Journal - June 2nd. - The Turks are now busy buying and selling, each man
disposing of his share of the stolen cattle according to his wants: one
exchanges a cow to the natives for corn and meat; another slaughters an
ox, and retails small portions for merissa (beer), fowls, &c., the
natives flocking to the camp like vultures scenting flesh; others
reserve their cattle for the purpose of purchasing the daughters of the
natives for slaves under the name of wives, whom they will eventually
sell in Khartoum for from twenty to thirty dollars each. My men look on
in dismay at the happiness of their neighbours: like
"A Peri weeping at the gate
Of Eden, stood disconsolate,"
so may they be seen regarding the adjoining paradise, where meat is in
profusion, sweetened by being stolen; but, alas! their cruel master does
not permit them these innocent enjoyments.
Everything may be obtained for cattle as payment in this country. The
natives are now hard at work making zareebas (kraals) for the cattle
stolen from their own tribe and immediate neighbours, for the sake of
two or three bullocks as remuneration to be divided among more than a
hundred men. They are not deserving of sympathy; they are worse than
vultures, being devoid of harmony even in the same tribe. The chiefs
have no real control; and a small district, containing four or five
towns, club together and pillage the neighbouring province. It is not
surprising that the robber traders of the Nile turn this spirit of
discord to their own advantage, and league themselves with one chief, to
rob another, whom they eventually plunder in his turn. The natives say
that sixty-five men and women were killed in the attack upon Kayala. All
the Latookas consider it a great disgrace that the Turks fired upon
women. Among all tribes, from Gondokoro to Obbo, a woman is respected,
even in time of war. Thus, they are employed as spies, and become
exceedingly dangerous; nevertheless, there is a general understanding
that no woman shall be killed. The origin of this humane distinction
arises, I imagine, from their scarcity. Where polygamy is in force,
women should be too dear to kill; the price of a girl being from five to
ten cows, her death is equal to the actual loss of that number.
Fortunately for my party, who were not cattle lifters, there was the
usual abundance of game, and I could always supply myself and people
with delicious wild ducks and geese. We never were tired of this light
food as we varied their preparation. Sometimes I was able to procure a
goat, on which occasion a grand dish was made, the paunch being arranged
as a Scotch "haggis" of wild fowls' livers and flesh minced, with the
usual additions. My garden was flourishing; we had onions, beans,
melons, yams, lettuce, and radishes, which had quickly responded to
several invigorating showers; the temperature was 85 degrees F in the
shade during the hottest hours of the day, and 72 degrees F at night.
Salt is not procurable in Latooka; the natives seldom use it, as it is
excessively difficult to make it in any quantity from the only two
sources that will produce it; the best is made from goat's dung; this is
reduced ashes, and saturated; the water is then strained off, and
evaporated by boiling. Another quality is made of peculiar grass, with a
thick fleshy stem, something like sugarcane; the ashes of this produce
salt, but by no means pure. The chief of Latooka would eat a handful of
salt greedily that I gave him from my large supply, and I could purchase
supplies with this article better than with beads.
On the 4th of June, Ibrahim and eighty-five men started for Obbo in
charge of about 400 cows and 1,000 goats. Shortly after their departure,
a violent thunder-storm, attended with a deluge of rain, swept over the
country, and flooded the Latooka river and the various pools that formed
my game-preserves.
I looked forward to good duck-shooting on the morrow, as a heavy storm
was certain to be followed by large arrivals.
On the morning of the 5th, I was out at an early hour, and in a very
short time I killed eight ducks and geese. There was a certain pool
surrounded by a small marsh within half a mile of my camp, that formed
the greatest attraction to the wild fowl. There were two hegleek trees
in this marsh; and it was merely necessary to stand beneath the shelter
of either to insure good sport, as the ducks continually arrived at the
pool.
I was just entering into the sport with all my heart, when I heard a
shot fired in the Turks' camp, followed by loud yells, and I observed a
crowd of Latookas rushing from the camp towards their town. In a few
moments later, I heard the Turks' drum, and I saw people running to and
fro, and the Latookas assembling from the neighbourhood with lances and
shields, as though preparing for a fray. I had only two men with me, and
being nearly half a mile from camp, I thought it advisable to hasten
towards the spot, lest some contretemps should take place before my
arrival. Accordingly I hurried over the open plain, and shortly reached
my camp. I found my wife arranging the men at their posts, fearing a
disturbance. They had seen me hastening towards them, and I now went to
the Turks' camp, that was close by, and inquired the cause of alarm.
Never was I more disgusted.
