The Shir Were Thus Rendered Hostile
With The Exception Of Niambore.)
My people were so obtuse that they could not understand the true
position of affairs.
The harvest was commencing. I had jealously guarded
the corn upon the island, which should have produced at least 500
urdeps; but the officers and men did not wish to see the granaries
filled, as that fact would destroy the excuse for a return to Khartoum;
thus, instead of labouring with heart and soul to gather the harvest,
they worked so lazily, that in nine days they only reaped 237 urdeps, or
not one half that was actually upon the fields. They permitted the
natives to steal by night, and the swarms of small birds destroyed an
incredible quantity by day. These innumerable and ruinous pests do not
consume the entire grain, but they nibble the soft sweet portion from
the joint of each seed, neatly picking out the heart; thus the ground
beneath is strewed with their remnants of destruction.
I had not visited Belinian since their unprovoked attack, for two
reasons. First, we were engaged in fortifying the station; and,
secondly, I did not wish to raise the suspicion among the Baris that I
might come down suddenly upon their crops. Up to the present time we had
acted mainly on the defensive, and the natives had no fear for their
harvest. I knew that about 2,000 acres of dhurra would be at our service
by a sudden attack on Belinian, if the troops would work earnestly to
secure it.
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