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There was no cry of a bird; not even the howl of a hyena: the camels were sleeping; but every man was wide awake, and the sentries well on the alert. We were almost listening at the supernatural stillness, if I may so describe the perfect calm, when, suddenly, every one startled at the deep and solemn boom of the great war-drum, or nogara!
At about eight o'clock, in the stillness of our solitude, my men asleep, with the exception of the sentry, we were startled by the sound of a nogara at no great distance to the south of our huts.
They had poured in streams past the station, and had brandished their lances and shields at her as they thronged at full speed within fifty yards of the government clearing. Fortunately, when the big nogara had sounded, both she and the troops understood the signal, and with praiseworthy speed she had placed every man in position to defend the station.
Bedden looked very ill at his ease; but after some delay, he rose from his seat, and declared his intention of immediately beating his nogara. He took leave and departed with his people. From my experience of Baris, I felt sure that I should never see Bedden again. He had hardly left the tent, when Pittia exclaimed, "I will follow him and listen to what he says to his people.
Again the nogara sounded, and the native guides declared that they could not remain where we then were, but they would conceal themselves in the high grass. My wife proposed that we should forsake our luggage, and march at once for Foweera and effect a junction with our men and ammunition before daybreak.
That night, at about nine o'clock, just before we were going to bed, we had remarked an extraordinary stillness in the town of Masindi. There was not a whisper to be heard throughout the capital, where generally the night was passed in the uproar of drunken singing and blowing of horns. Suddenly this extraordinary silence was broken by the deep notes of a nogara or drum.
The big nogara sounded in vain. After waiting for some hours, and sending numerous messengers to as many villages, only 433 carriers could be mustered; thus sixty-seven had eloped with as many cows! No one can imagine the trouble of such a journey with so long a retinue of carriers, most of whom are dishonest, and only seek an opportunity to abscond upon the road.
The big nogara had sounded, the natives collected, and each man stood by his load; thus twenty-five gangs of twenty each should have stood in line. I now discovered that the vaunted honesty of the Lobore was of the same order as that of other negroes. Five hundred cows had been given to as many natives, for all of which the sheik Abbio had declared himself responsible.
He seemed greatly struck with the preparations for defence, and explained that the nogara had been beaten without his orders, and accordingly the whole country had risen; but that he had explained to the people that I had no hostile intentions, and that all would be well if they only kept the peace.
But we had no food and could do nothing to help him, except promise to try to have transport sent back to him from San Giorgio di Nogara. We reached San Giorgio about 9 p.m. and here I got out of the car, which two of Raven's Staff took on to try and arrange for transport to be sent back for the Italian wounded.
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