I Returned My Salaams, And
Sent Word That We Intended To Hunt Through The Base Country,
After Which We Should Have The Honour Of Passing A Few Days With
Him On Our Road To The River Salaam, At Which Place We Intended
To Hunt Elephants And Rhinoceros.
Mahomet returned, accompanied
by a large party of Hamran Arabs, including several hunters, one
of whom was Sheik Abou
Do Roussoul, the nephew of Sheik Owat; as
his name in full was too long, he generally went by the
abbreviation "Abou Do." He was a splendid fellow, a little above
six feet one, with a light active figure, but exceedingly well
developed muscles: his face was strikingly handsome; his eyes
were like those of a giraffe, but the sudden glance of an eagle
lighted them up with a flash during the excitement of
conversation, which showed little of the giraffe's gentle
character. Abou Do was the only tall man of the party, the others
were of middle height, with the exception of a little fellow
named Jali, who was not above five feet four inches, but
wonderfully muscular, and in expression a regular daredevil.
There were two parties of hunters, one under Abou Do, and the
other consisting of four brothers Sherrif. The latter were the
most celebrated aggageers among the renowned tribe of the Hamran;
their father and grandfather had been mighty Nimrods, and the
broadswords wielded by their strong arms had descended to the men
who now upheld the prestige of the ancient blades. The eldest was
Taher Sherrif; his second brother, Roder Sherrif, was a very
small, active-looking man, with a withered left arm. An elephant
had at one time killed his horse, and on the same occasion had
driven its sharp tusk through the arm of the rider, completely
splitting the limb, and splintering the bone from the elbow-joint
to the wrist to such an extent, that by degrees the fragments had
sloughed away, and the arm had become shrivelled and withered. It
now resembled a mass of dried leather, twisted into a deformity,
without the slightest shape of an arm; this was about fourteen
inches in length from the shoulder; the stiff and crippled hand,
with contracted fingers, resembled the claw of a vulture.
In spite of his maimed condition, Roder Sherrif was the most
celebrated leader in the elephant hunt. His was the dangerous
post to ride close to the head of the infuriated animal and
provoke the charge, and then to lead the elephant in pursuit,
while the aggageers attacked it from behind; it was in the
performance of this duty that he had met with the accident, as
his horse had fallen over some hidden obstacle, and was
immediately caught. Being an exceedingly light weight he had
continued to occupy this important position in the hunt, and the
rigid fingers of the left hand served as a hook, upon which he
could hang the reins.
My battery of rifles was now laid upon a mat for examination;
they were in beautiful condition, and they excited the admiration
of the entire party. The perfection of workmanship did not appear
to interest them so much as the size of the bores; they thrust
their fingers down each muzzle, until they at last came to the
"Baby," when, finding that two fingers could be easily
introduced, they at once fell in love with that rifle in
particular. My men explained that it was a "Jenna el Mootfah"
(child of a cannon). "Sahe, Jenna el Mootfah kabeer," they
replied (it is true, it is the child of a very big cannon). Their
delight was made perfect by the exhibition of the half-pound
explosive shell, the effects of which were duly explained. I told
them that I was an old elephant hunter, but that I did not hunt
for the sake of the ivory, as I wished to explore the country to
discover the cause of the Nile inundations, therefore I wished to
examine carefully the various Abyssinian rivers; but as I had
heard they were wonderful sportsmen, I should like them to join
my party, and we could both hunt and explore together. They
replied that they knew every nook and corner of the entire
country as far as Mek Nimmur's and the Base, but that in the
latter country we must be prepared to fight, as they made a
practice of showing no quarter to the Base, because they received
none from them; thus we should require a strong party. I pointed
to my rifles, which I explained were odds against the Base, who
were without fire-arms; and we arranged to start together on the
17th of December.
In the interval I was busily engaged in making bullets for the
journey, with an admixture of one pound of quicksilver to twelve
of lead. This hardens the bullet at the same time that it
increases the weight, but great caution must be observed in the
manufacture, as the mercury, being heavier than the lead, will
sink to the bottom, unless stirred with a red-hot iron when
mixed. The admixture must take place in small quantities,
otherwise the quicksilver will evaporate if exposed to a great
heat. Thus the molten lead should be kept upon the fire in a
large reservoir, while a portion of quicksilver should be added
regularly to every ladleful taken for immediate use. This should
be well stirred before it is poured into the mould. Bullets
formed of this mixture of metals are far superior to any others.
My preparations for the journey were soon completed. We had
passed a most agreeable time at Wat el Negur. Although I had not
had much shooting, I gained much experienee in the country,
having made several extensive journeys in the neighbourhood, and
our constant conversations with the sheik had somewhat improved
my Arabic. I had discovered several plants hitherto unknown to
me,--among others, a peculiar bulb, from which I had prepared
excellent arrowroot.
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