In The Afternoon Of That Day, The Brothers Sheriff Arrived; These
Were The Most Renowned Of All The Sword-Hunters
Of the Hamrans,
of whom I have already spoken; they were well mounted, and,
having met our caravan of camels
On the route, heavily laden with
dried flesh, and thus seen proofs of our success, they now
offered to join our party. I am sorry to be obliged to confess,
that my ally, Abou Do, although a perfect Nimrod in sport, an
Apollo in personal appearance, and a gentleman in manner, was a
mean, covetous, and grasping fellow, and withal absurdly jealous.
Taher Sheriff was a more celebrated hunter, having had the
experience of at least twenty years in excess of Abou Do, and
although the latter was as brave and dexterous as Taher and his
brothers, he wanted the cool judgment that is essential to a
first-rate sportsman. He was himself aware of his inferiority to
Taher Sheriff, though too proud to admit it; but, to avoid
competition he declined to allow the Sheriffs to join our party,
declaring that if I insisted upon the fresh alliance, he and his
comrade Suleiman would return home. Notwithstanding his
objections, I arranged for the present that, as Jali was hors de
combat, Taher Sheriff's party should join us until the arrival of
a fresh hunter in his place, otherwise our party would be
incomplete. To prevent complications, the greedy Abou Do selected
his share of the ivory, carefully choosing the best and most
perfect tusks, and he presented Taher's party with a small
quantity of meat that would render them independent of his
hospitality. I at once ordered my people to give them a large
supply of both meat and corn from my own store, and they encamped
in a quarter of our circle.
The following day was the new year, January 1st, 1862; and, with
the four brothers Sheriff and our party, we formed a powerful
body of hunters: six aggageers and myself, all well mounted. With
four gun-bearers, and two camels, both of which carried water, we
started in search of elephants. Florian was unwell, and remained
in camp.
In this dry climate it was only necessary to ride along the
margin of the river to look for fresh tracks, as the animals were
compelled to visit the Settite to drink, and of course there was
no difficulty in discovering their traces. It appeared, however,
that the elephants had been frightened away from the
neighbourhood by the recent attack, as we rode for about ten
miles without seeing any fresh marks. We therefore struck inland,
on the east bank of the river, intending to return home by a
circuit. The country was exactly like an English park, with no
larger timber than thorn trees. Every now and then there was an
exception in a gigantic homera (Adansonia digitata), or baobab;
these, towering over the heads of the low mimosas, could be seen
from a great distance. Having steered direct for one, we halted,
and dismounted to rest the horses beneath the shade. This tree
was about forty feet in circumference, and the spongy trunk was
formed into a ladder by pegs of hard wood driven into its side by
the Base hunters, who had thus ascended the slippery stem in
search of honey. Bees are very fond of these trees, as they are
generally more or less hollow, and well adapted for hives. The
Adansonia digitata, although a tree, always reminds me of a
gigantic fungus; the stem is disproportioned in its immense
thickness to its height, and its branches are few in number, and
as massive in character as the stem. The wood is not much firmer
in substance than cork, and is as succulent as a carrot. In
Kordofan, where water is exceedingly scarce, the Adansonia is
frequently used as a reservoir; one of these huge hollow trees is
cleaned out and filled with water during the short rainy season.
The fruit was ripe at the time we halted, and after many
attempts, by throwing sticks, we succeeded in procuring a
considerable number. The sub-acid flavour of the seeds, enveloped
in a dry yellow powder within the large shell, was exceedingly
refreshing.
The immediate neighbourhood was a perfect exhibition of
gum-arabic-bearing mimosas. At this season the gum was in
perfection, and the finest quality was now before us in beautiful
amber-coloured masses upon the stems and branches, varying from
the size of a nutmeg to that of an orange. So great was the
quantity, and so excellent were the specimens, that, leaving our
horses tied to trees, both the Arabs and myself gathered a large
collection. This gum, although as hard as ice on the exterior,
was limpid in the centre, resembling melted amber, and as clear
as though refined by some artificial process. The trees were
perfectly denuded of leaves from the extreme drought, and the
beautiful balls of frosted yellow gum recalled the idea of the
precious jewels upon the trees in the garden of the wonderful
lamp of the "Arabian nights." This gum was exceedingly sweet and
pleasant to the taste; but, although of the most valuable
quality, there was no hand to gather it in this forsaken,
although beautiful country; it either dissolved during the rainy
season, or was consumed by the baboons and antelopes. The
aggageers took off from their saddles the skins of tanned
antelope leather that formed the only covering to the wooden
seats, and with these they made bundles of gum. When we
remounted, every man was well laden.
We were thus leisurely returning home through alternate plains
and low open forest of mimosa, when Taher Sheriff, who was
leading the party, suddenly reined up his horse, and pointed to
a thick bush, beneath which was a large grey, but shapeless,
mass. He whispered, as I drew near, "Oom gurrin" (mother of the
horn), their name for the rhinoceros. I immediately dismounted,
and, with the short No.
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