Thus We Could Afford To Travel At A Rapid Rate, And Await
The Arrival Of The Baggage-Camels At The End Of The Day's
Journey.
In this manner the march should be arranged in these
wild countries, where there is no resting-place upon the path
beyond the first inviting shade that suggests a halt.
The day's
journey should be about twenty-four miles. A loaded camel seldom
exceeds two miles and a half per hour; at this rate nearly ten
hours would be consumed upon the road daily, during which time
the traveller would be exposed to the intense heat of the sun,
and to the fatigue inseparable from a long and slow march. A
servant mounted upon a good hygeen should accompany him with the
coffee apparatus and a cold roast fowl and biscuits; the ever
necessary carpet should form the cover to his saddle, to be ready
when required; he then rides far in advance of the caravan. This
simple arrangement insures comfort, and lessens the ennui of the
journey; the baggage-camels are left in charge of responsible
servants, to be brought forward at their usual pace, until they
shall arrive at the place selected for the halt by the traveller.
The usual hour of starting is about 5.30 A.M. The entire day's
journey can be accomplished in something under five hours upon
hygeens, instead of the ten hours dreary pace of the caravan;
thus, the final halt would be made at about 10.30 A.M. at which
time the traveller would be ready for breakfast. The carpet would
be spread under a shady tree; upon a branch of this his
water-skin should be suspended, and the day's work over, he can
write up his journal and enjoy his pipe while coffee is being
prepared. After breakfast he can take his gun or rifle and
explore the neighbourhood, until the baggage-camels shall arrive
in the evening, by which time, if he is a sportsman, he will have
procured something for the dinner of the entire party. The
servants will have collected firewood, and all will be ready for
the arrival of the caravan, without the confusion and bustle of
a general scramble, inseparable from the work to be suddenly
performed, when camels must be unloaded, fuel collected, fires
lighted, the meals prepared, beds made, &c. &c. all at the same
moment, with the chance of little to eat. Nothing keeps the
camel-drivers and attendants in such good humour as a successful
rifle. While they are on their long and slow march, they
speculate upon the good luck that may attend the master's gun,
and upon arrival at the general bivouac in the evening they are
always on the alert to skin and divide the antelopes, pluck the
guinea-fowls, &c. &c. We now travelled in this delightful manner;
there were great numbers of guinea-fowl throughout the country,
which was the same everlasting flat and rich table land,
extending for several hundred miles to the south, and dotted with
green mimosas; while upon our left was the broken valley of the
Atbara.
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