We Started From Geera On The 23d Of December, With Our Party Complete.
The Hamran Sword-Hunters Were Abou Do, Jali, And Suleiman.
My chief
tracker was Taher Noor, who, although a good hunter, was not a
professional aggahr, and I was accompanied by the father of Abou Do, who
was a renowned "howarti" or harpooner of hippopotami.
This magnificent
old man might have been Neptune himself. He stood about six feet two,
and his grizzled locks hung upon his shoulders in thick, and massive
curls, while his deep bronze features could not have been excelled in
beauty of outline. A more classical figure I have never beheld than the
old Abou Do with his harpoon as he first breasted the torrent, and then
landed dripping from the waves to join our party from the Arab camp on
the opposite side of the river. In addition to my Tokrooris, I had
engaged nine camels, each with a separate driver, of the Hamrans, who
were to accompany us throughout the expedition. These people were glad
to engage themselves, with their camels included, at one and a half
dollars per month, for man and beast as one. We had not sufficient
baggage to load five camels, but four carried a large supply of corn for
our horses and people.
Hardly were we mounted and fairly started than the monkey-like agility
of our aggageers was displayed in a variety of antics, that were far
more suited to performances in a circus than to a party of steady and
experienced hunters, who wished to reserve the strength of their horses
for a trying journey.
Abou Do was mounted on a beautiful Abyssinian horse, a gray; Suleiman
rode a rough and inferior-looking beast; while little Jali, who was the
pet of the party, rode a gray snare, not exceeding fourteen hands in
height, which matched her rider exactly in fire, spirit, and speed.
Never was there a more perfect picture of a wild Arab horseman than Jali
on his mare. Hardly was he in the saddle than away flew the mare over
the loose shingles that formed the dry bed of the river, scattering the
rounded pebbles in the air from her flinty Hoofs, while her rider in the
vigour of delight threw himself almost under her belly while at full
speed, and picked up stones from the ground, which he flung, and again
caught as they descended. Never were there more complete Centaurs than
these Hamran Arabs ; the horse and man appeared to be one animal, and
that of the most elastic nature, that could twist and turn with the
suppleness of a snake. The fact of their being separate beings was well
proved, however, by the rider's springing to the earth with his drawn
sword while the horse was in full gallop over rough and difficult
ground, and, clutching the mane, again vaulting into the saddle with the
ability of a monkey, without once checking the speed. The fact of being
on horseback had suddenly altered the character of these Arabs; from a
sedate and proud bearing, they had become the wildest examples of the
most savage disciples of Nimrod. Excited by enthusiasm, they shook their
naked blades aloft till the steel trembled in their grasp, and away they
dashed over rocks, through thorny bush, across ravines, up and down
steep inclinations, engaging in a mimic hunt, and going through the
various acts supposed to occur in the attack of a furious elephant. I
must acknowledge that, in spite of my admiration for their wonderful
dexterity, I began to doubt their prudence. I had three excellent horses
for my wife and myself; the Hamran hunters had only one for each, and if
the commencement were an example of their usual style of horsemanship, I
felt sure that a dozen horses would not be sufficient for the work
before us. However, it was not the moment to offer advice, as they were
simply mad with excitement and delight.
The women raised their loud and shrill yell at parting, and our party of
about twenty-five persons, with nine camels, six horses, and two
donkeys, exclusive of the German, Florian, with his kicking
giraffe-hunter, and attendants, ascended the broken slope that formed
the broad valley of the Settite River.
There was very little game in the neighbourhood, as it was completely
overrun by the Arabs and their flocks, and we were to march about fifty
miles east-south- east before we should arrive in the happy
hunting-grounds of the Base country, where we were led to expect great
results.
In a day's march through a beautiful country, sometimes upon the high
table-land to cut off a bend in the river, at other times upon the
margin of the stream in the romantic valley, broken into countless hills
and ravines covered with mimosas, we arrived at Ombrega (mother of the
thorn), about twenty-four miles from Geera. We soon arranged a
resting-place, and cleared away the grass that produced the thorn which
had given rise to the name of Ombrega, and in a short time we were
comfortably settled for the night. We were within fifty yards of the
river, the horses were luxuriating in the green grass that grew upon its
banks, and the camels were hobbled, to prevent them from wandering from
the protection of the camp-fires, as we were now in the wilderness,
where the Base by day and the lion and leopard by night were hostile to
man and beast.
We were fast asleep a little after midnight, when we were awakened by
the loud barking of the dogs, and by a confusion in the camp. Jumping up
on the instant, I heard the dogs, far away in the dark jungles, barking
in different directions. One of the goats was gone! A leopard had sprung
into the camp, and had torn a goat from its fastening, although tied to
a peg, between two men, close to a large fire.
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