Learning Network Forensics Samir Datt pdf

download

https://ebookfinal.com/download/learning-network-forensics-samir-
datt/

Explore and download more ebooks or textbooks

at ebookfinal.com
We have selected some products that you may be interested in
Click the link to download now or visit ebookfinal.com
for more options!.

Neural Network Learning Theoretical Foundations 1st

Edition Martin Anthony

https://ebookfinal.com/download/neural-network-learning-theoretical-
foundations-1st-edition-martin-anthony/

Business Network Learning International Business and

Management 1st Edition J. Johanson

https://ebookfinal.com/download/business-network-learning-
international-business-and-management-1st-edition-j-johanson/

Network Anomaly Detection A Machine Learning Perspective

1st Edition Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharyya

https://ebookfinal.com/download/network-anomaly-detection-a-machine-
learning-perspective-1st-edition-dhruba-kumar-bhattacharyya/

The Basics of Digital Forensics Second Edition The Primer

for Getting Started in Digital Forensics John Sammons

https://ebookfinal.com/download/the-basics-of-digital-forensics-
second-edition-the-primer-for-getting-started-in-digital-forensics-
john-sammons/
Cloud Storage Forensics 1st Edition Darren Quick

https://ebookfinal.com/download/cloud-storage-forensics-1st-edition-
darren-quick/

Practical Mobile Forensics 2nd Edition Heather Mahalik

https://ebookfinal.com/download/practical-mobile-forensics-2nd-
edition-heather-mahalik/

Evolution and the Levels of Selection 1st Edition Samir

Okasha

https://ebookfinal.com/download/evolution-and-the-levels-of-
selection-1st-edition-samir-okasha-2/

Evolution and the Levels of Selection 1st Edition Samir

Okasha

https://ebookfinal.com/download/evolution-and-the-levels-of-
selection-1st-edition-samir-okasha/

Postmodernism in a Global Perspective 1st Edition Samir

Dasgupta (Editor)

https://ebookfinal.com/download/postmodernism-in-a-global-
perspective-1st-edition-samir-dasgupta-editor/
Learning Network Forensics Samir Datt Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Samir Datt
ISBN(s): 9781782174905, 1782174907
Edition: February 2016
File Details: PDF, 9.68 MB
Year: 2016
Language: english
[1]
Learning Network Forensics

Identify and safeguard your network against

both internal and external threats, hackers,
and malware attacks

Samir Datt

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Learning Network Forensics

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is
sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt
Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the
companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals.
However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: February 2016

Production reference: 1230216

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78217-490-5

www.packtpub.com
 Credits

Author Project Coordinator

Samir Datt Sanchita Mandal

Reviewers Proofreader
Nikhil Agarwal Safis Editing
Clinton Dsouza
Indexer
Commissioning Editor Monica Ajmera Mehta
Priya Singh
Graphics
Acquisition Editor Jason Monteiro
Tushar Gupta Kirk D'Penha

Content Development Editor Production Coordinator

Riddhi Tuljapurkar Conidon Miranda

Technical Editor Cover Work

Manthan Raja Conidon Miranda

Copy Editor
Vibha Shukla
 About the Author

Samir Datt has been dabbling with digital investigations since 1988, which was
around the time he solved his first case with the help of an old PC and Lotus 123. He
is the Founder CEO of Foundation Futuristic Technologies (P) Ltd, better known as
ForensicsGuru.com. He is widely credited with evangelizing computer forensics in
the Indian subcontinent and has personally trained thousands of law enforcement
officers in the area. He has the distinction of starting the computer forensics industry
in South Asia and setting up India's first computer forensic lab in the private
sector. He is consulted by law enforcement agencies and private sector on various
technology-related investigative issues. He has extensive experience in training
thousands of investigators as well as examining a large number of digital sources of
evidence in both private and government investigations.

At last it is done,
A journey that long ago was begun,
Many lights there are that have helped on the way,
To everyone of them, my thanks I would say.
This book would never have seen the light of day had it not been
for Tushar Gupta, acquisition editor at Packt Publishing. He tracked
me down and invited and convinced me to write. He encouraged
me, cajoled me, and finally pushed me into the mystic world of
authoring. Thanks Tushar!
I would also like to convey my heartfelt thanks to Riddhi
Tuljapurkar, my content development editor. She has been a beacon
guiding me through the myriad steps that being an author involves.
A first-time author has many moments of self-doubt and hesitation;
never did she let me falter, always encouraging, always supportive,
she is perhaps the single most important reason that the book is
ready on time. Thank you!
My book reviewers have been my compass and their
encouragements, suggestions, comments, and guidance have been
instrumental in getting the book to its present state. Thank you
Clinton D'Souza and Nikhil Agarwal. I am indeed deeply grateful.
My family has been my biggest cheerleader. A special thanks to
my wife, Resham, who has had to put up with my extensive travel
schedules and uncounted holidays and weekends devoted to
meeting the chapter deadlines. She has been my rock and has always
believed that I was destined to write. My son, Madhav, who despite
his own hectic schedules at IIT, Kharagpur, took time out to help
me with the illustrations, screenshots, chapter editing, and scenario
environments. Without you this could never have been done. Many
thanks!
I also owe a thank you to my parents, who have been encouraging
throughout the course of this book. My dogs, Tuffy, Lucky, Lolu,
and Chutki, have been a source of inspiration by constantly
bombarding me with unlimited doses of love and affection.
Thanks are also due to the rock-solid team at ForensicsGuru.com,
who helped me with my research and chapter illustrations. Great
work, guys!
Last but not least, I thank the Creator; for without Him, no creation
is possible.
 About the Reviewers

Nikhil Agarwal, an InfoSec researcher, proactive, and performance-driven

professional from India with more than three years of progressive expertise
in management and IT security field, is dedicated to operational excellence,
quality, safety, and respectful leadership. Nikhil is insightful and result-driven IT
professional with notable success directing a broad range of corporate IT security
initiatives while participating in planning, analyzing, and implementing solutions in
support of business objectives. He excels at providing comprehensive secure network
design, systems analysis, and complete life cycle project management.

By qualification, Nikhil possesses a bachelor's degree in engineering in the domain

of electronic and communications from Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology,
Management and Gramothan (SKIT) (http://www.skit.ac.in/), Jaipur, Rajasthan.
He has completed various projects during his studies and submitted a range of
research papers along with the highest range of international certifications. By
profession, Nikhil is an IT security engineer and trainer, and a multi-faceted
professional with more than three years of experience living, studying, and working
in international environments (Asia and Africa). He has undertaken and successfully
completed many security projects ranging from providing services, auditing, to
training.

The description of his professional journey can be found on his LinkedIn profile
(https://za.linkedin.com/in/reachatnikhil).

Nikhil spends much of his leisure time writing technical articles for his blogs,
Technocrat Club (http://technocratclub.blogspot.com), and answering queries
over Quora, Stack Overflow, and GitHub. He also has a passion for photography
and travelling to new places. He enjoys authoring technical/nontechnical articles
for various blogs and websites, along with reviewing books from various IT
technologies.
Apart from this, Nikhil has founded and holds the post of President for a global
non-profit organization, Youth Cross Foundation, working for socially-challenged
people to bring up their quality of living with technology as their weapon.

Things that set Nikhil apart are creativity, passion, and honesty towards his work.
He has always had the support of his family, friends, and relatives, especially his
mother. From time to time, Nikhil holds seminars for organizations wanting to
explore or discover the possibilities of information security and help answer the
spatial questions better. Nikhil is also a lecturer and enjoys teaching the wonderful
powers of IT security and explaining how to solve problems on various platforms
to the students and corporates. Nikhil's work has also found special mentioning
in some national news headlines (http://www.thestatesman.com/mobi/news/
features/checking-for-vulnerabilities/76087.html).

Nikhil works over the ideology of Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Clinton Dsouza is a technology analyst at Barclays in New York, NY. His current
role involves analysis and development of security-related technologies in the Digital
& IB Enterprise group. He holds bachelor's (B.S.) and master's (M.S.) degrees in
computer science from Arizona State University (ASU), concentrating on information
assurance and cybersecurity. His research at the Laboratory for Security Engineering
for Future Computing (SEFCOM) at ASU was funded by Cisco and the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). His projects involved access control for distributed
systems and policy management for Internet of Things (IoT)-based computing
ecosystems.

I would like to thank my professor and mentor at ASU, Dr. Gail-Joon

Ahn, who guided and engaged me in the field of cybersecurity and
information assurance. I would also like to thank my parents and
friends for the motivation and inspiration to pursue a career in the
field of cybersecurity.
 www.PacktPub.com

eBooks, discount offers, and more

Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF
and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.
com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy.
Get in touch with us at [email protected] for more details.

At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign
up for a range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt
books and eBooks.
TM

https://www2.packtpub.com/books/subscription/packtlib

Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital
book library. Here, you can search, access, and read Packt's entire library of books.

Why subscribe?
• Fully searchable across every book published by Packt
• Copy and paste, print, and bookmark content
• On demand and accessible via a web browser
 Table of Contents
Preface vii
Chapter 1: Becoming Network 007s 1
007 characteristics in the network world 2
Bond characteristics for getting to satisfactory completion of the case 4
The TAARA methodology for network forensics 6
Identifying threats to the enterprise 7
Internal threats 7
External threats 8
Data breach surveys 10
Locard's exchange principle 11
Defining network forensics 12
Differentiating between computer forensics and network forensics 13
Strengthening our technical fundamentals 14
The seven-layer model 16
The TCP/IP model 17
Understanding the concept of interconnection between networks/Internet 20
Internet Protocol (IP) 20
Structure of an IP packet 22
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) 23
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) 24
Internet application protocols 24
Understanding network security 25
Types of threats 25
Internal threats 25
External threats 26
Network security goals 27
Confidentiality 28
Integrity 28

[i]
Table of Contents

Availability 29
How are networks exploited? 29
Digital footprints 30
Summary 31
Chapter 2: Laying Hands on the Evidence 33
Identifying sources of evidence 33
Evidence obtainable from within the network 34
Evidence from outside the network 35
Learning to handle the evidence 36
Rules for the collection of digital evidence 36
Rule 1: never mishandle the evidence 36
Rule 2: never work on the original evidence or system 37
Rule 3: document everything 37
Collecting network traffic using tcpdump 38
Installing tcpdump 38
Understanding tcpdump command parameters 39
Capturing network traffic using tcpdump 40
Collecting network traffic using Wireshark 45
Using Wireshark 45
Collecting network logs 48
Acquiring memory using FTK Imager 58
Summary 63
Chapter 3: Capturing & Analyzing Data Packets 65
Tapping into network traffic 65
Passive and active sniffing on networks 67
Packet sniffing and analysis using Wireshark 69
Packet sniffing and analysis using NetworkMiner 78
Case study – tracking down an insider 85
Summary 87
Chapter 4: Going Wireless 89
Laying the foundation – IEEE 802.11 90
Understanding wireless protection and security 92
Wired equivalent privacy 93
Wi-Fi protected access 93
Wi-Fi Protected Access II 94
Securing your Wi-Fi network 95
Discussing common attacks on Wi-Fi networks 96
Incidental connection 96
Malicious connection 97
Ad hoc connection 98

[ ii ]
 Table of Contents

Non-traditional connections 98
Spoofed connections 98
Man-in-the-middle (MITM) connections 99
The denial-of-service (DoS) attack 99
Capturing and analyzing wireless traffic 99
Sniffing challenges in a Wi-Fi world 99
Configuring our network card 100
Sniffing packets with Wireshark 100
Analyzing wireless packet capture 104
Summary 111
Chapter 5: Tracking an Intruder on the Network 113
Understanding Network Intrusion Detection Systems 114
Understanding Network Intrusion Prevention Systems 116
Modes of detection 117
Pattern matching 117
Anomaly detection 118
Differentiating between NIDS and NIPS 118
Using SNORT for network intrusion detection and prevention 119
The sniffer mode 123
The packet logger mode 124
The network intrusion detection/prevention mode 125
Summary 128
Chapter 6: Connecting the Dots – Event Logs 129
Understanding log formats 130
Use case 131
Discovering the connection between logs and forensics 134
Security logs 134
System logs 136
Application logs 136
Practicing sensible log management 137
Log management infrastructure 138
Log management planning and policies 141
Analyzing network logs using Splunk 143
Summary 152
Chapter 7: Proxies, Firewalls, and Routers 153
Getting proxies to confess 153
Roles proxies play 154
Types of proxies 154
Understanding proxies 157
Excavating the evidence 163

[ iii ]
Table of Contents

Making firewalls talk 167

Different types of firewalls 168
Packet filter firewalls 169
Stateful inspection firewalls 170
Application layer firewalls 170
Interpreting firewall logs 171
Tales routers tell 176
Summary 179
Chapter 8: Smuggling Forbidden Protocols – Network
Tunneling 181
Understanding VPNs 182
Types of VPNs 182
Remote access VPNs 183
Point-to-point VPNs 184
The AAA of VPNs 185
How does tunneling work? 186
SSH tunneling 187
Types of tunneling protocols 188
The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol 188
Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol 189
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol 191
Various VPN vulnerabilities & logging 192
Summary 195
Chapter 9: Investigating Malware – Cyber Weapons
of the Internet 197
Knowing malware 198
Malware objectives 198
Malware origins 199
Trends in the evolution of malware 200
Malware types and their impact 202
Adware 202
Spyware 203
Virus 203
Worms 204
Trojans 205
Rootkits 206
Backdoors 207
Keyloggers 208
Ransomware 208
Browser hijackers 210
Botnets 210

[ iv ]
 Table of Contents

Understanding malware payload behavior 211

Destructive 211
Identity theft 212
Espionage 212
Financial fraud 213
Theft of data 213
Misuse of resources 213
Malware attack architecture 214
Indicators of Compromise 214
Performing malware forensics 216
Malware insight – Gameover Zeus Trojan 219
Summary 220
Chapter 10: Closing the Deal – Solving the Case 221
Revisiting the TAARA investigation methodology 222
Triggering the case 223
Trigger of the case 228
Acquiring the information and evidence 229
Important handling guidelines 230
Gathering information and acquiring the evidence 230
Analyzing the collected data – digging deep 234
Reporting the case 239
Action for the future 241
Future of network forensics 241
Summary 242
Index 243

[v]
 Preface
Just like the motto of the Olympic Games—Faster, Higher, Stronger—networks
today are faster, wider, and greater. For widespread high-speed networks, carrying
greater volumes of data has become a norm rather than the exception. All of these
characteristics come with great exposure to a huge variety of threats to the data
carried by the networks. The current threat landscape necessitates an increased
understanding of the data on our networks, the way we secure it and the tell-
tale signs left behind after an incident. This book aims at introducing the subject
of network forensics to further help in understanding how data flows across the
networks as well as introduce the ability to investigate forensic artifacts or clues to
gather more information related to an incident.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Becoming Network 007s, introduces the exciting world of network forensics.
This chapter introduces the concepts and readies the reader to jump right into
network forensics.

Chapter 2, Laying Hands on the Evidence, explains how to acquire both physical and
virtual evidence in order to understand the type of incident involved.

Chapter 3, Capturing & Analyzing Data Packets, takes the user further into the world of
network investigation by focusing on network traffic capture and analysis.

Chapter 4, Going Wireless, explains how to investigate wireless networks with

additional considerations for wireless protection and security.

Chapter 5, Tracking an Intruder on the Network, investigates intrusions using a Network

Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) and a Network Intrusion Prevention System (NIPS).

Chapter 6, Connecting the Dots – Event Logs, explains how to collect event logs and
then correlate and connect the links, followed by the analysis.

[ vii ]
Preface

Chapter 7, Proxies, Firewalls, and Routers, helps us to understand web proxies,

firewalls, and routers and the reasons to investigate them.

Chapter 8, Smuggling Forbidden Protocols – Network Tunneling, shows advanced

concepts of letting a network send its data via the connection of another network.

Chapter 9, Investigating Malware – Cyber Weapons of the Internet, covers advanced

topics about the trends in malware evolution and the investigation of forensic
artifacts caused by the malware.

Chapter 10, Closing the Deal – Solving the Case, enables the user with full-fledged skills
in tackling cases to give the finishing touches and close the deal.

What you need for this book

Readers must be aware of the basics of operating systems such as Linux and
Windows as well as networking concepts such as TCP/IP and routers.

The book uses the following software:

• Tcpdump with the libpcap library

• Wireshark
• FTK Imager (AccessData)
• NetworkMiner for passive network sniffing
• SNORT for evidence acquisition in the NIDS/NIPS mode
• Splunk to collect and analyze log files
• Squid as an open-source proxy
• YARA to help identify malware

Who this book is for

This book is intended for network administrators, system administrators,
information security & forensics professionals, as well as the curious who wish
to learn about network forensics and want to be able to identify, collect, examine,
and analyze evidence that exists on the networks.

This could be from the perspective of internal threats, external intrusions,

or a blend of both.

[ viii ]
 Preface

Further, this book will act as a great foundation for those interested in enhancing
their skills and fast-tracking their career from both a personal and organizational
growth perspective.

Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different
kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of
their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions,
pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows:
"Tcpdump also provides the option to save the captured network traffic (packets) to
a .pcap format file for future analysis."

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

$ apt -get install tcpdump

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the
screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "The
Application log stores events logged by the applications or programs."

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about
this book—what you liked or disliked. Reader feedback is important for us as it helps
us develop titles that you will really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply e-mail [email protected], and mention

the book's title in the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing
or contributing to a book, see our author guide at www.packtpub.com/authors.

[ ix ]
Preface

Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to
help you to get the most from your purchase.

Downloading the color images of this book

We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/
diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand
the changes in the output. You can download this file from https://www.
packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/LearningNetworkForensics_
ColorImages.pdf.

Errata
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes
do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or
the code—we would be grateful if you could report this to us. By doing so, you can
save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this
book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.
com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form
link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata are verified, your
submission will be accepted and the errata will be uploaded to our website or added
to any list of existing errata under the Errata section of that title.

To view the previously submitted errata, go to https://www.packtpub.com/books/

content/support and enter the name of the book in the search field. The required
information will appear under the Errata section.

[x]
 Preface

Piracy
Piracy of copyrighted material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all
media. At Packt, we take the protection of our copyright and licenses very seriously.
If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, please
provide us with the location address or website name immediately so that we can
pursue a remedy.

Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the suspected pirated

material.

We appreciate your help in protecting our authors and our ability to bring you
valuable content.

Questions
If you have a problem with any aspect of this book, you can contact us at
[email protected], and we will do our best to address the problem.

[ xi ]
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 CHAPTER II.
OFFICIAL PRESENTATIONS.
For the next three days, the 28th, 29th, and 30th of January,
Mokoum and William Emery never left the place of rendezvous.
While the bushman, carried away by his hunting instincts, pursued
the game and deer in the wooded district lying near the cataract, the
young astronomer watched the river. The sight of this grand, wild
nature enchanted him, and filled his soul with new emotions.
Accustomed as he was to bend over his figures and catalogues day
and night, hardly ever leaving the eye-piece of his telescope,
watching the passage of stars across the meridian and their
occultations, he delighted in the open-air life in the almost
impenetrable woods which covered the slope of the hills, and on the
lonely peaks that were sprinkled by the spray from the Morgheda as
with a damp dust. It was joy to him to take in the poetry of these
vast solitudes, and to refresh his mind, so wearied with his
mathematical speculations; and so he beguiled the tediousness of
his waiting, and became a new man, both in mind and body. Thus
did the novelty of his situation explain his unvarying patience, which
the bushman could not share in the least; so there were continually
on the part of Mokoum the same recriminations, and on the part of
Emery the same quiet answers, which, however, did not quiet the
nervous hunter in the smallest degree.
And now the 31st of January had come, the last day fixed in Airy's
letter. If the expected party did not then arrive, Emery would be in a
very embarrassing position; the delay might be indefinitely
prolonged. How long, then, ought he to wait?
"Mr. William," said the hunter, "why shouldn't we go to meet these
strangers? We cannot miss them; there is only one road, that by the
river, and if they are coming up, as your bit of paper says they are,
we are sure to meet them."
"That is a capital idea of yours, Mokoum," replied the astronomer:
"we will go on and look out below the falls. We can get back to the
encampment by the side valleys in the south. But tell me, my good
bushman, you know nearly the whole course of the river, do you
not?"
"Yes, sir," answered the hunter, "I have ascended it twice from Cape
Voltas to its juncture with the Hart on the frontier of the Transvaal
Republic."
"And it is navigable all the way, except at the Falls of Morgheda?"
"Just so, sir," replied the bushman. "But I should add that at the end
of the dry season the Orange has not much water till within five or
six miles of its mouth; there is then a bar, where the swell from the
west breaks very violently."
"That doesn't matter," answered the astronomer, "because at the
time that our friends want to land it will be all right. There is nothing
then to keep them back, so they will come."
The bushman said nothing, but shouldering his gun, and whistling to
Top, he led the way down the narrow path which met the river again
400 feet lower.
It was then nine o'clock in the morning, and the two explorers (for
such they might truly be called) followed the river by its left bank.
Their way did not offer the smooth and easy surface of an
embankment or towing-path, for the river-banks were covered with
brushwood, and quite hidden in a bower of every variety of plants;
and the festoons of the "cynauchum filiform," mentioned by
Burchell, hanging from tree to tree, formed quite a network of
verdure in their path; the bushman's knife, however, did not long
remain inactive, and he cut down the obstructive branches without
mercy. William Emery drank in the fragrant air, here especially
impregnated with the camphor-like odour of the countless blooms of
the diosma. Happily there were sometimes more open places along
the bank devoid of vegetation, where the river flowed quietly, and
abounded in fish, and these enabled the hunter and his companion
to make better progress westward, so that by eleven o'clock they
had gone about four miles. The wind being in the west, the roar of
the cataract could not be heard at that distance, but on the other
hand, all sounds below the falls were very distinct. William Emery
and the hunter, as they stood, could see straight down the river for
three or four miles. Chalk cliffs, 200 feet high, overhung and shut in
its bed on either side.
"Let us stop and rest here," said the astronomer; "I haven't your
hunter's legs, Mokoum, and am more used to the starry paths of the
heavens than to those on terra firma; so let us have a rest; we can
see three or four miles down the river from here, and if the steamer
should turn that last bend we are sure to see it."
The young astronomer seated himself against a giant euphorbia,
forty feet high, and in that position looked down the river, while the
hunter, little used to sitting, continued to walk along the bank, and
Top roused up clouds of wild birds, to which, however, his master
gave no heed. They had been here about half an hour, when William
Emery noticed that Mokoum, who was standing about 100 feet
below him, gave signs of a closer attention. Was it likely that he had
seen the long-expected boat? The astronomer, leaving his mossy
couch, started for the spot where the hunter stood, and came up to
him in a very few moments.
"Do you see any thing, Mokoum?" he asked.
"I see nothing, Mr. William," answered the bushman, "but it seems
to me that there is an unusual murmur down the river, different to
the natural sounds that are so familiar to my ears." And then, telling
his companion to be quiet, he lay down with his ear on the ground,
and listened attentively. In a few minutes he got up, and shaking his
head, said,—
"I was mistaken; the noise I thought I heard was nothing but the
breeze among the leaves or the murmur of the water over the
stones at the edge; and yet——"
The hunter listened again, but again heard nothing.
"Mokoum," then said Mr. William Emery, "if the noise you thought
you heard is caused by the machinery of a steamboat, you would
hear better by stooping to the level of the river; water always
conducts sound more clearly and quickly than air."
"You are right, Mr. William," answered Mokoum, "for more than once
I have found out the passage of a hippopotamus across the river in
that way."
The bushman went nimbly down the bank, clinging to the creepers
and tufts of grass on his way. When he got to the level of the river,
he went in to his knees, and stooping down, laid his ear close to the
water.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, in a few minutes, "I was not mistaken; there is
a sound, some miles down, as if the waters were being violently
beaten; it is a continual monotonous splashing which is introduced
into the current."
"Is it like a screw?" asked the astronomer.
"Perhaps it is, Mr. Emery; they are not far off."
William Emery did not hesitate to believe his companion's assertion,
for he knew that the hunter was endowed with great delicacy of
sense, whether he used his eyes, nose, or ears. Mokoum climbed up
the bank again, and they determined to wait in that place, as they
could easily see down the river from there. Half an hour passed,
which to Emery, in spite of his calmness, appeared interminable.
Ever so many times he fancied he saw the dim outline of a boat
gliding along the water, but he was always mistaken. At last an
exclamation from the bushman made his heart leap.
 At length an exclamation of the Bushman made his heart beat.

"Smoke!" cried Mokoum.

Looking in the direction indicated by the bushman, Emery could just
see a light streak rolling round the bend of the river: there was no
longer any doubt. The vessel advanced rapidly, and he could soon
make out the funnel pouring forth a torrent of black smoke mingling
with white steam. They had evidently made up their fires to increase
their speed, so as to reach the appointed place on the exact day.
The vessel was still about seven miles from the Falls of Morgheda. It
was then twelve o'clock, and as it was not a good place for landing,
the astronomer determined to return to the foot of the cataract: he
told his plan to the hunter, who only answered by turning back along
the path he had just cleared along the left bank of the stream.
Emery followed, and, turning round for the last time at a bend in the
river, saw the British flag floating from the stern of the vessel. The
return to the falls was soon effected, and in an hour's time the
bushman and the astronomer halted a quarter of a mile below the
cataract; for there the shore, hollowed into a semicircle, formed a
little creek, and as the water was deep right up to the bank, the
steamboat could easily land its passengers. The vessel could not be
far off now, and it had certainly gained on the two pedestrians,
although they had walked so fast; it was not yet in sight, for the
lofty trees which hung quite over the river-banks into the water, and
the slope of the banks themselves, did not allow of an extensive
view. But although they could not hear the sound made by the
steam, the shrill whistle of the machinery broke in distinctly on the
monotonous roar of the cataract; and as this whistling continued, it
was evident that it was a signal from the boat to announce its arrival
near the falls. The hunter replied by letting off his gun, the report
being repeated with a crash by the echoes of the shore. At last the
vessel was in sight, and William Emery and his companion were seen
by those on board. At a sign from the astronomer the vessel turned,
and glided quietly alongside the bank; a rope was thrown ashore,
which the bushman seized and twisted round the broken stump of a
tree, and immediately a tall man sprang lightly on to the bank, and
went towards the astronomer, whilst his companions landed in their
turn. William Emery also advanced to meet the stranger, saying
inquiringly, "Colonel Everest?"
"Mr. William Emery?" answered the Colonel.
The astronomer bowed and shook hands.
"Gentlemen," then said Colonel Everest, "let me introduce you to Mr.
William Emery, of the Cape Town Observatory, who has kindly come
as far as the Morgheda Falls to meet us."
 Meeting of Members of the Expedition.

Four of the passengers who stood near Colonel Everest bowed to the
young astronomer, who did the same; and then the Colonel, with his
British self-possession, introduced them officially, saying,—
"Mr. Emery, Sir John Murray, of the county of Devon, your fellow-
countryman; Mr. Matthew Strux, of the Poulkowa Observatory; Mr.
Nicholas Palander, of the Helsingfors Observatory; and Mr. Michael
Zorn, of the Kiew Observatory, three scientific gentlemen who
represent the Russian government in our international commission."
 CHAPTER III.
THE LAND JOURNEY.
These introductions over, William Emery put himself at the disposal
of the new arrivals, for in his position of astronomer at the Cape, he
was inferior in rank to Colonel Everest, a delegate of the English
Government, and, with Matthew Strux, joint president of the
commission. He knew, as well, that he was a distinguished man of
science, famous for his reductions of the nebulæ and his calculations
of the occultations of the stars. He was a cold, methodical man, of
about fifty years of age, every hour of his life being portioned out
with mathematical accuracy. Nothing unforeseen ever happened to
him, and his punctuality in every thing was like that of the stars in
passing the meridian, and it might be said that all his doings were
regulated by the chronometer. William Emery knew all this, and had
therefore never doubted that the commission would arrive on the
appointed day. During this time he was waiting for the Colonel to tell
him the object of this mission to South Africa; but as he was still
silent on the point, Emery thought it better not to ask any questions,
as very likely the hour fixed in the Colonel's mind for the subject had
not yet come.
Emery also knew by repute the wealthy Sir John Murray, who
(almost a rival to Sir James Ross and Lord Elgin) was, although
without office, an honour to England by his scientific labours. His
pecuniary sacrifices to science were likewise considerable, for he had
devoted £20,000 to the establishment of a giant reflector, a match
for the telescope at Parson Town, by whose means the elements of a
number of double stars had just been determined. He was a man of
about forty years of age, with an aristocratic bearing, but whose
character it was impossible to discover through his imperturbable
exterior.
As to the three Russians, Strux, Palander, and Zorn, their names
were also well known to William Emery, although he was not
personally acquainted with them. Nicholas Palander and Michael
Zorn paid a certain amount of deference to Matthew Strux, as was
due to his position, if it had not been to his merit.
The only remark that Emery made was that they were in equal
numbers, three English and three Russians; and the crew of the
"Queen and Czar" (for that was the name of the steamboat)
consisted of ten men, five English and five Russians.
"Mr. Emery," said Colonel Everest, when the introductions were over,
"we are now as well acquainted as if we had travelled together from
London to Cape Voltas. Besides, your labours have already earned
you a just renown, and on that account I hold you in high esteem. It
was at my request that the English Government appointed you to
assist in our operations in South Africa."
William Emery bowed in acknowledgment, and thought that he was
now going to hear the object of the scientific commission to the
southern hemisphere; but still Colonel Everest did not explain it.
"Mr. Emery," he went on, "are your preparations complete?"
"Quite, Colonel," replied the astronomer. "According to the directions
in Mr. Airy's letter, I left Cape Town a month ago, and went to the
station at Lattakoo, and there I collected all the materials for an
expedition into the interior of Africa, provisions, waggons, horses,
and bushmen. There is an escort of 100 armed men waiting for you
at Lattakoo, and they will be under the command of a clever and
celebrated hunter, whom I now beg to present to you, the bushman
Mokoum."
"The bushman Mokoum!" cried the Colonel (if his usual cold tone
could justify such a verb), "the bushman Mokoum! I know his name
perfectly well."
"It is the name of a clever, brave African," added Sir John Murray,
turning to the hunter, who was not at all discomposed by the grand
airs of the Europeans.
"The hunter Mokoum," said William Emery, as he introduced his
companion.

"The Hunter Mokoum," said William Emery, presenting his

Companion.

"Your name is well known in the United Kingdom, bushman," replied

Colonel Everest. "You were the friend of Anderson and the guide of
David Livingstone, whose friend I have the honour of being. I thank
you in the name of England, and I congratulate Mr. Emery on having
chosen you as the chief of our caravan. Such a hunter as you must
be a connoisseur of fire-arms, and as we have a very fair supply, I
shall beg you to take your choice of the one which will suit you the
best; we know that it will be in good hands."
A smile of satisfaction played round the bushman's lips, for although
he was no doubt gratified by the recognition of his services in
England, yet the Colonel's offer touched him the most: he then
returned thanks in polite terms, and stepped aside, while Emery and
the Europeans continued their conversation.
The young astronomer went through all the details of the expedition
he had prepared, and the Colonel seemed delighted. He was anxious
to reach Lattakoo as quickly as possible, as the caravan ought to
start at the beginning of March, after the rainy season.
"Will you be kind enough to decide how you will get to the town,
Colonel Everest?" said William Emery.
"By the Orange River, and one of its affluents, the Kuruman, which
flows close to Lattakoo."
"True," replied the astronomer, "but however well your vessel may
travel, it cannot possibly ascend the cataract of Morgheda!"
"We will go round the cataract, Mr. Emery," replied the Colonel, "and
by making a land journey of a few miles, we can re-embark above
the falls; and from there to Lattakoo, if I am not mistaken, the rivers
are navigable for a vessel that does not draw much water."
"No doubt, Colonel," answered William Emery, "but this steamboat is
too heavy...."
"Mr. Emery," interrupted the Colonel, "this vessel is a masterpiece
from Leard and Co's manufactory in Liverpool. It takes to pieces,
and is put together again with the greatest ease, a key and a few
bolts being all that is required by men used to the work. You brought
a waggon to the falls, did you not?"
"Yes, Colonel," answered Emery, "our encampment is not a mile
away."
"Well, I must beg the bushman to have the waggon brought to the
landing-place, and it will then be loaded with the portions of the
vessel and its machinery, which also takes to pieces; and we shall
then get up to the spot where the Orange becomes navigable."
Colonel Everest's orders were obeyed. The bushman disappeared
quickly in the underwood, promising to be back in less than an hour,
and while he was gone, the steamboat was rapidly unloaded. The
cargo was not very considerable; it consisted of some cases of
philosophical instruments; a fair collection of guns of Purdey Moore's
manufacture, of Edinburgh; some kegs of brandy; some canisters of
preserved meat; cases of ammunition; portmanteaus reduced to the
smallest size; tent-cloths and all their utensils, looking as if they had
come out of a travelling-bazaar; a carefully packed gutta-percha
canoe, which took up no more room than a well-folded counterpane;
some materials for encamping, &c., &c.; and lastly, a fan-shaped
mitrailleuse, a machine not then brought to perfection, but
formidable enough to terrify any enemy who might come across
their path. All these were placed on the bank; and the engine, of 8-
horse power, was divided into three parts: the boiler and its tubes;
the mechanism, which was parted from the boiler by a turn of a key;
and the screw attached to the false stern-post. When these had
been successively carried away, the inside of the vessel was left free.
Besides the space reserved for the machinery and the stores, it was
divided into a fore-cabin for the use of the crew, and an aft-cabin,
occupied by Colonel Everest and his companions. In the twinkling of
an eye the partitions vanished, all the chests and bedsteads were
lifted out, and now the vessel was reduced to a mere shell, thirty-
five feet long, and composed of three parts, like the "Mâ-Robert,"
the steam-vessel used by Dr. Livingstone in his first voyage up the
Zambesi. It was made of galvanized steel, so that it was light, and at
the same time resisting. The bolts, which fastened the plates over a
framework of the same metal, kept them firm, and also prevented
the possibility of a leakage. William Emery was truly astounded at
the simplicity of the work and the rapidity with which it was
executed. The waggon, under the guidance of Mokoum and the two
Bochjesmen, had only arrived an hour when they were ready to load
it. This waggon, rather a primitive vehicle, was mounted on four
massive wheels, each couple being about twenty feet apart; it was a
regular American "car" in length. This clumsy machine, with its
creaking axles projecting a good foot beyond the wheels, was drawn
by six tame buffaloes, two and two, who were extremely sensitive to
the long goad carried by their driver. It required nothing less than
such beasts as these to move the vehicle when heavily laden, for in
spite of the adroitness of the "leader," it stuck in the mire more than
once. The crew of the "Queen and Czar" now proceeded to load the
waggon so as to balance it well every where. The dexterity of sailors
is proverbial, and the lading of the vehicle was like play to the brave
men. They laid the larger pieces of the boat on the strongest part of
the waggon, immediately over the axles of the wheels, so that the
cases, chests, barrels, and the lighter and more fragile packages
easily found room between them. As to the travellers themselves, a
four miles' walk was nothing to them. By three o'clock the loading
was finished, and Colonel Everest gave the signal for starting. He
and his companions, with William Emery as guide, took the lead,
while the bushman, the crew, and the drivers of the waggon
followed more slowly. They performed the journey without fatigue,
for the slopes that led to the upper course of the Orange made their
road easy, by making it longer, and this was a happy thing for the
heavily-laden waggon, as it would thus reach its goal more surely, if
more slowly.
 All these Objects were deposited on the Beach.

The different members of the commission clambered lightly up the

side of the hill, and the conversation became general, but there was
still no mention of the object of the expedition. The Europeans were
admiring the splendid scenes that were opened to their view, for this
grand nature, so beautiful in its wildness, charmed them as it had
charmed the young astronomer, and their voyage had not yet
surfeited them with the natural beauties of this African region,
though they admired every thing with a quiet admiration, and,
English-like, would not do any thing that might seem "improper."
However, the cataract drew forth some graceful applause, and
although they clapped perhaps with only the tips of their fingers, yet
it was enough to show that "nil admirari" was not quite their motto.
Besides, William Emery thought it his duty to do the honours of
South Africa to his guests; for he was at home, and like certain over-
enthusiastic citizens, he did not spare a detail of his African park.
Towards half-past four they had passed the cataract of Morgheda,
and being now on level ground, the upper part of the river lay before
them as far as their eye could reach, and they encamped on the
bank to await the arrival of the waggon. It appeared at the top of
the hill about five o'clock, having accomplished the journey in safety,
and Colonel Everest ordered it to be unloaded immediately,
announcing that they were to start at daybreak the next morning. All
the night was passed in different occupations. The shell of the vessel
was put together again in less than an hour; then the machinery of
the screw was put into its place; the metal partitions were fixed
between the cabins; the store-rooms were refurnished, and the
different packages neatly arranged on board, and every thing done
so quickly that it told a great deal in favour of the crew of the
"Queen and Czar." These Englishmen and Russians were picked
men, clever and well disciplined, and thoroughly to be depended on.
The next day, the 1st of February, the boat was ready to receive its
passengers at daybreak. Already there was a volume of black smoke
pouring from the funnel, and the engineer, to put the machinery in
motion, was causing jets of white steam to fly across the smoke.
The machine being at high pressure, without a condenser, the steam
escaped at every stroke of the piston, according to the system
applied to locomotives; and as to the boiler, with its ingeniously
contrived tubes, presenting a large surface to the furnace, it only
required half an hour to furnish a sufficient quantity of steam. They
had laid in a good stock of ebony and guiacum, which were plentiful
in the neighbourhood, and they were now lighting the great fire with
this valuable wood.
At six o'clock Colonel Everest gave the signal for starting, and
passengers and crew went on board the "Queen and Czar." The
hunter, who was acquainted with the course of the river, followed,
leaving the two Bochjesmen to take the waggon back to Lattakoo.
Just as the vessel was slipping its cable, Colonel Everest turned to
the astronomer, and said,—
"By-the-bye, Mr. Emery, you know why we have come here?"
"I have not the least idea, Colonel."
"It is very simple, Mr. Emery: we have come to measure an arc of
meridian in South Africa."
 CHAPTER IV.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE "MÈTRE."
The idea of an invariable and constant system of measurement, of
which nature herself should furnish the exact value, may be said to
have existed in the mind of man from the earliest ages. It was of the
highest importance, however, that this measurement should be
accurately determined, whatever had been the cataclysms of which
our earth had been the scene, and it is certain that the ancients felt
the same, though they failed in methods and appliances for carrying
out the work with sufficient accuracy. The best way of obtaining a
constant measurement was to connect it with the terrestrial sphere,
whose circumference must be considered as invariable, and then to
measure the whole or part of that circumference mathematically.
The ancients had tried to do this, and Aristotle, according to some
contemporary philosophers, reckoned that the stadium, or Egyptian
cubit, formed the hundred-thousandth part of the distance between
the pole and the equator, and Eratosthenes, in the time of the
Ptolemies, calculated the value of a degree along the Nile, between
Syene and Alexandria, pretty correctly; but Posidonius and Ptolemy
were not sufficiently accurate in the same kind of geodetic
operations that they undertook; neither were their successors.
Picard, for the first time in France, began to regulate the methods
that were used for measuring a degree, and in 1669, by measuring
the celestial and terrestrial arcs between Paris and Amiens, found
that a degree was equal to 57,060 toises, equivalent to 364,876
English feet, or about 69.1 miles. Picard's measurement was
continued either way across the French territory as far as Dunkirk
and Collioure by Dominic Cassini and Lahire (1683-1718), and it was
verified in 1739, from Dunkirk to Perpignan, by Francis Cassini and
Lacaille; and at length Méchain carried it as far as Barcelona in
Spain; but after his death (for he succumbed to the fatigue
attending his operations) the measurement of the meridian in France
was interrupted until it was subsequently taken up by Arago and Biot
in 1807. These two men prolonged it as far as the Balearic Isles, so
that the arc now extended from Dunkirk to Formentera, being
equally divided by the parallel of lat. 45° N., half way between the
pole and the equator; and under these conditions it was not
necessary to take the depression of the earth into account in order
to find the value of the quadrant of the meridian. This measurement
gave 57,025 toises as the mean value of an arc of a degree in
France.
It can be seen that up to that time Frenchmen especially had
undertaken to determine that delicate point, and it was likewise the
French Convention that, according to Talleyrand's proposition,
passed a resolution in 1790, charging the Academy of Sciences to
invent an invariable system of weights and measures. Just at that
time the statement signed by the illustrious names of Borda,
Lagrange, Laplace, Monge, and Condorcet, proposed that the unit of
measure should be the mètre, the ten-millionth part of the quadrant
of the meridian; and that the unit of weight should be the gramme,
a cubic centimètre of distilled water at the freezing-point; and that
the multiples and subdivisions of every measure should be formed
decimally.
Later, the determinations of the value of a terrestrial degree were
carried on in different parts of the world, for the earth being not
spherical, but elliptic, it required much calculation to find the
depression at the poles.
In 1736, Maupertuis, Clairaut, Camus, Lemonnier, Outhier, and the
Swedish Celsius measured a northern arc in Lapland, and found the
length of an arc of a degree to be 57,419 toises. In 1745, La
Condamine, Bouguer, and Godin, set sail for Peru, where they were
joined by the Spanish officers Juan and Antonio Ulloa, and they then
found that the Peruvian arc contained 56,737 toises.
In 1752, Lacaille reported 57,037 toises as the length of the arc he
had measured at the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1754, Father Boscowitch and Father le Maire began a survey of
the Papal States, and in the course of their operations found the arc
between Rome and Rimini to be 56,973 toises.
In 1762 and 1763, Beccaria reckoned the degree in Piedmont at
57,468 toises, and in 1768, the astronomers Mason and Dixon, in
North America, on the confines of Maryland and Pennsylvania, found
that the value of the degree in America was 56,888 toises.
Since the beginning of the 19th century numbers of other arcs have
been measured, in Bengal, the East Indies, Piedmont, Finland,
Courland, East Prussia, Denmark, &c., but the English and Russians
were less active than other nations in trying to decide this delicate
point, their principal geodetic operation being that undertaken by
General Roy in 1784, for the purpose of determining the difference
of longitude between Paris and Greenwich.
It may be concluded from all the above-mentioned measurements
that the mean value of a degree is 57,000 toises, or 25 ancient
French leagues, and by multiplying this mean value by the 360
degrees contained in the circumference, it is found that the earth
measures 9000 leagues round. But, as may be seen from the figures
above, the measurements of the different arcs in different parts of
the world do not quite agree. Nevertheless, by taking this average of
57,000 toises for the value of a degree, the value of the mètre, that
is to say, the ten-millionth part of the quadrant of the meridian, may
be deduced, and is found to be 0.513074 of the whole line, or
39.37079 English inches. In reality, this value is rather too small, for
later calculations (taking into account the depression of the earth at
the poles, which is 1/(299.15) and not 1/134, as was thought at
first) now give nearly 10,000,856 mètres instead of 10,000,000 for
the length of the quadrant of the meridian. The difference of 856
mètres is hardly noticeable in such a long distance; but nevertheless,
mathematically speaking, it cannot be said that the mètre, as it is
now used, represents the ten-millionth part of the quadrant of the
terrestrial meridian exactly; there is an error of about 1/5000 of a
line, i.e. 1/5000 of the twelfth part of an inch.
The mètre, thus determined, was still not adopted by all the civilized
nations. Belgium, Spain, Piedmont, Greece, Holland, the old Spanish
colonies, the republics of the Equator, New Granada, and Costa Rica,
took a fancy to it immediately; but notwithstanding the evident
superiority of this metrical system to every other, England had
refused to use it. Perhaps if it had not been for the political
disturbances which arose at the close of the 18th century, the
inhabitants of the United Kingdom would have accepted the system,
for when the Constituent Assembly issued its decree on the 8th of
May, 1790, the members of the Royal Society in England were
invited to co-operate with the French Academicians. They had to
decide whether the measure of the mètre should be founded on the
length of the pendulum that beats the sexagesimal second, or
whether they should take a fraction of one of the great circles of the
earth for a unit of length; but events prevented the proposed
conference, and so it was not until the year 1854 that England,
having long seen the advantage of the metrical system, and that
scientific and commercial societies were being founded to spread the
reform, resolved to adopt it. But still the English Government wished
to keep their resolution a secret until the new geodetic operations
that they had commenced should enable them to assign a more
correct value to the terrestrial degree, and they thought they had
better act in concert with the Russian Government, who were also
hesitating about adopting the system. A Commission of three
Englishmen and three Russians was therefore chosen from among
the most eminent members of the scientific societies, and we have
seen that they were Colonel Everest, Sir John Murray, and William
Emery, for England; and Matthew Strux, Nicholas Palander, and
Michael Zorn, for Russia. The international Commission having met
in London, decided first of all that the measure of an arc of meridian
should be taken in the Southern hemisphere, and that another arc
should subsequently be measured in the Northern hemisphere, so
that from the two operations they might hope to deduce an exact
value which should satisfy all the conditions of the programme. It
now remained to choose between the different English possessions
in the Southern hemisphere, Cape Colony, Australia, and New
Zealand. The two last, lying quite at the antipodes of Europe, would
involve the Commission in a long voyage, and, besides, the Maoris
and Australians, who were often at war with their invaders, might
render the proposed operation difficult; while Cape Colony, on the
contrary, offered real advantages. In the first place, it was under the
same meridian as parts of European Russia, so that after measuring
an arc of meridian in South Africa, they could measure a second one
in the empire of the Czar, and still keep their operations a secret;
secondly, the voyage from England to South Africa was
comparatively short; and thirdly, these English and Russian
philosophers would find an excellent opportunity there of analyzing
the labours of the French astronomer Lacaille, who had worked in
the same place, and of proving whether he was correct in giving
57,037 toises as the measurement of a degree of meridian at the
Cape of Good Hope. It was therefore decided that the geodetic
operation should be commenced at the Cape, and as the two
Governments approved of the decision, large credits were opened,
and two sets of all the instruments required in a triangulation were
manufactured. The astronomer William Emery was asked to make
preparations for an exploration in the interior of South Africa, and
the frigate "Augusta," of the royal navy, received orders to convey
the members of the Commission and their suite to the mouth of the
Orange River.
It should here be added, that besides the scientific question, there
was also a question of national vainglory that excited these
philosophers to join in a common labour; for, in reality, they were
anxious to out-do France in her numerical calculations, and to
surpass in precision the labours of her most illustrious astronomers,
and that in the heart of a savage and almost unknown land. Thus
the members of the Anglo-Russian Commission had resolved to
sacrifice every thing, even their lives, in order to obtain a result that
should be favourable to science, and at the same time glorious for
their country. And this is how it came to pass that the astronomer
William Emery found himself at the Morgheda Falls, on the banks of
the Orange River, at the end of January, 1854.
 CHAPTER V.
A HOTTENTOT VILLAGE.
The voyage along the upper course of the river was soon
accomplished, and although the weather soon became rainy, the
passengers, comfortably installed in the ship's cabin, suffered no
inconvenience from the torrents of rain which usually fall at that
season. The "Queen and Czar" shot along rapidly, for there were
neither rapids nor shallows, and the current was not sufficiently
strong to retard her progress. Every aspect of the river-banks was
enchanting; forest followed upon forest, and quite a world of birds
dwell among the leafy branches. Here and there were groups of
trees belonging to the family of the "proteaceæ," and especially the
"wagenboom" with its reddish marbled-wood, forming a curious
contrast with its deep blue leaves and large pale yellow flowers: then
there were the "zwarte-basts" with their black bark, and the
"karrees" with dark evergreen foliage. The banks were shaded every
where by weeping willows, while the underwood extended beyond
for several miles. Every now and then vast open tracks presented
themselves unexpectedly, large plains, covered with innumerable
colocynths, mingled with "sugar-bushes," out of which flew clouds of
sweet-singing little birds, called "suiker-vogels" by the Cape
colonists. The winged world offered many varieties, all of which were
pointed out to Sir John Murray by the bushman. Sir John was a great
lover of game, both hairy and feathered, and thus a sort of intimacy
arose between him and Mokoum, to whom, according to Colonel
Everest's promise, he had given an excellent long-range rifle, made
on the Pauly system. It would be useless to attempt a description of
the bushman's delight when he found himself in possession of such
a splendid weapon. The two hunters understood each other well, for
though so learned, Sir John Murray passed for one of the most
brilliant fox-hunters in old Caledonia, and he listened to the
bushman's stories with an interest amounting to envy. His eyes
sparkled when Mokoum showed him the wild ruminants in the
woods; here a herd of fifteen to twenty giraffes; there, buffaloes six
feet high, with towering black horns: farther on, fierce gnus with
horses' tails; and again, herds of "caamas," a large kind of deer, with
bright eyes, and horns forming a threatening-looking triangle; and
every where, in the dense forests as well as in the open plains, the
innumerable varieties of antelopes which abound in Southern Africa;
the spurious chamois, the gems-bok, the gazelle, the duiker-bok,
and the spring-bok. Was not all this something to tempt a hunter,
and could the fox-hunts of the Scottish lowlands vie with the exploits
of a Cumming, an Anderson, or a Baldwin? It must be confessed
that Sir John Murray's companions were less excited than himself at
these magnificent specimens of wild game. William Emery was
watching his colleagues attentively, and trying to discover their
character under their cold exterior. Colonel Everest and Matthew
Strux, men of about the same age, were equally cold, reserved, and
formal; they always spoke with a measured slowness, and from
morning to night it seemed as if they had never met before. That
any intimacy should ever be established between two such
important personages was a thing not to be hoped for; two icebergs,
placed side by side would join in time, but two scientific men, each
holding a high position, never.
Nicholas Palander, a man of about fifty-five years of age, was one of
those who have never been young, and who will never be old. The
astronomer of Helsingfors, constantly absorbed in his calculations,
might be a very admirably constructed machine, but still he was
nothing but a machine, a kind of abacus, or universal reckoner. He
was the calculator of the Anglo-Russian Commission, and one of
those prodigies who work out multiplications to five figures in their
head, like a fifty-year-old Mondeux.
Michael Zorn more nearly resembled William Emery in age,
enthusiasm, and good humour. His amiable qualities did not prevent
his being an astronomer of great merit, having attained an early
celebrity. The discoveries made by him at the Kiew Observatory
concerning the nebula of Andromeda had attracted attention in
scientific Europe, and yet with this undoubted merit he had a great
deal of modesty, and was always in the background. William Emery
and Michael Zorn were becoming great friends, united by the same
tastes and aspirations; and most generally they were talking
together, while Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux were coldly
watching each other, and Palander was mentally extracting cube
roots without noticing the lovely scenes on the banks, and Sir John
Murray and the bushman were forming plans for hunting down
whole hecatombs of victims.
No incident marked the voyage along the upper course of the
Orange. Sometimes the granite cliffs which shut in the winding bed
of the river seemed to forbid further progress, and often the wooded
islands which dotted the current seemed to render the route
uncertain; but the bushman never hesitated, and the "Queen and
Czar" always chose the right route, and passed round the cliffs
without hindrance. The helmsman never had to repent of having
followed Mokoum's directions.
In four days the steamboat had passed over the 240 miles between
the cataract of Morgheda and the Kuruman, an affluent which flowed
exactly past the town of Lattakoo, whither Colonel Everest's
expedition was bound. About thirty leagues above the falls the river
bends from its general direction, which is east and west, and flows
south-east as far as the acute angle which the territory of Cape
Colony makes in the north, and then turning to the north-east, it
loses itself in the wooded country of the Transvaal Republic. It was
early in the morning of the 5th of February, in a driving rain, that the
"Queen and Czar" arrived at Klaarwater, a Hottentot village, close to
the meeting of the Orange and Kuruman. Colonel Everest, unwilling
to lose a moment, passed quickly by the few Bochjesmen cabins that
form the village, and under the pressure of her screw, the vessel
began to ascend the affluent. The rapid current was to be attributed,
as the passengers remarked, to a peculiarity in the river, for the
Kuruman being wide at its source, was lessened as it descended by
the influence of the sun's rays; but at this season, swollen by the
rains, and further increased by the waters of a sub-affluent, the
Moschona, it became very deep and rapid. The fires were therefore
made up, and the vessel ascended the Kuruman at the rate of three
miles an hour.
During the voyage the bushman pointed out a good many
hippopotami in the water; but these great pachyderms, clumsy,
thickset beasts, from eight to ten feet long, which the Dutch at the
Cape call "sea-cows," were by no means of an aggressive nature,
and the hissing of the steam and the panting of the screw quite
frightened them, the boat appearing to them like some great
monster which they ought to distrust, and in fact, the arsenal on
board would have rendered approach very difficult. Sir John Murray
would have very much liked to try his explosive bullets on the fleshy
masses, but the bushman assured him that there would be no lack
of hippopotami in the more northerly rivers, so he determined to
wait for a more favourable opportunity.
The 150 miles which separated the mouth of the Kuruman from the
station of Lattakoo were traversed in fifty hours, and on the 7th of
February the travellers had reached the end of their journey. As soon
as the steamboat was moored to the bank which served as a quay, a
man of fifty years of age, with a grave air but kind countenance,
stepped on board, and offered his hand to William Emery. The
astronomer introduced the new-comer to his travelling companions,
as—
"The Rev. Thomas Dale, of the London Missionary Society, Governor
of the station of Lattakoo."
The Europeans bowed to Mr. Dale, who gave them welcome, and put
himself at their service.
The town of Lattakoo, or rather the village of that name, is the most
northerly of the Cape Missionary stations, and is divided into Old and
New. The first, which the "Queen and Czar" now reached, had
12,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the century, but they have
since emigrated to the north-east, and the town, now fallen into
decay, has been replaced by New Lattakoo, which is built close by,
on a plain which was formerly covered with acacias, and thither Mr.
Dale conducted the Europeans. It consisted of about forty groups of
houses, and contained 5000 or 6000 inhabitants of the tribe of the
Bechuanas. Dr. Livingstone stayed in this town for three months
before his first voyage up the Zambesi in 1840, previously to
crossing the whole of Central Africa, from the bay of Loanda to the
port of Kilmana on the coast of Mozambique.
When they reached New Lattakoo, Colonel Everest presented a letter
from Dr. Livingstone, which commended the Anglo-Russian
Commission to his friends in South Africa. Mr. Dale read it with much
pleasure, and returned it to the Colonel, saying that he might find it
useful on his journey, as the name of David Livingstone was known
and honoured throughout that part of Africa.
The members of the Commission were lodged in the missionary
establishment, a large house built on an eminence and surrounded
by an impenetrable hedge like a fortification. The Europeans could
be more comfortably lodged here than with the Bechuanas; not that
their dwellings were not kept properly in order; on the contrary, the
smooth clay floors did not show a particle of dust, and the long-
thatched roofs were quite rain-proof; but at best, their houses were
little better than huts with a round hole for a door, hardly large
enough to admit a man; moreover, they all lived in common, and
close contact with the Bechuanas would scarcely have been
agreeable.
 The Mission Home Establishment.

The chief of the tribe, one Moulibahan, lived at Lattakoo, and

thought it right to come and pay his respects to the Europeans. He
was rather a fine man, without the thick lips and flat nose of the
negro, with a round face not so shrunken in its lower part as that of
the other Hottentots. He was dressed in a cloak of skins, sewn
together with considerable art, and an apron called a "pujoke." He
wore a leather skull-cap, and sandals of ox-hide: ivory rings were
wound round his arms, and from his ears hung brass plates about
four inches long—a kind of ear-ring—which is also a charm; an
antelope's tail stood up in his skull-cap, and his hunting-stick was
surmounted by a tuft of small black ostrich feathers. The natural
colour of his body was quite invisible through the thick coating of
ochre with which he was besmeared from head to foot, while some
ineffaceable incisions in his legs denoted the number of enemies he
had slain.

Chief Moulibahan.

The chief, as grave as Matthew Strux himself, stepped up to the

Europeans, and took them in turn by the nose. The Russians
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookfinal.com