He At Once Clutched
With Both Hands The Horse's Mane, And Pushed Himself Almost Under My
Knee In His Efforts To Keep Close To Me For Protection.
The Turks
arrived breathless, and the native appeared as terrified as a hare at
the moment it is seized by the greyhound.
"Shoot him!" they one and all
shouted. "Well done, `Hawaga!' (Sir) you caught him beautifully! We
never could have caught him without your horse. Pull him out! we'll
shoot him as an example to the others!" I explained that he was my man,
and belonged to me as I had caught him, therefore I could not allow him
to be shot. "Then we'll give him five hundred with the coorbatch!" they
cried. Even this generous offer I declined, and I insisted that he
should accompany me direct to Ibrahim, into whose hands I should myself
deliver him. Accordingly, still clutching to my horse's mane, the
captive followed, and was received by the main body on arrival with
shouts of derision.
I told Ibrahim that he must forgive him this time, if he promised to
carry his load to the end of the journey. He immediately picked up his
heavy burden as though it were a feather, and balancing it on his head,
stepped along in the line of porters as though nothing had occurred.
Trifling as this incident may appear, it was of much service to me, as
it served as an introduction to both Turks and natives. I heard the
former conversing together, praising the speed of the horse, and
congratulating themselves on the impossibility of the porters escaping
now that they had seen how quickly they could be overtaken. Another
remarked, "Wah Illahi, I should not like to chase a nigger so closely
while a lance was in his hand. I expected he would turn sharp round and
throw it through the Hawaga." Thus I was now looked upon by the Turks as
an ALLY, and at the same time I was regarded by the Latookas as their
friend for having saved their man; and they grinned their approbation in
the most unmistakeable manner as I rode past their line, shouting, "
Morrte, morrte mattat!" (welcome, welcome, chief!) On arriving at a
large town named Kattaga, we rested under the shade of an immense
tamarind tree. There was no sign of my men and animals, and I began to
think that something had gone wrong. For two hours we waited for their
arrival. Ascending some rising ground, I at length observed my caravan
approaching in the distance, and every one of my men, except Richarn,
mounted upon my donkeys, although the poor animals were already carrying
loads of 150 lbs. each. Upon observing me, the dismount was sudden and
general. On their arrival I found that three of the men had deserted,
including "Bellaal," and had joined the party of Mahommed Her, taking
with them my guns and ammunition. Two had previously joined that party;
thus five of my men were now engaged by those slave-hunters, and I
little doubted that my remaining men would abscond likewise.
On the arrival of my vakeel he told me, in face of the men, that so many
had deserted, and that the others had refused to assist him in taking
the guns from them; thus my arms and ammunition had been forcibly
stolen. I abused both the vakeel and the men most thoroughly; and "as
for the mutineers who have joined the slave-hunters, Inshallah, the
vultures shall pick their bones!" This charitable wish - which, I
believe, I expressed with intense hatred - was never forgotten either by
my own men or by the Turks. Believing firmly in the evil eye, their
superstitious fears were immediately excited. Continuing the march along
the same style of country we shortly came in view of Tarrangolle, the
chief town of Latooka, at which point was the station of Ibrahim. We had
marched thirteen miles from Latome, the station of Mahommed Her, at
which place my men had deserted, and we were now 101 miles from
Gondokoro by dead reckoning.
There were some superb trees situated close to the town, under which we
camped until the natives could prepare a hut for our reception. Crowds
of people now surrounded us, amazed at the two great objects of
interest - the camels, and a white woman. They did not think me very
peculiar, as I was nearly as brown as an Arab.
The Latookas are the finest savages I have ever seen. I measured a
number of them as they happened to enter my tent, and allowing two
inches for the thickness of their felt helmets, the average height was 5
ft. 11 1/2 in. Not only are they tall, but they possess a wonderful
muscular development, having beautifully proportioned legs and arms; and
although extremely powerful, they are never fleshy or corpulent. The
formation of head and general physiognomy is totally different from all
other tribes that I have met with in the neighbourhood of the White
Nile. They have high foreheads, large eyes, rather high cheekbones,
mouths not very large, well-shaped, and the lips rather full. They all
have a remarkably pleasing cast of countenance, and are a great contrast
to the other tribes in civility of manner. Altogether their appearance
denotes a Galla origin, and it is most probable that, at some former
period, an invasion by the Gallas of this country originated the
settlement of the Latookas.
One of the principal channels, if not the main stream of the river
Sobat, is only four days' march or fifty miles east of Latooka, and is
known to the natives as the Chol. The east bank of that stream is
occupied by the Gallas, who have frequently invaded the Latooka country.
There is an interesting circumstance connected with these invasions,
that the Gallas were invariably mounted upon MULES. Neither horse,
camel, nor other beast of burden is known to any of the White Nile
tribes, therefore the existence of mules on the east bank of the Chol is
a distinguishing feature.
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