第120章 CHAPTER XVI.(8)

We had a large supply of various kinds of fat, including that of elephants, hippopotami, lions, and rhinoceros; but our stock of soap was exhausted, therefore I determined to convert a quantity of our grease into that very necessary article.

Soap-boiling is not so easy as may be imagined; it requires not only much attention, but the quality is dependent upon the proper mixture of the alkalis. Sixty parts of potash and forty of lime are, I believe, the proportions for common soap. I had neither lime nor potash, but I shortly procured both. The hegleek tree (Balanites Egyptiaca) was extremely rich in potash; therefore Iburned a large quantity, and made a strong ley with the ashes;this I concentrated by boiling. There was no limestone; but the river produced a plentiful supply of large oyster-shells, that, if burned, would yield excellent lime. Accordingly I constructed a kiln, with the assistance of the white ants. The country was infested with these creatures, which had erected their dwellings in all directions; these were cones from six to ten feet high, formed of clay so thoroughly cemented by a glutinous preparation of the insects, that it was harder than sun-baked brick. Iselected an egg-shaped hill, and cut off the top, exactly as we take off the slice from an egg. My Tokrooris then worked hard, and with a hoe and their lances, they hollowed it out to the base, in spite of the attacks of the ants, which punished the legs of the intruders considerably. I now made a draught-hole from the outside base, at right angles with the bottom of the hollow cone. My kiln was perfect. I loaded it with wood, upon which I piled about six bushels of oyster-shells, which I then covered with fuel, and kept it burning for twenty-four hours.

This produced excellent lime, and I commenced my soap-boiling. We possessed an immense copper pot of Egyptian manufacture, in addition to a large and deep copper basin called a "teshti."These would contain about ten gallons. The ley having been boiled down to great strength, I added a quantity of lime, and the necessary fat. It required ten hours' boiling, combined with careful management of the fire, as it would frequently ascend like foam, and overflow the edge of the utensils. However, at length, having been constantly stirred, it turned to soap. Before it became cold, I formed it into cakes and balls with my hands, and the result of the manufacture was a weight of about forty pounds of most excellent soap, of a very sporting description, "Savon a la bete feroce." We thus washed with rhinoceros soap;our lamp was trimmed with oil of lions; our butter for cooking purposes was the fat of hippopotami, while our pomade was made from the marrow of buffaloes and antelopes, scented with the blossoms of mimosas. We were entirely independent, as our whole party had subsisted upon the produce of the rod and the rifle.

We were now destined to be deprived of two members of the party.

Mahomet had become simply unbearable, and he was so impertinent that I was obliged to take a thin cane from one of the Arabs and administer a little physical advice. An evil spirit possessed the man, and he bolted off with some of the camel men who were returning to Geera with dried meat.** Some months afterwards he found his way to Khartoum, where he was imprisoned by the Governor for having deserted. He subsequently engaged himself as a soldier in a slave-hunting expedition on the White Nile; and some years later, on our return from the Albert N'yanza, we met him in Shooa, on 3 degrees north latitude. He had repented--hardships and discipline had effected a change--and, like the prodigal son, he returned. Iforgave him, and took him with us to Khartoum, where we left him a sadder but a wiser man. He had many near relations during his long journey, all of whom had stolen some souvenir of their cousin, and left him almost naked. He also met Achmet, his "mothers brother's cousin's sister's mother's son," who turned up after some years at Gondokoro as a slave-hunter; he had joined an expedition, and, like all other blackguards, he had chosen the White Nile regions for his career.

He was the proprietor of twenty slaves, he had assisted in the murder of a number of unfortunate negroes, and he was a prosperous and respectable individual.

Our great loss was Barrake. She had persisted in eating the fruit of the hegleek, although she had suffered from dysentery upon several occasions. She was at length attacked with congestion of the liver. My wife took the greatest care of her, and for weeks she had given her the entire produce of the goats, hoping that milk would keep up her strength; but she died after great suffering, and we buried the poor creature, and moved our camp.