"The natives had a grand dance to-day; the men and women as usual naked,
leaping, and yelling wild songs to an extraordinary accompaniment of
music, produced by beating a long stick of extremely hard wood with a
short stick of the same substance. Some of the girls were pretty, but
being smeared with red ochre and fat, they were not attractive. The
natives were very civil, and although at least a thousand were present,
they immediately made room for me upon my arrival; that I might have a
good place to witness their performance."
I was much struck with a simple arrangement made use of by the old
people to support the back in lieu of an arm-chair. Each person had a
cord knotted by the ends so as to form an endless loop or hoop. The size
depended upon the measurement required, so that if the hoop were thrown
over the body when in a sitting posture upon the ground, with the knees
raised, the rope would form a band around the forepart of the knees and
the small of the back, which would thus be supported.
The Lobore are great workers in iron, which is used generally in the
manufacture of ornaments. Large rings of this metal are worn round the
neck, and upon the arms and ankles. Many of these ankle-rings are of
extreme thickness, and would suffice for the punishment of prisoners. I
was interested with the mechanical contrivance of the Lobore for
detaching the heavy metal anklets, which, when hammered firmly together,
appeared to be hopeless fixtures in the absence of a file.
I required several irons to construct the manacles for the deserter,
thus I had purchased the massive ornaments which had to be detached from
the ankles of the owner.
The man sat upon the ground. A stick of hard, unyielding wood was thrust
through the ring beneath the ankle, so that each end of the stick rested
on the earth. A man secured one end by standing upon it, while another
placed a stone upon the stick thus secured, which he used as a fulcrum.
The lever employed was a piece of abdnoos, which worked upon the stone,
and pressed down the base of the ring at the same time that it opened
the joint sufficiently to allow it to be passed over the thin portion of
the leg.
I never saw this ingenious application of the lever among other tribes
than the Lobore. The usual method among the Madi is far more simple, but
requires a certain number of men, and places the patient in an
uncomfortable position. A rope is fastened to each side of the ring,
upon which a number of men haul in opposite directions until they have
opened the joint sufficiently to detach it from the leg.
On 29th February we were ready for the start. The loads were all
prepared and arranged in separate divisions of twenty each, under the
charge of selected officers and men.
The big nogara had sounded, the natives collected, and each man stood by
his load; thus twenty-five gangs of twenty each should have stood in
line.
I now discovered that the vaunted honesty of the Lobore was of the same
order as that of other negroes. Five hundred cows had been given to as
many natives, for all of which the sheik Abbio had declared himself
responsible. The big nogara sounded in vain. After waiting for some
hours, and sending numerous messengers to as many villages, only 433
carriers could be mustered; thus sixty-seven had eloped with as many
cows!
No one can imagine the trouble of such a journey with so long a retinue
of carriers, most of whom are dishonest, and only seek an opportunity to
abscond upon the road.
The Lobore are immensely powerful men, and they carried the boxes of
Hale's rockets as single loads, although weighing upwards of seventy-two
pounds. At the same time they quarrelled among themselves as to the
choice of parcels, and I could with difficulty prevail upon them to
carry the zinc boat, although it did not exceed 130 lbs. Four men
actually refused to touch it, as it sat uneasily upon their heads.
This handy little vessel was made of zinc upon an iron framework, and
would contain four people upon a pinch, but would easily convey three
across a river. I had arranged it upon two stout bamboos so adjusted
that four men should have carried it with ease. The natives demanded
eight, but I at length compromised for six.
The delay caused by the non-appearance of the sixty-seven carriers was
extremely dangerous, as it increased the chance of desertions. Already
many had volunteered to search for their missing friends, which would
have resulted in a search for them also, until my body of carriers would
have melted away.
Fortunately I had made a considerable allowance for desertions on the
road, and I could manage to start with the assistance of the soldiers
and their wives, among whom I divided many baskets of flour.
At 3.25 P.M. we started.
There was no danger now that we had passed the Bari tribe, therefore we
could push on with an advance guard of five picked men of "The Forty,"
who always accompanied us, and leave the charge of the march and baggage
to Colonel Abd-el-Kader and the various officers.
We accordingly marched, at four miles an hour, through a rocky and hilly
country, generally wooded, which would have been an awkward position if
held by an enemy.
At 6 P.M. we halted at a rocky ravine where water had been expected by
our guide. To our dismay we found it nearly dry, and it was necessary to
dig temporary wells in the sand to procure a supply for ourselves, while
the horses were forced to content themselves with the impure pool.
