A BOA-CONSTRICTOR VISITS US—THE BURTON BOAT—MOUSSA’s BEHAVIOUR ENTAILS A THRASHING AND HIS DISCHARGE—GREAT HEAT—A FINE HIPPOPOTAMUS KILLED—HAMRAN FEAST—THE WHITE ANTS—ANOTHER HIPPOPOTAMUS KILLED—MAHOMET SALI BRINGS SUPPLIES—NATIVE MUSIC IN THE NIGHT—DELICATE HINTS CONVEYED TO THE PERFORMER—A REMARKABLY FINE NELLUT SHOT—ARAB AND EGYPTIAN TAXATION—BABOONS—A HAMRAN STORY—ALI BITTEN BY A SCORPION—ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE—ROUGH JOURNEYS.
In the evening, whilst George and Anselmia, our two European servants, were dining by their tent, George called out, “A snake, a snake.” A little terrier, named “Tartar” (which Mr. W. D. James had brought from England) began barking furiously, whilst we sallied forth with anything we could lay our hands on—Mr. Phillipps and I each with a spear, Mr. Colvin with an Abyssinian sword—darted off,[265] just in time to see a great boa-constrictor gliding through the grass and into some thorny bushes where we could not pursue him.
George said, “I heard something hissing,” and said to Anselmia, “What the devil is that?” looked round and saw an enormous snake about a yard off in the tree behind me, hissing away, with head up. I was off in quick sticks. Last night a lion came so close to my tent, and made such a noise that he woke us all up, and produced quite a stampede amongst the horses and camels. Some of the natives sleeping just outside my tent threw firebrands at him. Unfortunately the moonlight was wanting at the time or we might, perhaps, have bagged him.
Two tetél, four ariel, and several birds were shot to-day.
March 15th.—Hy?nas were rather noisy last night, but I have never known them so troublesome anywhere as at Kassala. The heat to-day was 106° in the shade—so far the hottest day I ever experienced. Of course the Burton boat is in frequent use now. To-day, whilst quietly punting about near the bushes with my gun laid across the seat, I observed some beautiful and strange birds. I quietly seized my gun, and found the barrel so excessively hot that I positively could not hold it[266] until I wrapped my pocket-handkerchief round it. I succeeded in bagging two fine spotted giant king-fishers. This morning Moussa, a mischievous young rascal, whom we had brought with us from Kassala, was severely thrashed with the coorbatch, then sent away with our head camel-man (who was going for dhurra) to the Sheik at Ombrager, to be forwarded on to Kassala. It seems that he had quarrelled with Idrees, a native servant from Keren; then, whilst struggling together, he whipped out a pair of scissors and with it snipped out several bits of flesh from his arms and chest. This was not his first offence, for on the 13th he received 20 lashes of the coorbatch. Then he laid himself down at once, face downwards, and took it without flinching; to-day he got it severely, and yelled most vigorously. His offence on the former occasion was this: Whilst Sali was running to camp, rifle in hand, this impudent young scamp struggled with him for the possession of it (this was just after dark). In the struggle the rifle went off, and might have lodged a bullet in Sali or anyone in camp. Unfortunately the coorbatch is the only remedy for these natives—the only way of keeping up discipline. If treated with kindness and forbearance they think we are getting lax and easy, will at once take advantage of it, skulk about and[267] do nothing, but the coorbatch at once brings them to reason.
Mr. A. James found a man’s skull to-day, also a gigantic tortoise shell. Mr. Phillipps angled and caught an enormous gamout, weighing 31 lbs. Two ariel, a nellut, and calf buffalo were shot.
March 16th.—Temperature 105°, wet bulb 71°, solor 160°. Last night hy?nas and wild cats exercised a disturbing influence on our slumbers. Soon after breakfast a Hamran Sheik, with attendants, called, presenting us with a good quantity of milk and a sheep. During the day a crocodile was shot, also a very fine hippopotamus. The latter was observed poking his head above water in a large pool a little way from camp, little thinking of the danger awaiting him. He had no sooner done so than crash went a hardened bullet into his skull. Down he went, but could not stay long, for he must come up to breathe. On his reappearance he received another leaden messenger in his skull. On his coming to the surface a third time he spouted up a quantity of blood and water, and received one more bullet, after which he disappeared mortally wounded. The next time he came to the surface a floating corpse. A few hours afterwards ropes were obtained and fastened round him by some Arabs, who dived, and he was dragged to shore amid[268] universal rejoicing, they knowing right well that a feast was in store.
We find the white ants very troublesome here. Should anyone be careless enough to leave his satchel or portmanteau on the bare ground he would regret it in the morning. Anyone who has visited Central Africa will come away with very distinct recollections of the white ants. They are really wonderful little creatures, and the structures they erect are often on a colossal scale. Quite near to our dining place here is one of their buildings. As a rule they are built of a conical or sugar-loaf form, but I have seen them of the form of turrets. They are worked up from the soil of the country by the ants, and are of the consistency of stone, and so strong that a buffalo or leopard has been known to take up its position on the top for the purpose of observation. During one portion of our journey, on emerging from a wood, I saw what I at first took to be a village on a large plain; the habitations resembled huts, in some cases 15 feet high, and proportionately large at the base. They were only a colony of white ants, and I dare say their village consisted of 200 of these ant hills. The white ants (Termes bellicosus) are not true ants; that is, they do not belong to the order Hymenoptera, which embraces the industrious bee[269] and the crafty ichneumon, but belong to the order Neuroptera, which embraces the brilliant, though voracious dragon-fly, the ephemeral may-fly, and the wily ant-lion. They are called ants because they are similar to them in their habits and in the constitution of their colonies. Their antenn? are larger than the head, their mandibles are well-developed, and the inferior pair of wings is generally as large as the superior.
There are four classes found in the colony of the white ant—the king and queen, who live together in a central chamber near the ground, after having lost their wings; the workers, who build and nurse their young; the soldiers, who never build or nurse, whose duty consists in defending the nest when attacked. Neither the workers nor the soldiers have wings. The largest worker is supposed to be a fifth of an inch long. The soldiers, which have an enormous head and formidable mandibles, are at least twice as long, and are said to weigh as much as thirty workers, attaining the length of nearly four-fifths of an inch, while the female, when she has become a queen, and about to form an extensive colony, attains the length of six inches, and lays eggs at the rate of sixty a minute, or more than eighty thousand a day. The white ants are most destructive to houses, furniture, clothes, and books;[270] they will, in fact, destroy anything but stone and metal. Anything that is reducible to powder will, where they have located themselves, fall to certain destruction. They work unseen. I have often noticed twigs, leaves, branches of trees, and so on, destroyed by them. They plaster them over with mud, and underneath this cover they work. Wooden pillars and beams are continually made perfect shells by their operations, and the safety of houses is frequently affected, though externally they would appear strong and good. The library at the Faurah Bay Church Missionary College, Sierra Leone, was in a great measure destroyed by their instrumentality.
In 1879 the Bishop of Sierra Leone appealed for funds in order to repair the churches, which, he said, “are ant-eaten.” Now, although the white ants are so annoying that hardly anything is proof against their attacks, they are a great blessing in tropical climes, their office being, in the economy of nature in these hot countries, to hasten the decomposition of the woody and decaying parts of vegetation, which, without their intervention, would render these regions uninhabitable by breeding a pestilence. The remains of the white ant in the Coal Measures is an evidence that it was, to a certain extent, through their destructive agency[271] that the tropical vegetable matter was accumulated which went to form our coal. The white ant, by hastening the decomposition of vegetable substances, has ever proved a friend to man; the true ants also have proved themselves a boon to the inhabitants of tropical climes by destroying what are popularly classed as vermin.
March 17th.—I am happy to say that the temperature has dropped to 97°, and that is quite as hot as one cares about. Whilst breakfasting, about 6 a.m., a native came, saying “Assint effendi,” at the same time jerking his thumb towards the river. This meant a hippopotamus. He was accordingly sought for, found and kill............