June 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
250
gather together great bundles of this ambatch wood, and with rope which they make from the grass, they will tie together the large ends and also the tapering tops. These make a boat-shaped raft so light that, when a man crosses the river, he picks up his raft, puts it on his head, and walks to the place where he needs it again. These people are well described as “swift messengers.” The rapidity with which news travels among them is astonishing. A few years ago, an English officer in charge
help to form the mighty Nile. Now if you will turn to the words of Isaiah 18:7, “whose land the rivers divide,” you will see how accurately they describe the land of the Sudan. By way of illustration, think of the fingers on one’s hand as representing these tributary rivers, and the arm, the mighty Nile. The land, therefore, which lies between these tributary streams is the land which the rivers divide. The description becomes more specific when we con
of a company of Su danese soldiers w a s sent against a certain unruly tribe, about 600 miles from Khartum. After the punitive ex pedition had accomp lished its purpose, the English officer sent a soldier by mule to the nearest telegraph sta tion, from whence his report was sent to the General Governor of the Sudan at Khar tum. I was informed that the conflict was re ported in the native markets at Omdurman, through native sources, several hours before the message was re ceived by carrier and
sider the first expres sion in the chapter, “the land of the rustling of wings” or “the land of the s h a d o w i n g of wings.” The most im mense birds I have ever seen are found in the Sudan. Many of the larger species, whose wings will stretch six or eight feet, are com pelled to make a run ning start in order to rise from the ground, just as an airplane does in its take-off. Birds of all sizes and descrip tions abound in the Su dan. Traveling along in a sail boat, at the slightest sound of the approach of the vessel,
A CHRISTIAN NUER FAMILY ON THE UPPER SOBAT RIVER---- “A NATION TALL AND SMOOTH.”
telegram by the government at Khartum! A message to be conveyed is delivered by word of mouth to some young man as he runs along. He runs his distance, and then re lays the word to another; and so the message proceeds. The description of the people as “tall and smooth” is most applicable to such a tribe as the Shulla, which in habits the lower reaches of the Sobat River, extending below its junction with the White Nile. Tourists have referred to these people as one of the giant races of Af rica, six or six and a half feet being no uncommon height among them. I myself am more than six feet tall, yet many a time have I literally had to look up to the members of the Shulla tribe. When these black people have emerged from their bath in the river, and have freshly anointed their bodies with oil, they stand glistening in the sun like polished ebony. On many such occasions have I thought of Isaiah’s expression, “a nation tall and smooth.” Again, the mar ginal reading, “dragged away and peeled,” gives a remark able description of the black races which inhabit the Sudan. Think what a description that is of the treatment they have received at the hands of their white brothers! The prey of the slave raider and the slave trader, whose trail has been marked by the devastation and almost the obliteration of whole tribes, they have been literally “dragged away and peeled.” The expression, “terribe from their beginning onward,” likewise graphically describes the lot of the black man who has been the slave and prey of other races. The closing clause of verse 2, and also verse 7, refers again to the section that “the rivers divide.” This is a remark able description of both the land and the people of whom the prophet speaks.
one will see myriads upon myriads of little dura birds, with a whisk of the wing, dart from their places in the tall, rank grass which lines the river banks. The swish of their wings reminds one of Isaiah’s prophecy. But the marginal reading, “the land of the shadowing of wings,” gives just as accurate a description. Many a time have I seen those birds,- in swift flight, coming up over the horizon and shadowing the ground as with the shadow of a cloud. To one who has lived in that land, no more accurate description than that which is conveyed in these few words seems possible. V erse 2 “That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers dizridel” What a marvelous description of the inhabitants of the land is given here! The Arabic word for sea, “ndhr,” is used almost synonymously with the word “bahr,” meaning river. So common is this custom that, if you would Use either word among the Arabic speaking people of the Sudan, they would at once think of the river. So when the prophet says, “that sendeth ambassadors by the sea [river], even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters,” you have a picture of these people going back and forth on the water. There is in the Sudan a reed which we call the am- batch. It grows in a single stalk, varying in size, but often having a diameter of three or four inches at the base. It tapers toward the top, reaching a height of six or eight feet. The ambatch is lighter than cork. This is the substance used by the native people in making their craft by means of which they cross the rivers. They will
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