It Was A Pitch Dark Night, And
Nothing Could Be Distinguished; But The Attention Of One Of The Sentries
Was Attracted By The Snorting And Stamping Of The Goats, That Evidently
Denoted The Presence Of Something Uncommon.
He then perceived close to
him, on the other side the hedge, a dark object crouching, and others
standing, and he heard the bushes moving as though some one was at work
to remove them.
He immediately fired; and the sound of a rush of men in
retreat induced both him and the other sentry to repeat the shot. By the
light of the lantern we now searched the place, and discovered the body
of a native lying close to the fence just above a considerable hole that
he had scraped beneath the thorns, in order to extract the stems that
were buried in the ground, and thus by drawing away the bushes he would
have effected an entrance. He had commenced operations exactly opposite
the sentry, and the musket being loaded with mould-shot, he had received
the contents at close quarters. Although he had tempted fate and met
with deserved misfortune, it was most disgusting to witness the
brutality of the Turks, who, tying ropes to the ankles, dragged the body
to the entrance of the camp, and wished for amusement to drive their
bayonets through the chest.
"Although dying, the man was not dead: a shot had entered one eye,
knocking it out; several had entered the face, chest, and thighs, as he
was in a stooping position when the gun was fired. I would not allow him
to be mutilated, and after groaning in agony for some time, he died. The
traders' people immediately amputated the hands at the wrists, to detach
the copper bracelets, while others cut off his helmet of beads, and the
body was very considerately dragged close to the entrance of my camp.
"June 22nd. - Finding that the disgusting Turks had deposited the dead
body almost at my door, I had it removed a couple of hundred yards to
leeward. The various birds of prey immediately collected - buzzards,
vultures, crows, and the great Marabou stork. I observed a great
bare-necked vulture almost succeed in turning the body over by pulling
at the flesh of the arm at the opposite side to that where it stood. I
have noticed that birds of prey invariably commence their attack upon
the eyes, inner portions of the thighs, and beneath the arms, before
they devour the coarser portions. In a few hours a well-picked skeleton
was all that was left of the Latooka."
We were to start on the following day. My wife was dangerously ill with
bilious fever, and was unable to stand, and I endeavoured to persuade
the traders' party to postpone their departure for a few days. They
would not hear of such a proposal; they had so irritated the Latookas
that they feared an attack, and their captain, or vakeel, Ibrahim, had
ordered them immediately to vacate the country. This was a most awkward
position for me. The traders had induced the hostility of the country,
and I should bear the brunt of it should I remain behind alone. Without
their presence I should be unable to procure porters, as the natives
would not accompany my feeble party, especially as I could offer them no
other payment but beads or copper. The rains had commenced within the
last few days at Latooka, and on the route towards Obbo we should
encounter continual storms. We were to march by a long and circuitous
route to avoid the rocky passes that would be dangerous in the present
spirit of the country, especially as the traders possessed large herds
that must accompany the party. They allowed five days' march for the
distance to Obbo by the intended route. This was not an alluring
programme for the week's entertainment, with my wife almost in a dying
state! However, I set to work, and fitted an angarep with arched hoops
from end to end, so as to form a frame like the cap of a wagon. This I
covered with two waterproof Abyssinian tanned hides securely strapped;
and lashing two long poles parallel to the sides of the angarep, I
formed an excellent palanquin. In this she was assisted, and we started
on 23d June.
Our joint parties consisted of about three hundred men. On arrival at
the base of the mountains, instead of crossing them as before, we
skirted the chain to the northwest, and then rounding through a natural
gap, we ascended gradually towards the south.
On the fifth day we were, at 5 A.M., within twelve miles of Obbo, and we
bivouacked on a huge mass of granite on the side of a hill, forming an
inclining plateau of about an acre. The natives who accompanied us were
immediately ordered to clear the grass from the insterstices of the
rocks, and hardly had they commenced when a slight disturbance, among
some loose stones that were being removed, showed that something was
wrong. In an instant lances and stones were hurled at some object by the
crowd, and upon my arrival I saw the most horrid monster that I have
ever experienced. I immediately pinned his head to the ground and
severed it at one blow with my hunting-knife, damaging the keen edge of
my favourite weapon upon the hard rock. It was a puff adder of the most
extraordinary dimensions. I then fetched my measuring-tape from the
game-bag, in which it was always at hand. Although the snake was only 5
ft. 4 in. in length it was slightly above 15 inches in girth. The tail
was, as usual in poisonous snakes, extremely blunt, and the head
perfectly fiat, and about 2 1/2 inches broad, but unfortunately during
my short absence to fetch the measure the natives had crushed it with a
rock. They had thus destroyed it as a specimen, and had broken three of
the teeth, but I counted eight, and secured five poison-fangs, the two
most prominent being nearly an inch in length.
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