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904 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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A New Traveller In" Africa. Life And Lan...
are windows , blinds , and a canvas cover at the sides , so that we can regulate our light and air as -we choose . In the middle of the cabin is our table and two camp stools , while shawls , capotes , pistols , sabre , and gun are suspended from the walls . A little door at the further end opens into a wash-room , beyond which is a smaller cabin with beds , which we have allotted to Achmet ' s use . Our cook sleeps on deck , with his head against the provision chest . The rais and pilot sleep on the roof of onr cabin , where the latter sits all day , holding the long arm of the rudder , which projects forward over the cabin from the high end of the stern . " Our manner of life is simple , and might even be called monotonous , but we have never found the greatest variety of landscape and incident so thoroughly enjoyable . The scenery of the Nile , thus far , scarcely changes from day to day in its forms and colours , but only in their disposition with regard to each other . The shores are either palm-groves , fields of cane and dourra , young wheat , or patches of bare sand , blown out from the desert . The villages are all the same agglomerations of mud-walls , the tombs of the Moslem saints are the same white ovens , and every individual camel and buffalo resembles its neighbonr in picturesque ugliness . The Arabian and Libyan mountains , now sweeping so far into the foreground that their yellow cliffs overhang the Nile , now receding into the violet haze of the horizon , exhibit little difference of height , hue , or geological formation . Every new rela
scene is the turn of a kaleidoscope , in which the same objects are grouped in otner - tions , yet always characterised by the most perfect harmony . These slight , yet everrenewing : changes , are to us a source of endless delight . Either from the pure atmosphere , the healtliy life we lead , or the accordant tone of our spirits , we find ourselves unusually sensitive to all the slightest touches , the most minute rays of that grace and harmony which bathes every landscape in cloudless sunshine . The various groupings of the palms , the shifting of the blue evening shadows on the rose-hued mountain walls , the green of the wheat and the sugar-cane , the windings of the great river , the alternations of ¦ wind and calm—each of these is enough to content us , and to give every day a different charm from that ¦ which went before . We meet contrary winds , calms , and sand-banks , without losing our patience , and even our excitement in the swiftness and grace with which our vessel scuds before the riprth . wind is mingled with a regret that our journey is drawing so much the more swiftly to its close . A portion of the old Egyptian repose seems to be infused into our natures , and lately , when I saw my face in a mirror , I thought I peiceived in its features something of the patience and resignation of the Sphinx . " As a Contrast to this , let us give the author ' s picture—drawn some h . un dreds of miles farther on his journey—of
-. : LIFE IN THE I > EST : RT . " I fonnd the Des « rt life not only endurable but very agreeable . No matter how warm it might be at mid-day , the nights were always fresh and cool , and the wind blew strong from the nortli-west , during the greater part of the time . The temperature varied from 50 degs . to 55 degs . at 6 a . m , to 80 degs . 85 degs . at 2 p . m . The extremes ,, were 47 degs . and 100 degs . So great a change of temperature every day was not so unpleasant as might be supposed . In my case , nature seemed to make a special provision , in order to keep the balance sight . During the hot hours of the day I never suffered inconvenience from the heat , but up to 85 degs . felt sufficiently cool . I seemed to absorb the rays of the sun , and as night came on and the temperature of the air fell , that of my skin rose , till at last I glowed through and through , like a live coal . It was a peculiar sensation , which I never experienced before , fcut was rather pleasant than otherwise . My face , however , which was alternately exposed to the heat radiated from the sand , and the keen , morning wind , could not accommodate itself to so much contraction and expansion . Tlie skin cracked and
pealed off more than once , and I was obliged to rub it daily with butter . I mounted my dromedary with a ' shining morning face , ' until , from alternate buttering and burning , it attained the hneand crispness of a well-basted partridge . " Isoon fell into a regular daily routine of travel , which , during all my later experiences of the Desert , never became monotonous . I rose at dawn every morning , bathed my eyes ¦ Wf th a handful of the precious water , and drank a cup of coffee . After the tent had been struck and the camels laden , I walked ahead for two hours , often so far in advance that I lost sight and hearing of the caravan . I found an unspeakable fascination in the sublime solitude of the Desert . I often beheld the sun rise , when , within the wide ring of the horizon , there was no other living creature to be seen . He came up like a god , in awful glory , and it would have been a natural act , had I cast myself upon the sand and worshipped him The sudden change in the colouring of the landscape , on his appearancethe lighting ip of the dull sand into a warm golden liue , and the timings of purple and violet oththe distant porphyry hills—was a morning miracle , which I never beheld without awe . The richness of this colouring made the Desert beautiful ; it was too brilliant for
desolation . The scenery , so far from depressing , inspired and exhilarated me . I aever felt the sensation of physical health and strength in Buch p erfection , and was ready to shout from merning till night , from the overflow of happy spirits . The air is an elixir of lifeas sweet and pure and refreshing as that winch the first man breathed on the morning of creation , You inhalo the unadulterated eleTHentsnoT the atmosphere , for there are no exhalations from moist earth , vegetable mutter , or the smokes and steams which arise from the abodes of men , to stain its purity . This air , even more than its silence and solitude , is the secret of one ' s attachment to the Desert . It is a beautiful illustration of the compensating care of that Providence , which leaves none of the waste places of the earth without some atoning glory . Where all the p leasant aspects of Nature are wanting—where there is no green thing , no fonnt for the thirsty lip , scarcely the shadow of a rock to shield the wanderer n the blazing noon—God has breathed upon the wilderness his sweetest and tenderest breath , giving clearness to the oye , strength to the frame , and the most joyous exhilaration o the spirits . "
Leaving the d « sext , Mr . Taylor , as we have before said , einb arks on the White Nile , sails on boldly into the heart of Africa , leaves behind-him the last relics veno > f Egyptian civilisation , and reaches the Primitive Negro Kingdom of the Shillooks . There is something very picturesque and striking in this brieflydescribed
JUVEIl SCENE IN CENTRAl . AFRICA . •* We sailed nearly all night with a steady north wind , which towards morning became so strong that the men were obliged to take in sail and lot us scud under bare polos . When I rose , in the grey of early dawn , they were about hoisting tho little Btorn-aheot , which alone sufficed to carry us along at the rate of four miles an hour . We had passed the frontier of Egyptian Soudan aoon after sunset , and wore then deep in the negro kingdom of the Shillooks . The acenery had changed considerabl y since tho evening . Tho forests were taller and more dense , and tho river more thickly studded with islands , the soil of which was ontirely con , cental by tho luxuriant girdle o * ahrubs and water plants , in which they lay imbedded , Tho amaafc , n , species of aquatic shrub , with loaves resembling the sensitive plant and winged , bean-liko blosuoms of a rich yellow hue , grow on tho edge of tho shore , with its roots in tho water , nnd its long arms flouting on tho surnico . It formed impenetrable ramparts around the islands and shores , except whoro tho hippopotamus nnd crocodile hud trodden paths into tho forests , or tho lion und leopard hud como down to tho river ' s margin to drink . Behind this floating Item of foliug « and blossoms appeared other and lursor sliruba , completely
matted together with climbing vinos , which covered them like a mantle , nnd hung from their branches dangling streamers of white and purplo and ydlow blossoms . They oven atrotohod to tho boughs of the largo mimosa , or aont trees , whioli grow in tho centre of tlio islands , thus binding all together in rounded masses . Somo of tho umallor islands rcsomblod floating hills of vegetation , and their slopes nnd amwnita of impervious foliage , rolling in thu wind ] appcurod to keep time with tlie rocking of tho waves that upheld them . The profusion of vegetable life roinindod mo of tlio Ohngroa JRivor . If not bo rich nnd gorgeous , it was on n far grander scale . Tlio river I mil still a breadth of n mile and a half , whero his current was free , but where island crowded on island , in a vast archipelago of loafy shores , ho took a much wider evrevp . Tho waves danced nnd glistened in tlio cool northern wind , as wo glided » round his majestic curves , and I Htood on duck watching tho wonderful panorama unfold on oithor ui < lc , with a feeling of exultation to wliloli I gave freo vent . In no other river hiwe I aeon landscapes of larger or more imposing character . " All tho rich animal world of this region was awuko and attrring beforo the sun . Tho wildfo-wla loft thoir roosta ; the zikzaka ( lew twittori «) g over tho vavou , calling ; up their mates , tho aloony crocodiled ; tho herons strotohed their winga ugainut tho wind 3 tho moneys leaped and olinttorcd in tlio woods ; And at | uat , whole herds of hippopotami , sporting
near the shore , came up spotting water from their nostrils , in a manner precisely similar to the grampus . I counted six together , soon after sunrise , near the end of an island . They floundered about in the shallows , popping up their heads every few minutes to look at us , and at last walked out through the reeds and stood upon the shore . Soon afterwards , five more appeared on the other aide of the river , and thenceforth we saw them almost constantly , and sometimes within fifty yards . I noticed one which must have been four feet in breadth across the ears , and with a head nearly five feet long . He opened his mouth wide enough to show two round , blunt tusks , or rather grinders , one on each side . Tliey- exhibited a great deal of curiosity , and frequently turned about after we had passed , and followed far some time in our wake . " Our travelLer lands boldly amomo ; the Shillooks , and has
AN INTERVIEW "WITH A NEGRO SHEKH . u The shekh of the island , a tall , handsome man , rose to greet me , by touching the palm of his right hand to mine and then raising it to his forehead . I made a like salutation , after which he sat down . The vizier ( as he called himself ) , an old man excessively black in complexion , then advanced , and the Other warriors in succession , till all had saluted me . The conversation was carried on in the Arabic jargon of Soudan , which the shekh and some of his men spoke tolerably well , so that I could understand the most of what was said . 'Why don't you . bring the sultan ' s carpet that he may rest ? ' said the shekh to one of my sailors . The carpet and j illows were immediately brought , and I stretched myself out in front of the shekh and vizier , who sat upon a fallen tree , while the others squatted upon the ground . The sbekh at first took no part in tlie conversation , but sat looking at me steadily from under his heavy eyebrows . Our negotiations were conducted in genuine diplomatic style . Whenever his Majesty of the Shillooks had anything to say , he mentioned it to his vizier , who addressed Achmet , my vizier , who communicated it to me , the sultan . The spectators observed the most profound silence , and nothing could surpass the gravity and
solemnity of the scene . "In the meantime the other warriors had come up and taken their seats around us , eacli one greeting me before he sat down ¦ with ' ow-woio-wobba . " ( probably a corruption of the Arabic ' mar-habbaV ' how d ' ye do ?) The vizier , addressing me through A , chmet , said : ' Tell us what you want ; if you come to fight , we aje ready for you . ' I assured the shekh through him that I came as a friend , and had no intention of molesting them , but he was not satisfied , and repeated tlreeor four times , drawing a mark between us on the ground : ' If you are rea , lly friends , we will be friends with you ; but if yon are not we are ready to fight you . ' Aclimet at last swore by the Prophet Mohammed , and by the wisdom of 'Allan , that we had come in peace ; that the sultan wished to pay him a visit , and would then return home . At the request of the raid we had come oh shore unarmed , but i fc had not the anticipated effect . ' Why have you no arms ? ' said the shekh ; ' are you afraid of us ? ' I told him that it was in order to ' show that I had no hostile intentions , but the people seemed to consider it as a mark of either treachery or fear . I brought some tobacco with me , which I gave to the shekh , but he received it coldly , and said : * Where is the dress which the sultan has brought for me ? ' This reminded me that I had entirely neglected to provide myself in Khartoum with muslin and calico for presents . I remedied the deficiency ,
liowever , by going on board and taking one of my shirts and a silk handkerchief , as well as some beads and ear-rings for the wives of the two dignitaries . Achmet added a shirt and a pair of Turkish drawers , and brought a fresh supply of tobacco for the warriors The shekh took the presents with evident gratification , and then came the work of clothing him . He was entirely at a loss how to put on the garments , but Achmefc and the rais unvround the cotton cloth from his loins , stuck his legs into the drawers , his arms into the shirt-sleeves , iind tied the handkerchief about his head . Once clothed , he paid no further attention to his garments , but wore them with as much nonchalance as if he had never possessed a scantier costume . The vizier , who had shown manifest ill-humour at being passed by , was quieted by the present of a shirt , which was put upon his shoulders in like manner . He gave me his name as ' Adjeb-Seecloo' ( 'He pleases his Master' ) , a most appropriate narne for a vizier . The shekh ' s name , Abd-en-noor ( ' the Slave of Light' ) , -was hardly so befitting , for he was remarkably dark . I was much amused at my servant Ali , who had shown great terror on tho first appearance of tho savages . He had already become so familiar , that when the shekh did not seem to understand the use of the . beads and ear-rinses , Ali pinched his ears very significantly , and took hold of his neck to show how they must be worn .
" By this time coffee had been prepared , and was brought to them . But tliey had been so accustomed io inhumanity and deception on the part of the Turks , that they still mistrusted us , and no one would drink , for fear that it contained poison . To quiet them , therefore , I drank a cup iirst , after wlich they took it readily , and many of them , who then tasted coffee for the first time , did not seem to relish it . A , drove of sheep happening to pass by , the shekh ordered one of th « rams to bo caught and put on board the vessel , for the sultan ' s dinner . The men soon began to demand tobacco , clothes , and various other things , and grew so importunate that Achmet became alarmed , and even the rai ' a , who was a . man of some courage , seemed a little uneasy . I thought it time to givo a change to affairs , and therefore roso and told tho sliekh I was ready to visit liis village . We had intended returning on board and sailing to the place , which was at the southern extremity of tho . island , about a mile distant , but reflecting that this might occasion mistrust , and that tho best way of avoiding danger is to appoa-r unconscious of it , I called Achmet and tho rnfe to accompanv me on toot . While these things were transpiring , a number of other Shillooks had arrive < I , so that there were now upwards of fifty . All wore armed—the most of them with ironpointed . spears , somo with clubs , nnd some with long poles , having knobs of hard wood on the end . They were all tall , strong , stately people , mot more than two or tlireo under six feet in height , while the moat of them were three or four inches over that standard . Somo
had a piece or rough cotton cloth tied around the waist or thrown over tho shoulders , but most of them were entirely naked . Their figures were largo and muscular , but not syin . metrical , nor was there the least grace in their movements . Their faces resembled a cross between thonecro of Guinea and tho North American Indian , having tho high cheek-bones , the narrow forehead and pointed head of tho latter , with the flnt noso and projecting lips or the former . Thoir tooth w « re so long as to appear liko tusks , and in most oi thorn 0110 or two front teeth wore wanting , which gave their facos a wohish expression . Their eyes wcro small and had tin inflamed look , which might have boon occasioned by tho damp exhalations of tho soil on which they slept . Every one wore an armlet abovo tho elbow , cither a segment of an elephant ' s tusk , or a thick rim of plaited hippopotamus hide . Tho most of them hail a string of glaaa beads around tho neck , and tho shvk ' h wore a necklace of tho largo white variety , called ' pigeon eggs' by tho traders on tho White Nile . They had no beards , anil their hair was seared or plucked out on tho forehead und temples , leaving only a circular crown of crisp wool on the top of tho Iioad . Somo bad rubbed their facoa nnd heads with rod ashes , whioh imparted a livid , ghnatly effect to their black skinB . " At length he arrives at the final point of his journey , beyond which it is hopeless to think of penetrating . His attendants will ventures no farther with him , and ho takes one wistful last look , before lie returns , at
THE O ATM WAY T 3 TUB UN KNOWN SOUTH . As wo weighed anchor , I found tUivt tho mon had taken down both ouila and shipped the oars for our return to Khartoum . Wo had reached tho southern point of tho inland , in about lat . 12 dog . 80 min . north , and tho north wind w « s still blowing strongly . The roundod tops of tho mimosa forests bent southward » n thoy tossed ; tho flowery arms of tlio ambak-trcos waved to the south , trailing against the current , and my heart sank within mo at tho thought of retracing my stops . We had Biiilud 260 milea in forty-olRht hours ; tho gateway to the unknown south wns opon , nnd it scorned n treason against fortune to turn ray »\ towards tho Mediterranean . AchmotP mud I , tell tho men to act tho trinkect Mfiaiii . Wo will sail to tho Bahr el-Guazal . ' Tho Thoban ' s faco bocnino ghastly nt tho bare lilou . O master I ho oxclaimoil . « « ro yon not hiUIrhmI with your ( rood fortune ? Wo arc now nearly at tho end of tho ourtli , nnd if wo go further it will bo iinpoHsiblo to return . ' K " A . l > ou-H . \ mme « l declared that ho liadkopt lua word , nnd that hotthould now return , a » it hud boon agreed , before wo loft Khartoum . I know thoro wa » oortnln ( lunger in Roing fttitlivr , and that I ha < l no ri g ht to violuto inv agreement and peril othora im well a a myiwlf i but Micro lay tho groat river , holding in liin lap , to tempt mo on . isles of brighter bloom and spreading out alioros of yot richer foliugo . 1 was in tho contro of tho continent . Knvowl mo all vraaBtranco and unltnown , and tho Gulf of Guinea wan less distant than tho Mediterranean , which I loft not tUrco months before Wliy >» ot push on and nUomjpt to grasp tlw
904 The Leader. [Saturday,
904 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 23, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23091854/page/16/
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