listless as Indians, -in skin tunics, and the daughters, whose sole attire -was apparently a calico morning wrapper, waited on -us in a grudging way in the wretched log hut, which -appeared ignorant of the duster and the broom. -Myriads of flies disputed with us a dinner consisting -of dough-nuts, suspicious eggs in a greasy fritter, and -rusty bacon, intolerably fat. It was our first sight of -squatter life, and, except in two cases, it was our worst.</p> - -<p>We drove on all the afternoon and all the night, -except for a halt for supper. The last part of our -journey was performed under a heavy thunderstorm. -Gusts of violent wind whizzed overhead, thunder -crashed and rattled, and vivid lightning, flashing out -of the murky depths around, made earth and air -<!--Page 175--> -one blaze of fire. We arrived about one o’clock a.m. -at Locknan’s station, a few log huts near a creek. -Here we found beds and snatched an hour of sleep. -So passed the first day.</p> - -<p>It is not my purpose to describe the journey day -by day, for it lasted nineteen days, and one day was -often much like another. I shall therefore content -myself with picking out the chief points of interest -on the route.</p> - -<p>Before long the prairies wore a burnt-up aspect. -As far as the eye could see the tintage was that of -the Arabian desert. It was still, however, too early -for prairie fires, and I therefore did not witness this -magnificent spectacle. In some parts, where the grass -is tall and rank, and the roaring flames leap before -the fire with the stride of a maddened horse, the -danger is imminent, and the spectacle must be one -of awful sublimity.</p> - -<p>I said at first that the prairie scenery was monotonous, -and so on the whole it was, but every now and then -we came upon beautiful oases in the desert. Such -was the valley of the Little Blue River, fringed with -emerald-green oak groves, cotton wood, and long-leaved -willow. As we got on to the tableland above -this river, between that and the River Platte, the -evening approached, and a smile from above lit up -into perfect beauty the features of the world below. -It was a glorious sunset. Stratum upon stratum of -cloud banks, burnished to golden red in the vicinity of -the setting sun, and polished to dazzling silvery white -<!--Page 176--> -above, lay piled half-way from the horizon to the -zenith, with a distinct strike towards a vanishing -point to the west and dipping into a gateway, through -which the orb of day slowly retired. Overhead floated, -in a sea of amber and yellow, pink and green heavy -purple clouds, whilst in the east black and blue were -so curiously blended that the eye could not distinguish -whether it rested upon a darkening air or a lowering -thunder-cloud. We enjoyed these beauties, I am glad -to say, in silence; not a soul said “Look there!” or -“How pretty!”</p> - -<p>When we came to the fork of the great River -Platte we saw from time to time a line of Indian -removes. This meant that these wild people were -shifting their quarters for grass, and when it became -a little colder they sought some winter abode on -the banks of a stream which supplied fuel and where -they could find meat, so that with warmth and food, -song and talk, and smoke and sleep, they could while -away the dull and dreary winter.</p> - -<p>The remove of an Indian village presented an -interesting sight. The animated and shifting scene -of bucks and braves, squaws and papooses, ponies -dwarfed by bad breeding and hard living, dogs and -puppies—​all straggled over the plains westward. In -front, singly or in pairs, rode the men, as if born -upon, and bred to become part of, the animal; some -went bare-backed, others rode upon a saddle tree. -In some cases the saddle was trimmed with bead -hangings. Their long, lank, thick, brownish-black -<!--Page 177--> -hair, ruddy from the effects of the weather, was worn -parted in the middle. This parting in men, as well -as in women, was generally coloured with vermilion, -and plates of brass or tin were inserted into the -front hair. They wore many ornaments, and the -body dress was a tight-sleeved waistcoat over an -American cotton shirt, scarlet and blue being the -colours preferred. The garb ended with buckskin -leggings and moccasins. The braves were armed -with small tomahawks, or iron hatchets, which they -carried with the powder horn in the belt on the right -side. Their nags were lean and ungroomed. They -treat them as cruelly as do the Somali, yet nothing—​short -of whiskey—​could persuade an Indian warrior -to part with his favourite steed. Behind the warriors -and the braves followed the baggage of the village. -The rich squaws rode in litters, the poorer followed -their pack-horses on foot. Their garb did not a little -resemble their lords, and I saw no great beauty among -them, young or old, rich or poor. <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">La belle savage</i> of -the party had large and languishing eyes, dentists’ -teeth that glittered, and silky, long, black hair like -the ears of a Blenheim spaniel. Her ears and neck -were laden with tinsel ornaments, and she was very -finely dressed. There was with the cavalcade a great -company of boys and girls.</p> - -<p>On the sixth day we crossed the Platte. We had -spent most of the night in the waggon, most uncomfortably. -At 3.15 a.m., hungry and thirsty, and by no -means in the best of humours, we heard with joy the -<!--Page 178--> -savage “Yep, yep, yep,” with which the driver was -wont to announce our approach to a station. Presently -the plank lodging appeared through the darkness. -We sprang out of the ambulance; but all was dark -and silent as the grave: the station was asleep. A -heavy kick opened the door of the restaurant, when a -wheezy, drowsy voice from an inner room asked us in -German-English, “And how ze komen in?” Without -waiting to answer we pulled the owner of it out -of bed, and ordered supper, refreshment, and repose. -But he raised all sorts of difficulties, and it ended with -our sitting down and staring at the fire and waiting -for the vile food which he provided for our breakfast. -I should like here to describe an ordinary prairie breakfast, -the one which greeted us nearly all through our -journey. First, the coffee, three parts burnt beans, -which had been duly ground to a fine powder and -exposed to the air lest the aroma should prove too -strong for us. It was placed on the stove to simmer, -till every noxious principle was duly extracted from -it. Then the rusty bacon, cut into thick slices, was -thrust into the frying-pan; here the gridiron was -unknown. Thirdly, antelope steak, cut off a carcase -suspended for the benefit of flies outside was placed -to stew within influence of the bacon’s aroma. Lastly -came the bread, which, of course, should have been -cooked first. The meal was kneaded with water and -a pinch of salt; the raising was done by means of a -little sour malt, or more generally by the deleterious -yeast powders of the trade. The dough, after having -<!--Page 179--> -been sufficiently manipulated, was divided into doughnuts, -or biscuits, and finally it was placed to be half-cooked -under the immediate influence of the rusty -bacon and rancid antelope. Uncle Sam’s stove was -a triumph of convenience, cheapness, unwholesomeness, -and nastiness. It made everything taste like its -neighbour; by virtue of it mutton borrowed the -flavour of fish, and tomatoes resolved themselves into -the flavour of greens.</p> - -<p>One of the most notable points of our journey was -Scott’s Bluffs, the last of the great marl formations -which break the dull uniformity of the prairies. Before -we came to them we passed the far-famed Chimney -Rock, which lies two and a half miles from the south -bank of the Platte. Viewed from the south-east, it -was not unlike a gigantic jack-boot poised on a high -pyramidal mound; I took a sketch of it. Scott’s -Bluffs are far more striking and attractive objects; -indeed, they excel the Castle Craig of Drachenfels or -any of the beauties of the romantic Rhine. From the -distance of a day’s march they appeared in the shape -of a large blue mound. As you approached within -four or five miles, a massive mediæval city gradually -defined itself, clustering with wonderful fulness of -detail round a colossal fortress, and crowned with -a royal castle. It was indeed a beautiful castle on -the rock, and that nothing may be wanting to the -resemblance, the dashing rains and angry winds have -cut the old line of road at its base into a regular moat -with a semicircular sweep, which the mirage fills with -<!--Page 180--> -a mimic river. Quaint figures develop themselves, -guards and sentinels in dark armour keep watch and -ward upon the slopes, the lion of Bastia crouched unmistakably -overlooking the road, and, as the shades -of evening closed in, so weird was its aspect that one -might almost expect to see some spectral horseman go -his rounds about the broken walls. At a nearer aspect -the quaint illusion vanished, the lines of masonry -became great layers of boulder, curtains and angles -changed to the gnashing rents of ages, and the warriors -were transformed into dwarf cedars and dense shrubs. -Travellers have compared Scott’s Bluffs to Gibraltar, -to the Capitol at Washington, and to Stirling Castle; I -could think of nothing in its presence but the Arabs’ -“City of Brass,” that mysterious abode of bewitched -infidels, which often appears to the wayfarer toiling -under the sun, but which for ever eludes his nearer -search.</p> - -<p>On our last day in the Platte Valley, just before we -entered the Sioux territory, we came to Horseshoe -station, which was impressed upon my memory by one -thing, which I shall presently explain. We were -struck by the aspect of the buildings, which were -on an extensive scale; in fact, got up regardless of -expense. An immense silence, however, reigned. At -last, by hard knocking, we were admitted into a house -with a Floridan verandah. By the pretensions of the -room we were at once threatened with a “lady.” -Our mishap was really worse than we expected, for in -reality we were exposed to two “ladies,” and one of -<!--Page 181--> -these was a Bloomer. This, it is fair to state, was the -only hermaphrodite of the kind that ever met my eyes -in the States; the great founder of the Bloomer order -has long since subsided into her original obscurity, -and her acolytes have relapsed into petticoats. The -Bloomer was an uncouth being, her hair, cut level with -her eyes, depended with the graceful curl of a drake’s -tail around a fat and flabby countenance, whose only -expression was sullen insolence. Her body-dress, -glazed brown calico, fitted her somewhat like a soldier’s -tunic, developing haunches which would be admired -only in venison; and—​curious inconsequence of -woman’s nature!—​all this sacrifice of appearance upon -the shrine of comfort did not prevent her wearing that -kind of crinoline depicted by Mr. <em>Punch</em> around “our -Mary Hanne.” The pantolettes of glazed brown -calico, like the vest, tunic, blouse, shirt, or whatever -they may call it, were in peg-top style, admirably -setting off a pair of thin-soled, Frenchified, patent-leather -bottines, with elastic sides, which contained feet -as large, broad, and flat as a negro’s in Africa. The -dear creature had a husband: it was hardly safe to -look at her, and as for sketching her, I avoided it. -The other “lady,” though more decently attired, was -like women in this wild part of the world generally—​cold -and disagreeable, with a touch-me-not air, which -reminded me of a certain</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i6">Miss Baxter,</div> -<div class="i0">Who refused a man before he axed her.</div> -</div></div> - -<p>Her husband was the renowned Slade, who had the -<!--Page 182--> -reputation of having killed his three men. This -pleasant individual “for an evening party” wore a -revolver and bowie-knife here, there, and everywhere. -It at once became evident that this station was not -conducted for the public convenience. One of our -party who had ventured into the kitchen was fiercely -ejected by the “ladies,” and, asking for dormitories, -we were informed that lady travellers were admitted -into the house, but men could sleep where they could. -We found a barn outside; it was hardly fit for a -decently brought up pig: the floor was damp and -knotty; there was not even a door to keep out the -night breeze; and several drunken fellows lay about -in different parts of it. Into this disreputable hole -we were all thrust for the night. “May gracious -Heaven,” I prayed, “keep us safe from all ‘ladies’ in -future!” Better a hundred times the squaw, with her -uncleanliness and her civility!</p> - -<p>It was about the tenth day of our journey that the -formation of the land began to warn us that we were -approaching, as yet far off, the Rocky Mountains. -We saw for the first time a train of Mormon waggons, -twenty-four in number, slowly wending their way -towards the Promised Land. The “captain” was -young Brigham Young, a nephew of the Prophet—​a -fine fellow, with yellow hair and beard, an intelligent -countenance, a six-shooter by his right, and a bowie-knife -by his left side. It was impossible to mistake, -even through the veil of freckles and sunburn with -which a two months’ journey had invested them, the -<!--Page 183--> -nationality of these emigrants—​“British-English” was -written all over them. One young person concealed -her facial attractions under a manner of mask. -I though that perhaps she might be a sultana, reserved -for the establishment of some very magnificent -Mormon bashaw; but the driver, when appealed to, -responded with contempt, “’Guess old Briggy won’t -stampede many o’ that ere lot!” Though homely -in appearance, they seemed to be healthy and well fed.</p> - -<p>The same day, a little later, we crossed a war party -of Arapahos; they looked less like warriors than a -band of horse-stealers, and though they had set out -with the determination of bringing back some Utah -scalps and fingers, they had not succeeded. The war -party consisted of some dozen warriors, with a few -limber, lithe lads. They had sundry lean, sorry-looking -nags, which were presently turned out to -graze. Dirty rags formed the dress of the band; -their arms were the usual light lances, garnished with -leather at the handles, with two cropped tufts and a -long loose feather dangling from them. They carried -mangy buffalo robes; and scattered upon the ground -was a variety of belts, baldricks, and pouches, with -split porcupine quills dyed a saffron yellow. I found -them sulky and not disposed to be communicative, a -fact which, no doubt, was accounted for by the ill-success -of their expedition.</p> - -<p>I have given some account of the “ladies” we -met <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i>; in fairness one must reverse the shield, -for, at a station forbiddingly known as the Devil’s -<!--Page 184--> -Post-Office, we came across an Englishwoman, a -“Miss” Moore (Miss is still used for Mrs. by Western -men and negroes), who was a pattern of cleanliness, -tidiness, civility, and housewifery in general. Her -little ranche was neatly swept and garnished, papered -and ornamented. The table-cloth was clean, so was -the cooking, and so were the children, and I was -reminded of Europe by the way in which she insisted -upon washing my shirt, an operation which, after -leaving the Missouri, had fallen to my own lot. This -day also introduced me to the third novel sensation -on the western side of the Atlantic. The first was -to feel that all men were your equal; that you were -no man’s superior, and that no man was yours. The -second—​this is spoken as an African wanderer—​was to -see one’s quondam acquaintance, the Kaffir or Negro, -put by his grass kilt and coat of grease, invest himself -in broadcloth, part his wool on one side, shave, and call -himself, not Sambo, but “Mr. Scott.” The third -was to meet in the Rocky Mountains with this -woman, a refreshing specimen of that far-off Old -World. “Miss” Moore’s husband, a decent appendage, -had transferred his belief from the Church of -England to the Church of Utah, and the good wife, -as in duty bound, had followed in his wake. But -when the Serpent came and whispered in “Miss” -Moore’s modest, respectable, one-idea’d ear that the -Abrahams of Great Salt Lake City were mere -“Shamabrams,” and not content with Sarahs, but -added to them an unlimited supply of Hagars, her -<!--Page 185--> -power of endurance broke down. Not an inch would -she budge, not a step nearer to the City of the Saints -would she take. She fought against the impending -misfortune, and she succeeded in reducing her husband -to submission and making him earn a good livelihood -as station-master on the waggon-line—​he who might -have been a Solomon in the City of the Saints!</p> - -<p>The evening of the next day, when we had -reached Pacific Springs, the Wind River Mountains -appeared in marvellous majesty. It was one of the -sights of the journey. The huge purple hangings -of rain-clouds in the northern sky set off their vast -proportions, and gave prominence, as in a stereoscope, -to their gigantic forms and their upper heights, hoar -with the frosts of ages. The setting sun diffused -a charming softness over their more rugged features, -defining the folds and ravines with a distinctness -which deceived every idea of distance. As the light -sank beyond the far western horizon it travelled -slowly up the mountain side, till, reaching the summit, -it mingled its splendours with the snow. Nor was -the scene less lovely in the morning hour, as the -first effulgence of day fell upon the masses of dew-cloud, -lit up the peaks, which gleamed like silver, -and poured streams of light and warmth over the -broad skirts reposing on the plain.</p> - -<p>On August 25th, the nineteenth day of our journey, -we set out at 7 a.m. to breast the Wasach, the last -and highest chain of the mountain mass before we -reached Great Salt Lake Valley, and to arrive at our -<!--Page 186--> -destination—​the New Jerusalem, the future Zion on -the tops of the mountains. The road up the big -mountain was a very rough one, lined on either side -with great trees—​hemlocks, firs, and balsam-pines. The -varied hues of the quaking ash were there also; the -beech, dwarf oak, and thickets of elders and wild roses; -whilst over all the warm autumnal tints already -mingled with the bright green of summer. The ascent -became more and more rugged; this steep pitch, -at the end of a thousand miles of hard work and semi-starvation, -caused the death of many a wretched animal. -Towards the summit it rises sharpest. Here we -descended from the waggon, which the four mules -had work enough to draw. The big mountain lies -eighteen miles from the city; the top is a narrow -crest. From that eyrie, eight thousand feet above -sea-level, the weary pilgrim first sights his shrine, -the object of his long wanderings, hardships, and -perils—​the Happy Valley of the Great Salt Lake.</p> - -<p>After a few minutes’ delay to stand and gaze, we -resumed the footpath way, whilst the mail-waggon, -with wheels rough-locked, descended what appeared -to be an impracticable slope. Falling into the gorge -of Big Kanyon Creek, we reached about midday a -station, half stifled by the thick dust and the sun. -We slaked our thirst with the cool water that trickled -down the hill by the house side. Presently the station-master -arrived; he was introduced to us as Mr. Eph -Hanks. I had often heard of him as a Mormon -desperado, leader of the dreaded Danite band, and -<!--Page 187--> -a model ruffian. We found him very pleasant and -sociable, though a facetious allusion to the dangers -that awaited us under the roof of the Danite was -made. We had dinner there, and, after a friendly -leave, we entered the mail-waggon again, and prepared -ourselves for the last climb over the western-most -reach of the Wasach.</p> - -<p>The road was now only a narrow shelf, and frequent -fordings were rendered necessary by the capricious -wanderings of the torrent. At one of the most -ticklish turns our driver kindly pointed out a precipice -where four of the mail passengers fell and broke their -necks. He also entertained us with sundry other -horrible tales. In due time, emerging from the gates -and portals and deep serrations of the upper course, -we descended into a lower level, and the valley -presently lay full before our sight. At this place -the pilgrim emigrants, like the hajis of Jerusalem -and Meccah, were wont to give vent to the emotions -pent up in their bosoms by sobs and tears, laughter -and congratulations, psalms and hysterics. It is indeed -no wonder that children danced, that strong men -cheered and shouted, and that nervous women, broken -with fatigue and hope deferred, screamed and fainted; -that the ignorant fondly believed that the “Spirit of -God” pervaded the very atmosphere, and that Zion -on the tops of the mountains is nearer Heaven than -the other parts of the earth. In good sooth, though -uninfluenced by religious fervour—​beyond the natural -satisfaction of seeing a brand new Holy City—​even -<!--Page 188--> -I could not, after nineteen days of the mail-waggon, -gaze upon the scene without emotion.</p> - -<p>The hour was about 6 p.m., the atmosphere was -touched with a dreamy haze, and a little bank of rose-coloured -clouds, edged with flames of purple and gold, -floated in the upper air, whilst the mellow radiance -of an American autumn diffused its mild, soft lustre -over the face of the earth. The sun was setting in -a flood of heavenly light behind the bold, jagged -outline of Antelope Island. At its feet, and then -bounding the far horizon, lay, like a band of burnished -silver, the Great Salt Lake, that innocent Dead Sea. -South-westwards, and the Oquirrh Range sharply -silhouetted against the depths of an evening sky.</p> - -<p>The undulating valley-plain between us and the -Oquirrh Range, once a howling wilderness given -over to a few miserable savages, was now the site of -a populous city. Truly the Mormon prophecy had -been fulfilled; the desert had blossomed like the rose.</p> - -<p>As we descended the Wasach Mountains we could -look and enjoy the view of the Happy Valley, and -the bench-land then attracted our attention. The -eastern valley-bench, upon whose western declivity -the city lies, may be traced on a clear day along the -base of the mountains for a distance of twenty -miles. As we advanced over the bench-ground, -the city by slow degrees broke upon our sight. It -showed, one may readily believe, to special advantage -after a succession of Indian lodges, Canadian ranchos, -and log-hut mail-stations of the prairies and the -<!--Page 189--> -mountains. About two miles north, and overlooking -the settlements from a height of four hundred feet, -a detached cone called Ensign Mount rose at the end -of a chain, and overhung and sheltered the north-eastern -corner of the valley. Upon this mount the spirit of -the martyred Prophet, Mr. Joseph Smith, is said to -have appeared to his successor, Mr. Brigham Young, -and pointed out to him the position of the new temple, -which, after Zion had “got up into the high mountain,” -was to console the saints for the loss of Nauvoo the -Beautiful.</p> - -<p>The city was about two miles broad, running -parallel with the right bank of the Jordan, which -forms its western limit. As we approached, it lay -stretched before us as upon a map; at a little -distance the aspect was somewhat Oriental, and in some -points it reminded me of modern Athens—​without the -Acropolis. None of the buildings, except the Prophet’s -house, were whitewashed. The material, the thick, -sun-dried adobe, common to all parts of the Eastern -world, was here of a dull leaden blue, deepened by the -atmosphere to a grey, like the shingles of the roofs. -The number of gardens and compounds, the dark -clumps of cottonwood, locust, or acacia, fruit trees—​apples, -peaches and vines—​and, finally, the fields of -long-eared maize, strengthened the similarity to an -Asiatic rather than to an American settlement. But -the difference presently became as marked. Farm -houses strongly suggested the old country; moreover, -domes and minarets, even churches and steeples, were -<!--Page 190--> -wholly wanting. The only building conspicuous from -afar was the block occupied by the present Head -of the Church. The court-house, with its tinned, -Muscovian dome; the arsenal, a barn-like structure; -and a saw-mill were next in importance.</p> - -<p>As we entered the suburbs, the houses were almost -all of one pattern, a barn shape, and the diminutive -casements showed that window glass was not yet made -in the valley. The poorer houses are small, low, and -hut-like; the others, single-storied buildings, somewhat -like stables, with many entrances. The best houses -resembled East Indian bungalows, with flat roofs and -low, shady verandahs, well trellised, and supported by -posts or pillars. I looked in vain for the outhouse-harems, -in which certain romancers concerning things -Mormon had told me that wives were kept, like other -stock. I presently found this one of a multitude of -delusions. The people came out to their doors to -see the mail-coach, as if it were a “Derby dilly” of -old, go by. I was struck by the English appearance -of the colony, and the prodigious numbers of white-headed -children.</p> - -<p>Presently we turned into the main thoroughfare, -the centre of population and business, where the houses -of the principal Mormon dignitaries and the stores of -the Gentile merchants combined to form the city’s -only street, properly so called. We pulled up at the -Salt Lake House, the principal if not the only establishment -of the kind in New Zion. In the Far West one -learns not to expect much of a hostelry, and I had not -<!--Page 191--> -seen one so grand for many a day. It was a two-storied -building, with a long verandah supported by painted -posts. There was a large yard behind for coralling -cattle. A rough-looking crowd of drivers and their -friends and idlers, almost every man armed with -revolver and bowie-knife, gathered round the doorway -to prospect the “new lot.” The host presently came -out to assist us in carrying in our luggage. There -was no bar, but upstairs we found a Gentile ball-room, -a fair sitting-room, and bedchambers, apparently made -out of a single apartment by partitions too thin to -be strictly agreeable. The proprietor was a Mormon -who had married an Englishwoman. We found him -in the highest degree civil and obliging. To sum up, -notwithstanding some considerable drawbacks, my -first experience of the Holy City of the Far West was -decidedly better than I expected.</p> - -<p>Our journey had occupied nineteen days, from -August 7th to 25th both included, and in that time -we had accomplished not less than 1,136 statute miles.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 192--><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><abbr title="Two">II</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head"><span class="title">THE CITY AND ITS PROPHET</span></h4> - -<p><span class="sc">Before</span> giving any detailed account of the Mormons, -I should like to say that I was twenty-four days at -headquarters, and every opportunity was given me -of surface observation; but there is in Mormondom, -as in all other exclusive faiths, Jewish, Hindu, or other, -an inner life, into which I cannot flatter myself to -have penetrated. No Gentile, however long he may -live in Salt Lake City, or how intimately he may be -connected with the Mormons, can expect to see anything -but the outside. The different accounts which -have been given of life in the City of the Saints by -anti-Mormons and apostates are venomous and misleading, -whilst the writings of the faithful are necessarily -untrustworthy. I therefore take the middle -distance of the unprejudiced observer, and can only -recount, honestly and truthfully, what I heard, felt, -and saw.</p> - -<p>The day after my arrival I went to see the -Governor, the Hon. Alfred Cumming, who had been -appointed by the President of the United States to -assume the supreme executive authority at Great Salt -Lake City. The conditions were that polygamy should -<!--Page 193--> -not be interfered with, nor forcible measures resorted -to, except in extremest need. Governor Cumming, -accompanied by his wife, with an escort of six hundred -dragoons, entered the city in the spring of 1858, -shortly after the Mormons were in open rebellion -against the Federal authority. By firmness, prudence, -and conciliation, he not only prevented any collision -between the local militia and the United States army, -but succeeded in restoring order and obedience -throughout the territory. He was told that his life -was in danger, and warned that he might share the -fate of Governor Boggs, who was shot through the -mouth when standing at the window. His answer -was to enlarge the casements of his house, in order -to give the shooters a fair chance. The impartiality -which he brought to bear in the discharge of his -difficult and delicate duties, and his resolution to -treat the saints like Gentiles and citizens, not as Digger -Indians or felons, had not, when I was at Great -Salt Lake City, won him the credit which he deserved -from either party. The anti-Mormons abused him, -and declared him to be a Mormon in Christian disguise; -the Mormons, though more moderate, could -never, by their very organisation, be content with -a temporal and extraneous power existing side by -side with a spiritual power. Governor Cumming did -not meet his predecessor, the ex-Governor, Brigham -Young, except on public duty. Mrs. Cumming -visited Mrs. Young and the houses of the principal -dignitaries, this being the only society in the place. -<!--Page 194--> -Amongst the Moslems a Lady Mary Wortley -Montagu could learn more of domestic life in a -week than a man could in a year. So it was among -the Mormons, and Mrs. Cumming’s knowledge far -exceeded all that I might ever hope to gain.</p> - -<p>The leading feature of Great Salt Lake City was -Main, otherwise Whiskey, Street. This broadway -was 132 feet wide, including twenty sidewalks, and, -like the rest of the principal avenues, was planted -with locust and other trees. The whole city was -divided up into wide streets, and planted with trees. -The stores were far superior to the shops of an -English country town; the public buildings were few -and unimposing. I was disappointed with the Temple -block, the only place of public and general worship -in the city; when I was there it was unfinished, a -mere waste. The Tabernacle, the principal building, -required enlarging, and was quite unfitted for the -temple of a new faith. It seemed hardly in accordance -with the energy and devotedness of this new -religion that such a building should represent the -House of the Lord, while Mr. Brigham Young, the -Prophet, thinking of his own comfort before the glory -of God, was lodged, like Solomon of old, in what was -comparatively a palace. Near the Tabernacle was the -Endowment House, or place of great medicine. Many -rites took place here in secret that were carefully concealed -from Gentile eyes, and with a result that human -sacrifices were said to be performed within its walls. -Personally, I did not believe in these orgies; there -<!--Page 195--> -were probably ceremonies of the nature of masonic -rites. Gentiles declared that the ceremonies consisted -of a sort of miracle play, and a respectable judge was -popularly known as “The Devil,” because he was -supposed to play the part of the Father of Sin when -tempting Adam and Eve. It was said that baptism -by total immersion was performed, and the ceremony -occupied eleven or twelve hours, the neophyte, after -bathing, being anointed with oil, and dressed in clean -white garments, cap and shirt, of which the latter was -rarely removed.</p> - -<p>On the Monday after my arrival a smoke-like -column towards the east announced that the emigrants -were crossing the bench-land, and the people hurried -from all sides to greet them. Of course, I went, -too, as the arrival of these emigrants, or rather -prilgrims, was one of the sights of the City of the -Saints. Presently the carts came. All the new arrivals -were in clean clothes, the men washed and shaved, -and the girls were singing hymns, habited in Sunday -dress. Except the very young and the very old, -the company of pilgrims did not trouble the waggons. -They marched through clouds of dust over the sandy -road leading to the town, accompanied by crowds, -some on foot, others on horseback, and a few in traps. -A score of youths of rather rowdy appearance were -mounted in all the tawdriness of Western trappings—​Rocky -Mountain hats, embroidered buckskin garments, -red flannel shirts, gigantic spurs, pistols and knives -stuck in red sashes with depending ends. By-and-by -<!--Page 196--> -the train of pilgrims reached the public square, and -here, before the invasion of the Federal army, the first -President used to make a point of honouring the -arrival of pilgrims by a greeting in person. Not so on -this occasion; indeed, it was whispered that Brigham -Young seldom left his house except for the Tabernacle, -and, despite his powerful will and high moral courage, -did not show the personal intrepidity of Mr. Joseph -Smith. He had guards at his gates, and never -appeared in public unattended by friends and followers, -who were, of course, armed. On this occasion the -place of Mr. Brigham Young was taken by President-Bishop -Hunter. Preceded by a brass band, and accompanied -by the City Marshal, the Bishop stood up in -his conveyance, and calling up the captains of companies, -shook hands with them, and proceeded forthwith to -business. In a short time arrangements were made -for the housing and employment of all who required -work, whether men or women. Everything was -conducted with decorum.</p> - -<p>I mingled freely among the crowd, and was introduced -to many, whose names I did not remember. -Indeed, the nomenclature of the Mormons was apt to -be rather confusing, because, in order to distinguish -children of different mothers, it was usual to prefix the -maternal to the paternal parents’ name, suppressing -the Christian name altogether. Thus, for instance, -my sons, if I had any, by Miss Brown and Miss Jones -and Miss Robinson respectively, would call themselves -Brother Brown-Burton, Brother Jones-Burton, and -<!--Page 197--> -Brother Robinson-Burton. The saints, even the -highest dignitaries, waive the reverend and the -ridiculous esquire, that “title much in use among -vulgar people.” The Mormon pontiff and the -eminences around him are simply brother or mister. -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">En revanche</i>, amongst the crowd there are as many -colonels and majors, about ten being the proportion -to one captain, as in the days when Mrs. Trollope -set the Mississippi on fire. Sister is applied to women -of all ages, whether married or single.</p> - -<p>Many of the pilgrims were English, who had crossed -over the plains, looking towards Mr. Brigham Young -and Great Salt Lake City much as Roman Catholics -regard the Pope and Rome. The arrangements -for their convoy appeared to have been admirable, -but many tales were told of mismangement. An -old but favourite illustration of the trials of inexperienced -travellers from the Mississippi to California -was as follows. A man rode up to a standing -waggon, and seeing a wretched-looking lad nursing a -starving baby, asked him what the matter might be: -“Wal now,” responded the youth, “guess I’m kinder -streakt—​ole dad’s drunk, ole marm’s in hy-sterics, -brother Jim be playing poker with two gamblers, sister -Sal’s down yonder a-courtin’ with an in-tire stranger, -this ’ere baby’s got the diaree, the team’s clean guv out, -the waggon’s broke down, it’s twenty miles to the -next water. I don’t care a damn if I never see -Californy!”</p> - -<p>The dress of the fair sex in Great Salt Lake City -<!--Page 198--> -was somewhat peculiar. The article called in Cornwall -a “gowk,” in other parts of England a “cottage -bonnet,” was universally used, plus a long, thick veil -behind, which acts as a cape or shawl. A loose jacket -and a petticoat, mostly of calico or some inexpensive -stuff, made up all that was visible. The wealthier -ladies affected silks, especially black. Love of dress, -however, was as great among the sisters as in women -in any other part of the world; in fact, I noticed that -this essential is everywhere a pleasing foible, and the -semi-nude savage, the crinolined “civilisee,” the nun -and the quakeress, the sinner and the saint, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">biche</i> -and the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">grande dame</i>, all meet for once in their lives -pretty much on a par and on the same ground.</p> - -<p>The sisters of Great Salt Lake City—​at least, the -native ones—​were distinctly good-looking, with regular -features, lofty brow, clear complexion, long, silky -hair, and a bewitching soft smile. It would seem that -polygamy had agreed with them. The belle of the -city, so far as I could see, was a Miss Sally A——​, -daughter of a judge. Strict Mormons, however, rather -wagged their heads at this pretty person. She was -supposed to prefer Gentile and heathenish society, -and it was whispered against her that she had actually -vowed never to marry a saint.</p> - -<p>The City of the Saints was not a dull city. In -addition to the spiritual exercises, provision was also -made for physical pastimes. The Social Hall was the -usual scene of Mormon festivities, and here one -could see the beauty and fashion of Great Salt -<!--Page 199--> -Lake City <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en grande tenue</i>. Good amateur acting -took place here, and dancing seemed to be considered -a most edifying exercise. The Prophet danced, the -apostles danced, the bishops danced, the young and the -old danced. There is high authority for perseverance -in this practice: David danced, we are told, with -all his might; and Scipio, according to Seneca, was -wont thus to exercise his heroic limbs. The balls -at the Social Hall were highly select, and conducted -on an expensive scale; ten-dollar tickets admitted -one lady with one gentleman, and for all extra ladies -two dollars each had to be paid. Space was limited, -and many a Jacob was shorn of his glory by having -to appear with only Rachael in his train, and without -a following of Leahs, Zilpahs, and Bilhahs.</p> - -<p>An account of one of these balls might be of -interest. The hall was tastefully decorated. At -four o’clock in the afternoon the Prophet entered, -and order was called. He ascended a kind of platform, -and, with uplifted hands, blessed those present. -He then descended to the boards and led off the -first cotillon. At 8 p.m. supper was served; dancing -was resumed with spirit; and finally the party ended -as it began, with prayer and benediction, about five -o’clock in the morning—​thirteen successive mortal -hours. I may mention that, in order to balance any -disparity of the sexes, each gentleman was allowed -to lead out two ladies and dance with them, either -together or alternately. What an advantage this -would be in many a London ball-room!</p> - -<p><!--Page 200--> -I will now proceed to describe my visit to the -President, or Prophet, Brigham Young. Governor -Cumming had first written to ask if he would give -me the honour of an interview; and, having received -a gracious reply, I proceeded with him to call upon -the Prophet on August 31st, at 11 a.m., as appointed. -We arrived at the house, and, after a slight scrutiny, -passed the guard, and, walking down the verandah, -entered the Prophet’s private office. Several people -who were sitting there rose at Governor Cumming’s -entrance. At a few words of introduction, Brigham -Young advanced, shook hands with me, and invited -me to be seated on a sofa on one side of the room, -and presented me to those present.</p> - -<p>The “President of the Church of Jesus Christ of -Latter Day Saints all over the World” was born -at Whittingham, Vermont, on June 1st, 1801. He -was, consequently, at the time I saw him, in 1860, -fifty-nine years old; he looked about forty-five. -I had expected to see a venerable-looking old man; -but scarcely a grey thread appeared in his hair, which -was parted on the side, light-coloured, and rather -thick. His forehead was somewhat narrow, the eyebrows -thin, the eyes between grey and blue, with a -calm and somewhat reserved expression. A slight -droop in the left lid made me think he had suffered -from paralysis; I afterwards heard it was the result -of a neuralgia, which long tormented him. The -nose, which was fine and somewhat pointed, was -bent a little to the left; the lips were like the -<!--Page 201--> -New Englander’s, and the teeth were imperfect. The -cheeks were rather fleshy, the chin somewhat peaked, -and face clean-shaven, except under the jaws, where -the beard was allowed to grow. The hands were -well-made, and the figure was somewhat large and -broad-shouldered.</p> - -<p>The Prophet’s dress was neat and plain as a -Quaker’s, of grey homespun, except the cravat and -waistcoat. His coat was of antique cut and, like -the pantaloons, baggy, and the buttons were black. -A necktie of dark silk, with a large bow, was passed -round a starchless collar. He wore a black satin -waistcoat, and plain gold chain. Altogether, the -Prophet’s appearance was that of a gentleman farmer -in New England.</p> - -<p>His manner was affable and impressive, and -distinctly unpretentious. He showed no signs of -dogmatism or bigotry, and never once entered, -with me at least, on the subject of religion. He -impressed me with a certain sense of power. -It was commonly said there was only one chief in -Great Salt Lake City, and that was “Brigham.” -His temper was even, and his manner cold; in fact, -like his face, somewhat bloodless. He had great -powers of observation and judgment of character; -if he disliked a stranger at the first interview, he -never saw him again. He lived a most temperate -and sober life, his favourite food being baked potatoes, -with a little buttermilk, and his drink water; he -disapproved, like all strict Mormons, of spirituous -<!--Page 202--> -liquors, and never touched anything stronger than -a glass of lager beer, and never smoked tobacco. -His followers deemed him an angel of light, his -foes a fiend damned; he was, I presume, neither -one nor the other. He has been called a hypocrite, -swindler, forger, and murderer; no one looked it -less. In fact, he was the <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Paul of the New -Dispensation; he gave point, energy, and consistency -to the disjointed and turbulent fanaticism of Mr. -Joseph Smith; and if he was not able to create, he -was at least able to control circumstances.</p> - -<p>Such was His Excellency, President Brigham Young, -“painter and glazier”—​his earliest craft—​prophet, -revelator, translator, and seer; the man who was -revered as no king or kaiser, pope or pontiff, ever -was; who, like the Old Man of the Mountain, by -holding up his hand could cause the death of any -one within his reach; who, governing as well as -reigning, long stood up to fight with the sword of -the Lord, and with his few hundred guerillas, against -the mighty power of the United States; who outwitted -all diplomacy opposed to him; and, finally, -made a treaty of peace with the President of the -great Republic as though he had wielded the combined -power of France, Russia, and England.</p> - -<p>The Prophet’s private office, where he was in the -habit of transacting the greater part of his business, -correcting his sermons, and conducting his correspondence, -was a plain, neat room, with a large -writing-table and money-safe. I remarked a pistol -<!--Page 203--> -and rifle hung within easy reach on the right-hand -wall. There was a look of order which suited the -character of the man, and his style of doing business -was to issue distinct directions to his employés, after -which he disliked referring to the subject. He had -the reputation of being a wealthy man, though he -began life as a poor one; and, so far as I could see, -he had made his money, not by enriching himself -by the tithes and plunder of his followers, but in -business and by hard work.</p> - -<p>After the first few words of greeting, I interpreted -the Prophet’s look to mean that he would like to -know my object in coming to the City of the Saints. -I told him that, having read and heard much about -Utah as it was said to be, I was anxious to see Utah -as it was. He then touched upon agricultural and -other subjects; but we carefully avoided anything to -do with religion or his domestic peculiarities, on -which, I was warned, he disliked to be questioned. -After talking for about half an hour, the conversation -began to flag, so we rose up, shook hands all -round, as was the custom there, and took our leave.</p> - -<p>The first impression left upon my mind, and subsequently -confirmed, was that the Prophet was no -common man, and that he had none of the weakness -and vanity which characterise the common uncommon -man. I also remarked the veneration shown to him -by his followers, whose affection for him was equalled -only by the confidence with which they entrusted -to him their dearest interests in this world and in -<!--Page 204--> -the next. After my visit many congratulated me, -as would the followers of Tien Wong, or Heavenly -King, upon having at last seen the most remarkable -man in the world.</p> - -<p>The Prophet’s block was surrounded by a high wall -and strengthened with semi-circular buttresses; it -consisted of many houses. The Lion House was -occupied by Mrs. Young and her family in the eastern -part of the square. On the west of it lay the private -office, in which we were received, and further west -again was the public office, where the church and other -business was transacted. Beyond this was the Bee -House, so named from the sculptured bee-hive in front -of it. The Bee House was a large building with long -walls facing east and west. It was tenanted by the -Prophet’s “plurality wives” and their families, who -each had a bedroom, sitting-room, and closet, simply -and similarly furnished. There was a Moslem air of -retirement about the Bee House; the face of woman -was rarely seen at the window, and her voice was never -heard without. Anti-Mormons declared the Bee House -to be like the State prison of Auburn, a self-supporting -establishment, for not even the wives of the Prophet -were allowed to live in idleness.</p> - -<p>As I have said before, I was unwilling to add to -those who had annoyed the Prophet by domestic -allusions, and have, therefore, no direct knowledge of -the extent to which he carried his polygamy; some -Gentiles allowed him seventeen, others thirty-six, wives -out of a household of seventy members, others an -<!--Page 205--> -indefinite number of wives scattered through the -different settlements. Of these, doubtless, many were -but wives by name—​such, for instance, as the wives of -the late Prophet; and others were married more for the -purpose of building up for themselves spiritual kingdoms -than for the normal purpose of matrimony. I -judged the Prophet’s progeny to be numerous from -the following circumstance. On one occasion, when -standing with him on the belvedere, my eye fell -upon a new erection; it could be compared externally -to nothing but an English gentleman’s hunting-stables, -and I asked him what it was intended for. “A -private school for my children,” he replied, “directed -by Brother Kelsey.”</p> - -<p>The following Sunday I attended a Mormon service. -I passed the morning in the painful but appropriate -exercise of reading the books of Mormon and of -Moroni the prophet. Some people had told me that -it was the best imitation of the Old Testament existing; -to me it seemed to emulate the sprightliness of -Leviticus. Surely there never was a book so dull and -heavy; it was as monotonous as a sage prairie. In -Mormonism it holds the same place as the Bible in -the more ignorant Roman Catholic countries, where -religious reading is chiefly restricted to the Breviary, -tales of miracles, of saints, and so forth. It was -strictly proper, and did not contain a word about -materialism and polygamy.</p> - -<p>The early part of the morning passed. At -9.45 a.m. we entered “the Bowery”; it was -<!--Page 206--> -advisable to go early to get seats within hearing. -This place was a kind of “hangar,” about one -hundred feet long by the same breadth, with a -roofing of bushes and boughs supported by rough -posts, and open for ventilation on the sides; it -contained about three thousand souls. The congregation -was accommodated upon long rows of benches, -opposite the dais, or tribune, which looked like a -long lane of boarding open to the north, where it -faced the audience, and entered by steps from the -east. Between the people and the platform was the -orchestra—​a violin, a bass, two women, and four -men performers—​who sang the sweet songs of Zion -tolerably well.</p> - -<p>We took our seats on the benches, where we could -see the congregation flocking in, a proceeding which -was not over for half an hour. The people were all -in their Sunday best, and many a pretty face peeped -out from the sun-bonnet, though the “mushroom” and -the “pork-pie” had found their way over the plains, -and trim figures were clad in neat dresses, sometimes -with a little faded finery. The men were decently -attired; but the weather being hot, many of them had -left their coats at home, and had come in their shirt -sleeves. The custom, however, looked natural, and -there was no want of cleanliness, such as sometimes -lurks behind the bulwark of buttons. The elders -and dignitaries on the platform affected coats of black -broadcloth. All wore their hats till the address began, -then all uncovered. The number of old people -<!--Page 207--> -astonished me; half a dozen were sitting on the same -bench: these broken-down men and decrepit crones -had come to lay their bones in the Holy City.</p> - -<p>At 10 a.m. the meeting opened with a spiritual -song, and then a civilised-looking man, being called -upon by the presiding Elder for the day, offered up -prayer. The matter was good, but somewhat commonplace. -The conclusion was an “Amen,” in which -all hands joined. It reminded me of the historical -practice of “humming” in the seventeenth century.</p> - -<p>Next arose Bishop Abraham O. Smoot, second -Mayor of Zion, who began with “Brethring,” and -proceeded in a Methody tone of voice to praise the -saints and pitch into the apostates. He made an -undue use of the regular Wesleyan organ—​the nose; -but he appeared to speak excellent sense in execrable -English. As he was in the midst of an allusion to -the President, Brigham Young entered, and all turned -their faces, even the old lady who was sleeping -through the discourse.</p> - -<p>The Prophet was dressed as usual in grey homespun -and home-woven; he wore, like most of the elders, -a tall, steeple-crowned straw hat, with a broad black -ribbon, and he had the gentility of black kid gloves. -He entered the tribune covered, and sat down. A -man in a fit was carried out pumpwards. Bishop -Smoot concluded with informing us that we should -live for God. Another hymn was sung. Then a -great silence, which told us that something was about -to happen: <em>that</em> old man held his cough; <em>that</em> old -<!--Page 208--> -lady awoke with a start; <em>that</em> child ceased to squall. -President Brigham Young removed his hat, advanced -to the end of the tribune, expectorated into the -spittoon, restored the balance of fluid by a glass of -water from a decanter on a stand, and, leaning slightly -forwards with both hands propped on the green baize -of the tribune, addressed his followers.</p> - -<p>The discourse began slowly, word crept titubantly -after word, and the opening phrases were scarcely -audible; but as the orator warmed, his voice rose -high and sonorous, and a fluency so remarkable -succeeded hesitation that the latter seemed to have -been a work of art. The gestures were easy and -rounded, except one of raising and shaking the forefinger, -which struck me as threatening and bullying. -The address was long. Mormonism was a great -fact. Religion had made him, Brigham Young, the -happiest of men. He was ready to dance like a -Shaker. At this the Prophet, who was a good mimic -and had much of humour, raised his right arm, and -gave, to the amusement of the congregation, a droll -imitation of the Shakers. A great deal of what -followed contained topical allusions. The Saints had -a glorious destiny before them, and their morality -was remarkable as the beauty of the Promised Land. -The soft breeze blowing over the Bowery, and the -glorious sunshine outside, made the allusion highly -appropriate. After a somewhat lengthy string of -sentences concerning the great tribulation coming on -earth—​it had been coming for the last eighteen -<!--Page 209--> -hundred years—​he concluded with good wishes to -visitors and Gentiles generally, with a solemn blessing -upon the President of the United States, the -territorial Governor, and all that be in authority over -us, and with an “Amen” which was loudly re-echoed -by all around, he restored his hat and resumed -his seat.</p> - -<p>Then arose Mr. Heber C. Kimball, the second -President. He was the model of a Methodist, a tall, -powerful man, with dark, piercing eyes and clean-shaven, -blue face. He affected the Boanerges style, -from a certain dislike to the Nonconformist rant and -whine, and his manner of speech savoured rather of -familiarity than of reverence. Several of his remarks -were loudly laughed at by the congregation. His -style of oratory was certainly startling; he reminded -me of Luther’s description of Tetzel’s sermon, in -which he used to shout the words “Bring! bring! -bring!” with such a horrible bellowing that one -would have said it was a mad bull rushing on the -people and goring them with its horns.</p> - -<p>After this worthy’s address, a list of names for -whom letters were lying unclaimed was called from -the platform. A missionary adjourned the meeting -till two o’clock, delivered the prayer of dismissal, -during which all stood up, and ended with the -Benediction and “Amen.” The Sacrament was not -administered on this occasion. It was often given, -and reduced to the very elements of a ceremony; even -water was used instead of wine, because the latter is of -<!--Page 210--> -Gentile manufacture. Two elders walked up and down -the rows, one carrying a pitcher, the other a plate of -broken bread, and each Saint partook of both.</p> - -<p>That same evening when dining out, I had a -lesson in Mormon modesty. The mistress of the -house, a Gentile but not an anti-Mormon, was -requested by a saintly visitor, who was also a widow, -to instruct me that on no account I must propose -to see her home. “Mormon ladies,” said my kind informant, -“are very strict”; “Unnecessarily so on this -occasion,” I could not help adding. Something similar -occurred on another occasion: a very old lady, wishing -to return home, surreptitiously left the room and -sidled out of the garden gate, and my companion, -an officer from Camp Floyd, at once recognised the -object of the retreat—​<i lang="la" xml:lang="la"><abbr title="namely">viz.</abbr></i> to avoid our possible escort. -I afterwards learned at dinner and elsewhere amongst -the Mormons to abjure the Gentile practice of giving -precedence to the fair sex. The lesson, however, was -not new; I had been taught the same, in times past, -amongst certain German missionaries, who assumed -precedence over their wives upon a principle borrowed -from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Paul.</p> - -<p>There was a certain monotony of life in Great Salt -Lake City, a sameness from day to day, which does -not render the subject favourable for a lively description; -moreover, the Moslem gloom, the result of -austere morals and manner, of the semi-seclusion of -the sexes, and, in my case, the reserve arising towards -a stranger who appeared in the train of Federal -<!--Page 211--> -officials, hung over society. We rose early, and -breakfasted at any hour between 6 and 9 a.m. Then -ensued “business,” which seemed to consist principally -of correcting one’s teeth and a walk about the -town, with an occasional liquor up. Dinner was at -1 p.m., announced not by the normal gong of Eastern -States, but by a most discordant hand-bell. Jostling -into the long room of the ordinary, we took our -seats, and, seizing our forks, proceeded at once to -action. Nothing but water was drunk at dinner, -except when a gentleman preferred to wash down -roast pork with a tumbler of milk. Wine in this -part of the world was dear and bad, and even if the -Saints made their own, it could scarcely be cheap, on -account of the price of labour. The feeding ended -with a glass of liquor, not at the bar, because there -was none, but in the privacy of one’s own chamber, -which takes from drinking half its charms. Most -of the well-to-do men found time for a siesta in the -afternoon. There was supper at 6 p.m., and the -evening was quietly spent with a friend.</p> - -<p>To describe Great Salt Lake City in those days -without some account of polygamy would be like -seeing <cite>Hamlet</cite> with the part of the Prince of -Denmark omitted. It is, I suppose, therefore necessary -to supply a popular view of the peculiar institution -which at once was the bane and the blessing of -Mormonism—​plurality. I approach the subject with -a feeling of despair, so conflicting are opinions concerning -it, and so difficult is it to naturalise in Europe -<!--Page 212--> -the customs of Asia, Africa, and America, and -reconcile the habits of the nineteenth century <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> -with those of 1900 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span> A return to the patriarchal -ages must necessarily have its disadvantages.</p> - -<p>I found that the marriage ceremony was performed -in the Temple, or, if that was impossible, in Mr. -Brigham Young’s office, properly speaking, by the -Prophet, who, however, could depute any follower -to act for him. When mutual consent was given, -the parties were pronounced man and wife in the name -of Jesus Christ; prayers followed, and there was a -patriarchal feast of joy in the evening.</p> - -<p>The first wife, as amongst polygamists generally, -was <em>the</em> wife, and assumed the husband’s name and -title. Her plurality partners were called sisters, such -as Sister Anne, or Sister Maria, and were the “aunts” -of her children. The first wife was married for -time, the others were sealed for eternity. Girls rarely -remained single past sixteen (in England the average -marrying age is thirty), and they would have been -the pity of the community if they had been doomed -to a waste of youth so unnatural.</p> - -<p>Divorce was rarely obtained by the man, who was -ashamed to own that he could not keep his house -in order. Some, such as the President, would grant -it only in the case of adultery; and here I may say -the two mortal sins in Mormonism are (1) adultery, -and (2) shedding innocent blood. Wives, however, -were allowed to claim it for cruelty, desertion, or neglect. -Mormon women married to Gentiles were cut off from -<!--Page 213--> -the society of the Saints, and without uncharitableness -men suspected a sound previous reason. The widows -of the Prophet were married to his successor, as -David took unto himself the wives of Saul; being -generally aged, they occupied the position of matron -rather than wife, and the same was the case where -a man espoused a mother and her daughter.</p> - -<p>There were rules and regulations of Mormonism. -All sensuality in the married state was strictly -forbidden beyond that necessary to procure progeny—​the -practice, in fact, of Adam and Abraham.</p> - -<p>It is not necessary to go into the arguments -which are adduced by the Mormons in favour of -polygamy, nor to recount the arguments on the -other side. I content myself here with stating facts -as I saw them. It will be asked, What view did the -softer sex take of this state of affairs? A few, mostly -from the Old Country, lamented that Mr. Joseph -Smith ever asked of the Creator that question which -was answered in the affirmative. A very few, like -the Curia Electa, Emma, the first wife of Mr. Joseph -Smith—​who said of her, by-the-bye, that she could -not be contented in Heaven without rule—​apostatised, -and became Mrs. Brideman. But most of the women -were even more in favour of polygamy than the men. -For this attachment of the women of the Saints -to the doctrine of plurality I found two reasons. -The Mormon prophets expended all their arts upon -this end, well knowing that without the hearty -co-operation of mothers and wives, sisters and -<!--Page 214--> -daughters, their institution could not exist long. -They bribed them with promises of Paradise, they -subjugated them with threats of annihilation. With -them, once a Mormon always a Mormon. The -apostate Mormon was looked upon by other people -as a scamp and a knave, and as regards a woman, -she was looked upon as worse than a prostitute. -The Mormon household has been described by its -enemies as a hell of hatred, envy, and malice; the -same has been said of the Moslem harem; both, I -believe, suffer from the assertions of prejudice or -ignorance.</p> - -<p>Another curious effect may be noticed. When a -man had four or five wives, with reasonable families -by each, he was fixed for life; his interests, if not -his affections, bound him irrevocably to his New -Faith. But the bachelor, as well as the monogamic -youth, was prone to backsliding and apostacy. This, -when I was at Great Salt Lake City, was apparently -so common that many of the new Saints formed a -mere floating population. But without expressing -any further opinions (those I have given so far are -merely the opinions of others), I may say that the -result of my investigations was to prove that Great -Salt Lake City had been wonderfully successful in -its colonisation. Physically speaking, there was no -comparison between the Saints and the class from -which they were mostly taken, and, in point of view -of mere morality, the Mormon community was perhaps -purer than any other of equal numbers.</p> - -<p><!--Page 215--> -About the middle of September the time for my -departure drew nigh. I prepared for difficulties by -having my hair “shingled off,” till my head somewhat -resembled a pointer’s dorsum, and deeply regretted -having left all my wigs behind me. We laid in a -good store of provisions, not forgetting an allowance -of whiskey and schnapps.</p> - -<p>My last evening was spent in the genial company -of a few friends. I thanked Governor Cumming for -his generous hospitality, and made my acknowledgments -to the courtesy of his amiable wife. My -adieux were on an extensive scale, and the next day, -September 19th, in the morning, I left Great Salt -Lake City, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> for the South.</p> - -<p>The day was fine and wondrous clear, affording a -splendid back view of the Happy Valley before it -was finally shut out from sight, and the Utah Lake -looked a very gem of beauty, a diamond in its setting -of steelly blue mountains. It was with a feeling of -real regret that I bade adieu to the City of the Saints.</p> -<!--Page 216--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 217--><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">A MISSION TO DAHOMÉ</span><br /> -1863</h3> -<!--Page 218--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 219--> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">A MISSION TO DAHOMÉ</span></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">1863</h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">IT is a long stride from Salt Lake City to -Dahomé, from the Mormons to the Amazons, -but I take my visit to the King of Dahomé as -next in date. Before, however, beginning my -journey to Dahomé let me touch briefly on that -much-vexed and little-understood subject—​the -negro.</p> - -<p>Central Intertropical Africa, lying between north -latitude 10° and south latitude 20°, at that time -contained eight considerable negro circles, which may -be called kingdoms. Of these there were three on -the west coast north of the Equator, namely:</p> - -<p>1st. Ashanti, the land which exports the “Minas” -negroes. This despotism has been well known to -us since the beginning of the present century. The -capital is Kumasi, nearly 133 direct miles from the -coast. This empire may be said to rest on two pillars, -blood and gold. Human sacrifice was excessive, -and the “customs” mean the slaughter of fellow-creatures.</p> - -<p><abbr title="second">2nd.</abbr> Benin, a kingdom well known to old travellers, -and the place where Belzoni of the Pyramids died. -<!--Page 220--> -I visited it in August, 1862, and my reception was -the crucifixion of a negro. On the night after my -arrival a second slave was slain and placed before -my doorway. My lodgings commanded a view of -the principal square, which was strewn with human -bones, <em>green</em> and <em>white</em>.</p> - -<p><abbr title="third">3rd.</abbr> Dahomé. From the plain and unvarnished -account of this tyranny, which I am about to relate, -may be estimated the amount of hopeless misery which -awaited the African in Africa. And as it is unsatisfactory -to point out a disease without suggesting a -remedy, I will propose my panacea at the end of -this essay.</p> - -<p>We now cross the Equator and find ourselves -among the great South African family. Their -common origin is proved by their speech. Briefly -to characterise their language, the place of our genders -are taken by personal and impersonal forms, and all -changes of words are made at the beginning, not, as -with us, at the end. The Kaffir (Caffre race in South-east -Africa) is evidently a mixed breed, and it has -nearly annihilated the Bushmen and the Hottentots—​the -original lords of the land. There is a curious -resemblance between the Coptic, or Old Egyptian, and -the Hottentot tongues, which suggests that in the -prehistoric ages one language extended from the -Nile Valley to the Cape of Good Hope. The true -negroes, distinguished by their long, ape-like head and -projecting jaws, bowed shins and elongated heels and -forearms, are all the tribes of Intertropical Africa -<!--Page 221--> -whose blood is unmixed. This is my definition; but -of this point opinions differ.</p> - -<p>And here we may stand to view the gleam of light -which the future casts across the Dark Continent. -Slowly but surely the wave of Moslem conquest rolls -down towards the line. Every Moslem is a propagandist, -and their traders, unlike ours, carry conversion -with them. This fact European missionaries deny, -because they do not like it: they would rather preach -to heathens than to Moslems, whom Locke describes -as unorthodox Christians. They even deny the -superiority of El Islam, which forbids the pagan -abominations of child-murder, human sacrifice, witch-burning, -ordeal-poisons, and horrors innumerable. -But we, who look forward to the advent of a -higher law, of a nobler humanity, hail with infinite -pleasure every sign of progress.</p> - -<p>Philanthropists, whose heads are sometimes softer -than their hearts, have summed up their opinion -of slavery as the “sum of all villainies.” I look upon -it as an evil, to the slaveholder even more than to -the slave, but a necessary evil, or, rather, a condition -of things essentially connected, like polygamy, with -the progress of human society, especially in the tropics. -The savage hunting tribes slave for themselves; -they are at the bottom of the ladder. Advancing to -agricultural and settled life, man must have assistants, -hands, slaves. As population increases, commerce -develops itself and free labour fills the markets; the -slave and the serf are emancipated: they have done -<!--Page 222--> -their task; they disappear from the community, never -more to return. Hence every nation, Hindu and -Hebrew, English and French, have had slaves; all -rose to their present state of civilisation by the “sum -of all villainies.” And here, when owning slavery to -be an evil, I must guard against being misunderstood. -It is an evil to the white man: it is often an incalculable -boon to the black. In the case of the -negro it is life, it is comfort, it is civilisation; in -the case of the white it has done evil by retarding -progress, by demoralising society, and by giving -rise to a mixed race.</p> - -<p>And there is yet another point to be settled when -speaking of the negro. In the United States every -black man is a negro, or, to speak politely, a “cullard -pussun.” Thus the noble races of Northern Africa -and the half-Arab Moors, the Nubians and Abyssinians, -and the fine Kaffir (Caffre) type of South-eastern Africa -are confounded with the anthropoid of Sierra Leone, -of the Guinea and of the Congo regions. The -families first mentioned differ more from the true -negro than they do from the white man.</p> - -<p>My first visit to Gelele, then King of Dahomé, -was in May and June, 1863. Already in 1861 I had -proposed to restore those amicable relations which -we had with his father Gezo; but my application -was not accepted by the Government. On my return -to the West African coast after a six weeks’ visit -to England, the journey was made on my own -responsibility, and it was not pleasant. I was alone—​in -<!--Page 223--> -such matters negroes do not count as men—​and -four mortal days upon the Slave Coast lagoons, salt, -miry rivers, rich only in mud, miasma, and mosquitoes, -with drenching rains and burning suns playing upon -a cramping canoe without awning, are unsatisfactory -even to remember. Having reached Whydah, the -seaport and slave-market of Dahomé, I procured -a hammock, and in three days I arrived at Kana, a -summer residency for the Court, distant 7,500 miles -from Agbomé, the capital.</p> - -<p>The human sacrifices called the “nago customs” -had lately ended. Twelve men had lost their lives, -and, dressed in various attire like reapers, dancers, -and musicians, had been exposed on tall scaffolds -of strong scantling. “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">C’est se moquer de l’humanité</i>,” -remarked to me the Principal of the French Mission -at Whydah. But the corpses had been removed, and -during my flying visit of five days nothing offensive -was witnessed.</p> - -<p>At Kana I met M. Jules Gerard, first “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">le chasseur</i>,” -then “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">le tueur des lions</i>”: we had sailed together -from Europe to Madeira, and he had been sea-sick -during the whole voyage. Men who have spent -their youth in the excitement of dangerous sport -often lose their nerve in middle age. This was the -case with the unfortunate lion-hunter; the sight of the -“customs” threw him into a fever. Disappointment -also weighed upon his spirits. He came to West -Africa in the hope that his fame as a killer of lions -had preceded him; but the only lion that can exist -<!--Page 224--> -in that mouldy climate is the British lion, and even -he is not a terrible beast to bring amongst the ladies. -He expected to find Dahomé a kind of Algiers, and -he exchanged a good for a very bad country. He -had set his mind upon crossing the northern frontier; -but the king at once put an end to that plan, and -afterwards played me the same trick. He had also -based his hopes upon his good shooting and upon -an explosive bullet calculated to do great execution; -but many of the king’s women guards could use -their guns better than he did, and when the said shell -was produced, Gelele sent to his stores and brought -out a box-full.</p> - -<p>M. Gerard proposed to himself a journey which -would have severely tried the health of the strongest -man in Europe. He resolved to make his way from -the Gulf of Guinea through dangerous Timbuktu -(Timbuctos) and the terrible Sahara to Algiers. I -advised him to retire to Teneriffe or Madeira and -recruit his energies. But he was game to the last. -He made another departure through the malarious -Sherbro country, south of pestilential Sierra Leone. -The next thing we heard of him was when crossing -the Jong River he had been drowned by the upsetting -of a canoe. Somewhat later came the report that -he had been foully murdered. I was rejoiced to hear -that a subscription had been raised for his aged and -bereaved mother.</p> - -<p>Having reported that Dahomé was, under normal -circumstances, as safe as most parts of Africa, I received -<!--Page 225--> -in August, 1863, orders to visit it as Commissioner. -My “mission” was to make certain presents to the -king, and to preach up cotton and palm oil versus -war and human sacrifices. I may begin by saying I -lectured hard and talked to the wind.</p> - -<p><abbr title="Her Majesty's">H.M.’s</abbr> cruiser <span class="title">Antelope</span> landed me at Whydah -in December, the dry season, and the surf was not -particularly dangerous. The beach is open; between -it and Brazil rolls the broad Atlantic; and near the -shore are an outer and inner sandbar with an interval -forming a fine breeding-ground for sharks. A girl -is occasionally thrown in as an offering to “Hu,” the -sea-dog, and this does not diminish the evil.</p> - -<p>We entered Whydah in state, paraded and surrounded -by chiefs and soldiery in war dress, kilts -and silver horns like the giraffe’s: their arms were -long guns and short swords for decapitating the -wounded. Each troop had its flag, its umbrella, -its band of drums and tom-toms, its horns and -cymbals. I especially remarked a gourd bottle full -of, and covered with, cowries, or pebbles—​in fact the -celebrated “maraca” of Brazil, which, it has been -conjectured, contributed towards the formation of -the word America. Every five minutes the warriors -halted to drink and dance. The drink is easily -described—​tafia or bad caxaca. But the dance! I -defy mortal man to paint it in words. Let me briefly -say that the arms are held up as though the owner -were running, the elbows being jerked so as nearly -to meet behind the back; the hands paddle like the -<!--Page 226--> -paws of a swimming dog; the feet shuffle and stamp -as though treading water; the body-trunk joins in -the play, and the hips move backwards and forwards -to the beating time. The jig and the hornpipe are -repose compared with this performance. There is -also a decapitation dance over an ideal dead enemy, -whose head is duly sawn off with the edge of the hand.</p> - -<p>At Whydah I lodged at the English fort, a -large double-storied building of “taipa,” tenanted by -Wesleyan missionaries. It was once a strong place, -as the ruined towers and burst guns show.</p> - -<p>There were three other forts in the town. The -Brazilian, which was nearest the sea, was held by -Chico de Souza, the son of the late Francisco Fellis de -Souza. This was a remarkable man. Born at Cachoeira, -near Bahia, he emigrated to Africa, where by courage -and conduct he became the Chacha, or Governor, of -the Guild of Merchants, a kind of Board of Trade. -He made an enormous fortune, and by his many -wives he left about a hundred olive branches. -Though a slave-dealer, he was a man of honour -and honesty. The English had done him many an -injury, yet he was invariably courteous and hospitable -to every English traveller. He strongly opposed -human sacrifice, and he saved many lives by curious -contrivances. Of the same stamp was M. Domingos -Martins of Bahia, once celebrated for enormous -wealth. He died in the interval between my first -and second visits. I regretted his death, for he -had been most kind and attentive to me.</p> - -<p><!--Page 227--> -The Portuguese fort had also been repaired, and -was inhabited by six members of the Lyons Mission, -“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Vicariate Apostolique de Dahomé</i>.” They kept a -school, and they were apparently convinced that it -was hopeless to attempt the conversion of adults. -The superior, Father François Borghero, had several -times been ill-treated by the barbarians, and his hatred -of idolatry had exposed him to not a little danger. It -is rare in those lands to find a highly educated and -thoroughly gentlemanly man; and, looking back, I am -not surprised that all my time not occupied by study -or observation was spent in the Portuguese fort.</p> - -<p>Lastly, there was the French fort, in far better condition -than the others. It was held in my time by M. -Marius Daumas, agent to M. Regis (<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">aîné</i>) of Marseilles, -and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">faute de mieux</i> he was buying and shipping palm -oil.</p> - -<p>Whydah was easily seen. The houses were red -“taipa” with thick thatch, and each had its large and -slovenly courtyard. The market-place was a long -street of small booths open to the front, where -everything from a needle to a moleque (small slave-boy) -could be bought. The thoroughfares were -studded with small round roofs of grass, which -sheltered a hideous deity called Legba. He was made -of muddy clay, with holes for eyes and cowries for -teeth, and he squatted before a pot in which the -faithful placed provisions, which were devoured by the -urubu (vulture). The chief temple was dedicated to -the danh, or snake, which here was the principal -<!--Page 228--> -“fetish.” It was a circular hut with two doorless -entrances, and the venerated boas curled themselves -comfortably on the thickness of the walls. The -largest was about six feet long, and it was dangerous -only to rats, of which it was very fond. Several -foreigners had been killed for injuring these reptiles, -and Whydah, once an independent kingdom, lost -her liberty through the snakes. When attacked by -Dahomé in 1729, her chief defence was to place a -serpent on the invaders’ path. The Dahomans -killed the guardian genius and slaughtered the -Whydahs till the streets ran blood. But, when -the conquerors had reduced their neighbour, they -gave her leave to adore the snake, and Whydah felt -consoled, even happy. It sounds like a traveller’s -tale. I am writing history.</p> - -<p>At Whydah we complied with the custom of -sending up a messenger to report our arrival. After -three days came three officials from the palace, who -presented their sticks and delivered to me a verbal -invitation from their master. The sticks were white -sticks, two feet long, adorned with plates of silver, -cut into the shapes of lions, sharks, crocodiles, and -other savage beasts. These batons served as visiting -cards, and were signs of dignity. When the king -made me honorary commandant of a corps of life-guardswomen, -he sent me two sticks by way of -commission or diploma.</p> - -<p>We set out <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> for the capital on December -13th, 1863. My little party consisted of Mr. George -<!--Page 229--> -Cruikshank, a naval assistant-surgeon detached to -accompany me; the <abbr title="Reverend">Rev.</abbr> Mr. Bernasco, Wesleyan -missionary and private friend of the king; two negro -interpreters, thirty hammock men, and a troop of -baggage porters. This made up a total of ninety-nine -mouths, which were never idle except when asleep.</p> - -<p>Between the seaboard and Kana, the “villegiatura,” -or country capital, of the king, there were fifty-two -to fifty-three direct miles. The country was here a -campo, or rolling grassy prairie: there was a dense -and magnificent forest. At every few miles there -were settlements, now villages, once capitals which -felt the weight of the Dahomé arm. The first was -Savé, ancient metropolis of the Whydah kingdom, -when the present Whydah, which was properly Gle-hwe, -or the Garden House, was only a squalid port. The -territory was only thirty miles by seven, but it mustered -200,000 fighting men. This, however, was easily -explained. In Africa every male between the ages -of seventeen and fifty carried arms: this would be -about one-fifth of the population; consequently there -was one million inhabitants in an area of two -hundred square miles (4,762 souls to each mile).</p> - -<p>After Savé came Tevé, also an ex-capital. It was -a pretty little village commanded by a Dahoman -“caboceer.” This frequently used word is a corruption -of a Portuguese corruption, “caboceer,” or, rather, -“caboceira,” and means a pillow, a headman, or -a chief officer. The etiquette on arriving at such -places is as follows. You alight from your hammock -<!--Page 230--> -before the tree under which the grandee and his -party are drawn up to receive you with vociferous -shouts, with singing, drumming, and dancing. After -the first greetings you pledge him in fresh water, -which he has tasted before you. Then you drink -spirits and receive an offering of provisions. You -make a return of rum and gin, the people drum, -dance, sing, and shout their thanks, and you are -at liberty to proceed.</p> - -<p>On the fourth day we crossed the “Agrime Swamp,” -which is hardly practicable in the wet season. The -road then entered upon a true continent: we emerged -from the false coast, which at one time was under -water, and which is raised by secular upheaval. At -the little town of Agrime we were delayed till the -king, who was in his country capital, sent an escort -and permission to advance.</p> - -<p>On Friday, December 18th, we entered Kana, a -large and scattered town, shaded by magnificent trees. -It is about two hundred and seventy feet above sea-level, -and the climate is a relief after Whydah. The -morrow was fixed for our reception. It was Ember -Day, and the date could hardly have been better -chosen.</p> - -<p>It is hardly possible to form an idea of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">peine -forte et dure</i> attending the presentation in Africa. -It is every negro’s object to keep the white man -waiting as long as possible, and the visitor must -be very firm and angry if he would not lose all his -time.</p> - -<p><!--Page 231--> -We were duly warned to be ready at 10 a.m.; -but local knowledge kept me in the house till -1 p.m. Then we sat under a tree upon the -chairs which we had brought from Whydah, to -witness the procession of “caboceers.” Each grandee, -preceded by his flag or flags, his band of drums -and rattles, and his armed retainers dancing and -singing, passed before us, shaded by an enormous -umbrella of many colours. Having marched round, -he came up to us and snapped fingers (the local -style of shaking hands); then he drank with us three -toasts, beginning with his master’s health. After the -“caboceers” trooped various companies—​musicians, -eunuchs, and jesters. The last are buffoons, reminding -one of our feudal days. Their entertainment -consists in “making faces” (<i lang="pt" xml:lang="pt">cara feia</i>), as children -say—​wrinkling the forehead, protruding the tongue, -and clapping the jaws as apes do. They can tumble -a little and “throw the cart wheel” neatly; they -dance in a caricatured style, draw in the stomach -to show that they are hungry, pretend to be deaf -and dumb, smoke a bone by way of a pipe, and -imitate my writing by scratching a sweet potato with -a stick.</p> - -<p>The review over, we made for the palace in a -long procession; my men, wearing bright red caps -and waist-cloths, carried the flag of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> George. The -royal abodes are all on the same pattern: enclosures -of “taipa” wall, four courses high, and pierced with -eight or ten gates. The irregular square or oblong -<!--Page 232--> -may be half a mile in circumference. At the principal -entrances are thatched sheds like verandahs, one -hundred feet long by fourteen to fifteen feet deep. -The roof ledge rises sixty to seventy feet high, -enough for two stories, whilst the eaves of thick and -solidly packed straw rested upon posts barely four -feet tall. The inner buildings, as far as they could -be seen, corresponded with the external, and the king -held his levées in one of these barn-like sheds. The -royal sleeping-places, which were often changed, were -described to me as neat rooms, divided from the courtyard -by a wall with a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chevaux de frise</i> of human -jawbones. The floors were paved with the skulls -of conquered chiefs, forming a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">descente de lit</i> upon -which Gelele had the daily pleasure of trampling.</p> - -<p>The complicated reception was typical of the -Dahoman military empire. We found, ranged in -a line outside the gate, twenty-four umbrellas or -brigades belonging to the highest male dignitaries. -The army, or, what was here synonymous, the -Court, was divided into two portions, male and -female, or, rather, female and male, as the women -troops took precedence. They occupied the inside -of the palace, and they were the king’s bodyguard -in peace or war. Each line had a right and -a left wing, so called from their position relative -to the throne. The former, which is the senior, was -commanded by the “min-gau” who cumulated -the offices of premier and head executioner. His -lieutenant was the adanejan. Dahoman officials, for -<!--Page 235--> -better espionage, were always in pairs. The general -of the left wing was the “meu,” who collected revenue -and tribute, declared war, and had charge of all -strangers. His <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alter ego</i> was styled the ben-wan-ton. -Under these great men were smaller great men, and -all were <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">de facto</i> as well as <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">de jure</i> slaves to the -king.</p> - -<!--Page 233--> -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/i_212.jpg" - alt="Illustration: Burton visits King of Dahome" - /> -<p class="creditwide">[<span class="decoration"><a href="#king">See Page 213.</a></span></p> - <p class="caption"><span class="sc lowercase">BURTON VISITS THE KING OF DAHOMÉ.</span> </p> -</div> - -<!--Page 234--><!--Blank Page--> - -<p>Presently we were summoned to enter the palace. -We closed our umbrellas by order, walked hurriedly -across a large yard, and halted at a circle of white -sand spread upon the clayey ground. Here we -bowed to a figure sitting under the shady thatch; -and he returned, we were told, the compliment. -The chief ministers who accompanied us fell flat -upon the sand, kissed it, rolled in it, and threw it -by handfuls over their heads and robes of satin -and velvet. The ceremony is repeated at every -possible opportunity; and when the king drinks, all -the subjects turn their backs upon him and shout.</p> - -<p><a name="king" id="king"></a>Then we advanced to the clay bench upon which -King Gelele sat. After the usual quadruple bows -and hand-wavings, he stood up, tucked in his toga, -descended to the ground, and, aided by nimble feminine -fingers, donned his sandals. He then greeted me -with sundry vigorous wrings <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">à la John Bull</i>, and -inquired after Queen Victoria, the Ministry, and -the people of England, which country is supposed -to be like Dahomé, but a little larger and richer.</p> - -<p>Our chairs were then placed before the seat, to -which he returned, and we drank the normal three -<!--Page 236--> -toasts to his health. On these occasions it is not -necessary to empty the glass, which may be handed -to an attendant. Salutes having been fired, we -retired a hundred feet from the presence and sat -under giant umbrellas.</p> - -<p>Gelele was then about forty-five years old, upwards -of six feet high, olive complexioned, athletic and -well made, with clear signs of African blood. His -dress was simple to excess: a loose shirt of plain -white stuff edged with green silk, a small smoking-cap, -a few iron rings on his arms, and a human tooth -strung round his neck. The only splendour was -in his gold and scarlet sandals, here distinctive of -royalty. They were studded with crosses, also royal -emblems. He called himself a Christian, and he was -a Moslem as well: like all barbarians, he would rather -believe too much than too little, and he would give -himself every chance in both worlds.</p> - -<p>Under the thatch behind the king were his wives, -known by their handsome dresses, silver hair studs, -and the absence of weapons. They atoned for want -of beauty by excessive devotion to their lord, who -apparently did everything by proxy except smoke his -long-stemmed clay pipe.</p> - -<p>The inner court of the palace reflected the outer, -and the women sat in the sun along the external wall -of the royal shed with their musket-barrels bristling -upwards. The right wing was commanded by a -“premieress,” who executed all women; the left -was also under the she “meu.” A semicircle of -<!--Page 237--> -bamboos lying on the ground separated the sexes at -levées. The instrument of communication was a -woman-messenger, who, walking up to the bamboos, -delivered her message on all fours to the “meu.” -The latter proclaimed it to the many.</p> - -<p>I must here say a few words about the Amazons, -or fighting women. The corps was a favourite with -the late king, who thus checked the turbulence and -treachery of his male subjects. The number was -estimated at 10,000 to 12,000; I do not believe it -exceeded 2,500. They were divided into blunderbuss-women, -elephant-hunters, beheaders, who carry razors -four feet long, and the line armed with muskets and -short swords.</p> - -<p>All the Amazons were <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ex-officio</i> royal wives, and the -first person who made the king a father was one of -his soldieresses. It was high treason to touch them -even accidentally; they lodged in the palace, and when -they went abroad all men, even strangers, had to clear -off the road. Gelele often made his visitors honorary -commandants of his guard of Amazons (I was made -one); but this did not entitle them to inspect -companies.</p> - -<p>Such a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</i> makes the Amazons, as might be -expected, intolerably fierce. Their sole object in life -is blood-spilling and head-snatching. They pride -themselves upon not being men, and with reason. -The soldiers blink and shrink when they fire their -guns; the soldieresses do not. The men run away; -the women fight to the bitter end. In the last -<!--Page 238--> -attack on the city of Abokuta (March 15th, 1864) -several of the Amazons of my own regiment scaled -the walls; their brethren-in-arms hardly attempted -the feat.</p> - -<p>Dahomé thus presented the anomaly of an African -kingdom in which women took precedence of men. -Hence every employé of Government had to choose a -“mother”—​that is to say, some elderly Amazon officer -who would look after his interests at headquarters. -Often he had two, an “old mother,” dating from the -days of the late king, and a “young mother,” belonging -to the actual reign. He had to pay them well, or his -affairs were inevitably bad. Thus there was also a -Brazilian, an English, and a French “mother”; and -visitors of those nations were expected to propitiate -their fond and unpleasant parents with presents of -cloth, jewelry, perfumes, and so forth.</p> - -<p>The levée ended with a kind of parade. A few -simple manœuvres and many furious decapitation -dances were performed by a select company of the -young Amazons. They were decently dressed in -long sleeveless waistcoats, petticoats of various coloured -cottons, secured at the waist by a sash and extending -to the ankles, whilst narrow fillets of ribbon secured -their hair and denoted their corps. Their arms were -muskets and short swords, and all had belts, bullet -bags, and cartridge boxes.</p> - -<p>When the sun set a bottle of rum was sent to -us. At this hint we rose and prepared to retire. -Gelele again descended from his seat and accompanied -<!--Page 239--> -us to the gate, preceded by a buzzing swarm of -courtiers, who smoothed every inch of ground for -the royal foot. He finally shook hands with us, -and promised to meet us in a few days at Agbomé, -the capital.</p> - -<p>We lost no time in setting out for Agbomé, and -were surprised to find an excellent carriage road, broad -and smooth, between the two cities. Agbomé had -no hotels, but we managed lodgings at the house of -the bukono, a high officer who was doctor and wizard -to the Court and curator of strangers, whom he fleeced -pitilessly.</p> - -<p>I will now touch briefly on the ill-famed “customs” -of Dahomé. The word is taken from the Portuguese -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">costume</i>, and here means the royal sacrifices. Many -travellers have witnessed them, but no one has -attempted to inquire into their origin. I attribute -these murderous customs not to love of bloodshed, -but simply to filial piety.</p> - -<p>The Dahoman, like the ancient Egyptian, holds -this world to be his temporary lodging. His own -home is Ku-to-men, or Deadman’s Land. It is not -a place of rewards and punishments, but a Hades -for ghosts, a region of shades, where the king will -rule for ever and where the slave will always serve. -The idea is ever present to the popular mind. When, -for instance, sunshine accompanies rain the Dahoman -says the spirits are marketing. In Brazil the fox is -marrying; in England the devil is beating his wife.</p> - -<p>A deceased king cannot, therefore, be sent to Ku-to-men -<!--Page 240--> -as a common negro. At his interment a small -court must be slain—​leopard-wives (that is to say, -young and handsome wives), old wives, ministers, -friends, soldiers, musicians, men and women. These -are the grand customs, which may average one -thousand to two thousand deaths. The annual customs, -which we were now to witness, reinforce the ghostly -court, and number from eighty to one hundred head.</p> - -<p>But destruction of life does not end here. All -novelties, such as the arrival of an officer in uniform, -must be reported to the dead by the living king. A -captive or a criminal is summoned, and the message -is given to him. He is made to swallow a bottle -of rum, whose object is to keep him in a good -humour, and his head is then and there struck off. -Only on one occasion did the patient object to the -journey, saying that he did not know the road to -Ku-to-men. “You shall soon find it out!” cried -the king, who at once decapitated the wretch without -rum. If any portion of the message be forgotten, -another victim must be despatched with it. A hard-hearted -traveller calls this the postscript.</p> - -<p>A Dahoman king neglecting these funeral rites -would have been looked upon as the most impious -of men, and a powerful priesthood would soon have -sent him to Ku-to-men on his own account. It -may now be understood how hopeless was my mission. -It may be compared, without disrespect, to memorialising -the Vatican against masses for the dead. The king’s -sole and necessary answer was <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">non possumus</i>.</p> - -<p><!--Page 241--> -The “customs” began on December 28th, 1863, -and ended on January 25th, 1864. They were of -two kinds. The first was performed by Gelele, king -of the city; the second are in the name of Addo-Kpon, -ruler of the “bush,” or country—​also Gelele. The -ruler of Dahomé was thus double, two persons in one, -and each had his separate palace and property, mothers -and ministers, Amazons, officers, and soldiers. I -have conjectured that the reason of this strange -organisation is that the “bush-king” may buy and -sell, which the “city-king” holds to be below his -dignity.</p> - -<p>The description of a single “custom” will suffice. -About midday of December 28th, when summoned -to the palace, we passed through the market-place, -and we found the victim-shed finished and furnished. -This building was a long, wall-less barn one hundred -feet long, the roof was a thatch covered with a -striped cloth on a blood-red ground and supported -by tree trunks. On the west was a two-storied tower, -sixty feet high, with four posts in front of each -floor. There were on this occasion twenty victims -sitting on stools, each before his post, with his arms -around it and his wrists lashed together outside it. -The confinement was not cruel; each had a slave -to flap away the flies, all were fed four times a day, -and they were released at night. The dress was a -long white nightcap and a calico shirt with blue and -crimson patches and bindings. A white man would -have tried to escape; these negroes are led like -<!--Page 242--> -black sheep to the slaughter. They marked time -as the bands played, and they chatted together, -apparently quizzing us. I may here remark that -at my request the king released half of these men, -and that not one of them took the trouble to thank -me or to beg alms from me.</p> - -<p>Hardly were we seated when Gelele, protected by -a gorgeous canopy umbrella, came forth from the -palace with Amazons and courtiers in a dense, dark -stream. Having visited his fetish gods, he greeted -us and retired to his seat under the normal shed. -As at Kana, his wives crowded together behind and -the soldieresses ranged themselves in front. The -ceremonies consisted of dancing, drumming, and distributing -decorations—​necklaces of red and yellow -beads. There was fearful boasting about feats of -past valour and bravery to come. About sunset the -king suddenly approached us, and I thanked him for -the spectacle. He then withdrew, and we lost no -time in following his example.</p> - -<p>Nothing could be poorer than this display: any -petty Indian rajah can command more wealth and -splendour. All was barren barbarism, and the only -“sensation” was produced by a score of human beings -condemned to death and enjoying the death show.</p> - -<p>On the morrow I sent a message to the palace, -officially objecting to be present at any human sacrifice, -and declaring that if any murder took place before me -I should retire to the coast. The reply was that few -were to be executed, that the victims would only be -<!--Page 243--> -malignant war captives and the worst of criminals, and -that all should be killed at night. With this crumb of -comfort I was compelled to rest satisfied. Hitherto -gangs of victims cruelly gagged had been paraded -before visitors, in whose hearing and often before -whose sight the murders were committed. Something -is gained by diminishing the demoralising prominence -of these death scenes. It is not so long ago since it -was determined that the “customs” of England should -be performed within the prisons, and not further debase -the mob of spectators.</p> - -<p>The catastrophe took place on what is called the -“zan nya nyana,” or the evil night. At intervals we -heard the boom of the death-drum announcing some -horrible slaughter. It was reported that the king had -with his own hand assisted the premier-executioner.</p> - -<p>On the next morning we were summoned to the -palace, whose approach was a horror. Four corpses, -habited in the criminal shirts and nightcaps, sat as -though in life upon the usual dwarf stools. The seats -were supported upon a two-storied scaffold made of -four rough beams, two upright and two horizontal, -and about forty feet high. On a similar but smaller -erection hard by were two victims, one above the other. -Between these substantial erections was a tall gallows of -thin posts, from which a single victim dangled by his -heels. Lastly, another framework of the same kind -was planted close to our path, and attached to the -cross-bar, with fine cords round the ankles and above -the knees, hung two corpses side by side and head -<!--Page 244--> -downwards. The bodies, though stiff, showed no signs -of violence: the wretches had probably been stifled.</p> - -<p>At the south-eastern gate of the palace we found -freshly severed heads in two batches of six each, -surrounded by a raised rim of ashes. The clean-cut -necks were turned upwards, and the features were -not visible. Within the entrance were two more -heads; all the bodies had been removed, so as not to -offend the king.</p> - -<p>Thus on Gelele’s “evil night” twenty-three human -beings had lost their lives. And this is but one act in -the fatal drama called the “customs.” It is said that -an equal number of women were slaughtered within -the walls of the royal abode, and I had every reason -to believe the report.</p> - -<p>I was kept waiting more than a month in this den of -abominations before the king could enter upon public -affairs. He was discontented with the presents sent -from England, and he was preparing to attack a huge -Nago city—​Abeokuta—​where, by-the-bye, he was -signally defeated.</p> - -<p>When my last visit to him took place he stubbornly -ignored, even in the least important matters, the wishes -of <abbr title="Her Majesty's">H.M.’s</abbr> Government. Filled with an exaggerated -idea of his own importance, and flattered almost to -madness by his courtiers, he proceeded to dictate his -own terms. His next thought was an ignoble greed -for presents. He bade me a friendly adieu, and asked -me to visit him next year with an English carriage and -horses, a large silk pavilion, and other such little gifts. -<!--Page 245--> -I refused to promise, and I resolved not to put my -head for the third time into the hyæna’s mouth. For -although Gelele has never shed the blood of a white -man, he might, at the bidding of his fetishers, send a -new kind of messenger to Ku-to-men by means of a -cup of coffee or a dish of meat. I was glad when I -found myself safely back in the pestilential climate of -Fernando Po.</p> -<!--Page 246--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 247--><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">A TRIP UP THE CONGO</span><br /> -1863</h3> -<!--Page 248--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 249--> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">A TRIP UP THE CONGO</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_7" id="fnanchor_7"></a><a href="#footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></span></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">1863</h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">BEFORE starting on an exploration into any -part of Africa (especially the West Coast), it is -essential that the traveller should be properly equipped -with the necessary kit both for the inward and outward -man. Clothing, blankets, and waterproofs of -every description; tea, coffee, and sugar if they be -desirable; a few bottles of real genuine cognac if -come-at-able, or some ten years’ old Jamaica rum if -attainable.</p> - -<p>On the occasion of our starting from Fernando -Po in August 1863, for the purpose of ascending -the river Congo, our kit consisted of one bullock-trunk, -one small portable canteen, one dressing-bag, -two uniform-cases, one hat-box, one gun-case, one -tin box, one deal case of bread, one package of tins -of milk, one canteen of cooking utensils, one tin -of green tea, one ditto coffee, one small box of medical -comforts, etc., two striped bags, a white canvas -bag containing newspapers, three guns, two walking -<!--Page 250--> -sticks, one camp bed and mats, two revolvers, one -simpiesometer, a pocket azimuth, an instrument case, -one powder horn, one shot-bag and hunting ditto. -At <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Paul de Loanda we added two cases of gin, -and at Point Banana twelve pieces of siamois, or -fancy cloths, twenty pieces riscados, or blue and white -stripe, and ten pieces satin stripe, besides six thousand -five hundred beads, china, and imitation corals. To -all this we afterwards received at Embomma fifteen -kegs of gunpowder and ten demijohns of rum.</p> - -<p><abbr title="Her Majesty's Ship">H.M.S.</abbr> <span class="title">Torch</span> took us down to Loango Bay, -and there Captain Smith transferred us on board the -sloop-of-war <span class="title">Zebra</span>, Captain Hoskins, who in his -turn took us to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Paul’s and put us in the hands -of Captain Perry, of <abbr title="Her Majesty's Ship">H.M.S.</abbr> <span class="title">Griffon</span>, and this -latter vessel took us into the Congo; and forthwith -we commenced a start up the river on August -31st, 1863.</p> - -<p>The usual mode of ascending the river up as far -as Embomma is by means of small fore and aft -schooners, generally from twenty to forty tons -measurement, which are heavily sparred and well supplied -with canvas. Our gear was taken by the <span class="title">Griffon’s</span> -boats and put on board the French schooner -<span class="title">Esperance</span>. We had a fine breeze that afternoon, -and the <span class="title">Esperance</span> sailed up the river most gallantly. -The party on board consisted of myself, Captain Perry, -Mr. Bigley, and Monsieur Pisseaux, a Frenchman; -besides William Dean, boatswain, my servant, four -French native soldiers, and the schooner’s crew.</p> - -<p><!--Page 251--> -<span class="date">Wednesday, September 2nd.</span>—​We breakfasted at a -Portuguese factory, and soon after breakfast we -weighed anchor and sailed up the river, arriving -betimes at Porto da Lentra. In the afternoon we -left Porto da Lentra, and proceeded. Passed several -villages on the port hand. Boat got ashore several -times after dark. About nine o’clock the Missolongis -hailed and asked who we were. When I answered, -they said they would pay us a visit during the night. -We prepared to give them a warm reception. During -the night we rounded Point Devil, a most dangerous -place for navigation. Anchored at 10.30 p.m.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Thursday, September 3rd.</span>—​Arrived at Embomma at -1.30 p.m. Embomma contained a French factory and -several Portuguese establishments. At 9.30 we got -under weigh again, and in about an hour afterwards -entered a part of the river where it assumes the -appearance of an inland lake, some parts nearly two -miles wide. The scenery here is varied, but principally -hilly, the highest of the hills being about 1,500 feet -above the level of the river. Here we met a native -chief in his canoe. He came to levy contributions -from us. His people, who were armed with guns and -hatchets, made various warlike gestures and ordered -us to stop. Monsieur Pisseaux being our guide and -adviser, we were compelled to pay one bottle of rum -and a piece of cloth twelve fathoms in length.</p> - -<p>Captain Perry shot a fish-eagle, which was considered -a fine achievement, as very few of that species can -be shot on account of their inclination to fly high -<!--Page 252--> -in the air and to perch on the highest trees. About -three o’clock we landed to rest, the scenery still -bearing the same character, only perhaps the hills -were a little higher than those we had passed. The -grass was dry all over the hills (indeed, everywhere -except close to the water’s edge); and little animal -life being visible, the country had a very barren and -desolate appearance. The trees were not of much -consequence, and most of those we saw were stunted -and leafless. The chief were the baobab, or monkey -bread-fruit tree, the fan palm, or palmijra, a few -palm-nut trees, and a species of large spreading tree -well scattered over the water side. Its leaves were of -a dark green colour, about the size of the lime leaf; -its fruit, a long reddish plum, was said to be eaten -by monkeys, and also to be fit for human food.</p> - -<p>Here was the farthest extent of Monsieur Pisseaux’s -knowledge of the river, and, to our future sorrow, -we landed in the banza, or district, of Nokki. We -cooked some food on shore, and messengers were -despatched with a bottle of gin to the king of Kayé.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Tuesday, September 8th.</span>—​We now left the river -for the interior, and found the road excessively irksome -and trying to our wind and legs; nothing but hills -and dales, the descents and ascents very difficult, -and stony withal, the soles of our feet receiving a -most disagreeable grating on small quartz and schistus. -Passing one or two fields of native beans, we arrived -at the village of Kindemba.</p> - -<p>After resting here for a short time we again -<!--Page 253--> -started, and ascended a hill some six or seven hundred -feet in height, and came to another village, where we -saw something like a large baracoon for slaves, but -it turned out to be a fetish house for circumcised -boys.</p> - -<p>Not many minutes’ walk from this was the -village of Kayé. On entering it we were marched -off to see the king. We found him seated in state, -dressed in a motley garb of European manufacture: -a white shirt with collar turned down, a crimson -velvet loin-cloth, fringed with gold and tied round -the waist by means of a belt, and a beautifully -mounted sheath-knife stuck in the belt. The handle -of the knife was made of nickel silver, and very -showily ornamented with imitation emeralds and ruby -garnets. Over all he wore a red beadle’s cloak, -and on his head a helmet somewhat resembling those -worn by English Life Guardsmen, but it was evidently -of French manufacture. The king was very young, -apparently not more than twenty years of age, very -smooth-faced, and looked quite shy when he came -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">vis-à-vis</i> with his illustrious visitors. When we were -all seated, I on a chair, and the others on a covered -table, the courtiers sat down on the ground at a -respectful distance. The king’s old father was seated -on the ground before his son.</p> - -<p>The king’s name was Sudikil, and that of his father -Gidi Mavonga, both of them very bright specimens -of their race. After some compliments, Sudikil received -his presents—​one piece of fine fancy cloth and a -<!--Page 254--> -bottle of gin. The carriers received five bunches of -beads. But it appeared that the king was not satisfied -with his presents, and he would give us nothing -to eat. Therefore my companions, Captain Perry, -Dean, and Monsieur Pisseaux, at once started for the -river to return to Embomma. I, however, remained, -and engaged Nchama, a native who spoke African -idiomatic Portuguese, to act as interpreter and go-between. -I may here mention that our party when -it first started from the river consisted of fifty-six -persons, but it continued to augment until our arrival -at Kayé, when it mounted up to one hundred and -fifty. We were domiciled for the night in the house -of Siko Chico Mpambo, a man who put himself up -as a French interpreter, without even knowing one -personal pronoun of that language. In the evening -the rabble that pretended to have escorted our party -down to the canoe returned and requested some gin, -and I gave them a bottle. The prince likewise sent -for a bottle, which he received.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Wednesday, September 9th.</span>—​Early in the morning -we received a visit from Gidi Mavonga and his son -King Sudikil. They examined all our travelling-gear, -whilst my servant kept sentry at the door to prevent -their escort from going into the house. This consisted -of ten men, four of whom carried matchlocks. -After about half an hour’s palaver, everything was -handed over to Gidi, who promised to start for the -Congo in three days, and, in consideration of receiving -the said goods, bound himself to take us there, bring -<!--Page 255--> -us back, and feed us by the way. This arrangement -was a good one, as it secured the friendship of the -old chief and prevented him and his people from -robbing and poisoning us.</p> - -<p>We later received a visit from Tetu Mayella, king -of an adjacent village called Neprat. He was accompanied -by about twenty followers, all of whom -came to us for the express purpose of getting -some rum. Tetu Mayella wrangled for two hours -with Gidi and another half-hour with Sudikil about -a bottle of grog, and ultimately despatched Nchama -to plead with me for him. I referred him back -to Gidi Mavonga, and, after a further consultation, -Tetu received one bottle of gin, in return for -which he came personally and presented us with two -fowls. This was a godsend, as the day before we -had nothing to eat but a few pieces of dry bread, and -water to wash it down. A pig was then slaughtered -with great ceremony. The carcass was cut up and -divided according to custom, the king getting the -lion’s share, and the other personages an allowance -in accordance with their rank. We made ready to -retire to rest after eating a good bush dinner and -drinking plenty of palm wine. Gidi Mavonga paid -us a visit late in the evening, and final arrangements -were made with him to proceed first to Yellalla, or -the Congo Cataracts, and afterwards to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Salvador, -or Great Gongo City.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Thursday, September 10th.</span>—​The direction of the -Yellalla Cataracts from the village of Kayé was -<!--Page 256--> -east-north-east, and that of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Salvador, or Congo, -east-south-east. This morning we had dandelion -coffee for the fourth time. It was a most excellent -decoction, acting, when used judiciously, on the -liver and kidneys. We found that the natives -breakfasted on beans, ground nuts, fish, and beef -when it can be had, and the second course is a good -jorum of palm wine. At noon we began packing -up, in order to start for Gidi Mavonga’s village. -The natives of the Congo are divided into two classes -only, the mfumo, or freeman, and the muleque, -or slave. The mfumo marries amongst his own -slaves, or, properly speaking, retainers, and the -children born by him are in their turn mfumos, or -freemen. The word slave is here quite improperly -used, for the slave in reality is a freer man than -the king himself. Everything the king possesses, -except his wives, is literally at the disposal of the -slave. Unquestionably the slave is the bodyguard of -the mfumo, and, as regards work, he does what -he likes, sleeps when he chooses, attends to his -private affairs when he pleases, and if his master -finds fault with his conduct, the chances are, if his -own country be not too far away from the place -of his thraldom, he will leave his master and make -a bold effort to reach his native land.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Friday, September 11th.</span>—​Very early this morning -we were astonished by hearing a yelling noise from -a lot of women. To use a Scotch phrase, it was -a regular “skirl.” It so happened that a woman -<!--Page 257--> -was bearing a child, and these noises were made -either to drown the pains of labour or to welcome -the little stranger into his trouble. In any case, -we pitied the poor sufferer in travail, for the screeching -must have given her an awful headache.</p> - -<p>Gidi Mavonga came to take us to his village of -Chingufu this morning. It was not a long journey, -we found. Gidi’s house was a facsimile of the one we -had left at Kayé: an oval building upheld by two -upright posts, and the roof supported by a long -stout beam laid on the top of, and tied to, the -uprights. The hut boasted of three doors, one at -each end and one at the side. Doubtless, fox-like, -the suspicious native makes all these doors to serve -as mediums of escape in case of war or a slave-hunt. -There was a partition in the centre dividing the hut -into two rooms, the first being a general room, and the -second the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">sanctum sanctorum</i>, accessible only to the -husband and wife. The furniture was very simple, -consisting of a native bed in each room. The walls -and roof were composed of bamboos and grass very -neatly tied together. There was no flooring but -the clay bottom, and the whole looked very clean -and simple.</p> - -<p>Gidi appeared to be a great worshipper of the -native fetish Ibamba, or Nzamba, a variation of -the devil. The natives called him Masjinga, and -he is a house-god, usually keeping guard at the -bedsides. The idol in Gidi’s hut was a peculiarly -droll-looking object. He was an image about three -<!--Page 258--> -feet in height, with his mouth wide open, his under -lip hanging down, and the upper drawn up as if -by some strong convulsions, his nose flat as Africa, -and the nostrils very much inflated. His eyes were -composed of pieces of looking-glass, and in his -belly was inserted a penny mirror, but for what -purpose we could not discover. On his head was -an English billycock hat, and about his shoulders -were hung different kinds of medicines, a calabash, -and a knife. The face of this wonderful figure -was part black, part red, and part white. On the -walls of the house, and particularly about the bed, -were hung medicines, spells, and potions of every -description, supposed to be antidotes against every -evil to which the human frame is subject; medicines -to prevent gun-shots from taking effect, spells against -ill-luck, potions to have wives and plenty of children, -and, in fine, charms to protect against the wrath -and subtlety of Nzamba.</p> - -<p>About midday we had a visit from some neighbouring -chiefs, all gaily attired. They wore red -nightcaps on their heads, and this was the only -head-dress I ever saw adopted by the men on -great occasions, Sudikil’s military helmet excepted. -The women always went bareheaded. I had often -wondered where in the wide universe old clothes -went to after they are purchased by the Jews in -London. The mystery was here solved, for I found -kings wearing second-hand livery suits, with the -coronet and crest of a marquis on the button, and -<!--Page 259--> -princes disporting themselves in marines’ jackets of -the last century, besides a variety of heterogeneous -habiliments, such as old superfine black coats which -had been worn threadbare, and pantaloons whose seats -had become quite glazed from long service. All -these had been cleaned and turned inside out by -the Jews; and, although some would scarcely bear -the tug of needle and thread, they were sent out -to the west coast of Africa as bran-new garments, -love of dress entirely blinding the natives to their -defects. Our visitors were regaled with palm wine -and a bottle of gin, and after laughing and talking -for a long time they went away.</p> - -<p>About sunset we witnessed a native game, which -certainly was one of the liveliest sights since our start -up the river. A number of Gidi’s slaves assembled -in a large open space between the houses, and, dividing -themselves into two parties, began throwing a ball -from one to another. Upwards of twenty were -engaged in this game, and the fun consisted in the -one side dodging about in all directions, and preventing -its opponents from catching the ball by playing the -game into each others’ hands. The ball was made -of palm fibre tied round with a central fibre of the -plantain leaf. After sunset there was a wild country-dance, -which was kept up to a late hour.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Saturday, September 12th.</span>—​The chief Furano, who -was expected from Embomma, arrived the next -morning, and we started at once for the cataracts. -After marching for a short time and passing two or -<!--Page 260--> -three small villages, we commenced a descent in a -north-easterly direction, and, journeying at a rapid -pace for about three miles, we entered the village of -Chinsawu, the residence of Prince Nelongo. Arrived -at Nelongo’s, we were detained for about half an hour, -waiting in the verandah of an empty house, after which -we were honoured by the presence of the prince, who -intimated his pleasure to us by asserting that unless -the same presents as those given to Sudikil were -given to him, it would be impossible for us to pass -his place. This was preposterous, for we only stopped -to breakfast here, whereas we were four or five days -in the territory of Sudikil. It was remarkable that -nearly all the people in this region, from the prince -down to the smallest child, were diseased with the -itch. We observed them lying on the ground from -morning till night, with their skins so covered with -dust that a hippopotamus was a clean beast when -compared with these beings, who ranked in animate -nature as lords of creation.</p> - -<p>We were comfortably housed at Nelongo’s village, -but Gidi and Nelongo were palavering all day, hammer -and tongs. I noticed at Nelongo’s village, as I did -in other places on the banks and neighbourhood of -the Congo, that all the children were afraid of the -white man, for when any person attempted to bring -them in proximity with me, the little brats howled as -if Satan from the infernal regions had got hold of -them. Most of the women were of the same texture -as their progeny.</p> - -<p><!--Page 261--> -<span class="date">Sunday, September 13th.</span>—​After coffee this morning -all the great folks assembled in front of our house -and recommenced the half-finished palaver of last -evening. Council present: myself, Gida Mavonga, -Nelongo, Furano, Siko Npamba, and Interpreter -Nchama. All ended in talk, and Nchama threatened -to resign. The native idea of the riches possessed by -a white man is fabulous. Nelongo refused to believe -that we had not sufficient cloth with us to answer -his most exorbitant demands. We had a respectable -present for him; but that did not satisfy his avarice, -and he wanted more than we had taken with us for -the whole road. As there was another prince to -consult in the matter, it was agreed, at my suggestion, -that the whole of our gear should be submitted to -examination. The expected prince arrived, carried -on a hammock, and, after a heavy palaver and a -great deal of yelling from the women, he went -away; and then we had another visit from Nelongo, -who made some very noisy demonstrations, but as the -noise was conducted in the language of the country, -we were not able to understand a single syllable. Suffice -it to say that the whole affair ended by his receiving -an additional supply of cotton, not from us, but from -Gidi Mavonga. This Nelongo handed to one of his -armed slaves, and then went away; but he returned -again in about five minutes and intimated that the -palaver was all right, which caused Gidi and his men -to make demonstrations of approval by jumping up -and running some paces from the house and attacking -<!--Page 262--> -a supposed enemy. Then they returned to the house, -Furano holding the supposed wounded head of Gidi -Mavonga. But the truth must be told: the whole -batch of the debaters had got drunk on a mixture -of palm wine and Hollands. Hence the noise, which, -however, I did not allow to affect me, for I assumed -during the greater part of the row the most stoical -silence, and pretended to go to sleep. These tactics -were successful, and we were shortly afterwards -informed that we could depart in peace.</p> - -<p>We were ready to start by twelve o’clock noon. -The sun was very hot, and the thermometer stood at -90° in the shade; but we were glad to get out of -a place which reminded us of Bedlam, and therefore -set out in all haste, making a slight descent into a -valley, and then ascending a peculiarly formed hill, -the perpendicular height of which might be a hundred -and fifty feet, and from whose summit we obtained a -glorious view of the river, which was seen some eight -hundred feet below us, flowing down rapidly and -majestically to the sea. But the utter barrenness of the -country in the vicinity of its banks carried away every -association of fertility. This view of the country, -however, is given at the end of the dry season, when -almost every tree loses its leaves, and the green grass -becomes withered and dried up.</p> - -<p>From this point we began a decline down hill which -beggars description. We had not walked above a -quarter of a mile before we arrived at a part of our -road where, without the least exaggeration, the path, -<!--Page 263--> -if such it could be called, was only two degrees from -the perpendicular, and as slippery as ice, owing to the -loose stones and dry grass that created a stumbling-block -for the feet, and we had frequently to descend -sitting instead of walking down. Alpine and Vesuvian -mountaineers, do try the banks of the Congo.</p> - -<p>The distance from Nelongo’s village to the banks -of the river was about five miles, and on reaching -the water-side we found ourselves exactly at the -junction of the Nomposo with the Congo River. The -Nomposo, we were informed, extended all the way to -<abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Salvador, but was not navigable, even for canoes. -There were some fishermen who followed their vocation -at the mouth of this small river, whose services were -soon brought into requisition to take us across the -Nomposo and land us a little above its mouth, but -on the bank of the great river. This landing was -the place where the fishermen dried their fish, and -was called Munyengi Asiko. Being heartily tired, -we very gladly sat down, and ultimately got ourselves -ready to pass the night in the open air, not for the -first time. Just about sunset this evening we were -visited by one of those nasty drizzling showers, commonly -called a Scotch mist. In about an hour it -increased to a smart shower; but, luckily, we were -well provided with good waterproof sheets and coats, -so that no harm happened to the gear or to ourselves.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Monday, September 14th.</span>—​Great excitement this -morning, having on the previous night lost my tablets -of daily memoranda. An offer of four fathoms of -<!--Page 264--> -cloth was made to any person who would recover the -same and return them to their owner. The whole -batch of carriers and fishermen were instantly hard -at work trying to find the missing tablets. After -twenty minutes’ search they were found in Captain -Tuckey’s book on the Congo.</p> - -<p>Another row amongst the natives. It appears -that some two days previously a man had supplied -another with two jars of palm wine upon condition -of his receiving some fish in return. The unlucky -fisherman, after drinking the wine, did not succeed -in catching fish for two days, and consequently was -unable to pay his debt. Hence the high words and -brandishing of hatchets on the part of the wine merchant -and his people. But that was all; no blows were -struck, for the dog that barks very loud seldom bites.</p> - -<p>It is always advisable in travelling through Africa -to keep guides and interpreters ignorant of your -possessions, for they are sure to make some excuse -or other to fleece you. This morning we had evidence -of this. We had paid our guide everything that -was necessary for the road, yet he sent the interpreter -to ask us for a piece of fancy cloth which he knew -I had. I had to grant his request, otherwise I might -have had to give up the journey, for ten chances to -one he would have left me in a huff.</p> - -<p>At eight o’clock we crossed the river, the time -occupied being a quarter of an hour. We reached the -village of Vivi after half an hour’s march; distance, one -and a half miles. Nesalla was the name of the king -<!--Page 265--> -at Vivi; he spoke Portuguese and dressed plainly. -One of his attendants, however, wore a hussar’s -jacket. Nesalla sent three bunches of plantains and -seven fowls for the expedition. At twelve o’clock I -washed, more or less in public, and, in the meantime, -the women and children performed a grigri for -goodness to be bestowed on their town and prince. -One of the children beat on a long native drum, -another performed on a native whistle attached to -an image of Diabolus, and the women used their -tongues very freely. It was a horrid din.</p> - -<p>About two o’clock Nesalla came with upwards of -one hundred men and commenced a long palaver about -our going on to Yellalla. Five or six persons spoke, -and the conference lasted one hour. The conclusion -showed that the cloth we had with us was not enough, -and that the princes at Yellalla must get a different -piece from that which was before the conference, and -no division into two pieces must be made of it under -any consideration whatever. As the whole affair was -conducted in a most good-humoured manner, I agreed -to the terms.</p> - -<p>In the evening the inhabitants of the village had -a dance. Those who have witnessed the Spanish -cachucha need scarcely be told what this dance was. -The cachucha is a very good dance in its way; but -the Congo dance beats it hollow, because it has more -pith in it than the cachucha. The fun was kept up -till a late hour, every one, both great and small, -young and old, joining in it, so that in the end, what -<!--Page 266--> -with palm wine and excitement, the people became -quite unruly, and when they left off the babel of -tongues was unbearable. They came to our quarters, -aroused us out of our sleep by opening the door and -very unceremoniously pulling our clothes from us. -They wanted some sort of covering, and thinking we -might be kind enough to let them have something, -took the liberty of taking without asking. We could -not, however, submit to this. We permitted old Gidi -Mavonga to sleep in the house, and turned the rest -out of doors.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Tuesday, September 15th.</span>—​Early this morning we -started for the Banza Nculu. The scenery along the -road was varied and picturesque. The first view we -had of the river was from an eminence about a mile -from Vivi on the road to the Banza Nculu. Here -we had a view of the Congo as it was flowing onwards, -and round about in all directions were hills and dales -adding a panoramic beauty to the scene. We had -to descend from the summit of the first hill and ascend -a second one much higher than the first, and from -here we again obtained views of the Congo. One, -the lower view, appeared like a lake, apparently shut -in on all sides by hills, whose lofty summits stretched -far and wide on every side, and some of them peered -to the height of above a thousand feet into the heavens. -Proceeding onwards, we ascended a third eminence, -but by this time we had lost sight of the river, and -our path became more level for a short distance.</p> - -<p>We now commenced a gradual descent, but before -<!--Page 267--> -doing so we obtained an open and extensive view -of the valley that lay between us and the Banza Nculu. -On descending into the valley, we found the soil -a dark clay mould with fewer stones on it than on -that of the country through which we had hitherto -passed. It was certainly a fine sight to behold, and -the best addition to the scene was the caravan which -formed the expedition now disappearing down a valley, -now rising to the top of one of the many hillocks -with which the valley abounded. The fertility of the -soil may be observed here from the fact of the grass -growing to the height of ten or twelve feet, and here -also the native beans grow to a greater height than -did those we saw in other parts of the country. In -the valley we crossed three streams of running water, -all feeders of the big river; and considering that it -was the latter end of the dry season, these streams -all had a fair supply of water.</p> - -<p>We now arrived at the summit of the hill of the -Banza Nculu, and as the three kings and three interpreters -could not be seen at once, in consequence -of their having first to settle some palaver about fish, -we were compelled to bivouac under a large tree in -the environs of Nculu until their highnesses might -condescend to give us an audience. We breakfasted -under the large tree, and were amused before and after -breakfast by a number of urchins (say eight or ten) -who had undergone the ceremony of circumcision, and -who delighted in making a churring noise—​a ch-u-r-r -decidedly intended to frighten us into hysterics. But -<!--Page 268--> -our nerves were stronger than they at first imagined, -and I went up to them and complimented them on -their performance. The dress of these youths was a -crinoline made of palm leaves, extending from their -armpits down to their knees, or a little below that. -Their arms, neck, and face were chalked white, and -one of them had on a mask representing a white -man with whiskers. The performance of this mask -was admirably wild and laughable.</p> - -<p>About two o’clock one of the three interpreters -came to see us. He was dressed in a trade shirt and -red nightcap, and was accompanied by a few men -only, and had merely come to show us to a house.</p> - -<p>At half-past three we heard the beating of a drum -and cone, and, on looking out at the door, saw a -procession making its way to the house in which -we were lodged. I was already seated at the door, -and, the whole cavalcade coming up, they seated -themselves around the front of the house in a semicircle. -Altogether there might have been about two -hundred and fifty persons, including all sexes and -sizes. Three ministers belonging to the three kings -were the principal personages, and had come as -ambassadors for their masters. One of them had -already given his opinion in a refusal to permit me -to pass on to Sundi, and it now remained for the -whole council to arrive at the ultimate decision of -Yes or No. The first conference assembled and -broke up in a very short time. The beginning -appeared favourable, for the ministers retired amidst -<!--Page 269--> -the noise of drum and cone. The latter is an iron -musical instrument peculiar to the country, and when -played sounds exactly like the triangle of the -Ethiopian serenaders. When they had reached the -palaver tree we heard a great yelling among the -populace, which showed that they were satisfied. In -a very short time they returned again to the house -and waited till I had finished dinner, and then -demanded the presents for themselves and their royal -masters. As usual they were not satisfied; but we -had no more to give them, and Furano, our interpreter, -took one of the ministers into the house and -showed him all our gear. A grunt from the minister -announced to us that he saw it was impossible to -get “blood out of a stone.”</p> - -<p>They went away, and the third conference took -place at four o’clock. This was the Grand Council, -and there were plenty who spoke, the upshot of -the whole affair being that they ultimately demanded -the moderate sum of £300 in cloth, beads, and liquor, -giving us permission (on our agreeing to the foregoing -terms) to go on to Sundi above the cataracts, a journey -occupying only three days. “Impudence is better -than modesty,” but we thought this was carrying -impudence to a pitch. This sum was out of the -question, and had we been possessed of enough to -answer the demands of those bushmen, rather than -acquiesce, we should certainly have preferred throwing -the amount into the “Slough of Despond.”</p> - -<p><span class="date">Wednesday, September 16th.</span>—​This morning we went -<!--Page 270--> -to view the rapids. We found that the Yellalla Rapids -ran east-north-east and west-south-west, and might -be said to be about a mile in length. They were -assuredly very grand, although the natives led us -to expect something grander still. Some fishermen -were busy catching fish up and down the quieter -part of the rapids, whilst the eagles and cranes were -satisfying their hunger in the vicinity of the island -of Sanga-chya-Malemba in the middle of the stream, -some hundred yards from either side of the river’s -banks.</p> - -<p>All day Gidi Mavonga was very stubborn and -irritable, and wished to start at once for Vivi and -return home; but as I had to put up some botanical -specimens, to finish two sketches of this part of the -country, and besides, having sore feet from walking, -I would not hear of starting. Gidi therefore started, -after repeated palavers, and called his muleks to -follow him: some followed; others begged off, but -to no purpose. Off he went, and after proceeding -a short distance, returned, and in very strong words -expressed himself an injured man. This was taking -high ground; I therefore told the interpreter to tell -Gidi that he might go away, and, at the same time, -to inform him that he must send certain properties -belonging to me which had been left at his banza, -and that in future no further communication would -be held with his place by any Englishman.</p> - -<p>Gidi said that the property belonged to him. I -told him to take all, but, he might rely upon it, -<!--Page 271--> -the kings who live close to the riverside would have -to answer for the things. Whereupon Gidi at once -gave way, and most submissively begged pardon, and -matters were set right for a short time.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Saturday, September 19th.</span>—​We found ourselves -back again at Gidi Mavonga’s village, paying off all -the extra hands who accompanied us to the rapids. -The pay was made in cloth, beads, and liquors.</p> - -<p>The heavy demands made by the bigwigs of Banza -Nculu—​<i lang="la" xml:lang="la"><abbr title="namely">viz.</abbr></i> £300 for mere permission to pass to -Sundi, beside the enormous expense of feeding ourselves -and thirty-five followers—​had compelled us -to give up the project we had in view, especially as -we had seen the principal rapids on the river—​the -rest of the falls, until reaching Sundi, being mere -elevations, in themselves quite insignificant. My -object had been to reach Sundi, and thence try to -ascertain the course of the river, and to find out -whether its source could be nearly reached by canoes, -or entirely reached by carriers. But finding the -demands of the chiefs beyond my power of compliance, -I resolved to return. Our chief guide, Gidi Mavonga, -was anxious to make a retrograde movement as -quickly as possible, and urged upon us the necessity -of packing up and starting after three o’clock on -the afternoon of our return from visiting the rapids. -But I declined to stir until the next morning, and -after much trouble I gave him and his slaves one -blanket cloth and a pair of razors, which quieted -him a little. But it was soon evident that even this -<!--Page 272--> -munificent gift merely banked up the fires of discord -in the breasts of the savages, for the same dissatisfaction -was observable even after we returned -to their village. The day of settlement brought -Gidi and his slaves to our temporary residence, and -what followed beggared powers of description. What -uproar! What threats! What runnings to and -fro! All the devils in the infernal regions appeared -to have infused a double portion of their diabolical -influence into the bodies and souls of their willing -disciples on that day of settlement, and when everybody’s -fury had reached the climax of rage and insolence, -old Gidi rushed into the house occupied by -us, commenced turning all our gear upside down, and -at last laid forcible hands upon a bale of merchandise.</p> - -<p>I therefore quietly informed the wild old man that -he was carrying matters too far, asked the meaning -of it, and took out a six-barrelled Colt’s revolver, and -placed it at my feet ready for use in case of need. -This had the desired effect, for Gidi, after taking a -long, covetous look at the bale of merchandise, turned -round and stared at the leveller of six men at my feet, -and having balanced the difference, he slunk out in -perfect silence, followed by his two myrmidons, who -had accompanied their master into the house to carry -away anything that their lord might select. Outside -the slaves still clamoured, and at last induced their -master to beard me again when I was writing.</p> - -<p>Thus for two days affairs progressed as hot as fire -and as irritating as a wife’s bad temper, till at length, -<!--Page 273--> -by some special interposition of Providence, we managed -to make arrangements for some people to carry our -gear down to the riverside, and for a canoe to take -us to Embomma, one of the principal stations on the -river.</p> - -<p>The preliminaries of this arrangement occupied two -days, and on the morning of the third day we were -ready to start by half-past five o’clock, but no carriers -had as yet made their appearance, and after they did -come, it was with the same infernal noise that we -managed to start them with the loads. But the moment -they were <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> they almost ran with the things, -and shortly disappeared from our view. We followed -as quickly as we could after them, and arriving at -Kayé, a sentinel with a gun stopped us, and informed -us that his Highness Prince Sudikil desired our -presence. On reaching the house of our old landlord, -we discovered the whole of our gear before his door, -and the prince with his mother and some of his slaves -standing in a circle round the things, whilst one disgusting-looking -brute was about to open a box of -beads. I at once walked up to the rascal and gave -him a castigation with a stick. The fellow looked -daggers; but on showing him a fine breech-loading -Cooper’s rifle, he held down his head and slunk a -little way back from the box and sat down.</p> - -<p>And now commenced a palaver between the prince -and myself, the substance of which was that the -prince wished to exact more presents from me, but -this time by force. The armed slaves began to come -<!--Page 274--> -up one by one, until they added a considerable number -to the crowd. I told the prince that it was customary -to give on the arrival but not on the departure of -a stranger. But as his highness persisted in his inflexible -determination to have something, I referred him -to Mambuka Prata, a powerful chief at Embomma, and -requested Sudikil to take and keep my signet ring until -the case was settled by arbitration at head-quarters.</p> - -<p>At this suggestion the prince, his mother, some -of the slaves, and even Nchama, our interpreter, -commenced such a babel of tongues that we wished -the whole bunch of them keeping company with -Pharaoh at the bottom of the Red Sea. It was -quite evident that they had perceived the absurdity -and obstinacy of their covetous desires. The prince -therefore walked away in a great rage, taking with -him all his slaves, and nearly one-half of those who -had brought our kit from his father’s house. Here, -again, was another fix. We were standing pondering -over the peculiar position in which we were placed, -when luckily the few who remained at once resolved -to carry each a double load, and this brought us to -the waterside, and examining all our baggage, and -seeing everything correct, I made a present of beads -to the carriers and had breakfast.</p> - -<p>By 9.45 a.m. we set off for Embomma with -thankfulness, where we arrived at 5 p.m. on the -same day, having run down with the current, slightly -assisted by paddles, a distance of forty-five miles in -seven hours and a quarter.</p> - -<p><!--Page 275--> -<span class="date">Wednesday, September 23rd.</span>—​John Clarke, being -engaged to go with us to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Salvador, started this -afternoon with Nchama to bring carriers from -Mambuka Prata. Chief Mambuka Prata had a few -trading huts close to the French factory, where he -flew a black and white flag on trading occasions. -The district of Embomma may extend about eight -or ten miles in length, and throughout the whole of -it villages of from ten to twenty houses may be seen -standing in all directions, and sometimes several miles -apart from one another. The king’s residence may -consist of sixty houses, and it is generally at the royal -villages that the traveller finds a home during his -sojourn.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Thursday, September 24th.</span>—​At Embomma. This -day’s proceedings have been more annoying than any -that have preceded it. The two messengers, John -Clarke and Nchama, who had been sent on a mission -to Mambuka Prata, returned without having accomplished -a single order in connection with the mission -entrusted to them. Nchama returned about six o’clock -in the morning, perfectly drunk, and incapable of -giving a single word of explanation as to his whereabouts -and doings. John Clarke returned in the -afternoon, and gave rather a tame version of his -proceedings. He said that Mambuka Prata, being -annoyed at not receiving a coat promised him by -Monsieur Pisseaux, would not send any carriers to -take us on to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Salvador. What a Frenchman’s -conduct had to do with an Englishman’s affairs I -<!--Page 276--> -could not conceive. He (Mambuka Prata) said the -carriers would not be forthcoming until he received -a book from the white man, or saw him himself. -This last sounded like a falsehood, as there was not a -soul in all Vinda who could read a single scrap, and, -besides, our interpreters took with them a very good -book in the shape of a demijohn of rum and a tenth -of powder, but whether these had been delivered -into the hands of the proper persons was a question. -Nchama, having been severely reprimanded, repaired to -his village, and did not make his appearance again -until the day we left Embomma.</p> - -<p><span class="date">Friday, September 25th.</span>—​We left Embomma, and -arrived in Porto da Lentra at 1.15 on the morning -of Saturday, September 26th. On the way down -the canoemen made several attempts to land at various -villages, but were forced to proceed for fear of Colt’s -revolvers. They did very well, and received six -bottles of rum.</p> - -<p>We left Porto da Lentra for Point Banana at -4.15 on the morning of September 27th. We had -exchanged our smaller but fine canoe for a large one, -and started with six hands and captain, but had -scarcely lost sight of Porto da Lentra when our canoemen -went up a creek—​they said to get extra clothing. -We were detained more than half an hour waiting -for them, until probably they had eaten their breakfast -and drunk their palm wine. We got them to start -with great difficulty; but at the very next creek they -stopped again, and would have repeated the dose at -<!--Page 277--> -other places had we not had recourse to our friends -in need, the revolvers.</p> - -<p>At the creek one man jumped on shore and we -pushed off again; but a few yards down we were -hailed by a Missolongi canoe, the river-pirates of -this part of the Congo. This third time our canoemen -stopped; and we were obliged to face them -with cocked revolvers and compel them to go on. -Down we glided, assisted more by the current than -by our men. Another creek, and the canoemen -requested to stop again to eat, which request was -positively refused.</p> - -<p>The river had been hitherto very calm, but at two -o’clock the sea-breeze began to blow hard; the tide -was also slightly against us, and this caused a swell -in the river which wetted nearly all our things. I -was surveying at the time, and, fearing that the instruments -might get a soaking with salt water, I -ordered the canoemen to put back and return to Point -Banana by means of a creek on the right of the river. -This appeared to the canoemen to be awfully hard -work, although they had only to pull back for about -a quarter of a mile. The Congoes are remarkable -for their uselessness: they excel in eating, drinking, -sleeping, and talking, in a word, in satisfying their -sensual comforts, and what little sense they have is -used for the purpose of annoying those with whom -they come in contact. More than five times they -were asked to make sail, and then gave a few strokes -with their paddles, and stopped and chatted again, put -<!--Page 278--> -the canoe broadside on to the billows, let her drift -back, and again gave a few more strokes.</p> - -<p>In this way nearly an hour passed away, and we -never reached the end of the quarter-mile. They -began to complain that the way by the creek was -too far, whilst just a short time before that they told -us the creek was the nearest. They now declared -that they could proceed no farther, and pulled the -canoe in shore. Seeing that the whole bevy of them, -from the captain to the small boy, were all drunk -from drinking some rum they had brought with -them, we could do nothing but submit to this state -of things, anything being preferable to trusting the -canoe with a lot of drunken hands, and getting ourselves -and gear saturated with salt water.</p> - -<p>The crew were permitted to land. They lighted a -fire, cooked, ate, drank, quarrelled, and went to sleep. -The padron, or captain, took possession of the rum, -and drank himself to sleep also; and when the wind -abated a little and the water became calmer, we -awakened the captain with difficulty, and he with -greater difficulty his crew; but the tide had gone -down, and the canoe was high and dry on the bank. -All efforts to launch her into the water proved -unavailing, especially as the rum was still hard at -work, and what little sense the Congoes had was -perfectly misapplied. In consequence we had to -wait until the tide again served, which did not take -place till two o’clock the following morning, when -we tried again to start our hands, and with great -<!--Page 279--> -delay and noise managed to reach Point Banana -at 4.15 a.m.</p> - -<p>At six o’clock all our things were landed and -comfortably housed within Monsieur Parrat’s factory. -Thank God! we were now at a considerable distance -from Yellalla and the triumvirate and avaricioua -triple ministers of the Banza Nculu, far away from -the Banza Vivi and its king, far away from the -quarrelsome, covetous, gin-drinking, noisy, and licentious -old Gidi Mavonga, far away from that senseless -nincompoop the Prince Sudikil, and—​praise be to -Allah!—​within hail of Her Majesty’s ship <span class="title">Griffon</span>.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_7" id="footnote_7"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_7"><span class="muchsmaller">[7]</span></a> - This MS. consisted mainly of notes roughly jotted down by Burton -in a memorandum book. I have thought it best to publish them as -they stood, with no alterations except those necessary to make the -essay coherent and legible.—​W. H. W.</p> -<!--Page 280--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 281--><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL</span><br /> -1867</h3> -<!--Page 282--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 283--> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL</span></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">1867</h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">I  HAD been in Brazil nearly two years, vegetating -between Santos and São Paulo, varied by an -occasional expedition afield or a trip to Rio de Janeiro, -when I determined to put into action my long-cherished -plan of prospecting the great and wealthy province of -Minas Gerães in the interior, and then to go down the -São Francisco, which is the Brazilian Mississippi, from -Sabará to the sea, and to visit <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> the Paulo -Affonso rapids, the Niagara of Brazil. As my wife -was very anxious to go, I took her with me.</p> - -<p>We left Rio on June 12th, 1867, and sailed -across the incomparable Bay, and then ascended to -Petropolis. From Petropolis we made our real start -in a large char-à-banc, which held eight, in two and -two, and which was drawn by four mules. The mules -started off in fine style; being fresh and frisky they -simply galloped along the mountain side. It is not -necessary for me to describe the first part of the journey, -which, for a few days, travelled along a well-known -road, through a splendid district of wooded mountains, -broad rivers, and boulders of rock; the vegetation -was especially fine, even tropical. At Juiz de Fora -<!--Page 284--> -we abandoned our char-à-banc for the coach, whereby -we travelled to Barbacena, and here again we left the -coach for the saddle, and followed the bridle-road, if -indeed it could be called a road.</p> - -<p>I should weary if I were to describe the places we -passed through until we came to Logão Duroda, where -the railway was in process of making, and where they -were just laying the first chain for the exploration of -the mountains and for the prolongation of the Dom -Pedro Secunda Railway. There was an inauguration -ceremony, and my wife had the honour of giving the -first blow to the stock and breaking a bottle of wine -over it. After that we had a convivial gathering, and -wound up with a dinner in the good old English -fashion. Next day we started off again, and still riding -through beautiful scenery, up and down mountains, -through shallow rivers and bits of virgin forests, from -day to day, we eventually arrived at Morro Velho, -where we were most hospitably received by the superintendent -of the São Goa d’el Rey Mining Company -and Mrs. Gordon, and we spent some days in their -most comfortable home. Morro Velho is the queen -of the Minas Gerães mines, and a most interesting -place, but, as we were going back to it, we determined -to press on to Ouro Preto, which is the capital of the -province, a most hilly town, for walking up and down -the streets was as difficult as climbing up ladders. -We stayed here two days, and then returned to Morro -Velho. We had a long, muddy, rainy journey on the -way back, slipping backward two steps for every one -<!--Page 285--> -forward, but at last we arrived at the Gordons’ house -again, and were warmly welcomed as before. Here -we tarried for a fortnight, and thoroughly explored -everything.</p> - -<p>Among other things we explored the mine, which -had the reputation of being the largest, deepest, and -richest gold-mine in Brazil. My wife determined -to go with me, and Mrs. Gordon, who had never -before ventured under grass, kindly consented to -accompany her. Mr. Gordon and I went down first -in a bucket, or kibble, which was suspended over the -abyss. We found in it a rough wooden seat, comfortable -enough. We were advised by the pitman -not to look downwards, as the glimmer of the sparks -and lights below was apt to cause giddiness and seasickness. -I did look down and felt none the worse. -We touched and tilted half over once against a cableway -drum, but that was our only contretemps. -I could not but wonder at the mighty timbering -which met my eyes as it dilated in the darkness;—​timber -everywhere, all of the best and hardest wood. -The mighty mass, it might hardly be said, was not -without flaws, very palpable at second look. We -made an easy descent down the shaft, and a bunch -of lighted tow, tied to the bucket chain, showed us -all its features. There was no “rattle his bones over -the stones,” and the drop lasted fifteen minutes. At -the bottom the kibble, or bucket, stood still, began -to reel like a boat, and descended perpendicularly -until we stepped out. Presently Mrs. Gordon and -<!--Page 286--> -my wife, habited in brown holland trousers, belted -blouses, and miners’ caps, came down, delighted with -the kibble travelling. The men did everything to -banish the ladies’ alarm, and spoke and cheered us -as we passed. The mine was utterly new to me, -and most unlike the dirty labyrinth of little clefts -and filthy galleries down which I have often crawled -like a low reptile; the height suggested a cavern -or a huge stone-quarry.</p> - -<p>Candle burning, the usual test, detected nothing -abnormal in the atmosphere; the ventilation was -excellent. Of course, our feet were wiped, and, -physically speaking, they wanted wiping; the floor -was wet, the mud was slippery, and locomotion somewhat -like an ascent of the Pyramids, although the -ground was pretty level.</p> - -<p>It was a huge palace of darkness; the walls were -either black as the grave, or reflected in the slender -rays of light a watery surface, or were broken into -monstrous projections, half revealing and half concealing -cavernous recesses. Despite the lamps, the -night pressed upon us, as it were, with a weight, and -the only measure of distance was a spark here and -there, glimmering like a single star. Distinctly nerve-testing -was the gulf between the huge mountain -sides, apparently threatening every moment to fall. -Through this Inferno gnomes glided about in a -ghostly fashion, half-naked figures enveloped by the -mist. Here dark bodies hung by chains in what -seemed frightful positions; there they swung like -<!--Page 287--> -leopards from place to place; there they swarmed -up loose ropes like troglodytes; there they moved -over scaffolding, which even to look up at would -make a nervous temperament dizzy.</p> - -<p>Our visit to the mine amply repaid us; it was a -place</p> - -<p class="center small">Where thoughts were many, and words were few.</p> - -<p class="unindent">But the fact will remain on our mental retina as -long as our brains will do their duty.</p> - -<p>After a fortnight at Morro Velho I prepared to go -to Sabará, there to embark <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en route</i> to the coast. With -a peculiar cat-like feeling I bade adieu to the Gordons, -with whom we had found an English home in the -Highlands of Brazil. My excellent compatriots, -however, accompanied me to break the shock of -departure; my wife also, though, as she had sprained -her ankle badly, she was to return to Rio.</p> - -<p>It was a long ride from Morro Velho and a tiring -one, and we were glad to enter the picturesque city -of Sabará, where we found tolerable lodgings. Here -I completed my preparations for descending the -Rio das Velhas, and had to seek the aid of a store-keeper, -who turned out to be an extortioner. That, -perhaps, was only to be expected; but I may justly -complain when, in addition to his extortionate charges, -he sent me down the river, a river like the Mississippi, -in a raft whose starboard canoe had a leak scarcely -stopped up with Sabará clay.</p> - -<p>The next day we all walked down to the upper -landing-place, where the ajojo, or raft, lay. I never -<!--Page 288--> -saw such an old Noah’s ark, with its standing -awning, a floating gipsy “pal,” some seven feet -high and twenty-two long, and pitched like a tent -upon two hollowed logs. The river, I thought, -must indeed be safe if this article can get down -without an accident.</p> - -<p>All the notables of the place witnessed the process -of embarkation. A young English lady broke a bottle -of wine with all possible grace upon the bows, and -duly christened the craft the <span class="title">Eliza</span> and two pairs -of slippers were thrown at my head. Many <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">vivas</i> -were given and returned, and all my party embarked -for a trial trip of a couple of miles. <a name="rapids" id="rapids"></a>When the fifteen -souls came on board, they sank the raft some three -palms, and deluged the upper platform, making the -headman, or pilot, very nervous; already he began -to predict swamping, “going down in a jiffey,” and -being dashed to pieces by the rapids. We shot past -a dangerous rock in mid-stream, and in a short time -arrived at the little village of Santo Antonio da Roça -Grande, where animals were waiting to carry home -the non-voyagers, my wife included. They landed -here, but stood as the setting sun sank behind the -mountains and waved their farewells as they watched -the raft turn the last corner and float off into the -far mysterious unknown. I confess to having felt an -unusual sense of loneliness as the kindly faces faded -away in the distance, and, by way of distraction, I -applied myself to a careful examination of my raft.</p> - -<!--Page 289--> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 569px"> - <img src="images/i_266.jpg" - alt="Illustration: Shooting the Rapids" - /> - <p class="creditwide">[<span class="decoration"><a href="#rapids">See Page 266.</a></span></p> - <p class="caption"><span class="sc lowercase">SHOOTING THE RAPIDS ON THE RIO DAS VELHAS.</span></p> -</div> -<!--Page 290--><!--Blank Page--> - -<p><!--Page 291--> -The ajojo, or, as it is called in other places, the -“balsa,” here represents the flat boat of the Mississippi. -On the Rio das Velhas, however, it had not yet become -an institution, and at that time I was the only traveller -who had yet passed down by it from Sabará to the -rapids of Paulo Affonso. I need not describe it in -detail; I will only say that, though not of the -safest description, it behaved itself, under all the -circumstances, well.</p> - -<p>My crew numbered three—​old Vieira and his sons. -Two stood in the bows with poles, which they -preferred as being easier to use than paddles. The -paddles used in deep waters vary in shape every few -hundred miles. The men were mere landlubbers; -they felt, or affected to feel, nervous at every obstacle. -They had been rowing all their lives, and yet they -knew not how to back water; curious to say, this -was everywhere the case down stream. They pulled -with all their might for a few minutes when the -river was rapid, so as to incur possible risks, and -when the water was almost dead, they lay upon their -oars and lazily allowed themselves to be floated down. -Thus, during the working day, between 7 a.m. and -5 p.m., very little way was made. They had no -system, nor would they learn any. The only thing -energetic about them was the way they performed -upon the cow-horn, and with this they announced -arrival, saluted those on the banks, and generally -enjoyed the noise.</p> - -<p>My first stage was between Sabará and Santa Lusia. -The stream was deeply encased; the reaches were short, -<!--Page 292--> -and we seemed to run at the bluffs, where high ribs -came down to the bed and cut the bottom into very -small bends. The most troublesome feature was the -shallow places where the bed broadened; we grounded -with unpleasant regularity. This part also abounded -in snags. The tortuous bed, never showing a mile -ahead, prevented anything like waves, though the -wind was in our teeth. At this time of year we saw -the Old Squaw’s River at its worst; there was a -minimum of water and a maximum of contrary wind. -On the other hand, it was the “moon of flowers”; -the poor second growth teemed with bunches of -purple beauty, and the hill-tops were feathered by -palms.</p> - -<p>At Jaguára the people cried, “You’ll never reach -Trahiras,” deriding the <span class="title">Eliza</span>. Indeed, we seemed -likely to waste much time. However, we crept on -surely, if slowly. As evening approached the weather -waxed cool and clear, and the excessive evaporation -gave the idea of great dryness; my books curled up, it -was hardly possible to write, and it reminded me of -the Persian Gulf, where water-colours cannot be used -because the moisture is absorbed from the brush.</p> - -<p>The first view of Santa Lusia was very pleasing; -a tall ridge about a mile from the stream was capped -with two double-towered churches, divided by fine, -large, whitewashed houses and rich vegetation, with -palms straggling down to the water. Here I landed -and made my way to the hotel, which was a most -tumble-down hole, and after supper inspected Santa -<!--Page 293--> -Lusia. It was formerly a centre of the gold diggings, -but at this time possessed nothing of interest.</p> - -<p>The next morning was delicious, and the face of -Nature was as calm as if it could show no other expression. -The sword-like rays of the sun, radiating from -the unseen centre before it arose in its splendour, soon -dispersed the thin mists that slept tranquilly upon the -cool river-bed. We shot the Ponte Grande de Santa -Lusia to Cruvello and the backwoods. The bridge -was the usual long, crooked affair, with twelve trusses, -or trestles, in the water and many outside, showing -that the floods are here extensive. The girders are -rarely raised high enough, and an exceptional inundation -sweeps them away, leaving bare poles bristling in the -bed and dangerous piles under water.</p> - -<p>About two miles below Santa Lusia the water became -deeper and the country changed. The right, or -eastern, side was rough and hilly, with heights hugging -the bed. Near the other bank the land was more -level, and the soil showed a better complexion, by -which both sugar-cane and timber profited. In -another hour we sighted the first cotton plantation, -and right well it looked. There was indeed a mine -of neglected wealth in cotton and fish along, and in, -this river, and the more I saw of it the richer I found -it. The hills were clothed with thin brown-grey -grass, looking in places as if they were frosty with -hoar, and always profusely tasselled.</p> - -<p>Presently another bend showed certain white lines -between the river-fringe of trees, and this was the -<!--Page 294--> -abode of the friaresses. We made fast to a gap in -the clay bank and landed. At first I was refused -even coffee, and there was no inn. I therefore -sent my card and letter to the reverend vicar, -and he at once called upon me, ordered dinner, -and took me off to see the lions, of which the -most interesting was the sisterhood, or infirmary, -of the friaresses before named. The reverend -mother, rather a pretty person, received us at the -door, kissed the padre’s hand, and led the way to -the little college chapel, white and gold with frescoed -ceiling. We visited the dormitories; the galleries were -long, the room was large and airy. The infirmary -contained one sister and four invalid girls. The -thirty-six reverend women were dressed in white -veils and petticoats, with black scapulars in front, -and over all a blue cloak. I spent the night at this -place on the raft; the moon and stars were unusually -bright, and the night was delightfully clear and cool.</p> - -<p>We set out next morning at seven o’clock, and -proceeded without much adventure all that day and -night, finally arriving at Jaguára, at which hospitable -place I spent pleasant days, whilst another crew was -engaged and arrangments for my reaching Diamantina -were being completed.</p> - -<p>After a week at Jaguára I embarked again. There -was very little to record day by day of the voyage -from Jaguára to Diamantina. The river was ever -changing: sometimes we passed picturesque cliffs; -sometimes we went through gorgeous forests; with -<!--Page 295--> -masses of vegetation rolling and bulging down the -bank; sometimes the currents changed into rapids, -and the bed of the river was studded with islets of -calcareous stone, dangerous during half-flood.</p> - -<p>The most dangerous experience was when we shot -the rapids at Cachoeira Grande. People crowded -down to the yellow bank to stare and to frighten us -about them, and the dialogue was somewhat in -this style:--</p> - -<p>“Do you know the rapids?” we inquired.</p> - -<p>“We know them!”</p> - -<p>“Will you pilot us?”</p> - -<p>“We will not pilot you!”</p> - -<p>“For money?”</p> - -<p>“Not for money!”</p> - -<p>“And why?”</p> - -<p>“Because we are afraid of them!”</p> - -<p>This was spoken as the juniors ran along the bank -like ostriches or the natives of Ugogo.</p> - -<p>Luckily for us, for the Cachoeira Grande was no -joke, we found, just before we came to the rapids, -on the right bank a small crowd keeping holiday. -The men carried guns in their hands, and wore pistols -and daggers under their open jackets; the women were -in full dress, brilliant as rainbows, with blood-red -flowers in their glossy, crows’-wing hair. Of the -dozen, not one was fairly white. Here we picked -up a pilot or two who came on board. They were -men of few words; they saluted us civilly and -pushed off.</p> - -<p><!--Page 296--> -The beginning of the end was the little rapid -of the Saco Grande, or “Big Bend,” where the river -bed, turning sharply from south-east to north-west, -made parallel reaches. To avoid the rock-pier on the -left we floated stern foremost down along the right -bank, and managed the rapid with some difficulty. -Presently we turned to the east-south-west, and faced -the dreaded Cachoeira Grande, which is formed by -another sharp bend in the bed, winding to the north-east. -The obstacles were six very flat projections of dark -stone on the right bank and four on the left, and -cunning is required to spiral down between them. -We began by passing the port of No. 1, then we -made straight for No. 2 to the left; here, by pushing -furiously up stream, the <span class="title">Eliza</span> was forced over to -the right, was swung round by main force of arm, -and was allowed to descend, well in hand, to within -a few feet of No. 4, which rises right in the front. -Finally, leaving this wrecker to starboard, we hit the -usual triangle-head, with plenty of water breaking -off both arms. The descent occupied sixteen minutes.</p> - -<p>After many congratulations our friends the pilots -made a show of taking leave to do some important -business, which proved on inquiry to mean “doing -compliments.” As the dangers were not yet over, -I produced a keg of restilo; it was tasted, and -pronounced very hot in the mouth, and the Major—​that -is, myself—​became so irresistible that they all -swore they would accompany me to the Rio de São -Francisco, or anywhere. The poles were twirled again -<!--Page 297--> -and wielded with a will. We left to port broken -water and an ugly stone, a hogsback; then we crossed -to scrape acquaintance with a sunken mass in front.</p> - -<p>The end was the Cachoeira das Gallinhas, to which -we presently came. We gave a wide berth to a rock -well on the right bank and stuck to the left side. -Here was a narrow gate, formed by two rock-piers -projecting from the shores, and in such places -“cordelling” was advisable. The men sprang into -the water with loud cries, and pulled at the hawser -till the current had put us in proper position. They -then pushed off and sprang on board before we could -make much way. The “Rapid of the Hens” occupied -us nine minutes.</p> - -<p>A second dram of the “wild stuff” was then given -and our friends the pilots blessed us fervently; they -prayed for us, and unintelligibly invoked for us the -protection of the Virgin and all the saints. They -landed with abundant tripping and stumbling, carrying -with them many dollars and a bottle of the much-prized -restilo. I had every reason to be grateful to -them, for they saved me an immense amount of -trouble; but, shortly afterwards, reports of certain -“little deaths,” in which they had been actively concerned, -showed me that they were not exactly lambs.</p> - -<p>After this we proceeded easily down the river to -Bom Successo, from which point I intended to visit -Diamantina City. I had to land here and make my -way to Diamantina on mule-back, not an easy journey, -involving, as it did, a day and a night. Diamantina, -<!--Page 298--> -or the Diamond City, was peculiarly situated, almost -precipitous to the east and south-west, while the -northern part was a continuation of the broken prairie-land. -I stayed here as the guest of Sr. João Ribeiro, -a diamond merchant, and wealthy and hospitable. I -spent at this place three days and thoroughly inspected -it. The impression left upon me was most agreeable; -the men were the frankest, and the women the prettiest -and most amiable, of any it had been my fortune to -meet in Brazil; nothing could exceed their hospitality. -I will not describe my visit to the diamond diggings, -as I have done so fully elsewhere, and this brief sketch -must be mainly devoted to my voyage down the river. -I will only say that I found it most interesting, and, -so far from the diamonds being exhausted, it seemed -to me that they were only at the beginning of a supply -which might be described as inexhaustible.</p> - -<p>On the eleventh day I returned to Bom Successo -with great regret, and at 9.30 a.m. on September 7th -I dismissed my trooper and his mules, and pushed -out of the creek down the river towards Coroa do -Gallo. I met with several small troubles, such as -low sandbanks, snags, and stones, but managed to -push through to the Coroa do Gallo, where I spent -the night. The previous day had been burning -hot, but when we set forth the weather had become -temperate, and, indeed, on all this journey there -was nothing much to complain of on account of the -climate. We drifted on day after day through a soft -and balmy atmosphere, disturbed ever and anon by -<!--Page 299--> -gusts of wind and vapours; sometimes distant sheet -lightning flashed from the mists massing around the -horizon, the smoke of the prairie fires rose in columns, -and they might have been mistaken for the fumes of -a steamer by night. Those that were near glowed like -live coals, whilst the more distant gleamed blue.</p> - -<p>I landed and stayed a day or two at Guaicuhy, but -there was nothing very important to record. I was -strongly advised to visit the rapids of the Pirapora, -which are said to be, after the Casca d’Anta at the -beginning and the Paulo Affonso at the end, the important -feature upon the Rio de São Francisco. The -word means a “fish leap,” and is applied to places on -more than one Brazilian river. With a flush of joy I -found myself upon this glorious stream of the future, -whose dimensions here measure seven hundred feet. -I had seen nothing to compare with it since my visit -to the African Congo.</p> - -<p>Two new men were hired to guide us in the -“tender” canoe, as we wished to shoot the rapids. -We eyed curiously the contrasts of the new stream -with that which we had lately left. Here the water -was of a transparent green; the river seemed to break -even from the stiff clay, which was in places caving -in. After nine hours of hard work we doubled a -wooded projection from the left bank, and sighted -the Cachoeira of the Pirapora. The Pirapora differed -from anything I had yet viewed; it was, in fact, partly -a true fall, divided into two sections, and we trembled -to think what the Paulo Affonso might be. Glad -<!--Page 300--> -to stretch our cramped limbs, we landed on the right -bank, and proceeded to inspect the rapids from above. -The upper rapid, six feet high, seemed more formidable -than the lower of about seven feet. Near the right -bank these form true falls; they are also garnished -by little ladders, miniature cascades rushing furiously -down small, narrow, tortuous, channels, between the -teeth of jagged stone-saws, and tumbling over dwarf -buttresses. Thus the total height between the upper -and the lower “smooths” is thirteen feet. Above -the break the stream narrows to 1,800 feet, whilst -below it broadens to 3,500 feet. During the dry -weather the fair-way, if it may be so called, is a -thin sheet of water near the western bank: no raft, -however, can pass; canoes must be unladen and -towed up. Without a good pilot there is imminent -risk.</p> - -<p>A storm was gathering, and as we began the -descent lightning flashed from the east and south, and -from all the horizon, followed by low rumblings of -thunder. Presently our cranky canoe was struck -by the gale, one of the especial dangers of the São -Francisco. The east wind was heard roaring from -afar, and as it came down upon the stream, white -waves rose after a few minutes, subsiding as easily -when the gale had blown itself out. My men preferred -the leeward bank, upon which the blast broke, leaving -the water below comparatively dead, and thus they -escaped the risk of falling trees. The surface of -the central channel being now blocked by the furious -<!--Page 301--> -wind, a backwater during our ascent bore us swiftly -down. It was very dark at 7.30, when we landed -and climbed the steep and slippery bank. The thunder -growled angrily and heavy rain fell, fortunately upon -a tight roof. This was the first wet weather that I -had experienced since July 21st.</p> - -<p>The Pirapora had been on the São Francisco my -terminus <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ad quem</i>, and now it was <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">a quo</i>, the rest -of the voyage being down stream. When we started -in the morning the weather was still surly from the -effects of last night’s scolding, but the air was transparent -and clear; the books no longer curled with -drought, and a dose from the quinine bottle was -judged advisable. We were evidently at the break -of the rainy season. It was noon before the <span class="title">Eliza</span> -was poled off from the bank of the Guaicuhy, and -turned head downwards into the great stream. We -drifted on from day to day until we arrived at São -Romao, a God-forgotten place, which I explored; -but it was not particularly hospitable, so I returned -at evening and spent the night on the <span class="title">Eliza</span>, -lighted the fire, drew down the awning, and kept -out as much of the drifting rain and cold, shifting -wind as possible. It was not easy to sleep for the -babel of sounds, for the Romanenses were decidedly -ill-behaved and uncivilised, and made night hideous -with their orgies.</p> - -<p>We set out again next day, furling the awning, -through the drenching rain. We had a day of -wind and water, and then another of very hot sun, -<!--Page 302--> -and so we went on to Januaria, where I met with -frank and ready hospitality. After staying here -a night, we took the water again, and proceeded -through a small hurricane to Carunhanha, where -also I was well received, but had to sleep on board -the raft—​another night of devilry. Cold wind from -the north rushed through the hot air, precipitating -a deluge in embryo; then the gale chopped round -to the south, and produced another, and fiercer, -down-pour. A treacherous lull, and all began again, -the wind howling and screaming from the east. The -thunder roared and the lightning flashed in all -directions; the stream rose in wavelets, which washed -over the <span class="title">Eliza</span>, and shook her by the bumping of -the “tender” canoe. We did not get much sleep -that night.</p> - -<p>I will not further describe my voyage day after -day in the <span class="title">Eliza</span>. Suffice it to say, at Varzéa -Redonda, a wretched village just before we came -to the Paulo Affonso, I dismantled the <span class="title">Eliza</span> and -paid off the crew. I was asked to stay on land, -but, as I wished to see everything settled, I slept -on board, and regretted my resolution. The night -was furious, and the wind raised waves that nearly -beat the old raft to pieces. My men, having reached -the end of their work, had the usual boatman’s spree—​hard -drinking, extensive boasting, trials of strength, -and quarrelling, intermixed with singing, shouting, -extemporising verses, and ending in the snores and -snorts of Bacchic sleep. I found them very troublesome; -<!--Page 303--> -but the next morning they shed tears of -contrition. I saw them disappear without regret; the -only face, indeed, that I was sorry to part from was -that of the good old pilot.</p> - -<p>The next step was to procure animals and men to -take me to the Great Rapids. I had great difficulty -in getting these, and when the party was made up -it consisted of the worst men, the worst mules, and -the worst equipments I had ever seen in Brazil. In -two days and two nights I arrived at Paulo Affonso, -the King of the Rapids.</p> - -<p>I shall never forget my first approach to it. In -the distance we heard a deep, hollow sound, soft -withal, like the rumbling of a distant storm, but -it seemed to come from below the earth, as if we trod -upon it. After another mile the ground appeared -to tremble at the eternal thunder. A little later -we came upon the rapids. Paulo Affonso has well -been called the Niagara of Brazil.</p> - -<p>The quebrada, or gorge, is here two hundred -and sixty feet deep; in the narrowest part it is choked -to a minimum breadth of fifty-one feet. It is filled -with what seems not water but froth and milk, a -dashing and dazzling, a whirling and churning -surfaceless mass, which gives a wondrous study of -fluid in motion. Here the luminous whiteness of -the chaotic foam-crests, hurled in billows and breakers -against the blackness of the rock, is burst into flakes -and spray that leap half-way up the immuring trough. -Then the steam boils over and canopies the tremendous -<!--Page 304--> -scene. In the stilly air of dull, warm grey, the -mists surge up, deepening still more the dizzy fall -that yawns under our feet.</p> - -<p>The general effect of the picture, and the same may -be said of all great cataracts, is the realised idea of -power—​of power tremendous, inexorable, irresistible. -The eye is spell-bound by the contrast of this impetuous -motion, this wrathful, maddened haste to escape, with -the frail stedfastness of the bits of rainbow, hovering -above, with the “Table Rock,” so solid to the tread, -and with the placid, settled stillness of the plain and -hillocks, whose eternal homes seem to be here. Magic, -I may observe, is in the atmosphere of Paulo Affonso; -it is the natural expression of the glory and the majesty, -the splendour and the glamour of the scene, which -Greece would have peopled with shapes of beauty, and -which in Germany would be haunted by choirs of flying -sylphs and dancing Undines.</p> - -<p>I sat over the cataract until convinced it was not -possible to become one with the waters; what at first -seemed grand and sublime had at last a feeling of awe, -too intense to be in any way enjoyable. The rest of -the day I spent in camp, where the minor troubles of -life soon asserted their power. The sand raised by -the strong and steady trade-wind was troublesome, and -the surface seething in the sun produced a constant -drought. We were now at the head of the funnel, the -vast ventilator which guides the gale to the Rio -de São Francisco. At night the sky showed a fast-drifting -scud, and an angry blast dispersed the gathering -<!--Page 305--> -clouds of blood-thirsty mosquitos. Our lullaby was -the music of Paulo Affonso.</p> - -<p>The next day I visited the falls again and explored -them thoroughly, going down from the heights above -to the base beneath, from which the finest view of the -falls was to be obtained. It was a grand climax to my -voyage down the São Francisco.</p> - -<p>My task was done; I won its reward, and my -strength passed from me. Two days of tedious -mountain riding led to the Porto das Piranhas, and -from here I descended the lower Rio de São Francisco -more leisurely, and, when that was done, I finally returned -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> Rio de Janeiro to Santos (São Paulo), <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alias</i> -the Wapping of the Far West, and took up my -consular duties once again.</p> -<!--Page 306--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 307--><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">THROUGH SYRIA TO PALMYRA</span> -1870</h3> -<!--Page 308--><!--Blank Page--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--Page 309--> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head"><span class="title">THROUGH SYRIA TO PALMYRA</span></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">1870</h4> - -<p class="p2 unindent dropcap">I  AM “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">partant pour la Syrie</i>,” and though it is comparatively -near, we find the journey long. We -take steamer to Alexandria, and there await the first -vessel going northwards. We embark in a foreign -steamer, much preferring the Russian, and after passing, -perhaps without sighting, the base of the Nile Delta -and the northern terminus of the Suez Canal, we run -rapidly up the coast of the Holy Land. We are near -enough to see certain of its features, and to feel a -throbbing of the heart. Here is Ascalon, the “Bride -of Syria,” still redolent of the days of the lion-hearted -king and of the right royal Saláh-el-Din. There is -Jaffa, the Joppa ever full of the memories of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Peter. -We touch there, but we may not land unless the sea -is of the calmest. Now we steam along the site of -Cæsarea, the busy city of Herod Agrippa, converted -into the most silent waste of ruins that it has ever been -our fate to look upon. There we cast anchor for a few -days, at the second station, Hazfa, opposite <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean -d’Acre, that “Key of Palestine” from the days of the -Crusaders to the times of Bonaparte, Sir Sydney Smith, -and Sir Charles Napier. From this point we swerve -<!--Page 310--> -rapidly past the brown headland of Carmel, type of -excellent beauty to the Hebrew poet, past the white -Scala Tyrivrum, whose <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">promontorium album</i> might be a -fragment of the white cliffs of Albion, past the bright -little town of Tyre, a phœnix rising a third time from -its ashes, and past Sidon and Lebanon, memorial names -engraved upon our childish hearts too deeply for time -or change ever to erase them from the memory of the -man. So memorial, indeed, are all these regions that -the traveller must keep watch and ward upon himself, -under penalty of suffering from what I may call “Holy -Land on the brain.” The essence of it consists in -seeing all things, not as they are, but as they ought to -be; for instance, “hanging gardens” at Damascus, -“Roman bridges” in Saracenic arches, and “beautiful -blush marble” in limestone stained with oxide. It -wrings the hearts of its friends when sighting the Plain -of Esdraelon, and in gazing upon a certain mound it -exclaims:</p> - -<p class="center small">What hill is like to Tabor’s hill in beauty and in grace?</p> - -<p class="unindent">This clairvoyance, or idealism, which makes men -babble of green fields where only dust meets the -eye of sense is by no means an obscure disorder -of the brain; on the contrary, it is rather aggressive -and violent, whilst writers of guides and handbooks -appear abnormally exposed to it. Hence those who -prepare for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land must -temper information and description with many a -grain of salt, or they will undergo no little disappointment. -Ideal pleasures ever excel those of reality; -<!--Page 311--> -but in this case there is an extra and inordinate supply -of ideality.</p> - -<p>We disembark at the hopeless, wind-lashed roadstead -of Beyrut, within the limits of the Land of Promise, -but never yet included in the Land of Possession. -The trim little harbour-town, seated upon its sloping -amphitheatre, converted into “<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Colossia Julia Augusta -Felix Berytus</i>” must have been a local Pompeii in -the fourth and fifth centuries, and its feminine bust -was found associated with the medallions of Alexandria -and Halicarnassus. During those ages the Roman -and Egyptian galleys jostled one another in the inner -port, which now looks like a dock; their palaces -and villas covered the slopes with pillars and -colonnades; paradises and gardens contrasted with -proud fanes rising upon well-wooded and well-watered -peaks around—​fanes dedicated to gods and goddesses -now remembered only by the classical dictionaries. -In those days, students of philosophy and theology, -of law and language, flocked to Berytus from the -most distant lands. But the terrible earthquake of -<span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 551, which laid waste a pleasant site, seems to -have been the turning-point of its destinies; the -roadstead apparently became shallow, and, despite -a noted miracle in the eighth century, Beyrut saw -her glory depart for many a generation. At last, -in the beginning of the nineteenth century, it had -sunk to its lowest, and the petty port, placed under -the unimportant Pashalate of Sidon, numbered barely -five hundred souls.</p> - -<p><!--Page 312--> -Sir Charles Napier, the sailor, changed all that. -In the autumn of 1840 he made Beyrut his headquarters, -whence he and his gallant crews ranged -the hill country around and blockaded the ports, -till the career of Ibrahim Pasha was unfortunately -cut short. Thereupon the hat began at once to take -precedence of the turban, even of the green turban. -The headquarters of the Pashalate were transferred -from Sidon to Beyrut; European merchants established -country houses; missionaries opened schools for both -sexes; the different consular corps contended for -the construction of roads and the abatement of -nuisances; whilst the port was regularly visited by -four lines of steamers. Briefly, Beyrut became the -only Europeanised place in Syria, and she will probably -remain so for many years.</p> - -<p>The old part of the city still retains some marks -of Orientalism; the old part, with its alleys, wynds, -and closes, its wretched lanes, its narrow and slippery -thoroughfares, resembling unroofed sewers, is peculiarly -sombre and Syrian, full of dead men’s bones and -all uncleanliness. Nothing can be meaner than the -Customs House, where millions of piastres annually -change hands. Of the stately buildings which once -adorned it no traces remain but three granite -monolithic columns, still towering above modern -misery. But the new town which surrounds the -ancient archery is Levantine—​that is to say, almost -Italian; the points of difference being a scatter of -minarets and a sprinkling of tropical vegetation, which -<!--Page 313--> -tells you that you are somewhat nearer the sun. -There are houses and hospitals large enough each -to lodge its battalions; piano and bugle sounds catch -the ear; the carriage is taking the place of the horse -and the mule—​here, as in South America, a sure -sign of civilisation; and Orientalism is essentially -at a discount. You must not think of Beyrut as -an Eastern city.</p> - -<p>Life is easy and death is easier in these sub-tropical -regions. Men do little during six days, and carefully -rest on the seventh. For eight months they saunter -through the tepid air of the Mediterranean seaboard; -the other four are spent upon “the mountain” -(<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">i.e.</i> Lebanon), whose pure, light air is a tonic. -The little world of Beyrut rises rather late, and its -business hours are but before the noontide breakfast, -for here, as amongst the classics, the meals are two -per diem. They would be called by our grandfathers -dinner and supper; we say breakfast and dinner. -Then a little more work precedes a drive or a ride: -the stroll is not unknown, the constitutional is. -The evenings are spent either in a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">café</i> or in visits, -where whist at times puts in an appearance, and -a profound stillness, like that of Lime Street, City, -begins to reign about 10 p.m. The theatre has -not been imported, although an enterprising Syrian -Christian—​Moslems cannot originate such things—​has, -after a visit to Italy, written several comedies -in the classical style, unfortunately adopting the -French rhymed couplet. The tea party, the little -<!--Page 314--> -music, and the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">soirée dansante</i>, flourish in what -the Beyrutines are pleased to call the “Paris of -Syria.” The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeunesse dorée</i>, in patent leather boots, -“boiled shirts,” fold collars, white ties, and lemon-coloured -gloves, loves to don the sables which the -English gentleman affects. When he goes forth -to make merry, he enters gloves in hand; he prefers -round dances to square, and he imitates Europe -very literally. But as the Romans kept up the -time-honoured and homely eggs as the end of their -richest banquets, so the “golden youth” of Beyrut -prefers the ugly and unpleasant fez or tarbush. -For the rest, young Syria’s ambition is to marry -a European wife, and he does not always get the -best of <em>that</em> bargain.</p> - -<p>In these lands Society still preserves the fragmentary -nature which belonged to the ancient world. Beyrut, -the port, at the time whereof I write, is distant a -single day’s ride from Damascus, the capital of Syria, -yet there is no trace of sympathy between the two, -and the inland say of the seaboard city:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Its sun cracks [wood or teak],</div> -<div class="i0">And its water is salt,</div> -<div class="i0">And its falls are cloud de Paris [dirty of lead].</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">Again Damascus jeers:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Perish Beyrut, for the reason that her heat resembles Sakar [the eighth hell].</div> -<div class="i0">No flowing of milk is found in her, though her sons are [stupid as] cows.</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">Whereto Beyrut retorts:</p> - -<!--Page 315--> -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">At Aleppo man is a dandy and vain,</div> -<div class="i0">At Shan [Damascus] he is niggard and mean,</div> -<div class="i0">And the Nizri [Egyptian] is simply a rascal.</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">Whilst “the lying of Damascus” is an illustration in -the mouth of every Beyrutine. We have a rhyme -of the kind touching one—​</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Sir Vicary Gibbs,</div> -<div class="i0">The inventor of fibs.</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">But Damascus says of herself, when describing a -man who has became civilised: “He hath been -Damascus’d.” These sharp sayings, indeed, are -not confined to the capital and the port. As of old -upon the Sorrentine Plains, to speak of no other -place, every town had a nickname, a rhyme, or a -tale attached to it, which “kinder ryled up” the -inhabitants, so it is the case throughout modern -Syria. Thus of Jerusalem men say, as of Meccah:</p> - -<p class="center small">Her soil is sacred, her sons are soiled.</p> - -<p class="unindent">Of Tiberias, a town built of basalt:</p> - -<p class="center small">Her stones are black, and her people are Jews.</p> - -<p class="unindent">Of the Naw’arinah, or people of the Auranitis (the -great Hauran Valley), we are told that:</p> - -<p class="center small">They thrice bewildered the Apostle of Allah [Mohammed].</p> - -<p class="unindent">The modern inhabitants of ancient Heliopolis, where -Burckhardt found the handsomest woman in Syria, -is dubbed:</p> - -<p class="center small">A Ba’albak bear.</p> - -<p>The Halbem village near Damascus is a standing -<!--Page 316--> -joke with the witty citizens on account of the huge -woollen turbans, the loud voice, and the peculiar -dispositions of the people. They make “kass,” or -lamp-wicks, for Damascus, and it is said that on -one occasion, when their shaykh was imprisoned, -they threatened, by withholding the supply, to keep -the city in total darkness. Also, as a bride was being -led home, mounted on an ass, when the doorway -was found too low, the popular voice said that her -head should be cut off, till some local wise man of -Gotham suggested that she might dismount.</p> - -<p>Beyrut in my day was connected with Damascus -by the only carriageable road in the Holy Land, -which was supposed to boast of two others, the Jaffa-Jerusalem -and the Alexandretto-Aleppo. These two, -however, are utterly unfit for wheels, the reason being -that they were laid out by native engineers and -administered by the Turks, a nation that has succeeded -in nothing but destruction. The distance is forty-seven -and a half geographical miles, prolonged to sixty -by the old road and to seventy-two by the new one.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_8" id="fnanchor_8"></a><a href="#footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></span></p> - -<p>We could travel to Damascus by night coach or -<!--Page 317--> -by day diligence, preferring the latter, which enables -us to see the land. At 4 a.m. we leave the harbour-town, -and we shall reach our destination at 6 p.m. -The section between the Mediterranean and Damascus, -the sea and the Euphrates Desert, is an epitome of -Syria, which has been described to be an epitome -of the whole world; a volume might be easily written -upon what is seen during that day’s journey. After -a couple of miles through suburbs, cemeteries, and -scattered villas, orchards of mulberry and olive, -lanes hedged with prickly pear and dense clumps -of young stone-pines, the road begins to ascend -the westward, or maritime, slope of the Lebanon. -It works gradually towards the left bank of the great -gorge called Wady Hammánah, in one of whose -hamlets Lamartine lived and wrote. After some -twelve miles from the Beyrut Plain, we reach the -watershed of the Jurd, or Highlands of the Lebanon. -Here we are about 5,500 feet above sea-level, and -feel immensely relieved, in fine weather at least, -from the damp heat of the malarious seaboard, which -robs the stranger of appetite and rest. The view, -too, is charming: a glimpse of sparkling sea, a well-wooded -sandstone region, and a long perspective -of blue and purple chain and peak, cut and torn -by valley, gorge, and ravine, scarring both flanks -of the prism. Looking eastward, we sight for the -first time that peculiar basaltic bed which gives -rise to the Jordan, the Orontes, and the Litani (a -river of Tyre). It appears to be a volcanic depression -<!--Page 318--> -sunk in the once single range of secondary limestone, -and splitting it into two parallel chains, the Libanus -and the Anti-Libanus. Viewed from above it is -a Spanish viga, a plain of wondrous wealth and -fertility, whilst the surface appears smooth as a lake. -It is, however, in places dangerously swampy, and -though raised some 2,500 to 3,000 feet above sea-level, -it is an unwholesome and aguish site, alternately -very hot and very cold, curiously damp and distressingly -dry. And the same may be said of Damascus, -which has to the east the scorching desert, and to -the west mountains, mostly snowy: it is no wonder -that the old author called it the “windy.” But the -climate of Damascus is complicated by perhaps the -worst and hardest water in Syria, by the exceeding -uncleanliness of the place, and by the habits of the -population. To say that man can exist there at all -speaks volumes in his favour.</p> - -<p>Rapidly we run down the eastern, or landward, -counterslope of the Lebanon, remembering the anti-Jacobin -couplet:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">And down thy slopes romantic Ashdown glides</div> -<div class="i0">The Derby dilly carrying six insides.</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="unindent">Before its lowest folds we find the fifth station, -Shtóra; here, as it is now 10 a.m., we breakfast. We -at once realise what will be the bill of fare in the -interior. Bread? perhaps. Potatoes? possibly. Beef -or veal? impossible. Pig? ridiculous. Little, in fact, -but lean kid and lamb, mutton, and fowls whose breast-bones -pierce their skins. Wine? yes—​dear and bad. -<!--Page 319--> -Beer or porter, seltzer or soda? decidedly no. In the -winter game is to be had, woodcock and wild duck, -hares and gazelles; but the diet is held to be heating -and bilious. Vegetables, however, are plentiful, and, -during the season, fruit is abundant, with the usual -drawback in half-civilised lands: wall fruit is all but -unknown, and, with the exception of the excellent -grapes and the unwholesome apricots, each kind lasts -only a few days.</p> - -<p>After breakfast we spin by a straight road—​such as -old Normandy knew and modern Canada still knows—​the -breadth of the valley. It is laid out in little fields, -copiously irrigated. The little villages which stud the -plain are, like those of Egypt, not of Syria, built on -mounds, and black with clay plastered over the wicker-work. -Every mile or so has some classical ruin: on -our right a Báal temple; to our left Chalcis ad Belum; -whilst six hours of slow riding northwards, or up the -valley, place you at immortal Báalbak, which the Greeks -still call Heliopolis.</p> - -<p>A rising plane and a bend to the right land us at -the first of the Anti-Libanus. Instead of ascending -and descending this range, as we did with the Lebanon -prism, we thread a ravine called by the Druzes the -Valley of Silk, from their favourite article of plunder. -An easy up-slope leads to Sahlat Judaydah, the dwarf -plateau about 3,600 feet high, where the watershed -changes from west to east; farther on to the wild -gorge Wady el Karn (“of the Thorn”), so called from -its rich ribbings and the wreathing and winding of the -<!--Page 320--> -bed. We find a stiff climb or a long zigzag at the -Akabat el Tin (the Steep of Lime).</p> - -<p>The descent of the steep ends with the Daurat el -Billau (Zigzag of the Camel Thorn), and thence we -fall into the Sahrat el Dimas, so called from a village -which may have borrowed a name from the penitent -thief. This Sahara has been described with prodigious -exaggeration in order to set off by contrast the charms -of the so-termed “sublime Gorge of Abana,” to which -it leads. Measuring some ten kilometres, it is undoubtedly -a rough bit of ground, dry as dust in the -summer, and in winter swept by raving winds and -piled with sleet and snow. At its eastern end the -Sahara at once dips into a deep, lateral gorge, which -feeds, after rains, the Barada Valley, and here we -remark that curious contrast of intense fertility -with utter, hopeless barrenness which characterises -inner Spain. Life is in that thick line of the darkest -and densest evergreen, which, smiling under the fierce -and fiery sun-glare, threads the side of the valley, in -the wholesome perfume of the wild plants, and in the -gush and murmur of waters making endless music. -Death is represented by the dull grey formation standing -up in tombstones, by the sterile yellow lime-rock, -and by the chalk, blinding white; and the proportion -of good to bad is as one to twenty. This verdure is, -the Arabs say, a cooling to the eye of the beholder; -it is like the aspect of the celadon-coloured sea that -beats upon the torrid West African shores. With the -author of that charming book “Eothen,” “you float -<!--Page 321--> -along (for the delight is as the delight of bathing) -through green, wavy fields and down into the cool -verdure of groves and gardens, and you quench hot -eyes in shade as though in deep, rushing waters.”</p> - -<p>The beginning of the end is at the tenth and last -station, El Hamah, meaning the Head of the Valley, -and we halt here for a cup of coffee. The next place -of note is Dummar; here we cross the Barada torrent. -This place is, despite its low site and hot and cold air, -a favourite for villas; and certain wealthy Damascus -usurers have here built large piles, as remarkable for -the barbarity of their outer frescoes as for the tawdry -decoration of the interior. The witty Damasceines -call them “traps,” because they are periodically let -to high officials for other considerations than hire. -And now, with its slate-coloured stream, garnished with -weirs on our right, the valley becomes broader and -more important; the upper cliff’s are tunnelled into -cut caves, Troglodyte dwellings and sepulchres of the -ancients; seven veins at high levels and at low levels -branch off from the main artery; and, after passing a -natural gateway formed by two shield-like masses of -rock, we suspect that Damascus is before us.</p> - -<p>The first sight of Damascus was once famous in -travel. But then men rode on horseback, and -turned, a little beyond Damascus, sharply to the left -of the present line. They took what was evidently -the old Roman road, and which is still, on account -of its being a short cut, affected by muleteers. Now -it is nothing but an ugly climb up sheet-rock and -<!--Page 322--> -rolling stones, with bars and holes dug by the armed -hoof of many a generation. They then passed -through El Zaarub (the Spout); this is the old way, -sunk some ten feet deep in the rock till it resembles -an uncovered tunnel, and polished like glass by -the traffic and transit of ages. At its mouth you -suddenly turn a corner and see Damascus lying in -panorama, a few hundred feet below you. “A flint -set in emeralds” is the Damascus citizen’s description -of what El Islam calls, and miscalls, the “smile of -the Prophet” (Mohammed). Like Stambul, it is -beautiful from afar, as it is foul and sore within, -morally and physically. The eye at once distinguishes -a long head, the northern suburb “El Salituzzah”; -a central nucleus, crescent-shaped and fronting the -bed of the Barada; and a long tail, or southern -suburb, “El Maydan.” These three centres of whitewashed -dwellings and skyline, fretted with dome and -minaret, are surrounded and backed by a mass of -evergreen orchard, whose outlines are sharply defined -by irrigation, whilst beyond the scatter of outlying -villages, glare the sunburnt yellow and the parched -rich brown of the desert, whose light blue hillocks -define the eastern horizon.</p> - -<p>The prosaic approach by the French road shows -little beyond ruins and graveyards: Damascus outside -is a mass of graveyards, the “Great” and -“Little Camps” of Constantinople, only without -their cypresses; whilst within it is all graveyards -and ruins, mixed with crowded and steaming bazaars. -<!--Page 323--> -This world of graves reminds one of Job’s forlorn man -dwelling “in desolate cities, and in houses which no -man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.” -The Barada in olden times had its stone embankment; -the walls are now in ruins. On our right is a ruined -bridge once leading to a large coffee-house, both also -in ruins. As we advance we pass other ruins. But -though it was prophesied that Damascus should be -a “ruinous heap,” her position forbids annihilation. -The second of Biblical cities, she has been destroyed -again and again; her houses have been levelled with -the ground, and the Tartar has played hockey with the -hearts of her sons. Still she sits upon the eastern -folds of the Anti-Libanus and on her gold-rolling river, -boldly overlooking the desert at her base. Damascus, -not Rome, deserves, if any does, to be entitled the -Eternal City.</p> - -<p>I passed twenty-three months (October 1st, 1869, -to August 20th, 1871), on and off, at this most -picturesque and unpleasant of residences. It was -then in the transitional state, neither of Asia nor of -Europe. To one who had long lived in the outer -East, a return to such an ambiguous state of things -was utterly disenchanting. Hassan, digging or delving -in long beard and long clothes, looks more like an -overgrown baby than the romantic being which your -fancies paint him. Fatima, with a coloured kerchief -(not a nose-bag) over her face, possibly spotted for -greater hideousness, with Marseilles gloves and French -bottines of yellow satin, trimmed with fringe and -<!--Page 324--> -bugles, protruding from the white calico which might -be her winding-sheet, is an absurdity: she reminded -me of sundry “kings” on the West African shore, -whose toilet consists of a bright bandanna and a -chimney-pot hat, of the largest dimensions, coloured -the liveliest sky-blue.</p> - -<p>The first steps to be taken at Damascus were to -pay and receive visits, to find a house, to hire -servants, to buy horses, and, in fact, to settle ourselves. -It proved no easy matter. Certain persons -had amused themselves with spreading a report that -my pilgrimage to Meccah had aroused Moslem -fanaticism, and perhaps might cost me my life. They, -as well as I, knew far better, so I was not surprised -at the kind and even friendly reception given to me -by Emir Abdel Kadir, of Algerine fame, and by the -Dean of the great Cathedral el Amahi, the late Shaykh -Abdahah el Halati. And I remember with satisfaction -that, to the hour of my quitting Damascus, the -Moslems never showed for me any but the most -cordial feeling.</p> - -<p>Other British consuls had been of a stay-at-home -disposition, seeing nothing beyond the length of -their noses. I was of a roving one, and determined -to see all I could, and penetrate to the inner heart -of Syria. To be shut up in Damascus was to be in -prison; the breath of the desert was liberty. I soon -wandered afield. One of my earliest excursions was -to Palmyra. Until the spring of 1870 a traveller -visiting Syria for the express purpose, perhaps, of -<!--Page 325--> -seeing Palmyra, “Tadmor in the Wilderness,” after -being kept waiting for months at Damascus, had -to return disappointed. Only the rich could afford -the large Bedouin escort, for which even six thousand -francs and more have been demanded. Add to this -the difficulties, hardships, and dangers of the journey, -the heat of the arid desert, want of water, chances -of attack, the long forced marches by night and hiding -by day, ending with a shabby halt of forty-eight hours -at a place for which so many sacrifices had been -made, and where a fortnight is the minimum required.</p> - -<p>Since the beginning of the last century the Porte -has had in view a military occupation of the caravan -route between Damascus and the Euphrates. “The -Turk will catch up your best hare on the back of -a lame donkey,” say the Arabs, little thinking what -high praise they award to the conquering race. The -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cordon militaire</i> was to extend from Damascus, -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> Jayrud, Karyatayn, Palmyra, and Sukhnah, to -Daye on the great rim. The wells were to be -commanded by block houses, the roads to be cleared -by movable columns, and thus the plundering Bedouin, -who refuse all allegiance to the Sultan, would be -kept, perforce, in the dan, or desert, between the -easternmost offsets of the Anti-Libanus and the -pitch uplands of Nijd. This project was apparently -rescued from the fate of good intentions by Osman -Bey, a Hungarian officer who had served the Porte -since 1848. He moved from Hamah with a body -of some 1,600 men—​enough to cut his way through -<!--Page 326--> -half the vermin in Araby the Unblest. Presently, -after occupying Palmyra, building barracks, and -restoring the old Druze Castle, he proceeded eastward -to Sukhnah, whence he could communicate with -the force expected to march westward from Baghdad. -The welcome intelligence was hailed with joy: Palmyra, -so long excluded from the Oriental tour, lay open -to the European traveller; half a step had been -taken towards a Euphrates Valley Railway; at -Damascus men congratulated themselves upon the -new line of frontier, which was naturally expected -to strengthen and to extend the limits of Syria; and -the merchant rejoiced to learn that his caravan would -be no longer liable to wholesale plunder.</p> - -<p>A fair vision, doomed soon to fade! After six -months or so of occupation, Osman Bey, whose -men were half starving, became tired of Palmyra, and -was recalled to Damascus. The garrison was reduced -to two hundred men under a captain, whose only -friend was the raki bottle, and the last I saw of -the garrison was his orderly riding into Hauran, -with the huge, empty demijohns dangling at his saddle-bow. -The Bedouin waxed brave, and, in the spring -of 1871, I was obliged to send travellers to Palmyra -by a long circuit, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> the north and the north-west.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_9" id="fnanchor_9"></a><a href="#footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></span></p> - -<p><!--Page 327--> -A certain official business compelled me to visit -Karyatayn, which is within jurisdiction of Damascus, -and my wife resolved to accompany me. In this -little enterprise I was warmly seconded by the Vicomte -de Perrochel, a French traveller and author, who had -twice visited Damascus in the hope of reaching -Tadmor, and by M. Ionine, my Russian colleague. -The Governor-General, the Field Marshal commanding -the army of Syria, and other high officials, lent -us their best aid. We engaged a pair of dragomen, -six servants, a cook, and eight muleteers; twelve -mules and eight baggage-asses to carry tents and -canteen, baggage and provisions; and we rode our -own horses, being wrongly persuaded not to take -donkeys—​on long marches they would have been -a pleasant change. We were peculiarly unfortunate -in the choice of head dragoman, a certain Anton -Wardi, who had Italianised his name to Riza. -Originally a donkey-boy at Beyrut, he made, by -“skinning” sundry travellers, some 80,000 francs -in ten years. He was utterly spoiled by his -French friends, M. de Sauley and M. de Perrochel; -he had also dragomaned the then Princess Amadeo, -who, in return for his mean conduct, had promised -him, and afterwards sent him, greatly to the -disgust of every Italian gentleman, the Order of -the Rose. This “native gentleman,” the type of -the ignoble <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">petit bourgeois</i> of Syria, had been trusted -without any contract having been made. He charged -us a hundred francs per diem, and the others each fifty -<!--Page 328--> -francs and forty francs. When the bill was produced -for settlement, it proved to be a long list of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">des extras</i>: -everything was <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">un extra</i>; two bottles of cognac, -reported broken, appeared as <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">des extras</i>; even the -water-camels were <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">des extras</i>. The fact was, he had -allowed, when galloping about the country, some -francs to fall from his pocket, and he resolved that -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">les extras</i> should replace them.</p> - -<p>We altogether regretted the assistance of Mohammed, -Shaykh of the Mezrab tribe, who had systematically -fleeced travellers for a score of years. He demanded -two napoleons a head for his wretched camels, -sending a score when only one was wanted; like -all other chiefs, he would not guarantee his protégés, -either in purse or person, against enemies, but only -against his own friends; he allowed them but two -days at Palmyra; he made them march twenty, -instead of fifteen, hours between Karyatayn and their -destination; he concealed the fact that there are wells -the whole way, in order to make them hire camels -and buy water-skins; and, besides harassing them -with night marches, he organised sham attacks, in -order to make them duly appreciate his protection. -I rejoice to say that Mohammed’s occupation has since -gone; his miserable tribe was three times plundered -within eighteen months, and, instead of fighting, he -fell back upon the desert. May thus end all who -oppose their petty interests to the general good—​all -that would shut roads instead of opening them! With -a view of keeping up his title to escort travellers, -<!--Page 329--> -he sent with us a clansman upon a well-bred mare -and armed with the honourable spear. But M. de -Perrochel hired the mare; the crestfallen man was -put upon a baggage-mare, and the poor spear was -carried by a lame donkey.</p> - -<p>Armed to the teeth, we set out in a chorus of -groans and with general prognostications of evil. -Ours was the first party since M. Dubois d’Angus -was dangerously wounded, stripped, and turned out -to die of hunger, thirst, and cold, because he could -not salary the inevitable Bedouin. It would, doubtless, -have been the interest of many and the delight of -more to see us return in the scantiest of costumes; -consequently a false report generally flew abroad that -we had been pursued and plundered by the Bedouin.</p> - -<p>The first night was passed under canvas near a -ruined khan in the fifth valley plain east of the Syrian -metropolis. The weather became unusually cold the -next morning when we left the foggy lowland and -turned to the north-east in order to cross the ridgy -line of hills, which, offsetting from the Anti-Libanus, -runs from Damascus toward the desert, and afterwards -sweeps round to Palmyra. The line of travel was -a break in the ridge. Then, gently descending, we -fell into a northern depression, a section of that -extensive valley in the Anti-Libanus, which, under -a variety of names, runs nearly straight north-east -(more exactly, 60°), to Palmyra. Nothing can be -simpler than the geography of the country. The -traveller cannot lose his way in the Palmyra Valley -<!--Page 330--> -without crossing the high and rugged mountains -which hem it in on both sides, and, if he is attacked -by raiders, he can easily take refuge, and laugh at -the Arab goatees. During the time of our journey -the miserable little robber clans Shitai and Ghiyas -had completely closed the country five hours’ riding -to the east of Damascus, whilst the Sorbai and the -Anergah bandits were making the Merj a battlefield -and were threatening to burn down the peaceful -villages. Even as we crossed the pass we were -saddened by the report that a troop of Bedouin had -the day before murdered a wretched peasant within -easy sight of Damascus. This state of things was a -national scandal to the Porte, which, of course, was -never allowed to know the truth.</p> - -<p>We resolved to advance slowly, to examine every -object, and to follow the most indirect paths. Hence -our march to Palmyra occupied eight days; we returned, -however, in four with horses that called loudly -for a week’s rest. The regular stations are as follows:—​</p> - -<table summary=""> -<tr><td colspan="2" class="smaller right pad4">Hours.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left pad2">1. Damascus to Jayrud</td> - <td class="right pad4">9</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left pad2">2. Jayrud to Karyatayn</td> - <td class="right pad4">10-11</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left pad2">3. Karyatayn to Agu el Waah</td> - <td class="right pad4">8</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left pad2">4. Agu el Waah to Palmyra</td> - <td class="right pad4">9</td></tr> -</table> - -<p>On the second day we dismissed our escort, one -officer and two privates of irregular cavalry, who were -worse than useless, and we slept at the house of Daas -Agha, hereditary Chief of Jayrud. A noted sabre, and -able to bring one hundred and fifty lances into the field, -<!--Page 331--> -he was systematically neglected by the authorities, -because supposed to be friendly with foreigners. -Shortly after my departure he barbarously tortured -two wretched Arabs, throwing them into a pit full of -fire, and practising upon them with his revolver. -Thereupon he was at once taken into prime favour, -and received a command.</p> - -<p>Daas Agha escorted us from Jayrud with ten of his -kinsmen mounted upon their best mares. In the upland -valley we suffered severely from cold, and the -sleety sou’wester which cut our faces on the return -was a caution.</p> - -<p>At Karyatayn, which we reached on the fifth day, -Osman Bey, who was waiting for rations, money, -transport, in fact, everything, offered us the most -friendly welcome, and I gave official protection to -Shaykh Faris, in connection with the English post at -Baghdad. The former detached with us eighty bayonets -of regulars and twenty-five sabres of Irregulars, commanded -by two officers. This body presently put to -flight anything in the way of Bedouin; a war party -of two thousand men would not have attacked us; and -I really believe that a band of thirty Englishmen armed -with carbines and revolvers could sweep clean the -Desert of the Euphrates from end to end.</p> - -<p>At Karyatayn we hired seventeen camels to carry -water. This would have been a complete waste of -money had we gone, like other travellers, by the Darb -el Sultain, or High Way. Some three hours’ ride to -the right, or south, of the road amongst the hills -<!--Page 332--> -bounding the Palmyra Valley is a fine cistern (Ibex -Fountain), where water is never wanting. There is, -however, a still more direct road <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> the remains of an -aqueduct and a river in the desert. This short cut -from Karyatayn to Palmyra may be covered in twenty-four -hours of camel walking, fifteen of horse walking, -and twelve by dromedary or hard gallop. Travellers -would start at 6.30 or 7 a.m., and encamp after being -out from twelve to thirteen hours; but this includes -breakfast and sundry halts, sometimes to inspect -figures, real or imaginary, in the distance, at other -times to indulge in a “spurt” after a gazelle or a -wild boar.</p> - -<p>We chose, however, the little-known Baghdad, or -eastern, road. The next day we rested at a large -deserted khan, and on the eighth we made our -entrance into Palmyra, where we were hospitably -received by Shaykh Faris. Our muleteers, for the -convenience of their cattle, pitched their tents close to, -and east of, the so-called Grand Colonnade, a malarious -and unwholesome site. They should have encamped -amongst the trees at a threshing-floor near three palms. -Travellers may be strongly advised not to lodge in the -native village, whose mud huts, like wasps’ nests, are -all huddled within the ancient Temple of the Sun, or -they may suffer from fever or ophthalmia. The water -of Tadmor is sulphurous, like Harrogate, the climate -is unhealthy, and the people are ragged and sickly. -May there, as in most parts of the northern hemisphere, -is the best travelling-season, and in any but a -<!--Page 333--> -phenomenal year the traveller need not fear to encounter, -as we did, ice and snow, siroccos and furious -sou’westers.</p> - -<p>If asked whether Palmyra is worth all this trouble, -I should reply “No” and “Yes.” No, if you merely -go there, stay two days, and return, especially after -sighting noble Báalbak. Certainly not for the Grand -Colonnade of weather-beaten limestone, by a stretch of -courtesy called marble, which, rain-washed and earthquake-shaken, -looks like a system of galleries. Not -for the Temple of the Sun, the building of a Roman -emperor, a second-rate affair, an architectural evidence -of Rome’s declining days. Yes, if you would study -the site and the environs, which are interesting and -only partially explored, make excavations, and collect -coins and relics, which may be bought for a song.</p> - -<p>The site of Palmyra is very interesting; she stands -between the mountains and the sea; like Damascus, -she sits upon the eastern slope of the Anti-Libanus, -facing the wilderness, but unhappily she has a dry -torrent bed, the Wady el Sayl, instead of a rushing -Barada. She is built upon the shore cape, where the -sandy sea breaks upon its nearest headlands. This -sea is the mysterious Wilderness of the Euphrates, -whose ships are camels, whose yachts are high-bred -mares, and whose cock-boats are mules and asses. -She is on the very threshold of the mountains, which -the wild cavalry cannot scour, as they do the level -plain. And her position is such that we have not -heard the last of the Tadmor, or, as the Arabs call -<!--Page 334--> -her, Tudmur. Nor will it be difficult to revive -her. A large tract can be placed under cultivation, -where there shall be protection for life and property; -old wells exist in the ruins; foresting the highlands -to the north and west will cause rain; and the aqueducts -in the old days may easily be repaired.</p> - -<p>I am unwilling to indulge in a description of the -modern ruin of the great old depôt, which has employed -so many pens. But very little has been said concerning -the old tomb-towers, which have taken at Palmyra -the place of Egyptian pyramids. Here, as elsewhere -in ancient Syria, sepulture was extramural, and every -settlement was approached by one or more Viâ Appia, -much resembling that of ancient Rome. At Palmyra -there are, or, rather, were, notably two: one (south-west) -upon the high road to Damascus; the other, -north-west of the official or monumental city, formed, -doubtless, the main approach from Hauran and -Hamah. The two are lined on both sides with -those interesting monuments, whose squat, solid -forms of gloomy and unsquared sandstone contrast -remarkably with the bastard classical and Roman -architecture, meretricious in all its details, and glittering -from afar in white limestone. Inscriptions in the -Palmyrian character prove that they date from about -<span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 2 and 102; but they have evidently been -restored, and this perhaps fixes the latest restoration. -It is highly probable that the heathen method of -burial declined under the Roman rule, especially -after <span class="sc lowercase">A.D.</span> 130, when the Great Half-way House -<!--Page 335--> -again changed its name to Adrianopolis. Still, -vestiges of the old custom are found in the Hauran -and in the Druze Mountain west of the great valley, -extending deep into the second century, when, it is -believed, Gassanides of Damascus had abandoned -their heathen faith for Christianity. I found in the -tombs, or cells, fragments of mummies, and these, -it is suspected, were the first ever brought to England. -Almost all the skulls contained date-stones, more or -less, and a peach stone and an apricot stone were -found under similar circumstances. At Shathah we -picked up in the mummy-towers almond shells with -the sharp ends cut off and forming baby cups.</p> - -<p>There are three tomb-towers at Palmyra still -standing, and perhaps likely to yield good results. -The people call them Kasr el Zaynah (Pretty Palace), -Kasr el Azin (Palace of the Maiden), and Kasr el -Arus (Palace of the Bride). They number four -and five stories, but the staircases, which run up -the thickness of the walls, are broken, and so are -the monolithic slabs which form the lower floors. -Explorers, therefore, must take with them ropes and -hooks, ladders which will reach to eighty feet, planks -to act as bridges, and a short crowbar. We had none -of these requirements, nor could the wretched village -provide them. I have little doubt that the upper -stories would be found to contain bones, coins, and -pottery, perhaps entire mummies.</p> - -<p>The shortness of our visit allowed me only a day -and a half to try the fortune of excavation at Palmyra. -<!--Page 336--> -It was easy to hire a considerable number of labourers -at two and a half piastres a head per diem—​say 6<span class="price"><abbr title="denarii">d.</abbr></span>—​when -in other places the wages would be at least double. -Operations began (April 15th) at the group of -tomb-towers bearing west-south-west from the great -Temple of the Sun: I chose this group because it -appeared the oldest of the series. The fellahs, or -peasants, know it as Kusin Ahi Sayl (Palaces of -the Father of a Torrent); and they stare when told -that these massive buildings are not royal residences -but tombs. Here the tombs in the several stages were -easily cleared out by my forty-five coolies, who had -nothing but diminutive picks and bars, grain-lugs and -body-cloths, which they converted into buckets for -removing sand and rubbish. But these cells and those -of the adjoining ruins had before been ransacked, and -they supplied nothing beyond skulls, bones, and -shreds of mummy cloth, whose dyes were remarkably -brilliant.</p> - -<p>The hands were then applied to an adjoining mound: -it offered a tempting resemblance to the undulations -of ground which cover the complicated chambered -catacombs already laid open, and into one of which, -some years ago, a camel fell, the roof having given -way. After reaching a stratum of snow-white gypsum, -which appeared to be artificial, though all hands agreed -that it was not, we gave up the task, as time pressed -so hard. The third attempt laid open the foundation -of a house, and showed us the well, or rain-cistern, -shaped, as such reservoirs are still in the Holy Land, -<!--Page 337--> -like a soda-water bottle. The fourth trial was more -successful; during our absence the workmen came -upon two oval slabs of soft limestone, each with its kit-cat -in high relief. One was a man with straight -features, short, curly beard, and hair disposed, as -appears to have been the fashion for both sexes, in -three circular rolls. The other was a feminine bust, -with features of a type so exaggerated as to resemble -the negro. A third and similar work of art was -brought up, but the head had been removed. It would -be hard to explain the excitement caused by these -wonderful discoveries; report flew abroad that gold -images of life-size had been dug up, and the least -disposed to exaggeration declared that chests full of -gold coins and ingots had fallen to our lot.</p> - -<p>On the next morning we left Palmyra, and, after -a hard gallop which lasted for the best part of four -days, we found ourselves, not much the worse for -wear, once more at Damascus.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_8" id="footnote_8"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_8"><span class="muchsmaller">[8]</span></a> Burton writes of Syria in 1870. The journey from Beyrut to -Damascus has now been made easy by the opening of the railway. -The line rises some four thousand feet, crosses two ranges of mountains -on the Lebanon, and passes through some beautiful scenery. After -traversing the Plain of Bakaa through the Anti-Lebanon, the railway -enters the Yahfâfeh, continuing to Sûk Wady Barada, the ancient -Abila, where is seen the rock-cut aqueducts made by Zenobia to -convey the water of the Abana to Palmyra; then, passing the beautiful -fountain of Fijeh and the remains of an old temple, the train follows -the River Abana until it arrives at Damascus.—​W. H. W.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_9" id="footnote_9"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_9"><span class="muchsmaller">[9]</span></a> - The journey from Damascus to Palmyra can now be made in -five days <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viâ</i> Mareau Said and Niah—​the pleasantest route, passing -by much water, and averaging six to seven hours riding a day. But -Palmyra is still under the care of rapacious shayks, and great care -has to be observed in arranging for a tour to that city of grand ruins. -Things are a little better than they were in Burton’s day, but there -is still danger.—​W. H. W.</p> - -<hr class="p4 medium" /> -<p class="center"><span class="decoration">Printed by Hasell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.</span></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h4 class="p4 h4head">Transcriber’s Note:</h4> - -<p>Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the -end of the chapter. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and -abbreviations were added. Duplicate words at line endings or page -breaks were removed.</p> - -<p>Inconsistent hyphenation and misspelled words were not changed.</p> - -<p><a name="TN1" id="TN1"></a>At the end of the phrase “They took up comfortable positions on the -cut-throat em,” the last portion of the word beginning with “em” is -not printed in the original; <a href="#TN1a">“embankment”</a> is assumed.</p> - -The Arabic signature below the <a href="#frontis">frontispiece</a>, الحاج عبداله, is a best guess, -based on several interpretations of the original image. -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--Misspelled words not corrected: -mononotous / monotonous, 147 -though / thought, 183 -prilgrims / pilgrims, 195 -mismangement / mismanagement, 197 -steelly / steely, 215 -avaricioua / avaricious, 279 -arrangments / arrangements, 294--> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WANDERINGS IN THREE CONTINENTS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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