"Warranted
quiet to ride, of easy action, and fit for a lady!" This had been
the character received with
The rampant brute, who now, with head
and tail erect, went tearing round the circle, screaming and
roaring like a wild beast, throwing his fore-legs forward, and
stepping at least three feet high in his trot. Where was El
Baggar? A disjointed-looking black figure was sometimes on the
back of this easy-going camel, sometimes a foot high in the air;
arms, head, legs, hands appeared like a confused mass of
dislocations; the woolly hair of this unearthly individual, that
had been carefully trained in long stiff narrow curls, precisely
similar to the tobacco known as "negro-head," alternately started
upright en masse, as though under the influence of electricity,
and then fell as suddenly upon his shoulders: had the dark
individual been a "black dose," he or it could not have been more
thoroughly shaken. This object, so thoroughly disguised by
rapidity of movement, was El Baggar; happy, delighted El Baggar!
As he came rapidly round towards us flourishing his coorbatch, I
called to him, "Is that a nice hygeen for the Sit (lady), El
Baggar? is it VERY easy?" He was almost incapable of a reply.
"V-e-r-y e-e-a-a-s-y," replied the trustworthy authority,
"j-j-j-just the thin-n-n-g for the S-i-i-i-t-t-t." "All right,
that will do," I answered, and the jockey pulled up his steed.
"Are the other camels better or worse than that?" I asked. "Much
worse," replied El Baggar; "the others are rather rough, but this
is an easy-goer, and will suit the lady well."
It was impossible to hire a good hygeen; an Arab prizes his
riding animal too much, and invariably refuses to let it to a
stranger, but generally imposes upon him by substituting some
lightly-built camel, that he thinks will pass muster. I
accordingly chose for my wife a steady-going animal from among
the baggage-camels, trusting to be able to obtain a hygeen from
the great sheik Abou Sinn, who was encamped upon the road we were
about to take along the valley of the Atbara; we arranged to
leave Goorashee on the following day.
Upon arriving at the highest point of the valley, we found
ourselves on the vast table land that stretches from the Atbara
to the Nile. At this season the entire surface had a faint tint
of green, as the young shoots of grass had replied to the late
showers of rain; so perfect a level was this great tract of
fertile country, that within a mile of the valley of the Atbara
there was neither furrow nor watercourse, but the escape of the
rainfall was by simple soakage. As usual, the land was dotted
with mimosas, all of which were now bursting into leaf. The
thorns of the different varieties of these trees are an
extraordinary freak of Nature, as she appears to have exhausted
all her art in producing an apparently useless arrangement of
defence. The mimosas that are most common in the Soudan provinces
are mere bushes, seldom exceeding six feet in height; these
spread out towards the top like mushrooms, but the branches
commence within two feet of the ground; they are armed with
thorns in the shape of fish-hooks, which they resemble in
sharpness and strength. A thick jungle composed of such bushes is
perfectly impenetrable to any animals but elephants,
rhinoceroses, and buffaloes; and should the clothes of a man
become entangled in such thorns, either they must give way, or he
must remain a prisoner. The mimosa that is known among the Arabs
as the Kittar is one of the worst species, and is probably
similar to that which caught Absalom by the hair; this differs
from the well-known "Wait-a-bit" of South Africa, as no milder
nickname could be applied than "Dead-stop." Were the clothes of
strong material, it would be perfectly impossible to break
through a kittar-bush.
A magnificent specimen of a kittar, with a wide-spreading head in
the young glory of green leaf, tempted my hungry camel during our
march; it was determined to procure a mouthful, and I was equally
determined that it should keep to the straight path, and avoid
the attraction of the green food. After some strong remonstrance
upon my part, the perverse beast shook its ugly head, gave a
roar, and started off in full trot straight at the thorny bush.
I had not the slightest control over the animal, and in a few
seconds it charged the bush with the mad intention of rushing
either through or beneath it. To my disgust I perceived that the
wide-spreading branches were only just sufficiently high to
permit the back of the camel to pass underneath. There was no
time for further consideration; we charged the bush; I held my
head doubled up between my arms, and the next moment I was on my
back, half stunned by the fall. The camel-saddle lay upon the
ground; my rifle, that had been slung behind, my coffee-pot, the
water-skin burst, and a host of other impedimenta, lay around me
in all directions; worst of all, my beautiful gold repeater lay
at some distance from me, rendered entirely useless. I was as
nearly naked as I could be; a few rags held together, but my
shirt was gone, with the exception of some shreds that adhered to
my arms. I was, of course, streaming with blood, and looked much
more as though I had been clawed by a leopard than as having
simply charged a bush. The camel had fallen down with the shock
after I had been swept off by the thorny branches. To this day I
have the marks of the scratching.
Unless a riding-camel is perfectly trained, it is the most
tiresome animal to ride after the first green leaves appear;
every bush tempts it from the path, and it is a perpetual fight
between the rider and his beast throughout the journey.
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