The soldiers had never even
cleared the rough native grass from the surface, but had turned up the
soil in small lots at intervals of about a foot, into which they had
carelessly dropped a few grains of corn.
We now found agricultural enemies that were unexpected. Guinea-fowl
recognized the importance of cultivation, and created terrible damage.
Small birds of the sparrow tribe infested the newly-sown land in clouds,
but worse than these enemies were the vast armies of great ants.
These industrious insects, ever providing for the future, discovered the
newly sown barley and wheat, and considering that such an opportunity
should not be neglected, they literally marched off with the greater
portion of the seed that was exposed. I saw them on many occasions
returning in countless numbers from a foray, each carrying in its mouth
a grain of barley or wheat. I tracked them to their subterranean nests,
in one of which I found about a peck of corn which had been conveyed by
separate grains; and patches of land had been left nearly barren of
seed.
The large crimson-headed goose of the White Nile quickly discovered that
barley was a food well adapted for the physical constitution of geese,
and great numbers flocked to the new farm. The guinea-fowl were too wild
to approach successfully; however, we shot them daily. I set little boys
to scream from daylight till sunset to scare the clouds of small birds;
but the boys screamed themselves to sleep, and the sparrows quickly
discovered the incapacity of the watchers. Wild fowl were so numerous on
an island opposite the farm that we not only shot them as we required,
but on one occasion Lieutenant Baker and myself bagged in about two
hours sixty-eight ducks and geese, most of which were single shots in
flight overhead.
I found the necessity of re-sowing the land so thickly that there should
be sufficient grain to allow for the depredations of our enemies. I set
vermin traps and caught the guinea-fowl. Then the natural enemy appeared
in the wild cats, who took the guinea-fowls out of the traps. At first
the men were suspected of stealing the birds, but the unmistakable
tracks of the wild cats were found close to the traps, and shortly after
the wily cats themselves became victims. These were generally of the
genus Herpestris.
When the crops, having resisted many enemies, appeared above ground,
they were attacked by the mole crickets in formidable numbers. These
destructive insects lived beneath the small solid clods of earth, and
issuing forth at night, they bit the young shoot clean off close to the
parent grain at the point of extreme sweetness. The garden suffered
terribly from these insects, which destroyed whole rows of cucumber
plants.
I had brought ploughs from Cairo. These were the native implements that
are used throughout Egypt. There is always a difficulty in the first
commencement of agricultural enterprise in a wild country, and much
patience is required.
Some of my Egyptian soldiers were good ploughmen, to which employment
they had been formerly accustomed; but the bullocks of the country were
pigheaded creatures that for a long time resisted all attempts at
conversion to the civilized labour of Egyptian cattle. They steadily
refused to draw the ploughs, and they determined upon an "agricultural
strike." They had not considered that we could strike also, and
tolerably hard, with the hippopotamus hide whips, which were a more
forcible appeal to their feelings than a "lock-out." However, this
contest ended in the bullocks lying down, and thus offering a passive
resistance that could not be overcome. There is nothing like arbitration
to obtain pure justice, and as I was the arbitrator, I ordered all
refractory bullocks to be eaten as rations by the troops. A few animals
at length became fairly tractable; and we had a couple of ploughs at
work, but the result was a series of zigzag furrows that more resembled
the indiscriminate ploughings of a herd of wild boar than the effect of
an agricultural implement. Nothing will ever go straight at the
commencement, therefore the ploughs naturally went crooked; but the
whole affair forcibly reminded me of my first agricultural enterprise on
the mountains of Ceylon twenty-five years earlier. [*]
[*Footnote: See "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," published by
Longman & Co.]
The mean temperature at the station of Tewfikeeyah had been:
In the month of May, at 6 a.m. 73 degrees Fahrenheit
" at Noon 92 degrees "
" June, at 6 a.m. 72 degrees "
" at Noon 86 degrees "
" July, at 6 a.m. 71 degrees "
" at Noon 81 degrees "
During May we had heavy rain during 3 days.
" " light " " 4 " 7 days.
During June we had heavy rain during 5 days.
" " light " " 6 " 11 days
" July heavy " " 10 "
" " light " " 4 " 14 days
Sickness increased proportionately with the increase of rain, owing to
the sudden chills occasioned by the heavy showers. The thermometer would
sometimes fall rapidly to 68 degrees Fahr. during a storm of rain,
accompanied by a cold rush of air from the cloud. Fortunately I had
provided the troops with blankets, which had not been included in their
kit by the authorities at Khartoum.
CHAPTER V.
EXPLORATION OF THE OLD WHITE NILE.
I had long since determined to explore the sudd, or obstructions of the
main Nile, in the hope of discovering some new passage which the stream
might have forced through the vegetation. A Shillook, named Abdullah,
closely connected with Quat Kare, had promised to accompany me, and to
supply the necessary guides.
