The Yams Were Cooked; But I Did Not Like The Look Of Them, And Seeing
That The Multitude Were Ready, I Determined To Reserve A Few For Our Own
Eating Should They Be Generally Pronounced Good.
The men ate them
voraciously.
Hardly ten minutes had elapsed from the commencement of the
feast when first one and then another disappeared, and from a distance I
heard a smothered but unmistakeable sound, that reminded me of the
lurching effect of a channel steamer upon a crowd of passengers.
Presently the boy Saat showed symptoms of distress, and vanished from
our presence; and all those that had dined off Ibrahimawa's botanical
specimens were suffering from a most powerful "vomi-purgatif." The
angels that watch over scientific botanists had preserved Ibrahimawa
from all evil. He had discovered the yams, and the men had stolen them
from him; they enjoyed the fruits, while he gained an experience
invaluable at their expense. I was quite contented to have waited until
others had tried them before I made the experiment. Many of the yam
tribe are poisonous; there is one variety much liked at Obbo, but which
is deadly in its effects should it be eaten without a certain
preparation. It is first scraped, and then soaked in a running stream
for a fortnight. It is then cut into thin slices, and dried in the sun
until quite crisp; by this means it is rendered harmless. The dried
slices are stored for use; and they are generally pounded in a mortar
into flour, and used as a kind of porridge.
The sickness of the people continued for about an hour, during which
time all kinds of invectives were hurled against Ibrahimawa, and his
botany was termed a gigantic humbug. From that day he was very mild in
his botanical conversation.
On the following morning we crossed the last range of rocky hills, and
descended to the Latooka valley. Up to this point, we had seen no game;
but we had now arrived in the game country, and shortly after our
descent from the rocks we saw a herd of about twenty Tetel (hartebeest).
Unfortunately, just as I dismounted for the purpose of stalking them,
the red flags of the Turks attracted the attention of a large party of
baboons, who were sitting on the rocks, and they commenced their hoarse
cry of alarm, and immediately disturbed the Tetel. One of the men, in
revenge, fired a long shot at a great male, who was sitting alone upon a
high rock, and by chance the ball struck him in the head. He was an
immense specimen of the Cynocephalus, about as large as a mastiff, but
with a long brown mane like that of the lion. This mane is much prized
by the natives as an ornament. He was immediately skinned, and the hide
was cut into long strips about three inches broad: the portion of mane
adhering had the appearance of a fringe; each strip was worn as a scarf;
thus one skin will produce about eight or ten ornaments.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 157 of 343
Words from 81181 to 81693
of 178435
