The chiefs, Moy and Commoro, brought him
to the Turks' camp, merely to prove that he had no evil intention. No
sooner was it announced that he was a native of Kayala than the Turks
declared he was a spy, and condemned him to be shot. The two chiefs, Moy
and Commoro, feeling themselves compromised by having brought the man
into such danger unwittingly, threw themselves before him, and declared
that no harm should befall him, as he belonged to them. Tearing them
away by the combined force of many men, the prisoner was immediately
bound, and led forth by his bloodthirsty murderers to death. "Shoot the
spy!" was hardly pronounced, when a villain stepped forward, and placing
the muzzle of his musket close to his left breast, he fired.
The man dropped dead, thus murdered in cold blood. The natives rushed in
crowds from the spot, naturally supposing that a general massacre would
follow so unprovoked an outrage. The body was dragged by the heels a few
paces outside the camp, and the vultures were its sextons within a few
minutes of the death.
It was with difficulty that I could restrain my temper under such
revolting circumstances. I felt that at an unlooked-for moment I might
be compromised in some serious outbreak of the natives, caused by the
brutal acts of the traders. Already it was declared unsafe to venture
out shooting without ten or twelve armed men as escort.
A mixture of cowardice and brutality, the traders' party became
exceedingly timid, as a report was current that the inhabitants of
Kayala intended to ally themselves to those of Tarrangolle, and to
attack the Turks in their camp. I accordingly strengthened my position
by building a tower of palisades, that entirely commanded all approaches
to my zareeba.
Latooka was already spoiled by the Turks: it was now difficult to
procure flour and milk for beads, as the traders' people, since the
attack on Kayala, had commenced the system of purchasing all supplies
with either goats or beef, which having been stolen, was their cheapest
medium of exchange. Although rich in beads and copper, I was actually
poor, as I could not obtain supplies. Accordingly I allowanced my men
two pounds of beads monthly, and they went to distant villages and
purchased their own provisions independently of me.
On the 11th June, at 7.20 A.M., there was a curious phenomenon; the sky
was perfectly clear, but we were startled by a noise like the sudden
explosion of a mine, or the roar of heavy cannon, almost immediately
repeated. It appeared to have originated among the mountains, about
sixteen miles distant due south of my camp. I could only account for
this occurrence by the supposition that an immense mass of the granite
rock might have detached itself from a high mountain, and, in falling to
the valley, it might have bounded from a projection on the mountain's
side, and thus have caused a double report.
June 13. - -I shot ten ducks and geese before breakfast, including one of
the large black and white geese with the crimson head and neck. On my
return to camp I weighed this - exactly eleven pounds; this goose has on
either pinion-joint a sharp, horny spur, an inch in length. During my
morning stroll I met hundreds of natives running excitedly with shields
and spears towards Adda's village: they were going to steal the cattle
from a village about four miles distant; thus there will be a fight in
the course of the day. The Latooka stream is now full, and has the
appearance of a permanent river carrying a considerable body of water to
the Sobat.
I met with two thieves while duck-shooting this morning - the one an
eagle, and the other a native. The beautiful white-throated fish-eagle
may generally be seen perched upon a bough overhanging the stream, ready
for any prey that may offer. This morning I shot two ducks right and
left as they flew down the course of the river - -one fell dead in the
water, but the other, badly hit, fluttered along the surface for some
distance, and was immediately chased and seized by a fish-eagle which,
quite reckless of the gun, had been watching the sport from a high tree,
and evinced a desire to share the results. My men, not to be done out of
their breakfast, gave chase, shouting and yelling to frighten the eagle,
and one of them having a gun loaded with buckshot, fired, and the
whirr-r of the charge induced the eagle to drop the duck, which was
triumphantly seized by the man.
The other thief was a native. I fired a long shot at a drake; the bird
flew a considerable distance and towered, falling about a quarter of a
mile distant. A Latooka was hoeing close to where it fell, and we
distinctly saw him pick up the bird and run to a bush, in which he hid
it: upon our arrival he continued his work as though nothing had
happened, and denied all knowledge of it: he was accordingly led by the
ear to the bush, where we found the duck carefully secreted.
June 14. - -The natives lost one man killed in the fight yesterday,
therefore the night was passed in singing and dancing.
The country is drying up; although the stream is full there is no rain
in Latooka, the water in the river being the eastern drainage of the
Obbo mountains, where it rains daily.
Ibrahimawa, the Bornu man, alias "Sinbad the Sailor," the great
traveller, amuses and bores me daily with his long and wonderful stories
of his travels. The style of his narratives may be conjectured from the
following extracts:
