BOOKS.
SIR S. BAKER'S ABYSSINIA.*
Tins charming volume, better written than most essays and fuller of interest than most novels, ought to have had for its second title "The Compensations of African Travel." It is a record of a year passed by Sir Samuel Baker in exploring the Abyssinian affluents
of the Nile, and educating himself for his great expedition to the
Lakes of Central Africa. During his journey he visited every tributary of the great stream, and settled to his own satisfaction
the precise causes of the ancient .problem—its annual overflow. The main, or rather the permanent, flow of water in the river is
derived from the lakes ; but if this were all, the Nile would be a comparatively equable stream, rising and falling like the Ganges, hut never overflowing its valley, which without that overflow would be a desert traversed by two narrow belts, of cultivation. The main stream, however, is reinforced in summer by eight or nine mountain torrents, of which two, the Blue Nile and the Atbara, are of enormous magnitude, but which are all daring the dry season mere river-beds. They fill suddenly about the 20th June, from the sudden melting of the Abyssinian snows and the commencement of the rains, and it is the tremendous rush of these surplus or additional waters which causes the mais stream to overflow, and deposit its burden of fertilizing black mud, a burden derived, Sir S. Baker considers, mainly from the Atbara, which is so impregnated as to be called by the natives the Black Water. It is therefore conceivable that a Sovereign wicked enough and scientific enough to turn the course of the Atbara and the Blue Nile, deflecting them towards the Red Sea, might destroy the prosperity of Egypt at a blow.
Even a diversion of the Atbara might produce infinite mischief, and it is by no means certain that the system of weirs which Sir S. Baker recommends might not create a new Delta at a very heavy expense to the old one.
It is scarcely, however, as a book of mere " travels " that ordinary readers are devouring this volume, but as a narrative of adventure of the most exciting kind, of sport such as scarcely another traveller ever had. African travel is dreary enough
sometimes, as Sir S. Baker found when he tried to reach the-Lakes ;
hut.there must be hundreds of men in England who would dare all he suffered in this journey to go through his experience, to roam like a little prince with a hunting camp through a territory where it is possible to "make a mixed bag of elephants, hippo- potami,. buffaloes, giraffes, and great numbers of the large antelopes," with an occasional lion or crocodile by way of appe- tizing variety. Glorious scenery, a tolerable climate, perfect inde- pendence of civilized restraint, and a preserve of that kind make up temptations such as would suffice to make Charles Ruxton turn in his grave, cause Mr. Grantley Berkeley to repent time wasted in the prairies, and induce foxhunters to confess with a sigh that, after all, hunting is always improved by the presence of a quarry worth pursuing. Riding to hounds in a good country may some- times be exciting enough. but what is it to a ride like &Aar Sherrif's, with a wild elephant behind you, and a certainty that if your horse stumbles your life is not worth five seconds' purchase, — that it will be no case of a "spill" or a broken bone, but of instant death by crushing T--
"Rodur Sherrif rode a bay mare, that, having been- thoroughly: trained to those encounters, was perfect at her work. Slowly and coolly she advanced -towards her wary antagonist, until within about eight or nine yards of the elephant's head; the creature never moved; and the mise en scene was beautiful ; not a word was spoken, and we kept our places amidst utter 'stillness, which was at length broken by a snort from the mare, who gazed intently at the elephant, as though• watching for the moment of attack. One more pace forward, and Radar eat coolly upon his mare, with his eyes axed upon those of the elephant; For an instant I saw the white of the eye nearest to me.; 'Look out, Rodur, he's coming!' I exclaimed. With a shrill scream, the elephant dashed upon him like an avalanche ! Round went the mare as though upon a pivot, and away over rocks and stones, flying like a gazelle, with the monkey-like form of little Rodur Sberrif leaning forward, and looking over his left shoulder as the elephant rushed after him, For a moment I thought he must be caught. Had the mare stumbled, all were lost ; but she gained in the race after a few quick bounding strides, and Rodur, still looking behind him, kept his distance so close to the elephant, that its outstretched trunk was within a few feet of the mare's tail. Taker Sherrif and his brother Ibrahim swept down like falcons in the rear. In full speed they dexterously avoided the trees, until they arrived upon open ground, when they dashed up close to the hind-quarters of the furious elephant, who, maddened with the excitement,heeded nothing but Radar and his mare, that were almost within its grasp. When close to the tail of the elephant, Taker Sherrife sword flashed from its sheath, as grasping his * Tlie Nile Tributaria of Abyssinia, and the Sword Ranters of the Hannyin Aratag. By fAr Samuel W. Baker, M.41_, F.E.G.S. London: Macmillan. 1867. trusty blade he leapt nimbly to the ground, while Ibrahim caught the reins of his horse ; two or three bounds on foot, with the sword 'clutched in both hands, and he was close behind the elephant ; a bright glance shone like lightein&as the sun struck upon the descending steel; this was followed by a dull crack, as the sword cat through skin and sinews, and settled deep in the bone, about twelve inches above the foot. At the next- stride, the elephant halted dead short in the midst of its tremendous charge."
And even this is less exciting than the race after flying rhino- ceroses described at page 359, a mad race improved by the chance that the mighty beasts might turn, and perhaps heave horse and man alike into the air. Or if he is curious in game, let the sports- man imagine stalking a herd of giraffes, possibly more than a hundred in number, with extraordinary power of vision, scent like that of stags, and superior speed, and flesh which Sir S. Baker, who has eaten most things, froip blubber to pates de foie gras, declares to be the best he ever tasted ; or harpooning the hippopotamus, a brute which, if excited, can crunch his assailant in two, which can run till no man may escape, which will go up .a precipitous ravine, and does not fear a clear dive from a point twenty feet above the water. He is worth bagging apparently, even if he did not yield, as he does, hundreds of pounds of highly edible meat 200 lbs. of fat, coorbatches or whips to the number of-200 per hide,' and teeth which are eagerly purchased by dentists, because the ivory will not discolour. Crocodiles are not nice to eat, though natives eat them ; but there is something in shooting or harpoon- ing a scaled, yellow-green monster, who can swallow a human being at a bite, which appeals strongly to the imagination. Of smaller game there appears to be no end, the most plentiful of all being the gazelles, of which Sir S. Baker relates one extremely amusing story, to us perfectly new. The Arabs course them with dogs, relying upon a mental peculiarity, without analogy, we imagine, in the animal kingdom. The gazelle runs away and beats the dogs completely, but becomes so proud of the feat, so. vainglorious of its speed, that it stops and executes a kind of war dance, bounding and gambolling with exultation, until it exhausts its strength, and is at last run down. There is something almost human in that absurdity, as, strange to say; there is in one of the tricks of the crocodile. We could hardly quote a better specimen of Sir S. Baker's style as naturalist and sportsman. than this charming little description :— " Few creatures are so sly and wary as the crocodile. I watch them continually-as they attack the dense flocks of small birds that throng the bushes at the water's edge. These birds are perfectly aware of .the danger, and they fly from the attack, if possible. The crocodile then quietly and innocently lies upon the surface, as though it had appeared quite by an accident; it thus attracts the attention of the birds,. and it slowly sails away to a considerable distance, exposed to their view. The birds, thus beguiled by the deceiver, believe that the danger is removed, and they again flock to the bush, and once more dip their thirsty beaks into the stream. Thus absorbed in slaking their thirst, they do not observe that their enemy is no longer on the surface. A sudden splash, followed by a huge pair of jaws beneath the bush that engulfs some dozens of victims, is the signal unexpectedly given of the crocodile's return, who has thus slily dived, and hastened under cover of water-to his victims. I have seen the crocodiles repeat this mano3u- vre constantly ; they deceive by a feigned retreat, and then attack from below."
Nothing seems so far from humanity as the crocodile, yet if that statement is correct, and there is no reason to doubt it, the crocodile must in some low way exercise a reason. No instinct would tell him that a trick like that would give birds a momentary courage. The book is full of stories like this, showing a keenness of observation which might have made Sir S. Baker, indeed may yet make him, as eminent as a naturalist as he has been as a traveller, stories delight- ful to readers who never hunt, and are naturalists only by force of study. There are men in England who would class among such stories his account of the Totrooris, the-Mohammedan negroes of Darfur, a territory sealed by its ruler against Europeans. These men are entirely black,- of the negre type,- but, they have the one virtue always denied even by Sir S. Baker to negroes, indomitable, incessant industry. They will not work well for wages, differing in that respect from Chinese, but when working for themselves they rival them in assiduity :— " They are seldom unemployed ; and while the Arab may be seen lazily stretched under the shade of a tree, the Tokroori will be seen spinning cotton, or working at something that will earn a few piastres. Even during the march, I have frequently seen my men gather the cotton from some deserted bush, and immediately improvise a spindle, by sticking a reed through a piece of camel-dung, with which they would spin the wool into thread, as they walked with the caravan. My Tokrooris had never been idle during the time they had been in my service, but they were at work in the camp during every spare minute, either employed in making sandals from elephant's or buffalo's hide, or whips and bracelets from the rhinoceros skin, which they cleverly polished. Upon our arrival at Oallabat, they had at least a camel-load of all kinds of articles they had manufactured. On the following morn- ing I had found them sitting in the market-place, having established stalls, at which they were selling all the various trophies of their expe- dition—fat y hides, whips, sandals, bracelets, dtc."
A hopeful people, one would think, and we wish Sir S. Baker had ,described them a little more minutely, the effect of Moham- medanism on the negro character being a point as yet insuf- ficiently studied. What makes these men toil? They drink, and Sir S. Baker scarcely seems to like them, yet he gives a singular account of their good qualities. They all mutinied one morning, and professed a great desire to visit Mecca, which he forbade under threats of reporting them to the Governor of Kalariff, but allowed one man to go :— " Taking advantage of this moment of confusion, I called forward the buffalo' Abderachman, as I heard that he had really contemplated a pilgrimage to Mecca. 'Abderachman,' I continued, you are the only man who has spoken the truth. Go to Mecca! and may God protect you on the journey ; I should not wish to prevent you from performing your duty as a Mahometan.' Never were people more dumbfounded with surprise ; they retreated, and formed a knot in consultation' and in about ten minutes they returned to me, old Moosa and Hadji All both leading the pilgrim Abderachman by the hands. They had given in ; and Abderachman, the buffalo of the party, thanked me for my permis- sion, and with tears in his oyes, as the camels were about to start, he at once said good-bye. 'Embrace him !' cried old Moosa and Hadji Ali ; and in an instant, as I had formerly succumbed to the maid Barrake, I was actually kissed by the thick lips of Abderachman the unwashed ! Poor fellow! this was sincere gratitude without the slightest humbug ; therefore, although he was an odoriferous savage, I could not help shaking him by the hand and wishing him a prosperous journey, assur- ing him that I would watch over his comrades like a father, while in my service. In a few instants these curious people were led by a sadden and new impulse; my farewell had perfectly delighted old Moosa and Hadji Ali, whose hearts were won. 'Say good-bye to the Sit !' (the lady) they shouted to Abderachman; but I assured them that it was not necessary to go through the whole operation to which I had been subjected, and that she would be contented if he only kissed her hand. This he did with the natural grace of a savage, and was led away cry- ing by his companions, who embraced him with tears, and they parted with the affection of brothers."•
With this characteristic anecdote of the governing power of an Englishman when he chooses to exercise it we conclude our notice of the best book of sporting adventure it was ever our lot to read, a book none the less interesting because its author was hunting only in the intervals of a great and successful effort to increase geographical knowledge.
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