Title: The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, And Explorations of the Nile Sources
Author: Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Language: English
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The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile
And Explorations of the Nile Sources.

by Sir Samuel W. Baker, M.A., F.R.G.S.

Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society.



To Her Most Gracious Majesty
THE QUEEN
I dedicate, with Her permission,
THIS BOOK,
Containing the Story of the Discovery of the Great Lake
From which the NILE ultimately flows,
And which,
As connected so intimately,
As a NILE SOURCE, with the VICTORIA LAKE,
I have ventured to name
"THE ALBERT N'YANZA,"
In Memory of the Late Illustrious and Lamented
PRINCE CONSORT.



PREFACE.

In the history of the Nile there was a void: its Sources were a mystery.
The Ancients devoted much attention to this problem; but in vain. The
Emperor Nero sent an expedition under the command of two centurions, as
described by Seneca. Even Roman energy failed to break the spell that
guarded these secret fountains. The expedition sent by Mehemet Ali
Pasha, the celebrated Viceroy of Egypt, closed a long term of
unsuccessful search.

The work has now been accomplished. Three English parties, and only
three, have at various periods started upon this obscure mission: each
has gained its end.

Bruce won the source of the Blue Nile; Speke and Grant won the Victoria
source of the great White Nile; and I have been permitted to succeed in
completing the Nile Sources by the discovery of the great reservoir of
the equatorial waters, the ALBERT N'YANZA, from which the river issues
as the entire White Nile.

Having thus completed the work after nearly five years passed in Africa,
there still remains a task before me. I must take the reader of this
volume by the hand, and lead him step by step along my rough path from
the beginning to the end; through scorching deserts and thirsty sands;
through swamp, and jungle, and interminable morass; through
difficulties, fatigues, and sickness, until I bring him, faint with the
wearying journey, to that high cliff where the great prize shall burst
upon his view--from which he shall look down upon the vast ALBERT LAKE,
and drink with me from the Sources of the Nile!

I have written "HE!" How can I lead the more tender sex through dangers
and fatigues, and passages of savage life? A veil shall be thrown over
many scenes of brutality that I was forced to witness, but which I will
not force upon the reader; neither will I intrude anything that is not
actually necessary in the description of scenes that unfortunately must
be passed through in the journey now before us. Should anything offend
the sensitive mind, and suggest the unfitness of the situation for a
woman's presence, I must beseech my fair readers to reflect, that the
pilgrim's wife followed him, weary and footsore, through all his
difficulties, led, not by choice, but by devotion; and that in times of
misery and sickness her tender care saved his life and prospered the
expedition.

   "O woman, in our hours of ease
    Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
    And variable as the shade
    By the light quivering aspen made;
    When pain and anguish wring the brow,
    A ministering angel thou!"

In the journey now before us I must request some exercise of patience
during geographical details that may be wearisome; at all events, I will
adhere to facts, and avoid theory as much as possible.

The Botanist will have ample opportunities of straying from our path to
examine plants with which I confess a limited acquaintance. The
Ethnologist shall have precisely the same experience that I enjoyed, and
he may either be enlightened or confounded. The Geologist will find
himself throughout the journey in Central Africa among primitive rocks.
The Naturalist will travel through a grass jungle that conceals much
that is difficult to obtain: both he and the Sportsman will, I trust,
accompany me on a future occasion through the "Nile tributaries from
Abyssinia," which country is prolific in all that is interesting. The
Philanthropist,--what shall I promise to induce him to accompany me? I
will exhibit a picture of savage man precisely as he is; as I saw him;
and as I judged him, free from prejudice: painting also, in true
colours, a picture of the abomination that has been the curse of the
African race, the SLAVE TRADE; trusting that not only the
philanthropist, but every civilized being, will join in the endeavour to
erase that stain from disfigured human nature, and thus open the path
now closed to civilization and missionary enterprise. To the
Missionary,--that noble, self-exiled labourer toiling too often in a
barren field,--I must add the word of caution, "Wait"! There can be no
hope of success until the slave trade shall have ceased to exist.

The journey is long, the countries savage; there are no ancient
histories to charm the present with memories of the past; all is wild
and brutal, hard and unfeeling, devoid of that holy instinct instilled
by nature into the heart of man--the belief in a Supreme Being. In that
remote wilderness in Central Equatorial Africa are the Sources of the
Nile.



CONTENTS.


INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I.

THE EXPEDITION.

Programme--Start from Cairo--Arrive at Berber--Plan of Exploration--
The River Atbara--Abyssinian Affluents--Character of Rivers--Causes
of Nile Inundations--Violence of the Rains--Arrival at Khartoum--
Description of Khartoum--Egyptian Authorities--Taxes--The Soudan--
Slave-Trade of the Soudan--Slave-Trade of the White Nile--System of
Operations--Inhuman Proceedings--Negro Allies--Revelations of
Slave-Trade--Distant Slave Markets--Prospects of the Expedition--
Difficulties at the Outset--Opposition of the Egyptian Authorities--
Preparations for Sailing--Johann Schmidt--Demand for Poll-Tax--
Collision before starting--Amiable Boy!--The Departure--The Boy Osman
--Banks of White Nile--Change in Disposition of Men--Character of the
River--Misery of Scene--River Vegetation--Ambatch Wood--Johann's
Sickness--Uses of Fish-skin--Johann Dying--Johann's Death--New Year
--Shillook Villages--The Sobat River--Its Character--Bahr Giraffe--
Bahr el Gazal--Observations--Corporal Richarn--Character of Bahr el
Gazal--Peculiarity of River Sobat--Tediousness of Voyage--Bull
Buffalo--Sali Achmet killed--His Burial--Ferocity of the Buffalo--
"The Clumsy" on the Styx--Current of White Nile--First View of Natives
--Joctian and his Wife--Charming Husband--Natron--Catch a
Hippopotamus--"Perhaps it was his Uncle"--Real Turtle is Mock
Hippopotamus--Richarn reduced to the Ranks--Arrival at the Zareeba--
Fish Spearing--The Kytch Tribe--White Ant Towers--Starvation in the
Kytch Country--Destitution of the Natives--The Bull of the Herd--Men
and Beasts in a bad Temper--Aboukooka--Austrian Mission Station--Sale
of the Mission-House--Melancholy Fate of Baron Harnier--The Aliab
Tribes--Tulmuli of Ashes--The Shir Tribe--The Lotus Harvest--Arrival
at Gondokoro--Discharge Cargo


CHAPTER II.

BAD RECEPTION AT GONDOKORO.

Reports of Speke and Grant--The Bari Tribe--Description of the Natives
--Effects of poisoned Arrows--Hostility of the Bari Tribe--Atrocities
of the Trading Parties--Lawlessness at Gondokoro-A Boy shot--The first
Mutiny--Decision of my Wife--The Khartoum Escort--Arrival of Speke
and Grant--Gladness at meeting them--Their Appearance--Speke and
Grant's Discoveries--Another Lake reported to exist--Speke's
Instructions--Arrange to explore the Luta N'zige--Scarcity at
Gondokoro--Speke and Grant depart to Khartoum


CHAPTER III.

GUN ACCIDENT.

Gun Accident--Birds ruin the Donkeys--Arrangement with Mahommed--His
Duplicity--Plot to obstruct my Advance--The Boy Saat--History of Saat
--First Introduction to Saat--Turned out by Mistake--Saat's Character
--Something brewing--Mutiny of Escort--Preparation for the worst--
Disarm the Mutineers--Mahommed's Desertion--Arrangement with Koorshid
Aga--The last Hope gone--Expedition ruined--Resolution to advance--
Richarn faithful--Bari Chief's Report--Parley with Mutineers--
Conspiracy again--Night Visit of Fadeela--"Quid pro Quo"--"Adda," the
Latooka--Arrange to start for Latooka--Threats of Koorshid's People--
Determination to proceed--Start from Gondokoro--My own Guide.


CHAPTER IV.

FIRST NIGHT'S MARCH.

Bivouacking--Arrival at Belignan--Attempts at Conciliation--I shame
my Men--The March--Advantages of Donkeys--Advice for Travellers--
Want of Water--A forced March--Its Difficulties--Delays on the Road--
Cleverness of the Donkeys--Party dead-beat--Improvidence of Monkey--
We obtain Water--Native Tit-Bits--Surrounded by Natives--
Cross-Examination--Recognition of the Chief--Interest of Natives--The
Monkey Wallady--We leave Tollogo--The Ellyria Pass--A Race for
Ellyria--Ellyrian Villages palisaded--Outmarched by the Turks--
Ibrahim and his Men--Attempt at Reconciliation--Diplomacy--Peace
established--Arrive at Ellyria--Legge, the Chief of Ellyria--Presents
to Ibrahim--Legge's Intemperance--Violent Storm--No Supplies--
Formation of Skulls.


CHAPTER V.

LEAVE ELLYRIA.

We leave Ellyria--Brutality towards the Women--Order of March--
Bellaal--Drainage towards the Sobat--Game at Wakkala--Delightful
Scenery--Latooka Thieves--Stalking Antelopes--Chase after Waterbuck--
Good Service of Rifle--The Turks' Salute--Treacherous Welcome--
Mahommed Her--Quarrelling among the Traders--The Latooka Mutiny--
Settle the Ringleader--Stop the Mutiny--I pursue a Fugitive, and
interpose on his behalf--Held in some Estimation--Desertion of Men--
The Natives of Latooka--Their probable Origin--Tribes hard to
distinguish--Tarrangolle--Native Architecture--Exhumation of the Dead
--Coiffure of Natives--Hair Helmets of Latooka--Fighting Bracelets--
The Latooka Women--The Chief's Introduction--"Moy" and his Ladies--
Bokke proposes to improve Mrs. Baker--Bokke and Daughter--Extraction
of the front Teeth--The Value of Wives--Cows of more value than Women
--Destruction of Mahommed Her's People--Death of my Deserters--My
Prophecy realized--Apprehensive of an Attack--The Turks insult the
Women--Ill Conduct of the Turks--Well done, Bokke!--Results of the
Turks' Misconduct--Interview with Commoro--Awkward Position--The
Latooka War Signal--Preparations for Defence--We await the Attack--
Parley--Too "wide awake"--Camp at Tarrangolle--Scarcity in view of
Plenty--Wild Duck Shooting--The Crested Crane, &c.--Adda's Proposal--
Obtuseness of Natives--Degraded State of Natives.


CHAPTER VI.

THE FUNERAL DANCE.

A Funeral Dance--Bari Interpreters--Commoro, the Lion--Conversation
with Commoro--"Where will the Spirit live?"--"Good and bad all die"--
Failure of the religious Argument--Further Conversation--The Camel
poisoned--Habits of the Camel--Camel's peculiar Constitution--The
Hygeen, or riding Dromedary--Loss of Camel a Misfortune--Dirty Donkeys


CHAPTER VII.

LATOOKA.

Herds of the Latookas and Game--Storm--Effects of Rain upon Natives--
Native Blacksmiths--Their Tools--Elephants--Elephant Hunt--Tetel, my
old Hunter--Charged by a herd of Elephants--Cowardly Followers--Track
the wounded Elephant--Nearly caught--Tetel distressed--Return to Camp
--African and Indian Elephants--Height of Elephants--Food of Elephants
--African and Ceylon Elephants--Difference in Formation of Brain--
Rifles and Bullets for heavy Game--Character of Country and its Sports
--The "Baby"--Method of killing Elephants--Elephant Pitfalls--
Circling them with Fire--Native Hunting--The Bagara Hunters--Danger
of Elephant Hunting


CHAPTER VIII.

IBRAHIM's RETURN.

The African Black--Comparison between Whites and Blacks--Varieties in
Creation--The Negro--Character of the Negro-Originated African Slave
System--Indisposition to Work--Negro Slave Hunters--Ibrahimawa; or,
Sinbad the Sailor--Makkarika Cannibals--My daily Employments--
Quarrels with the Latookas--Parley with Latooka Chiefs--The Latookas
seize a Gun--Helplessness in an Advance--Hope to the South--Journey
to Obbo--Uncomfortable Night--Enter the Mountains--Beautiful Scenery
--Arrive at Obbo--Natives of Obbo--Butter Nuts and Fruits--Pottery
and Utensils--Natural Features of Obbo--Katchiba, Chief of Obbo--
Entertained with a Dance--Women of Obbo--Languages of Tribes--
Katchiba's Diplomacy--Katchiba "always at Home"--Family Government--
The great Magician--Reconnaissance to the South--Mrs. Baker's Dwelling
--An Upset--Loss of Filfil--My Bivouac--Ceremony of Welcome at
Farajoke--Elevated Country at Farajoke--Stopped by the Asua--Return
to Obbo--Gallantry of Katchiba--Katchiba determines to ride--First
Attempts at Horsemanship--Recover the lost Horse--Ceremony at parting
with Katchiba--Return to Latooka--Discovery of supposed Yams--Beware
of Botanists--Baboons--The Maharif Antelope--The Giraffe--Hunting
Giraffes--Unsuccessful Hunt--Benighted--Regain the Party--
Bread-baking on the March--Sickness; Small-pox--Wani, the Interpreter
--First Clue to the Lake--Brown Men are called White


CHAPTER IX.

THE TURKS ATTACK KAYALA.

The "Pleasant Robber" killed--Division of the Spoil--Discord among the
Natives--The Life of Women spared in War--Scarcity of Salt, among the
Latookas--Another Cause of Alarm--The Turks murder a Native--Country
disturbed--Good Sport--Two Thieves--Ibrahimawa's Reminiscences of
England--Party recalled to Obbo--White Ants--Destructiveness of Birds
--Cattle Stealers at Night--A Thief shot--My Wife ill with Fever--
March to Obbo--Great Puff Adder--Poison-fangs of Snakes--Violent
Storm--Arrive again at Obbo--Hostility caused by the Turks--The M.D.
attends us--Death of "Mouse"--Marauding Expedition--Saat becomes
scientific--Saat and Gaddum Her--Will England suppress the Slave
Trade?--Filthy Customs of the Natives--The Egyptian Scarabaeus--
Bacheeta, the Unyoro Slave--Intelligence of the Lake--Its probable
Commercial Advantages--Commerce with the Interior--Obbo the Clothing
Frontier--Death of my last Camel--Excellent Species of Gourd--A
Morning Call in Obbo--Katchiba's Musical Accomplishments--Loss of
remaining Donkey--Deceived by the Turks--Fever--Symptoms--Dismal
Prospect, "Coming Events," &c.


CHAPTER X.

LIFE AT OBBO.

Physician in General--Influence gained over the People--Katchiba is
applied to for Rain--"Are you a Rainmaker?"--Katchiba takes Counsel's
Opinion--Successful Case--Night-watch for Elephants--Elephant killed
--Dimensions of the Elephant--Wild Boars--Start for the South--Mrs.
Baker thrown from her Ox--The Asua River--Stalking Mehedehet Antelope
--A Prairie Fire--Tracking an Antelope--Turks' Standard-bearer killed
--Arrival at Shooa--The Neighbourhood of Shooa--Fruitfulness of Shooa
--Cultivation and Granaries--Absconding of Obbo Porters--"Wheels
within Wheels"--Difficulty in starting South--Departure from Shooa--
Fatiko Levee--Boundless Prairies--Fire the Prairies--Deceit of the
Guide--Arrive at the Victoria Nile--Arrive at Rionga's Country--Start
for Karuma--The Karuma Falls--Welcome by Kamrasi's People--Passage of
the River forbidden--To await Reply of Kamrasi--The Natives' Dread of
Kamrasi--They hold a Conference--Resolve to cross the River alone--
The Ferry of Atada--Reception by Keedja--I lull the Suspicions of the
Natives--Appellations of Speke and Grant--Freemasonry of Unyoro--
Native Curiosity--The Bark Cloth of Unyoro--Comparative Civilization
of Unyoros--Native Pottery--The Bottle Gourds used as Models--"Great
Men never in a Hurry to pay Visits"--Pronounced to be Speke's Brother--
The Escort cross the River--Neatness of the Natives in packing--Native
Manufactures--March parallel with the Victoria Nile--Severe Illness of
Mrs. Baker--March to the Capital--Kamrasi suspects Treachery--Arrive
at last at the Capital--Imprisoned on the Marsh--Expectation of an
Attack--Kamrasi makes a State Visit--Conversation with the King--His
Reception of my Presents--Another Interview with Kamrasi--Exchange
Blood and become Friends--Avarice of the King--Permitted to leave our
Fever-bed--Ibrahim and Party return North--Sulkiness of Bacheeta--
Attempt to barter for Speke's Rifle--Rapacity of the Chiefs.


CHAPTER XI.

THE START FOR THE LAKE.

Despicable Conduct of the King--Pertinacity of Kamrasi--Kamrasi's
Infamous Proposal--Resentment of the King's Insolence--The King's
Apology--Expectation of a Fight--Kamrasi's Satanic Escort--The Rout
at a Gun-shot--A disagreeable Escort--Passage of the Kafoor--Mrs.
Baker receives a Sun-stroke--Dismissal of the brutal Escort--Misery
and Distress--Return to Consciousness, but afflicted with Brain-fever


CHAPTER XII.

RECOVERED.

The Sugarcane indigenous--Unyoro People clean Feeders--Close to the
Lake--Discovery of the Albert N'yanza--Gratitude to Providence--
Denominate it "The Albert N'yanza"--Fishing Tackle--The Lake declared
to be the Sea--Feast in honour of the Discovery--Survey of the Lake--
Geography of the Lake--Countries bordering the Lake--The Great Basin
of the Nile--Sources of the Nile--Affluents of the Albert Lake--Our
whole party Fever-stricken--Yearning for Home--Arrange Canoes for Lake
Voyage--Start from Vacovia--Voyage upon the Lake--Shore Encampment--
Deserted by the Boatmen--No Pilot--Endeavour to civilize the Canoes--
Adapt a Scotch Plaid for a Sail--Natives volunteer as Boatmen--Storm
on the Lake--Nearly swamped--Land safely on Shore--Falls of the
Kaiigiri River--Shoot a Crocodile--Taste of Crocodile Flesh--
Discomforts of Lake Voyage--Elephants in the Lake--Inhospitable
Natives--Procure Supplies--The Lake changes its character--Arrival at
Magungo--Embouchure of the Somerset River--Fish and Fishing--The
Baggera and Lepidosiren Annecteus--Native Fishing Arrangements--Exit
of the Nile from the Lake--Nile navigable from Lake to Madi--The
Victoria Nile at Magungo--Determination to settle Nile Question--Nobly
seconded by Mrs. Baker--Leave Magungo--Voyage up the Victoria Nile--
Stricken again with Fever--Guided by Waterplants--Numerous Crocodiles
--The Murchison Falls--Hippopotamus charges the Canoe--Narrow Escape
from Crocodiles--Arrival of Oxen, but not the Guide--Loss of Oxen from
Fly-bite--Sickness on the March--The Island of Patooan--Information
about Ibrahim--Difference in the Level--Difference in Observations--
Altitudes


CHAPTER XIII.

TREACHEROUS DESIGNS OF THE NATIVES.

Confined in the Country--Determine to proceed--Deserted by the Natives
--Discovery of a "Tullaboon" Granary--Misery at Shooa Moru--Hard Fare
--Preparation for Death--Kamrasi's Tactics--The Bait takes--We are
carried to the King's Camp--Rejoin the Turks' Detachment--Their
Welcome--Kamrasi seeks my Alliance--Deception of Kamrasi--M'Gambi has
impersonated the King--The real Kamrasi--Prefer seeing Meat to a King
--The begging Envoy--Carried to the Camp of Kamrasi--Introduction to
the real King--Description of Kamrasi--The Native Court


CHAPTER XIV.

AT HOME IN KISOONA.

System of Fattening--Native Preparations of Food--Native Manufactures
--Knavery of Native Butter-dealers--Vapour Bath for Fever--State Visit
from the King--Mendicancy again--The King in love with a Tooth-comb--
Effect of concave Mirror--Attempts at Ancient History--Kamrasi's
Request--Kamrasi affronted--Sudden Invasion of the Country--Alarm and
Cowardice of Kamrasi--The British Flag protects Unyoro--Diplomatic
Arrangement--Conference with Debono's Party--Settle authoritatively
all Objections--Retreat of the Invaders.


CHAPTER XV.

KAMRASI BEGS FOR THE BRITISH FLAG.

The pertinacious Beggar--Summary Justice for High Treason--Arrival of
Ivory for the Turks--Frightful Barbarities upon Captives--The Female
Captives--Treacherous Murder of Sali--Disputes with Kamrasi--Advice
to Kamrasi--The Turks begin to bully--Eddrees refused Admittance at
Court--Communicate with Ibrahim--Drunkenness among the Unyoros--
Native Sorcerers--Implicit Belief in Sorcerers--Invasion of the M'Was
--Consulted by the King in the Extremity--Kamrasi will not Fight--An
invigorating little Difficulty--Mock Valour by Unyoros--Kamrasi's
Retreat--We are Deserted--Prepare for Retreat--Leave Kisoona--Arrive
at Deang--No Water--Deserted again by the Porters--Richarn missing--
Richarn reported as killed--The M'Was' Drums beat--March to Foweera--
The Night Retreat--Lose the Road--At a Loss for direct Route--Capture
a Native--Recover the Route--Exhaustion of Mrs. Baker--Arrive at
Foweera--Well prepared--Refuse to assist Kamrasi--Richarn's Return--
Richarn's Story--The King in Distress--Arrival of Ibrahim with
Reinforcements--Receive Letters and Papers from Home--Kamrasi "is
himself again"--Invasion of the Langgo Country--The Whisky Distillery
--Kamrasi tries the Whisky--Butcheries by Kamrasi--Kamrasi orders the
Murder of Kalloe--Attempt to save Kalloe--Pursuit and Capture of Kalloe
--I intercede on his behalf--Death of a Headman--Shot by order of
Kamrasi--The Warning--The Bodyguard


CHAPTER XVI.

KAMRASI'S ADIEU,

Begging to the last--We quit Kamrasi's Territory--March to Shooa--
Arrive at Shooa--The Lira Tribe--Resemblance of Natives' and Lawyers'
Wigs--Result of the Turks' Razzias--Loss of Cattle by the Turks--The
Fight with Werdella--Courage of Werdella--Werdella defeats the Turks--
Murder of a Native--Runaway slaves recaptured--Brutality of the Turks
--Little Abbai--The Children of the Camp--Pleasant Time with the
Children--Shoot a Crocodile--The Black Rhinoceros--The Lira
Head-dress--Native Use of Donkeys


CHAPTER XVII.

THE NATIVES IN MOURNING.

Results of the Ivory Campaign--Preparations for starting Homeward--
Part regretfully with the Children--The Traveller's Tree--View of the
Nile--Koshi and Madi--Gebel Kookoo--On Speke and Grant's Route--
Changes in the Nile--The Asua River--Suspicious Movements of the
Natives--Attacked in the Pass--Night in a hostile Country--Camp
surrounded by Natives--Poisoned Arrows shot into Camp--Sight Belignan
--Approach Gondokoro--Arrive at Gondokoro--Neither Letters nor
Supplies--Disappointment.


CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM KHARTOUM.

Intelligence from Khartoum--Retreat of the Slaves--Influence gained
over Traders' People--Sail from Gondokoro--The Nile cleared of its
Mystery--The Victoria Source--Ptolemy's Theory--Rainfall--Affluents
of the White Nile--Action of the Abyssinian Rivers--Colonization
impossible--Slavery the Curse of Africa--Impotence of European Consuls
--Impossibility of convicting a Trader--Central Africa opened to
Navigation--Tribes of Central Africa--Vestiges of a Pre-Adamite
Creation--Geological Formation--Hypothesis of Equatorial Lakes--Sir
Roderick Murchison's Theories confirmed--Sir Roderick Murchison's
Address


CHAPTER XIX.

THE BLACK ANTELOPE.

Antelope shooting--Arrive at Junction of Bahr el Gazal--Arrive at the
Nile Dam--Character of the Obstruction--Passage through the Dam--The
Plague breaks out--Saat smitten by the Plague--Entertained by Osman
Bey--Saat dies--Burial of Saat--Arrival at Khartoum--Albert Lake
Reservoir of Nile--Destruction by the Plague--A Darkness that might be
felt--Horrible Slave Cargo--Meet with Mahommed Her--Mahommed Her
punished--Nearly wrecked--Stranded among Cataracts--Clear the Danger
--Start from Berber to Souakim--A Row in the Desert--Combat with the
Arabs--"Bravo, Zeneb!"--Disarm the Arabs--Cross the Mountains--First
View of the Sea--Souakim--Arrival at Suez--Farewell to Africa--
Exertions appreciated



    LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

    General Map of Country, Nile Basin
    Arms and Instruments of various Tribes
    Nuehr Natives coming to the Boats
    Joctian, Chief of the Nuehr Tribe
    Chief of Kytch and Daughter
    Starving boy of Kytch Tribe begging
    The Boys who have begged
    A Homestead of the Bari Tribe-The usual Attitudes of the Men
    Legge the Chief
    Commoro running to the Fight
    Bokke-Wife of Moy, Chief of Latooka
    Drake's Head
    Crimson-headed Spur-winged Goose
    The Latooka Funeral Dance
    Latooka Blacksmiths
    The last Charge
    Head-dress of Obbo (1) and Shoggo (2)
    Women of Obbo
    Katchiba's eldest Son
    Katchiba and his Hebe on a Journey
    Overhauling the Giraffes
    The Obbo War Dance
    Mehedehet Antelope
    Natives of Lira (1) and Madi (2) in the Camp at Shooa
    My Examination by the Chiefs on entering Unyoro-Resolved,
    that I am Speke's Brother
    The Start from the M'rooli for the Lake with Kamrasi's Satanic
    Escort
    The Storm on the Albert Lake
    The Baggera
    Lepidosiren Annecteus
    The Murchison Falls, about 120 ft. high from the Victoria Nile
    or Somerset River to the Level of the Albert Lake
    The Welcome on our Return to the Camp at Shooa
    Head of Black Rhinoceros
    The Chief of the Lira Tribe
    Skirmish with the Natives



INTRODUCTION.

The primary object of geographical exploration is the opening to general
intercourse such portions of the earth as may become serviceable to the
human race. The explorer is the precursor of the colonist; and the
colonist is the human instrument by which the great work must be
constructed--that greatest and most difficult of all undertakings--the
civilization of the world.

The progress of civilization depends upon geographical position. The
surface of the earth presents certain facilities and obstacles to
general access; those points that are easily attainable must always
enjoy a superior civilization to those that are remote from association
with the world.

We may thus assume that the advance of civilization is dependent upon
facility of transport. Countries naturally excluded from communication
may, through the ingenuity of man, be rendered accessible; the natural
productions of those lands may be transported to the seacoast in
exchange for foreign commodities; and commerce, thus instituted, becomes
the pioneer of civilization.

England, the great chief of the commercial world, possesses a power that
enforces a grave responsibility. She has the force to civilize. She is
the natural colonizer of the world. In the short space of three
centuries, America, sprung from her loins, has become a giant offspring,
a new era in the history of the human race, a new birth whose future
must be overwhelming. Of later date, and still more rapid in
development, Australia rises, a triumphant proof of England's power to
rescue wild lands from barrenness; to wrest from utter savagedom those
mighty tracts of the earth's surface wasted from the creation of the
world,--a darkness to be enlightened by English colonization. Before the
advancing steps of civilization the savage inhabitants of dreary wastes
retreated: regions hitherto lain hidden, and counting as nothing in the
world's great total, have risen to take the lead in the world's great
future.

Thus England's seed cast upon the earth's surface germinates upon soils
destined to reproduce her race. The energy and industry of the mother
country become the natural instincts of her descendants in localities
adapted for their development; and wherever Nature has endowed a land
with agricultural capabilities, and favourable geographical position,
slowly but surely that land will become a centre of civilization.

True Christianity cannot exist apart from civilization; thus, the spread
of Christianity must depend upon the extension of civilization; and that
extension depends upon commerce.

The philanthropist and the missionary will expend their noble energies
in vain in struggling against the obtuseness of savage hordes, until the
first steps towards their gradual enlightenment shall have been made by
commerce. The savage must learn to WANT; he must learn to be ambitious;
and to covet more than the mere animal necessities of food and drink.
This can alone be taught by a communication with civilized beings: the
sight of men well clothed will induce the naked savage to covet
clothing, and will create a WANT; the supply of this demand will be the
first step towards commerce. To obtain the supply, the savage must
produce some article in return as a medium of barter, some natural
production of his country adapted to the trader's wants. His wants will
increase as his ideas expand by communication with Europeans: thus, his
productions must increase in due proportion, and he must become
industrious; industry being the first grand stride towards civilization.

The natural energy of all countries is influenced by climate; and
civilization being dependent upon industry, or energy, must accordingly
vary in its degrees according to geographical position. The natives of
tropical countries do not progress: enervated by intense heat, they
incline rather to repose and amusement than to labour. Free from the
rigour of winters, and the excitement of changes in the seasons, the
native character assumes the monotony of their country's temperature.
They have no natural difficulties to contend with,--no struggle with
adverse storms and icy winds and frost-bound soil; but an everlasting
summer, and fertile ground producing with little tillage, excite no
enterprise; and the human mind, unexercised by difficulties, sinks into
languor and decay. There are a lack of industry, a want of intensity of
character, a love of ease and luxury, which leads to a devotion to
sensuality,--to a plurality of wives, which lowers the character and
position of woman. Woman, reduced to that false position, ceases to
exercise her proper influence upon man; she becomes the mere slave of
passion, and, instead of holding her sphere as the emblem of
civilization she becomes its barrier. The absence of real love
engendered by a plurality of wives, is an absolute bar to progress; and
so long as polygamy exists, an extension of civilization is impossible.
In all tropical countries polygamy is the prevailing evil: this is the
greatest obstacle to Christianity. The Mahommedan religion, planned
carefully for Eastern habits, allowed a plurality of wives, and
prospered. The savage can be taught the existence of a Deity, and become
a Mussulman; but to him the hateful law of fidelity to one wife is a bar
to Christianity. Thus, in tropical climates there will always be a
slower advance of civilization than in more temperate zones.

The highest civilization was originally confined to the small portion of
the globe comprised between Persia, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. In those
countries was concentrated the world's earliest history; and although
changed in special importance, they preserve their geographical
significance to the present day.

The power and intelligence of man will have their highest development
within certain latitudes, and the natural passions and characters of
races will be governed by locality and the temperature of climate.

There are certain attractions in localities that induce first
settlements of man; even as peculiar conditions of country attract both
birds and animals. The first want of man and beast is food: thus fertile
soil and abundant pasture, combined with good climate and water
communication, always ensure the settlement of man; while natural
seed-bearing grasses, forests, and prairies attract both birds and
beasts. The earth offers special advantages in various positions to both
man and beast; and such localities are, with few exceptions, naturally
inhabited. From the earliest creation there have been spots so
peculiarly favoured by nature, by geographical position, climate, and
fertility, that man has striven for their occupation, and they have
become scenes of contention for possession. Such countries have had a
powerful influence in the world's history, and such will be the great
pulses of civilization,--the sources from which in a future, however
distant, will flow the civilization of the world. Egypt is the land
whose peculiar capabilities have thus attracted the desires of conquest,
and with whom the world's earliest history is intimately connected.

Egypt has been an extraordinary instance of the actual formation of a
country by alluvial deposit; it has been CREATED by a single river. The
great Sahara, that frightful desert of interminable scorching sand,
stretching from the Red Sea to the Atlantic, is cleft by one solitary
thread of water. Ages before man could have existed in that inhospitable
land, that thread of water was at its silent work: through countless
years it flooded and fell, depositing a rich legacy of soil upon the
barren sand until the delta was created; and man, at so remote a period
that we have no clue to an approximate date, occupied the fertile soil
thus born of the river Nile, and that corner of savage Africa, rescued
from its barrenness, became Egypt, and took the first rank in the
earth's history.

For that extraordinary land the world has ever contended, and will yet
contend.

From the Persian conquest to the present day, although the scene of
continual strife, Egypt has been an example of almost uninterrupted
productiveness. Its geographical position afforded peculiar advantages
for commercial enterprise. Bounded on the east by the Red Sea, on the
north by the Mediterranean, while the fertilizing Nile afforded inland
communication, Egypt became the most prosperous and civilized country of
the earth. Egypt was not only created by the Nile, but the very
existence of its inhabitants depended upon the annual inundation of that
river: thus all that related to the Nile was of vital importance to the
people; it was the hand that fed them.

Egypt depending so entirely upon the river, it was natural that the
origin of those mysterious waters should have absorbed the attention of
thinking men. It was unlike all other rivers. In July and August, when
European streams were at their lowest in the summer heat, the Nile was
at the flood! In Egypt there was no rainfall--not even a drop of dew in
those parched deserts through which, for 860 miles of latitude, the
glorious river flowed without a tributary. Licked up by the burning sun,
and gulped by the exhausting sand of Nubian deserts, supporting all
losses by evaporation and absorption, the noble flood shed its annual
blessings upon Egypt. An anomaly among rivers; flooding in the driest
season; everlasting in sandy deserts; where was its hidden origin? where
were the sources of the Nile?

This was from the earliest period the great geographical question to be
solved.

In the advanced stage of civilization of the present era, we look with
regret at the possession by the Moslem of the fairest portions of the
world,--of countries so favoured by climate and by geographical
position, that, in the early days of the earth's history, they were the
spots most coveted; and that such favoured places should, through the
Moslem rule, be barred from the advancement that has attended lands less
adapted by nature for development. There are no countries of the earth
so valuable, or that would occupy so important a position in the family
of nations, as Turkey in Europe, Asia Minor, and Egypt, under a
civilized and Christian government.

As the great highway to India, Egypt is the most interesting country to
the English. The extraordinary fertility being due entirely to the Nile,
I trust that I may have added my mite to the treasury of scientific
knowledge by completing the discovery of the sources of that wonderful
river, and thereby to have opened a way to the heart of Africa, which,
though dark in our limited perspective, may, at some future period, be
the path to civilization.

I offer to the world my narrative of many years of hardships and
difficulties, happily not vainly spent in this great enterprise: should
some un-ambitious spirits reflect, that the results are hardly worth the
sacrifice of the best years of life thus devoted to exile and suffering,
let them remember that "we are placed on earth for a certain period, to
fulfil, according to our several conditions and degrees of mind, those
duties by which the earth's history is carried on." (E. L. Bulwer's
"Life, Literature, and Manners.")


THE ALBERT N'YANZA.

CHAPTER I.

THE EXPEDITION

In March, 1861, I commenced an expedition to discover the sources of the
Nile, with the hope of meeting the East African expedition of Captains
Speke and Grant, that had been sent by the English Government from the
South via Zanzibar, for that object. I had not the presumption to
publish my intention, as the sources of the Nile had hitherto defied all
explorers, but I had inwardly determined to accomplish this difficult
task or to die in the attempt. From my youth I had been inured to
hardships and endurance in wild sports in tropical climates, and when I
gazed upon the map of Africa I had a wild hope, mingled with humility,
that, even as the insignificant worm bores through the hardest oak, I
might by perseverance reach the heart of Africa.

I could not conceive that anything in this world had power to resist a
determined will, so long as health and life remained. The failure of
every former attempt to reach the Nile source did not astonish me, as
the expeditions had consisted of parties, which, when difficulties
occur, generally end in difference of opinion and retreat: I therefore
determined to proceed alone, trusting in the guidance of a Divine
Providence and the good fortune that sometimes attends a tenacity of
purpose. I weighed carefully the chances of the undertaking. Before
me--untrodden Africa; against me--the obstacles that had defeated the
world since its creation; on my side--a somewhat tough constitution,
perfect independence, a long experience in savage life, and both time
and means which I intended to devote to the object without limit.
England had never sent an expedition to the Nile sources previous to
that under the command of Speke and Grant. Bruce, ninety years ago, had
succeeded in tracing the source of the Blue or Lesser Nile: thus the
honour of that discovery belonged to Great Britain; Speke was on his
road from the South; and I felt confident that my gallant friend would
leave his bones upon the path rather than submit to failure. I trusted
that England would not be beaten; and although I hardly dared to hope
that I could succeed where others greater than I had failed, I
determined to sacrifice all in the attempt. Had I been alone it would
have been no hard lot to die upon the untrodden path before me, but
there was one who, although my greatest comfort, was also my greatest
care; one whose life yet dawned at so early an age that womanhood was
still a future. I shuddered at the prospect for her, should she be left
alone in savage lands at my death; and gladly would I have left her in
the luxuries of home instead of exposing her to the miseries of Africa.

It was in vain that I implored her to remain, and that I painted the
difficulties and perils still blacker than I supposed they really would
be: she was resolved, with woman's constancy and devotion, to share all
dangers and to follow me through each rough footstep of the wild life
before me. "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest I will go, and where
thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my
God: where thou diest will I die; and there will I be buried: the Lord
do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."

Thus accompanied by my wife, on the 15th April 1861, I sailed up the
Nile from Cairo. The wind blew fair and strong from the north, and we
flew towards the south against the stream, watching those mysterious
waters with a firm resolve to track them to their distant fountain.

On arrival at Korosko, in Lat. 22 degrees 44 minutes, in twenty-six days
from Cairo, we started across the Nubian desert, thus cutting off the
western bend of the Nile, and in seven days' forced camel march we again
reached the river Abou Hamed. The journey through that desert is most
fatiguing, as the march averages fifteen hours a day through a
wilderness of scorching sand and glowing basalt rocks. The simoom was in
full force at that season (May), and the thermometer, placed in the
shade by the water skins, stood at 114 degrees Fahrenheit.

No drinkable water was procurable on the route; thus our supply was
nearly expended upon reaching the welcome Nile. After eight days' march
on the margin of the river from Abou Hamed through desert, but in view
of the palm trees that bordered the river, we arrived at Berber, a
considerable town in lat. 17 degrees 58 minutes on the banks of the
Nile.

Berber is eight days' camel march from Khartoum (at the junction of the
White and Blue Niles, in lat. 15 degrees 30 minutes), and is the regular
caravan route between that town and Cairo.

From the slight experience I had gained in the journey to Berber, I felt
convinced that success in my Nile expedition would be impossible without
a knowledge of Arabic. My dragoman had me completely in his power, and I
resolved to become independent of all interpreters as soon as possible.
I therefore arranged a plan of exploration for the first year, to
embrace the affluents to the Nile from the Abyssinian range of
mountains, intending to follow up the Atbara river from its junction
with the Nile in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes (twenty miles south of
Berber), and to examine all the Nile tributaries from the southeast as
far as the Blue Nile, which river I hoped ultimately to descend to
Khartoum. I imagined that twelve months would be sufficient to complete
such an exploration, by which time I should have gained a sufficient
knowledge of Arabic to enable me to start from Khartoum for my White
Nile expedition. Accordingly I left Berber on the 11th June, 1861, and
arrived at the Atbara junction with the Nile on the 13th.

There is no portion of the Nile so great in its volume as that part
situated at the Atbara junction. The river Atbara is about 450 yards in
average width, and from twenty-five to thirty feet deep during the rainy
season. It brings down the entire drainage of Eastern Abyssinia,
receiving as affluents into its main stream the great rivers Taccazy (or
Settite), in addition to the Salaam and Angrab. The junction of the
Atbara in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes N. is thus, in a direct line from
Alexandria, about 840 geographical miles of latitude, and, including the
westerly bend of the Nile, its bed will be about eleven hundred miles in
length from the mouth of its last tributary, the Atbara, until it meets
the sea. Thus, eleven hundred miles of absorption and evaporation
through sandy deserts and the delta must be sustained by the river
between the Atbara junction and the Mediterranean: accordingly there is
an immense loss of water; and the grandest volume of the Nile must be
just below the Atbara junction.

It is not my intention in the present work to enter into the details of
my first year's exploration on the Abyssinian frontier; that being so
extensive and so completely isolated from the grand White Nile
expedition, that an amalgamation of the two would create confusion. I
shall therefore reserve the exploration of the Abyssinian tributaries
for a future publication, and confine my present description of the
Abyssinian rivers to a general outline of the Atbara and Blue Nile,
showing the origin of their floods and their effect upon the inundations
in Lower Egypt.

I followed the banks of the Atbara to the junction of the Settite or
Taccazy river; I then followed the latter grand stream into the
Abyssinian mountains in the Base country. From thence I crossed over to
the rivers Salaam and Angrab, at the foot of the magnificent range of
mountains from which they flow direct into the Atbara. Having explored
those rivers, I passed through an extensive and beautiful tract of
country forming a portion of Abyssinia on the south bank of the river
Salaam; and again crossing the Atbara, I arrived at the frontier town of
Gellabat, known by Bruce as "Ras el Feel." Marching due west from that
point I arrived at the river Rahad, in about lat. 12 degrees 30 minutes;
descending its banks I crossed over a narrow strip of country to the
west, arriving at the river Dinder, and following these streams to their
junction with the Blue Nile, I descended that grand river to Khartoum,
having been exactly twelve months from the day I had left Berber.

The whole of the above-mentioned rivers--i.e. the Atbara, Settite,
Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, and Blue Nile--are the great drains of
Abyssinia, all having a uniform course from southeast to northwest, and
meeting the main Nile in two mouths; by the Blue Nile at Khartoum, 15
degrees 30 minutes, and by the Atbara, in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes.
The Blue Nile during the dry season is so reduced that there is not
sufficient water for the small vessels engaged in transporting produce
from Sennaar to Khartoum; at that time the water is beautifully clear,
and, reflecting the cloudless sky, its colour has given it the
well-known name of Bahr el Azrak, or Blue River. No water is more
delicious than that of the Blue Nile; in great contrast to that of the
White river, which is never clear, and has a disagreeable taste of
vegetation. This difference in the quality of the waters is a
distinguishing characteristic of the two rivers: the one, the Blue Nile,
is a rapid mountain stream, rising and falling with great rapidity; the
other is of lake origin, flowing through vast marshes. The course of the
Blue Nile is through fertile soil; thus there is a trifling loss by
absorption, and during the heavy rains a vast amount of earthy matter of
a red colour is contributed by its waters to the general fertilizing
deposit of the Nile in Lower Egypt.

The Atbara, although so important a river in the rainy season of
Abyssinia, is perfectly dry for several months during the year, and at
the time I first saw it, June 13, 1861, it was a mere sheet of glaring
sand; in fact a portion of the desert through which it flowed. For
upwards of one hundred and fifty miles from its junction with the Nile,
it is perfectly dry from the beginning of March to June. At intervals of
a few miles there are pools or ponds of water left in the deep holes
below the general average of the river's bed. In these pools, some of
which may be a mile in length, are congregated all the inhabitants of
the river, who as the stream disappears are forced to close quarters in
these narrow asylums; thus, crocodiles, hippopotami, fish, and large
turtle are crowded in extraordinary numbers, until the commencement of
the rains in Abyssinia once more sets them at liberty by sending down a
fresh volume to the river. The rainy season commences in Abyssinia in
the middle of May, but the country being parched by the summer heat, the
first rains are absorbed by the soil, and the torrents do not fill until
the middle of June.

From June to the middle of September the storms are terrific; every
ravine becomes a raging torrent; trees are rooted up by the mountain
streams swollen above their banks, and the Atbara becomes a vast river,
bringing down with an overwhelming current the total drainage of four
large rivers--the Settite, Royan, Salaam, and Angrab--in addition to its
own original volume. Its waters are dense with soil washed from most
fertile lands far from its point of junction with the Nile; masses of
bamboo and driftwood, together with large trees, and frequently the dead
bodies of elephants and buffaloes, are hurled along its muddy waters in
wild confusion, bringing a rich harvest to the Arabs on its banks, who
are ever on the look-out for the river's treasures of fuel and timber.

The Blue Nile and the Atbara receiving the entire drainage of Abyssinia,
at the same time pour their floods into the main Nile in the middle of
June. At that season the White Nile is at a considerable level, although
not at its HIGHEST; and the sudden rush of water descending from
Abyssinia into the main channel, already at a fair level from the White
Nile, causes the annual inundation in Lower Egypt.

During the year that I passed in the northern portion of Abyssinia and
its frontiers, the rains continued with great violence for three months,
the last shower falling on the 16th September, from which date there was
neither dew nor rain until the following May. The great rivers expended,
and the mountain torrents dried up; the Atbara disappeared, and once
more became a sheet of glaring sand. The rivers Settite, Salaam, and
Angrab, although much reduced, are nevertheless perennial streams,
flowing into the Atbara from the lofty Abyssinian mountains; but the
parched, sandy bed of the latter river absorbs the entire supply, nor
does one drop of water reach the Nile from the Atbara during the dry
season. The wonderful absorption by the sand of that river is an
illustration of the impotence of the Blue Nile to contend unaided with
the Nubian deserts, which, were it not for the steady volume of the
White Nile, would drink every drop of water before the river could pass
the twenty-fifth degree of latitude.

The principal affluents of the Blue Nile are the Rahad and Dinder,
flowing, like all others, from Abyssinia. The Rahad is entirely dry
during the dry season, and the Dinder is reduced to a succession of deep
pools, divided by sandbanks, the bed of the river being exposed. These
pools are the resort of numerous hippopotami and the natural inhabitants
of the river.

Having completed the exploration of the various affluents to the Nile
from Abyssinia, passing through the Base country and the portion of
Abyssinia occupied by Mek Nimmur, I arrived at Khartoum, the capital of
the Soudan provinces, on the 11th June, 1862.

Khartoum is situated in lat. 15 degrees 29 minutes, on a point of land
forming the angle between the White and Blue Niles at their junction. A
more miserable, filthy, and unhealthy spot can hardly be imagined. Far
as the eye can reach, upon all sides, is a sandy desert. The town,
chiefly composed of huts of unburnt brick, extends over a flat hardly
above the level of the river at high water, and is occasionally flooded.
Although containing about 30,000 inhabitants, and densely crowded, there
are neither drains nor cesspools: the streets are redolent with
inconceivable nuisances; should animals die, they remain where they
fall, to create pestilence and disgust. There are, nevertheless, a few
respectable houses, occupied by the traders of the country, a small
proportion of whom are Italians, French, and Germans, the European
population numbering about thirty. Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Armenians,
Turks, Arabs, and Egyptians, form the motley inhabitants of Khartoum.

There are consuls for France, Austria, and America, and with much
pleasure I acknowledge many kind attentions, and assistance received
from the two former, M. Thibaut and Herr Hansall.

Khartoum is the seat of government, the Soudan provinces being under the
control of a Governor-general, with despotic power. In 1861, there were
about six thousand troops quartered in the town; a portion of these were
Egyptians; other regiments were composed of blacks from Kordofan, and
from the White and Blue Niles, with one regiment of Arnouts, and a
battery of artillery. These troops are the curse of the country: as in
the case of most Turkish and Egyptian officials, the receipt of pay is
most irregular, and accordingly the soldiers are under loose discipline.
Foraging and plunder is the business of the Egyptian soldier, and the
miserable natives must submit to insult and ill-treatment at the will of
the brutes who pillage them ad libitum.

In 1862, Moosa Pasha was the Governor-general of the Soudan. This man
was a rather exaggerated specimen of Turkish authorities in general,
combining the worst of Oriental failings with the brutality of a wild
animal. During his administration the Soudan became utterly ruined;
governed by military force, the revenue was unequal to the expenditure,
and fresh taxes were levied upon the inhabitants to an extent that
paralyzed the entire country. The Turk never improves. There is an Arab
proverb that "the grass never grows in the footprint of a Turk," and
nothing can be more aptly expressive of the character of the nation than
this simple adage. Misgovernment, monopoly, extortion, and oppression,
are the certain accompaniments of Turkish administration. At a great
distance from all civilization, and separated from Lower Egypt by the
Nubian deserts, Khartoum affords a wide field for the development of
Egyptian official character. Every official plunders; the
Governor-general extorts from all sides; he fills his private pockets by
throwing every conceivable obstacle in the way of progress, and
embarrasses every commercial movement in order to extort bribes from
individuals. Following the general rule of his predecessors, a new
governor upon arrival exhibits a spasmodic energy. Attended by cavasses
and soldiers, he rides through every street of Khartoum, abusing the
underlings for past neglect, ordering the streets to be swept, and the
town to be thoroughly cleansed; he visits the marketplace, examines the
quality of the bread at the bakers' stalls, and the meat at the
butchers'. He tests the accuracy of the weights and scales; fines and
imprisons the impostors, and institutes a complete reform, concluding
his sanitary and philanthropic arrangements by the imposition of some
local taxes.

The town is comparatively sweet; the bread is of fair weight and size,
and the new governor, like a new broom, has swept all clean. A few weeks
glide away, and the nose again recalls the savory old times when streets
were never swept, and filth once more reigns paramount. The town
relapses into its former state, again the false weights usurp the place
of honest measures, and the only permanent and visible sign of the new
administration is the local tax.

From the highest to the lowest official, dishonesty and deceit are the
rule--and each robs in proportion to his grade in the Government
employ--the onus of extortion falling upon the natives; thus, exorbitant
taxes are levied upon the agriculturists, and the industry of the
inhabitants is disheartened by oppression. The taxes are collected by
the soldiery, who naturally extort by violence an excess of the actual
impost; accordingly the Arabs limit their cultivation to their bare
necessities, fearing that a productive farm would entail an extortionate
demand. The heaviest and most unjust tax is that upon the "sageer," or
water wheel, by which the farmer irrigates his otherwise barren soil.

The erection of the sageer is the first step necessary to cultivation.
On the borders of the river there is much land available for
agriculture; but from an almost total want of rain the ground must be
constantly irrigated by artificial means. No sooner does an enterprising
fellow erect a water wheel, than he is taxed, not only for his wheel,
but he brings upon himself a perfect curse, as the soldiers employed for
the collection of taxes fasten upon his garden, and insist upon a
variety of extras in the shape of butter, corn, vegetables, sheep, &c.
for themselves, which almost ruin the proprietor. Any government but
that of Egypt and Turkey would offer a bonus for the erection of
irrigating machinery that would give a stimulus to cultivation, and
multiply the produce of the country; but the only rule without an
exception is that of Turkish extortion. I have never met with any
Turkish official who would take the slightest interest in plans for the
improvement of the country, unless he discovered a means of filling his
private purse. Thus in a country where Nature has been hard in her
measure dealt to the inhabitants, they are still more reduced by
oppression. The Arabs fly from their villages on the approach of the
brutal tax-gatherers, driving their flocks and herds with them to
distant countries, and leaving their standing crops to the mercy of the
soldiery. No one can conceive the suffering of the country.

The general aspect of the Soudan is that of misery; nor is there a
single feature of attraction to recompense a European for the drawbacks
of pestilential climate and brutal associations. To a stranger it
appears a superlative folly that the Egyptian Government should have
retained a possession, the occupation of which is wholly unprofitable;
the receipts being far below the expenditure, "malgre" the increased
taxation. At so great a distance from the seacoast and hemmed in by
immense deserts, there is a difficulty of transport that must nullify
all commercial transactions on an extended scale.

The great and most important article of commerce as an export from the
Soudan, is gum arabic: this is produced by several species of mimosa,
the finest quality being a product of Kordofan; the other natural
productions exported are senna, hides, and ivory. All merchandise both
to and from the Soudan must be transported upon camels, no other animals
being adapted to the deserts. The cataracts of the Nile between Assouan
and Khartoum rendering the navigation next to impossible, the camel is
the only medium of transport, and the uncertainty of procuring them
without great delay is the trader's greatest difficulty. The entire
country is subject to droughts that occasion a total desolation, and the
want of pasture entails starvation upon both cattle and camels,
rendering it at certain seasons impossible to transport the productions
of the country, and thus stagnating all enterprise. Upon existing
conditions the Soudan is worthless, having neither natural capabilities
nor political importance; but there is, nevertheless, a reason that
first prompted its occupation by the Egyptians, and that is in force to
the present day. THE SOUDAN SUPPLIES SLAVES. Without the White Nile
trade Khartoum would almost cease to exist; and that trade is kidnapping
and murder. The character of the Khartoumers needs no further comment.
The amount of ivory brought down from the White Nile is a mere bagatelle
as an export, the annual value being about 40,000 pounds.

The people for the most part engaged in the nefarious traffic of the
White Nile are Syrians, Copts, Turks, Circassians, and some few
EUROPEANS. So closely connected with the difficulties of my expedition
is that accursed slave trade, that the so-called ivory trade of the
White Nile requires an explanation.

Throughout the Soudan money is exceedingly scarce and the rate of
interest exorbitant, varying, according to the securities, from
thirty-six to eighty percent; this fact proves general poverty and
dishonesty, and acts as a preventive to all improvement. So high and
fatal a rate deters all honest enterprise, and the country must lie in
ruin under such a system. The wild speculator borrows upon such terms,
to rise suddenly like a rocket, or to fall like its exhausted stick.
Thus, honest enterprise being impossible, dishonesty takes the lead, and
a successful expedition to the White Nile is supposed to overcome all
charges. There are two classes of White Nile traders, the one possessing
capital, the other being penniless adventurers; the same system of
operations is pursued by both, but that of the former will be evident
from the description of the latter.

A man without means forms an expedition, and borrows money for this
purpose at 100 percent after this fashion. He agrees to repay the lender
in ivory at one-half its market value. Having obtained the required sum,
he hires several vessels and engages from 100 to 300 men, composed of
Arabs and runaway villains from distant countries, who have found an
asylum from justice in the obscurity of Khartoum. He purchases guns and
large quantities of ammunition for his men, together with a few hundred
pounds of glass beads. The piratical expedition being complete, he pays
his men five months' wages in advance, at the rate of forty-five
piastres (nine shillings) per month, and he agrees to give them eighty
piastres per month for any period exceeding the five months advanced.
His men receive their advance partly in cash and partly in cotton stuffs
for clothes at an exorbitant price. Every man has a strip of paper, upon
which is written by the clerk of the expedition the amount he has
received both in goods and money, and this paper he must produce at the
final settlement.

The vessels sail about December, and on arrival at the desired locality,
the party disembark and proceed into the interior, until they arrive at
the village of some negro chief, with whom they establish an intimacy.
Charmed with his new friends, the power of whose weapons he
acknowledges, the negro chief does not neglect the opportunity of
seeking their alliance to attack a hostile neighbour. Marching
throughout the night, guided by their negro hosts, they bivouac within
an hour's march of the unsuspecting village doomed to an attack about
half an hour before break of day. The time arrives, and, quietly
surrounding the village while its occupants are still sleeping, they
fire the grass huts in all directions, and pour volleys of musketry
through the flaming thatch. Panic-stricken, the unfortunate victims rush
from their burning dwellings, and the men are shot down like pheasants
in a battue, while the women and children, bewildered in the danger and
confusion, are kidnapped and secured. The herds of cattle, still within
their kraal or "zareeba," are easily disposed of, and are driven off
with great rejoicing, as the prize of victory. The women and children
are then fastened together, the former secured in an instrument called a
sheba, made of a forked pole, the neck of the prisoner fitting into the
fork, secured by a cross piece lashed behind; while the wrists, brought
together in advance of the body, are tied to the pole. The children are
then fastened by their necks with a rope attached to the women, and thus
form a living chain, in which order they are marched to the headquarters
in company with the captured herds.

This is the commencement of business: should there be ivory in any of
the huts not destroyed by the fire, it is appropriated; a general
plunder takes place. The trader's party dig up the floors of the huts to
search for iron hoes, which are generally thus concealed, as the
greatest treasure of the negroes; the granaries are overturned and
wantonly destroyed, and the hands are cut off the bodies of the slain,
the more easily to detach the copper or iron bracelets that are usually
worn. With this booty the traders return to their negro ally: they have
thrashed and discomfited his enemy, which delights him; they present him
with thirty or forty head of cattle, which intoxicates him with joy, and
a present of a pretty little captive girl of about fourteen completes
his happiness.

But business only commenced. The negro covets cattle, and the trader has
now captured perhaps 2,000 head. They are to be had for ivory, and
shortly the tusks appear. Ivory is daily brought into camp in exchange
for cattle, a tusk for a cow, according to size--a profitable business,
as the cows have cost nothing. The trade proves brisk; but still there
remain some little customs to be observed--some slight formalities, well
understood by the White Nile trade. The slaves and two-thirds of the
captured cattle belong to the trader, but his men claim as their
perquisite one-third of the stolen animals. These having been divided,
the slaves are put up to public auction among the men, who purchase such
as they require; the amount being entered on the papers (serki) of the
purchasers, to be reckoned against their wages. To avoid the exposure,
should the document fall into the hands of the Government or European
consuls, the amount is not entered as for the purchase of a slave, but
is divided for fictitious supplies--thus, should a slave be purchased
for 1,000 piastres, that amount would appear on the document somewhat as
follows:

    Soap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Piastres.
    Tarboash(cap) . . . . . . . . . 100
    Araki . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
    Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
    Cotton Cloth . . . . . . . . .  150
    Total                         1,000

The slaves sold to the men are constantly being changed and resold among
themselves; but should the relatives of the kidnapped women and children
wish to ransom them, the trader takes them from his men, cancels the
amount of purchase, and restores them to their relations for a certain
number of elephants' tusks, as may be agreed upon. Should any slave
attempt to escape, she is punished either by brutal flogging, or shot or
hanged, as a warning to others.

An attack or razzia, such as described, generally leads to a quarrel
with the negro ally, who in his turn is murdered and plundered by the
trader--his women and children naturally becoming slaves.

A good season for a party of a hundred and fifty men should produce
about two hundred cantars (20,000 lbs.) of ivory, valued at Khartoum at
4,000 pounds. The men being paid in slaves, the wages should be nil, and
there should be a surplus of four or five hundred slaves for the
trader's own profit--worth on an average five to six pounds each.

The boats are accordingly packed with a human cargo, and a portion of
the trader's men accompany them to the Soudan, while the remainder of
the party form a camp or settlement in the country they have adopted,
and industriously plunder, massacre, and enslave, until their master's
return with the boats from Khartoum in the following season, by which
time they are supposed to have a cargo of slaves and ivory ready for
shipment. The business thus thoroughly established, the slaves are
landed at various points within a few days' journey of Khartoum, at
which places are agents, or purchasers; waiting to receive them with
dollars prepared for cash payments. The purchasers and dealers are, for
the most part, Arabs. The slaves are then marched across the country to
different places; many to Sennaar, where they are sold to other dealers,
who sell them to the Arabs and to the Turks. Others are taken immense
distances to ports on the Red Sea, Souakim, and Masowa, there to be
shipped for Arabia and Persia. Many are sent to Cairo, and in fact they
are disseminated throughout the slave-dealing East, the White Nile being
the great nursery for the supply.

The amiable trader returns from the White Nile to Khartoum; hands over
to his creditor sufficient ivory to liquidate the original loan of
1,000 pounds, and, already a man of capital, he commences as an
independent trader.

Such was the White Nile trade when I prepared to start from Khartoum on
my expedition to the Nile sources. Every one in Khartoum, with the
exception of a few Europeans, was in favor of the slave trade, and
looked with jealous eyes upon a stranger venturing within the precincts
of their holy land; a land sacred to slavery and to every abomination
and villany that man can commit.

The Turkish officials pretended to discountenance slavery: at the same
time every house in Khartoum was full of slaves, and the Egyptian
officers had been in the habit of receiving a portion of their pay in
slaves, precisely as the men employed on the White Nile were paid by
their employers. The Egyptian authorities looked upon the exploration of
the White Nile by a European traveller as an infringement of their slave
territory that resulted from espionage, and every obstacle was thrown in
my way.

Foreseeing many difficulties, I had been supplied, before leaving Egypt,
with a firman from H. E. Said Pasha the Viceroy, by the request of H. B.
M. agent, Sir R. Colquhoun; but this document was ignored by the
Governor-general of the Soudan, Moosa Pasha, under the miserable
prevarication that the firman was for the Pasha's dominions and for the
Nile; whereas the White Nile was not accepted as the Nile, but was known
as the White River. I was thus refused boats, and in fact all
assistance.

To organize an enterprise so difficult that it had hitherto defeated the
whole world required a careful selection of attendants, and I looked
with despair at the prospect before me. The only men procurable for
escort were the miserable cutthroats of Khartoum, accustomed to murder
and pillage. in the White Nile trade, and excited not by the love of
adventure but by the desire for plunder: to start with such men appeared
mere insanity. There was a still greater difficulty in connection with
the White Nile. For years the infernal traffic in slaves and its
attendant horrors had existed like a pestilence in the negro countries,
and had so exasperated the tribes, that people who in former times were
friendly had become hostile to all comers. An exploration to the Nile
sources was thus a march through an enemy's country, and required a
powerful force of well-armed men. For the traders there was no great
difficulty, as they took the initiative in hostilities, and had fixed
camps as "points d'appui;" but for an explorer there was no alternative
but a direct forward march without any communications with the rear. I
had but slight hope of success without assistance from the authorities
in the shape of men accustomed to discipline; I accordingly wrote to the
British consul at Alexandria, and requested him to apply for a few
soldiers and boats to aid me in so difficult an enterprise. After some
months' delay, owing to the great distance from Khartoum, I received a
reply enclosing a letter from Ishmael Pasha (the present Viceroy), the
regent during the absence of Said Pasha, REFUSING the application.

I confess to the enjoyment of a real difficulty. From the first I had
observed that the Egyptian authorities did not wish to encourage English
explorations of the slave-producing districts, as such examinations
would be detrimental to the traffic, and would lead to reports to the
European governments that would ultimately prohibit the trade; it was
perfectly clear that the utmost would be done to prevent my expedition
from starting. This opposition gave a piquancy to the undertaking, and I
resolved that nothing should thwart my plans. Accordingly I set to work
in earnest. I had taken the precaution to obtain an order upon the
Treasury at Khartoum for what money I required, and as ready cash
performs wonders in that country of credit and delay, I was within a few
weeks ready to start. I engaged three vessels, including two large
noggurs or sailing barges, and a good decked vessel with comfortable
cabins, known by all Nile tourists as a diahbiah.

The preparations for such a voyage are no trifles. I required forty-five
armed men as escort, forty men as sailors, which, with servants, &c.,
raised my party to ninety-six. The voyage to Gondokoro, the navigable
limit of the Nile, was reported to be from forty-five to fifty days from
Khartoum, but provisions were necessary for four months, as the boatmen
would return to Khartoum with the vessels, after landing me and my
party. In the hope of meeting Speke and Grant's party, I loaded the
boats with an extra quantity of corn, making a total of a hundred urdeps
(rather exceeding 400 bushels). I had arranged the boats to carry
twenty-one donkeys, four camels, and four horses; which I hoped would
render me independent of porters, the want of transport being the great
difficulty. The saddles, packs, and pads were all made under my own
superintendence; nor was the slightest trifle neglected in the necessary
arrangements for success. In all the detail, I was much assisted by a
most excellent man whom I had engaged to accompany me as my head man, a
German carpenter, Johann Schmidt. I had formerly met him hunting on the
banks of the Settite river, in the Base country, where he was
purchasing living animals from the Arabs, for a contractor to a
menagerie in Europe; he was an excellent sportsman, and an energetic and
courageous fellow; perfectly sober and honest. Alas! "the spirit was
willing, but the flesh was weak," and a hollow cough, and emaciation,
attended with hurried respiration, suggested disease of the lungs. Day
after day he faded gradually, and I endeavoured to persuade him not to
venture upon such a perilous journey as that before me: nothing would
persuade him that he was in danger, and he had an idea that the climate
of Khartoum was more injurious than the White Nile, and that the voyage
would improve his health. Full of good feeling, and a wish to please, he
persisted in working and perfecting the various arrangements, when he
should have been saving his strength for a severer trial.

Meanwhile, my preparations progressed. I had clothed my men all in
uniform, and had armed them with double-barrelled guns and rifles. I
had explained to them thoroughly the object of my journey, and that
implicit obedience would be enforced, so long as they were in my
service; that no plunder would be permitted, and that their names were
to be registered at the public Divan before they started. They promised
fidelity and devotion, but a greater set of scoundrels in physiognomy I
never encountered. Each man received five months' wages in advance, and
I gave them an entertainment, with abundance to eat and drink, to enable
them to start in good humor.

We were just ready to start; the supplies were all on board, the donkeys
and horses were shipped, when an officer arrived from the Divan, to
demand from me the poll tax that Moosa Pasha, the Governor-general, had
recently levied upon the inhabitants; and to inform me, that in the
event of my refusing to pay the said tax for each of my men, amounting
to one month's wages per head, he should detain my boats. I ordered my
captain to hoist the British flag upon each of the three boats, and sent
my compliments to the Government official, telling him that I was
neither a Turkish subject nor a trader, but an English explorer; that I
was not responsible for the tax, and that if any Turkish official should
board my boat, under the British flag, I should take the liberty of
throwing him overboard. This announcement appeared so practical, that
the official hurriedly departed, while I marched my men on board, and
ordered the boatmen to get ready to start. Just at that moment, a
Government vessel, by the merest chance, came swiftly down the river
under sail, and in the clumsiest manner crashed right into us. The oars
being lashed in their places on my boat, ready to start, were broken to
pieces by the other vessel, which, fouling another of my boats just
below, became fixed. The reis, or captain of the Government boat that
had caused the mischief, far from apologizing, commenced the foulest
abuse; and refused to give oars in exchange for those he had destroyed.
To start was impossible without oars, and an angry altercation being
carried on between my men and the Government boat, it was necessary to
come to closer quarters. The reis of the Government boat was a gigantic
black, a Tokrouri (native of Darfur), who, confident in his strength,
challenged any one to come on board, nor did any of my fellows respond
to the invitation. The insolence of Turkish Government officials is
beyond description--my oars were smashed, and this insult was the
reparation; so, stepping quickly on board, and brushing a few fellows on
one side, I was obliged to come to a physical explanation with the
captain, which terminated in a delivery of the oars. The bank of the
river was thronged with people, many were mere idlers attracted by the
bustle of the start, and others, the friends and relatives of my people,
who had come to say a last good-bye, with many women, to raise the Arab
cry of parting. Among others, was a tall, debauched-looking fellow,
excessively drunk and noisy, who, quarrelling with a woman who attempted
to restrain him, insisted upon addressing a little boy named Osman,
declaring that he should not accompany me unless he gave him a dollar to
get some drink. Osman was a sharp Arab boy of twelve years old, whom I
had engaged as one of the tent servants, and the drunken Arab was his
father, who wished to extort some cash from his son before he parted;
but the boy Osman showed his filial affection in a most touching manner,
by running into the cabin, and fetching a powerful hippopotamus whip,
with which he requested me to have his father thrashed, or "he would
never be gone." Without indulging this amiable boy's desire, we shoved
off; the three vessels rowed into the middle of the river, and hoisted
sail; a fair wind, and strong current, moved us rapidly down the stream;
the English flags fluttered gaily on the masts, and amidst the shouting
of farewells, and the rattling of musketry, we started for the sources
of the Nile. On passing the steamer belonging to the Dutch ladies,
Madame van Capellan, and her charming daughter, Mademoiselle Tinne, we
saluted them with a volley, and kept up a mutual waving of handkerchiefs
until out of view; little did we think that we should never meet those
kind faces again, and that so dreadful a fate would envelope almost the
entire party. [The entire party died of fever on the White Nile,
excepting Mademoiselle Tinne. The victims to the fatal climate of
Central Africa were Madame la Baronne van Capellan, her sister, two
Dutch maidservants, Dr. Steudner, and Signor Contarini.]

It was the 18th December, 1862, Thursday, one of the most lucky days for
a start, according to Arab superstition. In a few minutes we reached the
acute angle round which we had to turn sharply into the White Nile at
its junction with the Blue. It was blowing hard, and in tacking round
the point one of the noggurs carried away her yard, which fell upon deck
and snapped in half, fortunately without injuring either men or donkeys.
The yard being about a hundred feet in length, was a complicated affair
to splice; thus a delay took place in the act of starting which was
looked upon as a bad omen by my superstitious followers. The voyage up
the White Nile I now extract verbatim from my journal.

Friday, 19th Dec.--At daybreak took down the mast and unshipped all the
rigging; hard at work splicing the yard. The men of course wished to
visit their friends at Khartoum. Gave strict orders that no man should
leave the boats. One of the horsekeepers absconded before daybreak; sent
after him. The junction of the two Niles is a vast flat as far as the
eye can reach, the White Nile being about two miles broad some distance
above the point. Saati, my vakeel (headman), is on board one noggur as
chief; Johann on board the other, while I being on the diahbiah I trust
all the animals will be well cared for. I am very fearful of Johann's
state of health: the poor fellow is mere skin and bone, and I am afraid
his lungs are affected; he has fever again today; I have sent him
quinine and wine, &c.

20th Dec.--The whole of yesterday employed in splicing yard, repairing
mast, and re-rigging. At 8.30 A.M. we got away with a spanking breeze.
The diahbiah horridly leaky. The "tree," or rendezvous for all boats
when leaving for the White Nile voyage, consists of three large mimosas
about four miles from the point of junction. The Nile at this spot about
two miles wide--dead flat banks--mimosas on west bank. My two cabin
boys are very useful, and Osman's ringing laugh and constant
impertinence to the crew and soldiers keep the boat alive; he is a
capital boy, a perfect gamin, and being a tailor by trade he is very
useful: this accounts for his father wishing to detain him. The horses
and donkeys very snug on board. At 1 p.m. passed Gebel Ouli, a small
hill on south bank--course S.W. 1/2 S. At 8.30 p.m. reached Cetene, a
village of mixed Arabs on the east bank--anchored.

21st Dec.--All day busy clearing decks, caulking ship, and making room
for the camels on the noggurs, as this is the village to which I had
previously sent two men to select camels and to have them in readiness
for my arrival. The men have been selecting sweethearts instead; thus I
must wait here tomorrow, that being the "Soog" or market day, when I
shall purchase my camels and milch goats. The banks of the river very
uninteresting--flat, desert, and mimosa bush. The soil is not so rich
as on the banks of the Blue Nile--the dhurra (grain) is small. The Nile
is quite two miles wide up to this point, and the high-water mark is not
more than five feet above the present level. The banks shelve gradually
like the sands at low tide in England, and quite unlike the
perpendicular banks of the Blue Nile. Busy at gunsmith's work. The
nights and mornings are now cold, from 60 degrees to 62 degrees F.
Johann makes me very anxious: I much fear he cannot last long, unless
some sudden change for the better takes place.

22d Dec.--Selected two fine camels and shipped them in slings with some
difficulty. Bought four oxen at nine herias each (l5s.); the men
delighted at the work of slaughtering, and jerking the meat for the
voyage. Bought four milch goats at 9 ps. each, and laid in a large stock
of dhurra straw for the animals. Got all my men on board and sailed at
4.30 p.m., course due west; variation allowed for. I have already
reduced my men from wolves to lambs, and I should like to see the
outrageous acts of mutiny which are the scapegoats of the traders for
laying their atrocities upon the men's shoulders. I cannot agree with
some writers in believing that personal strength is unnecessary to a
traveller. In these savage countries it adds materially to the success
of an expedition, provided that it be combined with kindness of manner,
justice, and unflinching determination. Nothing impresses savages so
forcibly as the _power_ to punish and reward. I am not sure that this
theory is applicable to savages exclusively. Arrived at Wat Shely at 9
P.M. 23d Dec.--Poor Johann very ill. Bought two camels, and shipped them
all right: the market at this miserable village is as poor as that at
Getene. The river is about a mile and a half wide, fringed with mimosas;
country dead flat; soil very sandy; much cultivation near the village,
but the dhurra of poor quality. Saw many hippopotami in the river. I
much regret that I allowed Johann to accompany me from Khartoum; I feel
convinced he can never rally from his present condition.

24th Dec.--Sailed yesterday at 4.5 P.M., course south. This morning we
are off the Bagara country on the west bank. Dead flats of mimosas, many
of the trees growing in the water; the river generally shallow, and many
snags or dead stumps of trees. I have been fortunate with my men, only
one being drunk on leaving Wat Shely; him we carried forcibly on board.
Passed the island of Hassaniah at 2.20 P.M.; the usual flats covered
with mimosas. The high-water mark upon the stems of these trees is three
feet above the present level of the river; thus an immense extent of
country must be flooded during the wet season, as there are no banks to
the river. The water will retire in about two months, when the
neighbourhood of the river will be thronged with natives and their
flocks. All the natives of these parts are Arabs; the Bagara tribe on
the west bank. At Wat Shely some of the latter came on board to offer
their services as slave-hunters, this open offer confirming the general
custom of all vessels trading upon the White Nile.

25th Dec.--The Tokroori boy, Saat, is very amiable in calling all the
servants daily to eat together the residue from our table; but he being
so far civilized, is armed with a huge spoon, and having a mouth like a
crocodile, he obtains a fearful advantage over the rest of the party,
who eat the soup by dipping kisras (pancakes) into it with their
fingers. Meanwhile Saat sits among his invited guests, and works away
with his spoon like a sageer (water-wheel), and gets an unwarrantable
start, the soup disappearing like water in the desert. A dead calm the
greater portion of the day; the river fringed with mimosa forest. These
trees are the Soont (Acacia Arabica), which produce an excellent tannin:
the fruit, "garra," is used for that purpose, and produces a rich brown
dye: all my clothes and the uniforms of my men I dyed at Khartoum with
this "garra." The trees are about eighteen inches in diameter and
thirty-five feet high; being in full foliage, their appearance from a
distance is good, but on a closer approach the forest proves to be a
desolate swamp, completely overflowed; a mass of fallen dead trees
protruding from the stagnant waters, a solitary crane perched here and
there upon the rotten boughs; floating water-plants massed together, and
forming green swimming islands, hitched generally among the sunken
trunks and branches; sometimes slowly descending with the sluggish
stream, bearing, spectre-like, storks thus voyaging on nature's rafts
from lands unknown. It is a fever-stricken wilderness--the current not
exceeding a quarter of a mile per hour--the water coloured like an
English horse-pond; a heaven for mosquitoes and a damp hell for man.
Fortunately, this being the cold season, the winged plagues are absent.
The country beyond the inundated mimosa woods is of the usual sandy
character, with thorny Kittur bush. Saw a few antelopes. Stopped at a
horrible swamp to collect firewood. Anchored at night in a dead calm,
well out in the river to escape malaria from the swamped forest. This is
a precaution that the men would neglect, and my expedition might suffer
in consequence. Christmas Day!

26th Dec.--Good breeze at about 3 A.M.; made sail. I have never seen a
fog in this part of Africa; although the neighbourhood of the river is
swampy, the air is clear both in the morning and evening. Floating
islands of water-plants are now very numerous. There is a plant
something like a small cabbage (Pistia Stratiotes, L.), which floats
alone until it meets a comrade; these unite, and recruiting as they
float onward, they eventually form masses of many thousands, entangling
with other species of water-plants and floating wood, until they at
length form floating islands. Saw many hippopotami; the small hill in
the Dinka country seen from the masthead at 9.15 A.M.; breeze light, but
steady; the banks of the river, high grass and mimosas, but not forest
as formerly. Water lilies in full bloom, white, but larger than the
European variety. In the evening the crew and soldiers singing and
drumming.

27th Dec.--Blowing hard all night. Passed the Dinka hill at 3.30 A.M.
Obliged to take in sail, as it buried the head of the vessel and we
shipped much water. Staggering along under bare poles at about five
miles an hour. The true banks of the river are about five hundred yards
distant from the actual stream, this space being a mass of floating
water-plants, decayed vegetable matter, and a high reedy grass much
resembling sugarcanes; the latter excellent food for my animals. Many
very interesting water-plants and large quantities of Ambatch wood
(Anemone mirabilis)--this wood, of less specific gravity than cork, is
generally used for rafts; at this season it is in full bloom, its bright
yellow blossoms enlivening the dismal swamps. Secured very fine
specimens of a variety of helix from the floating islands. In this spot
the river is from 1500 yards to a mile wide; the country, flat and
uninteresting, being the usual scattered thorn bushes and arid plains,
the only actual timber being confined to the borders of the river.
Course, always south with few turns. My sponging-bath makes a good
pinnace for going ashore from the vessel. At 4.20 P.M. one of the
noggurs carried away her yard--the same boat that met with the accident
at our departure; hove to, and closed with the bank for repairs. Here is
an affair of delay; worked with my own hands until 9 p.m.; spliced the
yard, bound it with rhinoceros thongs, and secured the whole splice with
raw bull's hide. Posted sentries--two on each boat, and two on shore.

28th Dec.--At work at break of day. Completed the repair of yard, which
is disgracefully faulty. Re-rigged the mast. Poor Johann will die, I
much fear. His constitution appears to be quite broken up; he has become
deaf, and there is every symptom of decay. I have done all I can for
him, but his voyage in this life is nearly over. Ship in order, and all
sailed together at 2:15 p.m. Strong north wind. Two vessels from
Khartoum passed us while repairing damages. I rearranged the donkeys,
dividing them into stalls containing three each, as they were such
donkeys that they crowded each other unnecessarily. Caught a curious
fish (Tetrodon physa of Geof.), that distends itself with air like a
bladder; colour black, and yellow stripes; lungs; apertures under the
fins, which open and shut by their movement, their motion being a
semi-revolution. This fish is a close link between fish and turtle; the
head is precisely that of the latter, having no teeth, but cutting jaws
of hard bone of immense power. Many minutes after the head had been
severed from the body, the jaws nipped with fury anything that was
inserted in the mouth, ripping through thin twigs and thick straw like a
pair of shears. The skin of the belly is white, and is armed with
prickles. The skin is wonderfully tough. I accordingly cut it into a
long thong, and bound up the stock of a rifle that had been split from
the recoil of heavy charges of powder. The flesh was strong of musk, and
uneatable. There is nothing so good as fish skin--or that of the
iguana, or of the crocodile--for lashing broken gun-stocks. Isinglass,
when taken fresh from the fish and bound round a broken stock like a
plaster, will become as strong as metal when dry. Country as usual--
flat and thorny bush. A heavy swell creates a curious effect in the
undulations of the green rafts upon the water. Dinka country on east
bank; Shillook on the west; course south; all Arab tribes are left
behind, and we are now thoroughly among the negroes.

29th Dec.--At midnight the river made a bend westward, which continued
for about fifteen miles. The wind being adverse, at 5 A.M. we found
ourselves fast in the grass and floating vegetation on the lee side. Two
hours' hard work at two ropes, alternately, fastened to the high grass
ahead of the boat and hauled upon from the deck, warped us round the
bend of the river, which turning due south, we again ran before a
favourable gale for two hours; all the boats well together. The east
bank of the river is not discernible--a vast expanse of high reeds
stretching as far as the eye can reach; course P.M. W.S.W. At 4 P.M. the
"Clumsy," as I have named one of our noggurs, suddenly carried away her
mast close by the board, the huge yard and rigging falling overboard
with the wreck, severely hurting two men and breaking one of their guns.
Hove to by an island on the Shillook side, towed the wreck ashore, and
assembled all the boats. Fortunately there is timber at hand; thus I cut
down a tree for a mast and got all ready for commencing repairs
tomorrow. Poor Johann is, as I had feared, dying; he bleeds from the
lungs, and is in the last stage of exhaustion. Posted six sentries.

30th Dec.--Johann is in a flying state, but sensible; all his hopes,
poor fellow, of saving money in my service and returning to Bavaria are
past. I sat by his bed for some hours; there was not a ray of hope; he
could speak with difficulty, and the flies walked across his glazed
eyeballs without his knowledge. Gently bathing his face and hands, I
asked him if I could deliver any message to his relatives. He faintly
uttered, "I am prepared to die; I have neither parents nor relations;
but there is one--she--" he faltered. He could not finish his sentence,
but his dying thoughts were with one he loved; far, far away from this
wild and miserable land, his spirit was transported to his native
village, and to the object that made life dear to him. Did not a shudder
pass over her, a chill warning at that sad moment when all was passing
away? I pressed his cold hand, and asked her name. Gathering his
remaining strength he murmured, "Krombach" [Krombach was merely the name
of his native village in Bavaria.] . . . "Es bleibt nur zu sterben."
"Ich bin sehr dankbar." These were the last words he spoke, "I am very
grateful." I gazed sorrowfully at his attenuated figure, and at the now
powerless hand that had laid low many an elephant and lion, in its day
of strength; and the cold sweat of death lay thick upon his forehead.
Although the pulse was not yet still, Johann was gone.

31st Dec.--Johann died. I made a huge cross with my own hands from the
trunk of a tamarind tree, and by moonlight we laid him in his grave in
this lonely spot.

   "No useless coffin inclosed his breast,
    Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;
    But he lay like a pilgrim taking his rest,
    With his mantle drawn around him."

This is a mournful commencement of the voyage. Poor fellow, I did all I
could for him although that was but little; and hands far more tender
than mine ministered to his last necessities. This sad event closes the
year 1862. Made sail at 8.30 p.m., the repairs of ship being completed.

1863, Jan. 1st, 2 o'clock a.m.--Melancholy thoughts preventing sleep,
I have watched the arrival of the new year. Thank God for His blessings
during the past, and may He guide us through the untrodden path before
us! We arrived at the village of Mahomed Her in the Shillook country.
This man is a native of Dongola, who, having become a White Nile
adventurer, established himself among the Shillook tribe with a band of
ruffians, and is the arch-slaver of the Nile. The country, as usual, a
dead flat: many Shillook villages on west bank all deserted, owing to
Mahomed Her's plundering. This fellow now assumes a right of territory,
and offers to pay tribute to the Egyptian Government, thus throwing a
sop to Cerberus to prevent intervention. Course S.W. The river in clear
water about seven hundred yards wide, but sedge on the east bank for a
couple of miles in width.

2d Jan.--The "Clumsy" lagging, come to grief again, having once more
sprung her rotten yard. Fine breeze, but obliged to wait upon this
wretched boat--the usual flat uninteresting marshes: Shillook villages
in great numbers on the terra firma to the west. Verily it is a pleasant
voyage; disgusting naked savages, everlasting marshes teeming with
mosquitoes, and the entire country devoid of anything of either common
interest or beauty. Course west the whole day; saw giraffes and one
ostrich on the east bank. On the west bank there is a regular line of
villages throughout the day's voyage within half a mile of each other;
the country very thickly populated. The huts are of mud, thatched,
having a very small entrance--they resemble button mushrooms. The
Shillooks are wealthy, immense herds of cattle swarm throughout their
country. The natives navigate the river in two kinds of canoes-one of
which is a curious combination of raft and canoe formed of the Ambatch
wood, which is so light, that the whole affair is portable. The Ambatch
(Anemone mirabilis) is seldom larger than a man's waist, and as it
tapers naturally to a point, the canoe rafts are quickly formed by
lashing the branches parallel to each other, and tying the narrow ends
together.

3d Jan.--The "Clumsy's" yard having been lashed with rhinoceros' hide,
fortunately holds together, although sprung. Stopped this morning on the
east bank, and gathered a supply of wood. On the west bank Shillook
villages as yesterday during the day's voyage, all within half a mile of
each other; one village situated among a thick grove of the dolape palms
close to the river. The natives, afraid of our boats, decamped, likewise
the fishermen, who were harpooning fish from small fishing stations
among the reeds.

The country, as usual, dead flat, and very marshy on the east bank, upon
which side I see no signs of habitations. Course this morning south.
Arrived at the river Sobat junction at 12.40 P.M., and anchored about
half a mile within that river at a spot where the Turks had formerly
constructed a camp. Not a tree to be seen; but dead flats of prairie and
marsh as far as the eye can reach. The Sobat is not more than a hundred
and twenty yards in breadth.

I measured the stream by a floating gourd, which travelled 130 yards in
112 seconds, equal to about two miles and a half an hour. The quality of
the water is very superior to that of the White Nile--this would suggest
that it is of mountain origin. Upward course of Sobat south, 25 degrees
east. Upward course of the White Nile west, 2 degrees north from the
Sobat junction.

4th Jan.--By observation of sun's meridian altitude, I make the latitude
of the Sobat junction 9 degrees 21 minutes 14 seconds. Busy fishing the
yard of the "Clumsy," and mending sails. The camels and donkeys all
well--plenty of fine grass--made a good stock of hay. My reis and
boatmen tell me that the Sobat, within a few days' sail of the junction,
divides into seven branches, all shallow and with a rapid current. The
banks are flat, and the river is now bank-full. Although the water is
perfectly clear, and there is no appearance of flood, yet masses of
weeds, as though torn from their beds by torrents, are constantly
floating down the stream. One of my men has been up the river to the
farthest navigable point; he declares that it is fed by many mountain
torrents, and that it runs out very rapidly at the cessation of the
rains. I sounded the river in many places, the depth varying very
slightly, from twenty-seven to twenty-eight feet. At 5 P.M. set sail
with a light breeze, and glided along the dead water of the White Nile.
Full moon--the water like a mirror; the country one vast and apparently
interminable marsh--the river about a mile wide, and more or less
covered with floating plants. The night still as death; dogs barking in
the distant villages, and herds of hippopotami snorting in all
directions, being disturbed by the boats. Course west.

5th Jan.--Fine breeze, as much as we can carry; boats running at eight
or nine miles an hour--no stream perceptible; vast marshes; the clear
water of the river not more than 150 yards wide, forming a channel
through the great extent of water grass resembling high sugarcanes,
which conceal the true extent of the river. About six miles west from
the Sobat junction on the north side of the river, is a kind of
backwater, extending north like a lake for a distance of several days'
boat journey: this is eventually lost in regions of high grass and
marshes; in the wet season this forms a large lake. A hill bearing north
20 degrees west so distant as to be hardly discernible.

The Bahr Giraffe is a small river entering the Nile on the south bank
between the Sobat and Bahr el Gazal--my reis (Diabb) tells me it is
merely a branch from the White Nile from the Aliab country, and not an
independent river. Course west, 10 degrees north, the current about one
mile per hour. Marshes and ambatch, far as the eye can reach.

At 6.40 P.M. reached the Bahr el Gazal; the junction has the appearance
of a lake about three miles in length, by one in width, varying
according to seasons. Although bank-full, there is no stream whatever
from the Bahr el Gazal, and it has the appearance of a backwater formed
by the Nile. The water being clear and perfectly dead, a stranger would
imagine it to be an overflow of the Nile, were the existence of the Bahr
el Gazal unknown. The Bahr el Gazal extends due west from this point for
a great distance, the entire river being a system of marshes, stagnant
water overgrown by rushes, and ambatch wood, through which a channel has
to be cleared to permit the passage of a boat. Little or no water can
descend to the Nile from this river, otherwise there would be some
trifling current at the embouchure. The Nile has a stream of about a
mile and a half per hour, as it sweeps suddenly round the angle,
changing its downward course from north to east. The breadth in this
spot does not exceed 130 yards; but it is impossible to determine the
actual width of the river, as its extent is concealed by reeds with
which the country is entirely covered to the horizon.

The White Nile having an upward course of west 10 degrees north,
variation of compass 10 degrees west, from the Sobat to the Bahr el
Gazal junction, now turns abruptly to south 10 degrees east. From native
accounts there is a great extent of lake country at this point. The
general appearance of the country denotes a vast flat, with slight
depressions; these form extensive lakes during the wet season, and
sodden marshes during the dry weather; thus contradictory accounts of
the country may be given by travellers according to the seasons at which
they examined it. There is nothing to denote large permanent lakes; vast
masses of water plants and vegetation, requiring both a wet and dry
season, exist throughout; but there are no great tracts of deep water.
The lake at the Bahr el Gazal entrance is from seven to nine feet deep,
by soundings in various places. Anchored the little squadron, as I wait
here for observations. Had the "Clumsy's" yard lowered and examined. Cut
a supply of grass for the animals.

Jan. 6th.--Overhauled the stores. My stock of liquor will last to
Gondokoro; after that spot "vive la misere." It is curious in African
travel to mark the degrees of luxury and misery; how, one by one, the
wine, spirits bread, sugar, tea, etc., are dropped like the feathers of
a moulting bird, and nevertheless we go ahead contented. My men busy
cutting grass, washing, fishing, etc.

Latitude, by meridian altitude of sun, 9 degrees 29 minutes. Difference
of time by observation between this point and the Sobat junction, 4 min.
26 secs., 1 degree 6 minutes 30 seconds distance. Caught some perch, but
without the red fin of the European species; also some boulti with the
net. The latter is a variety of perch growing to about four pounds'
weight, and is excellent eating.

Sailed at 3 P.M. Masses of the beautiful but gloomy Papyrus rush,
growing in dense thickets about eighteen feet above the water. I
measured the diameter of one head, or crown, four feet one inch. _ Jan.
7th.--Started at 6 A.M.; course E. 10 degrees S.; wind dead against us;
the "Clumsy" not in sight. Obliged to haul along by fastening long ropes
to the grass about a hundred yards ahead. This is frightful work; the
men must swim that distance to secure the rope, and those on board
hauling it in gradually, pull the vessel against the stream. Nothing can
exceed the labor and tediousness of this operation. From constant work
in the water many of my men are suffering from fever. The temperature is
much higher than when we left Khartoum; the country, as usual, one vast
marsh. At night the hoarse music of hippopotami snorting and playing
among the high-flooded reeds, and the singing of countless myriads of
mosquitoes--the nightingales of the White Nile. My black fellow,
Richarn, whom I had appointed corporal, will soon be reduced to the
ranks; the animal is spoiled by sheer drink. Having been drunk every day
in Khartoum, and now being separated from his liquor, he is plunged into
a black melancholy. He sits upon the luggage like a sick rook, doing
minstrelsy, playing the rababa (guitar), and smoking the whole day,
unless asleep, which is half that time: he is sighing after the merissa
(beer) pots of Egypt. This man is an illustration of missionary success.
He was brought up from boyhood at the Austrian mission, and he is a
genuine specimen of the average results. He told me a few days ago that
"he is no longer a Christian." There are two varieties of convolvolus
growing here; also a peculiar gourd, which, when dry and divested of its
shell, exposes a vegetable sponge, formed of a dense but fine network of
fibers; the seeds are contained in the center of this fiber. The bright
yellow flowers of the ambatch, and of a tree resembling a laburnum, are
in great profusion. The men completely done: I served them out a measure
of grog. The "Clumsy" not in sight.

Jan. 8th.--Waited all night for the "Clumsy." She appeared at 8 A.M.,
when the reis and several men received the whip for laziness. All three
vessels now rounded a sharp turn in the river, and the wind being then
favorable, we were soon under sail. The clear water of the river from
the Bahr el Gazal to this point, does not exceed a hundred and twenty
yards in width. The stream runs at one and three-quarter miles per hour,
bringing with it a quantity of floating vegetation. The fact of a strong
current both above and below the Bahr el Gazal junction, while the lake
at that point is dead water, proves that I was right in my surmise, that
no water flows from the Bahr el Gazal into the Nile during this season,
and that the lake and the extensive marshes at that locality are caused
as much by the surplus water of the White Nile flowing into a
depression, as they are by the Bahr el Gazal, the water of the latter
river being absorbed by the immense marshes.

Yesterday we anchored at a dry spot, on which grew many mimosas of the
red bark variety; the ground was a dead flat, and the river was up to
the roots of the trees near the margin; thus the river is quite full at
this season, but not flooded. There was no watermark upon the stems of
the trees; thus I have little doubt that the actual rise of the
water-level during the rainy season is very trifling, as the water
extends over a prodigious extent of surface, the river having no banks.
The entire country is merely a vast marsh, with a river flowing through
the midst. At this season last year I was on the Settite. That great
river and the Atbara were then excessively low.

The Blue Nile was also low at the same time. On the contrary, the White
Nile and the Sobat, although not at their highest, are bank-full, while
the former two are failing; this proves that the White Nile and the
Sobat rise far south, among mountains subject to a rainfall at different
seasons, extending over a greater portion of the year than the rainy
season of Abyssinia and the neighbouring Galla country.

It is not surprising that the ancients gave up the exploration of the
Nile when they came to the countless windings and difficulties of the
marshes; the river is like an entangled skein of thread. Wind light;
course S. 20 degrees W. The strong north wind that took us from Khartoum
has long since become a mere breath. It never blows in this latitude
regularly from the north. The wind commences at between 8 and 9 A.M.,
and sinks at sunset; thus the voyage through these frightful marshes and
windings is tedious and melancholy beyond description. Great numbers of
hippopotami this evening, greeting the boats with their loud snorting
bellow, which vibrates through the vessels.

Jan. 9th.--Two natives fishing; left their canoe and ran on the approach
of our boats. My men wished to steal it, which of course I prevented; it
was a simple dome palm hollowed. In the canoe was a harpoon, very neatly
made, with only one barb. Both sides of the river from the Bahr el Gazal
belong to the Nuehr tribe. Course S.E.; wind very light; windings of
river endless; continual hauling. At about half an hour before sunset,
as the men were hauling the boat along by dragging at the high reeds
from the deck, a man at the mast-head reported a buffalo standing on a
dry piece of ground near the river; being in want of meat, the men
begged me to shoot him. The buffalo was so concealed by the high grass,
that he could not be seen from the deck; I therefore stood upon an
angarep (bedstead) on the poop, and from this I could just discern his
head and shoulders in the high grass, about a hundred and twenty yards
off. I fired with No. 1 Reilly rifle, and he dropped apparently dead to
the shot. The men being hungry, were mad with delight, and regardless of
all but meat, they dashed into the water, and were shortly at him; one
man holding him by the tail, another dancing upon him and brandishing
his knife, and all shouting a yell of exultation. Presently up jumped
the insulted buffalo, and charging through the men, he disappeared in
the high grass, falling, as the men declared, in the deep morass. It was
dusk, and the men, being rather ashamed of their folly in dancing
instead of hamstringing the animal and securing their beef, slunk back
to their vessels.

Jan. 10th.--Early in the morning the buffalo was heard groaning in the
marsh, not far from the spot where he was supposed to have fallen. About
forty men took their guns and knives, intent upon beefsteaks, and waded
knee-deep in mud and water through the high grass of the morass in
search. About one hour passed in this way, and, seeing the reckless
manner in which the men were wandering about, I went down below to beat
the drum to call them back, which the vakeel had been vainly attempting.
Just at this moment I heard a distant yelling, and shot fired after
shot, about twenty times, in quick succession. I saw with the telescope
a crowd of men about three hundred yards distant, standing on a white
ant-hill raised above the green sea of high reeds, from which elevated
point they were keeping up a dropping fire at some object
indistinguishable in the high grass. The death-howl was soon raised, and
the men rushing down from their secure position, shortly appeared,
carrying with them my best choush, Sali Achmet, dead. He had come
suddenly upon the buffalo, who, although disabled, had caught him in the
deep mud and killed him. His gallant comrades bolted, although he called
to them for assistance, and they had kept up a distant fire from the
lofty ant-hill, instead of rushing to his rescue. The buffalo lay dead;
and a grave was immediately dug for the unfortunate Sali. My journey
begins badly with the death of my good man Johann and my best
choush--added to the constant mishaps of the "Clumsy." Fortunately I did
not start from Khartoum on a Friday, or the unlucky day would have borne
the onus of all the misfortunes.

The graves of the Arabs are an improvement upon those of Europeans. What
poor person who cannot afford a vault, has not felt a pang as the clod
fell upon the coffin of his relative? The Arabs avoid this. Although
there is no coffin, the rude earth does not rest upon the body. The hole
being dug similar in shape to a European grave, an extra trench is
formed at the bottom of the grave about a foot wide. The body is laid
upon its side within this trench, and covered by bricks made of clay
which are laid across;-thus the body is contained within a narrow vault.
Mud is then smeared over the hastily made bricks and nothing is visible;
the tomb being made level with the bottom of the large grave. This is
filled up with earth, which, resting on the brick covering of the trench
cannot press upon the body. In such a grave my best man was laid--the
Slave women raising their horrible howling and my men crying loudly, as
well explained in the words of Scripture, "and he lifted up his voice
and wept." I was glad to see so much external feeling for their comrade,
but the grave being filled, their grief, like all loud sorrow, passed
quickly away and relapsed into thoughts of buffalo meat; they were soon
busily engaged in cutting up the flesh. There are two varieties of
buffaloes in this part of Africa--the Bos Caffer, with convex horns,
and that with flat horns; this was the latter species. A horn had
entered the man's thigh, tearing the whole of the muscles from the bone;
there was also a wound from the centre of the throat to the ear, thus
completely torn open, severing the jugular vein. One rib was broken, the
breast-bone. As usual with buffaloes, he had not rested content until he
had pounded the breath out of the body, which was found embedded and
literally stamped tight into the mud, with only a portion of the head
above the marsh. Sali had not even cocked his gun, the hammer being down
on the nipples when found. I will not allow these men to come to grief
in this way; they are a reckless set of thoughtless cowards, full of
noise and bluster, fond of firing off their guns like children, and
wasting ammunition uselessly, and in time of danger they can never be
relied upon; they deserted their comrade when in need, and cried aloud
like infants at his death; they shall not again be allowed to move from
the boats.

In the evening I listened to the men conversing over the whole affair,
when I learnt the entire truth. It appears that Richarn and two other
men were with the unfortunate Sali when the brute charged him, and the
cowards all bolted without firing a shot in defense. There was a large
white ant-hill about fifty yards distant, to which they retreated; from
the top of this fort they repeatedly saw the man thrown into the air,
and heard him calling for assistance. Instead of hastening in a body to
his aid, they called to him to "keep quiet and the buffalo would leave
him." This is a sample of the courage of these Khartoumers. The buffalo
was so disabled by my shot of yesterday that he was incapable of leaving
the spot, as, with a broken shoulder, he could not get through the deep
mud. My Reilly No. 10 bullet was found under the skin of the right
shoulder, having passed in at the left shoulder rather above the lungs.
The windings of this monotonous river are extraordinary, and during dead
calms in these vast marshes the feeling of melancholy produced is beyond
description. The White Nile is a veritable "Styx." When the wind does
happen to blow hard, the navigation is most difficult, owing to the
constant windings; the sailors being utterly ignorant, and the rig of
the vessel being the usual huge "leg of mutton" sail, there is an amount
of screaming and confusion at every attempt to tack which generally ends
in our being driven on the lee marsh; this is preferable to a capsize,
which is sometimes anything but distant. This morning is one of those
days of blowing hard, with the accompaniments of screaming and shouting.
Course S.E. Waited half a day for the "Clumsy," which hove in sight just
before dark; the detentions caused by this vessel are becoming serious,
a quick voyage being indispensable for the animals. The camels are
already suffering from confinement, and I have their legs well swathed
in wet bandages.

This marsh land varies in width. In some portions of the river it
appears to extend for about two miles on either side; in other parts
farther than the eye can reach. In all cases the main country is a dead
flat; now blazing and smoking beyond the limit of marshes, as the
natives have fired the dry grass in all directions. Reeds, similar in
appearance to bamboos but distinct from them, big water-grass, like
sugarcanes, excellent fodder for the cattle, and the ever-present
ambatch, cover the morasses. Innumerable mosquitoes.

Jan. 12th--Fine breeze in the morning, but obliged to wait for the
"Clumsy", which arrived at 10 A.M. How absurd are some descriptions of
the White Nile, which state that there is no current! At some parts,
like that from just above the Sobat junction to Khartoum, there is but
little, but since we have left the Bahr el Gazal the stream runs from
one and three-quarters to two and a half miles per hour, varying in
localities. Here it is not more than a hundred yards wide in clear
water. At 11.20 A.M. got under weigh with a rattling breeze, but
scarcely had we been half an hour under sail when crack went the great
yard of the "Clumsy" once more. I had her taken in tow. It is of no use
repairing the yard again, and, were it not for the donkeys, I would
abandon her. Koorshid Aga's boats were passing us in full sail when his
diahbiah suddenly carried away her rudder, and went head first into the
morass. I serve out grog to the men when the drum beats at sunset, if
all the boats are together.

Jan. 13th.--Stopped near a village on the right bank in company with
Koorshid Aga's two diahbiahs. The natives came down to the boats--they
are something superlative in the way of savages; the men as naked as
they came into the world; their bodies rubbed with ashes, and their hair
stained red by a plaster of ashes and cow's urine. These fellows are the
most unearthly-looking devils I ever saw--there is no other expression
for them. The unmarried women are also entirely naked; the married have
a fringe made of grass around their loins. The men wear heavy coils of
beads about their necks, two heavy bracelets of ivory on the upper
portion of the arms, copper rings upon the wrists, and a horrible kind
of bracelet of massive iron armed with spikes about an inch in length,
like leopard's claws, which they use for a similar purpose. The chief of
the Nuehr village, Joctian, with his wife and daughter, paid me a visit,
and asked for all they saw in the shape of beads and bracelets, but
declined a knife as useless. They went away delighted with their
presents. The women perforate the upper lip, and wear an ornament about
four inches long of beads upon an iron wire; this projects like the horn
of a rhinoceros; they are very ugly. The men are tall and powerful,
armed with lances. They carry pipes that contain nearly a quarter of a
pound of tobacco, in which they smoke simple charcoal should the loved
tobacco fail. The carbonic acid gas of the charcoal produces a slight
feeling of intoxication, which is the effect desired. Koorshid Aga
returned them a girl from Khartoum who had been captured by a
slave-hunter; this delighted the people, and they immediately brought an
ox as an offering. The "Clumsy's" yard broke in two pieces, thus I was
obliged to seek a dry spot for the necessary repairs. I left the village
Nuehr Eliab, and in the evening lowered the "Clumsy's" yard; taking her
in tow, we are, this moment, 8.30 P.M., slowly sailing through clouds of
mosquitoes looking out for a landing-place in this world of marshes. I
took the chief of the Nuehrs' portrait, as he sat in my cabin on the
divan; of course he was delighted. He exhibited his wife's arms and back
covered with jagged scars, in reply to my question as to the use of the
spiked iron bracelet. Charming people are these poor blacks! as they are
termed by English sympathisers; he was quite proud of having clawed his
wife like a wild beast. In sober earnest, my monkey "Wallady" looks like
a civilized being compared to the Nuehr savages. The chiefs forehead was
tattooed in horizontal lines that had the appearance of wrinkles. The
hair is worn drawn back from the face. Both men and women wear a bag
slung from the neck, apparently to contain any presents they may
receive, everything being immediately pocketed. Course S.S.E.

Jan. 14th.-All day occupied in repairing the yard; the buffalo hide of
the animal that killed Sali Achmet being most serviceable in lashing.
Sailed in the evening in company with a boat belonging to the Austrian
mission. River about 120 yards of clear water; current about two miles
per hour. Found quantities of natron on the marshy ground bordering the
river.

Had a turkey for dinner, a "cadeau" from Koorshid Aga, and, as a great
wonder, the kisras (a sort of brown pancake in lieu of bread) were free
from sand. I must have swallowed a good-sized millstone since I have
been in Africa, in the shape of grit rubbed from the moorhaka, or
grinding-stone. The moorhaka, when new, is a large flat stone, weighing
about forty pounds; upon this the corn is ground by being rubbed with a
cylindrical stone with both hands. After a few months' use half of the
original grinding-stone disappears, the grit being mixed with the flour;
thus the grinding-stone is actually eaten. No wonder that hearts become
stony in this country!

Jan. 15th.-We were towing through high reeds this morning, the men
invisible, and the rope mowing over the high tops of the grass, when the
noise disturbed a hippopotamus from his slumber, and he was immediately
perceived close to the boat. He was about half grown, and in an instant
about twenty men jumped into the water in search of him, thinking him a
mere baby; but as he suddenly appeared, and was about three times as
large as they had expected, they were not very eager to close. However,
the reis Diabb pluckily led the way and seized him by the hind leg, when
the crowd of men rushed in, and we had a grand tussle. Ropes were thrown
from the vessel, and nooses were quickly slipped over his head, but he
had the best of the struggle and was dragging the people into the open
river; I was therefore obliged to end the sport by putting a ball
through his head. He was scored all over by the tusks of some other
hippopotamus that had been bullying him. The men declared that his
father had thus misused him; others were of opinion that it was his
mother; and the argument ran high, and became hot.

These Arabs have an extraordinary taste for arguments upon the most
trifling points. I have frequently known my men argue throughout the
greater part of the night, and recommence the same argument on the
following morning. These debates generally end in a fight; and in the
present instance the excitement of the hunt only added to the heat of
the argument. They at length agreed to refer it to me, and both parties
approached, vociferously advancing their theories; one half persisting
that the young hippo had been bullied by his father, and the others
adhering to the mother as the cause. I, being referee, suggested that
"perhaps it was his UNCLE." Wah Illahi sahe! (By Allah it is true!) Both
parties were satisfied with the suggestion; dropping their theory they
became practical, and fell to with knives and axes to cut up the cause
of the argument. He was as fat as butter, and was a perfect godsend to
the people, who divided him with great excitement and good humour.

We are now a fleet of seven boats, those of several traders having
joined us. The "Clumsy's" yard looks much better than formerly. I cut
off about ten feet from the end, as it was topheavy. The yard of this
class of vessel should look like an immense fishing-rod, and should be
proportionately elastic, as it tapers gradually to a point. Course S.E.
I hear that the Shillook tribe have attacked Chenooda's people, and that
his boat was capsized, and some lives lost in the hasty retreat. It
serves these slave-hunters right, and I rejoice at their defeat. Exodus
xx. 16: "And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found
in his hand, he shall surely be put to death."

Jan. 16th.--A new dish! There is no longer mock-turtle soup--REAL
turtle is MOCK HIPPOPOTAMUS. I tried boiling the fat, flesh, and skin
together, the result being that the skin assumes the appearance of the
green fat of the turtle, but is far superior. A piece of the head thus
boiled, and then soused in vinegar, with chopped onions, cayenne pepper,
and salt, throws brawn completely in the shade. My men having revelled
in a cauldron of hippopotamus soup, I serve out grog at sunset, all
ships being together. Great contentment, all appetites being satisfied.
The labour of towing through swamps, tugging by the long grass, and
poling against a strong current, is dreadful, and there appears to be no
end to this horrible country. "On dit," that during the dry season there
is plenty of game near the river, but at present boundless marshes
devoid of life, except in the shape of mosquitoes, and a very few
water-fowl, are the only charms of the White Nile. The other day I
caught one of the men stealing the salt; Richarn having been aware of
daily thefts of this treasure, and having failed to report them, the
thief received twenty with the coorbatch, and Richarn is reduced to the
ranks, as I anticipated. No possibility of taking observations, as there
is no landing-place. Jan. 17th.-As usual, marshes, mosquitoes, windings,
dead flats, and light winds; the mosquitoes in the cabin give no rest
even during the day. Stream about two miles per hour. Course S.E.; the
river averaging about one hundred and ten yards in width of clear water.
Jan. 18th.-Country as usual, but the wind brisker. In company with
Koorshid Aga's boats. I have bound the stock of Oswell's old gun with
rhinoceros hide. All guns made for sport in wild countries and rough
riding, should have steel instead of iron from the breech-socket,
extending far back to within six inches of the shoulder-plate; the
trigger-guard should likewise be steel, and should be carried back to an
equal distance with the above rib; the steel should be of extra
thickness, and screwed through to the upper piece; thus the two, being
connected by screws above and below, no fall could break the stock.

Jan,. 19th.-At 8 A.M. we emerged from the apparently endless regions of
marsh grass, and saw on the right bank large herds of cattle, tended by
naked natives, in a country abounding with high grass and mimosa wood.
At 9.15 A.M. arrived at the Zareeba, or station of Binder, an Austrian
subject, and White Nile trader; here we found five noggurs belonging to
him and his partner. Binder's vakeel insisted upon giving a bullock to
my people. This bullock I resisted for some time, until I saw that the
man was affronted. It is impossible to procure from the natives any
cattle by purchase. The country is now a swamp, but it will be passable
during the dry season. Took equal altitudes of sun producing latitude 7
degrees 5' 46". The misery of these unfortunate blacks is beyond
description; they will not kill their cattle, neither do they taste meat
unless an animal dies of sickness; they will not work, thus they
frequently starve, existing only upon rats, lizards, snakes, and upon
such fish as they can spear. The spearing of fish is a mere hazard, as
they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds; thus, out of three or
four hundred casts, they may, by good luck, strike a fish. The harpoon
is neatly made, and is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet
long, secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a monster, as
there are varieties of fish which attain a weight of two hundred pounds.
In the event of harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is the
result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs out the entire length
of line; they then swim after him, holding their end of the line, and
playing him until exhausted. The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a
leopard-skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white beads, with
a crest of white ostrich-feathers; but the mantle was merely slung over
his shoulders, and all other parts of his person were naked. His
daughter was the best-looking girl that I have seen among the blacks;
she was about sixteen. Her clothing consisted of a little piece of
dressed hide about a foot wide slung across her shoulders, all other
parts being exposed. All the girls of this country wear merely a circlet
of little iron jingling ornaments round their waists. They came in
numbers, bringing small bundles of wood to exchange for a few handfuls
of corn. Most of the men are tall, but wretchedly thin; the children are
mere skeletons, and the entire tribe appears thoroughly starved. The
language is that of the Dinka. The chief carried a curious tobacco-box,
an iron spike about two feet long, with a hollow socket, bound with
iguana-skin; this served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger.
Throughout the whole of this marshy country it is curious to observe the
number of white ant-hills standing above the water in the marshes: these
Babel towers save their inmates from the deluge; working during the dry
season, the white ants carry their hills to so great a height (about ten
feet), that they can live securely in the upper stories during the
floods. The whole day we are beset by crowds of starving people,
bringing small gourd-shells to receive the expected corn. The people of
this tribe are mere apes, trusting entirely to the productions of nature
for their subsistence; they will spend hours in digging out field-mice
from their burrows, as we should for rabbits. They are the most pitiable
set of savages that can be imagined; so emaciated, that they have no
visible posteriors; they look as though they had been planed off, and
their long thin legs and arms give them a peculiar gnat-like appearance.
At night they crouch close to the fires, lying in the smoke to escape
the clouds of mosquitoes. At this season the country is a vast swamp,
the only dry spots being the white ant-hills; in such places the natives
herd like wild animals, simply rubbing themselves with wood-ashes to
keep out the cold.

Jan. 20th.--The river from this spot turns sharp to the east, but an
arm equally broad comes from S. 20 degrees E. to this point. There is no
stream from this arm. The main stream runs round the angle with a rapid
current of about two and a half miles per hour. The natives say that
this arm of dead water extends for three or four days' sailing, and is
then lost in the high reeds. My reis Diabb declares this to be a mere
backwater, and that it is not connected with the main river by any
positive channel.

So miserable are the natives of the Kytch tribe, that they devour both
skins and bones of all dead animals; the bones are pounded between
stones, and when reduced to powder they are boiled to a kind of
porridge; nothing is left even for a fly to feed upon, when an animal
either dies a natural death, or is killed. I never pitied poor creatures
more than these utterly destitute savages; their method of returning
thanks is by holding your hand and affecting to spit upon it; which
operation they do not actually perform, as I have seen stated in works
upon the White Nile. Their domestic arrangements are peculiar. Polygamy
is of course allowed, as in all other hot climates and savage countries;
but when a man becomes too old to pay sufficient attention to his
numerous young wives, the eldest son takes the place of his father and
becomes his substitute. To every herd of cattle there is a sacred bull,
which is supposed to exert an influence over the prosperity of the
flocks; his horns are ornamented with tufts of feathers, and frequently
with small bells, and he invariably leads the great herd to pasture. On
starting in the early morning from the cattle kraal the natives address
the bull, telling him "to watch over the herd; to keep the cows from
straying; and to lead them to the sweetest pastures, so that they shall
give abundance of milk," &c.

Jan. 21st.--Last night a sudden squall carried away Koorshid Aga's
mast by the deck, leaving him a complete wreck. The weather to-day is
dull, oppressive, and dead calm. As usual, endless marshes, and
mosquitoes. I never either saw or heard of so disgusting a country as
that bordering the White Nile from Khartoum to this point. Course S.E.
as nearly as I can judge, but the endless windings, and the absence of
any mark as a point, make it difficult to give an accurate course--the
river about a hundred yards in width of clear water; alive with floating
vegetation, with a current of about two miles per hour.

Jan. 22d.--The luxuries of the country as usual--malaria, marshes,
mosquitoes, misery; far as the eye can reach, vast treeless marshes
perfectly lifeless. At times progressing slowly by towing, the men
struggling through the water with the rope; at other times by running
round the boat in a circle, pulling with their hands at the grass, which
thus acts like the cogs of a wheel to move us gradually forward. One of
my horses, "Filfil," out of pure amusement kicks at the men as they
pass, and having succeeded several times in kicking them into the river,
he perseveres in the fun, I believe for lack of other employment.

Hippopotami are heard snorting in the high reeds both day and night, but
we see very few. The black women on board are daily quarrelling together
and fighting like bull-dogs; little Gaddum Her is a regular black toy
terrier, rather old, wonderfully strong, very short, but making up in
spirit for what she lacks in stature; she is the quintessence of vice,
being ready for a stand-up fight at the shortest notice. On one occasion
she fought with her antagonist until both fell down the hold, smashing
all my water jars; on another day they both fell into the river. The
ennui of this wretched voyage appears to try the temper of both man and
beast; the horses, donkeys, and camels are constantly fighting and
biting at all around.

Jan. 23d.--At 8 a.m. arrived at Aboukooka, the establishment of a
French trader. It is impossible to describe the misery of the land; in
the midst of the vast expanse of marsh is a little plot of dry ground
about thirty-five yards square, and within thirty yards of the river,
but to be reached only by wading through the swamp. The establishment
consisted of about a dozen straw huts, occupied by a wretched
fever-stricken set of people; the vakeel, and others employed, came to
the boats to beg for corn. I stopped for ten minutes at the charming
watering-place Aboukooka to obtain the news of the country. The current
at this point is as usual very strong, being upwards of two and a half
miles per hour; the river is quite bank-full although not actually
flooding, the windings endless; one moment our course is due north, then
east, then again north, and as suddenly due south; in fact, we face
every point of the compass within an hour. Frequently the noggurs that
are far in the rear appear in advance; it is a heartbreaking river
without a single redeeming point; I do not wonder at the failure of all
expeditions in this wretched country. There is a breeze to-day, thus the
oppressive heat and stagnated marsh atmosphere is relieved. I have
always remarked that when the sky is clouded we suffer more from heat
and oppression than when the day is clear; there is a weight in the
atmosphere that would be interesting if tested by the barometer.

The water is excessively bad throughout the White Nile, especially
between the Shillook and the Kytch tribes; that of the Bahr Gazal is
even worse. The reis Diabb tells me that the north wind always fails
between the Nuehr and the upper portion of the Kytch. I could not
believe that so miserable a country existed as the whole of this land.
There is no game to be seen at this season, few birds, and not even
crocodiles show themselves; all the water-animals are hidden in the high
grass; thus there is absolutely nothing living to be seen, but day after
day is passed in winding slowly through the labyrinth of endless marsh,
through clouds of mosquitoes.

At 4.20 a.m. arrived at the Austrian mission-station of St. Croix, and
I delivered a letter to the chief of the establishment, Herr Morlang.

Jan. 24th.--Took observations of the sun, making latitude 6 degrees
39'.

The mission-station consists of about twenty grass huts on a patch of
dry ground close to the river. The church is a small hut, but neatly
arranged. Herr Morlang acknowledged, with great feeling, that the
mission was absolutely useless among such savages; that he had worked
with much zeal for many years, but that the natives were utterly
impracticable. They were far below the brutes, as the latter show signs
of affection to those who are kind to them; while the natives, on the
contrary, are utterly obtuse to all feelings of gratitude. He described
the people as lying and deceitful to a superlative degree; the more they
receive the more they desire, but in return they will do nothing.

Twenty or thirty of these disgusting, ash-smeared, stark naked brutes,
armed with clubs of hard wood brought to a point, were lying idly about
the station. The mission having given up the White Nile as a total
failure, Herr Morlang sold the whole village and mission-station to
Koorshid Aga this morning for 3,000 piastres, 30 pounds! I purchased a
horse of the missionaries for 1,000 piastres, which I christened
"Priest" as coming from the mission; he is a good-looking animal, and
has been used to the gun, as the unfortunate Baron Harnier rode him
buffalo-hunting. This good sportsman was a Prussian nobleman, who with
two European attendants, had for some time amused himself by collecting
objects of natural history and shooting in this neighbourhood. Both his
Europeans succumbed to marsh fever.

The end of Baron Harnier was exceedingly tragic.  Having wounded a
buffalo, the animal charged a native attendant and threw him to the
ground; Baron Harnier was unloaded, and with great courage he attacked
the buffalo with the butt-end of his rifle to rescue the man then
beneath the animal's horns. The buffalo left the man and turned upon his
new assailant. The native, far from assisting his master, who had thus
jeopardized his life to save him, fled from the spot. The unfortunate
baron was found by the missionaries trampled and gored into an
undistinguishable mass; and the dead body of the buffalo was found at a
short distance, the animal having been mortally wounded. I went to see
the grave of this brave Prussian, who had thus sacrificed so noble a
life for so worthless an object as a cowardly native. It had been well
cared for by the kind hands of the missionaries and was protected by
thorn bushes laid around it, but I fear it will be neglected now that
the mission has fallen into unholy hands. It is a pitiable sight to
witness the self-sacrifice that many noble men have made in these
frightful countries without any good results. Near to the grave of Baron
Harnier are those of several members of the mission, who have left their
bones in this horrid land, while not one convert has been made from the
mission of St. Croix.

The river divides into two branches, about five miles above this
station, forming an island. Upon this is a fishing-station of the
natives; the native name of the spot is Pomone. The country is swampy
and scantily covered with bushes and small trees, but no actual timber.
As usual, the entire country is dead flat; it abounds with elephants a
few miles inland. Herr Morlang describes the whole of the White Nile
traders as a mere colony of robbers, who pillage and shoot the natives
at discretion. On the opposite side of the river there is a large
neglected garden, belonging to the mission. Although the soil is
extremely rich, neither grapes nor pomegranate will succeed; they bear
fruit, but of a very acrid flavour. Dates blossom, but will not fruit.

Jan. 25th.--Started at 7 A.M. Course S.E.

Jan. 26th.--The Bohr tribe on the east bank. No wind. The current
nearly three miles per hour. The river about a hundred and twenty yards
wide in clear water. Marshes and flats, as usual. Thermometer throughout
the journey, at 6 A.M., 68 degrees Fahr., and at noon 86 to 93 degrees
Fahr.

Jan. 27th.--One day is a repetition of the preceding.

Jan. 28th.--Passed two bivouacs of the Aliab tribe, with great herds
of cattle on the west bank. The natives appeared to be friendly, dancing
and gesticulating as the boats passed. The White Nile tribe not only
milk their cows, but they bleed their cattle periodically, and boil the
blood for food. Driving a lance into a vein in the neck, they bleed the
animal copiously, which operation is repeated about once a month.

Jan. 29th.--Passed a multitude of cattle and natives on a spot on the
right bank, in clouds of smoke as a "chasse des moustiques." They make
tumuli of dung, which are constantly on fire, fresh fuel being
continually added, to drive away the mosquitoes. Around these heaps the
cattle crowd in hundreds, living with the natives in the smoke. By
degrees the heaps of ashes become about eight feet high; they are then
used as sleeping-places and watch-stations by the natives, who, rubbing
themselves all over with the ashes, have a ghastly and devilish
appearance that is indescribable. The country is covered with old tumuli
formed in this manner. A camp may contain twenty or thirty such, in
addition to fresh heaps that are constantly burning. Fires of cow-dung
are also made on the leveled tops of the old heaps, and bundles of green
canes, about sixteen feet high, are planted on the summit; these wave in
the breeze like a plume of ostrich feathers, and give shade to the
people during the heat of the day.

JAN. 30TH.--Arrived at the "Shir" tribe. The men are, as usual in
these countries, armed with well-made ebony clubs, two lances, a bow
(always strung), and a bundle of arrows; their hands are completely full
of weapons; and they carry a neatly-made miniature stool slung upon
their backs, in addition to an immense pipe. Thus a man carries all that
be most values about his person. The females in this tribe are not
absolutely naked; like those of the Kytch, they wear small lappets of
tanned leather as broad as the hand; at the back of the belt, which
supports this apron, is a tail which reaches to the lower portions of
the thighs; this tail is formed of finely-cut strips of leather, and
the costume has doubtless been the foundation for the report I had
received from the Arabs, "that a tribe in Central Africa had tails like
horses." The women carry their children very conveniently in a skin
slung from their shoulders across the back, and secured by a thong round
the waist; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The huts
throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances so low that the
natives creep both in and out upon their hands and knees. The men wear
tufts of cock's feathers on the crown of the head; and their favorite
attitude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning on a spear, the
foot of the raised leg resting on the inside of the other knee. Their
arrows are about three feet long, without feathers, and pointed with
hard wood instead of iron, the metal being scarce among the Shir tribe.
The most valuable article of barter for this tribe is the iron hoe
generally used among the White Nile negroes. In form it is precisely
similar to the "ace of spades." The finery most prized by the women are
polished iron anklets, which they wear in such numbers that they reach
nearly half-way up the calf of the leg; the tinkling of these rings is
considered to be very enticing, but the sound reminds one of the
clanking of convicts' fetters.

All the tribes of the White Nile have their harvest of the lotus seed.
There are two species of water-lily--the large white flower, and a
small variety. The seed-pod of the white lotus is like an unblown
artichoke, containing a number of light red grains equal in size to
mustard-seed, but shaped like those of the poppy, and similar to them in
flavour, being sweet and nutty. The ripe pods are collected and strung
upon sharp-pointed reeds about four feet in length. When thus threaded
they are formed into large bundles, and carried from the river to the
villages, where they are dried in the sun, and stored for use. The seed
is ground into flour, and made into a kind of porridge. The women of the
Shir tribe are very clever at manufacturing baskets and mats from the
leaf of the dome palm. They also make girdles and necklaces of minute
pieces of river mussel shells threaded upon the hair of the giraffe's
tail. This is a work of great time, and the effect is about equal to a
string of mother-of-pearl buttons.

Jan. 31st.--At 1.15 P.M. sighted Gebel Lardo, bearing S. 30 degrees
west. This is the first mountain we have seen, and we are at last near
our destination, Gondokoro. I observed to-day a common sand-piper
sitting on the head of a hippopotamus; when he disappeared under water
the bird skimmed over the surface, hovering near the spot until the
animal reappeared, when he again settled.

Feb. 1st.--The character of the river has changed. The marshes have
given place to dry ground; the banks are about four feet above the
water-level, and well wooded; the country having the appearance of an
orchard, and being thickly populated. The natives thronged to the boats,
being astonished at the camels. At one village during the voyage the
natives examined the donkeys with great curiosity, thinking that they
were the oxen of our country, and that we were bringing them to exchange
for ivory.

Feb. 2nd--The mountain Lardo is about twelve miles west of the river.
At daybreak we sighted the mountains near Gondokoro, bearing due south.
As yet I have seen no symptoms of hostility in this country. I cannot
help, thinking that the conduct of the natives depends much upon that of
the traveller. Arrived at Gondokoro. By astronomical observation I
determined the latitude, 4 degrees 55 minutes North, Longitude 31
degrees 46 minutes East. Gondokoro is a great improvement upon the
interminable marshes; the soil is firm and raised about twenty feet
above the river level. Distant mountains relieve the eye accustomed to
the dreary flats of the White Nile; and evergreen trees scattered over
the face of the landscape, with neat little native villages beneath
their shade, form a most inviting landing-place after a long and tedious
voyage. This spot was formerly a mission-station. There remain to this
day the ruins of the brick establishment and church, and the wreck of
what was once a garden; groves of citron and lime-trees still exist, the
only signs that an attempt at civilization has been made--"seed cast
upon the wayside." There is no town. Gondokoro is merely a station of
the ivory traders, occupied for about two months during the year, after
which time it is deserted, when the annual boats return to Khartoum and
the remaining expeditions depart for the interior. A few miserable grass
huts are all that dignify the spot with a name. The climate is unhealthy
and hot. The thermometer from 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit at noon in the
shade.

I landed the animals from the boats in excellent condition all rejoicing
in the freedom of open pasturage.



CHAPTER II.

BAD RECEPTION AT GONDOKORO

All were thankful that the river voyage was concluded; the tedium of the
White Nile will have been participated by the reader, upon whom I have
inflicted the journal, as no other method of description could possibly
convey an idea of the general desolation.

Having landed all my stores, and housed my corn in some granaries
belonging to Koorshid Aga, I took a receipt from him for the quantity,
and gave him an order to deliver one-half from my depot to Speke and
Grant, should they arrive at Gondokoro during my absence in the
interior. I was under an apprehension that they might arrive by some
route without my knowledge, while I should be penetrating south.

There were a great number of men at Gondokoro belonging to the various
traders, who looked upon me with the greatest suspicion; they could not
believe that simple travelling was my object, and they were shortly
convinced that I was intent upon espionage in their nefarious ivory
business and slave-hunting.

In conversing with the traders, and assuring them that my object was
entirely confined to a search for the Nile sources, and an inquiry for
Speke and Grant, I heard a curious report that had been brought down by
the natives from the interior, that at some great distance to the south
there were two white men who had been for a long time prisoners of a
sultan; and that these men had wonderful fireworks; that both had been
very ill, and that one had died. It was in vain that I endeavoured to
obtain some further clue to this exciting report. There was a rumour
that some native had a piece of wood with marks upon it that had
belonged to the white men; but upon inquiry I found that this account
was only a report given by some distant tribe. Nevertheless, I attached
great importance to the rumour, as there was no white man south of
Gondokoro engaged in the ivory trade; therefore there was a strong
probability that the report had some connexion with the existence of
Speke and Grant. I had heard, when at Khartoum, that the most advanced
trading station was about fifteen days' march from Gondokoro, and my
plan of operations had always projected a direct advance to that
station, where I had intended to leave all my heavy baggage in depot,
and to proceed from thence as a "point de depart" to the south. I now
understood that the party were expected to arrive at Gondokoro from that
station with ivory in a few days, and I determined to wait for their
arrival, and to return with them in company. Their ivory porters
returning, might carry my baggage, and thus save the backs of my
transport animals.

I accordingly amused myself at Gondokoro, exercising my horses in riding
about the neighbourhood, and studying the place and people. The native
dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness; the domicile of each family
is surrounded by a hedge of the impenetrable euphorbia, and the interior
of the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered with a
cement of ashes, cow-dung, and sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface are
one or more huts surrounded by granaries of neat wicker-work, thatched,
resting upon raised platforms. The huts have projecting roofs in order
to afford a shade, and the entrance is usually about two feet high. When
a member of the family dies he is buried in the yard; a few ox-horns and
skulls are suspended on a pole above the spot, while the top of the pole
is ornamented with a bunch of cock's feathers. Every man carries his
weapons, pipe, and stool, the whole (except the stool) being held
between his legs when standing. These natives of Gondokoro are the Bari:
the men are well grown, the women are not prepossessing, but the
negro-type of thick lips and flat nose is wanting; their features are
good, and the woolly hair alone denotes the trace of negro blood. They
are tattooed upon the stomach, sides, and back, so closely, that it has
the appearance of a broad belt of fish-scales, especially when they are
rubbed with red ochre, which is the prevailing fashion. This pigment is
made of a peculiar clay, rich in oxide of iron, which, when burnt, is
reduced to powder, and then formed into lumps like pieces of soap; both
sexes anoint themselves with this ochre, formed into a paste by the
admixture of grease, giving themselves the appearance of new red bricks.
The only hair upon their persons is a small tuft upon the crown of the
head, in which they stick one or more feathers. The women are generally
free from hair, their heads being shaved. They wear a neat little
lappet, about six inches long, of beads, or of small iron rings, worked
like a coat of mail, in lieu of a fig-leaf, and the usual tail of fine
shreds of leather or twine, spun from indigenous cotton, pendant behind.
Both the lappet and tail are fastened on a belt which is worn round the
loins, like those in the Shir tribe; thus the toilette is completed at
once. It would be highly useful, could they only wag their tails to
whisk off the flies which are torments in this country.

The cattle are very small; the goats and sheep are quite Lilliputian,
but they generally give three at a birth, and thus multiply quickly. The
people of the country were formerly friendly, but the Khartoumers
pillage and murder them at discretion in all directions; thus, in
revenge, they will shoot a poisoned arrow at a stranger unless he is
powerfully escorted. The effect of the poison used for the arrow-heads
is very extraordinary. A man came to me for medical aid; five months ago
he bad been wounded by a poisoned arrow in the leg, below the calf, and
the entire foot had been eaten away by the action of the poison. The
bone rotted through just above the ankle, and the foot dropped off. The
most violent poison is the produce of the root of a tree, whose milky
juice yields a resin that is smeared upon the arrow. It is brought from
a great distance, from some country far west of Gondokoro. The juice of
the species of euphorbia, common in these countries, is also used for
poisoning arrows. Boiled to the consistence of tar, it is then smeared
upon the blade. The action of the poison is to corrode the flesh, which
loses its fiber, and drops away like jelly, after severe inflammation
and swelling. The arrows are barbed with diabolical ingenuity; some are
arranged with poisoned heads that fit into sockets; these detach from
the arrow on an attempt to withdraw them; thus the barbed blade, thickly
smeared with poison, remains in the wound, and before it can be cut out
the poison is absorbed by the system. Fortunately the natives are bad
archers. The bows are invariably made of the male bamboo, and are kept
perpetually strung; they are exceedingly stiff, but not very elastic,
and the arrows are devoid of feathers, being simple reeds or other light
wood, about three feet long, and slightly knobbed at the base as a hold
for the finger and thumb; the string is never drawn with the two
forefingers, as in most countries, but is simply pulled by holding the
arrow between the middle joint of the forefinger and the thumb. A stiff
bow drawn in this manner has very little power; accordingly the extreme
range seldom exceeds a hundred and ten yards.

The Bari tribe are very hostile, and are considered to be about the
worst of the White Nile. They have been so often defeated by the
traders' parties in the immediate neighborhood of Gondokoro, that they
are on their best behavior, while within half a mile of the station; but
it is not at all uncommon to be asked for beads as a tax for the right
of sitting under a shady tree, or for passing through the country. The
traders' people, in order to terrify them into submission, were in the
habit of binding them, hands and feet, and carrying them to the edge of
a cliff about thirty feet high, a little beyond the ruins of the old
mission-house: beneath this cliff the river boils in a deep eddy; into
this watery grave the victims were remorselessly hurled as food for
crocodiles. It appeared that this punishment was dreaded by the natives
more than the bullet or rope, and it was accordingly adopted by the
trading parties.

Upon my arrival at Gondokoro I was looked upon by all these parties as a
spy sent by the British Government. Whenever I approached the
encampments of the various traders, I heard the clanking of fetters
before I reached the station, as the slaves were being quickly driven
into hiding-places to avoid inspection. They were chained by two rings
secured round the ankles, and connected by three or four links. One of
these traders was a Copt, the father of the American Consul at Khartoum;
and, to my surprise, I saw the vessels full of brigands arrive at
Gondokoro, with the American flag flying at the mast-head.

Gondokoro was a perfect hell. It is utterly ignored by the Egyptian
authorities, although well known to be a colony of cut-throats. Nothing
would be easier than to send a few officers and two hundred men from
Khartoum to form a military government, and thus impede the slave-trade;
but a bribe from the traders to the authorities is sufficient to insure
an uninterrupted asylum for any amount of villany. The camps were full
of slaves, and the Bari natives assured me that there were large depots
of slaves in the interior belonging to the traders that would be marched
to Gondokoro for shipment to the Soudan a few hours after my departure.
I was the great stumbling-block to the trade, and my presence at
Gondokoro was considered as an unwarrantable intrusion upon a locality
sacred to slavery and iniquity. There were about six hundred of the
traders' people at Gondokoro, whose time was passed in drinking,
quarrelling, and ill-treating the slaves. The greater number were in a
constant state of intoxication, and when in such a state, it was their
invariable custom to fire off their guns in the first direction prompted
by their drunken instincts; thus, from morning till night, guns were
popping in all quarters, and the bullets humming through the air
sometimes close to our ears, and on more than one occasion they struck
up the dust at my feet. Nothing was more probable than a ball through
the head by ACCIDENT, which might have had the beneficial effect of
ridding the traders from a spy. A boy was sitting upon the gunwale of
one of the boats, when a bullet suddenly struck him in the head,
shattering the skull to atoms. NO ONE HAD DONE IT. The body fell into
the water, and the fragments of the skull were scattered on the deck.

After a few days' detention at Gondokoro, I saw unmistakeable signs of
discontent among my men, who had evidently been tampered with by the
different traders' parties. One evening several of the most disaffected
came to me with a complaint that they had not enough meat, and that they
must be allowed to make a razzia upon the cattle of the natives to
procure some oxen. This demand being of course refused, they retired,
muttering in an insolent manner their determination of stealing cattle
with or without my permission. I said nothing at the time, but early on
the following morning I ordered the drum to beat, and the men to fall
in. I made them a short address, reminding them of the agreement made at
Khartoum to follow me faithfully, and of the compact that had been
entered into, that they were neither to indulge in slave-hunting nor in
cattle-stealing. The only effect of my address was a great outbreak of
insolence on the part of the ringleader of the previous evening. This
fellow, named Eesur, was an Arab, and his impertinence was so violent,
that I immediately ordered him twenty-five lashes, as an example to the
others.

Upon the vakeel (Saati) advancing to seize him, there was a general
mutiny. Many of the men threw down their guns and seized sticks, and
rushed to the rescue of their tall ringleader. Saati was a little man,
and was perfectly helpless. Here was an escort: these were the men upon
whom I was to depend in hours of difficulty and danger on an expedition
in unknown regions; these were the fellows that I had considered to be
reduced "from wolves to lambs!"

I was determined not to be done, and to insist upon the punishment of
the ringleader. I accordingly went towards him with the intention of
seizing him; but he, being backed by upwards of forty men, had the
impertinence to attack me, rushing forward with a fury that was
ridiculous. To stop his blow, and to knock him into the middle of the
crowd, was not difficult; and after a rapid repetition of the dose, I
disabled him, and seizing him by the throat, I called to my vakeel Saati
for a rope to bind him, but in an instant I had a crowd of men upon me
to rescue their leader. How the affair would have ended I cannot say;
but as the scene lay within ten yards of my boat, my wife, who was ill
with fever in the cabin, witnessed the whole affray, and seeing me
surrounded, she rushed out, and in a few moments she was in the middle
of the crowd, who at that time were endeavoring to rescue my prisoner.
Her sudden appearance had a curious effect, and calling upon several of
the least mutinous to assist, she very pluckily made her way up to me.
Seizing the opportunity of an indecision that was for the moment evinced
by the crowd, I shouted to the drummer boy to beat the drum. In an
instant the drum beat, and at the top of my voice I ordered the men to
"fall in." It is curious how mechanically an order is obeyed if given at
the right moment, even in the midst of mutiny. Two-thirds of the men
fell in, and formed in line, while the remainder retreated with the
ringleader, Eesur, whom they led away, declaring that he was badly hurt.
The affair ended in my insisting upon all forming in line, and upon the
ringleader being brought forward. In this critical moment Mrs. Baker,
with great tact, came forward and implored me to forgive him if he
kissed my hand and begged for pardon. This compromise completely won the
men, who, although a few minutes before in open mutiny, now called upon
their ringleader Eesur to apologize, and that all would be right. I made
them rather a bitter speech, and dismissed them.

From that moment I knew that my expedition was fated. This outbreak was
an example of what was to follow. Previous to leaving Khartoum I had
felt convinced that I could not succeed with such villains for escort as
these Khartoumers: thus I had applied to the Egyptian authorities for a
few troops, but had been refused. I was now in an awkward position. All
my men had received five months' wages in advance, according to the
custom of the White Nile; thus I had no control over them. There were no
Egyptian authorities in Gondokoro; it was a nest of robbers; and my men
had just exhibited so pleasantly their attachment to me, and their
fidelity. There was no European beyond Gondokoro, thus I should be the
only white man among this colony of wolves; and I had in perspective a
difficult and uncertain path, where the only chance of success lay in
the complete discipline of my escort, and the perfect organization of
the expedition. After the scene just enacted I felt sure that my escort
would give me more cause for anxiety than the acknowledged hostility of
the natives.

I made arrangements with a Circassian trader, Koorshid Aga, for the
purchase of a few oxen, and a fat beast was immediately slaughtered for
the men. They were shortly in the best humour, feasting upon masses of
flesh cut in strips and laid for a few minutes upon the embers, while
the regular meal was being prepared. They were now almost affectionate,
vowing that they would follow me to the end of the world; while the late
ringleader, in spite of his countenance being rather painted in the late
row, declared that no man would be so true as himself, and that every
"arrow should pass through him before it should reach me" in the event
of a conflict with the natives. A very slight knowledge of human nature
was required to foresee the future with such an escort:--if love and
duty were dependent upon full bellies, mutiny and disorder would appear
with hard fare. However, by having parade every morning at a certain
hour, I endeavoured to establish a degree of regularity. I had been
waiting at Gondokoro twelve days, expecting the arrival of Debono's
party from the south, with whom I wished to return. Suddenly, on the
15th February, I heard the rattle of musketry at a great distance, and a
dropping fire from the south. To give an idea of the moment I must
extract verbatim from my journal as written at the time.

"Guns firing in the distance; Debono's ivory porters arriving, for whom
I have waited. My men rushed madly to my boat, with the report that two
white men were with them who had come from the SEA! Could they be Speke
and Grant? Off I ran, and soon met them in reality. Hurrah for old
England! they had come from the Victoria N'yanza, from which the Nile
springs .... The mystery of ages solved. With my pleasure of meeting
them is the one disappointment, that I had not met them farther on the
road in my search for them; however, the satisfaction is, that my
previous arrangements had been such as would have insured my finding
them had they been in a fix .... My projected route would have brought
me vis-a-vis with them, as they had come from the lake by the course I
had proposed to take .... All my men perfectly mad with excitement:
firing salutes as usual with ball cartridge, they shot one of my
donkeys; a melancholy sacrifice as an offering at the completion of this
geographical discovery."

When I first met them they were walking along the bank of the river
towards my boats. At a distance of about a hundred yards I recognised my
old friend Speke, and with a heart beating with joy I took off my cap
and gave a welcome hurrah! as I ran towards him. For the moment he did
not recognize me; ten years' growth of beard and moustache had worked a
change; and as I was totally unexpected, my sudden appearance in the
center of Africa appeared to him incredible. I hardly required an
introduction to his companion, as we felt already acquainted, and after
the transports of this happy meeting we walked together to my diahbiah;
my men surrounding us with smoke and noise by keeping up an unremitting
fire of musketry the whole way. We were shortly seated on deck under the
awning, and such rough fare as could be hastily prepared was set before
these two ragged, careworn specimens of African travel, whom I looked
upon with feelings of pride as my own countrymen. As a good ship arrives
in harbor, battered and torn by a long and stormy voyage, yet sound in
her frame and seaworthy to the last, so both these gallant travelers
arrived at Gondokoro. Speke appeared the more worn of the two; he was
excessively lean, but in reality he was in good tough condition; he had
walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden during that
wearying march. Grant was in honourable rags; his bare knees projecting
through the remnants of trowsers that were an exhibition of rough
industry in tailor's work. He was looking tired and feverish, but both
men had a fire in the eye that showed the spirit that had led them
through.

They wished to leave Gondokoro as soon as possible, en route for
England, but delayed their departure until the moon should be in a
position for an observation for determining the longitude. My boats were
fortunately engaged by me for five months, thus Speke and Grant could
take charge of them to Khartoum.

At the first blush on meeting them I had considered my expedition as
terminated by having met them, and by their having accomplished the
discovery of the Nile source; but upon my congratulating them with all
my heart, upon the honour they had so nobly earned, Speke and Grant with
characteristic candour and generosity gave me a map of their route,
showing that they had been unable to complete the actual exploration of
the Nile, and that a most important portion still remained to be
determined. It appeared that in N. lat. 2 degrees 17 minutes, they had
crossed the Nile, which they had tracked from the Victoria Lake; but the
river, which from its exit from that lake had a northern course, turned
suddenly to the WEST from Karuma Falls (the point at which they crossed
it at lat. 2 degrees 17 minutes). They did not see the Nile again until
they arrived in N. lat. 3 deg. 32 min., which was then flowing from the
W.S.W. The natives and the King of Unyoro (Kamrasi) had assured them
that the Nile from the Victoria N'yanza, which they had crossed at
Karuma, flowed westward for several days' journey, and at length fell
into a large lake called the Luta N'zige; that this lake came from the
south, and that the Nile on entering the northern extremity almost
immediately made its exit, and as a navigable river continued its course
to the north, through the Koshi and Madi countries. Both Speke and Grant
attached great importance to this lake Luta N'zige, and the former was
much annoyed that it had been impossible for them to carry out the
exploration. He foresaw that stay-at-home geographers, who, with a
comfortable armchair to sit in, travel so easily with their fingers on a
map, would ask him why he had not gone from such a place to such a
place? why he had not followed the Nile to the Luta N'zige lake, and
from the lake to Gondokoro? As it happened, it was impossible for Speke
and Grant to follow the Nile from Karuma:--the tribes were fighting
with Kamrasi, and no strangers could have got through the country.
Accordingly they procured their information most carefully, completed
their map, and laid down the reported lake in its supposed position,
showing the Nile as both influent and effluent precisely as had been
explained by the natives.

Speke expressed his conviction that the Luta N'zige must be a second
source of the Nile, and that geographers would be dissatisfied that he
had not explored it. To me this was most gratifying. I had been much
disheartened at the idea that the great work was accomplished, and that
nothing remained for exploration; I even said to Speke, "Does not one
leaf of the laurel remain for me?" I now heard that the field was not
only open, but that an additional interest was given to the exploration
by the proof that the Nile flowed out of one great lake, the Victoria,
but that it evidently must derive an additional supply from an unknown
lake as it entered it at the NORTHERN extremity, while the body of the
lake came from the south. The fact of a great body of water such as the
Luta N'zige extending in a direct line from south to north, while the
general system of drainage of the Nile was from the same direction,
showed most conclusively, that the Luta N'zige, if it existed in the
form assumed, must have an important position in the basin of the Nile.

My expedition had naturally been rather costly, and being in excellent
order it would have been heartbreaking to have returned fruitlessly. I
therefore arranged immediately for my departure, and Speke most kindly
wrote in my journal such instructions as might be useful. I therefore
copy them verbatim:

"Before you leave this be sure you engage two men, one speaking the Bari
or Madi language, and one speaking Kinyoro, to be your interpreters
through the whole journey, for there are only two distinct families of
languages in the country, though of course some dialectic differences,
which can be easily overcome by anybody who knows the family language.
. . . Now, as you are bent on first going to visit Kamrasi M'Kamma, or
King of Unyoro, and then to see as much of the western countries
bordering on the little Luta N'zige, or `dead locust' lake, as possible,
go in company with the ivory hunters across the Asua river to Apuddo
eight marches, and look for game to the east of that village. Two
marches further on will bring you to Panyoro, where there are antelopes
in great quantity; and in one march more the Turks' farthest outpost,
Faloro, will be reached, where you had better form a depot, and make a
flying trip across the White Nile to Koshi for the purpose of inquiring
what tribes live to west and south of it, especially of the Wallegga;
how the river comes from the south, and where it is joined by the little
Luta N'zige. Inquire also after the country of Chopi, and what
difficulties or otherwise you would have to overcome if you followed up
the left bank of the White river to Kamrasi's; because, if found easy,
it would be far nearer and better to reach Kamrasi that way than going
through the desert jungles of Ukidi, as we went. This is the way I
should certainly go myself, but if you do not like the look of it,
preserve your information well; and after returning to Faloro, make Koki
per Chougi in two marches, and tell old Chougi you wish to visit his
M'Kamma Kamrasi, for Chougi was appointed Governor-general of that place
by Kamrasi to watch the Wakidi who live between his residence and Chopi,
which is the next country you will reach after passing through the
jungles of Ukidi and crossing the Nile below Karuma Falls. Arrived at
Chopi, inquire for the residence of the Katikiro or commander-in-chief,
who will show you great respect, give you cows and pombe, and send
messengers on to Kamrasi to acquaint him of your intention to visit him.
This is the richest part of Kamrasi's possessions, and by a little
inquiry you will learn much about the lake. Kamrasi's brother Rionga
lives on a river island within one march of this. They are deadly
enemies and always fighting, so if you made a mistake and went to
Rionga's first, as the Turks would wish you to do, all travelling in
Unyoro would be cut off. Tell the Katikiro all your plans frankly, and
remark earnestly upon my great displeasure at Kamrasi's having detained
me so long in his country without deigning to see me, else he may be
assured no other white man will ever take the trouble to see him. We
came down the river in boats from Kamrasi's to Chopi, but the boatmen
gave much trouble, therefore it would be better for you to go overland.
Kamrasi will most likely send Kidgwiga, an excellent officer, to escort
you to his palace, but if he does not, ask after him; you could not have
a better man.

"Arrived at Kamrasi's, insist upon seeing all his fat wives and
brothers. Find out all you can about his pedigree, and ask for leave to
follow up the lake from its JUNCTION with the Nile to Utumbi, and then
crossing to its northern bank follow it down to Ullegga and Koshi. If
you are so fortunate as to reach Utumbi, and don't wish to go farther
south, inquire well about Ruanda, the M'Fumbiro mountains, if there is
any copper in Ruanda, and whether or not the people of those countries
receive Simbi (the cowrie shell) or any other articles of merchandise
from the west coast, guarding well that no confusion is made with the
trade of Karagwe, for Rumanika sends men to Utumbi ivory-hunting
continually. "Remember well that the Wahuma are most likely Gallas; this
question is most interesting, and the more you can gather of their
history, since they crossed the White Nile, the better. Formerly Unyoro,
Uganda, and Uddhu were all united in one vast kingdom called Kittara,
but this name is now only applied to certain portions of that kingdom.

"Nothing is known of the Mountains of the Moon to the westward of
Ruanda. In Unyoro the king will feed you; beyond that I suspect you will
have to buy food with beads."

Such was the information most kindly written by Speke, which, in
addition to a map drawn by Captain Grant, and addressed to the Secretary
of the Royal Geographical Society, was to be my guide in the important
exploration resolved upon. I am particular in publishing these details,
in order to show the perfect freedom from jealousy of both Captains
Speke and Grant. Unfortunately, in most affairs of life, there is not
only fair emulation, but ambition is too often combined with intense
jealousy of others. Had this miserable feeling existed in the minds of
Speke and Grant, they would have returned to England with the sole
honour of discovering the source of the Nile; but in their true devotion
to geographical science and especially to the specific object of their
expedition they gave me all information to assist in the completion of
the great problem--the "Nile Sources."

We were all ready to start. Speke and Grant, an their party of
twenty-two people, for Egypt, and I in the opposite direction. At this
season there were many boats at Gondokoro belonging to the traders'
parties, among which were four belonging to Mr. Petherick, three of
which were open cargo boats, and one remarkably nice diahbiah, named the
"Kathleen," that was waiting for Mrs. Petherick and her husband, who
were supposed to be at their trading station, the Niambara, about
seventy miles west of Gondokoro; but no accounts had been heard of them.
On the 20th February they suddenly arrived from the Niambara, with their
people and ivory and were surprised at seeing so large a party of
English in so desolate a spot. It is a curious circumstance, that
although many Europeans had been as far south as Gondokoro, I was the
first Englishman that had ever reached it. We now formed a party of
four.

Gondokoro has a poor and sandy soil, so unproductive that corn is in the
greatest scarcity and is always brought from Khartoum by the annual
boats for the supply of the traders' people, who congregate there from
the interior, in the months of January and February, to deliver the
ivory for shipment to Khartoum. Corn is seldom or never less than eight
times the price at Khartoum; this is a great drawback to the country, as
each trading party that arrives with ivory from the interior brings with
it five or six hundred native porters, all of whom have to be fed during
their stay at Gondokoro, and in many cases, in times of scarcity, they
starve. This famine has given a bad name to the locality, and it is
accordingly difficult to procure porters from the interior, who
naturally fear starvation.

I was thus extremely sorry that I was obliged to refuse a supply of corn
to Mr. Petherick upon his application--an act of necessity, but not of
ill-nature upon my part, as I was obliged to leave a certain quantity in
depot at Gondokoro, in case I should be driven back from the interior,
in the event of which, without a supply in depot, utter starvation would
have been the fate of my party. Mr. Petherick accordingly despatched one
of his boats to the Shir tribe down the White Nile to purchase corn in
exchange for molotes (native hoes). The boat returned with corn on the
11th of March. On the 26th February, Speke and Grant sailed from
Gondokoro. Our hearts were too full to say more than a short "God bless
you!" They had won their victory; my work lay all before me. I watched
their boat until it turned the corner, and wished them in my heart all
honor for their great achievement. I trusted to sustain the name they
had won for English perseverance, and I looked forward to meeting them
again in dear old England, when I should have completed the work we had
so warmly planned together.



CHAPTER III.

GUN ACCIDENT.

A DAY before the departure of Speke and Grant from Gondokoro, an event
occurred which appeared as a bad omen to the superstitions of my men. I
had ordered the diahbiah to be prepared for sailing: thus, the cargo
having been landed and the boat cleared and washed, we were sitting in
the cabin, when a sudden explosion close to the windows startled us from
our seats, and the consternation of a crowd of men who were on the bank,
showed that some accident had happened. I immediately ran out, and found
that the servants had laid all my rifles upon a mat upon the ground, and
that one of the men had walked over the guns; his foot striking the
hammer of one of the No. 10 Reilly rifles, had momentarily raised it
from the nipple, and an instantaneous explosion was the consequence. The
rifle was loaded for elephants, with seven drachms of powder. There was
a quantity of luggage most fortunately lying before the muzzle, but the
effects of the discharge were extraordinary. The ball struck the steel
scabbard of a sword, tearing off the ring; it then passed obliquely
through the stock of a large rifle, and burst through the
shoulder-plate; entering a packing-case of inch-deal, it passed through
it and through the legs of a man who was sitting at some distance, and
striking the hip-bone of another man, who was sitting at some paces
beyond, it completely smashed both hips, and fortunately being expended,
it lodged in the body. Had it not been for the first objects happily in
the route of the ball, it would have killed several men, as they were
sitting in a crowd exactly before the muzzle.

Dr. Murie, who had accompanied Mr. Petherick, very kindly paid the
wounded men every attention, but he with the smashed hip died in a few
hours, apparently without pain.

After the departure of Speke and Grant, I moved my tent to the high
ground above the river; the effluvium from the filth of some thousands
of people was disgusting, and fever was prevalent in all quarters. Both
of us were suffering; also Mr. and Mrs. Petherick, and many of my men,
one of whom died. My animals were all healthy, but the donkeys and
camels were attacked by a bird, about the size of a thrush, which caused
them great uneasiness. This bird is of a greenish-brown colour, with a
powerful red beak, and excessively strong claws. It is a perfect pest to
the animals, and positively eats them into holes. The original object of
the bird in settling upon the animal is to search for vermin, but it is
not contented with the mere insects, and industriously pecks holes in
all parts of the animal, more especially on the back. A wound once
established, adds to the attraction, and the unfortunate animal is so
pestered that it has no time to eat. I was obliged to hire little boys
to watch the donkeys, and to drive off these plagues; but so determined
and bold were the birds, that I have constantly seen them run under the
body of the donkey, clinging to the belly with their feet, and thus
retreating to the opposite side of the animal when chased by the
watch-boys. In a few days my animals were full of wounds, excepting the
horses, whose long tails were effectual whisks. Although the temperature
was high, 95 degrees Fahr., the wind was frequently cold at about three
o'clock in the morning, and one of my horses, "Priest," that I had
lately purchased of the Mission, became paralysed, and could not rise
from the ground. After several days' endeavours to cure him, I was
obliged to shoot him, as the poor animal could not eat.

I now weighed all my baggage, and found that I had fifty-four cantars
(100 lbs. each). The beads, copper, and ammunition were the terrible
onus. I therefore applied to Mahommed, the vakeel of Andrea Debono, who
had escorted Speke and Grant, and I begged his co-operation in the
expedition. These people had brought down a large quantity of ivory from
the interior, and had therefore a number of porters who would return
empty-handed; I accordingly arranged with Mahommed for fifty porters,
who would much relieve the backs of my animals from Gondokoro to the
station at Faloro, about twelve days' march. At Faloro I intended to
leave my heavy baggage in depot, and to proceed direct to Kamrasi's
country. I promised Mahommed that I would use my influence in all new
countries that I might discover, to open a road for his ivory trade,
provided that he would agree to conduct it by legitimate purchase, and I
gave him a list of the quality of beads most desirable for Kamrasi's
country, according to the description I had received from Speke.

Mahommed promised to accompany me, not only to his camp at Faloro, but
throughout the whole of my expedition, provided that I would assist him
in procuring ivory, and that I would give him a handsome present. All
was agreed upon, and my own men appeared in high spirits at the prospect
of joining so large a party as that of Mahommed, which mustered about
two hundred men.

At that time I really placed dependence upon the professions of Mahommed
and his people; they had just brought Speke and Grant with them, and had
received from them presents of a first-class double-barrelled gun and
several valuable rifles. I had promised not only to assist them in their
ivory expeditions, but to give them something very handsome in addition,
and the fact of my having upwards of forty men as escort was also an
introduction, as they would be an addition to the force, which is a
great advantage in hostile countries. Everything appeared to be in good
train, but I little knew the duplicity of these Arab scoundrels. At the
very moment that they were most friendly, they were plotting to deceive
me, and to prevent me from entering the country. They knew, that should
I penetrate the interior, the ivory trade of the White Nile would be no
longer a mystery, and that the atrocities of the slave trade would be
exposed, and most likely be terminated by the intervention of European
Powers; accordingly they combined to prevent my advance, and to
overthrow my expedition completely. The whole of the men belonging to
the various traders were determined that no Englishman should penetrate
into the country; accordingly they fraternised with my escort, and
persuaded them that I was a Christian dog, that it was a disgrace for a
Mahommedan to serve; that they would be starved in my service, as I
would not allow them to steal cattle; that they would have no slaves;
and that I should lead them--God knew where--to the sea, from whence
Speke and Grant had started; that they had left Zanzibar with two
hundred men, and had only arrived at Gondokoro with eighteen, thus the
remainder must have been killed by the natives on the road; that if they
followed me, and arrived at Zanzibar, I should find a ship waiting to
take me to England, and I should leave them to die in a strange country.
Such were the reports circulated to prevent my men from accompanying me,
and it was agreed that Mahommed should fix a day for our pretended start
IN COMPANY, but that he would in reality start a few days before the
time appointed; and that my men should mutiny, and join his party in
cattle-stealing and slave-hunting. This was the substance of the plot
thus carefully concocted.

My men evinced a sullen demeanour, neglected all orders, and I plainly
perceived a settled discontent upon their general expression. The
donkeys and camels were allowed to stray, and were daily missing, and
recovered with difficulty; the luggage was overrun with white ants
instead of being attended to every morning; the men absented themselves
without leave, and were constantly in the camps of the different
traders. I was fully prepared for some difficulty, but I trusted that
when once on the march I should be able to get them under discipline.
Among my people were two blacks: one, "Richarn," already described as
having been brought up by the Austrian Mission at Khartoum; the other, a
boy of twelve years old, "Saat." As these were the only really faithful
members of the expedition, it is my duty to describe them. Richarn was
an habitual drunkard, but he had his good points; he was honest, and
much attached to both master and mistress. He had been with me for some
months, and was a fair sportsman, and being of an entirely different
race to the Arabs, he kept himself apart from them, and fraternised with
the boy Saat.

Saat was a boy that would do no evil; he was honest to a superlative
degree, and a great exception to the natives of this wretched country.
He was a native of "Fertit," and was minding his father's goats, when a
child of about six years old, at the time of his capture by the Baggera
Arabs. He described vividly how men on camels suddenly appeared while he
was in the wilderness with his flock, and how he was forcibly seized and
thrust into a large gum sack, and slung upon the back of a camel. Upon
screaming for help, the sack was opened, and an Arab threatened him with
a knife should he make the slightest noise. Thus quieted, he was carried
hundreds of miles through Kordofan to Dongola on the Nile, at which
place he was sold to slave-dealers, and taken to Cairo to be sold to the
Egyptian government as a drummer-boy. Being too young he was rejected,
and while in the dealer's hands he heard from another slave, of the
Austrian Mission at Cairo, that would protect him could he only reach
their asylum. With extraordinary energy for a child of six years old, he
escaped from his master, and made his way to the Mission, where he was
well received, and to a certain extent disciplined and taught as much of
the Christian religion as he could understand. In company with a branch
establishment of the Mission, he was subsequently located at Khartoum,
and from thence was sent up the White Nile to a Mission-station in the
Shillook country. The climate of the White Nile destroyed thirteen
missionaries in the short space of six months, and the boy Saat returned
with the remnant of the party to Khartoum, and was re-admitted into the
Mission. The establishment was at that time swarming with little black
boys from the various White Nile tribes, who repaid the kindness of the
missionaries by stealing everything they could lay their hands upon. At
length the utter worthlessness of the boys, their moral obtuseness, and
the apparent impossibility of improving them, determined the chief of
the Mission to purge his establishment from such imps, and they were
accordingly turned out. Poor little Saat, the one grain of gold amidst
the mire, shared the same fate.

It was about a week before our departure from Khartoum that Mrs. Baker
and I were at tea in the middle of the court-yard, when a miserable boy
about twelve years old came uninvited to her side, and knelt down in the
dust at her feet. There was something so irresistibly supplicating in
the attitude of the child, that the first impulse was to give him
something from the table. This was declined, and he merely begged to be
allowed to live with us, and to be our boy. He said that he had been
turned out of the Mission, merely because the Bari boys of the
establishment were thieves, and thus he suffered for their sins. I could
not believe it possible that the child had been actually turned out into
the streets, and believing that the fault must lay in the boy, I told
him I would inquire. In the meantime he was given in charge of the cook.

It happened that, on the following day, I was so much occupied that I
forgot to inquire at the Mission; and once more the cool hour of evening
arrived when, after the intense heat of the day, we sat at table in the
open court-yard; it was refreshed by being plentifully watered. Hardly
were we seated, when again the boy appeared, kneeling in the dust, with
his head lowered at my wife's feet, and imploring to be allowed to
follow us. It was in vain that I explained that we had a boy, and did
not require another; that the journey was long and difficult, and that
he might perhaps die. The boy feared nothing, and craved simply that he
might belong to us. He had no place of shelter, no food; had been stolen
from his parents, and was a helpless outcast.

The next morning, accompanied by Mrs. Baker, I went to the Mission and
heard that the boy had borne an excellent character, and that it must
have been BY MISTAKE that he had been turned out with the others. This
being conclusive, Saat was immediately adopted. Mrs. Baker was shortly
at work making him some useful clothes, and in an incredibly short time
a great change was effected. As he came from the hands of the
cook--after a liberal use of soap and water, and attired in trowsers,
blouse, and belt--the new boy appeared in a new character.

From that time he considered himself as belonging absolutely to his
mistress. He was taught by her to sew; Richarn instructed him in the
mysteries of waiting at table, and washing plates, &c.; while I taught
him to shoot, and gave him a light double-barrelled gun. This was his
greatest pride.

In the evening, when the day's work was done, Saat was allowed to sit
near his mistress; and he was at times amused and instructed by stories
of Europe and Europeans, and anecdotes from the Bible adapted to his
understanding, combined with the first principles of Christianity. He
was very ignorant, notwithstanding his advantages in the Mission, but he
possessed the first grand rudiments of all religion--honesty of purpose.
Although a child of only twelve years old, he was so perfectly
trustworthy that, at the period of our arrival at Gondokoro, he was more
to be depended upon than my vakeel, and nothing could occur among my
mutinous escort without the boy's knowledge: thus he reported the
intended mutiny of the people when there was no other means of
discovering it, and without Saat I should have had no information of
their plots.

Not only was the boy trustworthy, but he had an extraordinary amount of
moral in addition to physical courage. If any complaint were made, and
Saat was called as a witness--far from the shyness too often evinced
when the accuser is brought face to face with the accused--such was
Saat's proudest moment; and, no matter who the man might be, the boy
would challenge him, regardless of all consequences. We were very fond
of this boy; he was thoroughly good; and in that land of iniquity,
thousands of miles away from all except what was evil, there was a
comfort in having some one innocent and faithful, in whom to trust.

We were to start upon the following Monday. Mahommed had paid me a
visit, assuring me of his devotion, and begging me to have my baggage in
marching order, as he would send me fifty porters on the Monday, and we
would move off in company. At the very moment that he thus professed, he
was coolly deceiving me. He had arranged to start without me on the
Saturday, while he was proposing to march together on the Monday. This I
did not know at the time.

One morning I had returned to the tent after having, as usual, inspected
the transport animals, when I observed Mrs. Baker looking
extraordinarily pale, and immediately upon my arrival she gave orders
for the presence of the vakeel (headman). There was something in her
manner, so different to her usual calm, that I was utterly bewildered
when I heard her question the vakeel, "Whether the men were willing to
march?" Perfectly ready, was the reply. "Then order them to strike the
tent, and load the animals; we start this moment." The man appeared
confused, but not more so than I. Something was evidently on foot, but
what I could not conjecture. The vakeel wavered, and to my astonishment
I heard the accusation made against him, that, "during the night, the
whole of the escort had mutinously conspired to desert me, with my arms
and ammunition that were in their hands, and to fire simultaneously at
me should I attempt to disarm them." At first this charge was
indignantly denied until the boy Saat manfully stepped forward, and
declared that the conspiracy was entered into by the whole of the
escort, and that both he and Richarn, knowing that mutiny was intended,
had listened purposely to the conversation during the night; at daybreak
the boy reported the fact to his mistress. Mutiny, robbery, and murder
were thus deliberately determined.

I immediately ordered an angarep (travelling bedstead) to be placed
outside the tent under a large tree; upon this I laid five
double-barrelled guns loaded with buck shot, a revolver, and a naked
sabre as sharp as a razor. A sixth rifle I kept in my hands while I sat
upon the angarep, with Richarn and Saat both with double-barrelled guns
behind me. Formerly I had supplied each of my men with a piece of
mackintosh waterproof to be tied over the locks of their guns during the
march. I now ordered the drum to be beat, and all the men to form in
line in marching order, with their locks TIED UP IN THE WATERPROOF. I
requested Mrs. Baker to stand behind me, and to point out any man who
should attempt to uncover his locks, when I should give the order to lay
down their arms. The act of uncovering the locks would prove his
intention, in which event I intended to shoot him immediately, and take
my chance with the rest of the conspirators. I had quite determined that
these scoundrels should not rob me of my own arms and ammunition, if I
could prevent it.

The drum beat, and the vakeel himself went into the men's quarters, and
endeavoured to prevail upon them to answer the call. At length fifteen
assembled in line; the others were nowhere to be found. The locks of the
arms were secured by mackintosh as ordered; it was thus impossible for
any man to fire at me until he should have released his locks.

Upon assembling in line I ordered them immediately to lay down their
arms. This, with insolent looks of defiance, they refused to do. "Down
with your guns this moment," I shouted, "sons of dogs!" And at the sharp
click of the locks, as I quickly cocked the rifle that I held in my
hands, the cowardly mutineers widened their line and wavered. Some
retreated a few paces to the rear; others sat down, and laid their guns
on the ground; while the remainder slowly dispersed, and sat in twos, or
singly, under the various trees about eighty paces distant. Taking
advantage of their indecision, I immediately rose and. ordered my vakeel
and Richarn to disarm them as they were thus scattered. Foreseeing that
the time had arrived for actual physical force, the cowards capitulated,
agreeing to give up their arms and ammunition if I would give them their
written discharge. I disarmed them immediately, and the vakeel having
written a discharge for the fifteen men present, I wrote upon each paper
the word "mutineer" above my signature. None of them being able to read,
and this being written in English, they unconsciously carried the
evidence of their own guilt, which I resolved to punish should I ever
find them on my return to Khartoum.

Thus disarmed, they immediately joined other of the traders' parties.
These fifteen men were the "Jalyns" of my party, the remainder being
Dongolowas: both Arabs of the Nile, north of Khartoum. The Dongolowas
had not appeared when summoned by the drum, and my vakeel being of their
nation, I impressed upon him his responsibility for the mutiny, and that
he would end his days in prison at Khartoum should my expedition fail.

The boy Saat and Richarn now assured me that the men had intended to
fire at me, but that they were frightened at seeing us thus prepared,
but that I must not expect one man of the Dongolowas to be any more
faithful than the Jalyns. I ordered the vakeel to hunt up the men, and
to bring me their guns, threatening that if they refused I would shoot
any man that I found with one of my guns in his hands.

There was no time for mild measures. I had only Saat (a mere child), and
Richarn, upon whom I could depend; and I resolved with them alone to
accompany Mahommed's people to the interior, and to trust to good
fortune for a chance of proceeding.

I was feverish and ill with worry and anxiety, and I was lying down upon
my mat, when I suddenly heard guns firing in all directions, drums
beating, and the customary signs of either an arrival or departure of a
trading party. Presently a messenger arrived from Koorshid Aga, the
Circassian, to announce the departure of Mahommed's party without me;
and my vakeel appeared with a message from the same people, that "if I
followed on their road (my proposed route), they would fire upon me and
my party, as they would allow no English spies in their country."

My vakeel must have known of this preconcerted arrangement. I now went
to the Circassian, Koorshid, who had always been friendly personally. In
an interview with him, I made him understand that nothing should drive
me back to Khartoum, but that, as I was now helpless, I begged him to
give me ten elephant-hunters; that I would pay one-half of their wages,
and amuse myself in hunting and exploring in any direction until the
following year, he to take the ivory; by which time I could receive
thirty black soldiers from Khartoum, with whom I should commence my
journey to the lake. I begged him to procure me thirty good blacks at
Khartoum, and to bring them with him to Gondokoro next season, where I
arranged to meet him. This he agreed to, and I returned to my tent
delighted at a chance of escaping complete failure, although I thus
encountered a delay of twelve months before I could commence my
legitimate voyage. That accomplished, I was comparatively happy; the
disgrace of returning to Khartoum beaten would have been insupportable.

That night I slept well, and we sat under our shady tree by the
tent-door at sunrise on the following morning, drinking our coffee with
contentment. Presently, from a distance, I saw Koorshid, the Circassian,
approaching with his partner. Coffee and pipes were ready instanter:
both the boy Saat and Richarn looked upon him as a friend and ally, as
it was arranged that ten of his hunters were to accompany us. Before he
sipped his coffee he took me by the hand, and with great confusion of
manner he confessed that he was ashamed to come and visit me. "The
moment you left me yesterday," said he, "I called my vakeel and headman,
and ordered them to select the ten best men of my party to accompany
you; but instead of obeying me as usual, they declared that nothing
would induce them to serve under you; that you were a spy who would
report their proceedings to the Government, and that they should all be
ruined; that you were not only a spy on the slave-trade, but that you
were a madman, who would lead them into distant and unknown countries,
where both you and your wife and they would all be murdered by the
natives; thus they would mutiny immediately, should you be forced upon
them." My last hope was gone. Of course I thanked Koorshid for his
good-will, and explained that I should not think of intruding myself
upon his party, but that at the same time they should not drive me out
of the country. I had abundance of stores and ammunition, and now that
my men had deserted me, I had sufficient corn to supply my small party
for twelve months; I had also a quantity of garden-seeds, that I had
brought with me in the event of becoming a prisoner in the country; I
should therefore make a zareeba or camp at Gondokoro, and remain there
until I should receive men and supplies in the following season. I now
felt independent, having preserved my depot of corn. I was at least
proof against famine for twelve months. Koorshid endeavoured to persuade
me that my party of only a man and a boy would be certainly insulted and
attacked by the insolent natives of the Bari tribe should I remain alone
at Gondokoro after the departure of the traders' parties. I told him
that I preferred the natives to the traders' people, and that I was
resolved; I merely begged him to lend me one of his little slave boys as
an interpreter, as I had no means of communicating with the natives.
This he promised to do.

After Koorshid's departure, we sat silently for some minutes, both my
wife and I occupied by the same thoughts.

No expedition had ever been more carefully planned; everything had been
well arranged to insure success. My transport animals were in good
condition; their saddles and pads had been made under my own inspection;
my arms, ammunition, and supplies were abundant, and I was ready to
march at five minutes' notice to any part of Africa; but the expedition,
so costly, and so carefully organized, was completely ruined by the very
people whom I had engaged to protect it. They had not only deserted, but
they had conspired to murder. There was no law in these wild regions but
brute force; human life was of no value; murder was a pastime, as the
murderer could escape all punishment. Mr. Petherick's vakeel had just
been shot dead by one of his own men, and such events were too common to
create much attention. We were utterly helpless; the whole of the people
against us, and openly threatening. For myself personally I had no
anxiety, but the fact of Mrs. Baker being with me was my greatest care.
I dared not think of her position in the event of my death amongst such
savages as those around her. These thoughts were shared by her; but she,
knowing that I had resolved to succeed, never once hinted an advice for
retreat.

Richarn was as faithful as Saat, and I accordingly confided in him my
resolution to leave all my baggage in charge of a friendly chief of the
Bari's at Gondokoro, and to take two fast dromedaries for him and Saat,
and two horses for Mrs. Baker and myself, and to make a push through the
hostile tribe for three days, to arrive among friendly people at "Moir,"
from which place I trusted to fortune. I arranged that the dromedaries
should carry a few beads, ammunition, and the astronomical instruments.
Richarn said the idea was very mad; that the natives would do nothing
for beads; that he had had great experience on the White Nile when with
a former master, and that the natives would do nothing without receiving
cows as payment; that it was of no use being good to them, as they had
no respect for any virtue but "force;" that we should most likely be
murdered; but that if I ordered him to go, he was ready to obey.

"Master, go on, and I will follow thee, To the last gasp, with truth and
loyalty."

I was delighted with Richarn's rough and frank fidelity. Ordering the
horses to be brought, I carefully pared their feet--their hard flinty
hoofs, that had never felt a shoe, were in excellent order for a gallop,
if necessary. All being ready, I sent for the chief of Gondokoro.
Meanwhile a Bari boy arrived from Koorshid to act as my interpreter.

The Bari chief was, as usual, smeared all over with red ochre and fat,
and had the shell of a small land tortoise suspended to his elbow as an
ornament. He brought me a large jar of merissa (native beer), and said
"he had been anxious to see the white man who did not steal cattle,
neither kidnap slaves, but that I should do no good in that country, as
the traders did not wish me to remain." He told me "that all people were
bad, both natives and traders, and that force was necessary in this
country." I tried to discover whether he had any respect for good and
upright conduct. "Yes," he said; "all people say that you are different
to the Turks and traders, but that character will not help you; it is
all very good and very right, but you see your men have all deserted,
thus you must go back to Khartoum; you can do nothing here without
plenty of men and guns." I proposed to him my plan of riding quickly
through the Bari tribe to Moir; he replied, "Impossible! If I were to
beat the great nogaras (drums), and call my people together to explain
who you were, they would not hurt you; but there are many petty chiefs
who do not obey me, and their people would certainly attack you when
crossing some swollen torrent, and what could you do with only a man and
a boy?"

His reply to my question concerning the value of beads corroborated
Richarn's statement; nothing could be purchased for anything but cattle;
the traders had commenced the system of stealing herds of cattle from
one tribe to barter with the next neighbour; thus the entire country was
in anarchy and confusion, and beads were of no value. My plan for a dash
through the country was impracticable.

I therefore called my vakeel, and threatened him with the gravest
punishment on my return to Khartoum. I wrote to Sir R. Colquhoun, H.M.
Consul-General for Egypt, which letter I sent by one of the return
boats; and I explained to my vakeel that the complaint to the British
authorities would end in his imprisonment, and that in case of my death
through violence he would assuredly be hanged. After frightening him
thoroughly, I suggested that he should induce some of the mutineers, who
were Dongolowas (his own tribe), many of whom were his relatives, to
accompany me, in which case I would forgive them their past misconduct.

In the course of the afternoon he returned with the news, that he had
arranged with seventeen of the men, but that they refused to march
towards the south, and would accompany me to the east if I wished to
explore that part of the country. Their plea for refusing a southern
route was the hostility of the Bari tribe. They also proposed a
condition, that I should "leave all my transport animals and baggage
behind me."

To this insane request, which completely nullified their offer to start,
I only replied by vowing vengeance against the vakeel.

Their time was passed in vociferously quarrelling among themselves
during the day, and in close conference with the vakeel during the
night, the substance of which was reported on the following morning by
the faithful Saat. The boy recounted their plot. They agreed to march to
the east, with the intention of deserting me at the station of a trader
named Chenooda, seven days' march from Gondokoro, in the Latooka
country, whose men were, like them selves, Dongolowas; they had
conspired to mutiny at that place, and to desert to the slave-hunting
party with my arms and ammunition, and to shoot me should I attempt to
disarm them. They also threatened to shoot my vakeel, who now, through
fear of punishment at Khartoum, exerted his influence to induce them to
start. Altogether, it was a pleasant state of things.

That night I was asleep in my tent, when I was suddenly awoke by loud
screams, and upon listening attentively I distinctly heard the heavy
breathing of something in the tent, and I could distinguish a dark
object crouching close to the head of my bed. A slight pull at my sleeve
showed me that my wife also noticed the object, as this was always the
signal that she made if anything occured at night that required
vigilance. Possessing a share of sangfroid admirably adapted for African
travel, Mrs. Baker was not a screamer, and never even whispered; in the
moment of suspected danger, a touch of my sleeve was considered a
sufficient warning. My hand had quietly drawn the revolver from under my
pillow and noiselessly pointed it within two feet of the dark crouching
object, before I asked, "Who is that?" No answer was given--until,
upon repeating the question, with my finger touching gently upon the
trigger ready to fire, a voice replied, "Fadeela." Never had I been so
near to a fatal shot! It was one of the black women of the party, who
had crept into the tent for an asylum. Upon striking a light I found
that the woman was streaming with blood, being cut in the most frightful
manner with the coorbatch (whip of hippopotamus' hide). Hearing the
screams continued at some distance from the tent, I found my angels in
the act of flogging two women; two men were holding each woman upon the
ground by sitting upon her legs and neck, while two men with powerful
whips operated upon each woman alternately. Their backs were cut to
pieces, and they were literally covered with blood. The brutes had taken
upon themselves the task of thus punishing the women for a breach of
discipline in being absent without leave. Fadeela had escaped before her
punishment had been completed, and narrowly escaped being shot by
running to the tent without giving warning. Seizing the coorbatch from
the hands of one of the executioners, I administered them a dose of
their own prescription, to their intense astonishment, as they did not
appear conscious of any outrage;--"they were only slave women." In all
such expeditions it is necessary to have women belonging to the party to
grind the corn and prepare the food for the men; I had accordingly hired
several from their proprietors at Khartoum, and these had been
maltreated as described.

I was determined at all hazards to start from Gondokoro for the
interior. From long experience with natives of wild countries, I did not
despair of obtaining an influence over my men, however bad, could I once
quit Gondokoro, and lead them among the wild and generally hostile
tribes of the country; they would then be separated from the contagion
of the slave-hunting parties, and would feel themselves dependent upon
me for guidance. Accordingly I professed to believe in their promises to
accompany me to the east, although I knew of their conspiracy; and I
trusted that by tact and good management I should eventually thwart all
their plans, and, although forced out of my intended course, I should be
able to alter my route, and to work round from the east to my original
plan of operations south. The interpreter given by Koorshid Aga had
absconded: this was a great loss, as I had no means of communication
with the natives except by casually engaging a Bari in the employment of
the traders, to whom I was obliged to pay exorbitantly in copper
bracelets for a few minutes' conversation.

A party of Koorshid's people had just arrived with ivory from the
Latooka country, bringing with them a number of that tribe as porters.
These people were the most extraordinary that I had seen--wearing
beautiful helmets of glass beads, and being remarkably handsome. The
chief of the party, "Adda," came to my tent, accompanied by a few of his
men. He was one of the finest men I ever saw, and he gave me much
information concerning his country, and begged me to pay him a visit. He
detested the Turks, but he was obliged to serve them, as he had received
orders from the great chief "Commoro" to collect porters, and to
transport their ivory from Latooka to Gondokoro. I took his portrait, to
his great delight, and made him a variety of presents of copper
bracelets, beads, and a red cotton handkerchief; the latter was most
prized, and he insisted upon wearing it upon his person. He had no
intention of wearing his new acquisition for the purpose of decency, but
he carefully folded it so as to form a triangle, and then tied it round
his waist, so that the pointed end should hang exactly straight BEHIND
him. So particular was he, that he was quite half an hour in arranging
this simple appendage; and at length he departed with his people, always
endeavouring to admire his new finery, by straining his neck in his
attempts to look behind him.

From morning till night natives of all ranks surrounded the tent to ask
for presents; these being generally granted, as it was highly necessary
to create a favourable impression. Koorshid's party, who had arrived
from Latooka, were to return shortly, but they not only refused to allow
me to accompany them, but they declared their intention of forcibly
repelling me, should I attempt to advance by their route. This was a
grand excuse for my men, who once more refused to proceed. By pressure
upon the vakeel they again yielded, but on condition that I would take
one of the mutineers named "Bellaal," who wished to join them, but whose
offer I had refused, as he had been a notorious ringleader in every
mutiny. It was a sine qua non that he was to go; and knowing the
character of the man, I felt convinced that it had been arranged that he
should head the mutiny conspired to be enacted upon our arrival at
Chenooda's camp in the Latooka country. The vakeel of Chenooda, one
Mahommed Her, was in constant communication with my men, which tended to
confirm the reports I had heard from the boy Saat. This Mahommed Her
started from Gondokoro for Latooka. Koorshid's men would start two days
later; these were rival parties, both antagonistic, but occupying the
same country, the Latooka; both equally hostile to me, but as the party
of Mahommed Her were Dongolowas, and that of Koorshid were Jalyns and
Soodanes, I trusted eventually to turn their disputes to my own
advantage.

The plan that I had arranged was to leave all the baggage not
indispensable with Koorshid Aga at Gondokoro, who would return it to
Khartoum. I intended to wait until Koorshid's party should march, when I
resolved to follow them, as I did not believe they would dare to oppose
me by force, their master himself being friendly. I considered their
threats as mere idle boasting, to frighten me from an attempt to follow
them; but there was another more serious cause of danger to be
apprehended.

On the route, between Gondokoro and Latooka, there was a powerful tribe
among the mountains of Ellyria. The chief of that tribe (Legge) had
formerly massacred a hundred and twenty of a trader's party. He was an
ally of Koorshid's people, who declared that they would raise the tribe
against me, which would end in the defeat or massacre of my party. There
was a difficult pass through the mountains of Ellyria, which it would be
impossible to force; thus my small party of seventeen men would be
helpless. It would be merely necessary for the traders to request the
chief of Ellyria to attack my party to insure its destruction, as the
plunder of the baggage would be an ample reward.

There was no time for deliberation. Both the present and the future
looked as gloomy as could be imagined; but I had always expected
extraordinary difficulties, and they were, if possible, to be
surmounted. It was useless to speculate upon chances; there was no hope
of success in inaction; and the only resource was to drive through all
obstacles without calculating the risk.

Once away from Gondokoro we should be fairly launched on our voyage, the
boats would have returned to Khartoum, thus retreat would be cut off; it
only remained to push forward, trusting in Providence and good fortune.
I had great faith in presents. The Arabs are all venal; and, having many
valuable effects with me, I trusted, when the proper moment should
arrive, to be able to overcome all opposition by an open hand. The day
arrived for the departure of Koorshid's people. They commenced firing
their usual signals; the drums beat; the Turkish ensign led the way; and
they marched at 2 o'clock P.M., sending a polite message, "daring" me to
follow them.

I immediately ordered the tent to be struck, the luggage to be arranged,
the animals to be collected, and everything to be ready for the march.
Richarn and Saat were in high spirits, even my unwilling men were
obliged to work, and by 7 P.M. we were all ready. The camels were too
heavily loaded, carrying about seven hundred pounds each. The donkeys
were also overloaded, but there was no help for it. Mrs. Baker was well
mounted on my good old Abyssinian hunter "Tetel," ("Hartebeest") and
was carrying several leather bags slung to the pommel, while I was
equally loaded on my horse "Filfil;" ("Pepper") in fact, we were all
carrying as much as we could stow.

We had neither guide, nor interpreter. Not one native was procurable,
all being under the influence of the traders, who had determined to
render our advance utterly impossible by preventing the natives from
assisting us. All had been threatened, and we, perfectly helpless,
commenced the desperate journey in darkness about an hour after sunset.

"Where shall we go?" said the men, just as the order was given to start.
"Who can travel without a guide? No one knows the road." The moon was
up, and the mountain of Belignan was distinctly visible about nine miles
distant. Knowing that the route lay on the east side of that mountain, I
led the way, Mrs. Baker riding by my side, and the British flag
following close behind us as a guide for the caravan of heavily laden
camels and donkeys. We shook hands warmly with Dr. Murie, who had come
to see us off, and thus we started on our march in Central Africa on the
26th of March, 1863.



CHAPTER IV.

FIRST NIGHT'S MARCH.

THE country was park-like, but much parched by the dry weather. The
ground was sandy, but firm, and interspersed with numerous villages, all
of which were surrounded with a strong fence of euphorbia. The country
was well wooded, being free from bush or jungle, but numerous trees, all
evergreens, were scattered over the landscape. No natives were to be
seen, but the sound of their drums and singing in chorus was heard in
the far distance. Whenever it is moonlight the nights are passed in
singing and dancing, beating drums, blowing horns, and the population of
whole villages thus congregate together.

After a silent march of two hours we saw watch-fires blazing in the
distance, and upon nearer approach we perceived the trader's party
bivouacked. Their custom is to march only two or three hours on the
first day of departure, to allow stragglers who may have lagged behind
in Gondokoro to rejoin the party before morning.

We were roughly challenged by their sentries as we passed, and were
instantly told "not to remain in their neighbourhood." Accordingly we
passed on for about half a mile in advance, and bivouacked on some
rising ground above a slight hollow in which we found water. All were
busy collecting firewood and cutting grass for the donkeys and horses
who were picketed near the fires. The camels were hobbled, and turned to
graze upon the branches of a large mimosa. We were not hungry; the
constant anxiety had entirely destroyed all appetite. A cup of strong
black coffee was the greatest luxury, and not requiring a tent in the
clear still night, we were soon asleep on our simple angareps. Before
daylight on the following morning the drum beat; the lazy soldiers,
after stretching and yawning, began to load the animals, and we started
at six o'clock. In these climates the rising of the sun is always
dreaded. For about an hour before sunrise the air is deliciously cool
and invigorating, but the sun is regarded as the common enemy. There is,
nevertheless, a difficulty in starting before sunrise-the animals cannot
be properly loaded in the darkness, and the operation being tedious, the
cool hour of morning is always lost. The morning was clear, and the
mountain of Belignan, within three or four miles, was a fine object to
direct our course. I could distinctly see some enormous trees at the
foot of the mountain near a village, and I hastened forward, as I hoped
to procure a guide who would also act as interpreter, many of the
natives in the vicinity of Gondokoro having learnt a little Arabic from
the traders. We cantered on ahead of the party, regardless of the
assurance of our unwilling men that the natives were not to be trusted,
and we soon arrived beneath the shade of a cluster of most superb trees.
The village was within a quarter of a mile, situated at the very base of
the abrupt mountain; the natives seeing us alone had no fear, and soon
thronged around us.

The chief understood a few words of Arabic, and I offered a large
payment of copper bracelets and beads for a guide. After much discussion
and bargaining, a bad-looking fellow offered to guide us to Ellyria, but
no farther. This was about twenty-eight or thirty miles distant, and it
was of vital importance that we should pass through that tribe before
the trader's party should raise them against us. I had great hopes of
outmarching them, as they would be delayed in Belignan by ivory
transactions with the chief. While negotiations were pending with the
guide, the trader's party appeared in the distance, and avoiding us,
they halted on the opposite side of the village. I now tried
conciliatory measures, and I sent my vakeel to their headman Ibrahim to
talk with him confidentially, and to try to obtain an interpreter in
return for a large present.

My vakeel was in an awkward position--he was afraid of me; also
mortally afraid of the government in Khartoum; and frightened out of his
life at his own men, whose conspiracy to desert he was well aware of.
With the cunning of an Arab he started on his mission, accompanied by
several of the men, including the arch-mutineer Bellaal. He shortly
returned, saying, "that it was perfectly impossible to proceed to the
interior; that Ibrahim's party were outrageous at my having followed on
their route; that he would neither give an interpreter, nor allow any of
the natives to serve me; and that he would give orders to the great
chief of Ellyria to prevent me from passing through his country." At
that time the Turks were engaged in business transactions with the
natives; it therefore was all important that I should start immediately,
and by a forced march arrive at Ellyria, and get through the pass,
before they should communicate with the chief. I had no doubt that, by
paying black mail, I should be able to clear Ellyria, provided I was in
advance of the Turks, but should they outmarch me there would be no
hope; a fight and defeat would be the climax. I accordingly gave orders
for an IMMEDIATE start. "Load the camels, my brothers!" I exclaimed, to
the sullen ruffians around me; but not a man stirred except Richarn and
a fellow named Sali, who began to show signs of improvement. Seeing that
the men intended to disobey, I immediately set to work myself loading
the animals, requesting my men not to trouble themselves, and begging
them to lie down and smoke their pipes while I did the work. A few rose
from the ground ashamed, and assisted to load the camels, while the
others declared the impossibility of camels travelling by the road we
were about to take, as the Turks had informed them that not even the
donkeys could march through the thick jungles between Belignan and
Ellyria.

"All right, my brothers!" I replied; "then we'll march as far as the
donkeys can go, and leave both them and the baggage on the road when
they can go no farther; but I GO FORWARD."

With sullen discontent the men began to strap on their belts and
cartouche boxes, and prepare for the start. The animals were loaded, and
we moved slowly forward at 4.30 P.M. The country was lovely. The
mountain of Belignan, although not exceeding 1,200 feet, is a fine mass
of gneiss and syenite, ornamented in the hollows with fine trees, while
the general appearance of the country at the base was that of a
beautiful English park well timbered and beautified with distant
mountains. We had just started with the Bari guide that I had engaged at
Belignan, when we were suddenly joined by two of the Latookas whom I had
seen when at Gondokoro, and to whom I had been very civil. It appeared
that these fellows, who were acting as porters to the Turks, had been
beaten, and had therefore absconded and joined me. This was
extraordinary good fortune, as I now had guides the whole way to
Latooka, about ninety miles distant. I immediately gave them each a
copper bracelet and some beads, and they very good-naturedly relieved
the camels of one hundred pounds of copper rings, which they carried in
two baskets on their heads.

We now crossed the broad dry bed of a torrent, and the banks being
steep, a considerable time was occupied in assisting the loaded animals
in their descent. The donkeys were easily aided, their tails being held
by two men, while they shuffled and slid down the sandy banks; but every
camel fell, and the loads had to be carried up the opposite bank by the
men, and the camels to be reloaded on arrival. Here again the donkeys
had the advantage, as without being unloaded they were assisted up the
steep ascent by two men in front pulling at their ears, while others
pushed behind. Altogether, the donkeys were far more suitable for the
country, as they were more easily loaded. I had arranged their packs and
saddles so well, that they carried their loads with the greatest
comfort. Each animal had an immense pad well stuffed with goats' hair;
this reached from the shoulder to the hip-bones; upon this rested a
simple form of saddle made of two forks of boughs inverted, and fastened
together with rails--there were no nails in these saddles, all the
fastenings being secured with thongs of raw hide. The great pad,
projecting far both in front, behind, and also below the side of the
saddle, prevented the loads from chafing the animal. Every donkey
carried two large bags made of the hides of antelopes that I had
formerly shot on the frontier of Abyssinia, and these were arranged with
taggles on the one to fit into loops on the other, so that the loading
and unloading was exceedingly simple. The success of an expedition
depends mainly upon the perfection of the details, and where animals are
employed for transport, the first consideration should be bestowed upon
saddles and packs. The facility of loading is all important, and I now
had an exemplification of its effect upon both animals and men; the
latter began to abuse the camels and to curse the father of this, and
the mother of that, because they had the trouble of unloading them for
the descent into the river's bed, while the donkeys were blessed with
the endearing name of "my brother," and alternately whacked with the
stick. It was rather a bad commencement of a forced march, and the
ravine we had crossed had been a cause of serious delay. Hardly were the
animals reloaded and again ready for the march, when the men remembered
that they had only one waterskin full. I had given orders before the
start from Belignan that all should be filled. This is the unexceptional
rule in African travelling--"fill your girbas before starting." Never
mind what the natives may tell you concerning the existence of water on
the road; believe nothing; but resolutely determine to fill the girbas
--should you find water, there is no harm done if you are already
provided: but nothing can exceed the improvidence of the people. To
avoid the trouble of filling the girbas before starting, the men will
content themselves with "Inshallah (please God), we shall find water on
the road," and they frequently endure the greatest suffering from sheer
idleness in neglecting a supply.

They had in this instance persuaded themselves that the river we had
just crossed would not be dry. Several of them had been employed in this
country formerly, and because they had at one time found water in the
sandy bed, they had concluded that it existed still. Accordingly they
now wished to send parties to seek for water; this would entail a
further delay, at a time when every minute was precious, as our fate
depended upon reaching and passing through Ellyria before the arrival of
the Turks. I was very anxious, and determined not to allow a moment's
hesitation; I therefore insisted upon an immediate advance, and resolved
to march without stopping throughout the night. The Latooka guides
explained by signs that if we marched all night we should arrive at
water on the following morning. This satisfied the men; and we started.
For some miles we passed through a magnificent forest of large trees:
the path being remarkably good, the march looked propitious--this good
fortune, however, was doomed to change. We shortly entered upon thick
thorny jungles; the path was so overgrown that the camels could scarcely
pass under the overhanging branches, and the leather bags of provisions
piled upon their backs were soon ripped by the hooked thorns of the
mimosa--the salt, rice, and coffee bags all sprang leaks, and small
streams of these important stores issued from the rents, which the men
attempted to repair by stuffing dirty rags into the holes. These thorns
were shaped like fish-hooks, thus it appeared that the perishable
baggage must soon become an utter wreck, as the great strength and
weight of the camels bore all before them, and sometimes tore the
branches from the trees, the thorns becoming fixed in the leather bags.
Meanwhile the donkeys walked along in comfort, being so short that they
and their loads were below the branches.

I dreaded the approach of night. We were now at the foot of a range of
high rocky hills, from which the torrents during the rainy season had
torn countless ravines in their passage through the lower ground; we
were marching parallel to the range at the very base, thus we met every
ravine at right angles. Down tumbled a camel; and away rolled his load
of bags, pots, pans, boxes, &c. into the bottom of a ravine in a
confused ruin.--Halt! . . and the camel had to be raised and helped up
the opposite bank, while the late avalanche of luggage was carried
piecemeal after him to be again adjusted. To avoid a similar catastrophe
the remaining three camels had to be UNLOADED, and reloaded when safe
upon the opposite bank. The operation of loading a camel with about 700
lbs. of luggage of indescribable variety is at all times tedious; but no
sooner had we crossed one ravine with difficulty than we arrived at
another, and the same fatiguing operation had to be repeated, with
frightful loss of time at the moment when I believed the Turks were
following on our path.

My wife and I rode about a quarter of a mile at the head of the party as
an advance guard, to warn the caravan of any difficulty. The very nature
of the country declared that it must be full of ravines, and yet I could
not help hoping against hope that we might have a clear mile of road
without a break. The evening had passed, and the light faded. What had
been difficult and tedious during the day, now became most serious;--
we could not see the branches of hooked thorns that overhung the broken
path; I rode in advance, my face and arms bleeding with countless
scratches, while at each rip of a thorn I gave a warning shout--
"Thorn!" for those behind, and a cry of "Hole!" for any deep rut that
lay in the path. It was fortunately moonlight, but the jungle was so
thick that the narrow track was barely perceptible; thus both camels and
donkeys ran against the trunks of trees, smashing the luggage, and
breaking all that could be broken; nevertheless, the case was urgent;
march we must, at all hazards.

My heart sank whenever we came to a deep ravine, or Hor; the warning cry
of "halt" told those in the rear that once more the camels must be
unloaded, and the same fatiguing operation must be repeated. For hours
we marched: the moon was sinking; the path, already dark, grew darker;
the animals, overloaded even for a good road, were tired out; and the
men were disheartened, thirsty, and disgusted. I dismounted from my
horse and loaded him with sacks, to relieve a camel that was perfectly
done--but on we marched. Every one was silent; the men were too tired
to speak; and through the increasing gloom we crept slowly forward
Suddenly another ravine, but not so deep; and we trusted that the camels
might cross it without the necessity of unloading; down went the leading
camel, rolling completely over with his load to the bottom. Now, the boy
Saat was the drummer; but being very tired, he had come to the
conclusion that the drum would travel quite as easily upon a camel's
back as upon his shoulders; he had accordingly slung it upon the very
camel that had now performed a somersault and solo on the drum. The
musical instrument was picked up in the shape of a flat dish, and
existed no longer as a drum, every note having been squeezed out of it.
The donkey is a much more calculating animal than the camel, the latter
being an excessively stupid beast, while the former is remarkably clever
--at least I can answer for the ability of the Egyptian species. The
expression "what an ass!" is in Europe supposed to be slightly
insulting, but a comparison with the Egyptian variety would be a
compliment. Accordingly my train of donkeys, being calculating and
reasoning creatures, had from thus night's experience come to the
conclusion that the journey was long; that the road was full of ravines;
that the camels who led the way would assuredly tumble into these
ravines unless unloaded; and that as the reloading at each ravine would
occupy at least half an hour, it would be wise for them (the donkeys) to
employ that time in going to sleep--therefore, as it was just as cheap
to lie down as to stand, they preferred a recumbent posture, and a
refreshing roll upon the sandy ground. Accordingly, whenever the word
"halt" was given, the clever donkeys thoroughly understood their
advantage, and the act of unloading a camel on arrival at a ravine was a
signal sufficient to induce each of twenty-one donkeys to lie down. It
was in vain that the men beat and swore at them to keep them on their
legs; the donkeys were determined, and lie down they would. This
obstinacy on their part was serious to the march--every time that they
lay down they shifted their loads; some of the most wilful (sic)
persisted in rolling, and of course upset their packs. There were only
seventeen men, and these were engaged in assisting the camels; thus the
twenty-one donkeys had it all their own way; and what added to the
confusion was the sudden cry of hyenas in close proximity, which so
frightened the donkeys that they immediately sprang to their feet, with
their packs lying discomfited, entangled among their legs. Thus, no
sooner were the camels reloaded on the other side of the ravine, than
all the donkeys had to undergo the same operation; during which time the
camels, however stupid, having observed the donkeys' "dodge," took the
opportunity of lying down also, and necessarily shifted their loads. The
women were therefore ordered to hold the camels, to prevent them from
lying down while the donkeys were being reloaded; but the women were
dead tired, as they had been carrying loads; they themselves laid down,
and it being dark, they were not observed until a tremendous scream was
heard, and we found that a camel had lain down on the TOP OF A WOMAN who
had been placed to watch it, but who had herself fallen asleep. The
camel was with difficulty raised, and the woman dragged from beneath.
Everything was tired out. I had been working like a slave to assist, and
to cheer the men; I was also fatigued. We had marched from 4.30 P.M.--
it was now 1 A.M.; we had thus been eight hours and a half struggling
along the path. The moon had sunk, and the complete darkness rendered a
further advance impossible; I therefore, on arrival at a large plateau
of rock, ordered the animals to be unloaded, and both man and beast to
rest. The people had no water; I had a girba full for Mrs. Baker and
myself, which was always slung on my saddle; this precaution I never
neglected.

The men were hungry. Before leaving Gondokoro I had ordered a large
quantity of kisras (black pancakes) to be prepared for the march, and
they were packed in a basket that had been carried on a camel;
unfortunately Mrs. Baker's pet monkey had been placed upon the same
camel, and he had amused himself during the night's march by feasting
and filling his cheeks with the kisras, and _throwing the remainder
away_ when his hunger was satisfied. There literally was not a kisra
remaining in the basket.

Every one lay down supperless to sleep. Although tired, I could not rest
until I had arranged some plan for the morrow. It was evident that we
could not travel over so rough a country with the animals thus
overloaded; therefore determined to leave in the jungle such articles as
could be dispensed with, and to rearrange all the loads.

At 4 A.M. I woke, and lighting a lamp, I tried in vain to wake any of
the men who lay stretched upon the ground, like so many corpses, sound
asleep. At length Saat sat up, and after rubbing his eyes for about ten
minutes, he made a fire, and began to boil the coffee; meanwhile I was
hard at work lightening the ship. I threw away about 100 lbs. of salt;
divided the heavy ammunition more equally among the animals; rejected a
quantity of odds and ends that, although most useful, could be forsaken;
and by the time the men woke, a little before sunrise, I had completed
the work. We now reloaded the animals, who showed the improvement by
stepping out briskly. We marched well for three hours at a pace that bid
fair to keep us well ahead of the Turks, and at length we reached the
dry bed of a stream, where the Latooka guides assured us we should
obtain water by digging. This proved correct; but the holes were dug
deep in several places, and hours passed before we could secure a
sufficient supply for all the men and animals. The great sponging-bath
was excessively useful, as it formed a reservoir out of which all the
animals could drink.

While we were thus engaged some natives appeared carrying with them the
head of a wild boar in a horrible state of decomposition, and alive with
maggots. On arrival at the drinking-place they immediately lighted a
fire, and proceeded to cook their savoury pork by placing it in the
flames. The skull becoming too hot for the inmates, crowds of maggots
rushed pele-mele from the ears and nostrils like people escaping from
the doors of a theatre on fire. The natives merely tapped the skull with
a stick to assist in their exit, and proceeded with their cooking until
completed; after which they ate the whole, and sucked the bones. However
putrid meat may be, it does not appear to affect the health of these
people.

My animals requiring rest and food, I was obliged to wait unwillingly
until 4.30 P.M. The natives having finished their boar's head, offered
to join us; and accordingly we rode on a considerable distance ahead of
our people with our active guides, while the caravan followed slowly
behind us. After ascending for about a mile through jungle, we suddenly
emerged upon an eminence, and looked down upon the valley of Tollogo.
This was extremely picturesque. An abrupt wall of grey granite rose on
the east side of the valley to a height of about a thousand feet: from
this perpendicular wall huge blocks had fallen, strewing the base with a
confused mass of granite lumps ten to forty feet in diameter; and among
these natural fortresses of disjointed masses were numerous villages.
The bottom of the valley was a meadow, in which grew several enormous
fig trees by the side of a sluggish, and in some places stagnant, brook.
The valley was not more than half a mile wide, and was also walled in by
mountains on the west, having the appearance of a vast street.

We were now about a mile ahead of our party; but accompanied by our two
Latooka guides, and upon descending to the valley and crossing a deep
gully, we soon arrived beneath a large fig tree at the extremity of the
vale. No sooner was our presence observed than crowds of natives issued
from the numerous villages among the rocks, and surrounded us. They were
all armed with bows and arrows and lances, and were very excited at
seeing the horses, which to them were unknown animals. Dismounting, I
fastened the horses to a bush, and we sat down on the grass under a
tree.

There were five or six hundred natives pressing round us. They were
excessively noisy, hallooing to us as though we were deaf, simply
because we did not understand them. Finding that they were pressing
rudely around us, I made signs to them to stand off; when at that moment
a curiously ugly, short, humped-back fellow came forward and addressed
me in broken Arabic. I was delighted to find an interpreter, and
requesting him to tell the crowd to stand back, I inquired for their
chief. The humpback spoke very little Arabic, nor did the crowd appear
to heed him, but they immediately stole a spear that one of my Latooka
guides had placed against the tree under which we were sitting. It was
getting rather unpleasant; but having my revolver and a double-barrelled
rifle in my hands, there was no fear of their being stolen.

In reply to a question to the humpback, he asked me "Who I was?" I
explained that I was a traveller. "You want ivory?" he said. "No," I
answered, "it is of no use to me." "Ah, you want slaves!" he replied.
"Neither do I want slaves," I answered. This was followed by a burst of
laughter from the crowd, and the humpback continued his examination.
"Have you got plenty of cows?" "Not one; but plenty of beads and
copper." "Plenty? Where are they?" "Not far off; they will be here
presently with my men;" and I pointed to the direction from which they
would arrive. "What countryman are you?" "An Englishman." He had never
heard of such people. "You are a Turk?" "All right," I replied; "I am
anything you like." "And that is your son?" (pointing at Mrs. Baker.)
"No, she is my wife." "Your wife! What a lie! He is a boy." "Not a bit
of it," I replied; "she is my wife, who has come with me to see the
women of this country." "What a lie!" he again politely re joined in the
one expressive Arabic word, "Katab." After this charmingly frank
conversation he addressed the crowd, explaining, I suppose, that I was
endeavouring to pass off a boy for a woman. Mrs. Baker was dressed
similarly to myself, in a pair of loose trowsers and gaiters, with a
blouse and belt--the only difference being that she wore long sleeves,
while my arms were bare from a few inches below the shoulder. I always
kept my arms bare, as being cooler than if covered.

The curiosity of the crowd was becoming impertinent, when at an
opportune moment the chief appeared. To my astonishment I recognised him
as a man who had often visited me at Gondokoro, to whom I had given many
presents without knowing his position.

In a few moments he drove away the crowd, screaming and gesticulating at
there as though greatly insulted; re serving the humpback as
interpreter, he apologized for the rudeness of his people. Just at this
instant I perceived, in the distance, the English flag leading the
caravan of camels and donkeys from the hillside into the valley, and my
people and baggage shortly arrived. The chief now brought me a large
pumpkin-shell containing about a gallon of merissa, or native beer,
which was most refreshing. He also brought a gourd-bottle full of honey,
and an elephant's tusk; the latter I declined, as ivory was not
required.

We were now within six miles of Ellyria, and by means of the humpback I
explained to Tombe, the chief, that we wished to start the first thing
in the morning, and that I would engage the humpback as interpreter.
This was agreed upon, and I now had hopes of getting through Ellyria
before the arrival of the Turks. My caravan having arrived, the interest
first bestowed upon the horses, as being a new kind of animal, was now
transferred to the camels. The natives crowded round them, exclaiming,
"that they were the giraffes of our country." They were amazed at the
loads that they carried, and many assisted in unloading.

I noticed, however, that they stuck their fingers through the baskets to
investigate the contents; and when they perceived twenty baskets full of
beads, and many of copper bracelets--the jingling of which betrayed
the contents--they became rather too eager in lending a helping hand;
therefore I told the chief to order his men to retire while I opened one
bag of beads to give him a present. I had a bag always in reserve that
contained a variety of beads and bracelets, which obviated the necessity
of opening one of the large baskets on the road. I accordingly made the
chief happy, and also gave a present to the humpback. The crowd now
discovered an object of fresh interest, and a sudden rush was made to
the monkey, which, being one of the red variety from Abyssinia, was
quite unknown to them. The monkey, being far more civilized than these
naked savages, did not at all enjoy their society; and attacking the
utterly unprotected calves of their legs, "Wallady" soon kept his
admirers at a distance, and amused himself by making insulting grimaces,
which kept the crowd in a roar of laughter. I often found this monkey of
great use in diverting the attention of the savages from myself. He was
also a guarantee of my peaceful intentions, as no one intending
hostility would travel about with a monkey as one of the party. He was
so tame and affectionate to both of us that he was quite unhappy if out
of sight of his mistress: but he frequently took rough liberties with
the blacks, for whom he had so great an aversion and contempt that he
would have got into sad trouble at Exeter Hall. "Wallady" had no idea of
a naked savage being "a man and a brother."

That night we slept soundly, both men and beasts being thoroughly
fatigued. The natives seemed to be aware of this, and a man was caught
in the act of stealing copper bracelets from a basket. He had crept like
a cat upon hands and knees to the spot where the luggage was piled, and
the sleepy sentry bad not observed him.

There was no drum-call on the following morning, that useful instrument
having been utterly smashed by the camel; but I woke the men early, and
told them to be most careful in arranging the loads securely, as we had
to thread the rocky pass between Tollogo and Ellyria. I felt sure that
the Turks could not be far behind us, and I looked forward with anxiety
to getting through the pass before them.

The natives of both Tollogo and Ellyria are the same in appearance and
language as the Bari; they are very brutal in manner, and they collected
in large crowds on our departure, with by no means a friendly aspect.
Many of them ran on ahead under the base of the rocks, apparently to
give notice at Ellyria of our arrival. I had three men as an advance
guard,--five or six in the rear,--while the remainder drove the
animals. Mrs. Baker and I rode on horseback at the head of the party. On
arriving at the extremity of the narrow valley we had to thread our way
through the difficult pass. The mountain of Ellyria, between two and
three thousand feet high, rose abruptly on our left, while the base was
entirely choked with enormous fragments of grey granite that, having
fallen from the face of the mountain, had completely blocked the pass.
Even the horses had great difficulty in threading their way through
narrow alleys formed of opposing blocks, and it appeared impossible for
loaded camels to proceed. The path was not only thus obstructed, but was
broken by excessively deep ravines formed by the torrents that during
the rains tore everything before them in their impetuous descent from
the mountains. To increase the difficulties of the pass many trees and
bushes were growing from the interstices of the rocks; thus in places
where the long legs of the camels could have cleared a narrow cleft, the
loads became jammed between the trees. These trees were for the most
part intensely hard wood, a species of lignum vitae, called by the Arabs
"babanoose," and were quite proof against our axes. Had the natives been
really hostile they could have exterminated us in five minutes, as it
was only necessary to hurl rocks from above to insure our immediate
destruction. It was in this spot that a trader's party of 126 men, well
armed, had been massacred to a man the year previous.

Bad as the pass was, we had hope before us, as the Latookas explained
that beyond this spot there was level and unbroken ground the whole way
to Latooka. Could we only clear Ellyria before the Turks I had no fear
for the present; but at the very moment when success depended upon
speed, we were thus baffled by the difficulties of the ground. I
therefore resolved to ride on in advance of my party, leaving them to
overcome the difficulties of the pass by constantly unloading the
animals, while I would reconnoitre in front, as Ellyria was not far
distant. My wife and I accordingly rode on, accompanied only by one of
the Latookas as a guide. After turning a sharp angle of the mountain,
leaving the cliff abruptly rising to the left from the narrow path, we
descended a ravine worse than any place we had previously encountered,
and we were obliged to dismount, in order to lead our horses up the
steep rocks on the opposite side. On arrival on the summit, a lovely
view burst upon us. The valley of Ellyria was about four hundred feet
below, at about a mile distant. Beautiful mountains, some two or three
thousand feet high, of grey granite, walled in the narrow vale; while
the landscape of forest and plain was bounded at about fifty or sixty
miles' distance to the east by the blue mountains of Latooka. The
mountain of Ellyria was the commencement of the fine range that
continued indefinitely to the south. We were now in the very gorge of
that chain. Below us, in the valley, I observed some prodigious trees
growing close to a Hor (ravine), in which was running water, and the
sides of the valley under the mountains being as usual a mass of debris
of huge detached rocks, were thronged with villages, all strongly
fortified with thick bamboo palisades. The whole country was a series of
natural forts, occupied by a large population.

A glance at the scene before me was quite sufficient;--to fight a way
through a valley a quarter of a mile wide, hemmed in by high walls of
rock and bristling with lances and arrows, would be impossible with my
few men, encumbered by transport animals. Should the camels arrive, I
could march into Myria in twenty minutes, make the chief a large
present, and pass on without halting until I cleared the Ellyria valley.
At any rate I was well before the Turks, and the forced march at night,
however distressing, had been successful. The great difficulty now lay
in the ravine that we had just crossed; this would assuredly delay the
caravan for a considerable time.

Tying our horses to a bush, we sat upon a rock beneath the shade of a
small tree within ten paces of the path, and considered the best course
to pursue. I hardly liked to risk an advance into Ellyria alone, before
the arrival of my whole party, as we had been very rudely received by
the Tollogo people on the previous evening;--nevertheless I thought it
might be good policy to ride unattended into Ellyria, and thus to court
an introduction to the chief. However, our consultation ended in a
determination to wait where we then were, until the caravan should have
accomplished the last difficulty by crossing the ravine; when we would
all march into Ellyria in company. For a long time we sat gazing at the
valley before us in which our fate lay hidden, feeling thankful that we
had thus checkmated the brutal Turks. Not a sound was heard of our
approaching camels; the delay was most irksome.

There were many difficult places that we had passed through, and each
would be a source of serious delay to the animals. At length we heard
them in the distance. We could distinctly hear the men's voices; and we
rejoiced that they were approaching the last remaining obstacle;--that
one ravine passed through, and all before would be easy. I heard the
rattling of the stones as they drew nearer; and, looking towards the
ravine, I saw emerge from the dark foliage of the trees within fifty
yards of us the hated RED FLAG AND CRESCENT, LEADING THE TURKS' PARTY!
We were outmarched! One by one, with scowling looks, the insolent
scoundrels filed by us within a few feet, without making the customary
salaam; neither noticing us in any way, except by threatening to shoot
the Latooka, our guide, who had formerly accompanied them.

Their party consisted of a hundred and forty men armed with guns; while
about twice as many Latookas acted as porters, carrying beads,
ammunition, and the general effects of the party. It appeared that we
were hopelessly beaten.

However, I determined to advance, at all hazards, on the arrival of my
party; and should the Turks incite the Ellyria tribe to attack us, I
intended, in the event of a fight, to put the first shot through the
leader.

To be thus beaten, at the last moment, was unendurable. Boiling with
indignation as the insolent wretches filed past, treating me with the
contempt of a dog, I longed for the moment of action, no matter what
were the odds against us. At length their leader, Ibrahim, appeared in
the rear of the party. He was riding on a donkey, being the last of the
line, behind the flag that closed the march.

I never saw a more atrocious countenance than that exhibited in this
man. A mixed breed, between a Turk sire and Arab mother, he had the good
features and bad qualities of either race. The fine, sharp, high-arched
nose and large nostril; the pointed and projecting chin; rather high
cheek-bones and prominent brow, overhanging a pair of immense black eyes
full of expression of all evil. As he approached he took no notice of
us, but studiously looked straight before him with the most determined
insolence.

The fate of the expedition was, at this critical moment, retrieved by
Mrs. Baker. She implored me to call him, to insist upon a personal
explanation, and to offer him some present in the event of establishing
amicable relations. I could not condescend to address the sullen
scoundrel. He was in the act of passing us, and success depended upon
that instant. Mrs. Baker herself called him. For the moment he made no
reply; but, upon my repeating the call in a loud key, he turned his
donkey towards us and dismounted. I ordered him to sit down, as his men
were ahead and we were alone.

The following dialogue passed between us after the usual Arab mode of
greeting. I said, "Ibrahim, why should we be enemies in the midst of
this hostile country? We believe in the same God, why should we quarrel
in this land of heathens, who believe in no God? You have your work to
perform; I have mine. You want ivory; I am a simple traveller; why
should we clash? If I were offered the whole ivory of the country, I
would not accept a single tusk, nor interfere with you in any way.
Transact your business, and don't interfere with me: the country is wide
enough for us both. I have a task before me, to reach a great lake--
the head of the Nile. Reach it I will (Inshallah). No power shall drive
me back. If you are hostile, I will imprison you in Khartoum; if you
assist me, I will reward you far beyond any reward you have ever
received. Should I be killed in this country, you will be suspected; you
know the result; the Government would hang you on the bare suspicion. On
the contrary, if you are friendly, I will use my influence in any
country that I discover, that you may procure its ivory for the sake of
your master Koorshid, who was generous to Captains Speke and Grant, and
kind to me. Should you be hostile, I shall hold your master responsible
as your employer. Should you assist me, I will befriend you both. Choose
your course frankly, like a man--friend or enemy?"

Before he had time to reply, Mrs. Baker addressed him much in the same
strain, telling him that he did not know what Englishmen were; that
nothing would drive them back; that the British Government watched over
them wherever they might be, and that no outrage could be committed with
impunity upon a British subject. That I would not deceive him in any
way; that I was not a trader; and that I should be able to assist him
materially by discovering new countries rich in ivory, and that he would
benefit himself personally by civil conduct.

He seemed confused, and wavered. I immediately promised him a new
double-barrelled gun and some gold, when my party should arrive, as an
earnest of the future.

He replied, "That he did not himself wish to be hostile, but that all
the trading parties, without one exception, were against me, and that
the men were convinced that I was a consul in disguise, who would report
to the authorities at Khartoum all the proceedings of the traders." He
continued, "That he believed me, but that his men would not; that all
people told lies in their country, therefore no one was credited for the
truth. However," said he, "do not associate with my people, or they may
insult you, but go and take possession of that large tree (pointing to
one in the valley of Ellyria) for yourself and people, and I will come
there and speak with you. I will now join my men, as I do not wish them
to know that I have been conversing with you." He then made a salaam,
mounted his donkey, and rode off.

I had won him. I knew the Arab character so thoroughly that I was
convinced that the tree he had pointed out, followed by the words, "I
will come there and speak to you," was to be the rendezvous for the
receipt of the promised gun and money.

I did not wait for the arrival of my men, but mounting our horses, my
wife and I rode down the hillside with lighter spirits than we had
enjoyed for some time past; I gave her the entire credit of the "ruse."
Had I been alone, I should have been too proud to have sought the
friendship of the sullen trader, and the moment on which success
depended would have been lost.

On arrival at the grassy plain at the foot of the mountain, there was a
crowd of the trader's ruffians quarrelling for the shade of a few large
trees that grew on the banks of the stream. We accordingly dismounted,
and turning the horses to graze, we took possession of a tree at some
distance, under which a number of Latookas were already sitting. Not
being very particular as to our society, we sat down and waited for the
arrival of our party. The valley of Ellyria was a lovely spot in the
very bosom of the mountains. Close to where we sat were the great masses
of rock that had fallen from the cliffs, and upon examination I found
them to be the finest quality of grey granite, the feldspar being in
masses several inches square and as hard as a flint. There was no
scaling upon the surface, as is common in granite rocks.

No sooner had the trader's party arrived than crowds of natives issued
from the palisaded villages on the mountain; and descending to the
plain, they mingled with the general confusion. The baggage was piled
beneath a tree, and a sentry placed on guard.

The natives were entirely naked, and precisely the same as the Bari.
Their chief, Legge, was among them, and received a present from Ibrahim
of a long red cotton shirt, and he assumed an air of great importance.
Ibrahim explained to him who I was, and he immediately came to ask for
the tribute he expected to receive as "black mail" for the right of
entree into his country. Of all the villanous countenances that I have
ever seen, that of Legge excelled.

Ferocity, avarice, and sensuality were stamped upon his face, and I
immediately requested him to sit for his portrait, and in about ten
minutes I succeeded in placing within my portfolio an exact likeness of
about the greatest rascal that exists in Central Africa.

I had, now the satisfaction of seeing my caravan slowly winding down the
hillside in good order, having surmounted all their difficulties.

Upon arrival, my men were perfectly astonished at seeing us so near the
trader's party, and still more confounded at my sending for Ibrahim to
summon him to my tree, where I presented him with some English
sovereigns, and a double-barrelled gun. Nothing escapes the
inquisitiveness of these Arabs; and the men of both parties quickly
perceived that I had established an alliance in some unaccountable
manner with Ibrahim. I saw the gun, lately presented to him, being
handed from one to the other for examination; and both my vakeel and men
appeared utterly confused at the sudden change.

The chief of Ellyria now came to inspect my luggage, and demanded
fifteen heavy copper bracelets and a large quantity of beads. The
bracelets most in demand are simple rings of copper five-eighths of an
inch thick, and weighing about a pound; those of smaller size not being
so much valued. I gave him fifteen such rings, and about ten pounds of
beads in varieties, the red coral porcelain (dimiriaf) being the most
acceptable. Legge was by no means satisfied: he said "his belly was very
big and it must be filled," which signified, that his desire was great
and must be gratified. I accordingly gave him a few extra copper rings;
but suddenly he smelt spirits, one of the few bottles that I possessed
of spirits of wine having broken in the medicine chest. Ibrahim begged
me to give him a bottle to put him in a good humour, as he enjoyed
nothing so much as araki; I accordingly gave him a pint bottle of the
strongest spirits of wine. To my amazement he broke off the neck, and
holding his head well back, he deliberately allowed the whole of the
contents to trickle down his throat as innocently as though it had been
simple water. He was thoroughly accustomed to it, as the traders were in
the habit of bringing him presents of araki every season. He declared
this to be excellent, and demanded another bottle. At that moment a
violent storm of thunder and rain burst upon us with a fury well known
in the tropics; the rain fell like a waterspout, and the throng
immediately fled for shelter. So violent was the storm, that not a man
was to be seen: some were sheltering themselves under the neighbouring
rocks; while others ran to their villages that were close by; the
trader's people commenced a fusilade, firing off all their guns lest
they should get wet and miss fire. I could not help thinking how
completely they were at the mercy of the natives at that moment, had
they chosen to attack them; the trader's party were lying under their
untanned ox-hides with their empty guns.

Each of my men was provided with a piece of mackintosh, with which his
gunlocks were secured. We lay upon an angarep covered with a bull's hide
until the storm was over. The thunder was magnificent, exploding on the
peak of the mountain exactly above us, and in the course of a quarter of
an hour torrents were rushing down the ravines among the rocks, the
effects of the violent storm that had passed away as rapidly as it had
arrived.

No sooner had it ceased than the throng again appeared. Once more the
chief, Legge', was before us begging for all that we had. Although the
natives asked for beads, they would give nothing in exchange, and we
could purchase nothing for any article except molotes. These iron hoes
are made principally in this country: thus it appeared strange that they
should demand them. Legge does a large business with these hoes, sending
them into the Berri and Galla countries to the east, with various beads
and copper bracelets, to purchase ivory. Although there are very few
elephants in the neighbourhood of Ellyria, there is an immense amount of
ivory, as the chief is so great a trader that he accumulates it to
exchange with the Turks for cattle. Although he sells it so dear that he
demands twenty cows for a large tusk, it is a convenient station for the
traders, as, being near to Gondokoro, there is very little trouble in
delivering the ivory on shipboard.

Although I had presented Legge' with what he desired, he would give
nothing in return, neither would he sell either goats or fowls; in fact,
no provision was procurable except honey. I purchased about eight pounds
of this luxury for a hoe. My men were starving, and I was obliged to
serve them out rice from my sacred stock, as I had nothing else to give
them. This they boiled and mixed with honey, and they were shortly
sitting round an immense circular bowl of this rarity, enjoying
themselves thoroughly, but nevertheless grumbling as usual. In the
coolest manner possible the great and greedy chief, Legge, who had
refused to give or even to sell anything to keep us from starving, no
sooner saw the men at their novel repast than he sat down among them and
almost choked himself by cramming handfuls of the hot rice and honey
into his mouth, which yawned like that of an old hippopotamus. The men
did not at all approve of this assistance, but as it is the height of
bad manners in Arab etiquette to repel a self-invited guest from the
general meal, he was not interfered with, and was thus enabled to
swallow the share of about three persons.

Legge, although worse than the rest of his tribe, had a similar
formation of head. The Bari and those Tollogo and Ellyria have generally
bullet-shaped heads, low foreheads, skulls heavy behind the ears and
above the nape of the neck: altogether their appearance is excessively
brutal, and they are armed with bows six feet long and arrows horribly
barbed and poisoned.



CHAPTER V.

LEAVE ELLYRIA.

ALTHOUGH Ellyria was a rich and powerful country, we had not been able
to procure any provisions--the natives refused to sell, and their
general behaviour was such that assured me of their capability of any
atrocity had they been prompted to attack us by the Turks. Fortunately
we had a good supply of meal that had been prepared for the journey
prior to our departure from Gondokoro: thus we could not starve. I also
had a sack of corn for the animals, a necessary precaution, as at this
season there was not a blade of grass; all in the vicinity of the route
having been burnt.

We started on the 30th March, at 7.30 A.M., and opened from the valley
of Ellyria upon a perfectly flat country interspersed with trees. After
an hour's march we halted at a small stream of bad water. We had kisras
and honey for breakfast; but, for several days not having tasted meat, I
took the rifle for a stroll through the forest in search of game. After
an hour's ramble I returned without having fired a shot. I had come upon
fresh tracks of Tetel (hartebeest) and guinea-fowl, but they had
evidently come down to the stream to drink, and had wandered back into
the interior. If game was scarce, fruit was plentiful--both Richarn
and I were loaded with a species of yellow plum as large as an egg;
these grew in prodigious numbers upon fine forest trees, beneath which
the ground was yellow with the quantities that had fallen from the
boughs; these were remarkably sweet, and yet acid, with much juice, and
a very delicious flavour.

At 11:25 we again started for a long march, our course being east. The
ground was most favourable for the animals, being perfectly flat and
free from ravines. We accordingly stepped along at a brisk pace, and the
intense heat of the sun throughout the hottest hours of the day made the
journey fatiguing for all but the camels. The latter were excellent of
their class, and now far excelled the other transport animals, marching
along with ease under loads of about 600 lbs. each.

My caravan was at the rear of the trader's party; but the ground being
good, we left our people and cantered on to the advanced flag. It was
curious to witness the motley assemblage in single file extending over
about half a mile of ground:--several of the people were mounted on
donkeys; some on oxen: the most were on foot, including all the women to
the number of about sixty, who were the slaves of the trader's people.
These carried heavy loads; and many, in addition to the burdens, carried
children strapped to their backs in leather slings.

After four or five hours' march during the intense heat many of the
overloaded women showed symptoms of distress, and became footsore;--
the grass having been recently burnt had left the sharp charred stumps,
which were very trying to those whose sandals were not in the best
condition. The women were forced along by their brutal owners with sharp
blows of the coorbatch; and one who was far advanced in pregnancy could
at length go no farther. Upon this the savage to whom she belonged
belaboured her with a large stick, and not succeeding in driving her
before him, he knocked her down and jumped upon her. The woman's feet
were swollen and bleeding, but later in the day again saw her hobbling
along in the rear by the aid a bamboo.

The traders march in good form; one flag leads the party, guarded by
eight or ten men, while a native carries a box of five hundred
cartridges for their use in case of an attack. The porters and baggage
follow in single file, soldiers being at intervals to prevent them from
running away; in which case the runner is invariably fired at The supply
of ammunition is in the centre, carried generally by about fifteen
natives, and strongly escorted by guards. The rear of the party is
closed by another flag behind which no straggler is permitted. The rear
flag is also guarded by six or eight men, with a box of spare
ammunition. With these arrangements the party is always ready to support
an attack.

Ibrahim, my new ally, was now riding in front of the line, carrying on
his saddle before him a pretty little girl, his daughter, a child of a
year and a half old; her mother, a remarkably pretty Bari girl, one of
his numerous wives, was riding behind him on an ox. We soon got into
conversation;--a few pieces of sugar given to the child and mother by
Mrs. Baker was a sweet commencement; and Ibrahim then told me to beware
of my own men, as he knew they did not intend to remain with me; that
they were a different tribe from his men, and they would join Chenooda's
people and desert me on our arrival at their station in Latooka. This
was a corroboration of all I had heard previous to leaving Gondokoro,
therefore I had the promised mutiny in perspective. I had noticed that
my men were even more sullen than usual since I had joined Ibrahim;
however, I succeeded in convincing him that he would benefit so
decidedly by an alliance with me, that he now frankly told me that I
should receive no opposition from his party. So far all had prospered
beyond my most sanguine expectations. We were fairly launched upon our
voyage, and now that we were in the wild interior, I determined to crush
the mutiny with an iron hand should the rascals attempt to carry their
murderous threats into execution. Two or three of the men appeared
willing, but the original ringleader, "Bellaal," would literally do
nothing, not even assisting at loading the animals; but swaggering about
with the greatest insolence.

After a fatiguing march of eight hours and ten minutes through a
perfectly flat country interspersed with trees, we halted at a little
well of excessively bad water at 7.35 P.M. The horses were so much in
advance that the main party did not arrive until 11 P.M. completely
fatigued. The night being fine, we slept on a hillock of sand a few
yards from the well, rejoiced to be away from the mosquitoes of
Gondokoro.

On the following morning we started at sunrise, and in two hours' fast
marching we arrived at the Kanieti river Although there had been no
rain, the stream was very rapid and up to the girths of the horses at
the ford. The banks were very abrupt and about fifteen feet deep, the
bed between forty and fifty yards wide; thus a considerable volume of
water is carried down to the river Sobat by this river during the rains.
The whole drainage of the country, tends to the east, and accordingly
flows into the Sobat.

The range of mountains running south from Ellyria is the watershed
between the east and west drainage; the Sobat receiving it on the one
hand, and the White Nile on the other, while the Nile eventually
receives the entire flow by the Sobat, as previously mentioned, in lat.
9 degrees 22 minutes. Having scrambled up the steep bank of the Kanieti
river, we crossed a large field of dhurra, and arrived at the village of
Wakkala. The village, or town, is composed of about seven hundred
houses, the whole being most strongly protected by a system of palisades
formed of "babanoose," the hard iron wood of the country. Not only is it
thus fortified, but the palisades are also protected by a hedge of
impervious thorns that grow to a height of about twenty feet. The
entrance to this fort is a curious archway, about ten feet deep, formed
of the iron-wood palisades, with a sharp turn to the right and left
forming a zigzag. The whole of the village thus fenced is situated in
the midst of a splendid forest of large timber. The inhabitants of
Wakkala are the same as the Ellyria, but governed by an independent
chief. They are great hunters; and as we arrived I saw several parties
returning from the forest with portions of wild boar and buffalo.

From Gondokoro to this spot I had not seen a single head of game, but
the immediate neighbourhood of Wakkala was literally trodden down by the
feet of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, rhinoceros, and varieties of
large antelopes.

Having examined the village, I ordered my people to unload the animals
in the forest about a quarter of a mile from the entrance. The soil was
extremely rich, and the ground being shaded from the scorching rays of
the sun by the large trees, there was abundance of fine grass, which
accounted for the presence of the game: good pasturage, extensive
forests, and a plentiful supply of water insuring the supply of wild
animals.

In a few minutes my horses and donkeys were luxuriating on the rich
herbage, not having tasted grass for some days; the camels revelled in
the foliage of the dark green mimosas; and the men, having found on the
march a buffalo that had been caught in a trap and there killed by a
lion, obtained some meat, and the whole party were feeding. We had
formed a kind of arbour by hacking out with a sabre a delightful shady
nook in the midst of a dense mass of creepers, and there we feasted upon
a couple of roast fowls that we had procured from the natives for glass
beads. This was the first meat we had tasted since we had quitted
Gondokoro.

At 5.10 P.M. we left this delightful spot, and marched. Emerging from
the forest we broke upon a beautiful plain of fine low grass, bounded on
our right hand by jungle. This being the cool hour of evening, the plain
was alive with game, including buffaloes, zebras, and many varieties of
large antelopes. It was a most enlivening sight to see them scouring
over the plain as we advanced; but our large party, and three red flags
streaming in the breeze, effectually prevented us from getting
sufficiently near for a shot.

I was sorely tempted to remain in this Elysium for a few days' shooting,
but the importance of an advance was too great to permit of any thoughts
of amusement; thus, I could only indulge a sportsman's feelings by
feasting my eyes upon the beautiful herds before me.

At a quarter past seven we bivouacked in thick jungle. In the middle of
the night, the watch-fires still blazing, I was awoke by a great noise,
and upon arrival at the spot I found a number of the Turks with
firebrands, searching upon the ground, which was literally strewed with
beads and copper bracelets. The Latooka porters had broken open the bags
and baskets containing many hundredweight of these objects, and, loading
themselves, had intended to desert with their stolen prize; but the
sentries having discovered them, they were seized by the soldiers.

There fellows, the Latookas, had exhibited the folly of monkeys in so
rashly breaking open the packages while the sentries were on guard.
Several who had been caught in the act were now pinioned by the Turks,
and were immediately condemned to be shot; while others were held down
upon the ground and well chastised with the coorbatch I begged that the
punishment of death might be commuted for a good flogging; at first I
implored in vain, until I suggested, that if the porters were shot,
there would be no one to carry their loads:--this practical argument
saved them, and after receiving a severe thrashing, their arms were
pinioned, and a guard set over them until the morning.

We marched at 5.25 on the following morning. For several hours the path
led through thick jungle in which we occasionally caught glimpses of
antelopes. At length quitting the jungle we arrived at an open marshy
plain, upon which I discerned at a great distance a number of antelopes.
Having nothing to eat I determined to stalk them, as I heard from the
people that we were not far from our halting-place for the day.

Accordingly I left Mrs. Baker with my horse and a spare rifle to wait,
while the party marched straight on; I intended to make a circuit
through the jungle and to wait for the entrance of the herd, which she
was to drive, by simply riding through the plain and leading my horse;
she was to bring the horse to me should I fire a shot. After walking for
about a mile in the jungle parallel with the plain, I saw the herd of
about two hundred Tetel going at full gallop from the open ground into
the jungle, having been alarmed by the red bags and the Turks, who had
crossed over the marsh. So shy were these antelopes that there was no
possibility of stalking them. I noticed however that there were several
waterbucks in the very centre of the marsh, and that two or three trees
afforded the possibility of a stalk. Having the wind all right, I
succeeded in getting to a tree within about two hundred and fifty yards
of the largest buck, and lying down in a dry trench that in the wet
season formed a brook, I crept along the bottom until I reached a tall
tuft of grass that was to be my last point of cover. Just as I raised
myself slowly from the trench I found the buck watching me most
attentively. A steady shot with my little No. 24 rifle took no effect-it
was too high:-the buck did not even notice the shot, which was, I
suppose, the first he had ever heard;-he was standing exactly facing me;
this is at all tines an unpleasant position for a shot. Seeing that he
did not seem disposed to move, I reloaded without firing my left-hand
barrel. I now allowed for the high range of the last shot; a moment
after the report he sprang into the air, then fell upon his knees and
galloped off on three legs; one of the fore-legs being broken. I had
heard the sharp sound of the bullet, but the shot was not very
satisfactory. Turning to look for my horse, I saw Mrs. Baker galloping
over the plain towards me, leading Filfil, while Richard ran behind at
his best speed.

Upon her arrival I mounted Filfil, who was a fast horse, and with my
little No. 24 rifle in my hand I rode slowly towards the wounded
waterbuck, who was now standing watching us at about a quarter of a mile
distant. However, before I had decreased my distance by a hundred yards
he started off at full gallop. Putting Filfil into a canter I increased
the pace until I found that I must press him at full speed, as the
waterbuck, although on only three legs, had the best of it. The ground
was rough, having been marshy and trodden into ruts by the game, but now
dried by the sun;-bad for both horse and antelope, but especially for
the former: however, after a race of about a mile I found myself gaining
so rapidly that in a few moments I was riding on his left flank within
three yards of him, and holding the rifle with one hand like a pistol I
shot him dead through the shoulder. This little double rifle is an
exceedingly handy weapon;-it was made for me about nine years ago by
Thomas Fletcher, gunmaker of Gloucester, and is of most perfect
workmanship. I have shot with it most kinds of large game; although the
bore is so small as No. 24, I have bagged with it rhinoceros,
hippopotamus, lions, buffaloes, and all the heavy game except elephants
and giraffes; upon the latter I have never happened to try it. Weighing
only eight pounds and three-quarters it is most convenient to carry on
horseback, and although I have had frequent accidents through my horse
falling in full gallop, the stock is perfectly sound to this day. The
best proof of thorough honest workmanship is, that in many years of hard
work it has never been out of order, nor has it ever been in a
gunmaker's hands.

The operation of cutting the waterbuck into four quarters, and then
stringing them on to a strip of its own hide, was quickly performed, and
with Richarn's assistance I slung it across my saddle, and led my horse,
thus heavily laden, towards the path. After some difficulty in crossing
muddy hollows and gullies in the otherwise dried marsh, we at length
succeeded in finding the tracks of the party that had gone on ahead.

We had been steering from Ellyria due east towards the high peak of
"Gebel Lafeet," that rose exactly above one of the principal towns of
Latooka. With this fine beacon now apparently just before us, we had no
difficulty in finding our way. The country was now more open, and the
ground sandy and interspersed with the hegleek trees, which gave it the
appearance of a vast orchard of large pear trees. The "hegleek" is
peculiarly rich in potash; so much so that the ashes of the burnt wood
will blister the tongue. It bears a fruit about the size and shape of a
date;-this is very sweet and aromatic in flavour, and is also so rich in
potash that it is used as a substitute for soap.

After an hour's walk always on the tracks of the party, we saw a large
Latooka town in the distance, and upon a nearer approach we discovered
crowds of people collected under two enormous trees. Presently guns
fired, the drums beat, and as we drew nearer we perceived the Turkish
flags leading a crowd of about a hundred men, who approached us with the
usual salutes, every man firing off ball cartridge as fast as he could
reload. My men were already with this lot of ragamuffins, and this was
the ivory or slave trading party that they had conspired to join. They
were marching towards me to honour me with a salute, which, upon close
approach, ended by their holding their guns, muzzle downwards, and
firing them almost into my feet. I at once saw through their object in
giving me this reception;-they had already heard from the other party
exaggerated accounts of presents that their leader had received, and
they were jealous at the fact of my having established confidence with a
party opposed to them. The vakeel of Chenooda was the man who had from
the first instigated my men to revolt and to join his party, and he at
that moment had two of my deserters with him that had mutinied and
joined him at Gondokoro. It had been agreed that the remainder of my men
were to mutiny at this spot and to join him with MY ARMS AND AMMUNITION.
This was to be the stage for the outbreak. The apparent welcome was only
to throw me off my guard.

I was coldly polite, and begging them not to waste their powder, I went
to the large tree that threw a beautiful shade, and we sat down,
surrounded by a crowd of both natives and trader's people. Mahommed Her
sent me immediately a fat ox for my people: not to be under any
obligation I immediately gave him a double-barrelled gun. The ox was
slaughtered, and the people preferring beef to antelope venison, I gave
the flesh of the waterbuck to the Latooka porters belonging to Ibrahim's
party. Thus all teeth were busy. Ibrahim and his men occupied the shade
of another enormous tree at about a hundred and fifty yards' distance.

The town was Latome, one of the principal places in the Latooka country,
and was strongly palisaded, like the town of Wakkala. I did not go
through the entrance, but contented myself with resting under my tree
and writing up the journal from my note-book. Before we had been there
many hours the two parties of Ibrahim and Mahommed Her were engaged in a
hot contention. Mahommed Her declared that no one had a right of way
through that country, which belonged to him according to the customs of
the White Nile trade; that he would not permit the party of Ibrahim to
proceed, and that, should they persist in their march, he would resist
them by force.

Words grew high;-Ibrahim was not afraid of force, as he had a hundred
and forty men against Mahommed Her's hundred and five;-insults and abuse
were liberally exchanged, while the natives thronged around, enjoying
the fun, until at last Mahommed Her's temper becoming outrageous, he was
seized by the throat by Sulieman, a powerful choush or sergeant of
Ibrahim's party, and hurled away from the select society who claimed the
right of road. Great confusion arose, and both parties prepared for a
fight, which after the usual bluster died away to nothing. However, I
noticed that my men most unmistakeably took the part of Mahommed Her
against Ibrahim; they belonging to his tribe.

The evening arrived, and my vakeel, with his usual cunning, came to ask
me "whether I intended to start to-morrow?" He said there was excellent
shooting in this neighbourhood, and that Ibrahim's camp not being more
than five hours' march beyond, I could at any time join him, should I
think proper. Many of my men were sullenly listening to my reply, which
was, that we should start in company with Ibrahim. The men immediately
turned their backs, and swaggered insolently to the town, muttering
something that I could not distinctly understand. I gave orders
directly, that no man should sleep in the town, but that all should be
at their posts by the luggage under the tree that I occupied. At night
several men were absent, and were with difficulty brought from the town
by the vakeel. The whole of the night was passed by the rival parties
quarrelling and fighting. At 5.30 on the following morning the drum of
Ibrahim's party beat the call, and his men with great alacrity got their
porters together and prepared to march.

My vakeel was not to be found; my men were lying idly in the positions
where they had slept; and not a man obeyed when I gave the order to
prepare to start except Richarn and Sali. I saw that the moment had
arrived. Again I gave the order to the men, to get up and load the
animals; ...not a man would move, except three or four who slowly rose
from the ground, and stood resting on their guns. In the meantime
Richarn and Sali were bringing the camels and making them kneel by the
luggage. The boy Saat was evidently expecting a row, and although
engaged with the black women in packing, he kept his eyes constantly
upon me.

I now observed that Bellaal was standing very near me on my right, in
advance of the men who had risen from the ground, and employed himself
in eyeing me from head to foot with the most determined insolence. The
fellow had his gun in his hand, and he was telegraphing by looks with
those who were standing near him, while not one of the others rose from
the ground, although close to me. Pretending not to notice Bellaal who
was now as I had expected once more the ringleader, for the third time I
ordered the men to rise immediately, and to load the camels. Not a man
moved, but the fellow Bellaal marched up to me, and looking me straight
in the face dashed the butt-end of his gun in defiance on the ground,
and led the mutiny. "Not a man shall go with you!-go where you like with
Ibrahim, but we won't follow you, nor move a step farther. The men shall
not load the camels; you may employ the 'niggers' to do it, but not us."

I looked at this mutinous rascal for a moment; this was the burst of the
conspiracy, and the threats and insolence that I had been forced to pass
over for the sake of the expedition all rushed before me. "Lay down your
gun!" I thundered, "and load the camels!" . . . . . . "I won't"--was his
reply. "Then stop here!" I answered; at the same time lashing out as
quick as lightning with my right hand upon his jaw.

He rolled over in a heap, his gun flying some yards from his hand; and
the late ringleader lay apparently insensible among the luggage, while
several of his friends ran to him, and did the good Samaritan. Following
up on the moment the advantage I had gained by establishing a panic, I
seized my rifle and rushed into the midst of the wavering men, catching
first one by the throat, and then another, and dragging them to the
camels, which I insisted upon their immediately loading. All except
three, who attended to the ruined ringleader, mechanically obeyed.
Richarn and Sali both shouted to them to "burry;" and the vakeel
arriving at this moment and seeing how matters stood, himself assisted,
and urged the men to obey.

Ibrahim's party had started. The animals were soon loaded, and leaving
the vakeel to take them in charge, we cantered on to overtake Ibrahim,
having crushed the mutiny, and given such an example, that in the event
of future conspiracies my men would find it difficult to obtain a
ringleader. So ended the famous conspiracy that had been reported to me
by both Saat and Richarn before we left Gondokoro;-and so much for the
threat of "firing simultaneously at me and deserting my wife in the
jungle." In those savage countries success frequently depends upon one
particular moment; you may lose or win according to your action at that
critical instant. We congratulated ourselves upon the termination of
this affair, which I trusted would be the last of the mutinies.

The country was now lovely; we were at the base of the mountain
"Lafeet," which rose abruptly on our left to the height of about 3,000
feet, the highest peak of the eastern chain that formed the broad valley
of Latooka. The course of the valley was from S.E. to N.W.; about forty
miles long by eighteen miles wide; the flat bottom was diversified by
woods, thick jungles, open plains, and the ever-present hegleek trees,
which in some places gave the appearance of forest. The south side of
the valley was bounded by a high range of mountains, rising to six or
seven thousand feet above the general level of Latooka, while the
extreme end was almost blocked by a noble but isolated mountain of about
5,000 feet.

Our path being at the foot of the Lafeet chain, the ground was sandy but
firm, being composed of disintegrated portions of the granite rocks that
had washed down from the mountains, and we rode quickly along a natural
road, equal to the best highway in England. We soon overtook Ibrahim and
his party, and recounted the affair of mutiny.

The long string of porters now closed together as we were approaching a
rebel town of Latooka that was hostile to both Turks and others.
Suddenly one of the native porters threw down his load and bolted over
the open ground towards the village at full speed. The fellow bounded
along like an antelope, and was immediately pursued by half a dozen
Turks. "Shoot him! shoot him! knock him over!" was shouted from the main
body; and twenty guns were immediately pointed at the fugitive, who
distanced his pursuers as a horse would outstrip an ox.

To save the man I gave chase on Filfil, putting myself in the line
between him and the guns, to prevent them from firing. After a short
course I overtook him, but he still continued running, and upon my
closing with him he threw his spear on the ground, but still ran. Not
being able to speak his language, I made signs that he should hold the
mane of my horse, and that no one should hurt him. He at once clutched
with both hands the horse's mane, and pushed himself almost under my
knee in his efforts to keep close to me for protection. The Turks
arrived breathless, and the native appeared as terrified as a hare at
the moment it is seized by the greyhound. "Shoot him!" they one and all
shouted. "Well done, `Hawaga!' (Sir) you caught him beautifully! We
never could have caught him without your horse. Pull him out! we'll
shoot him as an example to the others!" I explained that he was my man,
and belonged to me as I had caught him, therefore I could not allow him
to be shot. "Then we'll give him five hundred with the coorbatch!" they
cried. Even this generous offer I declined, and I insisted that he
should accompany me direct to Ibrahim, into whose hands I should myself
deliver him. Accordingly, still clutching to my horse's mane, the
captive followed, and was received by the main body on arrival with
shouts of derision.

I told Ibrahim that he must forgive him this time, if he promised to
carry his load to the end of the journey. He immediately picked up his
heavy burden as though it were a feather, and balancing it on his head,
stepped along in the line of porters as though nothing had occurred.

Trifling as this incident may appear, it was of much service to me, as
it served as an introduction to both Turks and natives. I heard the
former conversing together, praising the speed of the horse, and
congratulating themselves on the impossibility of the porters escaping
now that they had seen how quickly they could be overtaken. Another
remarked, "Wah Illahi, I should not like to chase a nigger so closely
while a lance was in his hand. I expected he would turn sharp round and
throw it through the Hawaga." Thus I was now looked upon by the Turks as
an ALLY, and at the same time I was regarded by the Latookas as their
friend for having saved their man; and they grinned their approbation in
the most unmistakeable manner as I rode past their line, shouting, "
Morrte, morrte mattat!" (welcome, welcome, chief!) On arriving at a
large town named Kattaga, we rested under the shade of an immense
tamarind tree. There was no sign of my men and animals, and I began to
think that something had gone wrong. For two hours we waited for their
arrival. Ascending some rising ground, I at length observed my caravan
approaching in the distance, and every one of my men, except Richarn,
mounted upon my donkeys, although the poor animals were already carrying
loads of 150 lbs. each. Upon observing me, the dismount was sudden and
general. On their arrival I found that three of the men had deserted,
including "Bellaal," and had joined the party of Mahommed Her, taking
with them my guns and ammunition. Two had previously joined that party;
thus five of my men were now engaged by those slave-hunters, and I
little doubted that my remaining men would abscond likewise.

On the arrival of my vakeel he told me, in face of the men, that so many
had deserted, and that the others had refused to assist him in taking
the guns from them; thus my arms and ammunition had been forcibly
stolen. I abused both the vakeel and the men most thoroughly; and "as
for the mutineers who have joined the slave-hunters, Inshallah, the
vultures shall pick their bones!" This charitable wish--which, I
believe, I expressed with intense hatred--was never forgotten either by
my own men or by the Turks. Believing firmly in the evil eye, their
superstitious fears were immediately excited. Continuing the march along
the same style of country we shortly came in view of Tarrangolle, the
chief town of Latooka, at which point was the station of Ibrahim. We had
marched thirteen miles from Latome, the station of Mahommed Her, at
which place my men had deserted, and we were now 101 miles from
Gondokoro by dead reckoning.

There were some superb trees situated close to the town, under which we
camped until the natives could prepare a hut for our reception. Crowds
of people now surrounded us, amazed at the two great objects of
interest--the camels, and a white woman. They did not think me very
peculiar, as I was nearly as brown as an Arab.

The Latookas are the finest savages I have ever seen. I measured a
number of them as they happened to enter my tent, and allowing two
inches for the thickness of their felt helmets, the average height was 5
ft. 11 1/2 in. Not only are they tall, but they possess a wonderful
muscular development, having beautifully proportioned legs and arms; and
although extremely powerful, they are never fleshy or corpulent. The
formation of head and general physiognomy is totally different from all
other tribes that I have met with in the neighbourhood of the White
Nile. They have high foreheads, large eyes, rather high cheekbones,
mouths not very large, well-shaped, and the lips rather full. They all
have a remarkably pleasing cast of countenance, and are a great contrast
to the other tribes in civility of manner. Altogether their appearance
denotes a Galla origin, and it is most probable that, at some former
period, an invasion by the Gallas of this country originated the
settlement of the Latookas.

One of the principal channels, if not the main stream of the river
Sobat, is only four days' march or fifty miles east of Latooka, and is
known to the natives as the Chol. The east bank of that stream is
occupied by the Gallas, who have frequently invaded the Latooka country.
There is an interesting circumstance connected with these invasions,
that the Gallas were invariably mounted upon MULES. Neither horse,
camel, nor other beast of burden is known to any of the White Nile
tribes, therefore the existence of mules on the east bank of the Chol is
a distinguishing feature. Both Abyssinia and the Galla being renowned
for a fine breed of mules, affords good circumstantial evidence that the
Akkara tribe of the Chol are true Gallas, and that the Latookas may be
derived from a similar origin by settlements after conquest.

The great chief of the Latookas, "Moy," assured me that his people could
not withstand the cavalry of the Akkara, although they were superior to
all other tribes on foot.

I have heard the traders of Khartoum pretend that they can distinguish
the tribes of the White Nile by their individual type. I must confess my
inability on this point. In vain I have attempted to trace an actual
difference. To me the only distinguishing mark between the tribes
bordering the White River is a peculiarity in either dressing the hair,
or in ornament. The difference of general appearance caused by a variety
of hairdressing is most perplexing, and is apt to mislead a traveller
who is only a superficial observer; but from the commencement of the
negro tribes in N. lat. 12 degrees to Ellyria in lat. 4 degrees 30
minutes I have found no specific difference in the people. The actual
change takes place suddenly on arrival in Latooka, and this is accounted
for by an admixture with the Gallas.

The Latookas are a fine, frank, and warlike race. Far from being the
morose set of savages that I had hitherto seen, they were excessively
merry, and always ready for either a laugh or a fight. The town of
Tarrangolle contained about three thousand houses, and was not only
surrounded by iron-wood palisades, but every house was individually
fortified by a little stockaded courtyard. The cattle were kept in large
kraals in various parts of the town, and were most carefully attended
to, fires being lit every night to protect them from flies; and high
platforms, in three tiers, were erected in many places, upon which
sentinels watched both day and night to give the alarm in case of
danger. The cattle are the wealth of the country, and so rich are the
Latookas in oxen, that ten or twelve thousand head are housed in every
large town; thus the natives are ever on the watch, fearing the attacks
of the adjacent tribes.

The houses of the Latookas are generally bell-shaped, while others are
precisely like huge candle-extinguishers, about twenty-five feet high.
The roofs are neatly thatched, at an angle of about 75 degrees, resting
upon a circular wall about four feet high; thus the roof forms a cap
descending to within two feet and a half of the ground. The doorway is
only two feet and two inches high, thus an entrance must be effected
upon all-fours. The interior is remarkably clean, but dark, as the
architects have no idea of windows. It is a curious fact that the
circular form of but is the only style of architecture adopted among all
the tribes of Central Africa, and also among the Arabs of Upper Egypt;
and that, although these differ more or less in the form of the roof, no
tribe has ever yet sufficiently advanced to construct a window. The town
of Tarrangolle is arranged with several entrances, in the shape of low
archways through the palisades; these are closed at night by large
branches of the hooked thorn of the kittur bush (a species of mimosa).
The main street is broad, but all others are studiously arranged to
admit of only one cow, in single file, between high stockades; thus, in
the event of an attack, these narrow passages could be easily defended,
and it would be impossible to drive off their vast herds of cattle
unless by the main street. The large cattle kraals are accordingly
arranged in various quarters in connexion with the great road, and the
entrance of each kraal is a small archway in the strong iron-wood fence
sufficiently wide to admit one ox at a time.

Suspended from the arch is a bell, formed of the shell of the Dolape
palm-nut, against which every animal must strike either its horns or
back, on entrance.

Every tinkle of the bell announces the passage of an ox into the kraal,
and they are thus counted every evening when brought home from pasture.
I had noticed, during the march from Latome, that the vicinity of every
town was announced by heaps of human remains. Bones and skulls formed a
Golgotha within a quarter of a mile of every village. Some of these were
in earthenware pots, generally broken; others lay strewn here and there;
while a heap in the centre showed that some form had originally been
observed in their disposition. This was explained by an extraordinary
custom most rigidly observed by the Latookas. Should a man be killed in
battle the body is allowed to remain where it fell, and is devoured by
the vultures and hyenas; but should he die a natural death, he or she is
buried in a shallow grave within a few feet of his own door, in the
little courtyard that surrounds each dwelling. Funeral dances are then
kept up in memory of the dead for several weeks; at the expiration of
which time, the body being sufficiently decomposed, is exhumed. The
bones are cleaned, and are deposited in an earthenware jar, and carried
to a spot near the town which is regarded as the cemetery. I observed
that they were not particular in regarding the spot as sacred, as signs
of nuisances were present even upon the bones, that in civilized
countries would have been regarded as an insult.

There is little difficulty in describing the toilette of the native--
that of the men being simplified by the sole covering of the head, the
body being entirely nude. It is curious to observe among these wild
savages the consummate vanity displayed in their head-dresses. Every
tribe has a distinct and unchanging fashion for dressing the hair; and
so elaborate is the coiffure that hair-dressing is reduced to a science.
European ladies would be startled at the fact, that to perfect the
coiffure of a man requires a period of from eight to ten years! However
tedious the operation, the result is extraordinary. The Latookas wear
most exquisite helmets, all of which are formed of their own hair; and
are, of course, fixtures. At first sight it appears incredible, but a
minute examination shows the wonderful perseverance of years in
producing what must be highly inconvenient. The thick, crisp wool is
woven with fine twine, formed from the bark of a tree, until it presents
a thick network of felt. As the hair grows through this matted substance
it is subjected to the same process, until, in the course of years, a
compact substance is formed like a strong felt, about an inch and a half
thick, that has been trained into the shape of a helmet. A strong rim,
of about two inches deep, is formed by sewing it together with thread;
and the front part of the helmet is protected by a piece of polished
copper; while a piece of the same metal, shaped like the half of a
bishop's mitre and about a foot in length, forms the crest. The
framework of the helmet being at length completed, it must be perfected
by an arrangement of beads, should the owner of the head be sufficiently
rich to indulge in the coveted distinction. The beads most in fashion
are the red and the blue porcelain, about the size of small peas. These
are sewn on the surface of the felt, and so beautifully arranged in
sections of blue and red that the entire helmet appears to be formed of
beads; and the handsome crest of polished copper, surmounted by
ostrich-plumes, gives a most dignified and martial appearance to this
elaborate head-dress. No helmet is supposed to be complete without a row
of cowrie-shells stitched around the rim so as to form a solid edge.

The Latookas have neither bows nor arrows, their weapons consisting of
the lance, a powerful iron-headed mace, a long-bladed knife or sword,
and an ugly iron bracelet, armed with knife-blades about four inches
long by half an inch broad: the latter is used to strike with if
disarmed, and to tear with when wrestling with an enemy. Their shields
are either of buffaloes' hide or of giraffes', the latter being highly
prized as excessively tough although light, and thus combining the two
requisite qualities of a good shield; they are usually about four feet
six inches long by two feet wide, and are the largest I have seen.
Altogether, everything in Latooka looks like fighting. Although the men
devote so much attention to their head-dress, the women are extremely
simple. It is a curious fact, that while the men are remarkably
handsome, the women are exceedingly plain;--they are immense creatures,
few being under five feet seven in height, with prodigious limbs. Their
superior strength to that of other tribes may be seen in the size of
their water jars, which are nearly double as large as any I have seen
elsewhere, containing about ten gallons; in these they fetch water from
the stream about a mile distant from the town. They wear exceedingly
long tails, precisely like those of horses, but made of fine twine and
rubbed with red ochre and grease. They are very convenient when they
creep into their huts on bands and knees. In addition to the tails, they
wear a large flap of tanned leather in front. Should I ever visit that
country again, I should take a great number of "Freemasons'" aprons for
the women; these would be highly prized, and would create a perfect
FUROR. The only really pretty women that I saw in Latooka were Bokke,
the wife of the chief, and her daughter; they were fac-similes of each
other, the latter having the advantage of being the second edition. Both
women and men were extremely eager for beads of all kinds, the most
valuable being the red and blue porcelain for helmets, and the large
opalescent bead, the size of a child's marble.

The day after my arrival in Latooka I was accommodated by the chief with
a hut in a neat courtyard, beautifully clean and cemented with clay,
ashes, and cow-dung. Not patronising the architectural advantages of a
doorway of two feet high, I pitched my large tent in the yard and stowed
all my baggage in the hut. All being arranged, I had a large Persian
carpet spread upon the ground, and received the chief of Latooka in
state. He was introduced by Ibrahim, and I had the advantage of his
interpreter.

I commenced the conversation by ordering a present to be laid on the
carpet of several necklaces of valuable beads, copper bars, and coloured
cotton handkerchief. It was most amusing to witness his delight at a
string of fifty little "berrets" (opal beads the size of marbles) which
I had brought into the country for the first time, and were accordingly
extremely valuable. No sooner had he surveyed them with undisguised
delight than he requested me to give him another string of opals for his
wife, or she would be in a bad humour;--accordingly a present for the
lady was added to the already large pile of beads that lay heaped upon
the carpet before him. After surveying his treasures with pride, he
heaved a deep sigh, and turning to the interpreter he said, "What a row
there will be in the family when my other wives see Bokke (his head
wife) dressed up with this finery. Tell the `Mattat' that unless he
gives necklaces for each of my other wives, they will fight!"
Accordingly I asked him the number of ladies that made him anxious. He
deliberately began to count upon his fingers, and having exhausted the
digits of one hand, I compromised immediately, begging him not to go
through the whole of his establishment, and presented him with about
three pounds of various beads, to be divided among them. He appeared
highly delighted, and declared his intention of sending all his wives to
pay Mrs. Baker a visit. This was an awful visitation, as each wife would
expect a present for herself, and would assuredly have either a child or
a friend for whom she would beg an addition. I therefore told him that
the heat was so great that we could not bear too many in the tent, but
that if Bokke, his favourite, would appear, we should be glad to see
her.

Accordingly he departed, and shortly we were honoured by a visit. Bokke
and her daughter were announced, and a prettier pair of savages I never
saw. They were very clean;--their hair was worn short, like all the
women of the country, and plastered with red ochre and fat, so as to
look like vermilion; their faces were slightly tattooed on the cheeks
and temples; and they sat down on the many-coloured carpet with great
surprise, and stared at the first white man and woman they had ever
seen. We gave them both a number of necklaces of red and blue beads, and
I secured Bokke's portrait in my sketch book, obtaining a very correct
likeness. She told us that Mahommed Her's men were very bad people; that
they had burnt and plundered one of her villages; and that one of the
Latookas who had been wounded in the fight by a bullet had just died,
and they were to dance for him to-morrow, if we would like to attend.
She asked many questions; how many wives I had? and was astonished to
hear that I was contented with one. This seemed to amuse her immensely,
and she laughed heartily with her daughter at the idea. She said that my
wife would be much improved if she would extract her four front teeth
from the lower jaw, and wear the red ointment on her hair, according to
the fashion of the country; she also proposed that she should pierce her
under lip, and wear the long pointed polished crystal, about the size of
a drawing pencil, that is the "thing" in the Latooka country. No woman
among the tribe who has any pretensions to be a "swell" would be without
this highly-prized ornament, and one of my thermometers having come to
an end I broke the tube into three pieces, and they were considered as
presents of the highest value, to be worn through the perforated under
lip. Lest the piece should slip through the hole in the lip, a kind of
rivet is formed by twine bound round the inner extremity, and this
protruding into the space left by the extraction of the four front teeth
of the lower jaw, entices the tongue to act upon the extremity, which
gives it a wriggling motion, indescribably ludicrous during
conversation.

I cannot understand for what reason all the White Nile tribes extract
the four front teeth of the lower jaw. Were the meat of the country
tender, the loss of teeth might be a trifle; but I have usually found
that even a good set of grinders are sometimes puzzled to go through the
operation needful to a Latooka beefsteak. It is difficult to explain
real beauty; a defect in one country is a desideratum in another; scars
upon the face are, in Europe, a blemish; but here and in the Arab
countries no beauty can be perfect until the cheeks or temples have been
gashed.

The Arabs make three gashes upon each cheek, and rub the wounds with
salt and a kind of porridge (asida) to produce proud flesh; thus every
female slave, captured by the slave-hunters, is marked to prove her
identity, and to improve her charms. Each tribe has its peculiar fashion
as to the position and form of the cicatrix.

The Latookas gash the temples and cheeks of their women, but do not
raise the scar above the surface, as is the custom of the Arabs.

Polygamy is, of course, the general custom; the number of a man's wives
depending entirely upon his wealth, precisely as would the number of his
horses in England. There is no such thing as love in these countries:
the feeling is not understood, nor does it exist in the shape in which
we understand it. Everything is practical, without a particle of
romance. Women are so far appreciated as they are valuable animals. They
grind the corn, fetch the water, gather firewood, cement the floors,
cook the food, and propagate the race; but they are mere servants, and
as such are valuable. The price of a good-looking, strong young wife,
who could carry a heavy jar of water, would be ten cows; thus a man,
rich in cattle, would be rich in domestic bliss, as he could command a
multiplicity of wives. However delightful may be a family of daughters
in England, they nevertheless are costly treasures; but in Latooka, and
throughout savage lands, they are exceedingly profitable. The simple
rule of proportion will suggest that if one daughter is worth ten cows,
ten daughters must be worth a hundred, therefore a large family is the
source of wealth; the girls produce the cows, and the boys milk them.
All being perfectly naked (I mean the girls and the boys), there is no
expense, and the children act as herdsmen to the flocks as in the
patriarchal times. A multiplicity of wives thus increases wealth by the
increase of family. I am afraid this practical state of affairs will be
a strong barrier to missionary enterprise.

A savage holds to his cows, and his women, but especially to his COWS.
In a razzia fight he will seldom stand for the sake of his wives, but
when he does fight it is to save his cattle. I had now a vivid
exemplification of this theory.

One day, at about 3 P.M., the men of Ibrahim started upon some
mysterious errand, but returned equally mysterious at about midnight. On
the following morning I heard that they had intended to attack some
place upon the mountains, but they had heard that it was too powerful;
and as "discretion is the better part of valour," they had returned.

On the day following I heard that there had been some disaster, and that
the whole of Mahommed Her's party had been massacred. The natives seemed
very excited, and messenger succeeded messenger, all confirming the
account that Mahommed Her had attacked a village on the mountains, the
same that Ibrahim had intended to attack, and that the natives had
exterminated their whole party.

On the following morning I sent ten of my men with a party of Ibrahim's
to Latome to make inquiries. They returned on the following afternoon,
bringing with them two wounded men.

It appeared that Mahommed Her had ordered his party of 110 armed men, in
addition to 300 natives, to make a razzia upon a certain village among
the mountains for slaves and cattle. They had succeeded in burning a
village, and in capturing a great number of slaves. Having descended the
pass, a native gave them the route that would lead to the capture of a
large herd of cattle that they had not yet discovered. They once more
ascended the mountain by a different path, and arriving at the kraal,
they commenced driving off the vast herd of cattle. The Latookas, who
had not fought while their wives and children were being carried into
slavery, now fronted bravely against the muskets to defend their herds,
and charging the Turks, they drove them down the pass.

It was in vain that they fought; every bullet aimed at a Latooka struck
a rock, behind which the enemy was hidden. Rocks, stones, and lances
were hurled at them from all sides and from above; they were forced to
retreat.

The retreat ended in a panic and precipitate flight. Hemmed in on all
sides, amidst a shower of lances and stones thrown from the mountain
above, the Turks fled pele-mele down the rocky and precipitous ravines.
Mistaking their route, they came to a precipice from which there was no
retreat. The screaming and yelling savages closed round them. Fighting
was useless; the natives, under cover of the numerous detached rocks,
offered no mark for an aim; while the crowd of armed savages thrust them
forward with wild yells to the very verge of the great precipice about
five hundred feet below. Down they fell! hurled to utter destruction by
the mass of Latookas pressing onward! A few fought to the last; but one
and all were at length forced, by sheer pressure, over the edge of the
cliff, and met a just reward for their atrocities.

My men looked utterly cast down, and a feeling of horror pervaded the
entire party. No quarter had been given by the Latookas; and upwards of
200 natives who had joined the slave-hunters in the attack, had also
perished with their allies. Mahommed Her had not him self accompanied
his people, both he and Bellaal, my late ringleader, having remained in
camp; the latter having, fortunately for him, been disabled, and placed
hors de combat by the example I had made during the mutiny.

My men were almost green with awe, when I asked them solemnly, "Where
were the men who had deserted from me?" Without answering a word they
brought two of my guns and laid them at my feet. They were covered with
clotted blood mixed with sand, which had hardened like cement over the
locks and various portions of the barrels. My guns were all marked. As I
looked at the numbers upon the stocks, I repeated aloud the names of the
owners. "Are they all dead?" I asked. "All dead," the men replied. "FOOD
FOR THE VULTURES?" I asked. "None of the bodies can be recovered,"
faltered my vakeel. "The two guns were brought from the spot by some
natives who escaped, and who saw the men fall. They are all killed."
"Better for them had they remained with me and done their duty. The hand
of God is heavy," I replied. My men slunk away abashed, leaving the gory
witnesses of defeat and death upon the ground. I called Saat and ordered
him to give the two guns to Richarn to clean.

Not only my own men but the whole of Ibrahim's party were of opinion
that I had some mysterious connexion with the disaster that had befallen
my mutineers. All remembered the bitterness of my prophecy, "The
vultures will pick their bones," and this terrible mishap having
occurred so immediately afterwards took a strong hold upon their
superstitious minds. As I passed through the camp, the men would quietly
exclaim, "Wah Illahi Hawaga!" (My God! Master.) To which I simply
replied, "Robinee fe!" (There is a God.) From that moment I observed an
extraordinary change in the manner of both my people and those of
Ibrahim, all of whom now paid us the greatest respect.

Unfortunately a great change had likewise taken place in the manner of
the Latookas. The whole town was greatly excited, drums were beating and
horns blowing in all quarters, every one rejoicing at the annihilation
of Mahommed Her's party. The natives no longer respected the superior
power of guns; in a hand-to-hand fight they had proved their own
superiority, and they had not the sense to distinguish the difference
between a struggle in a steep mountain pass and a battle on the open
plain. Ibrahim was apprehensive of a general attack on his party by the
Latookas.

This was rather awkward, as it was necessary for him to return to
Gondokoro for a large supply of ammunition which had been left there for
want of porters to convey it, when he had started for the interior. To
march to Gondokoro, and to guard the ammunition, would require a large
force in the present disturbed state of the country; thus we should be a
much-reduced party, which might induce the Latookas to attack us after
his departure. However, it was necessary that he should start. I
accordingly lent him a couple of donkeys to convey his powder, in case
he should not be able to procure porters.

After the departure of Ibrahim, the force of his party remaining at
Tarrangolle was reduced to thirty-five men, under the command of his
lieutenant, Suleiman. This was a weak detachment in the event of an
attack, especially as they had no separate camp, but were living in the
native town, the men quartered in detached huts, and accordingly at the
mercy of the natives if surprised. The brutality of the Turks was so
inseparable from their nature, that they continually insulted the native
women to such an extent that I felt sure they would provoke hostilities
in the present warlike humour of the Latookas. The stream being nearly a
mile distant, there was a difficulty in procuring water. The Turks being
far too lazy to carry it for themselves, seized upon the water-jars when
the women returned from the stream, and beat them severely upon their
refusal to deliver them without payment. I found no difficulty, as I
engaged a woman to bring a regular supply for a daily payment in beads.
Much bartering was going on between the Turks and the natives for
provisions, in which the latter were invariably cheated, and beaten if
they complained. I felt sure that such conduct must end in disagreement,
if not in actual fight, in the event of which I knew that I should be
dragged into the affair, although perfectly innocent, and having nothing
to do with the Turks.

My quarters in the town were near an open quadrangular space about
eighty yards square, inclosed upon all sides, but having a narrow
entrance to the main street. The Turks were scattered about in the
neighbouring lanes, their time passed in drinking merissa, and
quarrelling with the natives and with each other.

The day after Ibrahim's departure, the Turks seized some jars of water
by force from the women on their return from the stream. A row ensued,
and ended by one of the women being shamefully maltreated; and a
Latooka, who came to her assistance, was severely beaten. This I did not
see, but it was reported to me. I called Suleiman, and told him that if
such things were permitted it would entail a fight with the natives, in
which I should not allow my men to join; that I prohibited my men from
taking anything from the Latookas without just payment: thus, should a
fight be caused by the conduct of his people, they must get out of it as
they best could.

A bad feeling already existed between the natives and his people, owing
to the defeat of the party of Mahommed Her. Much good management was
required to avoid a collision, and the reverse was certain to cause an
outbreak. Shortly before dusk the women were again assaulted on their
return with water from the stream. One of Ibrahim's soldiers threatened
a powerful-looking Amazon with his stick because she refused to deliver
up her jar of water that she had carried about a mile for her own
requirements. Upon seeing this my pretty friend, Bokke, the chief's
wife, seized the soldier by the throat, wrested the stick from him,
while another woman disarmed him of his gun. Other women then set upon
him, and gave him a most ignominious shaking; while some gathered up mud
from the gutter and poured it down the barrel of his gun until they
effectually choked it; not content with this, they plastered large
masses of mud over the locks and trigger.

I looked on with enjoyment at the thorough discomfiture of the Turk. The
news quickly spread, and in revenge for his disgrace his comrades
severely beat some women at some distance from the camp. I heard
screams, and shouts, and a confused noise; and upon my arrival outside
the town, I saw large numbers of natives running from all quarters, and
collecting together with lances and shields. I felt sure that we were to
be involved in a general outbreak. However, the Turks beat the drum, and
collected their men, so that in a few minutes no straggler was in the
town.

It was remarkably unpleasant to be dragged into a row by the conduct of
these brutal traders, with whom I had nothing in common, and who, should
a fight actually occur, would be certain to behave as cowards. The
Latookas would make no distinction between me and them, in the event of
an attack, as they would naturally class all strangers and new comers
with the hated Turks.

It was about 5 P.M. one hour before sunset. The woman who usually
brought us water delivered her jar, but disappeared immediately after
without sweeping the courtyard as was her custom. Her children, who
usually played in this inclosure, had vanished. On searching her hut,
which was in one corner of the yard, no one was to be found, and even
the grinding-stone was gone. Suspecting that something was in the wind,
I sent Karka and Gaddum Her, the two black servants, to search in
various huts in the neighbourhood to observe if the owners were present,
and whether the women were in their houses. Not a woman could be found.
Neither woman nor child remained in the large town of Tarrangolle. There
was an extraordinary stillness where usually all was noise and
chattering. All the women and children had been removed to the mountains
about two miles distant, and this so quickly and noiselessly that it
appeared incredible. I immediately sent to the house of the chief, and
requested his attendance. There were two chiefs, brothers; Moy was the
greater in point of rank, but his brother, Commoro, had more actual
authority with the people. I was glad that the latter appeared.

I sent to request an interpreter from the Turks, and upon his arrival I
asked Commoro why the women and children had been removed. He replied,
"That the Turks were so brutal that he could not prevail upon his people
to endure it any longer; their women were robbed and beaten, and they
were all so ill-treated, that he, as their chief, had no longer any
control over them; and that the odium of having introduced the Turks to
Latooka was thrown upon him." I asked him whether any of my men had
misbehaved. I explained that I should flog any one of my men who should
steal the merest trifle from his people, or insult any women. All my men
were in dark-brown uniforms. He said, "That none of the men with the
brown clothes had been complained of, but that his people had taken a
dislike to all strangers, owing to the conduct of the Turks, and that he
could not answer for the consequences."

There was a division among his own people, some wishing to fight and to
serve the Turks as the Latookas had served the party of Mahommed Her,
and others yielding to his advice, and agreeing to remain quiet.

I inquired whether the chief, Moy, intended peace or war. He said, "That
Bokke, his wife, had made him very angry against the Turks by describing
their conduct towards the women."

This was rather an unsatisfactory state of things. Commoro departed,
frankly admitting that the natives were much excited and wished to
attack, but that he would do his best with them.

These rascally TRADERS set every country in a blaze by their brutal
conduct, and rendered exploring, not only most dangerous but next to
impossible, without an exceedingly powerful force.

The sun set; and, as usual in tropical climates, darkness set in within
half an hour. Not a woman had returned to the town, nor was the voice of
a man to be heard. The natives had entirely forsaken the portion of the
town that both I and the Turks occupied. The night was perfectly calm,
and the stars shone so brightly, that I took an observation for the
latitude--4 degrees 30 minutes. There was a death-like stillness in
the air. Even the Turks, who were usually uproarious, were perfectly
quiet, and although my men made no remark, it was plain that we were all
occupied by the same thoughts, and that an attack was expected.

It was about 9 o'clock, and the stillness had become almost painful.
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! Three
distinct beats, at slow intervals, rang through the apparently deserted
town, and echoed loudly from the neighbouring mountain. It was the
signal! A few minutes elapsed, and like a distant echo from the north
the three mournful tones again distinctly sounded. Was it an echo?
Impossible. Now from the south, far distant, but unmistakeable, the same
three regular beats came booming through the still night air. Again and
again, from every quarter, spreading far and wide, the signal was
responded; and the whole country echoed those three solemn notes so full
of warning. Once more the great nogara of Tarrangolle sounded the
original alarm within a few hundred paces of our quarters. The whole
country was up.

There was no doubt about the matter. The Turks well knew those three
notes were the war-signal of the Latookas. I immediately called
Suleiman. It was necessary to act in unison. I ordered him to beat the
drum loudly for about five minutes to answer the nogara. His men were
all scattered in several small inclosures. I called them all out into
the open quadrangle; in the centre of which I placed the baggage, and
planted the English ensign in the middle, while the Turks fixed their
flag within a few paces. Posting sentries at each corner of the square,
I stationed patrols in the principal street. In the meantime Mrs. Baker
had laid out upon a mat several hundred cartridges of buck-shot,
powder-flasks, wadding, and opened several boxes of caps, all of which
were neatly arranged for a reserve of ammunition; while a long row of
first-class double guns and rifles lay in readiness. The boy Saat was
full of fight, and immediately strapped on his belt and cartouche-box,
and took his stand among the men.

I ordered the men, in the event of an attack, to immediately set fire to
all the huts around the quadrangle; in which case the sudden rush of a
large body of men would be impossible, and the huts being of straw, the
town would be quickly in a blaze.

Everything was in order to resist an attack in five minutes from the
sounding of the nogara.

The patrols shortly reported that large bodies of men were collecting
outside the town. The great nogara again beat, and was answered at
intervals as before from the neighbouring villages; but the Turks' drum
kept up an uninterrupted roll as a challenge whenever the nogara
sounded. Instead of the intense stillness that had formerly been almost
painful, a distinct hum of distant voices betokened the gathering of
large bodies of men. However, we were well fortified; and the Latookas
knew it. We occupied the very stronghold that they had themselves
constructed for the defence of their town; and the square being
surrounded with strong iron-wood palisades with only a narrow entrance,
would be impregnable when held, as now, by fifty men well armed with
guns against a mob whose best weapons were only lances. I sent men up
the watchmen's stations; these were about twenty-five feet high; and the
night being clear, they could distinctly report the movements of a dark
mass of natives that were ever increasing on the outside of the town at
about two hundred yards' distance. The rattle of the Turks' drum
repeatedly sounded in reply to the nogara, and the intended attack
seemed destined to relapse into a noisy but empty battle of the drums.

A few hours passed in uncertainty, when, at about midnight, the chief
Commoro came fearlessly to the patrol, and was admitted to the
quadrangle. 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. He said they certainly had intended to
attack us, and were surprised that we were prepared, as proved by the
immediate reply of the Turks' drum to their nogara. He assured us that
he would not sleep that night, but would watch that nothing should
happen. I assured him that we should also keep awake, but should the
nogara sound once more I should give orders to my men to set fire to the
town, as I should not allow the natives to make use of such threats with
impunity. I agreed to use what little interest I had to keep the Turks
in order, but that I must not be held responsible by the natives for
their proceedings, as I was not of their country, neither had I anything
to do with them. I explained, that upon Ibrahim's return from Gondokoro
things might improve, as he was the captain of the Turks, and might be
able to hold his men in command. Commoro departed, and about 2 A.M. the
dense crowds of armed men that had accumulated outside the town began to
disperse.

The morning broke and saw the men still under arms, but the excitement
had passed. The women soon reappeared with their water jars as usual,
but on this occasion they were perfectly unmolested by the Turks, who,
having passed the night in momentary expectation of an attack, were now
upon their best behaviour. However, I heard them muttering among
themselves, "Wait until Ibrahim returns with reinforcements and
ammunition, and we will pay the Latookas for last night."

The town filled; and the Latookas behaved as though nothing out of the
common had occurred; but when questioned, they coolly confessed that
they had intended to surprise us, but that we were too "wide awake.". It
is extraordinary that these fellows are so stupid as to beat the drum or
nogara before the attack, as it naturally gives the alarm, and renders a
surprise impossible; nevertheless, the war-drum is always a preliminary
step to hostilities. I now resolved to camp outside the town, so as not
to be mixed up in any way with the Turks, whose presence was certain to
create enmity. Accordingly I engaged a number of natives to cut thorns,
and to make a zareeba, or camp, about four hundred yards from the main
entrance of the town, on the road to the stream of water. In a few days
it was completed, and I constructed houses for my men, and two good huts
for ourselves. Having a supply of garden seeds, I arranged a few beds,
which I sowed with onions, cabbages, and radishes. My camp was eighty
yards long, and forty wide. My horses were picqueted in two corners,
while the donkeys and camels occupied the opposite extremity. We now
felt perfectly independent. I had masses of supplies, and I resolved to
work round to the south-west whenever it might be possible, and thus to
recover the route that I had originally proposed for my journey south.
My present difficulty was the want of an interpreter. The Turks had
several, and I hoped that on the return of Ibrahim from Gondokoro I
might induce him to lend me a Bari lad for some consideration. For the
present I was obliged to send to the Turks' camp and borrow an
interpreter whenever I required one, which was both troublesome and
expensive.

Although I was willing to purchase all supplies with either beads or
copper bracelets, I found it was impossible to procure meat. The natives
refused to sell either cattle or goats. This was most tantalizing, as
not less than 10,000 head of cattle filed by my camp every morning as
they were driven from the town to pasturage. All this amount of beef
paraded before me, and did not produce a steak! Milk was cheap and
abundant; fowl were scarce; corn was plentiful; vegetables were unknown;
not even pumpkins were grown by the Latookas.

Fortunately there was an abundance of small game in the shape of wild
ducks, pigeons, doves; and a great variety of birds such as herons,
cranes, spoonbills, &c. Travellers should always take as large a supply
of shot as possible. I had four hundred weight, and prodigious
quantities of powder and caps: thus I could at all times kill sufficient
game for ourselves and people. There were a series of small marshy pools
scattered over the country near the stream that ran through the valley;
these were the resort of numerous ducks, which afforded excellent sport.
The town of Tarrangolle is situated at the foot of the mountain, about a
mile from the stream, which is about eighty yards wide, but shallow. In
the dry weather, water is obtained by wells dug in the sandy bed, but
during the rains it is a simple torrent not exceeding three feet in
depth. The bed being sandy, the numerous banks, left dry by the
fluctuations of the stream, are most inviting spots for ducks; and it
was only necessary to wait under a tree, on the river's bank, to obtain
thirty or forty shots in one morning as the ducks flew down the course
of the stream. I found two varieties: the small brown duck with a grey
head; and a magnificent variety, as large as the Muscovy, having a
copper-and-blue coloured tinselled back and wings, with a white but
speckled head and neck. This duck had a curious peculiarity in a fleshy
protuberance on the beak about as large as a half-crown. This stands
erect, like a cock's comb. Both this, and the smaller variety, were
delicious eating. There were two varieties of geese--the only two that
I have ever seen on the White Nile--the common Egyptian grey goose, and
a large black and white bird with a crimson head and neck, and a red and
yellow horny protuberance on the top of the head. This variety has a
sharp spur upon the wing an inch long, and exceedingly powerful; it is
used as a weapon of defence for striking, like the spurred wing of the
plover.

I frequeutly shot ten or twelve ducks, and as many cranes, before
breakfast; among others the beautiful crested crane, called by the Arabs
"garranook." The black velvet head of this crane, surrounded by a golden
crest, was a favourite ornament of the Latookas, and they were
immediately arranged as crests for their helmets. The neighbourhood of
my camp would have made a fortune for a feather-dealer; it was literally
strewn with down and plumes. I was always attended every morning by a
number of Latooka boys, who were eager sportsmen, and returned to camp
daily laden with ducks and geese.

No sooner did we arrive in camp than a number of boys volunteered to
pluck the birds, which they did for the sake of the longest feathers,
with which they immediately decked their woolly heads. Crowds of boys
were to be seen with heads like cauliflowers, all dressed with the
feathers of cranes and wild ducks. It appears to be accepted, both by
the savage and civilized, that birds' feathers are specially intended
for ornamenting the human head.

It was fortunate that Nature had thus stocked Latooka with game. It was
impossible to procure any other meat; and not only were the ducks and
geese to us what the quails were to the Israelites in the desert, but
they enabled me to make presents to the natives that assured them of our
good will.

Although the Latookas were far better than other tribes that I had met,
they were sufficiently annoying; they gave me no credit for real good
will, but they attributed my forbearance to weakness. On one occasion
Adda, one of the chiefs, came to ask me to join him in attacking a
village to procure molotes (iron hoes); he said, "Come along with me,
bring your men and guns, and we will attack a village near here, and
take their molotes and cattle; you keep the cattle, and I will have the
molotes." I asked him whether the village was in an enemy's country. "Oh
no!" he replied, "it is close here; but the people are rather
rebellious, and it will do them good to kill a few, and to take their
molotes. If you are afraid, never mind, I will ask the Turks to do it."
Thus forbearance on my part was supposed to be caused from weakness, and
it was difficult to persuade them that it originated in a feeling of
justice. This Adda most coolly proposed that we should plunder one of
his own villages that was rather too "liberal" in its views. Nothing is
more heartbreaking than to be so thoroughly misunderstood, and the
obtuseness of the savages was such, that I never could make them
understand the existence of good principle;--their one idea was
"power,"--force that could obtain all--the strong hand that could wrest
from the weak. In disgust I frequently noted the feelings of the moment
in my journal--a memorandum from which I copy as illustrative of the
time. "1863, 10th April, Latooka.--I wish the black sympathisers in
England could see Africa's inmost heart as I do, much of their sympathy
would subside. Human nature viewed in its crude state as pictured
amongst African savages is quite on a level with that of the brute, and
not to be compared with the noble character of the dog. There is neither
gratitude, pity, love, nor self-denial; no idea of duty; no religion;
but covetousness, ingratitude, selfishness and cruelty. All are thieves,
idle, envious, and ready to plunder and enslave their weaker
neighbours."



CHAPTER VI.

THE FUNERAL DANCE.

Drums were beating, horns blowing, and people were seen all running in
one direction;--the cause was a funeral dance, and I joined the crowd,
and soon found myself in the midst of the entertainment. The dancers
were most grotesquely got up. About a dozen huge ostrich feathers
adorned their helmets; either leopard or the black and white monkey
skins were suspended from their shoulders, and a leather tied round the
waist covered a large iron bell which was strapped upon the loins of
each dancer, like a woman's old-fashioned bustle: this they rung to the
time of the dance by jerking their posteriors in the most absurd manner.
A large crowd got up in this style created an indescribable hubbub,
heightened by the blowing of horns and the beating of seven nogaras of
various notes. Every dancer wore an antelope's horn suspended round the
neck, which he blew occasionally in the height of his excitement. These
instruments produced a sound partaking of the braying of a donkey and
the screech of an owl. Crowds of men rushed round and round in a sort of
"galop infernel," brandishing their lances and iron-headed maces, and
keeping tolerably in line five or six deep, following the leader who
headed them, dancing backwards. The women kept outside the line, dancing
a slow stupid step, and screaming a wild and most inharmonious chant;
while a long string of young girls and small children, their heads and
necks rubbed with red ochre and grease, and prettily ornamented with
strings of beads around their loins, kept a very good line, beating the
time with their feet, and jingling the numerous iron rings which adorned
their ankles to keep time with the drums. One woman attended upon the
men, running through the crowd with a gourd full of wood-ashes, handfuls
of which she showered over their heads, powdering them like millers; the
object of the operation I could not understand. The "premiere danseuse"
was immensely fat; she had passed the bloom of youth, but, "malgre" her
unwieldy state, she kept up the pace to the last, quite unconscious of
her general appearance, and absorbed with the excitement of the dance.

These festivities were to be continued in honour of the dead; and as
many friends had recently been killed, music and dancing would be in
fashion for some weeks.

There was an excellent interpreter belonging to Ibrahim's party--a Bari
lad of about eighteen. This boy had been in their service for some
years, and had learnt Arabic, which he spoke fluently, although with a
peculiar accent, owing to the extraction of the four front teeth of the
lower jaw, according to the general custom. It was of great importance
to obtain the confidence of Loggo, as my success depended much upon
information that I might obtain from the natives; therefore, whenever I
sent for him to hold any conversation with the people, I invariably gave
him a little present at parting. Accordingly he obeyed any summons from
me with great alacrity, knowing that the interview would terminate with
a "baksheesh" (present). In this manner I succeeded in establishing
confidence, and he would frequently come uncalled to my tent and
converse upon all manner of subjects. The Latooka language is different
to the Bari, and a second interpreter was necessary; this was a sharp
lad about the same age: thus the conversation was somewhat tedious, the
medium being Bari and Latooka.

The chief Commoro (the "Lion") was one of the most clever and
common-sense savages that I had seen in these countries, and the tribe
paid far more deference to his commands than to those of his brother,
"Moy," although the latter was the superior in rank.

One day I sent for Commoro after the usual funeral dance was completed,
and, through my two young interpreters, I had a long conversation with
him on the customs of his country. I wished if possible to fathom the
origin of the extraordinary custom of exhuming the body after burial, as
I imagined that in this act some idea might be traced to a belief in the
resurrection.

Commoro was, like all his people, extremely tall. Upon entering my tent
he took his seat upon the ground, the Latookas not using stools like the
other White Nile tribes. I commenced the conversation by complimenting
him on the perfection of his wives and daughters in the dance, and on
his own agility in the performance; and inquired for whom the ceremony
had been performed.

He replied, that it was for a man who had been recently killed, but no
one of great importance, the same ceremony being observed for every
person without distinction. I asked him why those slain in battle were
allowed to remain unburied. He said, it had always been the custom, but
that he could not explain it.

"But," I replied, "why should you disturb the bones of those whom you
have already buried, and expose them on the outskirts of the town?"

"It was the custom of our forefathers," he answered, "therefore we
continue to observe it."

"Have you no belief in a future existence after death? Is not some idea
expressed in the act of exhuming the bones after the flesh is decayed?"

Commoro (loq.).--"Existence AFTER death! How can that be? Can a dead man
get out of his grave, unless we dig him out?"

"Do you think man is like a beast, that dies and is ended?"

Commoro.--"Certainly; an ox is stronger than a man; but he dies, and his
bones last longer; they are bigger. A man's bones break quickly--he is
weak."

"Is not a man superior in sense to an ox? Has he not a mind to direct
his actions?"

Commoro.--"Some men are not so clever as an ox. Men must sow corn to
obtain food, but the ox and wild animals can procure it without sowing."

"Do you not know that there is a spirit within you more than flesh? Do
you not dream and wander in thought to distant places in your sleep?
Nevertheless, your body rests in one spot. How do you account for this?"

Commoro (laughing).--"Well, how do YOU account for it? It is a thing I
cannot understand; it occurs to me every night."

"The mind is independent of the body; the actual body can be fettered,
but the mind is uncontrollable; the body will die and will become dust,
or be eaten by vultures, but the spirit will exist for ever."

Commoro.--"Where will the spirit live?"

"Where does fire live? Cannot you produce a fire (The natives always
produce fire by rubbing two sticks together.) by rubbing two sticks
together, yet you SEE not the fire in the wood. Has not that fire, that
lies harmless and unseen in the sticks, the power to consume the whole
country? Which is the stronger, the small stick that first PRODUCES the
fire, or the fire itself? So is the spirit the element within the body,
as the element of fire exists in the stick; the element being superior
to the substance."

Commoro.--"Ha! Can you explain what we frequently see at night when lost
in the wilderness? I have myself been lost, and wandering in the dark, I
have seen a distant fire; upon approaching, the fire has vanished, and I
have been unable to trace the cause--nor could I find the spot."

"Have you no idea of the existence of spirits superior to either man or
beast? Have you no fear of evil except from bodily causes?"

Commoro.--"I am afraid of elephants and other animals when in the jungle
at night, but of nothing else."

"Then you believe in nothing; neither in a good nor evil spirit! And you
believe that when you die it will be the end of body and spirit; that
you are like other animals; and that there is no distinction between man
and beast; both disappear, and end at death?"

Commoro.--"Of course they do."

"Do you see no difference in good and bad actions?" Commoro.--"Yes,
there are good and bad in men and beasts."

"Do you think that a good man and a bad must share the same fate, and
alike die, and end?"

Commoro.--"Yes; what else can they do? How can they help dying? Good and
bad all die."

"Their bodies perish, but their spirits remain; the good in happiness,
the bad in misery. If you have no belief in a future state, WHY SHOULD A
MAN BE GOOD? Why should he not be bad, if he can prosper by wickedness?"

Commoro.--"Most people are bad; if they are strong they take from the
weak. The good people are all weak; they are good because they are not
strong enough to be bad."

Some corn had been taken out of a sack for the horses, and a few grains
lying scattered on the ground, I tried the beautiful metaphor of St.
Paul as an example of a future state. Making a small hole with my finger
in the ground, I placed a grain within it: "That," I said, "represents
you when you die." Covering it with earth, I continued, "That grain will
decay, but from it will rise the plant that will produce a reappearance
of the original form."

Commoro.--"Exactly so; that I understand. But the ORIGINAL grain does
NOT rise again; it rots like the dead man, and is ended; the fruit
produced is not the same grain that we buried, but the PRODUCTION of
that grain: so it is with man--I die, and decay, and am ended; but my
children grow up like the fruit of the grain. Some men have no children,
and some grains perish without fruit; then all are ended."

I was obliged to change the subject of conversation. In this wild naked
savage there was not even a superstition upon which to found a religious
feeling; there was a belief in matter; and to his understanding
everything was MATERIAL. It was extraordinary to find so much clearness
of perception combined with such complete obtuseness to anything ideal.

Giving up the religious argument as a failure, I resolved upon more
practical inquiries.

The Turks had only arrived in the Latooka country in the preceding year.
They had not introduced the cowrie shell; but I observed that every
helmet was ornamented with this species; it therefore occurred to me
that they must find their way into the country from Zanzibar.

In reply to my inquiries, Commoro pointed to the south, from which he
said they arrived in his country, but he had no idea from whence they
came. The direction was sufficient to prove that they must be sent from
the east coast, as Speke and Grant had followed the Zanzibar traders as
far as Karagwe, the 2 degrees S. lat.

Commoro could not possibly understand my object in visiting the Latooka
country; it was in vain that I attempted to explain the intention of my
journey. He said, "Suppose you get to the great lake; what will you do
with it? What will be the good of it? If you find that the large river
does flow from it, what then? What's the good of it?"

I could only assure him, that in England we had an intimate knowledge of
the whole world, except the interior of Africa, and that our object in
exploring was to benefit the hitherto unknown countries by instituting
legitimate trade, and introducing manufactures from England in exchange
for ivory and other productions. He replied that the Turks would never
trade fairly; that they were extremely bad people, and that they would
not purchase ivory in any other way than by bartering cattle, which they
stole from one tribe to sell to another.

Our conversation was suddenly terminated by one of my men running in to
the tent with the bad news that one of the camels had dropped down and
was dying. The report was too true. He was poisoned by a well-known
plant that he had been caught in the act of eating. In a few hours he
died. There is no more stupid animal than the camel. Nature has
implanted in most animals an instinctive knowledge of the plants
suitable for food, and they generally avoid those that are poisonous:
but the camel will eat indiscriminately anything that is green; and if
in a country where the plant exists that is well known by the Arabs as
the "camel poison," watchers must always accompany the animals while
grazing. The most fatal plant is a creeper, very succulent, and so
beautifully green that its dense foliage is most attractive to the
stupid victim. The stomach of the camel is very subject to inflammation,
which is rapidly fatal. I have frequently seen them, after several days
of sharp desert marching, arrive in good pasture, and die, within a few
hours, of inflammation caused by repletion. It is extraordinary how they
can exist upon the driest and apparently most innutritious food. When
other animals are starving, the camel manages to pick up a subsistence,
eating the ends of barren, leafless twigs, the dried sticks of certain
shrubs, and the tough dry paper-like substance of the dome palm, about
as succulent a breakfast as would be a green umbrella and a Times
newspaper. With intense greediness the camel, although a hermit in
simplicity of fare in hard times, feeds voraciously when in abundant
pasture, always seeking the greenest shrubs. The poison-bush becomes a
fatal bait.

The camel is by no means well understood in Europe. Far from being the
docile and patient animal generally described, it is quite the reverse,
and the males are frequently dangerous. They are exceedingly perverse;
and are, as before described, excessively stupid. For the great deserts
they are wonderfully adapted, and without them it would be impossible to
cross certain tracts of country for want of water.

Exaggerated accounts have been written respecting the length of time
that a camel can travel without drinking. The period that the animal can
subsist without suffering from thirst depends entirely upon the season
and the quality of food. Precisely as in Europe sheep require but little
water when fed upon turnips, so does the camel exist almost without
drinking during the rainy season when pastured upon succulent and dewy
herbage. During the hottest season, when green herbage ceases to exist
in the countries inhabited by camels, they are led to water every
alternate day, thus they are supposed to drink once in forty-eight
hours; but when upon the march across deserts, where no water exists,
they are expected to carry a load of from five to six hundred pounds,
and to march twenty-five miles per day, for three days, without
drinking, but to be watered on the fourth day. Thus a camel should drink
the evening before the start, and he will carry his load one hundred
miles without the necessity of drinking; not, however, without suffering
from thirst. On the third day's march, during the hot simoom, the camel
should drink if possible; but he can endure the fourth day.

This peculiarity of constitution enables the camel to overcome obstacles
of nature that would otherwise be insurmountable. Not only can he travel
over the scorching sand of the withering deserts, but he never seeks the
shade. When released from his burden he kneels by his load in the
burning sand, and luxuriates in the glare of a sun that drives all other
beasts to shelter. The peculiar spongy formation of the foot renders the
camel exceedingly sure, although it is usual to believe that it is only
adapted for flat, sandy plains. I have travelled over mountains so
precipitous that no domestic animal but the camel could have
accomplished the task with a load. This capability is not shared
generally by the race, but by a breed belonging to the Hadendowa Arabs,
between the Red Sea and Taka. There is quite as great a variety in the
breeds of camels as of horses. Those most esteemed in the Soudan are the
Bishareen; they are not so large as others, but are exceedingly strong
and enduring.

The average value of a baggage camel among the Soudan Arabs is fifteen
dollars, but a good "hygeen," or riding dromedary, is worth from fifty
to a hundred and fifty dollars, according to his capabilities. A
thoroughly good hygeen is supposed to travel fifty miles a day, and to
continue this pace for five days, carrying only his rider and a small
water-skin or girba. His action should be so easy that his long ambling
trot should produce that peculiar movement adopted by a nurse when
hushing a child to sleep upon her knee. This movement is delightful, and
the quick elastic step of a first-class animal imparts an invigorating
spirit to the rider; and were it not for the intensity of the sun, he
would willingly ride for ever. The difference of action and of comfort
to the rider between a common camel and a high class hygeen is equal to
that between a thoroughbred and a heavy dray-horse.

However, with all the good qualities of a "Bishareen," my best camel was
dead. This was a sad loss. So long as my animals were well I felt
independent, and the death of this camel was equal to minus five cwt. of
luggage. My men were so idle that they paid no attention to the animals,
and the watcher who had been appointed to look after the four camels had
amused himself by going to the Latooka dance. Thus was the loss of my
best animal occasioned.

So well had all my saddles and pads been arranged at Khartoum, that
although we had marched seven days with exceedingly heavy loads, not one
of the animals had a sore back. The donkeys were exceedingly fresh, but
they had acquired a most disgusting habit. The Latookas are remarkably
clean in their towns, and nothing unclean is permitted within the
stockade or fence. Thus the outside, especially the neighbourhood of the
various entrances, was excessively filthy, and my donkeys actually
fattened as scavengers, like pigs. I remembered that my unfortunate
German Johann Schmidt had formerly told me that he was at one time
shooting in the Base country, where the grass had been burnt, and not a
blade of vegetation was procurable. He had abundance of sport, and he
fed his donkey upon the flesh of antelopes, which he ate with avidity,
and throve exceedingly. It is a curious fact that donkeys should under
certain circumstances become omnivorous, while horses remain clean
feeders.



CHAPTER VII.

LATOOKA.

The country in the immediate neighbourhood of Latooka was parched, as
there had been no rain for some time. The latitude was 4 degrees 35',
longitude 32 degrees 55' E.; the rains had commenced in February on the
mountains on the south side of the valley, about eighteen miles distant.
Every day there was an appearance of a storm; the dark clouds gathered
ominously around the peak of the Gebel Lafeet above the town, but they
were invariably attracted by the higher range on the opposite and south
side of the valley, where they daily expended themselves at about 3 P.M.
On that side of the valley the mountains rose to about 6,000 feet, and
formed a beautiful object seen from my camp. It was most interesting to
observe the embryo storms travel from Tarrangolle in a circle, and
ultimately crown the higher range before us, while the thunder roared
and echoed from rock to rock across the plain.

The Latookas assured me that at the foot of those mountains there were
elephants and giraffes in abundance; accordingly, I determined to make a
reconnaissance of the country.

On the following morning I started on horseback, with two of my people
mounted, and a native guide, and rode through the beautiful valley of
Latooka to the foot of the range. The first five or six miles were
entirely de-pastured by the enormous herds of the Latookas who were
driven to that distance from the towns daily, all the country in the
immediate vicinity being dried up. The valley was extremely fertile, but
totally unoccupied and in a state of nature, being a wilderness of open
plains, jungles, patches of forest and gullies, that although dry
evidently formed swamps during the wet season. When about eight miles
from the town we came upon tracks of the smaller antelopes, which,
although the weakest, are the most daring in approaching the habitations
of man. A few miles farther on, we saw buffaloes and hartebeest, and
shortly came upon tracks of giraffes. Just at this moment the inky
clouds that as usual had gathered over Tarrangolle came circling around
us, and presently formed so dense a canopy that the darkness was like a
partial eclipse. The thunder warned us with tremendous explosions just
above us, while the lightning flashed almost at our feet with blinding
vividness. A cold wind suddenly rushed through the hitherto calm air;
this is the certain precursor of rain in hot climates, the heavier cold
air of the rain-cloud falling into the stratum of warmer and lighter
atmosphere below.

It DID rain--in such torrents as only the inhabitants of tropical
countries can understand. "Cover up the gun-locks!"--and the pieces of
mackintosh for that purpose were immediately secured in their places.
Well, let it rain!--it is rather pleasant to be wet through in a country
where the thermometer is seldom below 92 degrees Fahr., especially when
there is no doubt of getting wet through--not like the wretched
drizzling rain of England, that chills you with the fear that perhaps
your great-coat is not waterproof, but a regular douche bath that would
beat in the crown of a cheap hat. How delightful to be really cool in
the centre of Africa! I was charmingly wet--the water was running out of
the heels of my shoes, which were overflowing; the wind howled over the
flood that was pouring through the hitherto dry gullies, and in the
course of ten minutes the whole scene had changed. It was no longer the
tropics; the climate was that of old England restored to me: the chilled
air refreshed me, and I felt at home again. "How delightful!" I
exclaimed, as I turned round to see how my followers were enjoying it.

Dear me! I hardly knew my own people. Of all the miserable individuals I
ever saw, they were superlative--they were not enjoying the change of
climate in the least--with heads tucked down and streams of water
running from their nasal extremities, they endeavoured to avoid the
storm. Perfectly thoughtless of all but self in the extremity of their
misery, they had neglected the precaution of lowering the muzzles of
their guns, and my beautiful No. 10 rifles were full of water. "Charming
day!" I exclaimed to my soaked and shivering followers, who looked like
kittens in a pond. They muttered something that might be interpreted
"What's fun to you is death to us." I comforted them with the assurance
that this was an English climate on a midsummer day. If my clothed Arabs
suffered from cold, where was my naked guide? He was the most pitiable
object I ever saw; with teeth chattering and knees knocking together
with cold, he crouched under the imaginary shelter of a large tamarind
tree; he was no longer the clean black that had started as my guide, but
the cold and wet had turned him grey, and being thin, he looked like an
exaggerated slate-pencil. Not wishing to discourage my men, I
unselfishly turned back just as I was beginning to enjoy myself, and my
people regarded me as we do the Polar bear at the Zoological Gardens,
who begins to feel happy on the worst day in our English winter.

We returned home by a different route, not being able to find the path
in the trackless state of the country during the storm. There were in
some places unmistakeable evidences of the presence of elephants, and I
resolved to visit the spot again. I returned to the tent at 4 P.M.
satisfied that sport was to be had.

On my arrival at camp I found the natives very excited at the appearance
of rain, which they firmly believed had been called specially by their
chief. All were busy preparing their molotes (iron hoes), fitting new
handles, and getting everything ready for the periodical sowing of their
crop.

The handles of the molotes are extremely long, from seven to ten feet,
and the instrument being shaped like a miner's spade (heart-shaped), is
used like a Dutch hoe, and is an effective tool in ground that has been
cleared, but is very unfitted for preparing fresh soil. Iron ore of good
quality exists on the surface throughout this country.

The Latookas, like the Baris, are excellent blacksmiths, producing a
result that would astonish an English workman, considering the rough
nature of their tools, which are confined to a hammer, anvil, and tongs;
the latter formed of a cleft-stick of green wood, while the two former
are stones of various sizes. Their bellows consist of two pots about a
foot deep; from the bottom of each is an earthenware pipe about two feet
long, the points of which are inserted in a charcoal fire. The mouths of
the pots are covered with very pliable leather, loose and well greased;
in the centre of each leather covering is an upright stick about four
feet long, and the bellows-blower works these rapidly with a
perpendicular motion, thus producing a strong blast. The natives are
exceedingly particular in the shape of their molotes, and invariably
prove them by balancing them on their heads and ringing them by a blow
with the finger.

The Latookas being much engaged in preparing for cultivation, I had some
difficulty in arranging a hunting party; my men abhorred the idea of
elephant hunting, or of anything else that required hard work and
included danger. However, I succeeded in engaging Adda, the third chief
of Latooka, and several natives, to act as my guides, and I made my
arrangements for a stated day.

On the 17th of April I started at 5 A.M. with my three horses and two
camels, the latter carrying water and food. After a march of two or
three hours through the beautiful hunting-grounds formed by the valley
of Latooka, with its alternate prairies and jungles, I came upon the
tracks of rhinoceros, giraffes, and elephants, and shortly moved a
rhinoceros, but could get no shot, owing to the thick bush in which he
started and disappeared quicker than I could dismount. After a short
circuit in search of the rhinoceros, we came upon a large herd of
buffaloes, but at the same moment we heard elephants trumpeting at the
foot of the mountains. Not wishing to fire, lest the great game should
be disturbed, I contented myself with riding after the buffaloes,
wonderfully followed on foot by Adda, who ran like a deer, and almost
kept up with my horse, hurling his three lances successively at the
buffaloes, but without success. I had left the camels in an open plain,
and returning from the gallop after the buffaloes, I saw the men on the
camels beckoning to me in great excitement.

Cantering towards them, they explained that a herd of bull elephants had
just crossed an open space, and had passed into the jungle beyond. There
was evidently abundance of game; and calling my men together, I told
them to keep close to me with the spare horses and rifles, while I sent
the Latookas ahead to look out for the elephants: we followed at a short
distance.

In about ten minutes we saw the Latookas hurrying towards us, and almost
immediately after, I saw two enormous bull elephants with splendid tusks
about a hundred yards from us, apparently the leaders of an approaching
herd. The ground was exceedingly favourable, being tolerably open, and
yet with sufficient bush to afford a slight cover. Presently, several
elephants appeared and joined the two leaders--there was evidently a
considerable number in the herd, and I was on the point of dismounting
to take the first shot on foot, when the Latookas, too eager, approached
the herd: their red and blue helmets at once attracted the attention of
the elephants, and a tremendous rush took place, the whole herd closing
together and tearing off at full speed. "Follow me!" I hallooed to my
men, and touching my horse with the spur, I intended to dash into the
midst of the herd. Just at that instant, in his start, my horse slipped
and fell suddenly upon his side, falling upon my right leg and thus
pinning me to the ground. He was not up to my weight, and releasing
myself, I immediately mounted my old Abyssinian hunter, "Tetel," and
followed the tracks of the elephants at full speed, accompanied by two
of the Latookas, who ran like hounds. Galloping through the green but
thornless bush, I soon came in sight of a grand bull elephant, steaming
along like a locomotive engine straight before me.

Digging in the spurs, I was soon within twenty yards of him; but the
ground was so unfavourable, being full of buffalo holes, that I could
not pass him. In about a quarter of an hour, after a careful chase over
deep ruts and gullies concealed in high grass, I arrived at a level
space, and shooting ahead, I gave him a shoulder shot with the Reilly
No. 10 rifle. I saw the wound in a good place, but the bull rushed along
all the quicker, and again we came into bad ground that made it unwise
to close. However, on the first opportunity I made a dash by him, and
fired my left-hand barrel at full gallop. He slackened his speed, but I
could not halt to reload, lest I should lose sight of him in the high
grass and bush.

Not a man was with me to hand a spare rifle. My cowardly fellows,
although light-weights and well mounted, were nowhere; the natives were
outrun, as of course was Richarn, who, not being a good rider, had
preferred to hunt on foot. In vain I shouted for the men; and I followed
the elephant with an empty rifle for about ten minutes, until he
suddenly turned round, and stood facing me in an open spot in grass
about nine or ten feet high. "Tetel" was a grand horse for elephants,
not having the slightest fear, and standing fire like a rock, never even
starting under the discharge of the heaviest charge of powder. I now
commenced reloading, when presently one of my men, Yaseen, came up upon
"Filfil." Taking a spare gun from him, I rode rapidly past the elephant,
and suddenly reining up, I made a good shot exactly behind the
bladebone. With a shrill scream, the elephant charged down upon me like
a steam-engine. In went the spurs. "Tetel" knew his work, and away he
went over the ruts and gullies, the high dry grass whistling in my ears
as we shot along at full speed, closely followed by the enraged bull for
about two hundred yards.

The elephant then halted; and turning the horse's head, I again faced
him and reloaded. I thought he was dying, as he stood with trunk
drooping, and ears closely pressed back upon his neck. Just at this
moment I heard the rush of elephants advancing through the green bush
upon the rising ground above the hollow formed by the open space of high
withered grass in which we were standing facing each other. My man
Yaseen had bolted with his fleet horse at the first charge, and was not
to be seen. Presently, the rushing sound increased, and the heads of a
closely packed herd of about eighteen elephants showed above the low
bushes, and they broke cover, bearing down directly upon me, both I and
my horse being unobserved in the high grass. I never saw a more lovely
sight; they were all bulls with immense tusks. Waiting until they were
within twenty yards of me, I galloped straight at them, giving a yell
that turned them. Away they rushed up the hill, but at so great a pace,
that upon the rutty and broken ground I could not overtake them, and
they completely distanced me. Tetel, although a wonderfully steady
hunter, was an uncommonly slow horse, but upon this day he appeared to
be slower than usual, and I was not at the time aware that he was
seriously ill. By following three elephants separated from the herd I
came up to them by a short cut, and singling out a fellow with enormous
tusks, I rode straight at him. Finding himself overhauled, he charged me
with such quickness and followed me up so far, that it was with the
greatest difficulty that I cleared him. When he turned, I at once
returned to the attack; but he entered a thick thorny jungle through
which no horse could follow, and I failed to obtain a shot.

I was looking for a path through which I could penetrate the bush, when
I suddenly heard natives shouting in the direction where I had left the
wounded bull. Galloping towards the spot, I met a few scattered natives;
among others, Adda. After shouting for some time, at length Yaseen
appeared upon my horse Filfil; he had fled as usual when he saw the
troop of elephants advancing, and no one knows how far he had ridden
before he thought it safe to look behind him. With two mounted gun-
bearers and five others on foot I had been entirely deserted through the
cowardice of my men. The elephant that I had left as dying, was gone.
One of the Latookas had followed upon his tracks, and we heard this
fellow shouting in the distance. I soon overtook him, and he led rapidly
upon the track through thick bushes and high grass. In about a quarter
of an hour we came up with the elephant; he was standing in bush, facing
us at about fifty yards' distance, and immediately perceiving us, he
gave a saucy jerk with his head, and charged most determinedly. It was
exceedingly difficult to escape, owing to the bushes which impeded the
horse, while the elephant crushed them like cobwebs: however, by turning
my horse sharp round a tree, I managed to evade him after a chase of
about a hundred and fifty yards. Disappearing in the jungle after his
charge, I immediately followed him. The ground was hard, and so trodden
by elephants that it was difficult to single out the track. There was no
blood upon the ground, but only on the trees every now and then, where
he had rubbed past them in his retreat. After nearly two hours passed in
slowly following upon his path, we suddenly broke cover and saw him
travelling very quietly through an extensive plain of high grass. The
ground was gently inclining upwards on either side the plain, but the
level was a mass of deep, hardened ruts, over which no horse could
gallop. Knowing my friend's character, I rode up the rising ground to
reconnoitre: I found it tolerably clear of holes, and far superior to
the rutty bottom. My two mounted gun-bearers had now joined me, and far
from enjoying the sport, they were almost green with fright, when I
ordered them to keep close to me and to advance.

I wanted them to attract the elephant's attention, so as to enable me to
obtain a good shoulder shot. Riding along the open plain, I at length
arrived within about fifty yards of the bull, when he slowly turned.
Reining "Tetel" up, I immediately fired a steady shot at the shoulder
with the Reilly No. 10:--for a moment he fell upon his knees, but,
recovering with wonderful quickness, he was in full charge upon me.
Fortunately I had inspected my ground previous to the attack, and away I
went up the inclination to my right, the spurs hard at work, and the
elephant screaming with rage, GAINING on me. My horse felt as though
made of wood, and clumsily rolled along in a sort of cow-gallop;--in
vain I dug the spurs into his flanks, and urged him by rein and voice;
not an extra stride could I get out of him, and he reeled along as
though thoroughly exhausted, plunging in and out of the buffalo holes
instead of jumping them. Hamed was on my horse "Mouse," who went three
to "Tetel's" one, and instead of endeavouring to divert the elephant's
attention, he shot ahead, and thought of nothing but getting out of the
way. Yaseen, on "Filfil," had fled in another direction; thus I had the
pleasure of being hunted down upon a sick and disabled horse. I kept
looking round, thinking that the elephant would give in:--we had been
running for nearly half a mile, and the brute was overhauling me so fast
that he was within ten or twelve yards of the horse's tail, with his
trunk stretched out to catch him. Screaming like the whistle of an
engine, he fortunately so frightened the horse that he went his best,
although badly, and I turned him suddenly down the hill and doubled back
like a hare. The elephant turned up the hill, and entering the jungle he
relinquished the chase, when another hundred yards' run would have
bagged me.

In a life's experience in elephant-hunting, I never was hunted for such
a distance. Great as were Tetel's good qualities for pluck and
steadiness, he had exhibited such distress and want of speed, that I was
sure he failed through some sudden malady. I immediately dismounted, and
the horse laid down, as I thought, to die.

Whistling loudly, I at length recalled Hamed, who had still continued
his rapid flight without once looking back, although the elephant was
out of sight. Yaseen was, of course, nowhere; but after a quarter of an
hour's shouting and whistling, he reappeared, and I mounted Filfil,
ordering Tetel to be led home.

The sun had just sunk, and the two Latookas who now joined me refused to
go farther on the tracks, saying, that the elephant must die during the
night, and that they would find him in the morning. We were at least ten
miles from camp; I therefore fired a shot to collect my scattered men,
and in about half an hour we all joined together, except the camels and
their drivers, that we had left miles behind.

No one had tasted food since the previous day, nor had I drunk water,
although the sun had been burning hot; I now obtained some muddy rain
water from a puddle, and we went towards home, where we arrived at
half-past eight, every one tired with the day's work. The camels came
into camp about an hour later.

My men were all now wonderfully brave; each had some story of a narrow
escape, and several declared that the elephants had run over them, but
fortunately without putting their feet upon them.

The news spread through the town that the elephant was killed; and, long
before daybreak on the following morning, masses of natives had started
for the jungles, where they found him lying dead. Accordingly, they
stole his magnificent tusks, which they carried to the town of Wakkala,
and confessed to taking all the flesh, but laid the blame of the ivory
theft upon the Wakkala tribe.

There was no redress. The questions of a right of game are ever prolific
of bad blood, and it was necessary in this instance to treat the matter
lightly. Accordingly, the natives requested me to go out and shoot them
another elephant: on the condition of obtaining the meat, they were
ready to join in any hunting expedition.

The elephants in Central Africa have very superior tusks to those of
Abyssinia. I had shot a considerable number in the Base country on the
frontier of Abyssinia, and few tusks were above 30 1bs. weight; those in
the neighbourhood of the White Nile average about 50 1bs. for each tusk
of a bull elephant, while those of the females are generally about 10
lbs. I have seen monster tusks of 160 lbs., and one was in the
possession of a trader, Mons. P., that weighed 172 1bs.

It is seldom that a pair of tusks are alike. As a man uses the right
hand in preference to the left, so the elephant works with a particular
tusk, which is termed by the traders "el Hadam" (the servant); this is
naturally, more worn than the other, and is usually about ten pounds
lighter: frequently it is broken, as the elephant uses it as a lever to
uproot trees and to tear up the roots of various bushes upon which he
feeds.

The African elephant is not only entirely different from the Indian
species in his habits, but he also differs in form.

There are three distinguishing peculiarities. The back of the African
elephant is concave, that of the Indian is convex; the ear of the
African is enormous, entirely covering the shoulder when thrown back,
while the ear of the Indian variety is comparatively small. The head of
the African has a convex front, the top of the skull sloping back at a
rapid inclination, while the head of the Indian elephant exposes a flat
surface a little above the trunk.

The average size of the African elephant is larger than those of Ceylon,
although I have occasionally shot monster rogues in the latter country,
equal to anything that I have seen in Africa. The average height of
female elephants in Ceylon is about 7 ft. 10 in. at the shoulder, and
that of the males is about 9 ft.; but the usual height of the African
variety I have found, by actual measurement, of females to be 9 ft.,
while that of the bills is 10 ft. 6 in. Thus the females of the African
are equal to the males of Ceylon.

They also differ materially in their habits. In Ceylon, the elephant
seeks the shade of thick forests at the rising of the sun, in which he
rests until about 5 P.M., when he wanders forth upon the plains. In
Africa, the country being generally more open, the elephant remains
throughout the day either beneath a solitary tree, or exposed to the sun
in the vast prairies, where the thick grass attains a height of from
nine to twelve feet. The general food of the African elephant consists
of the foliage of trees, especially of mimosas. In Ceylon, although
there are many trees that serve as food, the elephant nevertheless is an
extensive grass-feeder. The African variety, being almost exclusively a
tree-feeder, requires his tusks to assist him in procuring food. Many of
the mimosas are flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer
portion of the foliage confined to the crown; thus the elephant, not
being able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to
procure the coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of African
elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary; and I have seen trees
uprooted of so large a size, that I am convinced no single elephant
could have overturned them. I have measured trees four feet six inches
in circumference, and about thirty feet high, uprooted by elephants. The
natives have assured me that they mutually assist each other, and that
several engage together in the work of overturning a large tree. None of
the mimosas have tap-roots; thus the powerful tusks of the elephants,
applied as crowbars at the roots, while others pull at the branches with
their trunks, will effect the destruction of a tree so large as to
appear invulnerable. The Ceylon elephant rarely possessing tusks, cannot
destroy a tree thicker than the thigh of an ordinary man.

In Ceylon, I have seldom met old bulls in parties--they are generally
single or remain in pairs; but, in Africa, large herds are met with,
consisting entirely of bulls. I have frequently seen sixteen or twenty
splendid bulls together, presenting a show of ivory most exciting to a
hunter. The females in Africa congregate in vast herds of many hundreds,
while in Ceylon the herds seldom average more than ten.

The elephant is by far the most formidable of all animals, and the
African variety is more dangerous than the Indian, as it is next to
impossible to kill it by the forehead shot. The head is so peculiarly
formed, that the ball either passes over the brain, or lodges in the
immensely solid bones and cartilages that contain the roots of the
tusks. I have measured certainly a hundred bull tusks, and I have found
them buried in the head a depth of 24 inches. One large tusk, that
measured 7 ft. 8 in. in length, and 22 inches in girth, was imbedded in
the head a depth of 31 inches. This will convey an idea of the enormous
size of the head, and of the strength of bone and cartilage required to
hold in position so great a weight, and to resist the strain when the
tusk is used as a lever to uproot trees.

The brain of an African elephant rests upon a plate of bone exactly
above the roots of the upper grinders; it is thus wonderfully protected
from a front shot, as it lies so low that the ball passes above it when
the elephant raises his head, which he invariably does when in anger,
until close to the object of his attack.

The character of the country naturally influences the habits of the
animals: thus, Africa being more generally open than the forest-clad
Ceylon, the elephant is more accustomed to activity, and is much faster
than the Ceylon variety. Being an old elephant-hunter of the latter
island, I was exceedingly interested in the question of variety of
species, and I had always held the opinion that the African elephant
might be killed with the same facility as that of Ceylon, by the
forehead shot, provided that a sufficient charge of powder were used to
penetrate the extra thickness of the head. I have found, by much
experience, that I was entirely wrong, and that, although by CHANCE an
African elephant may be killed by the front shot, it is the exception to
the rule. The danger of the sport is, accordingly, much increased, as it
is next to impossible to kill the elephant when in full charge, and the
only hope of safety consists in turning him by a continuous fire with
heavy guns: this cannot always be effected.

I had a powerful pair of No. 10 polygroove rifles, made by Reilly of
Oxford Street; they weighed fifteen pounds, and carried seven drachms of
powder without a disagreeable recoil. The bullet was a blunt cone, one
and a half diameter of the bore, and I used a mixture of nine-tenths
lead and one-tenth quicksilver for the hardening of the projectile. This
is superior to all mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness
with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red
heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladle-full at a
time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient
quantity to make three or four bullets. If the quicksilver is subjected
to a red heat in the large lead-pot, it will evaporate. The only
successful forehead shot that I made at an African elephant was shortly
after my arrival in the Abyssinian territory on the Settite river; this
was in thick thorny jungle, and an elephant from the herd charged with
such good intention, that had she not been stopped, she must have caught
one of the party. When within about five yards of the muzzle, I killed
her dead by a forehead shot with a hardened bullet as described, from a
Reilly No. 10 rifle, and we subsequently recovered the bullet in the
VERTEBRAE OF THE NECK!

This extraordinary penetration led me to suppose that I should always
succeed as I had done in Ceylon, and I have frequently stood the charge
of an African elephant until close upon me, determined to give the
forehead shot a fair trial, but I have ALWAYS failed, except in the
instance now mentioned; it must also be borne in mind that the elephant
was a female, with a head far inferior in size and solidity to that of
the male.

The temple shot, and that behind the ear, are equally fatal in Africa as
in Ceylon, provided the hunter can approach within ten or twelve yards;
but altogether the hunting is far more difficult, as the character of
the country does not admit of an approach sufficiently close to
guarantee a successful shot. In the forests of Ceylon an elephant can be
stalked to within a few paces, and the shot is seldom fired at a greater
distance than ten yards: thus accuracy of aim is insured; but in the
open ground of Africa, an elephant can seldom be approached within fifty
yards, and should he charge the hunter, escape is most difficult. I
never found African elephants in good jungle, except once, and on that
occasion I shot five, quite as quickly as we should kill them in Ceylon.

The character of the sport must vary according to the character of the
country; thus there may be parts of Africa at variance with my
description. I only relate my own experience.

Among other weapons, I had an extraordinary rifle that carried a
half-pound percussion shell--this instrument of torture to the hunter
was not sufficiently heavy for the weight of the projectile; it only
weighed twenty pounds: thus, with a charge of ten drachms of powder,
behind a HALF-POUND shell, the recoil was so terrific, that I was spun
round like a weathercock in a hurricane. I really dreaded my own rifle,
although I had been accustomed to heavy charges of powder and severe
recoil for many years.

None of my men could fire it, and it was looked upon with a species of
awe, and was named "Jenna el Mootfah" (child of a cannon) by the Arabs,
which being far too long a name for practice, I christened it the
"Baby;" and the scream of this "Baby," loaded with a half-pound shell,
was always fatal. It was far too severe, and I very seldom fired it, but
it is a curious fact, that I never fired a shot with that rifle without
bagging: the entire practice, during several years, was confined to
about twenty shots. I was afraid to use it; but now and then it was
absolutely necessary that it should be cleaned, after lying for months
loaded. On such occasions my men had the gratification of firing it, and
the explosion was always accompanied by two men falling on their backs
(one having propped up the shooter), and the "Baby" flying some yards
behind them. This rifle was made by Holland, of Bond Street, and I could
highly recommend it for Goliath of Gath, but not for men of A.D. 1866.

The natives of Central Africa generally hunt the elephant for the sake
of the flesh, and prior to the commencement of the White Nile trade by
the Arabs, and the discovery of the Upper White Nile to the 5 degrees N.
lat. by the expedition sent by Mehemet Ali Pasha, the tusks were
considered as worthless, and were treated as bones. The death of an
elephant is a grand affair for the natives, as it supplies flesh for an
enormous number of people, also fat, which is the great desire of all
savages for internal and external purposes. There are various methods of
killing them. Pitfalls are the most common, but the wary old bulls are
seldom caught in this manner.

The position chosen for the pit is, almost without exception, in the
vicinity of a drinking place, and the natives exhibit a great amount of
cunning in felling trees across the usual run of the elephants, and
sometimes cutting an open pit across the path, so as to direct the
elephant by such obstacles into the path of snares. The pits are usually
about twelve feet long, and three feet broad, by nine deep; these are
artfully made, decreasing towards the bottom to the breadth of a foot.
The general elephant route to the drinking place being blocked up, the
animals are diverted by a treacherous path towards the water, the route
intersected by numerous pits, all of which are carefully concealed by
sticks and straw, the latter being usually strewn with elephants' dung
to create a natural effect.

Should an elephant, during the night, fall through the deceitful
surface, his foot becomes jammed in the bottom of the narrow grave, and
he labours shoulder deep, with two feet in the pitfall so fixed that
extrication is impossible. Should one animal be thus caught, a sudden
panic seizes the rest of the herd, and in their hasty retreat one or
more are generally victims to the numerous pits in the vicinity. The old
bulls never approach a watering place rapidly, but carefully listen for
danger, and then slowly advance with their warning trunks stretched to
the path before them; the delicate nerves of the proboscis at once
detect the hidden snare, and the victims to pitfalls are the members of
large herds who, eager to push forward incautiously, put their "foot
into it," like shareholders in bubble companies. Once helpless in the
pit, they are easily killed with lances.

The great elephant hunting season is in January, when the high prairies
are parched and reduced to straw. At such a time, should a large herd of
animals be discovered, the natives of the entire district collect
together to the number of perhaps a thousand men; surrounding the
elephants by embracing a considerable tract of country, they fire the
grass at a given signal. In a few minutes the unconscious elephants are
surrounded by a circle of fire, which, however distant, must eventually
close in upon them. The men advance with the fire, which rages to the
height of twenty or thirty feet. At length the elephants, alarmed by the
volumes of smoke and the roaring of the flames, mingled with the shouts
of the hunters, attempt an escape. They are hemmed in on every
side--wherever they rush, they are met by an impassable barrier of
flames and smoke, so stifling, that they are forced to retreat.
Meanwhile the fatal circle is decreasing; buffaloes and antelopes,
likewise doomed to a horrible fate, crowd panic stricken to the centre
of the encircled ring, and the raging fire sweeps over all. Burnt and
blinded by fire and smoke, the animals are now attacked by the savage
crowd of hunters, excited by the helplessness of the unfortunate
elephants thus miserably sacrificed, and they fall under countless
spears. This destructive method of hunting ruins the game of that part
of Africa, and so scarce are the antelopes, that, in a day's journey, a
dozen head are seldom seen in the open prairie.

The next method of hunting is perfectly legitimate. Should many
elephants be in the neighbourhood, the natives post about a hundred men
in as many large trees; these men are armed with heavy lances specially
adapted to the sport, with blades about eighteen inches long and three
inches broad. The elephants are driven by a great number of men towards
the trees in which the spearmen are posted, and those that pass
sufficiently near are speared between the shoulders. The spear being
driven deep into the animal, creates a frightful wound, as the tough
handle, striking against the intervening branches of trees, acts as a
lever, and works the long blade of the spear within the elephant,
cutting to such an extent that he soon drops from exhaustion.

The best and only really great elephant-hunters of the White Nile are
the Bagara Arabs, on about the 13 degree N. lat. These men hunt on
horseback, and kill the elephant in fair fight with their spears.

The lance is about fourteen feet long, of male bamboo; the blade is
about fourteen inches long by nearly three inches broad; this is as
sharp as a razor. Two men, thus armed and mounted, form the hunting
party. Should they discover a herd, they ride up to the finest tusker
and single him from the others. One man now leads the way, and the
elephant, finding himself pressed, immediately charges the horse. There
is much art required in leading the elephant, who follows the horse with
great determination, and the rider adapts his pace so as to keep his
horse so near the elephant that his attention is entirely absorbed with
the hope of catching him. The other hunter should by this tine have
followed close to the elephant's heels, and, dismounting when at full
gallop with wonderful dexterity, he plunges his spear with both hands
into the elephant about two feet below the junction of the tail, and
with all his force he drives the spear about eight feet into his
abdomen, and withdraws it immediately. Should he be successful in his
stab, he remounts his horse and flies, or does his best to escape on
foot, should he not have time to mount, as the elephant generally turns
to pursue him. His comrade immediately turns his horse, and, dashing at
the elephant, in his turn dismounts, and drives his lance deep into his
intestines.

Generally, if the first thrust is scientifically given, the bowels
protrude to such an extent that the elephant is at once disabled. Two
good hunters will frequently kill several out of one herd; but in this
dangerous hand-to-hand fight the hunter is often the victim. Hunting
the elephant on horseback is certainly far less dangerous than on foot,
but although the speed of the horse is undoubtedly superior, the chase
generally takes place upon ground so disadvantageous, that he is liable
to fall, in which case there is little chance for either animal or
rider. So savage are the natural instincts of Africans, that they attend
only to the destruction of the elephant, and never attempt its
domestication.



CHAPTER VIII.

IBRAHIM's RETURN.

Ibrahim returned from Gondokoro, bringing with him a large supply of
ammunition. A wounded man of Chenooda's people also arrived, the sole
relic of the fight with the Latookas; he had been left for dead, but had
recovered, and for days and nights he had wandered about the country, in
thirst and hunger, hiding like a wild beast from the sight of human
beings, his guilty conscience marking every Latooka as an enemy. As a
proof of the superiority of the natives to the Khartoumers, he had at
length been met by some Latookas, and not only was well treated and fed
by their women, but they had guided him to Ibrahim's camp.

The black man is a curious anomaly, the good and bad points of human
nature bursting forth without any arrangement, like the flowers and
thorns of his own wilderness. A creature of impulse, seldom actuated by
reflection, the black man astounds by his complete obtuseness, and as
suddenly confounds you by an unexpected exhibition of sympathy. From a
long experience with African savages, I think it is as absurd to condemn
the negro in toto, as it is preposterous to compare his intellectual
capacity with that of the white man. It is unfortunately the fashion for
one party to uphold the negro as a superior being, while the other
denies him the common powers of reason. So great a difference of opinion
has ever existed upon the intrinsic value of the negro, that the very
perplexity of the question is a proof that he is altogether a distinct
variety. So long as it is generally considered that the negro and the
white man are to be governed by the same laws and guided by the same
management, so long will the former remain a thorn in the side of every
community to which he may unhappily belong. When the horse and the ass
shall be found to match in double harness, the white man and the African
black will pull together under the same regime. It is the grand error of
equalizing that which is unequal, that has lowered the negro character,
and made the black man a reproach.

In his savage home, what is the African? Certainly bad; but not so bad
as white men would (I believe) be under similar circumstances. He is
acted upon by the bad passions inherent in human nature, but there is no
exaggerated vice, such as is found in civilized countries. The strong
takes from the weak, one tribe fights the other--do not perhaps we in
Europe?--these are the legitimate acts of independent tribes, authorized
by their chiefs. They mutually enslave each other--how long is it since
America and WE OURSELVES ceased to be slaveholders? He is callous and
ungrateful--in Europe is there no ingratitude?

He is cunning and a liar by nature--in Europe is all truth and
sincerity? Why should the black man not be equal to the white? He is as
powerful in frame, a why should he not be as exalted in mind?

In childhood I believe the negro to be in advance, in intellectual
quickness, of the white child of a similar age, but the mind does not
expand--it promises fruit, but does not ripen; and the negro man has
grown in body, but not advanced in intellect.

The puppy of three months old is superior in intellect to a child of the
same age, but the mind of the child expands, while that of the dog has
arrived at its limit. The chicken of the common fowl has sufficient
power and instinct to run in search of food the moment that it leaves
the egg, while the young of the eagle lies helpless in its nest; but the
young eagle outstrips the chicken in the course of time. The earth
presents a wonderful example of variety in all classes of the human
race, the animal and vegetable kingdoms. People, beasts, and plants
belonging to distinct classes, exhibit special qualities and
peculiarities. The existence of many hundred varieties of dogs cannot
interfere with the fact that they belong to one genus: the greyhound,
pug, bloodhound, pointer, poodle, mastiff, and toy terrier, are all as
entirely different in their peculiar instincts as are the varieties of
the human race. The different fruits and flowers continue the
example;--the wild grapes of the forest are grapes, but although they
belong to the same class, they are distinct from the luscious
"Muscatel;" and the wild dog-rose of the hedge, although of the same
class, is inferior to the moss-rose of the garden.

From fruits and flowers we may turn to insect life, and, watch the air
teeming with varieties of the same species, the thousands of butterflies
and beetles, the many members of each class varying in instincts and
peculiarities. Fishes, and even shellfish, all exhibit the same
arrangement,--that every group is divided into varieties all differing
from each other, and each distinguished by some peculiar excellence or
defect.

In the great system of creation that divided races and subdivided them
according to mysterious laws, apportioning special qualities to each,
the varieties of the human race exhibit certain characters and
qualifications which adapt them for specific localities. The natural
character of those races will not alter with a change of locality, but
the instincts of each race will be developed in any country where they
may be located. Thus, the English are as English in Australia, India,
and America, as they are in England, and in every locality they exhibit
the industry and energy of their native land; even so the African will
remain negro in all his natural instincts, although transplanted to
other soils; and those natural instincts being a love of idleness and
savagedom, he will assuredly relapse into an idle and savage state,
unless specially governed and forced to industry.

The history of the negro has proved the correctness of this theory. In
no instance has he evinced other than a retrogression, when once freed
from restraint. Like a horse without harness, he runs wild, but, if
harnessed, no animal is more useful. Unfortunately, this is contrary to
public opinion in England, where the vox populi assumes the right of
dictation upon matters and men in which it has had no experience. The
English insist upon their own weights and measures as the scales for
human excellence, and it has been decreed by the multitude,
inexperienced in the negro personally, that he has been a badly-treated
brother; that he is a worthy member of the human family, placed in an
inferior position through the prejudice and ignorance of the white man,
with whom he should be upon equality.

The negro has been, and still is, thoroughly misunderstood. However
severely we may condemn the horrible system of slavery, the results of
emancipation have proved that the negro does not appreciate the
blessings of freedom, nor does he show the slightest feeling of
gratitude to the hand that broke the rivets of his fetters. His narrow
mind cannot embrace that feeling of pure philanthropy that first
prompted England to declare herself against slavery, and he only regards
the antislavery movement as a proof of his own importance. In his
limited horizon he is himself the important object, and, as a sequence
to his self-conceit, he imagines that the whole world is at issue
concerning the black man. The negro, therefore, being the important
question, must be an important person, and he conducts himself
accordingly--he is far too great a man to work. Upon this point his
natural character exhibits itself most determinedly. Accordingly, he
resists any attempt at coercion; being free, his first impulse is to
claim an equality with those whom he lately served, and to usurp a
dignity with absurd pretensions, that must inevitably insure the disgust
of the white community. Ill-will thus engendered, a hatred and jealousy
is established between the two races, combined with the errors that in
such conditions must arise upon both sides. The final question remains,
Why was the negro first introduced into our colonies--and to America?

The SUN is the great arbitrator between the white and the black man.
There are productions necessary to civilized countries, that can alone
be cultivated in tropical climates, where the white man cannot live if
exposed to labour in the sun. Thus, such fertile countries as the West
Indies and portions of America being without a native population, the
negro was originally imported as a slave to fulfil the conditions of a
labourer. In his own country he was a wild savage, and enslaved his
brother man; he thus became a victim to his own system; to the
institution of slavery that is indigenous to the soil of Africa, and
that has NOT BEEN TAUGHT TO THE AFRICAN BY THE WHITE MAN, as is
currently reported, but that has ever been the peculiar characteristic
of African tribes.

In his state of slavery the negro was compelled to work, and, through
his labour, every country prospered where he had been introduced. He was
suddenly freed; and from that moment he refused to work, and instead of
being a useful member of society, he not only became a useless burden to
the community, but a plotter and intriguer, imbued with a deadly hatred
to the white man who had generously declared him free.

Now, as the negro was originally imported as a labourer, but now refuses
to labour, it is self-evident that he is a lamentable failure. Either he
must be compelled to work, by some stringent law against vagrancy, or
those beautiful countries that prospered under the conditions of negro
forced industry must yield to ruin, under negro freedom and idle
independence. For an example of the results look to St. Domingo!

Under peculiar guidance, and subject to a certain restraint, the negro
may be an important and most useful being; but if treated as an
Englishman, he will affect the vices but none of the virtues of
civilization, and his natural good qualities will be lost in his
attempts to become a "white man."

Revenons a nos moutons noirs. It was amusing to watch the change that
took place in a slave that had been civilized (?) by the slave-traders.
Among their parties there were many blacks who had been captured, and
who enjoyed the life of slave-hunting--nothing appeared so easy as to
become professional in cattle razzias and kidnapping human beings, and
the first act of the slave was to procure a slave for himself! All the
best slave-hunters, and the boldest and most energetic scoundrels, were
the negroes who had at one time themselves been kidnapped. These fellows
aped a great and ridiculous importance. On the march they would seldom
condescend to carry their own guns; a little slave boy invariably
attended to his master, keeping close to his heels, and trotting along
on foot during a long march, carrying a musket much longer than himself:
a woman generally carried a basket with a cooking-pot, and a gourd of
water and provisions, while a hired native carried the soldier's change
of clothes and oxhide upon which he slept. Thus the man who had been
kidnapped became the kidnapper, and the slave became the master, the
only difference between him and the Arab being an absurd notion of his
own dignity. It was in vain that I attempted to reason with them against
the principles of slavery: they thought it wrong when they were
themselves the sufferers, but were always ready to indulge in it when
the preponderance of power lay upon their side.

Among Ibrahim's people, there was a black named Ibrahimawa. This fellow
was a native of Bornu, and had been taken when a boy of twelve years old
and sold at Constantinople; he formerly belonged to Mehemet Ali Pasha;
he had been to London and Paris, and during the Crimean war he was at
Kertch. Altogether he was a great traveller, and he had a natural taste
for geography and botany, that marked him as a wonderful exception to
the average of the party. He had run away from his master in Egypt, and
had been vagabondizing about in Khartoum in handsome clothes,
negro-like, persuading himself that the public admired him, and thought
that he was a Bey. Having soon run through his money, he had engaged
himself to Koorshid Aga to serve in his White Nile expedition.

He was an excellent example of the natural instincts of the negro
remaining intact under all circumstances. Although remarkably superior
to his associates, his small stock of knowledge was combined with such
an exaggerated conceit, that he was to me a perpetual source of
amusement, while he was positively hated by his comrades, both by Arabs
and blacks, for his overbearing behaviour. Having seen many countries,
he was excessively fond of recounting his adventures, all of which had
so strong a colouring of the "Arabian Nights," that he might have been
the original "Sinbad the Sailor." His natural talent for geography was
really extraordinary; he would frequently pay me a visit, and spend
hours in drawing maps with a stick upon the sand, of the countries he
had visited, and especially of the Mediterranean, and the course from
Egypt and Constantinople to England. Unfortunately, some long story was
attached to every principal point of the voyage. The descriptions most
interesting to me were those connected with the west bank of the White
Nile, as he had served some years with the trading party, and had
penetrated through the Makkarika, a cannibal tribe, to about two hundred
miles west of Gondokoro. Both he and many of Ibrahim's party had been
frequent witnesses to acts of cannibalism, during their residence among
the Makkarikas. They described these cannibals as remarkably good
people, but possessing a peculiar taste for dogs and human flesh. They
accompanied the trading party in their razzias, and invariably ate the
bodies of the slain. The traders complained that they were bad
associates, as they insisted upon killing and eating the children which
the party wished to secure as slaves: their custom was to catch a child
by its ankles, and to dash its head against the ground; thus killed,
they opened the abdomen, extracted the stomach and intestines, and tying
the two ankles to the neck they carried the body by slinging it over the
shoulder, and thus returned to camp, where they divided it by
quartering, and boiled it in a large pot. Another man in my own service
had been a witness to a horrible act of cannibalism at Gondokoro.

The traders had arrived with their ivory from the West, together with a
great number of slaves; the porters who carried the ivory being
Makkarikas. One of the slave girls attempted to escape, and her
proprietor immediately fired at her with his musket, and she fell
wounded; the ball had struck her in the side. The girl was remarkably
fat, and from the wound, a large lump of yellow fat exuded. No sooner
had she fallen, than the Makkarikas rushed upon her in a crowd, and
seizing the fat, they tore it from the wound in handfuls, the girl being
still alive, while the crowd were quarrelling for the disgusting prize.
Others killed her with a lance, and at once divided her by cutting off
the head, and splitting the body with their lances, used as knives,
cutting longitudinally from between the legs along the spine to the
neck.

Many slave women and their children who witnessed this scene, rushed
panic-stricken from the spot and took refuge in the trees. The
Makkarikas seeing them in flight, were excited to give chase, and
pulling the children from their refuge among the branches, they killed
several, and in a short time a great feast was prepared for the whole
party. My man, Mahommed, who was an eyewitness, declared that he could
not eat his dinner for three days, so great was his disgust at this
horrible feast.

Although my camp was entirely separate from that of Ibrahim, I was
dreadfully pestered by his people, who, knowing that I was well supplied
with many articles of which they were in need, came begging to my tent
from morning till evening daily. To refuse was to insult them; and as my
chance of success in the exploration unfortunately depended upon my not
offending the traders I was obliged to be coldly civil, and nothing was
refused them. Hardly a day passed without broken guns being brought to
me for repair; and having earned an unenviable celebrity as a gunsmith,
added to my possession of the requisite tools, I really had no rest, and
I was kept almost constantly at work.

One day Ibrahim was seized with a dangerous fever, and was supposed to
be dying. Again I was in request: and seeing that he was in a state of
partial collapse, attended with the distressing symptoms of want of
action of the heart, so frequently fatal at this stage of the disease, I
restored him by a very powerful stimulant, and thereby gained renown as
a physician, which, although useful was extremely annoying, as my tent
was daily thronged with patients, all of whom expected miraculous cures
for the most incurable diseases.

In this manner I gained a certain influence over the people, but I was
constantly subjected to excessive annoyances and disgust, occasioned by
the conduct of their party towards the Latookas. The latter were
extremely unwise, being very independent and ready to take offence on
the slightest pretext, and the Turks, being now 140 strong, had no fear,
and there appeared every probability of hostilities. I was engaged in
erecting huts, and in securing my camp; and although I offered high
payment, I could not prevail on the natives to work regularly. They
invariably stipulated that they were to receive their beads before they
commenced work, in which case they, with few exceptions, absconded with
their advanced payment.

One day a native behaved in a similar manner to the Turks; he was,
accordingly, caught, and unmercifully beaten. Half an hour after, the
nogara beat, and was answered by distant drums from the adjacent
villages. In about an hour, several thousand armed men, with shields,
were collected within half a mile of the Turks' camp, to avenge the
insult that had been offered to one of their tribe. However, the Turks'
drum beat, and their whole force drew up to their flag under arms
outside their zareeba, and offered a determined front. I extract the
following entry from my journal. "These Turks are delightful neighbours;
they will create a row, and I shall be dragged into it in self-defence,
as the natives will distinguish no difference in a scrimmage, although
they draw favourable comparisons between me and the Turks in times of
peace. Not a native came to work at the huts today; I therefore sent for
the two chiefs, Commoro and Moy, and had a long talk with them. They
said that 'no Latooka should be beaten by common fellows like the
traders' men; that I was a great chief, and that if I chose to beat them
they would be content.' I gave them advice to keep quiet, and not to
quarrel about trifles, as the Turks would assuredly destroy the country
should a fight commence.

"At the same time, I told them that they did not treat me properly: they
came to me in times of difficulty as a mediator, but although they knew
I had always paid well for everything, they gave me no supplies, and I
was obliged to shoot game for my daily food, although they possessed
such enormous herds of cattle; neither could I procure materials or
workpeople to complete my camp. The parley terminated with an
understanding that they were to supply me with everything, and that they
would put a stop to the intended fight. In the evening a goat was
brought, and a number of men appeared with grass and wood for sale for
hut-building."

The following day, some of my people went to a neighbouring village to
purchase corn, but the natives insulted them, refusing to sell, saying
that "we should die of hunger, as no one should either give or sell us
anything." This conduct must induce hostilities, as the Turks are too
powerful to be insulted. I am rather anxious lest some expedition may
entail the departure of the entire Turkish party, when the Latookas may
seize the opportunity of attacking my innocents. The latter are now so
thoroughly broken to my severe laws, "thou shalt not take slaves;
neither cattle; nor fire a shot unless in self-defence," that they are
resigned to the ignoble lot of minding the donkeys, and guarding the
camp.

Latooka was in a very disturbed state, and the excitement of the people
was increasing daily. Two of my men went into the town to buy grass,
and, without any provocation, they were surrounded by the natives, and
the gun of one man was wrested from him; the other, after a tussle, in
which he lost his ramrod, beat a hasty retreat. A number of the soldiers
immediately collected, and I sent to the chief to demand the restoration
of the gun, which was returned that evening. I could literally procure
nothing without the greatest annoyance and trouble.

My men, by their mutiny and desertion at Gondokoro, had reduced a
well-armed expedition to a mere remnant, dependent upon the company of a
band of robbers for the means of advancing through the country. Instead
of travelling as I had arranged, at the head of forty-five well-armed
men, I had a miserable fifteen cowardly curs, who were employed in
driving the baggage animals; thus they would be helpless in the event of
an attack upon the road. I accordingly proposed to make a depot at
Latooka, and to travel with only twelve donkeys and the lightest
baggage. It was a continual trial of temper and wounded pride. To give
up the expedition was easy, but to succeed at that period appeared
hopeless; and success could only be accomplished by the greatest
patience, perseverance, and most careful tact and management of all
parties. It was most galling to be a hanger-on to this company of
traders, who tolerated me for the sake of presents, but who hated me in
their hearts.

One afternoon some natives suddenly arrived from a country named Obbo
with presents from their chief for the Turks, and also for me. Ibrahim
received several tusks while I received an iron hoe (molote), as the
news had already extended to that country, "that a white man was in
Latooka, who wanted neither slaves nor ivory." The natives reported,
that a quantity of ivory existed in their country, and Ibrahim
determined to take a few men and pay it a visit, as the people were said
to be extremely friendly. I requested the leader to point out the exact
position of Obbo, which I found to be S.W. That was precisely the
direction that I had wished to take; thus an unexpected opportunity
presented itself, and I determined to start without delay. On the 2d of
May, 1863, at 9 A.M. we left Latooka, delighted to change the scene of
inaction. I left five men in charge of my camp and effects, begging
Commoro the chief to look after their safety, and telling him that I had
no fear of trusting all to his care. Savages will seldom deceive you if
thus placed upon their honour, this happy fact being one of the bright
rays in their darkness, and an instance of the anomalous character of
the African.

The route lay across the park-like valley of Latooka for about eighteen
miles, by which time we reached the base of the mountain chain. There
was no other path than the native track, which led over a low range of
granite rocks, forming a ridge about four hundred feet high. It was with
the greatest difficulty that the loaded donkeys could be hoisted over
the numerous blocks of granite that formed an irregular flight of steps,
like the ascent of the great pyramid; however, by pulling at their ears,
and pushing behind, all except one succeeded in gaining the summit; he
was abandoned on the pass.

We were now in the heart of the mountains, and a beautiful valley, well
wooded and about six miles in width, lay before us, forming the basin of
the Kanieti river that we had formerly crossed at Wakkala, between
Ellyria and Latooka.

Fording this stream in a rapid current, we crossed with difficulty, the
donkeys wetting all their loads. This was of no great consequence, as a
violent storm suddenly overtook us and soaked everyone as thoroughly as
the donkeys' packs. A few wild plantains afforded leaves which we
endeavoured to use as screens, but the rain-drops were far too heavy for
such feeble protection. Within a mile of the river we determined to
bivouac, as the evening had arrived, and in such weather an advance was
out of the question. The tent having been left at Latooka, there was no
help for it, and we were obliged to rest contented with our position
upon about an acre of clean rock plateau upon which we lighted an
enormous fire, and crouched shivering round the blaze. No grass was cut
for the animals, as the men had been too busy in collecting firewood
sufficient to last throughout the night. Some fowls that we had brought
from Latooka had been drowned by the rain; thus my Mahommedan followers
refused to eat them, as their throats had not been cut. Not being so
scrupulous, and wonderfully hungry in the cold rain, Mrs. Baker and I
converted them into a stew, and then took refuge, wet and miserable,
under our untanned ox-hides until the following morning. Although an
ox-hide is not waterproof, it will keep out a considerable amount of
wet; but when thoroughly saturated, it is about as comfortable as any
other wet leather, with the additional charm of an exceedingly
disagreeable raw smell, very attractive to hyenas. The night being dark,
several men thus lost their leather bags that they had left upon the
rock.

At 6 A.M., having passed a most uncomfortable night, we started, and
after a march of about two miles I was made extremely anxious for the
donkeys, by being assured that it was necessary to ascend a most
precipitous granite hill, at least seven hundred feet high, that rose
exactly before us, and upon the very summit of which was perched a large
village. There was no help by means of porters; we led our horses with
difficulty up the steep face of the rock--fortunately they had never
been shod, thus their firm hoofs obtained a hold where an iron shoe
would have slipped; and after extreme difficulty and a most tedious
struggle, we found our party all assembled on the flat summit. From this
elevated point we had a superb view of the surrounding country, and I
took the compass bearing of the Latooka mountain Gebel Lafeet, N. 45
degrees east. The natives of the village that we had now reached had
nothing to sell but a few beans, therefore without further delay we
commenced the descent upon the opposite side, and at 2.40 P.M. we
reached the base, the horses and donkeys having scrambled over the large
blocks of stone with the greatest labour. At the foot of the hill the
country was park-like and well wooded, although there was no very large
timber. Here the grass was two feet high and growing rapidly, while at
Latooka all was barren. Halted at 5.20 P.M. on the banks of a small
running stream, a tributary to the Kanieti. The night being fine we
slept well; and the next morning at 6 A.M. we commenced the most lovely
march that I have ever made in Africa. Winding through the very bosom of
the mountains, well covered with forest until the bare granite peaks
towered above all vegetation to the height of about 5,000 feet, we
continued through narrow valleys bordered by abrupt spurs of the
mountains from 1,700 to 2,000 feet high. On the peak of each was a
village; evidently these impregnable positions were chosen for security.
At length the great ascent was to be made, and for two hours we toiled
up a steep zigzag pass. The air was most invigorating; beautiful wild
flowers, some of which were highly scented, ornamented the route, and
innumerable wild grape-vines hung in festoons from tree to tree. We were
now in an elevated country on the range of mountains dividing the lower
lands of Latooka from the high lands of Obbo. We arrived at the summit
of the pass about 2,500 feet above the Latooka valley. In addition to
the wild flowers were numerous fruits, all good; especially a variety of
custard apple, and a full-flavoured yellow plum. The grapes were in most
promising bunches, but unripe. The scenery was very fine; to the east
and southeast, masses of high mountains, while to the west and south
were vast tracts of park-like country of intense green. In this elevated
region the season was much farther advanced than in Latooka;-this was
the mountain range upon which I had formerly observed that the storms
had concentrated; here the rainy season had been in full play for
months, while in Latooka everything was parched. The grass on the west
side of the pass was full six feet high. Although the ascent had
occupied about two hours, the descent on the west side was a mere
trifle, and was effected in about fifteen minutes--we were on an
elevated plateau that formed the watershed between the east and west.

After a march of about twelve miles from the top of the pass, we arrived
at the chief village of Obbo. The rain fell in torrents, and, soaked to
the skin, we crawled into a dirty hut. This village was forty miles S.W.
of Tarrangolle, my head-quarters in Latooka.

The natives of Obbo are entirely different to the Latookas, both in
language and appearance. They are not quite naked, except when going to
war, on which occasion they are painted in stripes of red and yellow;
but their usual covering is the skin of an antelope or goat, slung like
a mantle across the shoulders. Their faces are well formed, with
peculiarly fine-shaped noses. The headdress of the Obbo is remarkably
neat, the woolly hair being matted and worked with thread into a flat
form like a beaver's tail, and bound with a fine edge of raw hide to
keep it in shape. This, like the head-dress of Latooka, requires many
years to complete.

From Obbo to the Southeast all is mountainous, the highest points of the
chain rising to an elevation of four or five thousand feet above the
general level of the country; to the south, although there are no actual
mountains, but merely a few isolated hills, the country distinctly
rises.

The entire drainage is to the west and north-west, in which direction
there is a very perceptible inclination. The vegetation of Obbo, and the
whole of the west side of the mountain range, is different from that
upon the east side; the soil is exceedingly rich, producing an abundance
of Guinea grass, with which the plains are covered. This country
produces nine varieties of yams, many of which grow wild in the forests.
There is one most peculiar species, called by the natives "Collolollo,"
that I had not met with in other countries. This variety produces
several tubers at the root, and also upon the stalk; it does not spread
upon the ground, like most of the vines that characterise the yams, but
it climbs upon trees or upon any object that may tempt its tendrils.
From every bud upon the stalk of this vine springs a bulb, somewhat
kidney-shaped; this increases until, when ripe, it attains the average
size of a potato.

So prolific is this plant, that one vine will produce about 150 yams:
they are covered with a fine skin of a greenish brown, and are in
flavour nearly equal to a potato, but rather waxy.

There are many good wild fruits, including one very similar to a walnut
in its green shell; the flesh of this has a remarkably fine flavour, and
the nut within exactly resembles a horse-chestnut in size and fine
mahogany colour. This nut is roasted, and, when ground and boiled, a
species of fat or butter is skimmed from the surface of the water: this
is much prized by the natives, and is used for rubbing their bodies,
being considered as the best of all fats for the skin; it is also eaten.

Among the best of the wild fruits is one resembling raisins; this grows
in clusters upon a large tree. Also a bright yellow fruit, as large as a
Muscat grape, and several varieties of plums. None of these are produced
in Latooka. Ground-nuts are also in abundance in the forests; these are
not like the well-known African ground-nut of the west coast, but are
contained in an excessively hard shell. A fine quality of flax grows
wild, but the twine generally used by the natives is made from the fibre
of a species of aloe. Tobacco grows to an extraordinary size, and is
prepared similarly to that of the Ellyria tribe.

When ripe, the leaves are pounded in a mortar and reduced to a pulp; the
mass is then placed in a conical mould of wood, and pressed. It remains
in this until dry, when it presents the shape of a loaf of sugar, and is
perfectly hard. The tobacco of the Ellyria tribe is shaped into cheeses,
and frequently adulterated with cowdung. I had never smoked until my
arrival in Obbo, but having suffered much from fever, and the country
being excessively damp, I commenced with Obbo pipes and tobacco.

Every tribe has a distinct pattern of pipe; those of the Bari have wide
trumpet-shaped mouths; the Latooka are long and narrow; and the Obbo
smaller and the neatest. All their pottery is badly burned, and
excessively fragile if wet. The water jars are well formed, although the
potter's wheel is quite unknown, and the circular form is obtained
entirely by the hand. Throughout the tribes of the White Nile, the
articles of pottery are limited to the tobacco-pipe and the water-jar:
all other utensils are formed either of wood, or of gourd shells.

By observation, 1 determined the latitude of my camp at Obbo to be 4
degrees 02' N., 32 degrees 31' long. E., and the general elevation of
the country 3,674 feet above the sea, the temperature about 76 degrees
F. The altitude of Latooka was 2,236 feet above the sea level: thus we
were, at Obbo, upon an elevated plateau, 1,438 feet above the general
level of the country on the east of the mountain range. The climate
would be healthy were the country sufficiently populated to war
successfully against nature; but the rainfall continuing during ten
months of the year, from February to the end of November, and the soil
being extremely fertile, the increase of vegetation is too rapid, and
the scanty population are hemmed in and overpowered by superabundant
herbage. This mass of foliage, and grasses of ten feet in height
interwoven with creeping plants and wild grape-vines, is perfectly
impenetrable to man, and forms a vast jungle, inhabited by elephants,
rhinoceros, and buffaloes, whose ponderous strength alone can overcome
it. There are few antelopes, as those animals dislike the grass jungles,
in which they have no protection against the lion or the leopard, as
such beasts of prey can approach them unseen. In the month of January
the grass is sufficiently dry to burn, but even at that period there is
a quantity of fresh green grass growing between the withered stems; thus
the firing of the prairies does not absolutely clear the country, but
merely consumes the dry matter, and leaves a ruin of charred herbage,
rendered so tough by the burning, that it is quite impossible to ride
without cutting the skin from the horse's shins and shoulders.
Altogether, it is a most uninteresting country, as there is no
possibility of traversing it except by the narrow footpaths made by the
natives.

The chief of Obbo came to meet us with several of his head men. He was
an extraordinary-looking man, about fifty-eight or sixty years of age;
but, far from possessing the dignity usually belonging to a grey head,
he acted the buffoon for our amusement, and might have been a clown in a
pantomime.

The heavy storm having cleared, the nogaras beat, and our entertaining
friend determined upon a grand dance; pipes and flutes were soon heard
gathering from all quarters, horns brayed, and numbers of men and women
began to collect in crowds, while old Katchiba, the chief, in a state of
great excitement, gave orders for the entertainment.

About a hundred men formed a circle; each man held in his left hand a
small cup-shaped drum, formed of hollowed wood, one end only being
perforated, and this was covered with the skin of the elephant's ear,
tightly stretched. In the centre of the circle was the chief dancer, who
wore, suspended from his shoulders, an immense drum, also covered with
the elephant's ear. The dance commenced by all singing remarkably well a
wild but agreeable tune in chorus, the big drum directing the time, and
the whole of the little drums striking at certain periods with such
admirable precision, that the effect was that of a single instrument.
The dancing was most vigorous, and far superior to anything that I had
seen among either, Arabs or savages, the figures varying continually,
and ending with a "grand galop" in double circles, at a tremendous pace,
the inner ring revolving in a contrary direction to the outer; the
effect of this was excellent.

Although the men of Obbo wear a skin slung across their shoulders and
loins, the women are almost naked, and, instead of wearing the leather
apron and tail of the Latookas, they are contented with a slight fringe
of leather shreds, about four inches long by two broad, suspended from a
belt. The unmarried girls are entirely naked; or, if they are
sufficiently rich in finery, they wear three or four strings of small
white beads, about three inches in length, as a covering. The old ladies
are antiquated Eves, whose dress consists of a string round the waist,
in which is stuck a bunch of green leaves, the stalk uppermost. I have
seen a few of the young girls that were prudes indulge in such garments;
but they did not appear to be fashionable, and were adopted faute de
mieux. One great advantage was possessed by this costume,--it was always
clean and fresh, and the nearest bush (if not thorny) provided a clean
petticoat. When in the society of these very simple and in demeanour
ALWAYS MODEST Eves, I could not help reflecting upon the Mosaical
description of our first parents, "and they sewed fig-leaves together."

Some of the Obbo women were very pretty. The caste of feature was
entirely different to that of the Latookas, and a striking peculiarity
was displayed in the finely arched noses of many of the natives, which
strongly reminded one of the Somauli tribes. It was impossible to
conjecture their origin, as they had neither traditions nor ideas of
their past history.

The language is that of the Madi. There are three distinct
languages--the Bari, the Latooka, and the Madi, the latter country
extending south of Obbo. A few of the words, most commonly in use, will
exemplify them :--

                Obbo.       Latooka.    Bari.

    Water.      Fee.        Cari.       Feeum.
    Fire.       Mite.       Nyeme.      Keemang.
    The Sun.    T'sean.     Narlong.    Karlong.
    A Cow.      Decang.     Nyeten.     Kittan.
    A Goat.     Decan.      Nyene.      Eddeen.
    Milk.       T'sarck.    Nalle.      Le.
    A Fowl.     Gweno.      Nakome.     Chokkore.

The Obbo natives were a great and agreeable change after the Latookas,
as they never asked for presents. Although the old chief, Katchiba,
behaved more like a clown than a king, he was much respected by his
people. He holds his authority over his subjects as general rain maker
and sorcerer. Should a subject displease him, or refuse him a gift, he
curses his goats and fowls, or threatens to wither his crops, and the
fear of these inflictions reduces the discontented. There are no
specific taxes, but he occasionally makes a call upon the country for a
certain number of goats and supplies. These are generally given, as
Katchiba is a knowing old diplomatist, and he tunes his demands with
great judgment. Thus, should there be a lack of rain, or too much, at
the season for sowing the crops, he takes the opportunity of calling his
subjects together and explaining to them how much he regrets that their
conduct has compelled him to afflict them with unfavourable weather, but
that it is their own fault. If they are so greedy and so stingy that
they will not supply him properly, how can they expect him to think of
their interests? He must have goats and corn. "No goats, no rain; that's
our contract, my friends," says Katchiba. "Do as you like. I can wait; I
hope you can." Should his people complain of too much rain, he threatens
to pour storms and lightning upon them for ever, unless they bring him
so many hundred baskets of corn, &c. &c. Thus he holds his sway.

No man would think of starting upon a journey without the blessing of
the old chief; and a peculiar "hocus pocus" is considered as necessary
from the magic hands of Katchiba that shall charm the traveller, and
preserve him from all danger of wild animals upon the road. In case of
sickness he is called in, not as M.D. in our acceptation, but as "doctor
of magic," and he charms both the hut and the patient against death,
with the fluctuating results that must attend professionals even in
sorcery. His subjects have the most thorough confidence in his power;
and so great is his reputation that distant tribes frequently consult
him, and beg his assistance as a magician. In this manner does old
Katchiba hold his sway over his savage, but credulous people; and so
long has he imposed upon the public that I believe he has at length
imposed upon himself, and that he really believes he has the power of
sorcery, notwithstanding repeated failures. In order to propitiate him,
his people frequently present him with the prettiest of their daughters;
and so constantly is he receiving additions to his domestic circle that
he has been obliged to extend his establishment to prevent domestic
fracas among the ladies. He has accordingly hit upon the practical
expedient of keeping a certain number of wives in each of his villages:
thus, when he makes a journey through his territory, he is always at
home. This multiplicity of wives has been so successful that Katchiba
has one hundred and sixteen children living--another proof of sorcery
in the eyes of his people. One of his wives had no children, and she
came to me to apply for medicine to correct some evil influence that had
lowered her in her husband's estimation. The poor woman was in great
distress, and complained that Katchiba was very cruel to her because she
had been unable to make an addition to his family, but that she was sure
I possessed some charm that would raise her to the standard of his other
wives. I could not bet rid of her until I gave her the first pill that
came to hand from my medicine chest, and with this she went away
contented.

Katchiba was so completely established in his country, not only as a
magician, but as "pere de famille," that every one of his villages was
governed by one of his sons; thus the entire government was a family
affair. The sons of course believed in their father's power of sorcery,
and their influence as head men of their villages increased the prestige
of the parent. Although without an idea of a Supreme Being, the whole
country bowed down to sorcery. It is a curious distinction between faith
and credulity;--these savages, utterly devoid of belief in a Deity,
and without a vestige of superstition, believed most devotedly that the
general affairs of life and the control of the elements were in the
hands of their old chief, and therefore they served him--not with a
feeling of love, neither with a trace of religion, but with that
material instinct that always influences the savage; they propitiated
him for the sake of what they could obtain. It is thus almost
unconquerable feeling, ever present in the savage mind, that renders his
conversion difficult; he will believe in nothing, unless he can obtain
some specific benefit from the object of his belief.

Savages can be ruled by two powers--"force," and "humbug;" accordingly,
these are the instruments made use of by those in authority: where the
"force" is wanting, "humbug" is the weapon as a "pis aller." Katchiba
having no physical force, adopted cunning, and the black art controlled
the savage minds of his subjects. Strange does it appear, that these
uncivilized inhabitants of Central Africa should, although devoid of
religion, believe implicitly in sorcery; giving a power to man
superhuman, although acknowledging nothing more than human. Practical
and useful magic is all that is esteemed by the savage, the higher
branches would be unappreciated; and spirit-rapping and mediums are
reserved for the civilized (?) of England, who would convert the black
savages of Africa.

Notwithstanding his magic, Katchiba was not a bad man: he was remarkably
civil, and very proud at my having paid him a visit. He gave me much
information regarding the country, but assured me that I should not be
able to travel south for many months, as it would be quite impossible to
cross the Asua river during the rainy season; he therefore proposed that
I should form a camp at Obbo, and reside there until the rains should
cease. It was now May, thus I was invited to postpone my advance south
until December.

I determined to make a reconnaissance south towards the dreaded Asua,
or, as the Obbo people pronounced it, the Achua river, and to return to
my fixed camp. Accordingly I arranged to leave Mrs. Baker at Obbo with a
guard of eight men, while I should proceed south without baggage,
excepting a change of clothes and a cooking pot. Katchiba promised to
take the greatest care of her, and to supply her with all she might
require; offering to become personally responsible for her safety; he
agreed to place a spell upon the door of our hut, that nothing evil
should enter it during my absence. It was a snug little dwelling, about
nine feet in diameter, and perfectly round; the floor well cemented with
cow-dung and clay, and the walls about four feet six inches in height,
formed of mud and sticks, likewise polished off with cow-dung. The door
had enlarged, and it was now a very imposing entrance of about four feet
high, and a great contrast to the surrounding hut or dog-kennel with two
feet height of doorway.

On the 7th of May I started with three men, and taking a course south, I
rode through a most lovely country, within five miles of the base, and
parallel with the chain of the Madi mountains. There was abundance of
beautiful flowers, especially of orchidaceous plants; the country was
exceedingly park-like and well wooded, but generally overgrown with
grass then about six feet high. After riding for about fourteen miles,
one of the guides ran back, and reported elephants to be on the road a
little in advance. One of my mounted men offered to accompany me should
I wish to hunt them. I had no faith in my man, but I rode forward, and
shortly observed a herd of ten bull elephants standing together about
sixty yards from the path. The grass was high, but I rode through it to
within about forty yards before I was observed; they immediately dashed
away, and I followed for about a mile at a trot, the ground being so
full of holes and covered with fallen trees concealed in the high grass,
that I did not like to close until I should arrive in a more favourable
spot. At length I shot at full gallop past an immense fellow, with tusks
about five feet projecting from his jaws, and reining up, I fired with a
Reilly No. 10 at the shoulder. He charged straight into me at the sound
of the shot. My horse, Filfil, was utterly unfit for a hunter, as he
went perfectly mad at the report of a gun fired from his back, and at
the moment of the discharge he reared perpendicularly; the weight, and
the recoil of the rifle, added to the sudden rearing of the horse,
unseated me, and I fell, rifle in hand, backwards over his hind-quarters
at the moment the elephant rushed in full charge upon the horse. Away
went "Filfil," leaving me upon the ground in a most inglorious position;
and, fortunately, the grass being high, the elephant lost sight of me
and followed the horse instead of giving me his attention.

My horse was lost; my man had never even accompanied me, having lagged
behind at the very commencement of the hunt. I had lost my rifle in the
high grass, as I had been forced to make a short run from the spot
before I knew that the elephant had followed the horse; thus I was
nearly an hour before I found it, and also my azimuth compass that had
fallen from my belt pouch. After much shouting and whistling, my mounted
man arrived, and making him dismount, I rode my little horse Mouse, and
returned to the path. My horse Filfil was lost. As a rule, hunting
during the march should be avoided, and I had now paid dearly for the
indiscretion.

I reached the Atabbi river about eighteen miles from Obbo. This is a
fine perennial stream flowing from the Madi mountains towards the west,
forming an affluent of the Asua river. There was a good ford, with a
hard gravel and rocky bottom, over which the horse partly waded and
occasionally swam. There were fresh tracks of immense herds of elephants
with which the country abounded, and I heard them trumpeting in the
distance.

Ascending rising ground in perfectly open prairie on the opposite side
of Atabbi, I saw a dense herd of about two hundred elephants--they were
about a mile distant, and were moving slowly through the high grass.
Just as I was riding along the path watching the immense herd, a Tetel
(hartebeest) sprang from the grass in which he had been concealed, and
fortunately he galloped across a small open space, where the high grass
had been destroyed by the elephants. A quick shot from the little
Fletcher 24 rifle doubled him up; but, recovering himself almost
immediately, he was just disappearing when a shot from the left-hand
barrel broke his back, to the intense delight of my people. We
accordingly bivouacked for the night, and the fires were soon blazing
upon a dry plateau of granite rock about seventy feet square that I had
chosen for a resting-place. In the saucer-shaped hollows of the rock was
good clear water from the rain of the preceding day; thus we had all the
luxuries that could be desired--fire, food, and water. I seldom used a
bedstead unless in camp; thus my couch was quickly and simply made upon
the hard rock, softened by the addition of an armful of green boughs,
upon which I laid an untanned ox-hide, and spread my Scotch plaid. My
cap formed my pillow, and my handy little Fletcher rifle lay by my side
beneath the plaid, together with my hunting knife; these faithful
friends were never out of reach either by night or day.

The cap was a solid piece of architecture, as may be supposed from its
strength to resist the weight of the head when used as a pillow. It was
made by an Arab woman in Khartoum, according to my own plan; the
substance was about half an inch thick of dome palm leaves very neatly
twisted and sewn together. Having a flat top, and a peak both before and
behind, the whole affair was covered with tanned leather, while a
curtain of the same material protected the back of the neck from the
sun. A strong chin strap secured the cap upon the head, and the "tout
ensemble" formed a very effective roof, completely sun-proof. Many
people might have objected to the weight, but I found it no
disadvantage, and the cap being tolerably waterproof, I packed my
cartouche pouch and belt within it when inverted at night to form a
pillow; this was an exceedingly practical arrangement, as in case of an
alarm I rose from my couch armed, capped and belted, at a moment's
notice.

On the following morning I started at daybreak, and after a march of
about thirteen miles through the same park-like and uninhabited country
as that of the preceding day, I reached the country of Farajoke, and
arrived at the foot of a rocky hill, upon the summit of which was a
large village. I was met by the chief and several of his people leading
a goat, which was presented to me, and killed immediately as an
offering, close to the feet of my horse. The chief carried a fowl,
holding it by the legs, with its head downwards; he approached my horse,
and stroked his fore-feet with the fowl, and then made a circle around
him by dragging it upon the ground; my feet were then stroked with the
fowl in the same manner as those of the horse, and I was requested to
stoop, so as to enable him to wave the bird around my head; this
completed, it was also waved round my horse's head, who showed his
appreciation of the ceremony by rearing and lashing out behind, to the
great discomfiture of the natives. The fowl did not appear to have
enjoyed itself during the operation; but a knife put an end to its
troubles, as, the ceremony of welcome being completed, the bird was
sacrificed and handed to my headman. I was now conducted to the village.
It was defended by a high bamboo fence, and was miserably dirty, forming
a great contrast to the clean dwellings of the Bari and Latooka tribes.
The hill upon which the village was built was about eighty feet above
the general level of the country, and afforded a fine view of the
surrounding landscape. On the east was the chain of Madi mountains, the
base well wooded, while to the south all was fine open pasturage of
sweet herbage, about a foot high, a totally different grass to the rank
vegetation we had passed through. The country was undulating, and every
rise was crowned by a village. Although the name of the district is
Farajoke, it is comprised in the extensive country of Sooli, together
with the Shoggo and Madi tribes, all towns being under the command of
petty chiefs. The general elevation of the country was 3,966 feet above
the sea-level, 292 feet higher than Obbo.

The chief of Farajoke, observing me engaged in taking bearings with the
compass, was anxious to know my object, which being explained, he
volunteered all information respecting the country, and assured me that
it would be quite impossible to cross the Asua during the rainy season,
as it was a violent torrent, rushing over a rocky bed with such
impetuosity, that no one would venture to swim it. There was nothing to
be done at this season, and however trying to the patience, there was no
alternative. Farajoke was within three days' hard marching of Faloro,
the station of Debono, that had always been my projected head-quarters;
thus I was well advanced upon my intended route, and had the season been
propitious, I could have proceeded with my baggage animals without
difficulty.

The loss of my horse "Filfil" was a severe blow in this wild region,
where beasts of burthen were unknown, and I had slight hopes of his
recovery, as lions were plentiful in the country between Obbo and
Farajoke; however, I offered a reward of beads and bracelets, and a
number of natives were sent by the chief to scour the jungles. There was
little use in remaining at Farajoke, therefore I returned to Obbo with
my men and donkeys, accomplishing the whole distance (thirty miles) in
one day. I was very anxious about Mrs. Baker, who had been the
representative of the expedition at Obbo during my absence. Upon my
approach through the forest, my well-known whistle was immediately
answered by the appearance of the boy Saat, who, without any greeting,
immediately rushed to the hut to give the intelligence that "Master was
arrived."

I found my wife looking remarkably well, and regularly installed "at
home." Several fat sheep were tied by the legs to pegs in front of the
hut; a number of fowls were pecking around the entrance, and my wife
awaited me on the threshold with a large pumpkin shell containing about
a gallon of native beer. "Dulce domum," although but a mud hut, the
loving welcome made it happier than a palace; and that draught of beer,
or fermented mud, or whatever trash it might be compared with in
England, how delicious it seemed after a journey of thirty miles in the
broiling sun! and the fat sheep and the fowls all looked so luxurious.
Alas!--for destiny--my arrival cut short the existence of one being;
what was joy to some was death to a sheep, and in a few moments the
fattest was slain in honour of master's return, and my men were busily
employed in preparing it for a general feast.

Numbers of people gathered round me: foremost among them was the old
chief Katchiba, whose self-satisfied countenance exhibited an extreme
purity of conscience in having adhered to his promise to act as guardian
during my absence. Mrs. Baker gave him an excellent character; he had
taken the greatest care of her, and had supplied all the luxuries that
had so much excited my appetite on the first coup d'oeil of my home. He
had been so mindful of his responsibility, that he had placed some of
his own sons as sentries over the hut both by day and night.

I accordingly made him a present of many beads and bracelets, and a few
odds and ends, that threw him into ecstacies: he had weak eyes, and the
most valued present was a pair of sun-goggles, which I fitted on his
head, to his intense delight, and exhibited in a looking-glass--this
being likewise added to his gifts. I noticed that he was very stiff in
the back, and he told me that he had had a bad fall during my absence.
My wife explained the affair. He had come to her to declare his
intention of procuring fowls for her from some distant village; but,
said he, "My people are not very good, and perhaps they will say that
they have none; but if you will lend me a horse, I will ride there, and
the effect will impose upon them so much, that they will not dare to
refuse me." Now, Katchiba was not a good walker, and his usual way of
travelling was upon the back of a very strong subject, precisely as
children are wont to ride "pic-a-back." He generally had two or three
spare men, who alternately acted as guides and ponies, while one of his
wives invariably accompanied him, bearing a large jar of beer, with
which it was said that the old chief refreshed himself so copiously
during the journey, that it sometimes became necessary for two men to
carry him instead of one. This may have been merely a scandalous report
in Obbo; however, it appeared that Katchiba was ready for a start, as
usual accompanied by a Hebe with a jar of beer. Confident in his powers
as a rider across country on a man, he considered that he could easily
ride a horse. It was in vain that my wife had protested, and had
prophesied a broken neck should he attempt to bestride the hitherto
unknown animal: to ride he was determined.

Accordingly my horse Tetel was brought, and Katchiba was assisted upon
his back. The horse recognising an awkward hand, did not move a step.
"Now then," said Katchiba, "go on!" but Tetel, not understanding the
Obbo language, was perfectly ignorant of his rider's wishes. "Why won't
he go?" inquired Katchiba. "Touch him with your stick," cried one of my
men; and acting upon the suggestion, the old sorcerer gave him a
tremendous whack with his staff. This was immediately responded to by
Tetel, who, quite unused to such eccentricities, gave a vigorous kick,
the effect of which was to convert the sorcerer into a spread eagle,
flying over his head, and landing very heavily upon the ground, amidst a
roar of laughter from my men, in which I am afraid Mrs. Baker was rude
enough to join. The crest-fallen Katchiba was assisted upon his legs,
and feeling rather stunned, he surveyed the horse with great
astonishment; but his natural instincts soon prompted him to call for
the jar of beer, and after a long draught from the mighty cup, he
regained his courage, and expressed an opinion that the horse was "too
high, as it was a long way to tumble down;" he therefore requested one
of the "little horses;" these were the donkeys. Accordingly he was
mounted on a donkey, and held on by two men, one on either side. Thus he
started most satisfactorily and exceedingly proud. On his return the
following day, he said that the villagers had given him the fowls
immediately, as he had told them that he had thirty Turks staying with
him on a visit, and that they would burn and plunder the country unless
they were immediately supplied. He considered this trifling deviation
from fact as a great stroke of diplomacy in procuring the fowls.

Six days after the loss of my horse, I was delighted to see him brought
back by the natives safe and well. They had hunted through an immense
tract of country, and had found him grazing. He was naturally a most
vicious horse, and the natives were afraid to touch him; they had
accordingly driven him before them until they gained the path, which he
then gladly followed. The saddle was in its place, but my sword was
gone.

The rains were terrific; the mornings were invariably fine, but the
clouds gathered upon the mountains soon after noon and ended daily in a
perfect deluge. Not being able to proceed south, I determined to return
to my head-quarters at Latooka, and to wait for the dry season. I had
made the reconnaissance to Farajoke, in latitude 3 degrees 32', and I
saw my way clear for the future, provided my animals should remain in
good condition. Accordingly, on the 21st of May, we started for Latooka
in company with Ibrahim and his men, who were thoroughly sick of the
Obbo climate.

Before parting, a ceremony had to be performed by Katchiba. His brother
was to be our guide, and he was to receive power to control the elements
as deputy-magician during the journey, lest we should be wetted by the
storms, and the torrents should be so swollen as to be impassable.

With great solemnity Katchiba broke a branch from a tree, upon the
leaves of which he spat in several places. This branch, thus blessed
with holy water, was laid upon the ground, and a fowl was dragged around
it by the chief; and our horses were then operated on precisely in the
same manner as had been enacted at Farajoke. This ceremony completed, he
handed the branch to his brother (our guide), who received it with much
gravity, in addition to a magic whistle of antelope's horn that he
suspended from his neck. All the natives wore whistles similar in
appearance, being simply small horns in which they blew, the sound of
which was considered either to attract or to drive away rain, at the
option of the whistler. No whistle was supposed to be effective unless
it had been blessed by the great magician Katchiba. The ceremony being
over, all commenced whistling with all their might; and taking leave of
Katchiba, with an assurance that we should again return, we started
amidst a din of "toot too too-ing" upon our journey. Having an immense
supply of ammunition at Latooka, I left about 200 lbs. of shot and ball
with Katchiba; therefore my donkeys had but little to carry, and we
travelled easily.

That night we bivouacked at the foot of the east-side of the pass at
about half-past five. Ibrahimawa, the Bornu man whom I have already
described as the amateur botanist, had become my great ally in searching
for all that was curious and interesting. Proud of his knowledge of wild
plants, no sooner was the march ended than he commenced a search in the
jungles for something esculent.

We were in a deep gorge on a steep knoll bounded by a ravine about sixty
feet of perpendicular depth, at the bottom of which flowed a torrent.
This was an excellent spot for a camp, as no guards were necessary upon
the side thus protected. Bordering the ravine were a number of fine
trees covered with a thorny stem creeper, with leaves much resembling
those of a species of yam. These were at once pronounced by Ibrahimawa
to be a perfect god-send, and after a few minutes' grubbing he produced
a basketful of fine-looking yams. In an instant this display of food
attracted a crowd of hungry people, including those of Ibrahim and my
own men, who, not being botanists, had left the search for food to
Ibrahimawa, but who determined to share the tempting results. A rush was
made at his basket, which was emptied on the instant; and I am sorry to
confess that the black angel Saat was one of the first to seize three or
four of the largest yams, which he most unceremoniously put in a pot and
deliberately cooked as though he had been the botanical discoverer. How
often the original discoverer suffers, while others benefit from his
labours! Ibrahimawa, the scientific botanist, was left without a yam,
after all his labour of grubbing up a basketful. Pots were boiling in
all directions, and a feast in store for the hungry men who had marched
twenty miles without eating since the morning.

The yams were cooked; but I did not like the look of them, and seeing
that the multitude were ready, I determined to reserve a few for our own
eating should they be generally pronounced good. The men ate them
voraciously. Hardly ten minutes had elapsed from the commencement of the
feast when first one and then another disappeared, and from a distance I
heard a smothered but unmistakeable sound, that reminded me of the
lurching effect of a channel steamer upon a crowd of passengers.
Presently the boy Saat showed symptoms of distress, and vanished from
our presence; and all those that had dined off Ibrahimawa's botanical
specimens were suffering from a most powerful "vomi-purgatif." The
angels that watch over scientific botanists had preserved Ibrahimawa
from all evil. He had discovered the yams, and the men had stolen them
from him; they enjoyed the fruits, while he gained an experience
invaluable at their expense. I was quite contented to have waited until
others had tried them before I made the experiment. Many of the yam
tribe are poisonous; there is one variety much liked at Obbo, but which
is deadly in its effects should it be eaten without a certain
preparation. It is first scraped, and then soaked in a running stream
for a fortnight. It is then cut into thin slices, and dried in the sun
until quite crisp; by this means it is rendered harmless. The dried
slices are stored for use; and they are generally pounded in a mortar
into flour, and used as a kind of porridge.

The sickness of the people continued for about an hour, during which
time all kinds of invectives were hurled against Ibrahimawa, and his
botany was termed a gigantic humbug. From that day he was very mild in
his botanical conversation.

On the following morning we crossed the last range of rocky hills, and
descended to the Latooka valley. Up to this point, we had seen no game;
but we had now arrived in the game country, and shortly after our
descent from the rocks we saw a herd of about twenty Tetel (hartebeest).
Unfortunately, just as I dismounted for the purpose of stalking them,
the red flags of the Turks attracted the attention of a large party of
baboons, who were sitting on the rocks, and they commenced their hoarse
cry of alarm, and immediately disturbed the Tetel. One of the men, in
revenge, fired a long shot at a great male, who was sitting alone upon a
high rock, and by chance the ball struck him in the head. He was an
immense specimen of the Cynocephalus, about as large as a mastiff, but
with a long brown mane like that of the lion. This mane is much prized
by the natives as an ornament. He was immediately skinned, and the hide
was cut into long strips about three inches broad: the portion of mane
adhering had the appearance of a fringe; each strip was worn as a scarf;
thus one skin will produce about eight or ten ornaments.

I sent my men to camp, and, accompanied by Richarn, mounted on my horse
"Mouse," I rode through the park-like ground in quest of game. I saw
varieties of antelopes, including the rare and beautiful maharif; but
all were so wild, and the ground so open, that I could not get a shot.
This was the more annoying, as the maharif was an antelope that I
believed to be a new species. It had often disappointed me; for although
I had frequently seen them on the south-west frontier of Abyssinia, I
had never been able to procure one, owing to their extreme shyness, and
to the fact of their inhabiting open plains, where stalking was
impossible. I had frequently examined them with a telescope, and had
thus formed an intimate acquaintance with their peculiarities. The
maharif is very similar to the roan antelope of South Africa, but is
mouse colour, with black and white stripes upon the face. The horns are
exactly those of the roan antelope, very massive and corrugated, bending
backwards to the shoulders. The withers are extremely high, which give a
peculiarly heavy appearance to the shoulders, much heightened by a large
and stiff black mane like that of a hog-maned horse. I have a pair of
horns in my possession that I obtained through the assistance of a lion,
who killed the maharif while drinking near my tent; unfortunately, the
skin was torn to pieces, and the horns and skull were all that remained.

Failing, as usual, in my endeavours to obtain a shot, I made a
considerable circuit, and shortly observed the tall heads of giraffes
towering over the low mimosas. There is no animal in nature so
picturesque in his native haunts as the giraffe. His food consists of
the leaves of trees, some qualities forming special attractions,
especially the varieties of the mimosa, which, being low, permit an
extensive view to his telescopic eyes. He has a great objection to high
forests. The immense height of the giraffe gives him a peculiar
advantage, as he can command an extraordinary range of vision, and
thereby be warned against the approach of his two great enemies, man and
the lion. No animal is more difficult to stalk than the giraffe, and the
most certain method of hunting is that pursued by the Hamran Arabs, on
the frontiers of Abyssinia, who ride him down and hamstring him with the
broadsword at full gallop. A good horse is required, as, although the
gait of a giraffe appears excessively awkward from the fact of his
moving the fore and hind legs of one side simultaneously, he attains a
great pace, owing to the length of his stride, and his bounding trot is
more than a match for any but a superior horse.

The hoof is as beautifully proportioned as that of the smallest gazelle,
and his lengthy legs and short back give him every advantage for speed
and endurance. There is a rule to be observed in hunting the giraffe on
horseback: the instant he starts, he must be pressed--it is the speed
that tells upon him, and the spurs must be at work at the very
commencement of the hunt, and the horse pressed along at his best pace;
it must be a race at top speed from the start, but, should the giraffe
be allowed the slightest advantage for the first five minutes, the race
will be against the horse.

I was riding "Filfil," my best horse for speed, but utterly useless for
the gun. I had a common regulation-sword hanging on my saddle in lieu of
the long Arab broadsword that I had lost at Obbo, and starting at full
gallop at the same instant as the giraffes, away we went over the
beautiful park. Unfortunately Richarn was a bad rider, and I, being
encumbered with a rifle, had no power to use the sword. I accordingly
trusted to ride them down and to get a shot, but I felt that the
unsteadiness of my horse would render it very uncertain. The wind
whistled in my ears as we flew along over the open plain. The grass was
not more than a foot high, and the ground hard; the giraffes about four
hundred yards distant steaming along, and raising a cloud of dust from
the dry earth, as on this side of the mountains there had been no rain.
Filfil was a contradiction; he loved a hunt and had no fear of wild
animals, but he went mad at the sound of a gun. Seeing the magnificent
herd of about fifteen giraffes before him, the horse entered into the
excitement and needed no spur--down a slight hollow, flying over the dry
buffalo holes, now over a dry watercourse and up the incline on the
other side--then again on the level, and the dust in my eyes from the
cloud raised by the giraffes showed that we were gaining in the race;
misericordia!--low jungle lay before us--the giraffes gained it, and
spurring forward through a perfect cloud of dust now within a hundred
yards of the game we shot through the thorny bushes. In another minute
or two I was close up, and a splendid bull giraffe was crashing before
me like a locomotive obelisk through the mimosas, bending the elastic
boughs before him in his irresistible rush, which sprang back with a
force that would have upset both horse and rider had I not carefully
kept my distance. The jungle seemed alive with the crowd of orange red,
the herd was now on every side, as I pressed the great bull before me.
Oh for an open plain! I was helpless to attack, and it required the
greatest attention to keep up the pace through the thick mimosas without
dashing against their stems and branches. The jungle became thicker, and
although I was in the middle of the herd and within ten yards of several
giraffes, I could do nothing. A mass of thick and tangled thorns now
received them, and closed over the hardly-contested race--I was beaten.

Never mind, it was a good hunt--first-rate--but where was my camp? It
was nearly dark, and I could just distinguish the pass in the distance,
by which we had descended the mountain; thus I knew the direction but I
had ridden about three miles, and it would be dark before I could
return. However, I followed the heel tracks of the herd of giraffes.
Richarn was nowhere. Although I had lost the race, and was disappointed,
I now consoled myself that it was all for the best; had I killed a
giraffe at that hour and distance from camp, what good would it have
been? I was quite alone; thus who could have found it during the night?
and before morning it would have been devoured by lions and hyenas;
inoffensive and beautiful creatures, what a sin it appeared to destroy
them uselessly! With these consoling and practical reflections I
continued my way, until a branch of hooked thorn fixing in my nose
disturbed the train of ideas and persuaded me that it was very dark, and
that I had lost my way, as I could no longer distinguish either the
tracks of the giraffes or the position of the mountains. Accordingly I
fired my rifle as a signal, and soon after I heard a distant report in
reply, and the blaze of a fire shot up suddenly in the distance on the
side of the mountain. With the help of this beacon I reached the spot
where our people were bivouacked; they had lighted the beacon on a rock
about fifty feet above the level, as although some twenty or thirty
fires were blazing, they had been obscured by the intervening jungle. I
found both my wife and my men in an argumentative state as to the
propriety of my remaining alone so late in the jungle; however, I also
found dinner ready; the angareps (stretcher bedsteads) arranged by a
most comfortable blazing fire, and a glance at the star-lit heavens
assured me of a fine night--what more can man wish for?--wife, welcome,
food, fire, and fine weather?

The bivouac in the wilderness has many charms; there is a complete
independence--the sentries are posted, the animals picketed and fed, and
the fires arranged in a complete circle around the entire party--men,
animals, and luggage all within the fiery ring; the sentries alone being
on the outside. There is a species of ironwood that is very inflammable,
and being oily, it burns like a torch; this grew in great quantities,
and the numerous fires fed with this vigorous fuel enlivened the bivouac
with a continual blaze. My men were busy, baking their bread. On such
occasions an oven is dispensed with. A prodigious fire is made while the
dough is being prepared; this, when well moistened, is formed into a
cake about two feet in diameter, but not thicker than two inches. The
fire being in a fit state of glowing ash, a large hole is scraped in the
centre, in which the flat cake is laid, and the red-hot embers are raked
over it; thus buried it will bake in about twenty minutes, but the dough
must be exceedingly moist or it will burn to a cinder.

On the following day we arrived at Latooka, where I found everything in
good order at the depot, and the European vegetables that I had sown
were all above ground. Commoro and a number of people came to meet us.

There had been but little rain at Latooka since we left, although it had
been raining heavily at Obbo daily, and there was no difference in the
dry sandy plain that surrounded the town, neither was there any
pasturage for the animals except at a great distance.

The day after my arrival, Filfil was taken ill and died in a few hours.
Tetel had been out of condition ever since the day of his failure during
the elephant hunt, and he now refused his food. Sickness rapidly spread
through my animals; five donkeys died within a few days, and the
remainder looked poor. Two of my camels died suddenly, having eaten the
poison-bush. Within a few days of this disaster my good old hunter and
companion of all my former sports in the Base country, Tetel, died.
These terrible blows to my expedition were most satisfactory to the
Latookas, who ate the donkeys and other animals the moment they died. It
was a race between the natives and the vultures as to who should be
first to profit by my losses.

Not only were the animals sick, but my wife was laid up with a violent
attack of gastric fever, and I was also suffering from daily attacks of
ague. The small-pox broke out among the Turks. Several people died; and,
to make matters worse, they insisted upon inoculating themselves and all
their slaves; thus the whole camp was reeking with this horrible
disease.

Fortunately my camp was separate and to windward. I strictly forbade my
men to inoculate themselves, and no case of the disease occurred among
my people, but it spread throughout the country. Small-pox is a scourge
among the tribes of Central Africa, and it occasionally sweeps through
the country and decimates the population.

Among the natives of Obbo, who had accompanied us to Latooka, was a man
named Wani, who had formerly travelled far to the south, and had offered
to conduct Ibrahim to a country rich in ivory that had never been
visited by a trader: this man had accordingly been engaged as guide arid
interpreter. In an examination of Wani I discovered that the
cowrie-shells were brought from a place called "Magungo." This name I
had previously heard mentioned by the natives, but I could obtain no
clue to its position. It was most important that I should discover the
exact route by which the cowries arrived from the south, as it would be
my guide to that direction. The information that I received from Wani at
Latooka was excessively vague, and upon most slender data I founded my
conclusions so carefully that my subsequent discoveries have rendered
most interesting the first scent of the position which I eventually
followed with success. I accordingly extract, verbatim, from my journal
the note written by me at Latooka on the 26th of May, 1863, when I first
received the clue to the Albert N'yanza: "I have had a long examination
of Wani, the guide and interpreter, respecting the country of Magungo.
Loggo, the Bari interpreter, has always described Magungo as being on a
large river, and I have concluded that it must be the Asua; but, upon
cross-examination, I find he has used the word 'Bahr' (in Arabic
signifying river or sea) instead of 'Birke' (lake). This important error
being discovered gives a new feature to the geography of this part."

According to his description, Magungo is situated on a lake so large
that no one knows its limits. Its breadth is such that, if you journey
two days east and the same distance west, there is no land visible on
either quarter, while to the south its direction is utterly unknown.
Large vessels arrive at Magungo from distant and unknown parts, bringing
cowrie-shells and beads in exchange for ivory. Upon these vessels white
men have been seen. All the cowrie-shells used in Latooka and the
neighbouring countries are supplied by these vessels, but none have
arrived for the last two years.

"His description of distance places Magungo on about the 2 degrees N.
lat. The lake can be no other than the 'N'yanza,' which, if the position
of Magungo be correct, extends much farther north than Speke had
supposed. The 'white men' must be Arab traders who bring cowries from
Zanzibar. I shall take the first opportunity to push for Magungo. I
imagine that country belongs to Kamrasi's brother, as Wani says the king
has a brother who is king of a powerful country on the west bank of the
Nile but that they are ever at war with each other.

"I examined another native who had been to Magungo to purchase Simbi
(the cowrie-shell); he says that a white man formerly arrived there
annually, and brought a donkey with him in a boat; that he disembarked
his donkey and rode about the country, dealing with the natives, and
bartering cowries and brass-coil bracelets. This man had no firearms,
but wore a sword. The king of Magungo was called 'Cherrybambi.'"

This information was the first clue to the facts that I subsequently
established, and the account of the white men (Arabs) arriving at
Magungo was confirmed by the people of that country twelve months after
I obtained this vague information at Latooka.

Arabs, being simply brown, are called WHITE men by the blacks of these
countries. I was called a VERY white man as a distinction, but I have
frequently been obliged to take off my shirt to exhibit the difference
of colour between myself and my men, as my face was brown.



CHAPTER IX.

THE TURKS ATTACK KAYALA.

On the 30th May, about an hour before daybreak, I was awoke by a rattle
of musketry, which continued some time in irregular volleys, and
subsided into a well-sustained and steady fire in single shots. On
leaving my hut, I found the camp of Koorshid's people almost empty,
while my own men were climbing on the roofs of their huts to obtain a
view towards the west. Nothing was in sight, although the firing still
continued at a distance of about a mile, apparently on the other side of
a belt of trees. I now heard that Koorshid's people had started at
between three and four o'clock that morning, by Commoro's request, to
attack a neighbouring town that had been somewhat rebellious. The firing
continued for about two hours, when it suddenly ceased, and I shortly
saw with a telescope the Turks' red ensign emerge from the forest, and
we heard the roll of their drum, mingled with the lowing of oxen and the
bleating of sheep. Upon nearer approach, I remarked a considerable body
of men, and a large herd of cattle and sheep driven by a number of
Latookas, while a knot of Turks carried something heavy in their arms.

They soon arrived, with about 2,000 head of cattle and sheep; but they
had lost one of their men, killed in the fight, and his body they
carried home for interment. It happened to be about the best man of the
party; really a very civil fellow, and altogether rather a pleasant
robber. At Commoro's instigation, the Turks had attacked the town of
Kayala; but the Latookas had fought so well, that the Turks found it
impossible to capture the town, which was, as usual, protected by
iron-wood palisades, upon which their bullets harmlessly flattened. Not
only the Latooka men had fought well, but their women broke up their
grinding-stones and defended the entrance by pelting their assailants
with the fragments; several of the Turks were wounded by the stones
thrown with such force by these brawny Amazons that some of the
gun-barrels were indented. Many of these brave women had been shot by
the dastardly Turks, and one was in the act of being carried off by the
"pleasant robber," when a native, running to her rescue, drove his spear
through his chest and killed him on the spot. Unfortunately for the
Latookas, some of their cattle had left the town to pasture just before
the attack took place; these were captured by the Turks, but not one
hostile foot had been able to penetrate their town. On the following day
the party were busily engaged in dividing the spoil, one third belonging
to the men as a bonus, while the remainder were the property of the
traders' establishment, or "Meri" (government), as they term the
proprietor. This portion was to be sent to Obbo as a place of security
and good pasturage, and the men were to engage in other razzias in
Latooka, and to collect a large number of cattle to be driven south to
exchange for ivory. Koorshid's camp was a scene of continual uproar, the
men quarrelling over the division of the spoil.

Journal--June 2nd.--The Turks are now busy buying and selling, each man
disposing of his share of the stolen cattle according to his wants: one
exchanges a cow to the natives for corn and meat; another slaughters an
ox, and retails small portions for merissa (beer), fowls, &c., the
natives flocking to the camp like vultures scenting flesh; others
reserve their cattle for the purpose of purchasing the daughters of the
natives for slaves under the name of wives, whom they will eventually
sell in Khartoum for from twenty to thirty dollars each. My men look on
in dismay at the happiness of their neighbours: like

    "A Peri weeping at the gate
     Of Eden, stood disconsolate,"

so may they be seen regarding the adjoining paradise, where meat is in
profusion, sweetened by being stolen; but, alas! their cruel master does
not permit them these innocent enjoyments.

Everything may be obtained for cattle as payment in this country. The
natives are now hard at work making zareebas (kraals) for the cattle
stolen from their own tribe and immediate neighbours, for the sake of
two or three bullocks as remuneration to be divided among more than a
hundred men. They are not deserving of sympathy; they are worse than
vultures, being devoid of harmony even in the same tribe. The chiefs
have no real control; and a small district, containing four or five
towns, club together and pillage the neighbouring province. It is not
surprising that the robber traders of the Nile turn this spirit of
discord to their own advantage, and league themselves with one chief, to
rob another, whom they eventually plunder in his turn. The natives say
that sixty-five men and women were killed in the attack upon Kayala. All
the Latookas consider it a great disgrace that the Turks fired upon
women. Among all tribes, from Gondokoro to Obbo, a woman is respected,
even in time of war. Thus, they are employed as spies, and become
exceedingly dangerous; nevertheless, there is a general understanding
that no woman shall be killed. The origin of this humane distinction
arises, I imagine, from their scarcity. Where polygamy is in force,
women should be too dear to kill; the price of a girl being from five to
ten cows, her death is equal to the actual loss of that number.

Fortunately for my party, who were not cattle lifters, there was the
usual abundance of game, and I could always supply myself and people
with delicious wild ducks and geese. We never were tired of this light
food as we varied their preparation. Sometimes I was able to procure a
goat, on which occasion a grand dish was made, the paunch being arranged
as a Scotch "haggis" of wild fowls' livers and flesh minced, with the
usual additions. My garden was flourishing; we had onions, beans,
melons, yams, lettuce, and radishes, which had quickly responded to
several invigorating showers; the temperature was 85 degrees F in the
shade during the hottest hours of the day, and 72 degrees F at night.

Salt is not procurable in Latooka; the natives seldom use it, as it is
excessively difficult to make it in any quantity from the only two
sources that will produce it; the best is made from goat's dung; this is
reduced ashes, and saturated; the water is then strained off, and
evaporated by boiling. Another quality is made of peculiar grass, with a
thick fleshy stem, something like sugarcane; the ashes of this produce
salt, but by no means pure. The chief of Latooka would eat a handful of
salt greedily that I gave him from my large supply, and I could purchase
supplies with this article better than with beads.

On the 4th of June, Ibrahim and eighty-five men started for Obbo in
charge of about 400 cows and 1,000 goats. Shortly after their departure,
a violent thunder-storm, attended with a deluge of rain, swept over the
country, and flooded the Latooka river and the various pools that formed
my game-preserves.

I looked forward to good duck-shooting on the morrow, as a heavy storm
was certain to be followed by large arrivals.

On the morning of the 5th, I was out at an early hour, and in a very
short time I killed eight ducks and geese. There was a certain pool
surrounded by a small marsh within half a mile of my camp, that formed
the greatest attraction to the wild fowl. There were two hegleek trees
in this marsh; and it was merely necessary to stand beneath the shelter
of either to insure good sport, as the ducks continually arrived at the
pool.

I was just entering into the sport with all my heart, when I heard a
shot fired in the Turks' camp, followed by loud yells, and I observed a
crowd of Latookas rushing from the camp towards their town. In a few
moments later, I heard the Turks' drum, and I saw people running to and
fro, and the Latookas assembling from the neighbourhood with lances and
shields, as though preparing for a fray. I had only two men with me, and
being nearly half a mile from camp, I thought it advisable to hasten
towards the spot, lest some contretemps should take place before my
arrival. Accordingly I hurried over the open plain, and shortly reached
my camp. I found my wife arranging the men at their posts, fearing a
disturbance. They had seen me hastening towards them, and I now went to
the Turks' camp, that was close by, and inquired the cause of alarm.

Never was I more disgusted. Already the vultures were swooping in
circles above some object outside the camp. It appeared that a native of
Kayala (the town lately attacked by the Turks) had visited Tarrangolle
to inquire after a missing cow. The chiefs, Moy and Commoro, brought him
to the Turks' camp, merely to prove that he had no evil intention. No
sooner was it announced that he was a native of Kayala than the Turks
declared he was a spy, and condemned him to be shot. The two chiefs, Moy
and Commoro, feeling themselves compromised by having brought the man
into such danger unwittingly, threw themselves before him, and declared
that no harm should befall him, as he belonged to them. Tearing them
away by the combined force of many men, the prisoner was immediately
bound, and led forth by his bloodthirsty murderers to death. "Shoot the
spy!" was hardly pronounced, when a villain stepped forward, and placing
the muzzle of his musket close to his left breast, he fired.

The man dropped dead, thus murdered in cold blood. The natives rushed in
crowds from the spot, naturally supposing that a general massacre would
follow so unprovoked an outrage. The body was dragged by the heels a few
paces outside the camp, and the vultures were its sextons within a few
minutes of the death.

It was with difficulty that I could restrain my temper under such
revolting circumstances. I felt that at an unlooked-for moment I might
be compromised in some serious outbreak of the natives, caused by the
brutal acts of the traders. Already it was declared unsafe to venture
out shooting without ten or twelve armed men as escort.

A mixture of cowardice and brutality, the traders' party became
exceedingly timid, as a report was current that the inhabitants of
Kayala intended to ally themselves to those of Tarrangolle, and to
attack the Turks in their camp. I accordingly strengthened my position
by building a tower of palisades, that entirely commanded all approaches
to my zareeba.

Latooka was already spoiled by the Turks: it was now difficult to
procure flour and milk for beads, as the traders' people, since the
attack on Kayala, had commenced the system of purchasing all supplies
with either goats or beef, which having been stolen, was their cheapest
medium of exchange. Although rich in beads and copper, I was actually
poor, as I could not obtain supplies. Accordingly I allowanced my men
two pounds of beads monthly, and they went to distant villages and
purchased their own provisions independently of me.

On the 11th June, at 7.20 A.M., there was a curious phenomenon; the sky
was perfectly clear, but we were startled by a noise like the sudden
explosion of a mine, or the roar of heavy cannon, almost immediately
repeated. It appeared to have originated among the mountains, about
sixteen miles distant due south of my camp. I could only account for
this occurrence by the supposition that an immense mass of the granite
rock might have detached itself from a high mountain, and, in falling to
the valley, it might have bounded from a projection on the mountain's
side, and thus have caused a double report.

June 13.---I shot ten ducks and geese before breakfast, including one of
the large black and white geese with the crimson head and neck. On my
return to camp I weighed this--exactly eleven pounds; this goose has on
either pinion-joint a sharp, horny spur, an inch in length. During my
morning stroll I met hundreds of natives running excitedly with shields
and spears towards Adda's village: they were going to steal the cattle
from a village about four miles distant; thus there will be a fight in
the course of the day. The Latooka stream is now full, and has the
appearance of a permanent river carrying a considerable body of water to
the Sobat.

I met with two thieves while duck-shooting this morning--the one an
eagle, and the other a native. The beautiful white-throated fish-eagle
may generally be seen perched upon a bough overhanging the stream, ready
for any prey that may offer. This morning I shot two ducks right and
left as they flew down the course of the river---one fell dead in the
water, but the other, badly hit, fluttered along the surface for some
distance, and was immediately chased and seized by a fish-eagle which,
quite reckless of the gun, had been watching the sport from a high tree,
and evinced a desire to share the results. My men, not to be done out of
their breakfast, gave chase, shouting and yelling to frighten the eagle,
and one of them having a gun loaded with buckshot, fired, and the
whirr-r of the charge induced the eagle to drop the duck, which was
triumphantly seized by the man.

The other thief was a native. I fired a long shot at a drake; the bird
flew a considerable distance and towered, falling about a quarter of a
mile distant. A Latooka was hoeing close to where it fell, and we
distinctly saw him pick up the bird and run to a bush, in which he hid
it: upon our arrival he continued his work as though nothing had
happened, and denied all knowledge of it: he was accordingly led by the
ear to the bush, where we found the duck carefully secreted.

June 14.---The natives lost one man killed in the fight yesterday,
therefore the night was passed in singing and dancing.

The country is drying up; although the stream is full there is no rain
in Latooka, the water in the river being the eastern drainage of the
Obbo mountains, where it rains daily.

Ibrahimawa, the Bornu man, alias "Sinbad the Sailor," the great
traveller, amuses and bores me daily with his long and wonderful stories
of his travels. The style of his narratives may be conjectured from the
following extracts: "There was a country adjoining Bornu, where the king
was so fat and heavy that he could not walk, until the doctors OPENED
HIS BELLY AND CUT THE FAT OUT, which operation was repeated annually."

He described another country as a perfect Paradise, where no one ever
drank anything so inferior as water. This country was so wealthy that
the poorest man could drink merissa (beer). He illustrated the general
intoxication by saying, that "after 3 P.M. no one was sober, throughout
the country, and from that hour the cows, goats, and fowls WERE ALL
DRUNK, as they drank the merissa left in the jars by their owners, who
were all asleep."

He knew all about England, having been a servant, on a Turkish frigate
that was sent to Gravesend. He described an evening entertainment most
vividly. He had been to a ball at an "English Pasha's in Blackwall," and
had succeeded wonderfully with some charming English ladies excessively
"decollete," upon whom he felt sure he had left a lasting impression, as
several had fallen in love with him on the spot, supposing him to be a
Pasha.

Such were instances of life and recollections of Ibrahimawa, the Bornu.

On June 16, Koorshid's people returned from Obbo. Ibrahim and a few men
had remained there, and distrusting the warlike spirit of the Latookas,
he now recalled the entire establishment from Tarrangolle, intending to
make a station at the more peaceful country of Obbo. An extract from my
journal on that day explains my feelings: "This is most annoying; I had
arranged my camp and garden, &c. for the wet season, and I must now
leave everything, as it is impossible to remain in this country with my
small force alone; the natives have become so bad (since the cattle
razzia) that a considerable armed party is obliged to go to the stream
for water. It is remarkably pleasant travelling in the vicinity of the
traders;--they convert every country into a wasp's nest;--they have
neither plan of action nor determination, and I, being unfortunately
dependent upon their movements, am more like a donkey than an explorer,
that is saddled and ridden away at a moment's notice. About sixty
natives of Obbo accompanied the men sent by Ibrahim to carry the
effects;--I require at least fifty, as so many of my transport animals
are dead." Nothing can exceed the laziness and dogged indolence of my
men; I have only four who are worth having,---Richarn, Hamed, Sali, and
Taher.

All the men in either camp were discontented at the order to move, as
they had made themselves comfortable, expecting to remain in Latooka
during the wet season. The two chiefs, Moy and Commoro, found themselves
in a dilemma, as they had allied themselves with the Turks in the attack
upon the neighbouring town, depending upon them for future support; they
were now left in the lurch, and felt themselves hardly a match for their
enemies. A few extracts from my journal will close our sojourn at
Latooka:

"June 18th.--The white ants are a curse upon the country; although the
hut is swept daily and their galleries destroyed, they rebuild
everything during the night, scaling the supports to the roof and
entering the thatch. Articles of leather or wood are the first devoured.
The rapidity with which they repair their galleries is wonderful; all
their work is carried on with cement; the earth is contained in their
stomachs, and this being mixed with some glutinous matter they deposit
it as bees do their wax. Although the earth of this country if tempered
for house-building will crumble in the rain, the hills of the white ants
remain solid and waterproof, owing to the glue in the cement. I have
seen three varieties of white ants--the largest about the size of a
small wasp: this does not attack dwellings, but subsists upon fallen
trees. The second variety is not so large; this species seldom enters
buildings. The third is the greatest pest: this is the smallest, but
thick and juicy;--the earth is literally alive with them, nor is there
one square foot of ground free from them in Latooka.

"June 19th.--Had a bad attack of fever yesterday that has been hanging
about me for some days. Weighed all the luggage and packed the stores in
loads of fifty pounds each for the natives to carry.

"June 20th.--Busy making new ropes from the bark of a mimosa; all hands
at work, as we start the day after to-morrow. My loss in animals makes a
difference of twenty-three porters' loads. I shall take forty natives as
the bad roads will necessitate light loads for the donkeys. I have now
only fourteen donkeys; these are in good condition, and would thrive,
were not the birds so destructive by pecking sores upon their backs.
These sores would heal quickly by the application of gunpowder, but the
birds irritate and enlarge them until the animal, is rendered useless. I
have lost two donkeys simply from the attacks of these birds;--the only
remaining camel and some of the donkeys I have covered with jackets made
of tent-cloth.

"June 21st.--Nil.

"June 22d.--We were awoke last night by a report from the sentry that
natives were prowling around the camp;--I accordingly posted three
additional guards. At a little after 2 A.m. a shot was fired, followed
by two others in quick succession, and a sound as of many feet running
quickly was heard passing the entrance of the camp. I was up in a
moment, and my men were quickly under arms: the Turks' drum beat, and
their camp (that was contiguous to mine) was alive with men, but all was
darkness. I lighted my policeman's lantern, that was always kept ready
trimmed, and I soon arrived at the spot where the shot had been fired.
The natives had been endeavouring to steal the cattle from the Turks'
kraal, and favoured by the darkness they had commenced burrowing with
the intention of removing the thorn bushes that formed the fence.
Unfortunately for the thieves, they were unaware that there were
watchers in the kraal among the cattle: it was a pitch dark night, and
nothing could be distinguished; but the attention of one of the sentries
was attracted by the snorting and stamping of the goats, that evidently
denoted the presence of something uncommon. He then perceived close to
him, on the other side the hedge, a dark object crouching, and others
standing, and he heard the bushes moving as though some one was at work
to remove them. He immediately fired; and the sound of a rush of men in
retreat induced both him and the other sentry to repeat the shot. By the
light of the lantern we now searched the place, and discovered the body
of a native lying close to the fence just above a considerable hole that
he had scraped beneath the thorns, in order to extract the stems that
were buried in the ground, and thus by drawing away the bushes he would
have effected an entrance. He had commenced operations exactly opposite
the sentry, and the musket being loaded with mould-shot, he had received
the contents at close quarters. Although he had tempted fate and met
with deserved misfortune, it was most disgusting to witness the
brutality of the Turks, who, tying ropes to the ankles, dragged the body
to the entrance of the camp, and wished for amusement to drive their
bayonets through the chest.

"Although dying, the man was not dead: a shot had entered one eye,
knocking it out; several had entered the face, chest, and thighs, as he
was in a stooping position when the gun was fired. I would not allow him
to be mutilated, and after groaning in agony for some time, he died. The
traders' people immediately amputated the hands at the wrists, to detach
the copper bracelets, while others cut off his helmet of beads, and the
body was very considerately dragged close to the entrance of my camp.

"June 22nd.--Finding that the disgusting Turks had deposited the dead
body almost at my door, I had it removed a couple of hundred yards to
leeward. The various birds of prey immediately collected--buzzards,
vultures, crows, and the great Marabou stork. I observed a great
bare-necked vulture almost succeed in turning the body over by pulling
at the flesh of the arm at the opposite side to that where it stood. I
have noticed that birds of prey invariably commence their attack upon
the eyes, inner portions of the thighs, and beneath the arms, before
they devour the coarser portions. In a few hours a well-picked skeleton
was all that was left of the Latooka."

We were to start on the following day. My wife was dangerously ill with
bilious fever, and was unable to stand, and I endeavoured to persuade
the traders' party to postpone their departure for a few days. They
would not hear of such a proposal; they had so irritated the Latookas
that they feared an attack, and their captain, or vakeel, Ibrahim, had
ordered them immediately to vacate the country. This was a most awkward
position for me. The traders had induced the hostility of the country,
and I should bear the brunt of it should I remain behind alone. Without
their presence I should be unable to procure porters, as the natives
would not accompany my feeble party, especially as I could offer them no
other payment but beads or copper. The rains had commenced within the
last few days at Latooka, and on the route towards Obbo we should
encounter continual storms. We were to march by a long and circuitous
route to avoid the rocky passes that would be dangerous in the present
spirit of the country, especially as the traders possessed large herds
that must accompany the party. They allowed five days' march for the
distance to Obbo by the intended route. This was not an alluring
programme for the week's entertainment, with my wife almost in a dying
state! However, I set to work, and fitted an angarep with arched hoops
from end to end, so as to form a frame like the cap of a wagon. This I
covered with two waterproof Abyssinian tanned hides securely strapped;
and lashing two long poles parallel to the sides of the angarep, I
formed an excellent palanquin. In this she was assisted, and we started
on 23d June.

Our joint parties consisted of about three hundred men. On arrival at
the base of the mountains, instead of crossing them as before, we
skirted the chain to the northwest, and then rounding through a natural
gap, we ascended gradually towards the south.

On the fifth day we were, at 5 A.M., within twelve miles of Obbo, and we
bivouacked on a huge mass of granite on the side of a hill, forming an
inclining plateau of about an acre. The natives who accompanied us were
immediately ordered to clear the grass from the insterstices of the
rocks, and hardly had they commenced when a slight disturbance, among
some loose stones that were being removed, showed that something was
wrong. In an instant lances and stones were hurled at some object by the
crowd, and upon my arrival I saw the most horrid monster that I have
ever experienced. I immediately pinned his head to the ground and
severed it at one blow with my hunting-knife, damaging the keen edge of
my favourite weapon upon the hard rock. It was a puff adder of the most
extraordinary dimensions. I then fetched my measuring-tape from the
game-bag, in which it was always at hand. Although the snake was only 5
ft. 4 in. in length it was slightly above 15 inches in girth. The tail
was, as usual in poisonous snakes, extremely blunt, and the head
perfectly fiat, and about 2 1/2 inches broad, but unfortunately during
my short absence to fetch the measure the natives had crushed it with a
rock. They had thus destroyed it as a specimen, and had broken three of
the teeth, but I counted eight, and secured five poison-fangs, the two
most prominent being nearly an inch in length. The poison-fangs of
snakes are artfully contrived by some diabolical freak of nature as
pointed tubes, through which the poison is injected into the base of the
wound inflicted. The extreme point of the fang is solid, and is so
finely sharpened that beneath a powerful microscope it is perfectly
smooth, although the point of the finest needle is rough. A short
distance above the solid point of the fang the surface of the tube
appears as though cut away, like the first cut of a quill in forming a
pen: through this aperture the poison is injected.

Hardly had I secured the fangs, when a tremendous clap of thunder shook
the earth and echoed from rock to rock among the high mountains, that
rose abruptly on our left within a mile. Again the lightning flashed,
and almost simultaneously, a deafening peal roared from the black cloud
above us, just as I was kneeling over the archenemy to skin him. He
looked so Satanic with his flat head, and minute cold grey eye, and
scaly hide, with the lightning flashing and the thunder roaring around
him; I felt like St. Dunstan with the devil, and skinned him. The
natives and also my men were horrified, as they would not touch any
portion of such a snake with their hands: even its skin was supposed by
these people to be noxious. Down came the rain; I believe it could not
have rained harder. Mrs. Baker in the palanquin was fortunately like a
snail in her shell; but I had nothing for protection except an oxhide:
throwing myself upon my angarep I drew it over me. The natives had
already lighted prodigious fires, and all crowded around the blaze; but
what would have been the Great Fire of London in that storm?

In half an hour the fire was out; such a deluge fell that the ravine
that was dry when we first bivouacked, was now an impassable torrent. My
oxhide had become tripe, and my angarep, being covered with a mat, was
some inches deep in water. Throwing away the mat, the pond escaped
through the sieve-like network, but left me drenched. Throughout the
night it poured. We had been wet through every day during the journey
from Latooka, but the nights had been fine; this was superlative misery
to all. At length it ceased--morning dawned; we could not procure fire,
as everything was saturated, and we started on our march through forest
and high reeking grass. By this circuitous route from Latooka we avoided
all difficult passes, as the ground on the west side of the chain of
mountains ascended rapidly but regularly to Obbo. On arrival at my
former hut I found a great change; the grass was at least ten feet high,
and my little camp was concealed in the rank vegetation. Old Katchiba
came to meet us, but brought nothing, as he said the Turks had eaten up
the country. An extract from my journal, dated July 1, explains the
misery of our position.

"This Obbo country is now a land of starvation. The natives refuse to
supply provision for beads; nor will they barter anything unless in
exchange for flesh. This is the curse that the Turks have brought upon
the country by stealing cattle and throwing them away wholesale. We have
literally nothing to eat except tullaboon, a small bitter grain used in
lieu of corn by the natives: there is no game; if it existed, shooting
would be impossible, as the grass is impenetrable. I hear that the Turks
intend to make a razzia on the Shoggo country near Farajoke; thus they
will stir up a wasp's nest for me wherever I go, and render it
impossible for my small party to proceed alone, or even to remain in
peace. I shall be truly thankful to quit this abominable land; in my
experience I never saw such scoundrels as Africa produces--the natives
of the Soudan being worse than all. It is impossible to make a servant
of any of these people; the apathy, indolence, dishonesty combined with
dirtiness, are beyond description; and their abhorrence of anything like
order increases their natural dislike to Europeans. I have not one man
even approaching to a servant; the animals are neglected, therefore they
die. And were I to die they would rejoice, as they would immediately
join Koorshid's people in cattle stealing and slave hunting;--charming
followers in the time of danger! Such men destroy all pleasure, and
render exploration a mere toil. No one can imagine the hardships and
annoyances to which we are subject, with the additional disgust of being
somewhat dependent upon the traders' band of robbers. For this miserable
situation my vakeel is entirely responsible; had my original escort been
faithful, I should have been entirely independent, and could with my
transport animals have penetrated far south before the commencement of
the rainy season. Altogether I am thoroughly sick of this expedition,
but I shall plod onwards with dogged obstinacy; God only knows the end.
I shall be grateful should the day ever arrive once more to see Old
England."

Both my wife and I were excessively ill with bilious fever, and neither
could assist the other. The old chief, Katchiba, hearing that we were
dying, came to charm us with some magic spell. He found us lying
helpless, and he immediately procured a small branch of a tree, and
filling his mouth with water, he squirted it over the leaves and about
the floor of the hut; he then waved the branch around my wife's head,
also around mine, and completed the ceremony by sticking it in the
thatch above the doorway; he told us we should now get better, and
perfectly: satisfied, he took his leave. The hut was swarming with rats
and white ants, the former racing over our bodies during the night, and
burrowing through the floor, filling our only room with mounds like
molehills. As fast as we stopped the holes, others were made with
determined perseverance. Having a supply of arsenic, I gave them an
entertainment, the effect being disagreeable to all parties, as the rats
died in their holes, and created a horrible effluvium, while fresh hosts
took the place of the departed. Now and then a snake would be seen
gliding within the thatch, having taken shelter from the pouring rain.
The smallpox was raging throughout the country, and the natives were
dying like flies in winter. The country was extremely unhealthy, owing
to the constant rain and the rank herbage, which prevented a free
circulation of air, and from the extreme damp induced fevers. The
temperature was 65 degrees Fahr. at night, and 72 degrees during the
day; dense clouds obscured the sun for many days, and the air was
reeking with moisture. In the evening it was always necessary to keep a
blazing fire within the hut, as the floor and walls were wet and chilly.

The wet herbage disagreed with my baggage animals.

Innumerable flies appeared, including the Tsetse, and in a few weeks the
donkeys had no hair left, either on their ears or legs; they drooped
and died one by one. It was in vain that I erected sheds, and lighted
fires; nothing would protect them from the flies. The moment the fires
were lit, the animals would rush wildly into the smoke, from which
nothing would drive them, and in the clouds of imaginary protection they
would remain all day, refusing food. On the 16th of July my last horse,
Mouse, died; he had a very long tail, for which I obtained A COW IN
EXCHANGE. Nothing was prized so highly as horse's tails, the hairs being
used for stringing beads, and also for making tufts as ornaments, to be
suspended from the elbows. It was highly fashionable in Obbo for the men
to wear such tufts, formed of the bushy ends of cow's-tails. It was also
"the thing" to wear six or eight polished rings of iron, fastened so
tightly round the throat as to almost choke the wearer, somewhat
resembling dog-collars.

On 18th July, the natives held a great consultation, and ended with a
war-dance; they were all painted in various patterns, with red ochre and
white pipe-clay; their heads adorned with very tasteful ornaments of
cowrie-shells, surmounted by plumes of ostrich-feathers, which drooped
over the back of the neck. After the dance, the old chief addressed them
in a long and vehement speech; he was followed by several other
speakers, all of whom were remarkably fluent, and the resolution of the
meeting was declared "that the nogaras were to be beaten, and men
collected to accompany the Turks on a razzia in the Madi country."

Ibrahim started with 120 armed men and a mass of Obbo people on the
marauding expedition.

On the following day Katchiba came to see us, bringing a present of
flour. I gave him a tin plate, a wooden spoon, the last of the tea-cups,
and a tinsel paper of mother-of-pearl shirt buttons, which took his
fancy so immensely, that my wife was begged to suspend it from his neck
like a medal. He was really a very good old fellow--by far the best I
have seen in Africa. He was very suspicious of the Turks, who, he said,
would ultimately ruin him, as, by attacking the Madi tribe, they would
become his enemies, and invade Obbo when the Turks should leave. Cattle
were of very little use in his country, as the flies would kill them; he
had tried all his magic art, but it was of no avail against the flies;
my donkeys would all assuredly die. He said that the losses inflicted
upon the various tribes by the Turks were ruinous, as their chief means
of subsistence was destroyed; without cattle they could procure no
wives; milk, their principle diet, was denied them, and they were driven
to despair; thus they would fight for their cattle, although they would
allow their families to be carried off without resistance; cattle would
procure another family, but if the animals were stolen, there would be
no remedy.

Flies by day, rats and innumerable bugs by night, heavy dew, daily rain,
and impenetrable reeking grass rendered Obbo a prison about as
disagreeable as could exist.

The many months of tiresome inaction that I was forced to remain in this
position, I will not venture to inflict upon the reader, but I will
content myself with extracts from my journal from time to time, that
will exhibit the general character of the situation.

"Aug. 2d.--Several of my men have fever; the boy, Saat, upon receiving a
dose of calomel, asked, `whether he was to swallow the paper in which it
was wrapped?' This is not the first time that I have been asked the same
question by my men. Saat feels the ennui of Obbo, and finds it difficult
to amuse himself; he has accordingly become so far scientific, that he
has investigated the machinery of two of my watches, both of which he
has destroyed. I am now reduced to one watch, the solitary survivor of
four that formed my original family of timekeepers. Having commenced as
a drummer, Saat feels the loss of his drum that was smashed by the
camel; he accordingly keeps his hand in by practising upon anything that
he can adapt to that purpose, the sacred kettle inverted, and a tin cup,
having been drummed until the one became leaky, and the bottom of the
other disappeared.

"Saat and the black woman are, unfortunately, enemies, and the monotony
of the establishment is sometimes broken by a stand-up fight between him
and his vicious antagonist, Gaddum Her. The latter has received a
practical proof that the boy is growing strong, as I found him the other
day improving her style of beauty by sitting astride upon her stomach,
and punching her eyes with his fists, as she lay upon the ground
furrowing Saat's fat cheeks with her very dirty nails. It is only fair
to the boy to say that Gaddum Her is always the aggressor.

"It is absurd to see the self-importance of the miserable cut-throats
belonging to Koorshid's party, who, far too great to act as common
soldiers, swagger about with little slave-boys in attendance, who carry
their muskets. I often compare the hard lot of our honest poor in
England with that of these scoundrels, whose courage consists in
plundering and murdering defenceless natives, while the robbers fatten
on the spoil. I am most anxious to see whether the English Government
will take active notice of the White Nile trade, or whether diplomacy
will confine them to simple protest and correspondence, to be silenced
by a promise from the Egyptian Government to put a stop to the present
atrocities. The Egyptian Government will of course promise, and, as
usual with Turks, will never perform. On the other hand, the savages are
themselves bad; one tribe welcomes the Turks as allies against their
neighbours, and sees no crime in murder, provided the result be
'cattle.' This, of course, produces general confusion."

"AUG. 6TH.--The difficulties of procuring provisions are most serious:
the only method of purchasing flour is as follows. The natives will not
sell it for anything but flesh; to purchase an ox, I require molotes
(hoes): to obtain molotes I must sell my clothes and shoes to the
traders' men. The ox is then driven to a distant village, and is there
slaughtered, and the flesh being divided into about a hundred small
portions, my men sit upon the ground with three large baskets, into
which are emptied minute baskets of flour as the natives produce them,
one in exchange for each parcel of meat. This tedious process is a
specimen of Central African difficulties in the simple act of purchasing
flour. The Obbo natives are similar to the Bari in some of their habits.
I have had great difficulty in breaking my cowkeeper of his disgusting
custom of washing the milk bowl with cow's urine, and even mixing some
with the milk; he declares that unless he washes his hands with such
water before milking, the cow will lose her milk. This filthy custom is
unaccountable. The Obbo natives wash out their mouths with their own
urine. This habit may have originated in the total absence of salt in
their country. The Latookas, on the contrary, are very clean, and milk
could be purchased in their own vessels without fear."

"Aug. 8th--Having killed a fat ox, the men are busily engaged in
boiling down the fat. Care should be taken to sprinkle a few drops of
water in the pot when the fat is supposed to be sufficiently boiled;
should it hiss, as though poured upon melted lead, it is ready; but if
it be silent, the fat is not sufficiently boiled, and it will not keep.

"Three runaway female slaves were captured by Koorshid's people this
morning, two of whom were brutally treated. On the whole the female
slaves are well kept when very young, but well thrashed when the black
bloom of youth has passed."

"Aug. 11th.--At this season immense beetles are at work in vast
numbers, walking off with every species of dung, by forming it into
balls as large as small apples, and rolling them away with their hind
legs, while they walk backwards by means of the forelegs. Should a ball
of dung roll into a deep rut, I have frequently seen another beetle come
to the assistance of the proprietor of the ball, and quarrel for its
possession after their joint labours have raised it to the level.

"This species was the holy scarabaeus of the ancient Egyptians; it
appears shortly after the commencement of the wet season, its labours
continuing until the cessation of the rains, at which time it
disappears. Was it not worshipped by the ancients as the harbinger of
the high Nile? The existence of Lower Egypt depending upon the annual
inundation, the rise of the river was observed with general anxiety. The
beetle appears at the commencement of the rise in the river level, and
from its great size and extraordinary activity in clearing the earth
from all kinds of ordure, its presence is remarkable. Appearing at the
season of the flood, may not the ancients have imagined some connexion
between the beetle and the river, and have considered it sacred as the
HARBINGER of the inundation?

"There is a wild bean in this country, the blossom of which has a
delicious perfume of violets. I regret that I have not a supply of paper
for botanical specimens, as many beautiful flowers appeared at the
commencement of the rains. Few thorns and no gums form a strong contrast
to the Soudan, where nearly every tree and shrub is armed."

"AUG. 13TH.--I had a long examination of a slave woman, Bacheeta,
belonging to one of Koorshid's men. She had been sent two years ago by
the king, Kamrasi, from Unyoro, as a spy among the traders, with orders
to attract them to the country if appearances were favourable, but to
return with a report should they be dangerous people.

"On her arrival at Faloro, Debono's people captured her, and she was
eventually sold to her present owner. She speaks Arabic, having learnt
it from the traders' people. She declares that Magungo, the place of
which I have heard so much, is only four days' hard marching for a
native, direct from Faloro, but eight days' for the Turks; and that it
is equi-distant from Faloro and from Kamrasi's capital in Unyoro. She
had heard of the Luta N'zige, as reported to Speke, but she knew it only
by the name of 'Kara-wootan-N'zige.'

"She corroborated the accounts I had formerly received, of large boats
arriving with Arabs at Magungo, and she described the lake as a 'white
sheet as far as the eye could reach.' She particularized it as a
peculiar water, that was unlike other waters, as it would 'come up to a
water-jar, if put upon the shore, and carry it away and break it.' By
this description I understood 'waves.' She also described the 'Gondokoro
river,' or White Nile, as flowing into and out of the lake, and she
spoke of a 'great roar of water that fell from the sky.'

"I trust I may succeed in reaching this lake: if not, my entire time,
labour, and expenditure will have been wasted, as I throw sport entirely
aside for the sake of this exploration. Were I to think of shooting in
preference to exploring, I could have excellent sport on the Atabbi
river during the dry season, as also on the Kanieti, in the vicinity of
Wakkala; but I must neglect all but the great object, and push on to
Kamrasi's capital, and from thence to the lake. My great anxiety lies in
the conduct of Koorshid's party; should they make razzias south, I shall
be ruined, as my men will be afraid to advance through a disturbed
country. I MUST keep on good terms with the chief of the party, as I
depend upon him for an interpreter and porters.

"My plan is to prevail on Ibrahim to commence an ivory trade in
Kamrasi's country that might be legitimately conducted, instead of the
present atrocious system of robbery and murder. I like Koorshid, as he
is a bold-spoken robber instead of acting the hypocrite like the other
traders of Khartoum; thus, as he was the only man that was civil to me,
I would do him a good turn could I establish an honest trade between
Kamrasi and himself; at the same time, I should have the advantage of
his party as escort to the desired country. The case commercially lies
as follows:--

"Kamrasi's country, Unyoro, is a virgin land, where beads are hardly
known, and where the king is the despotic ruler, whose word is law. All
trade would be conducted through him alone, in the shape of presents, he
giving elephants' tusks, while, in return, Koorshid would send him beads
and various articles annually. Koorshid would thus be the sole trader
with Kamrasi according to White Nile rules, and the abominable system of
cattle robbery would be avoided.

"The great difficulty attending trade in a distant country is the want
of means of transport, one tribe, being generally hostile to the
adjoining, fears to afford porters beyond the frontier. If I can prove
that the Lake Luta N'zige is one source of the Nile with a navigable
junction, I can at once do away with the great difficulty, and open up a
direct trade for Koorshid. The Lake is in Kamrasi's own dominions: thus
he will have no fear in supplying porters to deliver the ivory at a
depot that might be established, either on the lake or at its junction
with the Nile. A vessel should be built upon the lake, to trade with the
surrounding coasts, and to receive the ivory from the depot. This vessel
would then descend from the lake to the While Nile, to the head of the
cataracts, where a camp should be formed, from which, in a few days'
march, the ivory would reach Gondokoro.

"A large trade might thus be established, as not only Unyoro would
supply ivory, but the lake would open the navigation to the very heart
of Africa. The advantage of dealing with Kamrasi direct would be great,
as he is not a mere savage, demanding beads and bracelets; but he would
receive printed cottons, and goods of various kinds, by which means the
ivory would be obtained at a merely nominal rate. The depot on the Luta
N'zige should be a general store, at which the vessel ascending from the
station above the cataracts would deliver the various goods from
Gondokoro, and from this store the goods would be disseminated
throughout the countries bordering the lake by means of vessels.

"The only drawback to this honest trade would be the general hatred of
anything honest by the Khartoumers; the charms of cattle razzias and
slave-hunting, with the attendant murders, attract these villanous
cut-throats to the White Nile expeditions, and I fear it would be
difficult to raise the number of armed men required for safety, were
legitimate trade the sole object of the ivory hunter.

"Even in Obbo, I believe that printed calicoes, red woollen shirts,
blankets, &c. would purchase ivory. The elevation of this country being
upwards of 3,600 feet, the nights are cold, and even the day is cold
during the wet season; thus clothing is required; this we see in the
first rudiments of covering, the skins of beasts used by the natives;
the Obbo people being the first tribe that adopts a particle of clothing
from the Shillook country (lat. 10 degrees) throughout the entire course
of the White Nile to this latitude (4 degrees 02 minutes). Kamrasi's
tribe are well covered, and farther south, towards Zanzibar, all tribes
are clothed more or less; thus Obbo is the clothing frontier, where the
climate has first prompted the savage to cover himself, while in the hot
lowlands he remains in a state of nakedness. Where clothing is required,
English manufacturers would find a market in exchange for ivory; thus
from this point a fair trade might be commenced.

"From Farajoke, in the Sooli country, lat. 3 degrees 33 minutes, up to
this date the most southern limit of my explorations, the lake is about
nine or ten days' march in a direct course; but such a route is
impossible, owing to Debono's establishment occupying the intervening
country, and the rules of the traders forbid a trespass upon their
assumed territory. Koorshid's men would refuse to advance by that route;
my men, if alone, will be afraid to travel, and will find some excuse
for not proceeding; from the very outset they have been an absolute
burthen upon me, receiving a monthly allowance of two pounds of beads
per head for doing literally nothing, after having ruined the
independence of my expedition by their mutiny at Gondokoro."

"AUG. 23d.--My last camel died to-day; thus all my horses and camels
are dead, and only eight donkeys remain out of twenty-one; most of these
will die, if not all. There can be no doubt that the excessive wet in
all the food, owing to the constant rain and dew, is the principal cause
of disease. The camels, horses, and donkeys of the Soudan, all thrive in
the hot dry air of that country, and are unsuited for this damp climate.

"Had I been without transport animals, my expedition could not have left
Gondokoro, as there was no possibility of procuring porters. I had
always expected that my animals would die, but I had hoped they would
have carried me to the equator: this they would have accomplished during
the two months of comparative dry weather following my arrival at
Gondokoro, had not the mutiny thwarted all my plans, and thrown me into
the wet season. My animals have delivered me at Obbo, and have died in
inaction, instead of wearing out upon the road. Had I been able to start
direct from Gondokoro, as I had intended, my animals would have
delivered me in Kamrasi's country before the arrival of the heavy rains.

"There is an excellent species of gourd in Obbo; it is pear-shaped,
about ten inches long, and seven in diameter, with a white skin, and
warts upon the surface; this is the most delicate and the best-flavoured
that I have ever eaten.

"There are two varieties of castor-oil plant in this country--one with a
purple stem and bright red veins in the leaves, that is remarkably
handsome. Also a wild plantain, with a crimson stem to the leaf; this
does not grow to the height of the common plantain, but is simply a
plume of leaves springing from the ground without a parent stem."

"Aug. 30th.--Mrs. Baker and I made a morning call for the first time
upon old Katchiba by his express desire. His courtyard was cemented and
clean, about a hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by palisades, which
were overgrown with gourds and the climbing yam, Collolollo. There were
several large huts in the inclosure, belonging to his wives; he received
us very politely, and begged us to enter his principal residence; it was
simply arranged, being the usual circular hut, but about twenty-five
feet in diameter.

"Creeping on all fours through the narrow doorway, we found ourselves in
the presence of one of his wives, who was preparing merissa. The
furniture of the apartment was practical, and quite in accordance with
the taste of the old chief, as the whole establishment appeared to be
devoted to brewing merissa. There were several immense jars capable of
holding about thirty gallons: some of these were devoted to beer, while
one was reserved to contain little presents that he had received from
ourselves and the Turks, including a much-esteemed red flannel shirt:
these recherche objects were packed in the jar, and covered by a smaller
vessel inverted on the mouth to protect them from rats and white ants.
Two or three well-prepared ox-hides were spread upon the ground; and he
requested Mrs. Baker to sit on his right hand, while I sat upon the
left. Thus satisfactorily arranged, he called for some merissa, which
his wife immediately brought in an immense gourd-shell, and both my wife
and I having drunk, he took a long draught, and finished the gourd.

"The delightful old sorcerer, determined to entertain us, called for his
rababa: a species of harp was handed to him; this was formed of a hollow
base and an upright piece of wood, from which descended eight strings.
Some time was expended in carefully tuning his instrument, which, being
completed, he asked, 'if he should sing?' Fully prepared for something
comic, we begged him to begin. He sang a most plaintive and remarkably
wild, but pleasing air, accompanying himself perfectly on his harp,
producing the best music that I had ever heard among savages. In fact,
music and dancing were old Katchiba's delight, especially if combined
with deep potations.

"His song over, he rose from his seat and departed, but presently
reappeared leading a sheep by a string, which he begged us to accept. I
thanked him for his attention, but I assured him that we had not paid
him a visit with the expectation of receiving a present, and that we
could not think of accepting it, as we had simply called upon him as
friends; he accordingly handed the sheep to his wife, and shortly after
we rose to depart. Having effected an exit by creeping through the
doorway, he led us both by the hand in a most friendly way for about a
hundred yards on our path, and took leave most gracefully, expressing a
hope that we should frequently come to see him.

"On our return home we found the sheep waiting for us; determined not to
be refused, he had sent it on before us. I accordingly returned him a
most gorgeous necklace of the most valuable beads, and gave the native
who had brought the sheep a present for himself and wife; thus all
parties were satisfied, and the sheep was immediately killed for dinner.

"The following morning Katchiba appeared at my door with a large red
flag made of a piece of cotton cloth that the Turks had given him; he
was accompanied by two men beating large drums, and a third playing a
kind of clarionet: this playing at soldiers was an imitation of the
Turks. He was in great spirits, being perfectly delighted with the
necklace I had sent him."

"Oct. 6th.--I have examined my only remaining donkey: he is a picture of
misery--eyes and nose running, coat staring, and he is about to start to
join his departed comrades; he has packed up for his last journey. With
his loose skin hanging to his withered frame he looked like the British
lion on the shield over the door of the Khartoum consulate. In that
artistic effort the lion was equally lean and ragged, having perhaps
been thus represented by the artist as a pictorial allusion to the
smallness of the Consul's pay; the illustration over the shabby gateway
utters, 'Behold my leanness! 150l. per annum!'

"I feel a touch of the poetic stealing over me when I look at my
departing donkey. 'I never loved a dear gazelle,' &c.: but the practical
question, 'Who is to carry the portmanteau?' remains unanswered. I do
not believe the Turks have any intention of going to Kamrasi's country;
they are afraid, as they have heard that he is a powerful king, and they
fear the restrictions that power will place upon their felonious
propensities. In that case I shall go on without them; but they have
deceived me, by borrowing 165 lbs. of beads which they cannot repay;
this puts me to much inconvenience. The Asua river is still impassable,
according to native reports; this will, prevent a general advance south.
Should the rains cease, the river will fall rapidly, and I shall make a
forward move and escape this prison of high grass and inaction."

"Oct. 11th.--Lions roaring every night, but not visible. I set my men to
work to construct a fortified camp, a simple oblong of palisades with
two flanking projections at opposite angles to command all approaches;
the lazy scoundrels are sulky in consequence. Their daily occupation is
drinking merissa, sleeping, and strumming on the rababa, while that of
the black women is quarrelling--one ebony sister insulting the other by
telling her that she is as 'black as the kettle,' and recommending her,
'to eat poison.'"

"Oct. 17th.--I expect an attack of fever tomorrow or next day, as I
understand from constant and painful experiences every step of this
insidious disease. For some days one feels a certain uneasiness of
spirits difficult to explain; no peculiar symptom is observed until a
day or two before the attack, when great lassitude is felt, with a
desire to sleep. Rheumatic pains in the loins, back, and joints of the
limbs are accompanied by a sense of great weakness. A cold fit comes on
very quickly; this is so severe that it almost immediately affects the
stomach, producing painful vomiting with severe retching. The eyes are
heavy and painful, the head hot and aching, the extremities pale and
cold, pulse very weak, and about fifty-six beats per minute; the action
of the heart distressingly weak, with total prostration of strength.
This shivering and vomiting continues for about two hours, attended with
great difficulty of breathing. The hot stage then comes on, the retching
still continuing, with the difficulty of breathing, intense weakness and
restlessness for about an hour and a half, which, should the remedies be
successful, terminate in profuse perspiration and sleep. The attack
ends, leaving the stomach in a dreadful state of weakness. The fever is
remittent, the attack returning almost at the same hour every two days,
and reducing the patient rapidly to a mere skeleton; the stomach refuses
to act, and death ensues. Any severe action of the mind, such as grief
or anger, is almost certain to be succeeded by fever in this country. My
stock of quinine is reduced to a few grains, and my work lies before me;
my cattle are all dead. We are both weakened by repeated fever, and
travelling must be on foot."



CHAPTER X

LIFE AT OBBO.

For months we dragged on a miserable existence at Obbo, wrecked by
fever; the quinine exhausted; thus the disease worried me almost to
death, returning at intervals of a few days. Fortunately my wife did not
suffer so much as I did. I had nevertheless prepared for the journey
south; and as travelling on foot would have been impossible in our weak
state, I had purchased and trained three oxen in lieu of horses. They
were named "Beef," "Steaks," and "Suet." "Beef" was a magnificent
animal, but having been bitten by the flies, he so lost his condition
that I changed his name to "Bones." We were ready to start, and the
natives reported that early in January the Asua would be fordable. I had
arranged with Ibrahim that he should supply me with porters for payment
in copper bracelets, and that he should accompany me with one hundred
men to Kamrasi's country (Unyoro), on condition that he would restrain
his people from all misdemeanours, and that they should be entirely
subservient to me. It was the month of December, and during the nine
months that I had been in correspondence with his party I had succeeded
in acquiring an extraordinary influence. Although my camp was nearly
three-quarters of a mile from their zareeba, I had been besieged daily
for many months for everything that was wanted; my camp was a kind of
general store that appeared to be inexhaustible. I gave all that I had
with a good grace, and thereby gained the goodwill of the robbers,
especially as my large medicine chest contained a supply of drugs that
rendered me in their eyes a physician of the first importance. I had
been very successful with my patients; and the medicines that I
generally used being those which produced a very decided effect, both
the Turks and natives considered them with perfect faith. There was
seldom any difficulty in prognosticating the effect of tartar emetic,
and this became the favourite drug that was applied for almost daily; a
dose of three grains enchanting the patient, who always advertised my
fame by saying, "He told me I should be sick, and, by Allah! there was
no mistake about it." Accordingly there was a great run upon the tartar
emetic. Many people in Debono's camp had died, including several of my
deserters who had joined them. News was brought that, in three separate
fights with the natives, my deserters had been killed on every occasion,
and my men and those of Ibrahim unhesitatingly declared it was the "hand
of God." None of Ibrahim's men had died since we left Latooka. One man,
who had been badly wounded by a lance thrust through his abdomen, I
successfully treated; the trading party, who would at one time gladly
have exterminated me, now exclaimed, "What shall we do when the Sowar
(traveller) leaves the country?" Mrs. Baker had been exceedingly kind
to the women and children of both the traders and natives, and together
we had created so favourable an impression that we were always referred
to as umpires in every dispute. My own men, although indolent, were so
completely disciplined that they would not have dared to disobey an
order, and they looked back upon their former mutinous conduct with
surprise at their own audacity, and declared that they feared to return
to Khartoum, as they were sure that I should not forgive them.

I had promised Ibrahim that I would use my influence with the King of
Unyoro to procure him the ivory of that country;--I had a good supply
of beads, while Ibrahim had none; thus he was dependent upon me for
opening the road. Everything looked fair, and had I been strong and well
I should have enjoyed the future prospect; but I was weak and almost
useless, and weighed down with anxiety lest I might die and my wife
would be left alone.

The rains had ceased, and the wild grapes were ripe the natives brought
them in great quantities in exchange for a few beads. They were in
extremely large bunches, invariably black, and of a good size, but not
juicy--the flavour was good, and they were most refreshing, and
certainly benefited my health. I pressed about two hundred pounds of
grapes in the large sponging bath, but procured so little juice, and
that so thick, that winemaking proved a failure; it fermented, and we
drank it, but it was not wine. One day, hearing a great noise of voices
and blowing of horns in the direction of Katchiba's residence, I sent to
inquire the cause. The old chief himself appeared very angry and
excited. He said, that his people were very bad, that they had been
making a great noise and finding fault with him because he had not
supplied them with a few showers, as they wanted to sow their crop of
tullaboon. There had been no rain for about a fortnight.

"Well," I replied, "you are the rainmaker; why don't you give your
people rain?" "Give my people rain!" said Katchiba. "I give them rain if
they don't give me goats? You don't know my people; if I am fool enough
to give them rain before they give me the goats, they would let me
starve! No, no! let them wait--if they don't bring me supplies of corn,
goats, fowls, yams, merissa, and all that I require, not one drop of
rain shall ever fall again in Obbo! Impudent brutes are my people! Do
you know, they have positively threatened to kill me unless I bring the
rain? They shan't have a drop; I will wither the crops, and bring a
plague upon their flocks. I'll teach these rascals to insult me!"

With all this bluster, I saw that old Katchiba was in a great dilemma,
and that he would give anything for a shower, but that he did not know
how to get out of the scrape. It was a common freak of the tribes to
sacrifice the rainmaker, should he be unsuccessful. He suddenly altered
his tone, and asked, "Have you any rain in your country?" I replied that
we had, every now and then. "How do you bring it? Are you a rainmaker?"
I told him that no one believed in rainmakers in our country, but that
we understood how to bottle lightning (meaning electricity). "I don't
keep mine in bottles, but I have a houseful of thunder and lightning,"
he most coolly replied; "but if you can bottle lightning you must
understand rainmaking.

"What do you think of the weather today?" I immediately saw the drift of
the cunning old Katchiba; he wanted professional advice. I replied,
that he must know all about it, as he was a regular rainmaker. "Of
course I do," he answered, "but I want to know what YOU think of it."
"Well," I said, "I don't think we shall have any steady rain, but I
think we may have a heavy shower in about four days." (I said this as I
had observed fleecy clouds gathering daily in the afternoon). "Just my
opinion!" said Katchiba, delighted; "in four or perhaps in five days I
intend to give them one shower; just one shower; yes, I'll just step
down to them now, and tell the rascals, that if they will bring me some
goats by this evening, and some corn tomorrow morning, I will give them
in four or five days just one shower." To give effect to his declaration
he gave several toots upon his magic whistle. "Do you use whistles in
your country?" inquired Katchiba. I only replied by giving so shrill and
deafening a whistle on my fingers that Katchiba stopped his ears; and
relapsing into a smile of admiration he took a glance at the sky from
the doorway to see if any sudden effect bad been produced. "Whistle
again," he said; and once more I performed like the whistle of a
locomotive. "That will do, we shall have it," said the cunning old
rainmaker; and proud of having so knowingly obtained "counsel's opinion"
on his case, he toddled off to his impatient subjects.

In a few days a sudden storm of rain and violent thunder added to
Katchiba's renown, and after the shower, horns were blowing and nogaras
were beating in honour of their chief. Entre nous, my whistle was
considered infallible.

The natives were busy sowing the new crop just as the last crop was
ripening. It did not appear likely that they would reap much for their
labour, as the elephants, having an accurate knowledge of the season,
visited their fields nightly, and devoured and trampled the greater
portion. I had been too ill to think of shooting, as there was no other
method than to watch in the tullaboon fields at night; the high grass in
which the elephants harboured being impenetrable. Feeling a little
better I took my men to the field about a mile from the village, and dug
a hole, in which I intended to watch.

That night I took Richarn, and we sat together in our narrow grave.
There was no sound throughout the night. I was well wrapped up in a
Scotch plaid, but an attack of ague came on, and I shivered as though in
Lapland. I had several rifles in the grave; among others the "Baby,"
that carried a half-pound explosive shell. At about 4 A.M. I heard the
distant trumpet of an elephant, and I immediately ordered Richarn to
watch, and to report to me their arrival. It was extremely dark, but
Richarn presently sank slowly down, and whispered, "Here they are!"

Taking the "Baby," I quietly rose, and listening attentively, I could
distinctly hear the elephants tearing off the heads of the tullaboon,
and crunching the crisp grain. I could distinguish the dark forms of the
herd about thirty paces from me, but much too indistinct for a shot. I
stood with my elbows resting on the edge of the hole, and the heavy
rifle balanced, waiting for an opportunity. I had a papersight arranged
for night shooting, and I several times tried to get the line of an
elephant's shoulder, but to no purpose; I could distinguish the sight
clearly, but not the elephant. As I was watching the herd I suddenly
heard a trumpet close to my left, and I perceived an elephant quickly
walking exactly towards my grave. I waited with the rifle at my shoulder
until he was within about twelve paces; I then whistled, and he stopped,
and turned quickly, exposing his side. Taking the line of the foreleg, I
fired at the shoulder. The tremendous flash and smoke of ten drachms of
powder completely blinded me, and the sudden reaction of darkness
increased the obscurity. I could distinguish nothing; but I heard a
heavy fall, and a few moments after I could hear a rustling in the grass
as the herd of elephants retreated into the grass jungles. Richarn
declared that the elephant had fallen; but I again heard a rustling in
the high grass jungle within eighty yards of me, and this sound
continued in the same place. I accordingly concluded that the elephant
was very badly wounded, and that he could not move from the spot.
Nothing could be seen.

At length the birds began to chirp, and the "blacksmith" (as I named one
of the first to wake, whose two sharp ringing notes exactly resemble the
blows of a hammer upon an anvil) told me that it was nearly daybreak.
The grey of morning had just appeared when I heard voices, and I saw
Mrs. Baker coming along the field with a party of men, whom she had
brought down from the village with knives and axes. She had heard the
roar of the heavy rifle, and knowing the "Baby's" scream, and the usual
fatal effects, she had considered the elephant as bagged. The natives
had also heard the report, and people began to accumulate from all
quarters for the sake of the flesh. The elephant was not dead, but was
standing about ten yards within the grass jungle; however, in a short
time a heavy fall sounded his knell, and the crowd rushed in. He was a
fine bull, and before I allowed him to be cut up, I sent for the
measuring tape; the result being as follows:

 From tip of trunk to fleshy end of tail . . .            26 feet 0.5 inches
 Height from shoulder to forefoot in a perpendicular line 10 ft 6.5 in
 Girth of forefoot .. . . . . . . . . .                    4 ft 10.25 in
 Length of one tusk in the curve . . . . . . .             6 ft 6 in
 Ditto of fellow tusk (el Hadam, the servant) . . . .      5 ft 11 in
 Weight of tusks, 80 lbs. and 69 lbs. = 149 lbs.

The ridiculous accounts that I have read, stating that the height of
elephants attains FIFTEEN feet, is simply laughable ignorance. A
difference of a foot in an elephant's height is enormous; he appears a
giant among his lesser comrades. Observe the difference between a horse
sixteen hands high and a pony of thirteen hands, and the difference of a
foot in the height of a quadruped is exemplified. The word being given,
the crowd rushed upon the elephant, and about three hundred people were
attacking the carcase with knives and lances. About a dozen men were
working inside as though in a tunnel; they had chosen this locality as
being near to the fat, which was greatly coveted.

A few days later I attempted to set fire to the grass jungle, but it
would not burn thoroughly, leaving scorched stems that were rendered
still tougher by the fire. On the following evening I took a stroll over
the burnt ground to look for game. No elephants had visited the spot;
but as I was walking along expecting nothing, up jumped a wild boar and
sow from the entrance of a large hole of the Manis, or great scaled
anteater. Being thus taken by surprise, the boar very imprudently
charged me, and was immediately knocked over dead by a shot through the
spine from the little Fletcher rifle, while the left-hand barrel rolled
over his companion, who almost immediately recovered and disappeared in
the grass jungle; however, there was pork for those who liked it, and I
went to the camp and sent a number of natives to bring it home. The Obbo
people were delighted, as it was their favourite game, but none of my
people would touch the unclean animal. The wild pigs of this country
live underground; they take possession of the holes made by the Manis:
these they enlarge and form cool and secure retreats.

A bad attack of fever laid me up until the 31st of December. On the
first day of January, 1864, I was hardly able to stand, and was nearly
worn out at the very time that I required my strength, as we were to
start south in a few days.

Although my quinine had been long since exhausted, I had reserved ten
grains to enable me to start in case the fever should attack me at the
time of departure. I now swallowed my last dose, and on 3d January, I
find the following note in my journal: "All ready for a start tomorrow.
I trust the year 1864 will bring better luck than the past, that having
been the most annoying that I have ever experienced, and full of fever.
I hope now to reach Kamrasi's country in a fortnight, and to obtain
guides from him direct to the lake. My Latooka, to whom I have been very
kind, has absconded: there is no difference in any of these savages; if
hungry, they will fawn upon you, and when filled, they will desert. I
believe that ten years' residence in the Soudan and this country would
spoil an Angel, and would turn the best heart to stone."

It was difficult to procure porters, therefore I left all my effects at
my camp in charge of two of my men, and I determined to travel light,
without the tent, and to take little beyond ammunition and cooking
utensils. Ibrahim left forty-five men in his zareeba, and on the 5th of
January we started. Mrs. Baker rode her ox, but my animal being very
shy, I ordered him to be driven for about a mile with the others to
accustom him to the crowd: not approving of the expedition, he bolted
into the high grass with my English saddle, and I never saw him again.
In my weak state I had to walk. We had not gone far when a large fly
fastened upon Mrs. Baker's ox, just by his tail, the effect of which was
to produce so sudden a kick and plunge, that he threw her to the ground
and hurt her considerably: she accordingly changed the animal, and rode
a splendid ox that Ibrahim very civilly offered. I had to walk to the
Atabbi, about eighteen miles, which, although a pleasant stroll when in
good health, I found rather fatiguing. We bivouacked on the south bank
of the Atabbi.

The next morning, after a walk of about eight miles, I purchased of one
of the Turks the best ox that I have ever ridden, at the price of a
double-barrelled gun---it was a great relief to be well mounted, as I
was quite unfit for a journey on foot.

At 4.30 P.m. we arrived at one of the villages of Farajoke. The
character of the country had entirely changed; instead of the rank and
superabundant vegetation of Obbo, we were in a beautiful open country,
naturally drained by its undulating character, and abounding in most
beautiful low pasturage. Vast herds of cattle belonged to the different
villages, but these had all been driven to concealment, as the report
had been received that the Turks were approaching. The country was
thickly populated, but the natives appeared very mistrustful; the Turks
immediately entered the villages, and ransacked the granaries for corn,
digging up the yams, and helping themselves to everything as though
quite at home. I was on a beautiful grass sward on the gentle slope of a
hill: here I arranged to bivouac for the night.

In three days' march from this point through beautiful park-like
country, we arrived at the Asua river. The entire route from Farajoke
had been a gentle descent, and I found this point of the Asua in lat N.
3 degrees 12 minutes to be 2,875 feet above the sea level, 1,091 feet
lower than Farajoke. The river was a hundred and twenty paces broad, and
from the bed to the top of the perpendicular banks was about fifteen
feet. At this season it was almost dry, and a narrow channel of about
six inches deep flowed through the centre of the otherwise exhausted
river. The bed was much obstructed by rocks, and the inclination was so
rapid that I could readily conceive the impossibility of crossing it
during the rains. It formed the great drain of the country, all its
waters flowing to the Nile, but during the dry months it was most
insignificant. The country between Farajoke and the Asua, although
lovely, was very thinly populated, and the only villages that I saw were
built upon low hills of bare granite, which lay in huge piles of
disjointed fragments.

On arrival at the river, while the men were washing in the clear stream,
I took a rifle and strolled along the margin; I shortly observed a herd
of the beautiful Mehedehet antelopes feeding upon the rich but low grass
of a sandbank in the very centre of the river. Stalking them to within a
hundred and twenty paces they obtained my wind, and, ceasing to graze,
they gazed intently at me. I was on the high bank among the bushes, and
I immediately picked out the biggest, and fired, missing my mark. All
dashed away except the animal at which I fired, who stood in uncertainty
for a few moments, when the second barrel of the Fletcher 24 rifle
knocked him over, striking him through the neck. Hearing the quick
double shot, my people came running to the spot, accompanied by a number
of the native porters, and were rejoiced to find a good supply of meat;
the antelope weighed about five hundred pounds, and was sufficient to
afford a good dinner for the whole party.

The Mehedehet is about 13 hands high, with rough, brown hair like the
Samber deer of India. Our resting-place was on the dry, rocky bed of the
river, close to the edge of the shallow but clear stream that rippled
over the uneven surface. Some beautiful tamarind trees afforded a most
agreeable shade, and altogether it was a charming place to bivouac.
Although at Obbo the grass was not sufficiently dry to burn, in this
country it was reduced to a crisp straw, and I immediately set fire to
the prairies; the wind was strong, and we had a grand blaze, the flames
crackling and leaping about thirty feet high, and sweeping along with so
mad a fury that within an hour the entire country was a continuous line
of fire. Not a trace of vegetation remained behind; the country appeared
as though covered with a pall of black velvet. Returning from my work, I
found my camping place well arranged--beds prepared, and a good dinner
ready of antelope soup and cutlets. On waking the next morning, I found
that the Turks had all disappeared during the night, and that I was
alone with my people. It was shortly explained that they had departed to
attack some village, to which they were guided by some natives who had
accompanied them from Farajoke.

I accordingly took my rifle and strolled along the margin of the river
to look for game, accompanied by two of my porters. Although it was a
most likely country, being a natural park well timbered, with a river
flowing through the midst, there was a great scarcity of wild animals.
At length, in crossing a ravine that had stopped the progress of the
fire, an antelope (water buck) jumped out of a hollow, and, rushing
through the high grass, he exposed himself for an instant in crossing
the summit of a bare knoll, and received a ball from the little Fletcher
in the hindquarters. Although badly wounded, he was too nimble for my
natives, who chased him with their spears for about a quarter of a mile.
These fellows tracked him beautifully, and we at length found him hiding
in a deep pool in the river, and he was immediately dispatched.

After a long walk, during which I did not obtain another shot, I
returned to my resting-place, and, refreshed by a bathe in the cool
river, I slept as sound as though in the most luxurious bed in England.
On the following morning I went out early, and shot a small species of
antelope; and shortly after my return to breakfast, the Turks' party
arrived, bringing with them about three hundred head of cattle that they
had captured from the Madi tribe. They did not seem at all in good
spirits, and I shortly heard that they had lost their standard-bearer,
killed in the fight, and that the flag had been in great peril, and had
been saved by the courage of a young Bari slave. The ensign was
separated from the main party, and was attacked by four natives, who
killed the bearer, and snatched away the flag: this would inevitably
have been lost, had not the Bari boy of about fifteen shot the foremost
native dead with a pistol, and, snatching the flag from his hands, ran
with it towards the Turks, some of whom coming up at that instant, the
natives did not think it wise to pursue their advantage. A number of
slaves had been captured; among others, several young children, one of
whom was an infant. These unfortunate women and children, excepting the
infant, were all tied by the neck with a long leathern thong, so as to
form a living chain, and guards were set over them to prevent escape.

The Bari natives would make good soldiers, as they are far more
courageous than most of the savage tribes. The best men among the party
of Ibrahim are Baris; among them is a boy named Arnout; he is the
drummer, and he once saved his master in a fight by suddenly presenting
his drumstick like a pistol at several natives, who had attacked him
while unloaded. The natives, seeing the determined attitude of the boy,
and thinking that the drumstick was a firearm, ran off. We started at
daybreak on 13th January, and, ascending the whole way, we reached
Shooa, in latitude 3 degrees 4 minutes. The route throughout had been of
the same parklike character, interspersed with occasional hills of fine
granite, piled in the enormous blocks so characteristic of that stone.

Shooa was a lovely place. A fine granite mountain ascended in one block
in a sheer precipice for about 800 feet from its base, perfectly abrupt
on the eastern side, while the other portions of the mountain were
covered with fine forest trees, and picturesquely dotted over with
villages. This country formed a natural park, remarkably well watered by
numerous rivulets, ornamented with fine timber, and interspersed with
numerous high rocks of granite, which from a distance produced the
effect of ruined castles.

The pasturage was of a superior quality, and of the same description as
that of Farajoke. The country being undulating, there was a small brook
in every valley that formed a natural drain. Accordingly, the more
elevated land was remarkably dry and healthy. On arrival at the foot of
the abrupt mountain, we camped beneath an immense india-rubber tree,
that afforded a delightful shade, from which elevated spot we had a
superb view of the surrounding country, and could see the position of
Debono's camp, about twenty-five miles to the west by north, at the foot
of the Faloro hills.

By Casella's thermometer, I determined the altitude of Shooa to be 3,877
feet--1,002 feet above the Asua river, and 89 feet lower than
Farajoke. These observations of the thermometer agreed with the natural
appearance of the country, the Asua river forming the main drain in a
deep valley, into which innumerable rivulets convey the drainage from
both north and south. Accordingly, the Asua, receiving the Atabbi river,
which is the main drain of the western face of the Madi mountains, and
the entire drainage of the Madi and Shooa countries, together with that
of extensive countries to the east of Shooa, including the rivers Chombi
and Udat, from Lira and Umiro, it becomes a tremendous torrent so long
as the rains continue, and conveys a grand volume of water to the Nile;
but the inclination of all these countries tending rapidly to the
northwest, the bed of the Asua river partakes of the general incline,
and so quickly empties after the cessation of the rains that it becomes
nil as a river. By the mean of several observations I determined the
latitude of Shooa 3 degrees 04 minutes, longitude 32 degrees 04 minutes
E.

We were now about twelve miles south of Debono's outpost, Faloro. The
whole of the Shooa country was assumed to belong to Mahommed Wat-el-Mek,
the vakeel of Debono, and we had passed the ashes of several villages
that had been burnt and plundered by these people between Farajoke and
this point; the entire country had been laid waste.

There was no great chief at Shooa; each village had a separate headman;
formerly the population had occupied the lower ground, but since the
Turks had been established at Faloro and had plundered the neighbouring
tribes, the natives had forsaken their villages and had located
themselves among the mountains for security. It was the intention of
Ibrahim to break through the rules accepted by the White Nile traders,
and to establish himself at Shooa, which, although claimed by Debono's
people, would form an excellent point d'appui for operations towards the
unknown south.

Shooa was "flowing with milk and honey;" fowls, butter, goats, were in
abundance and ridiculously cheap; beads were of great value, as few had
ever reached that country. The women flocked to see Mrs. Baker, bringing
presents of milk and flour, and receiving beads and bracelets in return.
The people were precisely the same as those of Obbo and Farajoke in
language and appearance, exceedingly mild in their manner, and anxious
to be on good terms.

The cultivation in this country was superior to anything that I had seen
farther north; large quantities of sesame were grown and carefully
harvested, the crop being gathered and arranged in oblong frames about
twenty feet long by twelve high. These were inclined at an angle of
about sixty--the pods of the sesame plants on one face, so that the
frames resembled enormous brushes. In this manner the crop was dried
previous to being stored in the granaries. Of the latter there were two
kinds---the wicker-work smeared with cow dung, supported on four posts,
with a thatched roof; and a simple contrivance by fixing a stout pole
about twenty feet long perpendicularly in the earth. About four feet
from the ground a bundle of strong and long reeds are tied tightly round
the pole; hoops of wicker-work are then bound round them at intervals
until they assume the form of an inverted umbrella half expanded; this
being filled with grain, fresh reeds are added, until the work has
extended to within a few feet of the top of the pole; the whole is then
capped with reeds securely strapped: the entire granary has the
appearance of a cigar, but thicker in proportion about the middle.

Two days after our arrival at Shooa, the whole of our Obbo porters
absconded: they had heard that we were bound for Kamrasi's country, and
having received exaggerated accounts of his power from the Shooa people,
they had determined upon retreat: thus we were at once unable to
proceed, unless we could procure porters from Shooa. This was
exceedingly difficult, as Kamrasi was well known here, and was not
loved. His country was known as "Quanda," and I at once recognised the
corruption of Speke's "Uganda." The slave woman, "Bacheeta," who had
formerly given me in Obbo so much information concerning Kamrasi's
country, was to be our interpreter; but we also had the luck to discover
a lad who had formerly been employed by Mahommed in Faloro, who also
spoke the language of Quanda, and had learnt a little Arabic. I now
discovered that the slave woman Bacheeta had formerly been in the
service of a chief named Sali, who had been killed by Kamrasi. Sali was
a friend of Rionga (Kamrasi's greatest enemy), and I had been warned by
Speke not to set foot upon Rionga's territory, or all travelling in
Unyoro would be cut off. I plainly saw that Bacheeta was in favour of
Rionga, as a friend of the murdered Sali, by whom she had had two
children, and that she would most likely tamper with the guide, and that
we should be led to Rionga instead of to Kamrasi. There were "wheels
within wheels." It was now reported that in the past year, immediately
after the departure of Speke and Grant from Gondokoro, when Debono's
people had left me in the manner already described, they had marched
direct to Rionga, allied themselves to him, crossed the Nile with his
people, and had attacked Kamrasi's country, killing about three hundred
of his men, and capturing many slaves. I now understood why they had
deceived me at Gondokoro; they had obtained information of the country
from Speke's people, and had made use of it by immediately attacking
Kamrasi in conjunction with Rionga.

This would be a pleasant introduction for me on entering Unyoro, as
almost immediately after the departure of Speke and Grant, Kamrasi had
been invaded by the very people into whose hands his messengers had
delivered them, when they were guided from Unyoro to the Turks' station
at Faloro; he would naturally have considered that the Turks had been
sent by Speke to attack him; thus the road appeared closed to all
exploration, through the atrocities of Debono's people.

Many of Ibrahim's men, at hearing this intelligence, refused to proceed
to Unyoro. Fortunately for me, Ibrahim had been extremely unlucky in
procuring ivory; the year had almost passed away, and he had a mere
nothing with which to return to Gondokoro. I impressed upon him how
enraged Koorshid would be should he return with such a trifle; already
his own men declared that he was neglecting razzias, because he was to
receive a present from me if we reached Unyoro; this they would report
to his master (Koorshid), and it would be believed should he fail in
securing ivory. I guaranteed him 100 cantars (10,000 lbs.) if he would
push on at all hazards with me to Kamrasi, and secure me porters from
Shooa. Ibrahim behaved remarkably well. For some time past I had
acquired a great influence over him, and he depended so thoroughly upon
my opinion that he declared himself ready to do all that I suggested.
Accordingly I desired him to call his men together, and to leave in
Shooa all those who were disinclined to follow us.

At once I arranged for a start, lest some fresh idea should enter the
ever-suspicious brains of our followers, and mar the expedition.

It was difficult to procure porters, and I abandoned all that was not
indispensable--our last few pounds of rice and coffee, and even the
great sponging-bath, that emblem of civilization that had been clung to
even when the tent had been left behind.

On the 18th January, 1864, we left Shooa. The pure air of that country
had invigorated us, and I was so improved in strength, that I enjoyed
the excitement of the launch into unknown lands. The Turks knew nothing
of the route south, and I accordingly took the lead of the entire party.
I had come to a distinct understanding with Ibrahim that Kamrasi's
country should belong to ME; not an act of felony would be permitted;
all were to be under my government, and I would insure him at least 100
cantars of tusks.

Eight miles of agreeable march through the usual parklike country
brought us to the village of Fatiko, situated upon a splendid plateau of
rock upon elevated ground with beautiful granite cliffs, bordering a
level tableland of fine grass that would have formed a racecourse. The
high rocks were covered with natives, perched upon the outline like a
flock of ravens.

We halted to rest under some fine trees growing among large isolated
blocks of granite and gneiss. In a short time the natives assembled
around us: they were wonderfully friendly, and insisted upon a personal
introduction to both myself and Mrs. Baker. We were thus compelled to
hold a levee; not the passive and cold ceremony of Europe, but a most
active undertaking, as each native that was introduced performed the
salaam of his country, by seizing both my hands and raising my arms
three times to their full stretch above my head. After about one hundred
Fatikos had been thus gratified by our submission to this infliction,
and our arms had been subjected to at least three hundred stretches
each, I gave the order to saddle the oxen immediately, and we escaped a
further proof of Fatiko affection that was already preparing, as masses
of natives were streaming down the rocks hurrying to be introduced.
Notwithstanding the fatigue of the ceremony, I took a great fancy to
these poor people: they had prepared a quantity of merissa and a sheep
for our lunch, which they begged us to remain and enjoy before we
started; but the pumping action of half a village not yet gratified by a
presentation was too much; and, mounting our oxen, with aching shoulders
we bade adieu to Fatiko.

Descending the picturesque rocky hill of Fatiko, we entered upon a
totally distinct country. We had now before us an interminable sea of
prairies, covering to the horizon a series of gentle undulations
inclining from east to west. There were no trees except the dolape
palms; these were scattered at long intervals in the bright yellow
surface of high grass. The path was narrow, but good, and after an
hour's march we halted for the night on the banks of a deep and clear
stream, the Un-y-ame;--this stream is perennial, and receiving many
rivulets from Shooa, it forms a considerable torrent during the rainy
season, and joins the Nile in N. lat. 3 degrees 32 minutes at the limit
reached by Signor Miani, 1859, the first traveller who ever attained a
point so far south in Nile explorations from Egypt. There was no wood
for fires, neither dung of animals; thus without fuel we went supperless
to bed. Although the sun was painfully hot during the day, the nights
were so cold (about 55 degrees F) that we could hardly sleep.

For two days we marched through high dry grass, (about ten feet), when a
clear night allowed an observation, and the meridian altitude of Capella
gave latitude 2 degrees 45 minutes 37 seconds. In this interminable sea
of prairie it was interesting to watch our progress south. On the
following day our guide lost the road; a large herd of elephants had
obscured it by trampling hundreds of paths in all directions. The wind
was strong from the north, and I proposed to clear the country to the
south by firing the prairies. There were numerous deep swamps in the
bottoms between the undulations, and upon arrival at one of these green
dells we fired the grass on the opposite side. In a few minutes it
roared before us, and we enjoyed the grand sight of the boundless
prairies blazing like infernal regions, and rapidly clearing a path
south. Flocks of buzzards and the beautiful varieties of flycatchers
thronged to the dense smoke to prey upon the innumerable insects that
endeavoured to escape from the approaching fire.

In about an hour we marched over the black and smoking ground, every now
and then meeting dead stumps of palm trees blazing; until we at length
reached another swamp. There the fire had terminated in its course
south, being stopped by the high green reeds, and it was raging to the
east and west. Again the tedious operation had to be performed, and the
grass was fired in many places on the opposite side of the swamp, while
we waited until the cleared way was sufficiently cool to allow the
march. We were perfectly black, as the wind brought showers of ashes
that fell like snow, but turned us into Ethiopians. I had led the way on
foot from the hour we left Fatiko, as, the country being uninhabited for
five days' march between that place and Kamrasi's, the men had more
faith in my steering by the compass than they had in the native guide. I
felt sure that we were being deceived, and that the woman Bacheeta had
directed the guide to take us to Rionga's. Accordingly that night, when
Canopus was in the meridian, I asked our conductor to point by a star
the direction of Karuma Falls. He immediately pointed to Canopus, which
I knew by Speke's map should be the direction of Rionga's islands, and I
charged him with the deceit. He appeared very much astonished, and asked
me "why I wanted a guide if I knew the way?" confessing that Karuma
Falls were "a little to the east of the star." I thanked Speke and Grant
at that moment, and upon many other occasions, for the map they had so
generously given me! It has been my greatest satisfaction to have
completed their great discovery, and to bear testimony to the
correctness of their map and general observations.

The march was exceedingly fatiguing: there was a swamp at least every
half hour during the day, at each of which we had the greatest
difficulty in driving the oxen, who were above the girths in mud. One
swamp was so deep that we had to carry the luggage piecemeal on an
angarep by about twelve men, and my wife being subjected to the same
operation was too heavy, and the people returned with her as
impracticable. I accordingly volunteered for service, and carried her on
my back; but when in the middle of the swamp, the tenacious bottom gave
way, and I sank, and remained immoveably fixed, while she floundered
froglike in the muddy water. I was extricated by the united efforts of
several men, and she was landed by being dragged through the swamp. We
marched for upwards of ten hours per day, so great were the delays in
crossing the morasses and in clearing off the grass jungle by burning.

On the fourth day we left the prairies, and entered a noble forest; this
was also so choked with high grass that it was impossible to proceed
without burning the country in advance. There had been no semblance of a
path for some time; and the only signs of game that we had seen were the
tracks of elephants and a large herd of buffaloes, the fire having
scared all wild animals from the neighbourhood. An attack of fever
seized me suddenly, and I was obliged to lie down for four or five hours
under a tree until the fit had passed away, when, weak and good for
nothing, I again mounted my ox and rode on. On the 22d January, from an
elevated position in the forest at sunrise, we saw a cloud of fog
hanging in a distant valley, which betokened the presence of the
Somerset river. The guide assured us that we should reach the river that
day. I extract the note from my journal on that occasion:

"Marched, 6h. 20m., reaching the Somerset river, or Victoria White Nile.
I never made so tedious a journey, owing to the delays of grass,
streams, and deep swamps, but since we gained the forest these obstacles
were not so numerous. Many tracks of elephants, rhinoceros, and
buffaloes; but we saw nothing. Halted about eighty feet above the river;
altitude above sea level, by observation, 3,864 ft. I went to the river
to see if the other side was inhabited; saw two villages on an island;
the natives came across in a canoe, bringing the BROTHER OF RIONGA with
them; the guide, as I had feared during the journey, has deceived us,
and taken us direct to Rionga's country. On the north side the river all
is uninhabited forest, full of buffalo and elephant pitfalls, into which
three of our cattle have already fallen, including my beautiful riding
ox, which is thus so sprained as to be rendered useless. "The natives at
first supposed we were Mahommed Wat-el-Mek's people, but finding their
mistake they would give no information, merely saying that the lake was
not far from here. They said 'they were friends of Mahommed's people who
attacked Kamrasi, and Rionga being his enemy became their ally.' I must
now be very careful, lest the news should reach Kamrasi that I am in
Rionga's country, which would cut off all chance of travelling in
Unyoro. "The slave woman, Bacheeta, secretly instructed the guide to
lead us to Rionga instead of to Kamrasi, precisely as I had suspected.
The Karuma Falls are a day's march east of this, at which point we must
cross the river. Obtained a clear observation of Capella, meridian
altitude showing latitude 2 degrees 18 minutes N."

We could get no supplies from Rionga's people, who returned to their
island after their conference with Bacheeta, promising to send us some
plantains and a basket of flour; but upon gaining their secure retreat
they shouted, "that we might go to Kamrasi if we liked, but that we
should receive no assistance from them." Early in the morning we started
for Karuma. This part of the forest was perfectly open, as the grass had
been burnt by the natives about three weeks ago, and the young shoots of
the vines were appearing from the scorched roots; among other plants was
an abundance of the prickly asparagus, of which I collected a basketful.
Nothing could exceed the beauty of the march. Our course through the
noble forest was parallel with the river, that roared beneath us on our
right in a succession of rapids and falls between high cliffs covered
with groves of bananas and varieties of palms, including the graceful
wild date---the certain sign of either marsh or river. The Victoria Nile
or Somerset river was about 150 yards wide; the cliffs on the south side
were higher than those upon the north, being about 150 feet above the
river. These heights were thronged with natives, who had collected from
the numerous villages that ornamented the cliffs situated among groves
of plantains; they were armed with spears and shields; the population
ran parallel to our line of march, shouting and gesticulating as though
daring us to cross the river.

After a most enjoyable march through the exciting scene of the glorious
river crashing over innumerable falls--and in many places ornamented
with rocky islands, upon which were villages and plantain groves--we at
length approached the Karuma Falls, close to the village of Atada above
the ferry. The heights were crowded with natives, and a canoe was sent
across to within parleying distance of our side, as the roar of the
rapids prevented our voices from being heard except at a short distance.
Bacheeta now explained, that SPEKE'S BROTHER had arrived from his
country to pay Kamrasi a visit, and had brought him valuable presents."

"Why has he brought so many men with him?" inquired the people from the
canoe.

"There are so many presents for the M'Kamma (King) that he has many men
to carry them," shouted Bacheeta.

"Let us look at him!" cried the headman in the boat: having prepared for
the introduction by changing my clothes in a grove of plantains for my
dressing room, and altering my costume to a tweed suit, something
similar to that worn by Speke, I climbed up a high and almost
perpendicular rock that formed a natural pinnacle on the face of the
cliff, and, waving my cap to the crowd on the opposite side, I looked
almost as imposing as Nelson in Trafalgar Square.

I instructed Bacheeta, who climbed up the giddy height after me, to
shout to the people that an English lady, my wife, had also arrived, and
that we wished immediately to be presented to the king and his family,
as we had come to thank him for his kind treatment of Speke and Grant,
who had arrived safe in their own county. Upon this being explained and
repeated several times, the canoe approached the shore.

I ordered all our people to retire, and to conceal themselves among the
plantains, that the natives might not be startled by so imposing a
force, while Mrs. Baker and I advanced alone to meet Kamrasi's people,
who were men of some importance. Upon landing through the high reeds,
they immediately recognized the similarity of my beard and general
complexion to that of Speke; and their welcome was at once displayed by
the most extravagant dancing and gesticulating with lances and shields,
as though intending to attack, rushing at me with the points of their
lances thrust close to my face, and shouting and singing in great
excitement.

I made each of them a present of a bead necklace, and explained to them
my wish that there should be no delay in my presentation to Kamrasi, as
Speke had complained that he bad been kept waiting fifteen days before
the king had condescended to see him; that, if this occurred, no
Englishman would ever visit him, as such a reception would be considered
an insult. The headman replied that he felt sure I was not an impostor;
but that very shortly after the departure of Speke and Grant in the
previous year, a number of people had arrived in their name, introducing
themselves as their greatest friends: they had been ferried across the
river, and well received by Kamrasi's orders, and had been presented
with ivory, slaves, and leopard skins, as tokens of friendship; but they
had departed, and suddenly returned with Rionga's people, and had
attacked the village in which they had been so well received; and upon
the country being assembled to resist them, about three hundred of
Kamrasi's men had been killed in the fight. The king had therefore given
orders that, upon pain of death, no stranger should cross the river. He
continued: that when they saw our people marching along the bank of the
river, they imagined them to be the same party that had attacked them
formerly, and they were prepared to resist them, and had sent on a
messenger to Kamrasi, who was three days' march from Karuma, at his
capital M'rooli; until they received a reply, it would be impossible to
allow us to enter the country. He promised to despatch another messenger
immediately to inform the king who we were, but that we must certainly
wait until his return. I explained that we had nothing to eat, and that
it would be very inconvenient to remain in such a spot; that I
considered the suspicion displayed was exceedingly unfair, as they must
see that my wife and I were white people like Speke and Grant, whereas
those who had deceived them were of a totally different race, all being
either black or brown.

I told him that it did not much matter; that I had very beautiful
presents intended for Kamrasi; but that another great king would be only
too glad to accept them, without throwing obstacles in my way. I should
accordingly return with my presents.

At the same time I ordered a handsome Persian carpet, about fifteen feet
square, to be displayed as one of the presents intended for the king.
The gorgeous colours, as the carpet was unfolded, produced a general
exclamation before the effect of astonishment wore off, I had a basket
unpacked, and displayed upon a cloth a heap of superb necklaces, that we
had prepared while at Obbo, of the choicest beads, many as large as
marbles, and glittering with every colour of the rainbow. The garden of
jewels of Aladdin's wonderful lamp could not have produced more enticing
fruit. Beads were extremely rare in Kamrasi's land; the few that existed
had arrived from Zanzibar, and all that I exhibited were entirely new
varieties. I explained that I had many other presents, but that it was
not necessary to unpack them, as we were about to return with them to
visit another king, who lived some days' journey distant. "Don't go;
don't go away," said the headman and his companions. "Kamrasi will--."

Here an unmistakeable pantomimic action explained their meaning better
than words; throwing their heads well back, they sawed across their
throats with their forefingers, making horrible grimaces, indicative of
the cutting of throats. I could not resist laughing at the terror that
my threat of returning with the presents had created, they explained,
that Kamrasi would not only kill them, but would destroy the entire
village of Atada should we return without visiting him, but that he
would perhaps punish them in precisely the same manner should they ferry
us across without special orders. "Please yourselves," I replied; "if my
party is not ferried across by the time the sum reaches that spot on the
heavens (pointing to the position it would occupy at about 3 P.M.), I
shall return." In a state of great excitement they promised to hold a
conference on the other side, and to see what arrangements could be
made. They returned to Atada, leaving the whole party, including
Ibrahim, exceedingly disconcerted--having nothing to eat, an impassable
river before them, and five days' march of uninhabited wilderness in
their rear.

Karuma Falls were about three hundred yards to our left as we faced
Atada; they were very insignificant, not exceeding five feet in height,
but curiously regular, as a ridge of rock over which they fell extended
like a wall across the river. The falls were exactly at the bend of the
river, which, from that point, turned suddenly to the west. The whole
day passed in shouting and gesticulating our peaceful intentions to the
crowd assembled on the heights on the opposite side of the river, but
the boat did not return until long after the time appointed; even then
the natives would only approach sufficiently near to be heard, but
nothing would induce them to land. They explained, that there was a
division of opinion among the people on the other side; some were in
favour of receiving us, but the greater number were of opinion that we
intended hostilities; therefore we must wait until orders could be sent
from the king.

To assure the people of our peaceful intentions, I begged them to take
Mrs. Baker and myself ALONE, and to leave the armed party on this side
of the river until a reply should be received from Kamrasi. At this
suggestion the boat immediately returned to the other side.

The day passed away, and as the sun set we perceived the canoe again
paddling across the river; this time it approached direct, and the same
people landed that had received the necklaces in the morning. They said
that they had held a conference with the headman, and that they had
agreed to receive my wife and myself, but no other person. I replied,
that my servants must accompany us, as we were quite as great personages
as Kamrasi, and could not possibly travel without attendants. To this
they demurred; therefore I dropped the subject, and proposed to load the
canoe with all the presents intended for Kamrasi. There was no objection
to this, and I ordered Richarn, Saat, and Ibrahim to get into the canoe
to stow away the luggage as it should be handed to them, but on no
account to leave the boat. I had already prepared everything in
readiness; and a bundle of rifles tied up in a large blanket, and 500
rounds of ball cartridge, were unconsciously received on board as
PRESENTS. I had instructed Ibrahim to accompany us as my servant, as he
was better than most of the men in the event of a row; and I had given
orders, that in case of a preconcerted signal being given, the whole
force should swim the river, supporting themselves and guns upon bundles
of papyrus rush.

The men thought us perfectly mad, and declared that we should be
murdered immediately when on the other side; however, they prepared for
crossing the river in case of treachery.

At the last moment, when the boat was about to leave the shore, two of
the best men jumped in with their guns; however, the natives positively
refused to start; therefore, to avoid suspicion, I ordered them to
retire, but I left word that on the morrow I would send the canoe across
with supplies, and that one or two men should endeavour to accompany the
boat to our side on every trip.

It was quite dark when we started. The canoe was formed of a large
hollow tree, capable of holding twenty people, and the natives paddled
us across the rapid current just below the falls. A large fire was
blazing upon the opposite shore, on a level with the river, to guide us
to the landing place. Gliding through a narrow passage in the reeds, we
touched the shore and landed upon a slippery rock, close to the fire,
amidst a crowd of people, who immediately struck up a deafening welcome
with horns and flageolets, and marched us up the steep face of the rocky
cliff through a dark grove of bananas. Torches led the way, followed by
a long file of spearmen; then came the noisy band and ourselves--I
towing my wife up the precipitous path, while my few attendants followed
behind with a number of natives who had volunteered to carry the
luggage.

On arrival at the top of the cliff, we were about 180 feet above the
river, and after a walk of about a quarter of a mile, we were
triumphantly led into the heart of the village, and halted in a small
courtyard in front of the headman's residence.

Keedja waited to receive us by a blazing fire. Not having had anything
to eat, we were uncommonly hungry, and to our great delight a basketful
of ripe plantains was presented to us; these were the first that I had
seen for many years. A gourd bottle of plantain wine was offered, and
immediately emptied; it resembled extremely poor cider. We were now
surrounded by a mass of natives, no longer the naked savages to whom we
had been accustomed, but well-dressed men, wearing robes of bark cloth,
arranged in various fashions, generally like the Arab "tope," or the
Roman toga. Several of the headmen now explained to us the atrocious
treachery of Debono's men, who had been welcomed as friends of Speke and
Grant, but who had repaid the hospitality by plundering and massacreing
their hosts. I assured them that no one would be more wroth than Speke
when I should make him aware of the manner in which his name had been
used, and that I should make a point of reporting the circumstance to
the British Government. At the same time I advised them not to trust any
but white people, should others arrive in my name, or in those of Speke
and Grant. I upheld their character as that of Englishmen, and I begged
them to state "if ever they had deceived them?" They replied, that
"there could not be better men." I answered, "You MUST trust me, as I
trust entirely in you, and have placed myself in your hands; but if you
have ever had cause to mistrust a white man, kill me at once!--either
kill me, or trust in me; but let there be no suspicions."

They seemed much pleased with the conversation, and a man stepped
forward and showed me a small string of blue beads that Speke had given
him for ferrying him across the river. This little souvenir of my old
friend was most interesting; after a year's wandering and many
difficulties, this was the first time that I had actually come upon his
track. Many people told me that they had known Speke and Grant; the
former bore the name of "Mollegge" (the bearded one), while Grant had
been named "Masanga" (the elephant's tusk), owing to his height. The
latter had been wounded at Lucknow during the Indian mutiny, and I spoke
to the people of the loss of his finger; this crowned my success, as
they knew without doubt that I had seen him. It was late, therefore I
begged the crowd to depart, but to send a messenger the first thing in
the morning to inform Kamrasi who we were, and to beg him to permit us
to visit him without loss of time.

A bundle of straw was laid on the ground for Mrs. Baker and myself, and,
in lieu of other beds, the ground was our resting place. It was bitterly
cold that night, as the guns were packed up in the large blanket, and,
not wishing to expose them, we were contented with a Scotch plaid each.
Ibrahim, Saat, and Richarn watched by turns. On the following morning an
immense crowd of native thronged to see us. There was a very beautiful
tree about a hundred yards from the village, capable of shading upwards
of a thousand men, and I proposed that we should sit beneath this
protection and hold a conference. The headman of the village gave us a
large hut with a grand doorway of about seven feet high, of which my
wife took possession, while I joined the crowd at the tree. There were
about six hundred men seated respectfully on the ground around me, while
I sat with my back to the huge knotty trunk, with Ibrahim and Richarn at
a few paces distant.

The subject of conversation was merely a repetition that of the
preceding night, with the simple addition some questions respecting the
lake. Not a man would give the slightest information; the only reply,
upon my forcing the question, was the pantomime already described, by
passing the forefinger across the throat, and exclaiming "Kamrasi!" The
entire population was tongue-locked.

I tried the children; to no purpose, they were all dumb. White-headed
old men I questioned as to the distance of the lake from this point:
they replied, "We are children, ask the old people who know the
country." Never was freemasonry more secret than the land of Unyoro. It
was useless to persevere. I therefore changed the subject by saying that
our people were starving on the other side, and that provisions must be
sent immediately. In all savage countries the most trifling demand
requires much talking. They said that provisions were scarce, and that
until Kamrasi should give the order, they could give no supplies.
Understanding most thoroughly the natural instincts of the natives, I
told them that I must send the canoe across to fetch three oxen that I
wished to slaughter. The bait took at once, and several men ran for the
canoe, and we sent one of our black women across with a message to the
people that three men, with their guns and ammunition, were to accompany
the canoe and guide three oxen across by swimming them with ropes tied
to their horns. These were the riding oxen of some of the men that it
was necessary to slaughter, to exchange the flesh for flour and other
supplies.

Hardly had the few boatmen departed, than some one shouted suddenly, and
the entire crowd sprang to their feet and rushed towards the hut where I
had left Mrs. Baker. For the moment I thought that the hut was on fire,
and I joined the crowd and arrived at the doorway, where I found a
tremendous press to see some extraordinary sight. Everyone was squeezing
for the best place; and, driving them on one side, I found the wonder
that had excited their curiosity. The hut being very dark, my wife had
employed her solitude during my conference with the natives in dressing
her hair at the doorway, which, being very long and blonde, was suddenly
noticed by some natives--a shout was given, the rush described had taken
place, and the hut was literally mobbed by the crowd of savages eager to
see the extraordinary novelty. The Gorilla would not make a greater stir
in London streets than we appeared to create at Atada.

The oxen shortly arrived; one was immediately killed, and the flesh
divided into numerous small portions arranged upon the hide.

Blonde hair and white people immediately lost their attractions, and the
crowd turned their attention to beef--we gave them to understand that
we required flour, beans, and sweet potatoes in exchange.

The market soon went briskly, and whole rows of girls and women arrived,
bringing baskets filled with the desired provisions. The women were
neatly dressed in short petticoats with a double skirt-many exposed the
bosom, while others wore a piece of bark cloth arranged as a plaid
across the chest and shoulders. This cloth is the produce of a species
of fig tree, the bark of which is stripped off in large pieces and then
soaked in water and beaten with a mallet: in appearance it much
resembles corduroy, and is the colour of tanned leather; the finer
qualities are peculiarly soft to the touch, as though of woven cotton.
Every garden is full of this species of tree, as their cultivation is
necessary for the supply of clothing; when a man takes a wife he plants
a certain number of trees, that are to be the tailors of the expected
family.

The market being closed, the canoe was laden with provisions, and sent
across to our hungry people on the other side the river.

The difference between the Unyoro people and the tribes we had hitherto
seen was most striking. On the north side of the river the natives were
either stark naked, or wore a mere apology for clothing in the shape of
a skin slung across their shoulders: the river appeared to be the limit
of utter savagedom, and the people of Unyoro considered the indecency of
nakedness precisely in the same light as among Europeans.

The northern district of Unyoro at Karuma is called Chopi, the language
being the same as the Madi, and different to the southern and central
portions of the kingdom. The people are distinct in their type, but they
have the woolly hair of negroes, like all other tribes of the White
Nile.

By astronomical observation I determined the latitude of Atada at Karuma
Falls, 2 degrees 15 minutes; and by Casella's thermometer, the altitude
of the river level above the sea 3,996 feet.

After the disgusting naked tribes that we had been travelling amongst
for more than twelve months, it was a delightful change to find
ourselves in comparative civilization: this was evinced not only in the
decency of clothing, but also in the manufactures of the country. The
blacksmiths were exceedingly clever, and used iron hammers instead of
stone; they drew fine wire from the thick copper and brass wire that
they received from Zanzibar; their bellows were the same as those used
by the more savage tribes--but the greatest proof of their superior
civilization was exhibited in their pottery.

Nearly all savages have some idea of earthenware; but the scale of
advancement of a country between savagedom and civilization may
generally be determined by the example of its pottery. The Chinese, who
were as civilized as they are at the present day at a period when the
English were barbarians, were ever celebrated for the manufacture of
porcelain, and the difference between savages and civilized countries is
always thus exemplified; the savage makes earthenware, but the civilized
make porcelain--thus the gradations from the rudest earthenware will
mark the improvement in the scale of civilization. The prime utensil of
the African savage is the gourd; the shell of which is the bowl
presented to him by nature as the first idea from which he is to model.
Nature, adapting herself to the requirements of animals and man, appears
in these savage countries to yield abundantly much that savage man can
want. Gourds with exceedingly strong shells not only grow wild, which if
divided in halves afford bowls, but great and quaint varieties form
natural bottles of all sizes, from the tiny phial to the demijohn
containing five gallons. The most savage tribes content themselves with
the productions of nature, confining their manufacture to a coarse and
half-baked jar for carrying water; but the semi-savage, like those of
Unyoro, affords an example of the first step towards manufacturing art,
by the fact of COPYING FROM NATURE: the utter savage makes use of
nature--the gourd is his utensil; and the more advanced natives of
Unyoro adopt it as the model for their pottery. They make a fine quality
of jet black earthenware, producing excellent tobacco-pipes most finely
worked in imitation of the small egg-shaped gourd; of the same
earthenware they make extremely pretty bowls, and also bottles copied
from the varieties of the bottle gourds: thus, in this humble art, we
see the first effort of the human mind in manufactures, in taking nature
for a model; precisely as the beautiful Corinthian capital originated in
a design from a basket of flowers.

A few extracts from my journal will describe the delay at Atada:--

"JAN. 26th, 1864.--The huts are very large, about 20 feet in diameter,
made entirely of reeds and straw, and very lofty, looking in the
interior like huge inverted baskets, beehive shaped, very different to
the dog-kennels of the more northern tribes. We received a message today
that we were not to expect Kamrasi, as 'great men were never in a hurry
to pay visits.' None of the principal chiefs have yet appeared. Kidgwiga
is expected today; but people are flocking in from the country to see
the white lady. It is very trying to the patience to wait here until it
pleases these almighty niggers to permit our people to cross the river."

"JAN. 27th.--Time passing fruitlessly while every day is valuable. The
rains will, I fear, commence before my work is completed; and the Asua
river, if flooded, will cut off my return to Gondokoro. In this district
there is a large population and extensive cultivation. There are many
trees resembling the Vacoua of Mauritius, but the leaves are of a
different texture, producing a species of flax. Every day there is a
report that the headman, sent by Kamrasi, is on the road; but I see no
signs of him."

"JAN. 28th.--Reports brought that Kamrasi has sent his headman with a
large force, including some of Speke's deserters. They are to inspect
me, and report whether I am really a white man and an Englishman. If so,
I believe we are to proceed; if not, I suppose we are to be
exterminated. Lest there should be any mistake I have taken all
necessary precautions; but, having only eight men on this side the
river, I shall be certain to lose my baggage in the event of a
disturbance, as no one could transport it to the canoe."

"JAN. 29th.--Plantains, sweet potatoes, and eggs supplied in great
quantities. The natives are much amused at our trying the eggs in water
before purchase. Plantains, three for one small bead. The headman is
expected today. A polite message arrived last night from Kamrasi
inviting us to his capital, and apologizing for being unable to come in
person. This morning the force, sent by Kamrasi, is reported to be
within an hour's march of Atada. "In midday the headman arrived with a
great number of men, accompanied by three of Speke's deserters, one of
whom has been created a chief by Kamrasi, and presented with two wives.

"I received them standing; and after thorough inspection I was
pronounced to be 'Speke's own brother,' and all were satisfied. However,
the business was not yet over: plenty of talk, and another delay of four
days, was declared necessary until the king should reply to the
satisfactory message about to be sent. Losing all patience, I stormed,
declaring Kamrasi to be mere dust; while a white man was a king in
comparison. I ordered all my luggage to be conveyed immediately to the
canoe, and declared that I would return immediately to my own country;
that I did not wish to see any one so utterly devoid of manners as
Kamrasi, and that no other white man would ever visit his kingdom.

"The effect was magical! I rose hastily to depart. The chiefs implored,
declaring that Kamrasi would kill them all if I retreated: to prevent
which misfortune they secretly instructed the canoe to be removed. I was
in a great rage; and about 400 natives, who were present, scattered in
all quarters, thinking that there would be a serious quarrel. I told the
chiefs that nothing should stop me, and that I would seize the canoe by
force unless my whole party should be brought over from the opposite
side that instant. This was agreed upon. One of Ibrahim's men exchanged
and drank blood from the arm of Speke's deserter, who was Kamrasi's
representative; and peace thus firmly established, several canoes were
at once employed, and sixty of our men were brought across the river
before sunset. The natives had nevertheless taken the precaution to send
all their women away from the village."

"JAN. 30th.--This morning all remaining men and baggage were brought
across the river, and supplies were brought in large quantities for
sale. We are to march tomorrow direct to Kamrasi's capital; they say he
will give me a guide to the lake.

"The natives of this country are particularly neat in all they do; they
never bring anything to sell unless carefully packed in the neatest
parcels, generally formed of the bark of the plantain, and sometimes of
the inner portions of reeds stripped into snow-white stalks, which are
bound round the parcels with the utmost care. Should the plantain cider,
'maroua,' be brought in a jar, the mouth is neatly covered with a
fringe-like mat of these clean white rushes split into shreds. Not even
tobacco is brought for sale unless most carefully packed. During a
journey, a pretty, bottle-shaped, long-necked gourd is carried with a
store of plantain cider: the mouth of the bottle is stopped with a
bundle of the white rush shreds, through which a reed is inserted that
reaches to the bottom: thus the drink can be sucked up during the march
without the necessity of halting; nor is it possible to spill it by the
movement of walking.

"The natives prepare the skins of goats very beautifully, making them as
soft as chamois leather; these they cut into squares, and sew together
as neatly as would be effected by a European tailor, converting them
into mantles which are prized far more highly than bark cloth, on
account of their durability: they manufacture their own needles, not by
boring the eye, but by sharpening the end into a fine point and turning
it over, the extremity being hammered into a small cut in the body of
the needle to prevent it from catching.

"Clothes of all kinds are in great demand here, and would be accepted to
any amount in exchange for ivory. Beads are extremely valuable, and
would purchase ivory in large quantities, but the country would, in a
few years, become overstocked. Clothes being perishable articles would
always be in demand to supply those worn out; but beads, being
imperishable, very soon glut the market. Here is, as I had always
anticipated, an opportunity for commencing legitimate trade."

"JAN. 31st.--Throngs of natives arrived to carry our luggage GRATIS by
the king's orders. Started at 7 A.M. and marched ten miles and a half
parallel with the Nile, south; the country thickly populated, and much
cultivated with sesame, sweet potatoes, beans, tullaboon, dhurra, Indian
corn, and plantains.

"The native porters relieved each other at every village, fresh men
being always in readiness on the road. The river is here on a level with
the country, having no high banks; thus there is a great fall from
Karuma towards the west. Halted in a grove of plantains near a village.
The plantains of this country are much higher than those of Ceylon, and
the stems are black, rising to 25 or 30 feet. The chief of the district
came to meet us, and insisted upon our remaining at his village today
and tomorrow to 'eat and drink,' or Kamrasi would kill him; thus we are
delayed when time is precious. The chief's name is 'Matta-Goomi.' There
is now no secret about the lake. Both he and all the natives say that
the Luta N'zige lake is larger than the Victoria N'yanza, and that both
lakes are fed by rivers from the great mountain Bartooma. Is that
mountain the M'fumbiro of Speke? the difference of name being local.
According to the position of the mountain pointed out by the chief, it
bears from this spot S. 45 degrees W. Latitude of this place by meridian
altitude of Capella, 2 degrees 5 minutes 32 seconds.

"F. (my wife) taken seriously ill with bilious fever."

"FEB. 1st.--F. dreadfully ill; all the natives have turned out of their
villages, leaving their huts and gardens at our disposal. This is the
custom of the country should the king give orders that a visitor is to
be conducted through his dominions.

"The natives of Unyoro have a very superior implement to the molote used
among the northern tribes; it is an extremely powerful hoe, fitted upon
a handle, similar to those used on the sugar estates in the West Indies,
but the blade is heart-shaped: with these they cultivate the ground very
deep for their beds of sweet potatoes. The temperature during the day
ranges from 80 degrees to 84 degrees, and at night it is cold, 56
degrees to 58 degrees Fahr. It is very unhealthy, owing to the proximity
of the river."

"FEB. 2d.--Marched five miles. F. carried in a litter, very ill. I fell
ill likewise. Halted."

"FEB. 3d.--F. very ill. Carried her four miles and halted."

"FEB. 4th.--F. most seriously ill. Started at 7:30 A.M., she being
carried in a litter; but I also fell ill upon the road, and having been
held on my ox by two men for some time, I at length fell in their arms,
and was laid under a tree for about five hours; getting better, I rode
for two hours, course south. Mountains in view to south and southeast,
about ten miles distant. The country, forest interspersed with villages:
the Somerset generally parallel to the route. There are no tamarinds in
this neighbourhood, nor any other acid fruit; thus one is sorely pressed
in the hours of fever. One of the black women servants, Fadeela, is
dying of fever."

"FEB. 5th.--F. (Mrs. Baker) so ill, that even the litter is too much
for her. Heaven help us in this country! The altitude of the river level
above the sea at this point is 4,056 feet."

"Feb. 6th.--F. slightly better. Started at 7 A.M. The country the same
as usual. Halted at a village after a short march of three miles and a
half. Here we are detained for a day while a message is sent to Kamrasi.
Tomorrow, I believe, we are to arrive at the capital of the tyrant. He
sent me a message today, that the houses he had prepared for me had been
destroyed by fire, and to beg me to wait until he should have completed
others. The truth is, he is afraid of our large party, and he delays us
in every manner possible, in order to receive daily reports of our
behaviour on the road. Latitude by observation at this point, 1 degree
50 minutes 47 seconds N."

"FEB. 7th.--Detained here for a day. I never saw natives so filthy in
their dwellings as the people of Unyoro. Goats and fowls share the but
with the owner, which, being littered down with straw, is a mere
cattle-shed, redolent of man and beast. The natives sleep upon a mass of
straw, upon a raised platform, this at night being covered with a
dressed skin. Yesterday the natives brought coffee in small quantities
to sell. They have no idea of using it as a drink, but simply chew it
raw as a stimulant. It is a small and finely-shaped grain, with a good
flavour. It is brought from the country of Utumbi, about a degree south
of this spot."

"FEB. 8th.--Marched eight miles due south. The river makes a long bend
to E.N.E., and this morning's march formed the chord of the arc. Halted;
again delayed for the day, as we are not far from the capital, and a
messenger must be sent to the king for instructions before we proceed. I
never saw such abject cowardice as the redoubted Kamrasi exhibits.
Debono's vakeel having made a razzia upon his frontier has so cowed him,
that he has now left his residence, and retreated to the other side of a
river, from which point he sends false messages to delay our advance as
much as possible. There is a total absence of dignity in his behaviour;
no great man is sent to parley, but the king receives contradictory
reports from the many-tongued natives that have utterly perplexed him.
He is told by some that we are the same people that came with Ras-Galla
(Debono's captain), and he has neither the courage to repel or to
receive us. Our force of 112 armed men could eat the country in the
event of a fight, provided that a large supply of ammunition were at
hand. The present store is sixty rounds for each man, which would not be
sufficient."

"FEB. 9th.--After endless discussions and repeated messages exchanged
with the king, he at length sent word that I was to come ALONE. To this
I objected; and, upon my starting with my men, the guide refused to
proceed. I at once turned back, and told the chief (our guide) that I no
longer wished to see Kamrasi, who must be a mere fool, and I should
return to my country. This created a great stir, and messengers were at
once despatched to the king, who returned an answer that I might bring
all my men, but that only five of the Turks could be allowed with
Ibrahim. The woman Bacheeta had told the natives that we were separate
parties.

"A severe attack of fever prevented me from starting. This terrible
complaint worries me sadly, as I have no quinine."

"FEB. 10th.--The woman Fadeela died of fever. I am rather better, and
the chief is already here to escort us to Kamrasi. After a quick march
of three hours through immense woods, we reached the capital--a large
village of grass huts, situated on a barren slope. We were ferried
across a river in large canoes, capable of carrying fifty men, but
formed of a single tree upwards of four feet wide. Kamrasi was reported
to be in his residence on the opposite side; but, upon our arrival at
the south bank, we found ourselves thoroughly deceived. We were upon a
miserable flat, level with the river, and in the wet season forming a
marsh at the junction with the Kafoor river with the Somerset. The
latter river bounded the flat on the east, very wide and sluggish, and
much overgrown with papyrus and lotus. The river we had just crossed was
the Kafoor; it was perfectly dead water, and about eighty yards wide,
including the beds of papyrus on either side. We were shown some filthy
huts that were to form our camp. The spot was swarming with mosquitoes,
and we had nothing to eat except a few fowls that I had brought with me.
Kamrasi was on the OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER: they had cunningly separated
us from him, and had returned with the canoes. Thus we were prisoners
upon the swamp. This was our welcome from the King of Unyoro! I now
heard that Speke and Grant had been lodged in this same spot."

"FEB. 10th.--Ibrahim was extremely nervous, as were also my men; they
declared that treachery was intended, as the boats had been withdrawn,
and they proposed that we should swim the river and march back to our
main party, who had been left three hours in the rear. I was ill with
fever, also my wife, and the unwholesome air of the marsh aggravated the
disease. Our luggage had been left at our last station, as this was a
condition stipulated by Kamrasi: thus we had to sleep upon the damp
ground of the marsh in the filthy hut, as the heavy dew at night
necessitated shelter. With great difficulty I accompanied Ibrahim and a
few men to the bank of the river where we had landed yesterday, and,
climbing upon a white ant hill to obtain a view over the high reeds, I
scanned the village with a telescope. The scene was rather exciting;
crowds of people were rushing about in all directions, and gathering
from all quarters towards the river: the slope from the river to the
town M'rooli was black with natives, and I saw about a dozen large
canoes preparing to transport them to our side. I returned from my
elevated observatory to Ibrahim, who, on the low ground only a few yards
distant, could not see the opposite side of the river owing to the high
grass and reeds. Without saying more, I merely begged him to mount upon
the ant hill and look towards M'rooli. Hardly had he cast a glance at
the scene described, than he jumped down from his stand, and cried,
'They are going to attack us!' 'Let us retreat to the camp and prepare
for a fight!' 'Let us fire at them from here as they cross in the
canoes,' cried others; 'the buckshot will clear them off when packed in
the boats.' This my panic-stricken followers would have done, had I not
been present.

"'Fools!' I said, 'do you not see that the natives have no SHIELDS with
them, but merely lances?--would they commence an attack without their
shields? Kamrasi is coming in state to visit us.' This idea was by no
means accepted by my people, and we reached our little camp, and for the
sake of precaution we stationed the men in positions behind a hedge of
thorns. Ibrahim had managed to bring twelve picked men instead of five
as stipulated; thus we were a party of twenty-four. I was of very little
use, as the fever was so strong upon me that I lay helpless on the
ground."

In a short time the canoes arrived, and for about an hour they were
employed in crossing and recrossing, and landing great numbers of men,
until they at length advanced and took possession of some huts about 200
yards from our camp. They now hallooed out that Kamrasi had arrived! and
seeing some oxen with the party, I felt sure they had no evil
intentions. I ordered my men to carry me in their arms to the king, and
to accompany me with the presents, as I was determined to have a
personal interview, although only fit for a hospital.

Upon my approach, the crowd gave way, and I was shortly laid on a mat at
the king's feet. He was a fine-looking man, but with a peculiar
expression of countenance, owing to his extremely prominent eyes; he was
about six feet high, beautifully clean, and was dressed in a long robe
of bark-cloth most gracefully folded. The nails of his hands and feet
were carefully attended, and his complexion was about as dark a brown as
that of an Abyssinian. He sat upon a copper stool placed upon a carpet
of leopard skins, and he was surrounded by about ten of his principal
chiefs.

Our interpreter, Bacheeta, now informed him who I was, and what were my
intentions. He said that he was sorry I had been so long on the road,
but that he had been obliged to be cautious, having been deceived by
Debono's people. I replied, that I was an Englishman, a friend of Speke
and Grant--that they had described the reception they had met with from
him, and that I had come to thank him, and to offer him a few presents
in return for his kindness, and to request him to give me a guide to the
Lake Luta N'zige. He laughed at the name and repeated it several times
with his chiefs,--he then said, it was not LUTA, but M-WOOTAN
N'zige--but that it was SIX MONTHS' journey from M'rooli, and that in my
weak condition I could not possibly reach it; that I should die upon the
road, and that the king of my country would perhaps imagine that I had
been murdered, and might invade his territory. I replied, that I was
weak with the toil of years in the hot countries of Africa, but that I
was in search of the great lake, and should not return until I had
succeeded; that I had no king, but a powerful Queen who watched over all
her subjects, and that no Englishman could be murdered with impunity;
therefore he should send me to the lake without delay, and there would
be the lesser chance of my dying in his country.

I explained that the river Nile flowed for a distance of two years'
journey through wonderful countries, and reached the sea, from which
many valuable articles would be sent to him in exchange for ivory, could
I only discover the great lake. As a proof of this, I had brought him a
few curiosities that I trusted he would accept, and I regretted that the
impossibility of procuring porters had necessitated the abandonment of
others that had been intended for him.

I ordered the men to unpack the Persian carpet, which was spread upon
the ground before him. I then gave him an Abbia (large white Cashmere
mantle), a red silk netted sash, a pair of scarlet Turkish shoes,
several pairs of socks, a double-barrelled gun and ammunition, and a
great heap of first-class beads made up into gorgeous necklaces and
girdles. He took very little notice of the presents, but requested that
the gun might be fired off. This was done, to the utter confusion of the
crowd, who rushed away in such haste, that they tumbled over each other
like so many rabbits; this delighted the king, who, although himself
startled, now roared with laughter. He told me that I must be hungry and
thirsty, therefore he hoped I would accept something to eat and drink:
accordingly he presented me with seventeen cows, twenty pots of sour
plantain cider and many loads of unripe plantains. I inquired whether
Speke had left a medicine chest with him. He replied that it was a very
feverish country, and that he and his people had used all the medicine.
Thus my last hope of quinine was cut off. I had always trusted to obtain
a supply from the king, as Speke had told me that he had left a bottle
with him. It was quite impossible to obtain any information from him,
and I was carried back to my hut, where I found Mrs. Baker lying down
with fever, and neither could render assistance to the other.

On the following morning the king again appeared. I was better, and I
had a long interview. He did not appear to heed my questions, but he at
once requested that I would ally myself with him, and attack his enemy,
Rionga. I told him that I could not embroil myself in such quarrels, but
that I had only one object, which was the lake. I requested that he
would give Ibrahim a large quantity of ivory, and that on his return
from Gondokoro he would bring him most valuable articles in exchange. He
said that he was not sure whether "my belly was black or white,"--by
this he intended to express "evil or good intentions;" but that if it
were white I should of course have no objection to exchange blood with
him, as a proof of friendship and sincerity. This was rather too strong
a dose! I replied that it would be impossible, as in my country the
shedding of blood was considered a proof of hostility; therefore he must
accept Ibrahim as my substitute. Accordingly the arms were bared and
pricked; as the blood flowed, it was licked by either party; and an
alliance was concluded. Ibrahim agreed to act with him against all his
enemies. It was arranged that Ibrahim now belonged to Kamrasi, and that
henceforth our parties should be entirely separate.

It rained in torrents, and our hut became so damp from the absorption of
the marsh soil, that my feet sank in the muddy floor. I had fever daily
at about 3 P.M. and lay perfectly helpless for five or six hours, until
the attack passed off; this reduced me to extreme weakness. My wife
suffered quite as acutely. It was a position of abject misery, which
will be better explained by a few rough extracts from my journal:--

"FEB. 16th.--ALL MY PORTERS HAVE DESERTED, having heard that the lake is
so far distant; I have not one man left to carry my luggage. Should we
not be able to cross the Asua river before the flood, we shall be nailed
for another year to this abominable country, ill with fever, and without
medicine, clothes, or supplies.

"FEB. 17th.--Fever last night; rain, as usual, with mud accompaniment.
One of Kamrasi's headmen, whose tongue I have loosened by presents,
tells me that he has been to the lake in ten days to purchase salt, and
that a man loaded with salt can return in fifteen days. God knows the
truth! and I am pressed for time, while Kamrasi delays me in the most
annoying manner.

"Kamrasi came today; as usual, he wanted all that I had, and insisted
upon a present of my sword, watch, and compass, all of which I
positively refused. I told him that he had deceived me by saying that
the lake was so distant as six months' journey, as I knew that it was
only ten days. He rudely answered, 'Go, if you like; but don't blame me
if you can't get back: it is twenty days' march; you may believe it or
not, as you choose.' To my question as to the means of procuring
porters, he gave no reply, except by asking for my sword, and for my
beautiful little Fletcher rifle.

"I retired to my hut in disgust. This afternoon a messenger arrived from
the king with twenty-four small pieces of straw, cut into lengths of
about four inches. These he laid carefully in a row, and explained that
Speke had given that number of presents, whereas I had only given ten,
the latter figure being carefully exemplified by ten pieces of straw; he
wished to know 'why I did not give him the same number as he had
received from Speke?' This miserable, grasping, lying coward is
nevertheless a king, and the success of my expedition depends upon him."

"FEB. 20th.--Cloudy, as usual; neither sun, moon, nor stars will show
themselves. Fortunately, milk can be procured here. I live upon
buttermilk. Kamrasi came, and gave twenty elephants' tusks as a present
to Ibrahim. There is a report that Debono's people, under the command of
Ras-Galla, are once more at Rionga's; this has frightened him awfully."

Feb. 21st.-This morning Kamrasi was civil enough to allow us to quit the
marsh, the mosquito-nest and fever-bed where we had been in durance,
and we crossed to the other side of the Kafoor river, and quartered in
M'rooli. I went to see him, and, after a long consultation, he promised
to send me to the lake tomorrow. I immediately took off my sword and
belt, and presented them to him, explaining that, as I was now convinced
of his friendship, I had a pleasure in offering my sword as a proof of
my amicable feeling, as I thus placed the weapon of self-defence in his
hand, and I should trust to his protection. As a proof of the temper of
the blade, I offered to cut through the strongest shield he could
produce. This delighted him amazingly. I now trust to be able to reach
the junction of the Somerset with the M-wootan N'zige at Magungo, and
from thence to overtake Ibrahim at Shooa, and to hurry on to Gondokoro,
where a boat will be waiting for me from Khartoum.

"Ibrahim and his men marched this morning, on their return to Karuma,
leaving me here with my little party of thirteen men.

"Should I succeed in discovering the lake I shall thank God most
sincerely. The toil, anxiety, the biting annoyances I have daily been
obliged to put up with in my association with the Turks, added to our
now constant ill-health, are enough to break down the constitution of an
elephant. Every day I must give!--to the Turks, give!--to the natives,
give! If I lend anything to the Turks, it is an insult should I ask for
its return. One hasty word might have upset my boat; and now, for twelve
months, I have had to talk, to explain, to manage, and to lead the
brutes in this direction, like a coachman driving jibbing horses. Hosts
of presents to Ibrahim, combined with a vivid description of the
advantages that he would secure by opening a trade with Kamrasi, at
length led him to this country, which I could not have reached without
his aid, as it would have been impossible for me to have procured
porters without cattle. The porters I have always received from him as
far as Karuma for a payment of six copper rings per head for every
journey. I have now arranged that he shall leave for me thirty head of
cattle at Shooa; thus, should he have started for Gondokoro before my
arrival at Shooa, I shall be able to procure porters, and arrive in time
for the expected boat.

"Up to this day astronomical observations have been impossible, a thick
coat of slate colour obscuring the heavens. Tonight I obtained a good
observation of Canopus, giving latitude 1 degree 38 minutes N. By
Casella's thermometer I made the altitude of the Somerset at M'rooli
4,061 feet above the sea, showing a fall of 65 feet between this point
and below the falls at Karuma in a distance of 37 miles of latitude.

"Just as Ibrahim was leaving this morning I was obliged to secure the
slave Bacheeta as interpreter, at the price of three double-barrelled
guns to purchase her freedom. I explained to her that she was now free,
and that I wished her to act as interpreter during my stay in Unyoro;
and that I would then leave her in her own country, Chopi, on my return
from the lake. Far from being pleased at the change, she regretted the
loss of the Turks, and became excessively sulky, although my wife decked
her out with beads, and gave her a new petticoat to put her in a good
humour."

"Feb. 22d.--Kamrasi promised to send me porters, and that we should
start for the lake today, but there is no sign of preparation; thus am I
delayed when every day is so precious. Added to this trouble, the woman
that I have as an interpreter wall not speak, being the most sulky
individual I ever encountered. In the evening Kamrasi sent to say he
would give a guide and porters tomorrow morning. It is impossible to
depend upon him."

After some delay we were at length honoured by a visit from Kamrasi,
accompanied by a number of his people, and he promised that we should
start on the following day. He pointed out a chief and a guide who were
to have us in their charge, and who were to see that we obtained all
that we should require. He concluded, as usual, by asking for my watch
and for a number of beads; the latter I gave him, together with a
quantity of ammunition for his guns. He showed me a beautiful
double-barrelled rifle by Blissett, that Speke had given him. I wished
to secure this, to give to Speke on my return to England, as he had told
me, when at Gondokoro, how he had been obliged to part with that and
many other articles sorely against his will. I therefore offered to give
him three common double-barrelled guns in exchange for the rifle. This
he declined, as he was quite aware of the difference in quality. He then
produced a large silver chronometer that he had received from Speke. "It
was DEAD," he said, "and he wished me to repair it." This I declared to
be impossible. He then confessed to having explained its construction,
and the cause of the "ticking," to his people, by the aid of a needle,
and that it had never ticked since that occasion. I regretted to see
such "pearls cast before swine," as the rifle and chronometer in the
hands of Kamrasi. Thus he had plundered Speke and Grant of all they
possessed before he would allow them to proceed.

It is the rapacity of the chiefs of the various tribes that renders
African exploration so difficult. Each tribe wishes' to monopolize your
entire stock of valuables, without which the traveller would be utterly
helpless. The difficulty of procuring porters limits the amount of
baggage thus a given supply must carry you through a certain period of
time; if your supply should fail, the expedition terminates with your
power of giving. It is thus extremely difficult to arrange the
expenditure so as to satisfy all parties, and still to retain a
sufficient balance. Being utterly cut off from all communication with
the world, there is no possibility of receiving assistance. The
traveller depends entirely upon himself, under Providence, and must.
adapt himself and his means to circumstances.



CHAPTER XI.

THE START FOR THE LAKE:

The day of starting at length arrived; the chief and guide appeared, and
we were led to the Kafoor river, where canoes were in readiness to
transport us to the south side. This was to our old quarters on the
marsh. The direct course to the lake was west, and I fully expected some
deception, as it was impossible to trust Kamrasi. I complained to the
guide, and insisted upon his pointing out the direction of the lake,
which he did, in its real position, west; but he explained that we must
follow the south bank of the Kafoor river for some days, as there was an
impassable morass that precluded a direct course. This did not appear
satisfactory, and the whole affair looked suspicious, as we had formerly
been deceived by being led across the river in the same spot, and not
allowed to return. We were now led along the banks of the Kafoor for
about a mile, until we arrived at a cluster of huts; here we were to
wait for Kamrasi, who had promised to take leave of us. The sun was
overpowering, and we dismounted from our oxen, and took shelter in a
blacksmith's shed. In about an hour Kamrasi arrived, attended by a
considerable number of men, and took his seat in our shed. I felt
convinced that his visit was simply intended to peel the last skin from
the onion. I had already given him nearly all that I had, but he hoped
to extract the whole before I should depart.

He almost immediately commenced the conversation by asking for a pretty
yellow muslin Turkish handkerchief fringed with silver drops that Mrs.
Baker wore upon her head: one of these had already been given to him,
and I explained that this was the last remaining, and that she required
it .... He "must" have it .... It was given.

He then demanded other handkerchiefs. We had literally nothing but a few
most ragged towels; he would accept no excuse, and insisted upon a
portmanteau being unpacked, that he might satisfy himself by actual
inspection. The luggage, all ready for the journey, had to be unstrapped
and examined, and the rags were displayed in succession; but so wretched
and uninviting was the exhibition of the family linen, that he simply
returned them, and said "they did not suit him." Beads he must have, or
I was "his enemy." A selection of the best opal beads was immediately
given him. I rose from the stone upon which I was sitting, and declared
that we must start immediately. "Don't be in a hurry," he replied; "you
have plenty of time; but you have not given me that watch you promised
me." .... This was my only watch that he had begged for, and had been
refused every day during my stay at M'rooli. So pertinacious a beggar I
had never seen. I explained to him that, without the watch, my, journey
would be useless, but that I would give him all that I had except the
watch when the exploration should be completed, as I should require
nothing on my direct return to Gondokoro. At the same time, I repeated
to him the arrangement for the journey that he had promised, begging him
not to deceive me, as my wife and I should both die if we were compelled
to remain another year in this country by losing the annual boats in
Gondokoro. The understanding was this: he was to give me porters to the
lake, where I was to be furnished with canoes to take me to Magungo,
which was situated at the junction of the Somerset. From Magungo he told
me that I should see the Nile issuing from the lake close to the spot
where the Somerset entered, and that the canoes should take me down the
river, and porters should carry my effects from the nearest point to
Shooa, and deliver me at my old station without delay. Should he be
faithful to this engagement, I trusted to procure porters from Shooa,
and to reach Gondokoro in time for the annual boats. I had arranged that
a boat should be sent from Khartoum to await me at Gondokoro early in
this year, 1864; but I felt sure that should I be long delayed, the boat
would return without me, as the people would be afraid to remain alone
at Gondokoro after the other boats had quitted.

In our present weak state another year of Central Africa without quinine
appeared to warrant death; it was a race against time, all was untrodden
ground before us, and the distance quite uncertain. I trembled for my
wife, and weighed the risk of another year in this horrible country
should we lose the boats. With the self-sacrificing devotion that she
had shown in every trial, she implored me not to think of any risks on
her account, but to push forward and discover the lake---that she had
determined not to return until she had herself reached the "M'wootan
N'zige."

I now requested Kamrasi to allow us to take leave, as we had not an hour
to lose. In the coolest manner he replied, "I will send you to the lake
and to Shooa, as I have promised; but, YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR WIFE WITH ME!"
At that moment we were surrounded by a great number of natives, and my
suspicions of treachery at having been led across the Kafoor river
appeared confirmed by this insolent demand. If this were to be the end
of the expedition I resolved that it should also be the end of Kamrasi,
and, drawing my revolver quietly, I held it within two feet of his
chest, and looking at him with undisguised contempt, I told him that if
I touched the trigger, not all his men could save him: and that if he
dared to repeat the insult I would shoot him on the spot. At the same
time I explained to him that in my country such insolence would entail
bloodshed, and that I looked upon him as an ignorant ox who knew no
better, and that this excuse alone could save him. My wife, naturally
indignant, had risen from her seat, and, maddened with the excitement of
the moment, she made him a little speech in Arabic (not a word of which
he understood), with a countenance almost as amiable as the head of
Medusa. Altogether the Mise en Scene utterly astonished him; the woman
Bacheeta, although savage, had appropriated the insult to her mistress,
and she also fearlessly let fly at Kamrasi, translating as nearly as she
could the complimentary address that Medusa had just delivered.

Whether this little coup de theatre had so impressed Kamrasi with
British female independence that he wished to be off his bargain, I
cannot say, but with an air of complete astonishment, he said, "Don't be
angry! I had no intention of offending you by asking for your wife; I
will give you a wife, if you want one, and I thought you might have no
objection to give me yours; it is my custom to give my visitors pretty
wives, and I thought you might exchange. Don't make a fuss about it; if
you don't like it, there's an end of it; I will never mention it again."
This very practical apology I received very sternly, and merely insisted
upon starting. He seemed rather confused at having committed himself,
and to make amends he called his people and ordered them to carry our
loads.

His men ordered a number of women, who had assembled out of curiosity,
to shoulder the luggage and carry it to the next village, where they
would be relieved. I assisted my wife upon her ox, and with a very cold
adieu to Kamrasi, I turned my back most gladly on M'rooli.

The country was a vast flat of grass land interspersed with small
villages and patches of sweet potatoes; these were very inferior, owing
to the want of drainage. For about two miles we continued on the banks
of the Kafoor river; the women who carried the luggage were straggling
in disorder, and my few men were much scattered in their endeavours to
collect them. We approached a considerable village; but just as we were
nearing it, out rushed about six hundred men with lances and shields,
screaming and yelling like so many demons. For the moment, I thought it
was an attack, but almost immediately I noticed that women and children
were mingled with the men.

My men had not taken so cool a view of the excited throng that was now
approaching us at full speed, brandishing their spears, and engaging
with each other in mock combat. "There's a fight!---there's a fight! "my
men exclaimed; "we are attacked! fire at them, Hawaga." However, in a
few seconds I persuaded them that it was a mere parade, and that there
was no danger. With a rush, like a cloud of locusts, the natives closed
around us, dancing, gesticulating, and yelling before my ox, feigning to
attack us with spears and shields, then engaging in sham fights with
each other, and behaving like so many madmen. A very tall chief
accompanied them; and one of their men was suddenly knocked down, and
attacked by the crowd with sticks and lances, and lay on the ground
covered with blood: what his offence had been I did not hear. The entire
crowd were most grotesquely got up, being dressed in either leopard or
white monkey skins, with cows' tails strapped on behind, and antelopes'
horns fitted upon their heads, while their chins were ornamented with
false beards, made of the bushy ends of cows' tails sewed together.
Altogether, I never saw a more unearthly set of creatures; they were
perfect illustrations of my childish ideas of devils--horns, tails,
and all, excepting the hoofs; they were our escort! furnished by Kamrasi
to accompany us to the lake. Fortunately for all parties the Turks were
not with us on that occasion, or the satanic escort would certainly have
been received with a volley when they so rashly advanced to compliment
us by their absurd performances.

We marched till 7 P.M. over flat, uninteresting country, and then halted
at a miserable village which the people had deserted, as they expected
our arrival. The following morning I found much difficulty in getting
our escort together, as they had been foraging throughout the
neighbourhood; these "devil's own" were a portion of Kamrasi's troops,
who considered themselves entitled to plunder ad libitum throughout the
march; however, after some delay, they collected, and their tall chief
approached me, and begged that a gun might be fired as a curiosity. The
escort had crowded around us, and as the boy Saat was close to me, I
ordered him to fire his gun. This was Saat's greatest delight, and bang
went one barrel unexpectedly, close to the tall chief's ear. The effect
was charming. The tall chief, thinking himself injured, clasped his head
with both hands, and bolted through the crowd, which, struck with a
sudden panic, rushed away in all directions, the "devil's own" tumbling
over each other, and utterly scattered by the second barrel which Saat
exultingly fired in derision as Kamrasi's warlike regiment dissolved
before a sound. I felt quite sure, that in the event of a fight, one
scream from the "Baby," with its charge of forty small bullets, would
win the battle, if well delivered into a crowd of Kamrasi's troops.

That afternoon, after a march through a most beautiful forest of large
mimosas in full blossom, we arrived at the morass that had necessitated
this great detour from our direct course to the lake. It was nearly
three-quarters of a mile broad, and so deep, that in many places the
oxen were obliged to swim; both Mrs. Baker and I were carried across on
our angareps by twelve men with the greatest difficulty; the guide, who
waded before us to show the way, suddenly disappeared in a deep hole,
and his bundle that he had carried on his head, being of light
substance, was seen floating like a buoy upon the surface; after a
thorough sousing, the guide reappeared, and scrambled out, and we made a
circuit, the men toiling frequently up to their necks through mud and
water. On arrival at the opposite side we continued through the same
beautiful forest, and slept that night at a deserted village, M'Baze. I
obtained two observations; one of Capella, giving lat. 1 degrees 24
minutes 47 seconds N., and of Canopus 1 degree 23 minutes 29 seconds.

The next day we were much annoyed by our native escort; instead of
attending to us, they employed their time in capering and dancing about,
screaming and gesticulating, and suddenly rushing off in advance
whenever we approached a village, which they plundered before we could
arrive. In this manner every place was stripped; nor could we procure
anything to eat unless by purchasing it for beads from the native
escort. We slept at Karche, lat. 1 degree 19 minutes 31 seconds N.

We were both ill, but were obliged to ride through the hottest hours of
the sun, as our followers were never ready to start at an early hour in
the morning. The native escort were perfectly independent, and so
utterly wild and savage in their manner, that they appeared more
dangerous than the general inhabitants of the country.

My wife was extremely anxious, since the occasion of Kamrasi's
"proposal," as she was suspicious that so large an escort as three
hundred men had been given for some treacherous purpose, and that I
should perhaps be waylaid to enable them to steal her for the king. I
had not the slightest fear of such an occurrence, as sentries were
always on guard during the night, and I was well prepared during the
day.

On the following morning we had the usual difficulty in collecting
porters, those of the preceding day having absconded, and others were
recruited from distant villages by the native escort, who enjoyed the
excuse of hunting for porters, as it gave them an opportunity of
foraging throughout the neighbourhood. During this time we had to wait
until the sun was high; we thus lost the cool hours of morning, and it
increased our fatigue. Having at length started, we arrived in the
afternoon at the Kafoor river, at a bend from the south where it was
necessary to cross over in our westerly course. The stream was in the
centre of a marsh, and although deep, it was so covered with thickly
matted water-grass and other aquatic plants, that a natural floating
bridge was established by a carpet of weeds about two feet thick: upon
this waving and unsteady surface the men ran quickly across, sinking
merely to the ankles, although beneath the tough vegetation there was
deep water. It was equally impossible to ride or to be carried over this
treacherous surface; thus I led the way, and begged Mrs. Baker to follow
me on foot as quickly as possible, precisely in my track. The river was
about eighty yards wide, and I had scarcely completed a fourth of the
distance and looked back to see if my wife followed close to me, when I
was horrified to see her standing in one spot, and sinking gradually
through the weeds, while her face was distorted and perfectly purple.
Almost as soon as I perceived her, she fell, as though shot dead.

In an instant I was by her side; and with the assistance of eight or ten
of my men, who were fortunately close to me, I dragged her like a corpse
through the yielding vegetation, and up to our waists we scrambled
across to the other side, just keeping her head above the water: to have
carried her would have been impossible, as we should all have sunk
together through the weeds. I laid her under a tree, and bathed her head
and face with water, as for the moment I thought she had fainted; but
she lay perfectly insensible, as though dead, with teeth and hands
firmly clenched, and her eyes open, but fixed. It was a coup de soleil.

Many of the porters had gone on ahead with the baggage; and I started
off a man in haste to recall an angarep upon which to carry her, and
also for a bag with a change of clothes, as we had dragged her through
the river. It was in vain that I rubbed her heart, and the black women
rubbed her feet, to endeavour to restore animation. At length the litter
came, and after changing her clothes, she was carried mournfully forward
as a corpse. Constantly we had to halt and support her head, as a
painful rattling in the throat betokened suffocation.

At length we reached a village, and halted for the night. I laid her
carefully in a miserable hut, and watched beside her. I opened her
clenched teeth with a small wooden wedge, and inserted a wet rag, upon
which I dropped water to moisten her tongue, which was dry as fur. The
unfeeling brutes that composed the native escort were yelling and
dancing as though all were well; and I ordered their chief at once to
return with them to Kamrasi, as I would travel with them no longer. At
first they refused to return; until at length I vowed that I would fire
into them should they accompany us on the following morning. Day broke
and it was a relief to have got rid of the brutal escort. They had
departed, and I had now my own men, and the guides supplied by Kamrasi.

There was nothing to eat in this spot. My wife had never stirred since
she fell by the coup de soleil, and merely respired about five times in
a minute. It was impossible to remain; the people would have starved.
She was laid gently upon her litter, and we started forward on our
funeral course. I was ill and broken-hearted, and I followed by her side
through the long day's march over wild parklands and streams, with thick
forest and deep marshy bottoms; over undulating hills, and through
valleys of tall papyrus rushes, which, as we brushed through them on our
melancholy way, waved over the litter like the black plumes of a hearse.
We halted at a village, and again the night was passed in watching. I
was wet, and coated with mud from the swampy marsh, and shivered with
ague; but the cold within was greater than all. No change had taken
place; she had never moved. I had plenty of fat, and I made four balls
of about half a pound, each of which would burn for three hours. A piece
of a broken water-jar formed a lamp, several pieces of rag serving for
wicks. So in solitude the still calm night passed away as I sat by her
side and watched. In the drawn and distorted features that lay before me
I could hardly trace the same face that for years had been my comfort
through all the difficulties and dangers of my path. Was she to die? Was
so terrible a sacrifice to be the result of my selfish exile?

Again the night passed away. Once more the march. Though weak and ill,
and for two nights without a moment's sleep, I felt no fatigue, but
mechanically followed by the side of the litter as though in a dream.
The same wild country diversified with marsh and forest. Again we
halted. The night came, and I sat by her side in a miserable hut, with
the feeble lamp flickering while she lay as in death. She had never
moved a muscle since she fell. My people slept. I was alone, and no
sound broke the stillness of the night. The ears ached at the utter
silence, till the sudden wild cry of a hyena made me shudder as the
horrible thought rushed through my brain, that, should she be buried in
this lonely spot, the hyena would . . . disturb her rest.

The morning was not far distant; it was past four o'clock. I had passed
the night in replacing wet cloths upon her head and moistening her lips,
as she lay apparently lifeless on her litter. I could do nothing more;
in solitude and abject misery in that dark hour, in a country of savage
heathens, thousand of miles away from a Christian land, I beseeched an
aid above all human, trusting alone to Him.

The morning broke; my lamp had just burnt out, and, cramped with the
night's watching, I rose from my low seat, and seeing that she lay in
the same unaltered state, I went to the door of the hut to breathe one
gasp of the fresh morning air. I was watching the first red streak that
heralded the rising sun, when I was startled by the words, "Thank God,"
faintly uttered behind me. Suddenly she had awoke from her torpor, and
with a heart overflowing I went to her bedside. Her eyes were full of
madness! She spoke; but the brain was gone!

I will not inflict a description of the terrible trial of seven days of
brain fever, with its attendant horrors. The rain poured in torrents,
and day after day we were forced to travel, for want of provisions, not
being able to remain in one position. Every now and then we shot a few
guinea-fowl, but rarely; there was no game, although the country was
most favourable. In the forests we procured wild honey, but the deserted
villages contained no supplies, as we were on the frontier of Uganda,
and M'tese's people had plundered the district. For seven nights I had
not slept, and although as weak as a reed, I had marched by the side of
her litter. Nature could resist no longer. We reached a village one
evening; she had been in violent convulsions successively--it was all
but over. I laid her down on her litter within a hut; covered her with a
Scotch plaid; and I fell upon my mat insensible, worn out with sorrow
and fatigue. My men put a new handle to the pickaxe that evening, and
sought for a dry spot to dig her grave!



CHAPTER XIL

RECOVERED.

The sun had risen when I woke. I had slept, and, horrified as the idea
flashed upon me that she must be dead, and that I had not been with her,
I started up. She lay upon her bed, pale as marble, and with that calm
serenity that the features assume when the cares of life no longer act
upon the mind, and the body rests in death. The dreadful thought bowed
me down; but as I gazed upon her in fear, her chest gently heaved, not
with the convulsive throbs of fever, but naturally. She was asleep; and
when at a sudden noise she opened her eyes, they were calm and clear.
She was saved! When not a ray of hope remained, God alone knows what
helped us. The gratitude of that moment I will not attempt to describe.

Fortunately there were many fowls in this village; we found several
nests of fresh eggs in the straw which littered the hut; these were most
acceptable after our hard fare, and produced a good supply of soup.

Having rested for two days, we again moved forward, Mrs. Baker being
carried on a litter. We now continued on elevated ground, on the north
side of a valley running from west to east, about sixteen miles broad,
and exceedingly swampy. The rocks composing the ridge upon which we
travelled due west were all gneiss and quartz, with occasional breaks,
forming narrow valleys, all of which were swamps choked with immense
papyrus rushes, that made the march very fatiguing. In one of these
muddy bottoms one of my riding oxen that was ill, stuck fast, and we
were obliged to abandon it, intending to send a number of natives to
drag it out with ropes.

On arrival at a village, our guide started about fifty men for this
purpose, while we continued our journey. That evening we reached a
village belonging to a headman, and very superior to most that we had
passed on the route from M'rooli: large sugarcanes of the blue variety
were growing in the fields, and I had seen coffee growing wild in the
forest in the vicinity. I was sitting at the door of the hut about two
hours after sunset, smoking a pipe of excellent tobacco, when I suddenly
heard a great singing in chorus advancing rapidly from a distance
towards the entrance of the courtyard. At first I imagined that the
natives intended dancing, which was an infliction that I wished to
avoid, as I was tired and feverish; but in a few minutes the boy Saat
introduced a headman, who told me that the riding ox had died in the
swamp where he had stuck fast in the morning, and that the natives had
brought his body to me. "What!" I replied, "brought his body, the entire
ox, to me?" "The entire ox as he died is delivered at your door,"
answered the headman; "I could not allow any of your property to be lost
upon the road. Had the body of the ox not been delivered to you, we
might have been suspected of having stolen it." I went to the entrance
of the courtyard, and amidst a crowd of natives I found the entire ox
exactly as he had died. They had carried him about eight miles on a
litter, which they had constructed of two immensely long posts with
cross-pieces of bamboo, upon which they had laid the body. They would
not eat the flesh, and seemed quite disgusted at the idea, as they
replied that "it had died."

It is a curious distinction of the Unyoro people, that they are
peculiarly clean feeders, and will not touch either the flesh of animals
that have died, neither of those that are sick; nor will they eat the
crocodile. They asked for no remuneration for bringing their heavy load
so great a distance; and they departed in good humour as a matter of
course.

Never were such contradictory people as these creatures; they had
troubled us dreadfully during the journey, as they would suddenly
exclaim against the weight of their loads, and throw them down, and bolt
into the high grass; yet now they had of their own free will delivered
to me a whole dead ox from a distance of eight miles, precisely as
though it had been an object of the greatest value.

The name of this village was Parkani. For several days past our guides
had told us that we were very near to the lake, and we were now assured
that we should reach it on the morrow. I had noticed a lofty range of
mountains at an immense distance west, and I had imagined that the lake
lay on the other side of this chain; but I was now informed that those
mountains formed the western frontier of the M'-wootan N'zige, and that
the lake was actually within a march of Parkani. I could not believe it
possible that we were so near the object of our search. The guide
Rabonga now appeared, and declared that if we started early on the
following morning we should be able to wash in the lake by noon!

That night I hardly slept. For years I had striven to reach the "sources
of the Nile." In my nightly dreams during that arduous voyage I had
always failed, but after so much hard work and perseverance the cup was
at my very lips, and I was to drink at the mysterious fountain before
another sun should set--at that great reservoir of Nature that ever
since creation had baffled all discovery. I had hoped, and prayed, and
striven through all kinds of difficulties, in sickness, starvation, and
fatigue, to reach that hidden source; and when it had appeared
impossible, we had both determined to die upon the road rather than
return defeated. Was it possible that it was so near, and that tomorrow
we could say, "the work is accomplished?"

The 14th March.--The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after
the guide, who, having been promised a double handful of beads on
arrival at the lake, had caught the enthusiasm of the moment. The day
broke beautifully clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the
hills, we toiled up the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The
glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me! There, like a sea of
quicksilver, lay far beneath the grand expanse of water,--a boundless
sea horizon on the south and southwest, glittering in the noonday sun;
and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles' distance, blue mountains rose
from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7,000 feet above its
level.

It is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment;--here was the
reward for all our labour--for the years of tenacity with which we had
toiled through Africa. England had won the sources of the Nile! Long
before I reached this spot, I had arranged to give three cheers with all
our men in English style in honour of the discovery, but now that I
looked down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the very heart of
Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources
throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the humble
instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great mystery when
so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious to vent my
feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for
having guided and supported us through all dangers to the good end. I
was about 1,500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep
granite cliff upon those welcome waters--upon that vast reservoir
which nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was wilderness--
upon that great source so long hidden from mankind; that source of
bounty and of blessings to millions of human beings; and as one of the
greatest objects in nature, I determined to honour it with a great name.
As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious
Queen and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake "the
Albert N'yanza." The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two Sources
of the Nile.

The zigzag path to descend to the lake was so steep and dangerous that
we were forced to leave our oxen with a guide, who was to take them to
Magungo and wait for our arrival. We commenced the descent of the steep
pass on foot. I led the way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife in extreme
weakness tottered down the pass, supporting herself upon my shoulder,
and stopping to rest every twenty paces. After a toilsome descent of
about two hours, weak with years of fever, but for the moment
strengthened by success, we gained the level plain below the cliff. A
walk of about a mile through flat sandy meadows of fine turf
interspersed with trees and bush, brought us to the water's edge. The
waves were rolling upon a white pebbly beach: I rushed into the lake,
and thirsty with heat and fatigue, with a heart full of gratitude, I
drank deeply from the Sources of the Nile. Within a quarter of a mile of
the lake was a fishing village named Vacovia, in which we now
established ourselves. Everything smelt of fish--and everything looked
like fishing; not the "gentle art" of England with rod and fly, but
harpoons were leaning against the huts, and lines almost as thick as the
little finger were hanging up to dry, to which were attached iron hooks
of a size that said much for the monsters of the Albert lake. On
entering the hut I found a prodigious quantity of tackle; the lines were
beautifully made of the fibre of the plantain stem, and were exceedingly
elastic, and well adapted to withstand the first rush of a heavy fish;
the hooks were very coarse, but well barbed, and varied in size from two
to six inches. A number of harpoons and floats for hippopotami were
arranged in good order, and the tout ensemble of the hut showed that the
owner was a sportsman.

The harpoons for hippopotami were precisely the same pattern as those
used by the Hamran Arabs on the Taka frontier of Abyssinia, having a
narrow blade of three-quarters of an inch in width, with only one barb.
The rope fitted to the harpoon was beautifully made of plantain fibre,
and the float was a huge piece of ambatch-wood about fifteen inches in
diameter. They speared the hippopotamus from canoes, and these large
floats were necessary to be easily distinguished in the rough waters of
the lake.

My men were perfectly astounded at the appearance of the lake. The
journey had been so long, and "hope deferred" had so completely sickened
their hearts, that they had long since disbelieved in the existence of
the lake, and they were persuaded that I was leading them to the sea.
They now looked at the lake with amazement--two of them had already
seen the sea at Alexandria, and they unhesitatingly declared that this
was the sea, but that it was not salt.

Vacovia was a miserable place, and the soil was so impregnated with
salt, that no cultivation was possible. Salt was the natural product of
the country; and the population were employed in its manufacture, which
constituted the business of the lake shores--being exchanged for
supplies from the interior. I went to examine the pits: these were about
six feet deep, from which was dug a black sandy mud that was placed in
large earthenware jars; these were supported upon frames, and mixed with
water, which filtering rapidly through small holes in the bottom, was
received in jars beneath: this water was again used with fresh mud until
it became a strong brine, when it was boiled and evaporated. The salt
was white, but very bitter. I imagine that it has been formed by the
decay of aquatic plants that have been washed ashore by the waves;
decomposing, they have formed a mud deposit, and much potash is combined
with the salt. The flat sandy meadow that extends from the lake for
about a mile to the foot of the precipitous cliffs of 1,500 feet,
appears to have formed at one period the bottom of the lake--in fact,
the flat land of Vacovia looks like a bay, as the mountain cliffs about
five miles south and north descend abruptly to the water, and the flat
is the bottom of a horseshoe formed by the cliffs. Were the level of the
lake fifteen feet higher, this flat would be flooded to the base of the
hills.

I procured a couple of kids from the chief of the village for some blue
beads, and having received an ox as a present from the headman of
Parkani in return for a number of beads and bracelets, I gave my men a
grand feast in honour of the discovery; I made them an address,
explaining to them how much trouble we should have been saved had my
whole party behaved well from the first commencement and trusted to my
guidance, as we should have arrived here twelve mouths ago; at the same
time I told them, that it was a greater honour to have achieved the task
with so small a force as thirteen men, and that as the lake was thus
happily reached, and Mrs. Baker was restored to health after so terrible
a danger, I should forgive them past offences and wipe out all that had
been noted against them in my journal. This delighted my people, who
ejaculated "El hamd el Illah!" (thank God!) and fell to immediately at
their beef.

At sunrise on the following morning I took the compass, and accompanied
by the chief of the village, my guide Rabonga, and the woman Bacheeta, I
went to the borders of the lake to survey the country. It was
beautifully clear, and with a powerful telescope I could distinguish two
large waterfalls that cleft the sides of the mountains on the opposite
shore. Although the outline of the mountains was distinct upon the
bright blue sky, and the dark shades upon their sides denoted deep
gorges, I could not distinguish other features than the two great falls,
which looked like threads of silver on the dark face of the mountains.
No base had been visible, even from an elevation of 1,500 feet above the
water level, on my first view of the lake, but the chain of lofty
mountains on the west appeared to rise suddenly from the water. This
appearance must have been due to the great distance, the base being
below the horizon, as dense columns of smoke were ascending apparently
from the surface of the water: this must have been produced by the
burning of prairies at the foot of the mountains. The chief assured me
that large canoes had been known to cross over from the other side, but
that it required four days and nights of hard rowing to accomplish the
voyage, and that many boats had been lost in the attempt. The canoes of
Unyoro were not adapted for so dangerous a journey; but the western
shore of the lake was comprised in the great kingdom of Malegga,
governed by King Kajoro, who possessed large canoes, and traded with
Kamrasi from a point opposite to Magungo, where the lake was contracted
to the width of one day's voyage. He described Malegga as a very
powerful country, and of greater extent than either Unyora or Uganda.
. . . South of Malegga was a country named Tori, governed by a king of
the same name: beyond that country to the south on the western shore
no intelligence could be obtained from any one.

The lake was known to extend as far south as Karagwe; and the old story
was repeated, that Rumanika, the king of that country, was in the habit
of sending ivory-hunting parties to the lake at Utumbi, and that
formerly they had navigated the lake to Magungo. This was a curious
confirmation of the report given me by Speke at Gondokoro, who wrote:
"Rumanika is constantly in the habit of sending ivory-hunting parties to
Utumbi."

The eastern shores of the lake were, from north to south, occupied by
Chopi, Unyoro, Uganda, Utumbi, and Karagwe: from the last point, which
could not be less than about two degrees south latitude, the lake was
reported to turn suddenly to the west, and to continue in that direction
for an unknown distance. North of Malegga, on the west of the lake, was
a small country called M'Caroli; then Koshi, on the west side of the
Nile at its exit from the lake; and on the east side of the Nile was the
Madi, opposite to Koshi. Both the guide and the chief of Vacovia
informed me that we should be taken by canoes to Magungo, to the point
at which the Somerset that we had left at Karuma joined the lake; but
that we could not ascend it, as it was a succession of cataracts the
whole way from Karuma until within a short distance of Magungo. The exit
of the Nile from the lake at Koshi was navigable for a considerable
distance, and canoes could descend the river as far as the Madi.

They both agreed that the level of the lake was never lower than at
present, and that it never rose higher than a mark upon the beach that
accounted for an increase of about four feet. The beach was perfectly
clean sand, upon which the waves rolled like those of the sea, throwing
up weeds precisely as seaweed may be seen upon the English shore. It was
a grand sight to look upon this vast reservoir of the mighty Nile, and
to watch the heavy swell tumbling upon the beach, while far to the
southwest the eye searched as vainly for a bound as though upon the
Atlantic. It was with extreme emotion that I enjoyed this glorious
scene. My wife, who had followed me so devotedly, stood by my side pale
and exhausted--a wreck upon the shores of the great Albert lake that
we had so long striven to reach. No European foot had ever trod upon its
sand, nor had the eyes of a white man ever scanned its vast expanse of
water. We were the first; and this was the key to the great secret that
even Julius Caesar yearned to unravel, but in vain. Here was the great
basin of the Nile that received EVERY DROP OF WATER, even from the
passing shower to the roaring mountain torrent that drained from Central
Africa towards the north. This was the great reservoir of the Nile!

The first coup d'oeil from the summit of the cliff 1,500 feet above the
level had suggested what a closer examination confirmed. The lake was a
vast depression far below the general level of the country, surrounded
by precipitous cliffs, and bounded on the west and southwest by great
ranges of mountains from five to seven thousand feet above the level of
its waters--thus it was the one great reservoir into which everything
MUST drain; and from this vast rocky cistern the Nile made its exit, a
giant in its birth. It was a grand arrangement of Nature for the birth
of so mighty and important a stream as the river Nile. The Victoria
N'yanza of Speke formed a reservoir at a high altitude, receiving a
drainage from the west by the Kitangule river, and Speke had seen the
M'fumbiro mountain at a great distance as a peak among other mountains
from which the streams descended, which by uniting formed the main river
Kitangule, the principal feeder of the Victoria lake from the west, in
about the 2 degrees S. latitude: thus the same chain of mountains that
fed the Victoria on the east must have a watershed to the west and north
that would flow into the Albert lake. The general drainage of the Nile
basin tending from south to north, and the Albert lake extending much
farther north than the Victoria, it receives the river from the latter
lake, and thus monopolizes the entire headwaters of the Nile. The Albert
is the grand reservoir, while the Victoria is the eastern source, the
parent streams that form these lakes are from the same origin, and the
Kitangule sheds its waters to the Victoria to be received eventually by
the Albert, precisely as the highlands of M'fumbiro and the Blue
Mountains pour their northern drainage direct into the Albert lake. The
entire Nile system, from the first Abyssinian tributary the Atbara in N.
latitude 17 deg. 37 min. even to the equator, exhibits a uniform
drainage from S.E. to N.W., every tributary flowing in that direction to
the main stream of the Nile; this system is persisted in by the Victoria
Nile, which having continued a northerly course from its exit from the
Victoria lake to Karuma in lat. 2 degrees 16' N. turns suddenly to the
west and meets the Albert lake at Magungo; thus, a line drawn from
Magungo to the Ripon Falls from the Victoria lake will prove the general
slope of the country to be the same as exemplified throughout the entire
system of the eastern basin of the Nile, tending from S.E. to N.W.

That many considerable affluents flow into the Albert lake there is no
doubt. The two waterfalls seen by telescope upon the western shore
descending from the Blue Mountains must be most important streams, or
they could not have been distinguished at so great a distance as fifty
or sixty miles; the natives assured me that very many streams, varying
in size, descended the mountains upon all sides into the general
reservoir.

I returned to my hut: the flat turf in the vicinity of the village was
strewn with the bones of immense fish, hippopotami, and crocodiles; but
the latter reptiles were merely caught in revenge for any outrage
committed by them, as their flesh was looked upon with disgust by the
natives of Unyoro. They were so numerous and voracious in the lake, that
the natives cautioned us not to allow the women to venture into the
water even to the knees when filling their water jars.

It was most important that we should hurry forward on our journey, as
our return to England depended entirely upon the possibility of reaching
Gondokoro before the end of April, otherwise the boats would have
departed. I impressed upon our guide and the chief that we must be
furnished with large canoes immediately, as we had no time to spare, and
I started off Rabonga to Magungo, where he was to meet us with our
riding oxen. The animals would be taken by a path upon the high ground;
there was no possibility of travelling near the lake, as the cliffs in
many places descended abruptly into deep water. I made him a present of
a large quantity of beads that I had promised to give him upon reaching
the lake; he took his departure, agreeing to meet us at Magungo with our
oxen, and to have porters in readiness to convey us direct to Shooa.

On the following morning not one of our party could rise from the
ground. Thirteen men, the boy Saat, four women, and we ourselves, were
all down with fever. The air was hot and close, and the country
frightfully unhealthy. The natives assured us that all strangers
suffered in a similar manner, and that no one could live at Vacovia
without repeated attacks of fever.

The delay in supplying the boats was most annoying; every hour was
precious; and the lying natives deceived us in every manner possible,
delaying us purposely in the hope of extorting beads.

The latitude of Vacovia was 1 degree 15 min. N.; longitude 30 degrees 50
min. E. My farthest southern point on the road from M'rooli was latitude
1 degree 13 minutes. We were now to turn our faces towards the north,
and every day's journey would bring us nearer home. But where was home?
As I looked at the map of the world, and at the little red spot that
represented old England far, far away, and then gazed on the wasted form
and haggard face of my wife and at my own attenuated frame, I hardly
dared hope for home again. We had now been three years ever toiling
onwards, and having completed the exploration of all the Abyssinian
affluents of the Nile, in itself an arduous undertaking, we were now
actually at the Nile head. We had neither health nor supplies, and the
great journey lay all before us.

Notwithstanding my daily entreaties that boats might be supplied without
delay, eight days were passed at Vacovia, during which time the whole
party suffered more or less from fever. At length canoes were reported
to have arrived, and I was requested to inspect them. They were merely
single trees neatly hollowed out, but very inferior in size to the large
canoes on the Nile at M'rooli. The largest boat was thirty-two feet
long, but I selected for ourselves one of twenty-six feet, but wider and
deeper.

Fortunately I had purchased at Khartoum an English screw auger 1 1/4
inch in diameter, and this tool I had brought with me, foreseeing some
difficulties in boating arrangements. I now bored holes two feet apart
in the gunwale of the canoe, and having prepared long elastic wands, I
spanned them in arches across the boat and lashed them to the auger
holes. This completed, I secured them by diagonal pieces, and concluded
by thatching the framework with a thin coating of reeds to protect us
from the sun; over the thatch I stretched ox-hides well drawn and
lashed, so as to render our roof waterproof. This arrangement formed a
tortoise-like protection that would be proof against sun and rain. I
then arranged some logs of exceedingly light wood along the bottom of
the canoe, and covered them with a thick bed of grass; this was covered
with an Abyssinian tanned ox-hide, and arranged with Scotch plaids. The
arrangements completed, afforded a cabin, perhaps not as luxurious as
those of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's vessels, but both rain-
and sun-proof, which was the great desideratum. In this rough vessel we
embarked on a calm morning, when hardly a ripple moved the even surface
of the lake. Each canoe had four rowers, two at either end. Their
paddles were beautifully shaped, hewn from one piece of wood, the blade
being rather wider than that of an ordinary spade, but concave in the
inner side, so as to give the rower a great hold upon the water. Having
purchased with some difficulty a few fowls and dried fish, I put the
greater number of my men in the larger canoe; and with Richarn, Saat,
and the women, including the interpreter Bacheeta, we led the way, and
started from Vacovia on the broad surface of the Albert N'yanza. The
rowers paddled bravely; and the canoe, although heavily laden, went
along at about four miles an hour. There was no excitement in Vacovia,
and the chief and two or three attendants were all who came to see us
off; they had a suspicion that bystanders might be invited to assist as
rowers, therefore the entire population of the village had deserted.

At leaving the shore, the chief had asked for a few beads, which, on
receiving, he threw into the lake to propitiate the inhabitants of the
deep, that no hippopotami should upset the canoe.

Our first day's voyage was delightful. The lake was calm, the sky
cloudy, and the scenery most lovely. At times the mountains on the west
coast were not discernible, and the lake appeared of indefinite width.
We coasted within a hundred yards of the east shore; sometimes we passed
flats of sand and bush of perhaps a mile in width from the water to the
base of the mountain cliffs; at other times we passed directly
underneath stupendous heights of about 1,500 feet, which ascended
abruptly from the deep, so that we fended the canoes off the sides, and
assisted our progress by pushing against the rock with bamboos. These
precipitous rocks were all primitive, frequently of granite and gneiss,
and mixed in many places with red porphyry. In the clefts were beautiful
ever-greens of every tint, including giant euphorbias; and wherever a
rivulet or spring glittered through the dark foliage of a ravine, it was
shaded by the graceful and feathery wild date.

Great numbers of hippopotami were sporting in the water, but I refused
to fire at them, as the death of such a monster would be certain to
delay us for at least a day, as the boatmen would not forsake the flesh.
Crocodiles were exceedingly numerous both in and out of the water;
wherever a sandy beach invited them to bask, several monsters were to be
seen, like trunks of trees, lying in the sun. On the edge of the beach
above high-water mark were low bushes, and from this cover the
crocodiles came scuttling down into the water, frightened at the
approach of the canoe. There were neither ducks nor geese, as there were
no feeding-grounds: deep water was close to the shore.

Our boatmen worked well, and long after dark we continued our voyage,
until the canoe was suddenly steered to the shore, and we grounded upon
a steep beach of perfectly clean sand. We were informed that we were
near a village, and the boatmen proposed to leave us here for the night,
while they should proceed in search of provisions. Seeing that they
intended to take the paddles with them, I ordered these important
implements to be returned to the boats, and a guard set over them, while
several of my men should accompany the boatmen to the reported village.
In the meantime, we arranged our angareps upon the beach, lighted a fire
with some drift-wood, and prepared for the night. The men shortly
returned, accompanied by several natives, with two fowls and one small
kid. The latter was immediately consigned to the large copper pot, and I
paid about three times its value to the natives, to encourage them to
bring supplies on the following morning.

While dinner was preparing, I took an observation, and found our
latitude was 1 degree 33 minutes N. We had travelled well, having made
16 minutes direct northing.

On the first crowing of our solitary cock, we prepared to start;--the
boatmen were gone!

As soon as it was light, I took two men and went to the village,
supposing they were sleeping in their huts. Within three hundred paces
of the boats, upon a fine turfy sward, on rising ground, were three
miserable fishing huts. These constituted the village. Upon arrival, no
one was to be found: the natives had deserted. A fine tract of broken
grassland formed a kind of amphitheatre beneath the range of cliffs.
These I scanned with the telescope, but I could trace no signs of man.
We were evidently deserted by our boatmen, and the natives had
accompanied them to avoid being pressed into our service.

On my return to the canoes with this intelligence, my men were quite in
despair: they could not believe that the boatmen had really absconded,
and they begged me to allow them to search the country in the hope of
finding another village. Strictly forbidding any man to absent himself
from the boats, I congratulated ourselves on having well guarded the
paddles, which there was no doubt would have been stolen by the boatmen
had I allowed them to remain in their possession. I agreed to wait until
3 P.M. Should the boatmen not return by that hour, I intended to proceed
without them. There was no dependence to be placed upon these
contradictory natives. Kindness was entirely thrown away upon them. We
had Kamrasi's orders for boats and men, but in this distant frontier the
natives did not appear to attach much importance to their king:
nevertheless, we were dependent upon them. Every hour was valuable, as
our only chance of reaching Gondokoro in time for the boats depended
upon rapidity of travelling. At the moment when I wished to press
forward, delays occurred that were most trying.

Three P.M. arrived, but no signs of natives. "Jump into the boats, my
lads!" I cried to my men; "I know the route." The canoes were pushed
from the shore, and my people manned the paddles. Five of my men were
professional boatmen, but no one understood the management of paddles
except myself. It was in vain that I attempted to instruct my crew. Pull
they certainly did; but--ye gods who watch over boats!--round and
round we pirouetted, the two canoes waltzing and polking together in
their great ball-room, the Albert N'yanza. The voyage would have lasted
ad infinitum. After three hours' exertion, we reached a point of rock
that stretched as a promontory into the lake. This bluff point was
covered with thick jungle to the summit, and at the base was a small
plot of sandy beach, from which there was no exit except by water, as
the cliff descended sheer to the lake upon either side. It poured with
rain, and with much difficulty we lighted a fire. Mosquitoes were in
clouds, and the night was so warm that it was impossible to sleep
beneath the blankets. Arranging the angareps upon the sand, with the raw
oxhides as coverlets, we lay down in the rain. It was too hot to sleep
in the boat, especially as the temporary cabin was a perfect mosquito
nest. That night I considered the best plan to be adopted, and resolved
to adapt a paddle as a rudder on the following morning. It rained
without ceasing the whole night; and, at break of day, the scene was
sufficiently miserable. The men lay on the wet sand, covered up with
their raw hides, soaked completely through, but still fast asleep, from
which nothing would arouse them. My wife was also wet and wretched. It
still rained. I was soon at work.

Cutting a thwart in the stern of the canoe with my hunting-knife, I
bored a hole beneath it with the large auger, and securely lashed a
paddle with a thong of raw hide that I cut off my well-saturated
coverlet. I made a most effective rudder. None of my men had assisted
me; they had remained beneath their soaked skins, smoking their short
pipes, while I was hard at work. They were perfectly apathetic with
despair, as their ridiculous efforts at paddling on the previous evening
had completely extinguished all hope within them. They were quite
resigned to their destiny, and considered themselves as sacrificed to
geography.

I threw them the auger, and explained that I was ready to start, and
should wait for no one; and, cutting two bamboos, I arranged a mast and
yard, upon which I fitted a large Scotch plaid for a sail. We shoved off
the boat; fortunately we had two or three spare paddles, therefore the
rudder paddle was not missed. I took the helm, and instructed my men to
think of nothing but pulling hard. Away we went as straight as an arrow,
to the intense delight of my people. There was very little wind, but a
light air filled the plaid and eased us gently forward.

Upon rounding the promontory we found ourselves in a large bay, the
opposite headland being visible at about eight or ten miles' distance.
Should we coast the bay it would occupy two days. There was another
small promontory farther in shore; I therefore resolved to steer direct
for that point before venturing in a straight line from one headland to
the other.

Upon looking behind me, I observed our canoe consort about a mile
astern, amusing herself with pointing to all parts of the compass--the
lazy men not having taken the trouble to adapt the rudder as I had
ordered them.

We travelled at about four miles an hour, and my people were so elated
that they declared themselves ready to row, without assistance, to the
Nile junction. The water was perfectly calm, and upon rounding the next
promontory I was rejoiced to see a village in a snug little bay, and a
great number of canoes drawn up on the sandy beach, and others engaged
in fishing. A number of natives were standing on the sand close to the
water's edge, about half a mile from us, and I steered directly towards
them. Upon our close approach, they immediately sat down, and held up
their paddles above their heads; this was an unmistakeable sign that
they intended to volunteer as boatmen, and I steered the boat upon the
beach. No sooner had we grounded, than they rushed into the water and
boarded us, most good-humouredly pulling down our mast and sail, which
appeared to them highly absurd (as they never use sails); and they
explained that they had seen on the other side the headland that we were
strangers, and their chief had ordered them to assist us. I now begged
them to send six men to the assistance of the lagging canoe; this they
promised to do, and, after waiting for some time, we started at a
rattling pace to pull across the wide bay from point to point.

When in the centre of the bay we were about four miles from land. At
this time a swell set in from the southwest. While at Vacovia I had
observed, that although the mornings were calm, a strong wind generally
arose at 1 P.M. from S.W. that brought a heavy sea upon the beach. I was
now afraid that we should be subject to a gale before we could reach the
opposite headland, as the rising swell betokened wind from the old
quarter, especially as dark thunderclouds were gathering on the western
shore.

I told Bacheeta to urge the rowers forward, as our heavy canoe would
certainly be swamped in the event of a gale. I looked at my watch: it
was past noon, and I felt sure that we should catch a south-wester by
about one o'clock. My men looked rather green at the ominous black
clouds and the increasing swell, but exclaimed, "Inshallah, there will
be no wind." With due deference to their faith in predestination, I
insisted upon their working the spare paddles, as our safety depended
upon reaching the shore before the approaching storm. They had learnt to
believe in my opinion, and they exerted themselves to their utmost. The
old boat rushed through the water, but the surface of the lake was
rapidly changing; the western shore was no longer visible, the water was
dark, and innumerable white crests tipped the waves. The canoe laboured
heavily, and occasionally shipped water, which was immediately baled out
with gourd shells by my men, who now exclaimed, "Wah Illahi el kalam
betar el Hawaga sahhe!" (By Allah, what the Hawaga says is true!) We
were within about a mile and a half of the point for which we had been
steering, when we could no longer keep our course; we had shipped
several heavy seas, and had we not been well supplied with utensils for
baling, we should have been swamped. Several bursts of thunder and vivid
lightning were followed by a tremendous gale from about the W.S.W.
before which we were obliged to run for the shore.

In a short space of time a most dangerous sea arose, and on several
occasions the waves broke against the arched covering of the canoe,
which happily protected her in a slight degree, although we were
drenched with water.

Every one was at work baling with all their might; I had no idea that
the canoe could live. Down came the rain in torrents, swept along with a
terrific wind; nothing was discernible except the high cliffs looming
through the storm, and I only trusted that we might arrive upon a sandy
beach, and not upon bluff rocks. We went along at a grand rate, as the
arched cover of the canoe acted somewhat as a sail; and it was an
exciting moment when we at length neared the shore, and approached the
foaming breakers that were rolling wildly upon (happily) a sandy beach
beneath the cliffs. I told my men to be ready to jump out the moment
that we should touch the sand, and to secure the canoe by hauling the
head up the beach. All were ready, and we rushed through the surf, the
native boatmen paddling like steam engines. "Here comes a wave; look
out!" and just as we almost touched the beach, a heavy breaker broke
over the black women who were sitting in the stern, and swamped the
boat. My men jumped into the water like ducks, and the next moment we
were all rolled in confusion on the sandy shore. The men stuck well to
the boat, and hauled her firmly on the sand, while my wife crawled out
of her primitive cabin like a caddis worm from its nest, half drowned,
and jumped upon the shore. "El hamd el Illah!" (thank God!) we all
exclaimed; "now for a pull--all together!" and having so far secured
the boat that she could not be washed away, I ordered the men to
discharge the cargo, and then to pull her out of the lake. Everything
was destroyed except the gunpowder; that was all in canisters. But where
was the other canoe? I made up my mind that it must be lost, for
although much longer than our boat, it was lower in the water. After
some time and much anxiety, we perceived it running for the shore about
half a mile in our rear; it was in the midst of the breakers, and
several times I lost sight of it; but the old tree behaved well, and
brought the crew safe to the shore.

Fortunately there was a village not far from the spot where we landed,
and we took possession of a hut, lighted a good fire, and wrapped
ourselves in Scotch plaids and blankets wrung out, while our clothes
were being dried, as there was not a dry rag in our possession.

We could procure nothing to eat, except a few dried fish that, not
having been salted, were rather high flavoured. Our fowls, and also two
pet quails, were drowned in the boat during the storm; however, the
drowned fowls were made into a stew, and with a blazing fire, and clean
straw to sleep upon, the night's rest was perhaps as perfect as in the
luxury of home.

On the following morning we were detained by bad weather, as a heavy sea
was still running, and we were determined not to risk our canoes in
another gale. It was a beautiful neighbourhood, enlivened by a
magnificent waterfall that fell about a thousand feet from the
mountains, as the Kaiigiri river emptied itself into the lake in a
splendid volume of water. This river rises in the great marsh that we
had crossed on our way from M'rooli to Vacovia. In this neighbourhood we
gathered some mushrooms--the true Agaricus campestras of Europe--
which were a great luxury.

In the afternoon the sea subsided, and we again started. We had not
proceeded above three miles from the village, when I observed an
elephant bathing in the lake; he was in water so deep, that he stood
with only the top of his head and trunk above the surface. As we
approached, he sunk entirely, only the tip of his trunk remaining above
the water. I ordered the boatmen to put the canoe as close to him as
possible, and we passed within thirty yards, just as he raised his head
from his luxurious bath.

I was sorely tempted to fire, but remembering my resolve, refrained from
disturbing him, and he slowly quitted the lake, and entered the thick
jungle. A short distance beyond this spot two large crocodiles were
lying upon the beach asleep; but upon the approach of the canoe they
plunged into the water, and raised their heads above the surface at
about twenty-five paces. I was uncertain about my Fletcher rifle, as it
had been exposed to so much wet; therefore, to discharge it, I took a
shot at the nearest crocodile just behind the eye. The little rifle was
in perfect order--thanks to Eley's "double waterproof central
firecaps," which will resist all weathers--and the bullet striking the
exact spot, the great reptile gave a convulsive lash with his tail, and
turning on his back, with his paws above the water, he gradually sunk.
The native boatmen were dreadfully frightened at the report of the
rifle, to the great amusement of their countrywoman, Bacheeta, and it
was with difficulty that I persuaded them to direct the canoe to the
exact spot. Being close to the shore, the water was not more than eight
feet deep, and so beautifully clear, that I could, when just above the
crocodile, perceive it lying at the bottom on its belly, and distinguish
the bloody head that had been shattered by the bullet. While one of my
men prepared a slip-knot, I took a long lance that belonged to a
boatman, and drove it deep through the tough scales into the back of the
neck; hauling gently, upon the lance I raised the head near to the
surface, and slipping the noose over it, the crocodile was secured. It
appeared to be quite dead, and the flesh would be a bonne-bouche for my
men; therefore we towed it to the shore. It was a fine monster, about
sixteen feet long; and although it had appeared dead, it bit furiously
at a thick male bamboo which I ran into its mouth to prevent it from
snapping during the process of decapitation. The natives regarded my men
with disgust as they cut huge lumps of the choicest morsels and stowed
them in the canoes; this did not occupy more than a quarter of an hour,
and hurrying on board, we continued our voyage, well provided with meat
--for all who liked it. To my taste nothing can be more disgusting than
crocodile flesh. I have eaten almost everything; but although I have
tasted crocodile, I could never succeed in swallowing it; the combined
flavour of bad fish, rotten flesh, and musk, is the carte de diner
offered to the epicure.

That evening we saw an elephant with an enormous pair of tusks; he was
standing on a hill about a quarter of a mile from the boats as we
halted. I was aided to resist this temptation by an attack of fever: it
rained as usual, and no village being in the neighbourhood, we
bivouacked in the rain on the beach in clouds of mosquitoes.

The discomforts of this lake voyage were great; in the day we were
cramped in our small cabin like two tortoises in one shell, and at night
it almost invariably rained. We were accustomed to the wet, but no
acclimatisation can render the European body mosquito-proof; thus we had
little rest. It was hard work for me, but for my unfortunate wife, who
had hardly recovered from her attack of coup de soleil, such hardships
were most distressing.

On the following morning the lake was calm, and we started early. The
monotony of the voyage was broken by the presence of several fine herds
of elephants, consisting entirely of bulls. I counted fourteen of these
grand animals, all with large tusks, bathing together in a small shallow
lake beneath the mountains, having a communication with the main lake
through a sandy beach; these elephants were only knee deep, and having
been bathing they were perfectly clean, and their colossal black forms
and large white tusks formed a beautiful picture in the calm lake
beneath the lofty cliffs. It was a scene in harmony with the solitude of
the Nile Sources--the wilderness of rocks and forest, the Blue
Mountains in the distance, and the great fountain of nature adorned with
the mighty beasts of Africa; the elephants in undisturbed grandeur, and
hippopotami disporting their huge forms in the great parent of the
Egyptian river.

I ordered the boatmen to run the canoe ashore, that we might land and
enjoy the scene. We then discovered seven elephants on the shore within
about two hundred yards of us in high grass, while the main herd of
fourteen splendid bulls bathed majestically in the placid lake,
showering cold streams from their trunks over their backs and shoulders.
There was no time to lose, as every hour was important: quitting the
shore, we once more paddled along the coast.

Day after day passed, the time occupied in travelling from sunrise to
midday, at which hour a strong gale with rain and thunder occurred
regularly, and obliged us to haul our canoes ashore. The country was
very thinly inhabited, and the villages were poor and wretched; the
people most inhospitable. At length we arrived at a considerable town
situated in a beautiful bay beneath precipitous cliffs, the grassy sides
of which were covered with flocks of goats; this was Eppigoya, and the
boatmen that we had procured from the last village were to deliver us in
this spot. The delays in procuring boatmen were most annoying: it
appeared that the king had sent orders that each village was to supply
the necessary rowers; thus we were paddled from place to place, at each
of which the men were changed, and no amount of payment would induce
them to continue with us to the end of our voyage.

Landing at Eppigoya, we were at once met by the headman, and I proposed
that he should sell us a few kids, as the idea of a mutton chop was most
appetizing. Far from supplying us with this luxury, the natives
immediately drove their flocks away, and after receiving a large present
of beads, the headman brought us a present of a sick lamb almost at the
point of natural death, and merely skin and bone. Fortunately there were
fowls in thousands, as the natives did not use them for food; these we
purchased for one blue bead (monjoor) each, which in current value was
equal to 250 fowls for a shilling. Eggs were brought in baskets
containing several hundreds, but they were all poultry.

At Eppigoya the best salt was produced, and we purchased a good
supply--also some dried fish; thus provisioned, we procured boatmen, and
again started on our voyage.

Hardly had we proceeded two hundred yards, when we were steered direct
to the shore below the town, and our boatmen coolly laid down their
paddles and told us that they had performed their share, and that as
Eppigoya was divided into four parts under separate headmen, each
portion would supply rowers!

Ridiculous as this appeared, there was no contesting their decision; and
thus we were handed over from one to the other, and delayed for about
three hours in changing boatmen four times within a distance of less
than a mile! The perfect absurdity of such a regulation, combined with
the delay when time was most precious, was trying to the temper. At
every change, the headman accompanied the boatmen to our canoe, and
presented us with three fowls at parting; thus our canoes formed a
floating poultry show as we had already purchased large supplies. Our
live stock bothered us dreadfully; being without baskets, the fowls were
determined upon suicide, and many jumped deliberately overboard, while
others that were tied by the legs were drowned in the bottom of the
leaky canoe.

After the tenth day from our departure from Vacovia the scenery
increased in beauty. The lake had contracted to about thirty miles in
width, and was decreasing rapidly northward; the trees upon the
mountains upon the western shore could be distinguished. Continuing our
voyage north, the western shore projected suddenly, and diminished the
width of the lake to about twenty miles. It was no longer the great
inland sea that at Vacovia had so impressed me, with the clean pebbly
beach that had hitherto formed the shore, but vast banks of reeds
growing upon floating vegetation prevented the canoes from landing.
These banks were most peculiar, as they appeared to have been formed of
decayed vegetation, from which the papyrus rushes took root; the
thickness of the floating mass was about three feet, and so tough and
firm that a man could walk upon it, merely sinking above his ankles in
the soft ooze. Beneath this raft of vegetation was extremely deep water,
and the shore for a width of about half a mile was entirely protected by
this extraordinary formation. One day a tremendous gale of wind and
heavy sea broke off large portions, and the wind acting upon the rushes
like sails, carried floating islands of some acres about the lake to be
deposited wherever they might chance to hitch.

On the thirteenth day we found ourselves at the end of our lake voyage.
The lake at this point was between fifteen and twenty miles across, and
the appearance of the country to the north was that of a delta. The
shores upon either side were choked with vast banks of reeds, and as the
canoe skirted the edge of that upon the east coast, we could find no
bottom with a bamboo of twenty-five feet in length, although the
floating mass appeared like terra forma. We were in a perfect wilderness
of vegetation: On the west were mountains of about 4,000 feet above the
lake level, a continuation of the chain that formed the western shore
from the south: these mountains decreased in height towards the north,
in which direction the lake terminated in a broad valley of reeds.

We were told that we had arrived at Magungo, and that this was the spot
where the boats invariably crossed from Malegga on the western shore to
Kamrasi's country. The boatmen proposed that we should land upon the
floating vegetation, as that would be a short cut to the village or town
of Magungo; but as the swell of the water against the abrupt raft of
reeds threatened to swamp the canoe, I preferred coasting until we
should discover a good landing place. After skirting the floating reeds
for about a mile, we turned sharp to the east, and entered a broad
channel of water bounded on either side by the everlasting reeds. This
we were informed was the embouchure of the Somerset river from the
Victoria N'yanza. The same river that we had crossed at Karuma, boiling
and tearing along its rocky course, now entered the Albert N'yanza as
dead water! I could not understand this; there was not the slightest
current; the channel was about half a mile wide, and I could hardly
convince myself that this was not an arm of the lake branching to the
east. After searching for some time for a landing place among the
wonderful banks of reeds, we discovered a passage that had evidently
been used as an approach by canoes, but so narrow that our large canoe
could with difficulty be dragged through--all the men walking through
the mud and reeds, and towing with their utmost strength. Several
hundred paces of this tedious work brought us through the rushes into
open water, about eight feet deep, opposite to a clean rocky shore. We
had heard voices for some time while obscured on the other side of the
rushes, and we now found a number of natives, who had arrived to meet
us, with the chief of Magungo and our guide Rabonga, whom we had sent in
advance with the riding oxen from Vacovia. The water was extremely
shallow near the shore, and the natives rushed in and dragged the canoes
by sheer force over the mud to the land. We had been so entirely hidden
while on the lake on the other side of the reed bank that we had been
unable to see the eastern, or Magungo shore; we now found ourselves in a
delightful spot beneath the shade of several enormous trees on firm
sandy and rocky ground, while the country rose in a rapid incline to the
town of Magungo, about a mile distant, on an elevated ridge.

My first question was concerning the riding oxen. They were reported in
good order. We were invited to wait under a tree until the presents from
the headmen should be delivered. Accordingly, while my wife sat under
the shade, I went to the waterside to examine the fishing arrangements
of the natives, that were on an extensive scale. For many hundred feet,
the edges of the floating reeds were arranged to prevent the possibility
of a large fish entering the open water adjoining the shore without
being trapped. A regular system of baskets were fixed at intervals, with
guiding fences to their mouths. Each basket was about six feet in
diameter, and the mouth about eighteen inches; thus the arrangements
were for the monsters of the lake, the large bones of which, strewed
about the vicinity, were a witness of their size. My men had just
secured the half of a splendid fish, known in the Nile as the "baggera."
They had found it in the water, the other portion having been bitten off
by a crocodile. The piece in their possession weighed about fifty
pounds. This is one of the best fish in the lake. It is shaped like the
perch, but is coloured externally like the salmon. I also obtained from
the natives an exceedingly good fish, of a peculiar form, having four
long feelers at the positions that would be occupied by the limbs of
reptiles; these looked like rudiments of legs. It had somewhat the
appearance of an eel; but, being oviparous, it can have no connexion
with that genus. The natives had a most killing way of fishing with the
hook and line for heavy fish. They arranged rows of tall bamboos, the
ends stuck firmly in the bottom, in a depth of about six feet of water,
and about five or ten yards apart. On the top of each was a lump of
ambatch-wood about ten inches in diameter. Around this was wound a
powerful line, and, a small hole being made in this float, it was
lightly fixed upon the point of the bamboo, or fishing rod. The line was
securely attached to the bamboo, then wound round the large float, while
the hook, baited with a live fish, was thrown to some distance beyond.
Long rows of these fixed rods were set every morning by natives in
canoes, and watchers attended them during the day, while they took their
chance by night. When a large fish took the bait, his first rush
unhitched the ambatch-float from the point of the bamboo, which,
revolving upon the water, paid out line as required. When entirely run
out, the great size and buoyancy of the float served to check and to
exhaust the fish. There are several varieties of fish that exceed 200
lbs. weight.

A number of people now arrived from the village, bringing a goat, fowls,
eggs, and sour milk, and, beyond all luxuries, fresh butter. I delighted
the chief, in return for his civility, by giving him a quantity of
beads, and we were led up the hill towards Magungo.

The day was beautifully clear. The soil was sandy and poor, therefore
the road was clean and hard; and, after the many days' boating, we
enjoyed the walk, and the splendid view that lay before us when we
arrived at Magungo, and looked back upon the lake. We were about 250
feet above the water level. There were no longer the abrupt cliffs,
descending to the lake, that we had seen in the south, but the general
level of the country appeared to be about 500 feet above the water, at a
distance of five or six miles, from which point the ground descended in
undulations, Magungo being situated on the summit of the nearest
incline. The mountains on the Malegga side, with the lake in the
foreground, were the most prominent objects, forming the western
boundary. A few miles north there appeared to be a gap in the range, and
the lake continued to the west, but much contracted, while the mountain
range on the northern side of the gap continued to the northeast. Due
north and northeast the country was a dead flat, and far as the eye
could reach was an extent of bright green reeds, marking the course of
the Nile as it made its exit from the lake. The sheet of water at
Magungo being about seventeen miles in width, ended in a long strip or
tail to the north, until it was lost in the flat valley of green rushes.
This valley may have been from four to six miles wide, and was bounded
upon its west bank by the continuation of the chain of mountains that
had formed the western boundary of the lake. The natives told me that
canoes could navigate the Nile in its course from the lake to the Madi
country, as there were no cataracts for a great distance, but that both
the Madi and the Koshi were hostile, and that the current of the river
was so strong, that should the canoe descend from the lake, it could not
return without many rowers. They pointed out the country of Koshi on the
west bank of the Nile, at its exit from the lake, which included the
mountains that bordered the river. The small country, M'Caroli, joined
Malegga, and continued to the west, towards the Makkarika. The natives
most positively refused to take me down the Nile from the lake into the
Madi, as they said that they would be killed by the people, who were
their enemies, as I should not be with them on their return up the
river.

The exit of the Nile from the lake was plain enough, and if the broad
channel of dead water were indeed the entrance of the Victoria Nile
(Somerset), the information obtained by Speke would be remarkably
confirmed. Up to the present time all the information that I had
received from Kamrasi and his people had been correct. He had told me
that I should be about twenty days from M'rooli to the lake; I had been
eighteen. He had also told me that the Somerset flowed from Karuma
direct to the lake, and that, having joined it, the great Nile issued
from the lake almost immediately, and flowed through the Koshi and Madi
tribes. I now saw the river issuing from the lake within eighteen miles
of Magungo; and the Koshi and the Madi countries appeared close to me,
bordering it on the west and east. Kamrasi being the king, it was
natural that he should know his own frontier most intimately; but,
although the chief of Magungo and all the natives assured me that the
broad channel of dead water at my feet was positively the brawling river
that I had crossed below the Karuma Falls, I could not understand how so
fine a body of water as that had appeared could possibly enter the
Albert lake as dead water. The guide and natives laughed at my unbelief,
and declared that it was dead water for a considerable distance from the
junction with the lake, but that a great waterfall rushed down from a
mountain, and that beyond that fall the river was merely a succession of
cataracts throughout the entire distance of about six days' march to
Karuma Falls. My real wish was to descend the Nile in canoes from its
exit from the lake with my own men as boatmen, and thus in a short time
to reach the cataracts in the Madi country; there to forsake the canoes
and all my baggage, and to march direct to Gondokoro with only our guns
and ammunition. I knew from native report that the Nile was navigable as
far as the Madi country to about Miani's tree, which Speke had laid down
by astronomical observation in lat. 3 degrees 34 minutes; this would be
only seven days' march from Gondokoro, and by such a direct course I
should be sure to arrive in time for the boats to Khartoum. I had
promised Speke that I would explore most thoroughly the doubtful portion
of the river that he had been forced to neglect from Karuma Falls to the
lake. I was myself confused at the dead water junction; and, although I
knew that the natives must be right--as it was their own river, and
they had no inducement to mislead me--I was determined to sacrifice
every other wish in order to fulfil my promise, and thus to settle the
Nile question most absolutely. That the Nile flowed out of the lake I
had heard, and I had also confirmed by actual inspection; from Magungo I
looked upon the two countries, Koshi and Madi, through which it flowed,
and these countries I must actually pass through and again meet the Nile
before I could reach Gondokoro. Thus the only point necessary to swear
to, was the river between the lake and the Karuma Falls.

I had a bad attack of fever that evening, and missed my star for the
latitude; but on the following morning before daybreak I obtained a good
observation of Vega, and determined the latitude of Magungo 2 degrees 16
minutes due west from Atada or Karuma Falls. This was a strong
confirmation that the river beneath my feet was the Somerset that I had
crossed in the same latitude at Atada, where the river was running due
west, and where the natives had pointed in that direction as its course
to the lake. Nevertheless, I was determined to verify it, although by
this circuitous route I might lose the boats from Gondokoro and become a
prisoner in Central Africa, ill, and without quinine, for another year.
I proposed it to my wife, who not only voted in her state of abject
weakness to complete the river to Karuma, but wished, if possible, to
return and follow the Nile from the lake down to Gondokoro! This latter
resolve, based upon the simple principle of "seeing is believing," was a
sacrifice most nobly proposed, but simply impossible and unnecessary.

We saw from our point at Magungo the Koshi and Madi countries, and the
Nile flowing out of the lake through them. We must of necessity pass
through those countries on our road to Gondokoro direct from Karuma via
Shooa, and should we not meet the river in the Madi and Koshi country,
the Nile that we now saw would not be the Nile of Gondokoro. We knew,
however, that it was so, as Speke and Grant had gone by that route, and
had met the Nile near Miani's tree in lat. 3 degrees 34 min. in the Madi
country, the Koshi being on its western bank; thus, as we were now at
the Nile head and saw it passing through the Madi and Koshi, any
argument against the river would be the argumentum ad absurdum. I
ordered the boats to be got ready to start immediately.

The chief gave me much information, confirming the accounts that I had
heard a year previous in the Latooka countries, that formerly cowrie
shells were brought in boats from the south, and that these shells and
brass coil brackets came by the lake from Karagwe. He called also
several of the natives of Malegga, who had arrived with beautifully
prepared mantles of antelope and goatskins, to exchange for bracelets
and glass beads. The Malegga people were in appearance the same as those
of Unyoro, but they spoke a different language.

The boats being ready, we took leave of the chief, leaving him an
acceptable present of beads, and we descended the hill to the river,
thankful at having so far successfully terminated the expedition as to
have traced the lake to that important point Magungo, which had been our
clue to the discovery even so far away in time and place as the distant
country of Latooka. We were both very weak and ill, and my knees
trembled beneath me as we walked down the easy descent. I, in my
enervated state, endeavouring to assist my wife, we were the "blind
leading the blind;" but had life closed on that day we could have died
most happily, for the hard fight through sickness and misery had ended
in victory; and, although I looked to home as a paradise never to be
regained, I could have lain down to sleep in contentment on this spot,
with the consolation that, if the body had been vanquished, we died with
the prize in our grasp.

On arrival at the canoes we found everything in readiness, and the
boatmen already in their places. A crowd of natives pushed us over the
shallows, and once in deep water we passed through a broad canal which
led us into the open channel without the labour of towing through the
narrow inlet by which we had arrived. Once in the broad channel of dead
water we steered due east, and made rapid way until the evening. The
river as it now appeared, although devoid of current, was an average of
about 500 yards in width. Before we halted for the night I was subjected
to a most severe attack of fever, and upon the boat reaching a certain
spot I was carried on a litter, perfectly unconscious, to a village,
attended carefully by my poor sick wife, who, herself half dead,
followed me on foot through the marshes in pitch darkness, and watched
over me until the morning. At daybreak I was too weak to stand, and we
were both carried down to the canoes, and, crawling helplessly within
our grass awning, we lay down like logs while the canoes continued their
voyage. Many of our men were also suffering from fever. The malaria of
the dense masses of floating vegetation was most poisonous; and upon
looking back to the canoe that followed in our wake, I observed all my
men sitting crouched together sick and dispirited, looking like departed
spirits being ferried across the melancholy Styx. The river now
contracted rapidly to about 250 yards in width about ten miles from
Magungo. We had left the vast flats of rush banks, and entered a channel
between high ground, forming steep forest-covered hills, about 200 feet
on either side, north and south: nevertheless there was no perceptible
stream, although there was no doubt that we were actually in the channel
of a river. The water was clear and exceedingly deep. In the evening we
halted, and slept on a mud bank close to the water. The grass in the
forest was very high and rank; thus we were glad to find an open space
for a bivouac, although a nest of mosquitoes and malaria.

On waking the next morning, I observed that a thick fog covered the
surface of the river; and as I lay upon my back, on my angarep, I amused
myself before I woke my men by watching the fog slowly lifting from the
river. While thus employed I was struck by the fact, that the little
green water-plants, like floating cabbages (Pistia Stratiotes, L.), were
certainly, although very slowly, moving to the west. I immediately
jumped up, and watched them most attentively; there was no doubt about
it; they were travelling towards the Albert lake. We were now about
eighteen miles in a direct line from Magungo, and there was a current in
the river, which, however slight, was nevertheless perceptible.

Our toilette did not take long to arrange, as we had thrown ourselves
down at night with our clothes on; accordingly we entered the canoe at
once, and gave the order to start.

The woman Bacheeta knew the country, as she had formerly been to Magungo
when in the service of Sali, who had been subsequently murdered by
Kamrasi; she now informed me that we should terminate our canoe voyage
on that day, as we should arrive at the great waterfall of which she had
often spoken. As we proceeded the river gradually narrowed to about 180
yards, and when the paddles ceased working we could distinctly hear the
roar of water. I had heard this on waking in the morning, but at the
time I had imagined it to proceed from distant thunder. By ten o'clock
the current had so increased as we proceeded, that it was distinctly
perceptible, although weak. The roar of the waterfall was extremely
loud, and after sharp pulling for a couple of hours, during which time
the stream increased, we arrived at a few deserted fishing huts, at a
point where the river made a slight turn. I never saw such an
extraordinary show of crocodiles as were exposed on every sandbank on
the sides of the river; they lay like logs of timber close together, and
upon one bank we counted twenty-seven, of large size; every basking
place was crowded in a similar manner. From the time we had fairly
entered the river, it had been confined by heights somewhat precipitous
on either side, rising to about 180 feet. At this point the cliffs were
still higher, and exceedingly abrupt. From the roar of the water, I was
sure that the fall would be in sight if we turned the corner at the bend
of the river; accordingly I ordered the boatmen to row as far as they
could: to this they at first objected, as they wished to stop at the
deserted fishing village, which they explained was to be the limit of
the journey, farther progress being impossible.

However, I explained that I merely wished to see the fall, and they
rowed immediately up the stream, which was now strong against us. Upon
rounding the corner, a magnificent sight burst suddenly upon us. On
either side the river were beautifully wooded cliffs rising abruptly to
a height of about 300 feet; rocks were jutting out from the intensely
green foliage; and rushing through a gap that cleft the rock exactly
before us, the river, contracted from a grand stream, was pent up in a
narrow gorge of scarcely fifty yards in width; roaring furiously through
the rock-bound pass, it plunged in one leap of about 120 feet
perpendicular into a dark abyss below.

The fall of water was snow white, which had a superb effect as it
contrasted with the dark cliffs that walled the river, while the
graceful palms of the tropics and wild plantains perfected the beauty of
the view. This was the greatest waterfall of the Nile, and, in honour of
the distinguished President of the Royal Geographical Society, I named
it the Murchison Falls, as the most important object throughout the
entire course of the river.

The boatmen, having been promised a present of beads to induce them to
approach the fall as close as possible, succeeded in bringing the canoe
within about 300 yards of the base, but the power of the current and the
whirlpools in the river rendered it impossible to proceed farther. There
was a sandbank on our left which was literally covered with crocodiles
lying parallel to each other like trunks of trees prepared for shipment;
they had no fear of the canoe until we approached within about twenty
yards of them, when they slowly crept into the water; all excepting one,
an immense fellow who lazily lagged behind, and immediately dropped dead
as a bullet from the little Fletcher No. 24 struck him in the brain. So
alarmed were the boatmen at the unexpected report of the rifle that they
immediately dropped into the body of the canoe, one of them losing his
paddle. Nothing would induce them to attend to the boat, as I had fired
a second shot at the crocodile as a "quietus," and the natives did not
know how often the alarming noise would be repeated. Accordingly we were
at the mercy of the powerful stream, and the canoe was whisked round by
the eddy and carried against a thick bank of high reeds;--hardly had
we touched this obstruction when a tremendous commotion took place in
the rushes, and in an instant a great bull hippopotamus charged the
canoe, and with a severe shock striking the bottom he lifted us half out
of the water. The natives who were in the bottom of the boat positively
yelled with terror, not knowing whether the shock was in any way
connected with the dreaded report of the rifle; the black women
screamed; and the boy Saat handing me a spare rifle, and Richarn being
ready likewise, we looked out for a shot should the angry hippo again
attack us.

A few kicks bestowed by my angry men upon the recumbent boatmen restored
them to the perpendicular. The first thing necessary was to hunt for the
lost paddle that was floating down the rapid current. The hippopotamus,
proud of having disturbed us, but doubtless thinking us rather hard of
texture, raised his head to take a last view of his enemy, but sank too
rapidly to permit a shot. Crocodile heads of enormous size were on all
sides, appearing and vanishing rapidly as they rose to survey us; at one
time we counted eighteen upon the surface. Fine fun it would have been
for these monsters had the bull hippo been successful in his attempt to
capsize us; the fat black woman, Karka, would have been a dainty morsel.
Having recovered the lost paddle, I prevailed upon the boatmen to keep
the canoe steady while I made a sketch of the Murchison Falls, which
being completed, we drifted rapidly down to the landing place at the
deserted fishing village, and bade adieu to the navigation of the lake
and river of Central Africa.

The few huts that existed in this spot were mere ruins. Clouds had
portended rain, and down it came, as it usually did once in every
twenty-four hours. However, that passed away by the next morning, and
the day broke discovering us about as wet and wretched as we were
accustomed to be. I now started off four of my men with the boatmen and
the interpreter Bacheeta to the nearest village, to inquire whether our
guide Rabonga had arrived with our riding oxen, as our future travelling
was to be on land, and the limit of our navigation must have been well
known to him. After some hours the people returned, minus the boatmen,
with a message from the headman of a village they had visited, that the
oxen were there, but not the guide Rabonga, who had remained at Magungo,
but that the animals should be brought to us that evening, together with
porters to convey the luggage. In the evening a number of people
arrived, bringing some plantain cider and plantains as a present from
the headman; and promising that, upon the following morning, we should
be conducted to his village.

The next day we started, but not until the afternoon, as we had to await
the arrival of the headman, who was to escort us. Our oxen were brought,
and if we looked wretched, the animals were a match. They had been
bitten by the fly, thousands of which were at this spot. Their coats
were staring, ears drooping, noses running, and heads hanging down; all
the symptoms of fly-bite, together with extreme looseness of the bowels.
I saw that it was all up with our animals. Weak as I was myself, I was
obliged to walk, as my ox could not carry me up the steep inclination,
and I toiled languidly to the summit of the cliff. It poured with rain.
Upon arrival at the summit we were in precisely the same parklike land
that characterises Chopi and Unyoro, but the grass was about seven feet
high; and from the constant rain, and the extreme fertility of the soil,
the country was choked with vegetation. We were now above the Murchison
Falls, and we heard the roaring of the water beneath us to our left. We
continued our route parallel to the river above the Falls, steering
east; and a little before evening we arrived at a small village
belonging to the headman who accompanied us. I was chilled and wet; my
wife had fortunately been carried on her litter, which was protected by
a hide roofing. Feverish and exhausted, I procured from the natives some
good acid plums, and refreshed by these I was able to boil my
thermometer and take the altitude.

On the following morning we started, the route as before parallel to the
river, and so close that the roar of the rapids was extremely loud. The
river flowed in a deep ravine upon our left. We continued for a day's
march along the Somerset, crossing many ravines and torrents, until we
turned suddenly down to the left, and arriving at the bank we were to be
transported to an island called Patooan, that was the residence of a
chief. It was about an hour after sunset, and being dark, my riding ox,
who was being driven as too weak to carry me, fell into an elephant
pitfall. After much hallooing, a canoe was brought from the island,
which was not more than fifty yards from the mainland, and we were
ferried across. We were both very ill with a sudden attack of fever; and
my wife, not being able to stand, was, on arrival at the island, carried
on a litter I knew not whither, escorted by some of my men, while I lay
down on the wet ground quite exhausted with the annihilating disease. At
length the remainder of my men crossed over, and those who had carried
my wife to the village returning with firebrands, I managed to creep
after them with the aid of a long stick, upon which I rested with both
hands. After a walk, through a forest of high trees, for about a quarter
of a mile, I arrived at a village where I was shown a wretched hut, the
stars being visible through the roof. In this my wife lay dreadfully ill
upon her angarep, and I fell down upon some straw. About an hour later,
a violent thunderstorm broke over us, and our hut was perfectly flooded;
we, being far too ill and helpless to move from our positions, remained
dripping wet and shivering with fever until the morning. Our servants
and people had, like all natives, made themselves much more comfortable
than their employers; nor did they attempt to interfere with our misery
in any way until summoned to appear at sunrise.

The island of Patooan was about half a mile long by 150 yards wide, and
was one of the numerous masses of rocks that choke the river between
Karuma Falls and the great Murchison cataract. The rock was entirely of
grey granite, from the clefts of which beautiful forest trees grew so
thickly that the entire island was in shade. In the middle of this
secluded spot was a considerable village, thickly inhabited, as the
population of the mainland had fled from their dwellings and had taken
refuge upon the numerous river islands, as the war was raging between
Rionga and Kamrasi. A succession of islands from the east of Patooan
continued to within a march of Karuma Falls. These were in the
possession of Rionga, and a still more powerful chief and ally, Fowooka,
who were the deadly enemies of Kamrasi.

It now appeared that after my departure from M'rooli to search for the
lake, Ibrahim had been instructed by Kamrasi to accompany his army, and
attack Fowooka. This had been effected, but the attack had been confined
to a bombardment by musketry from the high cliffs of the river upon the
people confined upon one of the islands. A number of men had been
killed, and Ibrahim had returned to Gondokoro with a quantity of ivory
and porters supplied by Kamrasi; but he had left ten of his armed men as
hostages with the king, to act as his guard until he should return on
the following year to Unyoro. Ibrahim and his strong party having
quitted the country, Fowooka had invaded the mainland of Chopi, and had
burnt and destroyed all the villages, and killed many people, including
a powerful chief of Kamrasi's, the father of the headman of the island
of Patooan where we were now staying. Accordingly the fugitives from the
destroyed villages had taken refuge upon the island of Patooan, and
others of the same character. The headman informed us that it would be
impossible to proceed along the bank of the river to Karuma, as that
entire line of country was in possession of the enemy. This was
sufficient to assure me that I should not procure porters.

There was no end to the difficulties and trouble in this horrible
country. My exploration was completed, as it was by no means necessary
to continue the route from Patooan to Karuma. I had followed the
Somerset from its junction with the lake at Magungo to this point; here
it was a beautiful river, precisely similar in character to the point at
which I had left it at Karuma: we were now within thirty miles of that
place, and about eighteen miles from the point opposite Rionga's island,
where we had first hit upon the river on our arrival from the north. The
direction was perfectly in accordance with my observations at Karuma,
and at Magungo, the Somerset running from east to west. The river was
about 180 to 200 yards in width, but much obstructed with rocks and
islands; the stream ran at about four miles per hour, and the rapids and
falls were so numerous that the roar of water had been continuous
throughout our march from Murchison Falls. By observations of Casella's
thermometer I made the altitude of the river level at the island of
Patooan 3,195 feet; thus from this point to the level of the Albert lake
at Magungo there was a fall of 475 feet--this difference being included
between Patooan and the foot of Murchison Falls: the latter, being at
the lowest estimate 120 feet, left 355 feet to be accounted for between
Patooan and the top of the falls. As the ledges of rock throughout the
course of the river formed a series of steps, this was a natural
difference in altitude that suggested the correctness of the
observations.

At the river level below Karuma Falls I had measured the altitude at
3,996 feet above the sea level. Thus, there was a fall from that point
to Patooan of 801 feet, and a total of 1,276 feet in the descent of the
river from Karuma to the Albert N'yanza. These measurements, most
carefully taken, corroborated the opinion suggested by the natural
appearance of the river, which was a mere succession of cataracts
throughout its westerly course from Karuma.

To me these observations were more than usually interesting, as when I
had met my friend Speke at Gondokoro he was much perplexed concerning
the extraordinary difference in his observation between the altitude of
the river level at Karuma Falls, lat. 2 degrees 15', and at Gebel Kookoo
in the Madi country, lat. 3 degrees 34', the point at which he
subsequently met the river. He KNEW that both rivers were the Nile, as
he bad been told this by the natives; the one, before it had joined the
Albert lake--the other, after its exit; but he had been told that the
river was NAVIGABLE from Gebel Kookoo, lat. 3 degrees 34', straight up
to the junction of the lake; thus, there could be no great difference in
altitude between the lake and the Nile where he met it, in lat. 3
degrees 34'. Nevertheless, he found so enormous a difference in his
observations between the river at Karuma and at Gebel Kookoo, that he
concluded there must be a fall between Karuma and the Albert lake of at
least 1,000 feet; by careful measurements I proved the closeness of his
reasoning and observation, by finding a fall of only 275 feet more than
he had anticipated. From Karuma to the Albert lake (although unvisited
by Speke), he had marked upon his map, "river falls 1,000 feet;" by
actual measurement I proved it to be 1,275 feet.

The altitudes measured by me have been examined, and the thermometer
that I used had been tested at Kew, and its errors corrected since my
return to England; thus all altitudes observed with that thermometer
should be correct, as the results, after correction by Mr. Dunkin, of
the Greenwich Royal Observatory, are those now quoted. It will therefore
be interesting to compare the observations taken at the various points
on the Nile and Albert lake in the countries of Unyoro and Chopi--the
correctness of which relatively will be seen by comparison:--

1861.
    Jan. 22. Rionga's island, 80 feet above the Nile  . . .    3,864
    Jan. 25. Karuma, below the falls, river level Atadaj. .    3,996
    Jan. 31. South of Karuma, river level on road to M'rooli   4,056


1864.
    Feb. 21. M'rooli lat. 1 degree 38' river level . . . . . . 4,061Ft.
    Mar. 14. Albert N'yanza, lake level  . . . . . . . . . . . 2,720Ft.
    April 7. Island of Patooan (Shooa Moru) river level. . . . 3,195Ft.

By these observations it will be seen that from M'rooli, in lat. 1
degree 38' to Karuma in lat. 2 degree 15', there is a fall of sixty-
five feet; say MINUS five feet, for the Karuma Falls equals sixty feet
fall in 37' of latitude; or allowing for the great bend of the river,
twenty miles of extra course, it will be equal to about sixty statute
miles of actual river from M'rooli to Atada or Karuma Falls, showing a
fall or one foot per mile. From M'rooli to the head of the Karuma Falls
the river is navigable; thus the observations of altitudes showing a
fall of one foot per mile must be extremely accurate.

The next observations to be compared are those from Karuma Falls
throughout the westerly course of the river to the Albert lake:--

    River level below Karuma Falls . . . . . . . . 3,996 feet
    Rionga's island 3,864--80 feet cliff . . . . . 3,784
        = 212 fall. to the west.
    River level at island of Patooan (Shooa Moru). 3,195
        = 589 fall. from Rionga's island.
    Level of Albert lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,720
        = 475 fall. from Patooan to lake.
    From Karuma  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,276 fall.

These observations were extremely satisfactory, and showed that the
thermometer (Casella's) behaved well at every boiling, as there was no
confusion of altitudes, but each observation corroborated the preceding.
The latitude of the island of Patooan by observation was 2 degrees 16':
we were thus due west of Magungo, and east of Karuma Falls.



CHAPTER XIII.

TREACHEROUS DESIGNS OF THE NATIVES.

We were prisoners on the island of Patooan, as we could not procure
porters at any price to remove our effects. We had lost all our riding
oxen within a few days; they had succumbed to the flies, and the only
animal alive was already half dead; this was the little bull that had
always carried the boy Saat. It was the 8th April, and within a few days
the boats upon which we depended for our return to civilization would
assuredly quit Gondokoro. I offered the natives all the beads that I had
(about 50 lbs.) and the whole of my baggage, if they would carry us to
Shooa direct from this spot. We were in perfect despair, as we were both
completely worn out with fever and fatigue, and certain death seemed to
stare us in the face should we remain in this unhealthy spot; worse than
death was the idea of losing the boats and becoming prisoners for
another year in this dreadful land; which must inevitably happen should
we not hurry direct to Gondokoro without delay. The natives, with their
usual cunning, at length offered to convey us to Shooa, provided that I
paid them the beads in advance; the boats were prepared to ferry us
across the river, but I fortunately discovered through the woman
Bacheeta their treacherous intention of placing us on the uninhabited
wilderness on the north side, and leaving us to die of hunger. They had
conspired together to land us, but to immediately return with the boats
after having thus got rid of the incubus of their guests.

We were in a great dilemma--had we been in good health, I would have
forsaken everything but the guns and ammunition, and have marched direct
to Gondokoro on foot: but this was utterly impossible; neither my wife
nor I could walk a quarter of a mile without fainting--there was no
guide--and the country was now overgrown with impenetrable grass and
tangled vegetation eight feet high;--we were in the midst of the rainy
season--not a day passed without a few hours of deluge;--altogether
it was a most heartbreaking position. Added to the distress of mind at
being thus thwarted, there was also a great scarcity of provision. Many
of my men were weak, the whole party having suffered much from fever--
in fact, we were completely helpless.

Our guide Rabonga, who had accompanied us from M'rooli, had absconded,
and we were left to shift for ourselves. I was determined not to remain
on the island, as I suspected that the boats might be taken away, and
that we should be kept prisoners; I therefore ordered my men to take the
canoes, and to ferry us to the mainland, from whence we had come. The
headman, upon hearing this order, offered to carry us to a village, and
then to await orders from Kamrasi as to whether we were to be forwarded
to Shooa or not. The district in which the island of Patooan was
situated was called Shooa Moru, although having no connexion with the
Shooa in the Madi country to which we were bound.

We were ferried across to the main shore, and both in our respective
angareps were carried by the natives for about three miles: arriving at
a deserted village, half of which was in ashes, having been burnt and
plundered by the enemy, we were deposited on the ground in front of an
old hut in the pouring rain, and were informed that we should remain
there that night, but that on the following morning we should proceed to
our destination.

Not trusting the natives, I ordered my men to disarm them, and to retain
their spears and shields as security for their appearance on the
following day. This effected, we were carried into a filthy hut about
six inches deep in mud, as the roof was much out of repair, and the
heavy rain had flooded it daily for some weeks. I had a canal cut
through the muddy floor, and in misery and low spirits we took
possession.

On the following morning not a native was present! We had been entirely
deserted; although I held the spears and shields, every man had
absconded--there were neither inhabitants nor provisions--the whole
country was a wilderness of rank grass that hemmed us in on all sides;
not an animal, nor even a bird, was to be seen; it was a miserable,
damp, lifeless country. We were on elevated ground, and the valley of
the Somerset was about two miles to our north, the river roaring
sullenly in its obstructed passage, its course marked by the double belt
of huge dark trees that grew upon its banks.

My men were naturally outrageous, and they proposed that we should
return to Patooan, seize the canoes, and take provisions by force, as we
had been disgracefully deceived. The natives had merely deposited us
here to get us out of the way, and in this spot we might starve. Of
course I would not countenance the proposal of seizing provisions, but I
directed my men to search among the ruined villages for buried corn, in
company with the woman Bacheeta, who, being a native of this country,
would be up to the ways of the people, and might assist in the
discovery.

After some hours passed in rambling over the black ashes of several
villages that had been burnt, they discovered a hollow place, by
sounding the earth with a stick, and, upon digging, they arrived at a
granary of the seed known as "tullaboon;" this was a great prize, as,
although mouldy and bitter, it would keep us from starving. The women of
the party were soon hard at work grinding, as many of the necessary
stones had been found among the ruins.

Fortunately there were three varieties of plants growing wild in great
profusion, that, when boiled, were a good substitute for spinach; thus
we were rich in vegetables, although without a morsel of fat or animal
food. Our dinner consisted daily of a mess of black porridge of bitter
mouldy flour, that no English pig would condescend to notice, and a
large dish of spinach. "Better a dinner of herbs where love is," &c.
often occurred to me; but I am not sure that I was quite of that opinion
after a fortnight's grazing upon spinach.

Tea and coffee were things of the past, the very idea of which made our
mouths water; but I found a species of wild thyme growing in the
jungles, and this, when boiled, formed a tolerable substitute for tea;
sometimes our men procured a little wild honey, which, added to the
thyme tea, we considered a great luxury.

This wretched fare, in our exhausted state from fever and general
effects of climate, so completely disabled us, that for nearly two
months my wife lay helpless on one angarep, and I upon the other;
neither of us could walk. The hut was like all in Kamrasi's country, a
perfect forest of thick poles to support the roof (I counted
thirty-two); thus, although it was tolerably large, there was but little
accommodation. These poles we now found very convenient, as we were so
weak, that we could not rise from bed without hauling by one of the
supports.

We were very nearly dead, and our amusement was a childish conversation
about the good things in England, and my idea of perfect happiness was
an English beefsteak and a bottle of pale ale; for such a luxury I would
most willingly have sold my birthright at that hungry moment. We were
perfect skeletons; and it was annoying to see how we suffered upon the
bad fare, while our men apparently throve. There were plenty of wild red
peppers, and the men seemed to enjoy a mixture of porridge and legumes a
la sauce piquante. They were astonished at my falling away on this food,
but they yielded to my argument when I suggested that a "lion would
starve where a donkey grew fat." I must confess that this state of
existence did not improve my temper, which, I fear, became nearly as
bitter as the porridge. My people had a windfall of luck, as Saat's ox,
that had lingered for a long time, lay down to die, and stretching
himself out, commenced kicking his last kick; the men immediately
assisted him by cutting his throat, and this supply of beef was a luxury
which, even in my hungry state, was not the English beefsteak for which
I sighed; and I declined the diseased bull.

The men made several long excursions through the country to endeavour to
purchase provisions, but in two months they procured only two kids; the
entire country was deserted, owing to the war between Kamrasi and
Fowooka. Every day the boy Saat and the woman Bacheeta sallied out and
conversed with the inhabitants of the different islands on the river;
sometimes, but very rarely, they returned with a fowl; such an event
caused great rejoicing.

We had now given up all hope of Gondokoro, and were perfectly resigned
to our fate; this, we felt sure, was to be buried in Chopi. I wrote
instructions in my journal, in case of death, and told my headman to be
sure to deliver my maps, observations, and papers to the English Consul
at Khartoum; this was my only care, as I feared that all my labour might
be lost should I die. I had no fear for my wife, as she was quite as bad
as I, and if one should die, the other would certainly follow; in fact,
this had been agreed upon, lest she should fall into the hands of
Kamrasi at my death. We had struggled to win, and I thanked God that we
had won; if death were to be the price, at all events we were at the
goal, and we both looked upon death rather as a pleasure, as affording
rest; there would be no more suffering; no fever; no long journey before
us, that in our weak state was an infliction; the only wish was to lay
down the burden.

Curious is the warfare between the animal instincts and the mind! Death
would have been a release that I would have courted, but I should have
liked that one "English beefsteak and pale ale" before I died! During
our misery of constant fever and starvation at Shooa Moru, insult had
been added to injury. There was no doubt that we had been thus deserted
by Kamrasi's orders, as every seven or eight days one of his chiefs
arrived, and told me that the king was with his army only four days'
march from me, and that he was preparing to attack Fowooka, but that he
wished me to join him, as with my fourteen guns we should win a great
victory. This treacherous conduct, after his promise to forward me
without delay to Shooa, enraged me exceedingly. We had lost the boats at
Gondokoro, and we were now nailed to the country for another year,
should we live, which was not likely; not only had the brutal king thus
deceived us, but he was deliberately starving us into conditions, his
aim being that my men should assist him against his enemy. At one time
the old enemy tempted me sorely to join Fowooka against Kamrasi; but,
discarding the idea, generated in a moment of passion, I determined to
resist his proposals to the last. It was perfectly true that the king
was within thirty miles of us, that he was aware of our misery; and he
made use of our extremity to force us to become his allies.

After more than two months passed in this distress it became evident
that something must be done; I sent my headman, or vakeel, and one man,
with a native as a guide (that Saat and Bacheeta had procured from an
island), with instructions to go direct to Kamrasi, to abuse him
thoroughly in my name for having thus treated us, and tell him that I
was much insulted at his treating with me through a third party in
proposing an alliance. My vakeel was to explain that I was a much more
powerful chief than Kamrasi, and that if he required my alliance, he
must treat with me in person, and immediately send fifty men to
transport my wife, myself, and effects to his camp, where we might, in a
personal interview, come to terms. I told my vakeel to return to me with
the fifty men, and to be sure to bring from Kamrasi some token by which
I should know that he had actually seen him. The vakeel and Yaseen
started.

After some days, the absconded guide, Rabonga, appeared with a number of
men, but without either my vakeel or Yaseen. He carried with him a small
gourd bottle, carefully stopped; this he broke, and extracted from the
inside two pieces of printed paper, that Kamrasi had sent to me in
reply.

On examining the papers, I found them to be portions of the English
Church Service translated into (I think) the Kiswahili language, by Dr.
Krapf! There were many notes in pencil on the margin, written in
English, as translations of words in the text. It quickly occurred to me
that Speke must have given this book to Kamrasi on his arrival from
Zanzibar, and that he now extracted the leaves, and sent them to me as
the token I had demanded to show that my message had been delivered to
him. Rabonga made a lame excuse for his previous desertion; he delivered
a thin ox that Kamrasi had sent me, and he declared that his orders
were, that he should take my whole party immediately to Kamrasi, as he
was anxious that we should attack Fowooka without loss of time; we were
positively to start on the following morning! My bait had taken! and we
should escape from this frightful spot, Shooa Moru.

On the following morning we were carried in our litters by a number of
men. The ox had been killed, the whole party had revelled in good food,
and a supply sufficient for the journey was taken by my men.

Without inflicting the tedium of the journey upon the reader, it will be
sufficient to say that the country was the same as usual, being a vast
park overgrown with immense grass. Every day the porters bolted, and we
were left deserted at the charred ruins of various villages that had
been plundered by Fowooka's people. It poured with rain; there was no
cover, as all the huts had been burnt, and we were stricken with severe
fever daily. However, after five days of absurdly slow marching, the
roar of the rapids being distinctly audible at night, we arrived one
morning at a deserted camp of about 3,000 huts, which were just being
ignited by several natives. This had been Kamrasi's headquarters, which
he had quitted, and according to native custom it was to be destroyed by
fire. It was reported that the king had removed to another position
within an hour's march, and that he had constructed a new camp. Although
throughout the journey from Shooa Moru the country had been excessively
wild and uncultivated, this neighbourhood was a mass of extensive
plantain groves and burnt villages, but every plantain tree had been cut
through the middle and recklessly destroyed. This destruction had been
perpetrated by Fowooka's people, who had invaded the country, but had
retreated on the advance of Kamrasi's army.

After winding through dense jungles of bamboos and interminable groves
of destroyed plantains, we perceived the tops of a number of grass huts
appearing among the trees. My men now begged to be allowed to fire a
salute, as it was reported that the ten men of Ibrahim's party who had
been left as hostages were quartered at this village with Kamrasi.
Hardly had the firing commenced, when it was immediately replied to by
the Turks from their camp, who, upon our approach, came out to meet us
with great manifestations of delight and wonder at our having
accomplished our long and difficult voyage.

My vakeel and Yaseen were the first to meet us, with an apology that
severe fever had compelled them to remain in camp instead of returning
to Shooa Moru according to my orders, but they had delivered my message
to Kamrasi, who had, as I had supposed, sent two leaves out of a book
Speke had given him, as a reply. An immense amount of news had to be
exchanged between my men and those of Ibrahim; they had quite given us
up for lost, until they heard that we were at Shooa Moru. A report had
reached them that my wife was dead, and that I had died a few days
later. A great amount of kissing and embracing took place, Arab fashion,
between the two parties; and they all came to kiss my hand and that of
my wife, with the exclamation, that "By Allah, no woman in the world had
a heart so tough as to dare to face what she had gone through." "El hamd
el Illah! El hamd el Illah bel salaam!" ("Thank God--be grateful to
God"), was exclaimed on all sides by the swarthy throng of brigands who
pressed round us, really glad to welcome us back again; and I could not
help thinking of the difference in their manner now and fourteen months
ago, when they had attempted to drive us back from Gondokoro.

On entering the village I found a hut prepared for me by the orders of
my vakeel: it was very small, and I immediately ordered a fence and
courtyard to be constructed. There were great numbers of natives, and a
crowd of noisy fellows pressed around us that were only dispersed by a
liberal allowance of the stick, well laid on by the Turks, who were not
quite so mild in their ways as my people. A fat ox was immediately
slaughtered by the vakeel commanding the Turks' party, and a great feast
was soon in preparation, as our people were determined to fraternize.

Hardly were we seated in our hut, when my vakeel announced that Kamrasi
had arrived to pay me a visit. In a few minutes he was ushered into the
hut. Far from being abashed, he entered with a loud laugh totally
different to his former dignified manner." Well, here you are at last!"
he exclaimed. Apparently highly amused with our wretched appearance, he
continued, "So you have been to the M'wootan N'zige! well, you don't
look much the better for it; why, I should not have known you! ha, ha,
ha!" I was not in a humour to enjoy his attempts at facetiousness; I
therefore told him, that he had behaved disgracefully and meanly, and
that I should publish his character among the adjoining tribes as below
that of the most petty chief that I had ever seen. "Never mind," he
replied, "it's all over now; you really are thin, both of you;--it was
your own fault; why did you not agree to fight Fowooka? You should have
been supplied with fat cows and milk and butter, had you behaved well. I
will have my men ready to attack Fowooka tomorrow;--the Turks have ten
men; you have thirteen; thirteen and ten make twenty-three;--you shall
be carried if you can't walk, and we will give Fowooka no chance--he
must be killed--only kill him, and MY BROTHER will give you half of his
kingdom." He continued, "You shall have supplies tomorrow; I will go to
my brother, who is the great M'Kammaa Kamrasi, and he will send you all
you require. I am a little man, he is a big one; I have nothing; he has
everything, and he longs to see you; you must go to him directly, he
lives close by." I hardly knew whether he was drunk or sober--"my
brother the great M'Kamma Kamrasi!" I felt bewildered with astonishment:
then, "If you are not Kamrasi, pray who are you ?" I asked. "Who am I?"
he replied, "ha, ha, ha! that's very good; who am I?--why I am
M'Gambi, the brother of Kamrasi,--I am the younger brother, but he is
the King."

The deceit of this country was incredible--I had positively never seen
the real Kamrasi up to this moment, and this man M'Gambi now confessed
to having impersonated the king his brother, as Kamrasi was afraid that
I might be in league with Debono's people to murder him, and therefore
he had ordered his brother M'Gambi to act the king.

I now remembered, that the woman Bacheeta had on several occasions
during the journey told us that the Kamrasi we had seen was not the true
M'Kamma Kamrasi; but at the time I had paid little attention to her, as
she was constantly grumbling, and I imagined that this was merely said
in ill temper, referring to her murdered master Sali as the rightful
king.

I called the vakeel of the Turks, Eddrees: he said, that he also had
heard long since that M'Gambi was not Kamrasi as we had all supposed,
but that he had never seen the great king, as M'Gambi had always acted
as viceroy; he confirmed the accounts I had just received, that the real
Kamrasi was not far from this village, the name of which was "Kisoona."
I told M'Gambi that I did not wish to see his brother the king, as I
should perhaps be again deceived and be introduced to some impostor like
himself; and that as I did not choose to be made a fool of, I should
decline the introduction. This distressed him exceedingly; he said, that
the "king was really so great a man that he, his own brother, dared not
sit on a stool in his presence, and that he had only kept in retirement
as a matter of precaution, as Debono's people had allied themselves with
his enemy Rionga in the preceding year, and he dreaded treachery." I
laughed contemptuously at M'Gambi, telling him that if a woman like my
wife dared to trust herself far from her own country among such savages
as Kamrasi's people, their king must be weaker than a woman if he dare
not show himself in his own territory. I concluded by saying, that I
should not go to see Kamrasi, but that he should come to visit me.
M'Gambi promised to send a good cow on the following morning, as we had
not tasted milk for some months, and we were in great want of
strengthening food. He took his leave, having received a small present
of minute beads of various colours.

I could not help wondering at the curious combination of pride and
abject cowardice that had been displayed by the redoubted Kamrasi ever
since our first entrance to his territory. Speke when at Gondokoro had
told me how he had been kept waiting for fifteen days before the king
had condescended to see him. I now understood that this delay had been
occasioned more by fear than pride, and that, in his cowardice, the king
fell back upon his dignity as an excuse for absenting himself.

With the addition of the Turks' party we were now twenty-four armed men.
Although they had not seen the real king Kamrasi, they had been well
treated since Ibrahim's departure, having received each a present of a
young slave girl as a wife, while, as a distinguishing mark of royal
favour, the vakeel Eddrees had received two wives instead of one; they
had also received regular supplies of flour and beef--the latter in
the shape of a fat ox presented every seventh day, together with a
liberal supply of plantain cider.

On the following morning after my arrival at Kisoona, M'Gambi appeared,
beseeching me to go and visit the king. I replied that "I was hungry and
weak from want of food, and that I wanted to see meat, and not the man
who had starved me." In the afternoon a beautiful cow appeared with her
young calf, also a fat sheep, and two pots of plantain cider, as a
present from Kamrasi. That evening we revelled in milk, a luxury that we
had not tasted for some months. The cow gave such a quantity that we
looked forward to the establishment of a dairy and already contemplated
cheese-making. I sent the king a present of a pound of powder in
canister, a box of caps and a variety of trifles, explaining that I was
quite out of stores and presents, as I had been kept so long in his
country that I was reduced to beggary, as I had expected to have
returned to my own country long before this.

In the evening, M'Gambi appeared with a message from the king, saying
that I was his greatest friend, and that he would not think of taking
anything from me, as he was sure that I must be hard up; that he desired
nothing, but would be much obliged if I would give him the "little
double rifle that I always carried, and my watch and compass!" He wanted
"nothing," only my Fletcher rifle, that I would as soon have parted with
as the bone of my arm: and these three articles were the same for which
I had been so pertinaciously bored before my departure from M'rooli. It
was of no use to be wroth; I therefore quietly replied that "I should
not give them, as Kamrasi had failed in his promise to forward me to
Shooa; but that I required no presents from him, as he always expected a
thousandfold in return." M'Gambi said that all would be right if I would
only agree to pay the king a visit. I objected to this, as I told him
the king, his brother, did not want to see me, but only to observe what
I had, in order to beg for all that he saw. He appeared much hurt, and
assured me that he would be himself responsible that nothing of the kind
should happen, and that he merely begged as a favour that I would visit
the king on the following morning, and that people should be ready to
carry me if I were unable to walk. Accordingly I arranged to be carried
to Kamrasi's camp at about 8 A.M.

At the hour appointed M'Gambi appeared, with a great crowd of natives.
My clothes were in rags,--and as personal appearance has a certain
effect, even in Central Africa, I determined to present myself to the
king in as favourable a light as possible. I happened to possess a
full-dress Highland suit that I had worn when I lived in Perthshire many
years ago; this I had treasured as serviceable upon an occasion like the
present; accordingly I was quickly attired in kilt, sporran, and
Glengarry bonnet, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, the
ragged-looking object that had arrived in Kisoona now issued from the
obscure hut, with plaid and kilt of Athole tartan. A general shout of
exclamation arose from the assembled crowd; and taking my seat upon an
angarep, I was immediately shouldered by a number of men, and attended
by ten of my people as escort, I was carried towards the camp of the
great Kamrasi.

In about half an hour we arrived. The camp, composed of grass huts,
extended over a large extent of ground, and the approach was perfectly
black with the throng that crowded to meet me. Women, children, dogs,
and men all thronged at the entrance of the street that led to Kamrasi's
residence. Pushing our way through this inquisitive multitude, we
continued through the camp until at length we reached the dwelling of
the king. Halting for the moment, a message was immediately received
that we should proceed; we accordingly entered through a narrow passage
between high reed fences, and I found myself in the presence of the
actual king of Unyoro, Kamrasi. He was sitting in a kind of porch in
front of a hut, and upon seeing me he hardly condescended to look at me
for more than a moment; he then turned to his attendants and made some
remark that appeared to amuse them, as they all grinned as little men
are wont to do when a great man makes a bad joke.

I had ordered one of my men to carry my stool; I was determined not to
sit upon the earth, as the king would glory in my humiliation. M'Gambi,
his brother, who had formerly played the part of king, now sat upon the
ground a few feet from Kamrasi, who was seated upon the same stool of
copper that M'Gambi had used when I first saw him at M'rooli. Several of
his chiefs also sat upon the straw with which the porch was littered. I
made a "salaam," and took my seat upon my stool. Not a word passed
between us for about five minutes, during which time the king eyed me
most attentively, and made various remarks to the chiefs who were
present; at length he asked me why I had not been to see him before? I
replied, "Because I had been starved in his country, and I was too weak
to walk." He said--I should soon be strong, as he would now give me a
good supply of food, but that he could not send provisions to Shooa
Moru, as Fowooka held that country. Without replying to this wretched
excuse for his neglect, I merely told him that I was happy to have seen
him before my departure, as I was not aware until recently that I had
been duped by M'Gambi. He answered me very coolly, saying that although
I had not seen him he had nevertheless seen me, as he was among the
crowd of native escort on the day that we left M'rooli. Thus he had
watched our start at the very place where his brother M'Gambi had
impersonated the king.

Kamrasi was a remarkably fine man, tall and well proportioned, with a
handsome face of a dark brown colour, but a peculiarly sinister
expression; he was beautifully clean, and instead of wearing the bark
cloth common among the people, he was dressed in a fine mantle of black
and white goatskins, as soft as chamois leather. His people sat on the
ground at some distance from his throne; when they approached to address
him on any subject they crawled upon their hands and knees to his feet,
and touched the ground with their foreheads.

True to his natural instincts, the king commenced begging, and being
much struck with the Highland costume, he demanded it as a proof of
friendship, saying, that if I refused I could not be his friend. The
watch, compass, and double Fletcher rifle were asked for in their turn,
all of which I refused to give him. He appeared much annoyed, therefore
I presented him with a pound canister of powder, a box of caps, and a
few bullets. He replied, "What's the use of the ammunition if you won't
give me your rifle?" I explained that I had already given him a gun, and
that he had a rifle of Speke's. Disgusted with his importunity I rose to
depart, telling him that "I should not return to visit him, as I did not
believe he was the real Kamrasi. I had heard that Kamrasi was a great
king, but that he was a mere beggar, and was doubtless an impostor, like
M'Gambi." At this he seemed highly amused, and begged me not to leave so
suddenly, as he could not permit me to depart empty handed. He then gave
certain orders to his people, and after a little delay, two loads of
flour arrived, together with a goat and two jars of sour plantain cider.
These presents he ordered to be forwarded to Kisoona. I rose to take
leave, but the crowd, eager to see what was going forward, pressed
closely upon the entrance of the approach; seeing which, the king gave
certain orders, and immediately four or five men with long heavy
bludgeons rushed at the mob and belaboured them right and left, putting
the mass to flight pell-mell through the narrow lanes of the camp.

I was then carried back to my camp at Kisoona, where I was received by a
great crowd of people.



CHAPTER XIV.

AT HOME IN KISOONA.

IT appeared that Kisoona was to be headquarters until I should have an
opportunity of quitting the country for Shooa. Therefore I constructed a
comfortable little hut surrounded by a courtyard strongly fenced, in
which I arranged a Rakooba, or open shed, in which to sit during the
hottest hours of the day.

My cow that I had received from Kamrasi gave plenty of milk, and every
second day we were enabled to make a small cheese about the size of a
six-pound cannon-shot. The abundance of milk made a rapid change in our
appearance; and Kisoona, although a place of complete "ennui," was a
delightful change after the privations of the last four months. Every
week the king sent me an ox and a quantity of flour for myself and
people, and the whole party grew fat. We used the milk native fashion,
never drinking it until curdled;--taken in this form it will agree with
the most delicate stomach, but if used fresh in large quantities it
induces biliousness. The young girls of thirteen and fourteen that are
the wives of the king are not appreciated unless extremely fat--they are
subjected to a regular system of fattening in order to increase their
charms; thus at an early age they are compelled to drink daily about a
gallon of curded milk, the swallowing of which is frequently enforced by
the whip; the result is extreme obesity. In hot climates milk will
curdle in two or three hours if placed in a vessel that has previously
contained sour milk. When curdled it should be well beaten together
until it assumes the appearance of cream; in this state, if seasoned
with a little salt, it is most nourishing and easy of digestion. The
Arabs invariably use it in this manner, and improve it by the addition
of red pepper. The natives of Unyoro will not eat red pepper, as they
believe that men and women become barren by its use.

Although the fever had so completely taken possession of me that I was
subject to an attack almost daily, the milk fattened me extremely, and
kept up my strength, which otherwise must have failed. The change from
starvation to good food produced a marvellous effect. Curious as it may
appear, although we were in a land of plantains, the ripe fruit was in
the greatest scarcity. The natives invariably eat them unripe, the green
fruit when boiled being a fair substitute for potatoes--the ripe
plantains were used for brewing plantain cider, but they were never
eaten. The method of cider-making was simple. The fruit was buried in a
deep hole and covered with straw and earth;--at the expiration of about
eight days the green plantains thus interred had become ripe;--they were
then peeled and pulped within a large wooden trough resembling a canoe;
this was filled with water, and the pulp being well mashed and stirred,
it was left to ferment for two days, after which time it was fit to
drink.

Throughout the country of Unyoro, plantains in various forms were the
staple article of food, upon which the inhabitants placed more
dependence than upon all other crops. The green plantains were not only
used as potatoes, but when peeled they were cut in thin slices and dried
in the sun until crisp; in this state they were stored in the granaries,
and when required for use they were boiled into a pulp and made into a
most palatable soup or stew. Flour of plantains was remarkably good;
this was made by grinding the fruit when dried as described; it was
then, as usual with all other articles in that country, most beautifully
packed in long narrow parcels, either formed of plantain bark or of the
white interior of rushes worked into mats. This bark served as brown
paper, but had the advantage of being waterproof. The fibre of the
plantain formed both thread and cord, thus the principal requirements of
the natives were supplied by this most useful tree. The natives were
exceedingly clever in working braid from the plantain fibre, which was
of so fine a texture that it had the appearance of a hair chain; nor
could the difference be detected without a close examination. Small bags
netted with the same twine were most delicate, and in all that was
produced in Unyoro there was a remarkably good taste displayed in the
manufacture.

The beads most valued were the white opal, the red porcelain, and the
minute varieties generally used for working on screens in England; these
small beads [These were given to me by Speke at Gondokoro] of various
colours were much esteemed, and were worked into pretty ornaments, about
the shape of a walnut, to be worn suspended from the neck. I had a small
quantity of the latter variety that I presented to Kamrasi, who prized
them as we should value precious stones.

Not only were the natives clever generally in their ideas, but they were
exceedingly cunning in their bargains. Every morning, shortly after
sunrise, men might be heard crying their wares throughout the camp--
such as, "Tobacco, tobacco; two packets going for either beads or
simbis!" (cowrie-shells). "Milk to sell for beads or salt!" "Salt to
exchange for lance-heads!" "Coffee, coffee, going cheap for red beads!"
"Butter for five jenettos (red beads) [These were given to me by Speke
at Gondokoro] a lump!"

The butter was invariably packed in a plantain leaf, but frequently the
package was plastered with cow dung and clay, which, when dry, formed a
hard coating, and protected it from the air; this gave it a bad flavour,
and we returned it to the dealer as useless. A short time after, he
returned with fresh butter in a perfectly new green leaf, and we were
requested to taste it. Being about the size and shape of a cocoa-nut,
and wrapped carefully in a leaf with only the point exposed, I of course
tasted from that portion, and approving the flavour, the purchase was
completed. We were fairly cheated, as the butter dealer had packed the
old rejected butter in a fresh leaf, and had placed a small piece of
sweet butter on the top as a tasting point. They constantly attempted
this trick.

As retailers they took extraordinary pains to divide everything into
minimum packets, which they sold for a few beads, always declaring that
they had only one packet to dispose of, but immediately producing
another when that was sold. This method of dealing was exceedingly
troublesome, as it was difficult to obtain supplies in any quantity. My
only resource was to send Saat to market daily to purchase all he could
find, and he usually returned after some hours' absence with a basket
containing coffee, tobacco, and butter.

We were comfortably settled at Kisoona, and the luxury of coffee after
so long an abstinence was a perfect blessing. Nevertheless, in spite of
good food, I was a martyr to fever, which attacked me daily at about 2
P.M. and continued until sunset. Being without quinine I tried vapour
baths, and by the recommendation of one of the Turks I pounded and
boiled a quantity of the leaves of the castor-oil plant in a large pot
containing about four gallons: this plant was in great abundance. Every
morning I arranged a bath by sitting in a blanket, thus forming a kind
of tent, with the pot of boiling water beneath my stool. Half an hour
passed in this intense heat produced a most profuse perspiration, and
from the commencement of the vapour system the attacks of fever
moderated both in violence and frequency. In about a fortnight, the
complaint had so much abated that my spirits rose in equal proportion,
and, although weak, I had no mortal fear of my old enemy.

The king, Kamrasi, had supplied me with provisions, but I was troubled
daily by messengers who requested me to appear before him to make
arrangements for the proposed attack upon Rionga and Fowooka. My excuse
for non-attendance was my weak state; but Kamrasi determined not to be
evaded, and one day his headman Quonga announced that the king would pay
me a visit on the following morning. Although I had but little remaining
from my stock of baggage except the guns, ammunition, and astronomical
instruments, I was obliged to hide everything underneath the beds, lest
the avaricious eyes of Kamrasi should detect a "want." True to his
appointment, he appeared with numerous attendants, and was ushered into
my little hut. I had a very rude but serviceable armchair that one of my
men had constructed; in this the king was invited to sit. Hardly was he
seated, when he leant back, stretched out his legs, and making some
remark to his attendants concerning his personal comfort, he asked for
the chair as a present. I promised to have one made for him immediately.
This being arranged, he surveyed the barren little hut, vainly
endeavouring to fix his eyes upon something that he could demand; but so
fruitless was his search, that he laughingly turned to his people and
said, "How was it that they wanted so many porters, if they had nothing
to carry?" My interpreter explained, that many things had been spoiled
during the storms on the lake, and had been left behind; that our
provisions had long since been consumed, and that our clothes were worn
out--thus we had nothing left but a few beads. "New varieties, no
doubt," he replied; "give me all that you have of the small blue and the
large red!" We had carefully hidden the main stock, and a few had been
arranged in bags to be produced as the occasion might require; these
were now unpacked by the boy Saat and laid before the king. I told him
to make his choice, which he did precisely as I had anticipated, by
making presents to his surrounding friends out of my stock, and
monopolizing the remainder for his share: the division of the portions
among his people was a modest way of taking the whole, as he would
immediately demand their return upon quitting my hut. No sooner were the
beads secured than he repeated the original demand for my watch and the
No. 24 double rifle; these I resolutely refused. He then requested
permission to see the contents of a few of the baskets and bags that
formed our worn-out luggage. There was nothing that took his fancy
except needles, thread, lancets, medicines, and a small tooth-comb; the
latter interested him exceedingly, as I explained that the object of the
Turks in collecting ivory was to sell it to Europeans who manufactured
it into many articles, among which were small tooth-combs such as he
then examined. He could not understand how the teeth could be so finely
cut. Upon the use of the comb being explained, he immediately attempted
to practise upon his woolly head; failing in the operation, he adapted
the instrument to a different purpose, and commenced scratching beneath
the wool most vigorously: the effect being satisfactory, he at once
demanded the comb, which was handed to each of the surrounding chiefs,
all of whom had a trial of its properties, and, every head having been
scratched, it was returned to the king, who handed it to Quonga, the
headman that received his presents. So complete was the success of the
comb that he proposed to send me one of the largest elephant's tusks,
which I was to take to England and cut into as many small tooth-combs as
it would produce for himself and his chiefs.

The lancets were next admired, and were declared to be admirably adapted
for paring his nails--they were therefore presented to him. Then came
the investigation of the medicine chest, and every bottle was applied to
his nose, and a small quantity of the contents was requested. On the
properties of tartar-emetic being explained, he proposed to swallow a
dose immediately, as he had been suffering from headache, but as he was
some distance from home I advised him to postpone the dose until his
return; I accordingly made up about a dozen powders, one of which (three
grains) he was to take that evening.

The concave mirror, our last looking-glass, was then discovered; the
distortion of face it produced was a great amusement, and after it had
been repeatedly handed round, it was added to his presents. More
gunpowder was demanded, and a pound canister and a box of caps were
presented to him, but I positively refused the desired bullets.

To change the conversation, I inquired whether he or any of his people
knew from whence their race originated, as their language and appearance
were totally different to the tribes that I had visited front the north.
He told me that he knew his grandfather, whose name was Cherrybambi, but
that he knew nothing of the history of the country, except that it had
formerly been a very extensive kingdom, and that Uganda and Utumbi had
been comprised in the country of Kitwara with Unyoro and Chopi.

The kingdom of Kitwara extended from the frontier of Karagwe to the
Victoria Nile at Magungo, and Karuma, bounded on all sides but the south
by that river and the Victoria and the Albert lakes; the latter lake
forming the western frontier. During the reign of Cherrybambi, the
province of Utumbi revolted, and not only became independent, but drove
Cherrybambi from Uganda across the Kafoor river to Unyoro. This revolt
continued until Cherrybambi's death, when the father of M'tese (the
present king of Uganda), who was a native of Utumbi, attacked and
conquered Uganda and became king. From that time there has been
continual war between Uganda and Unyoro; or, as Kamrasi calls his
kingdom, Kitwara, that being the ancient name: to the present day,
M'tese, the king of Uganda, is one of his greatest enemies. It was in
vain that I attempted to trace his descent from the Gallas; both upon
this and other occasions he and his people denied all knowledge of their
ancient history.

He informed me that Chopi had also revolted after the death of
Cherrybambi, and that he had reconquered it only ten or twelve years
ago, but that even now the natives were not to be trusted, as many had
leagued with Fowooka and Rionga, whose desire was to annex Chopi and to
form a separate kingdom: these chiefs had possession of the river
islands, which strongholds it was impossible to attack without guns, as
the rapids were so dangerous that canoes could only approach by a
certain passage.

Kamrasi expressed his determination to kill both of the refractory
chiefs, as he would have no rest during their lives; he disclaimed all
relationship with Rionga, who had been represented to Speke as his
brother, and he concluded by requesting me to assist him in an attack
upon the river islands, promising that if I should kill Fowooka and
Rionga he would give me a large portion of his territory.

He suggested that I should stand upon a high cliff that commanded
Fowooka's island; from that point I could pick off not only the chief,
but all his people, by firing steadily with the little double 24 rifle;
he continued even farther, that if I were too ill to go myself, I should
LEND him my little Fletcher 24 rifle, give him my men to assist his
army, and he would pick off Rionga himself from the cliff above the
river: this was his mild way of securing the rifle which he had coveted
ever since my arrival in his country. I told him plainly that I could
not mix myself up with his quarrels; that I travelled with only one
object, of doing good, and that I would harm no one unless in
self-defence, therefore I could not be the aggressor; but that should
Fowooka and Rionga attack his position I should be most happy to lend
him my aid to repel them. Far from appreciating my ideas of fair play,
he immediately rose from his chair, and without taking leave he walked
out of the hut, attended by his people.

The next morning I heard that he had considered himself poisoned by the
tarter-emetic but that he was now well.

From that day I received no supplies for myself or my people, as the
king was affronted. A week passed away, and I was obliged to purchase
meat and flour from Eddrees, the lieutenant who commanded the Turks'
party of nine men. I gave this man a double-barrelled gun, and he
behaved well.

One day I was lying upon my bed with a fit of ague, when it was reported
that four men had arrived from M'tese, the king of Uganda, who wished to
see me. Unfortunately my vakeel delayed the men for so long that they
departed, promising to return again, having obtained from my people all
information concerning me: these were spies from the king of Uganda,
whose object at that time was unknown to us.

The weeks passed slowly at Kisoona, as there was a tedious monotony in
the lack of incident;--every day was a repetition of the preceding. My
time was passed in keeping a regular journal; mapping; and in writing
letters to friends in England, although there was no communication. This
task afforded the greatest pleasure, as I could thus converse in
imagination with those far away. The thought frequently occurred to me
that they might no longer exist, and that the separation of years might
be the parting forever; nevertheless there was a melancholy satisfaction
at thus blankly corresponding with those whom I had loved in former
years. Thus the time slowly ebbed away; the maps were perfected;
information that I had received was confirmed by the repeated
examination of natives; and a few little black children who were allowed
to run about our courtyard like so many puppies afforded a study of the
African savage in embryo. This monotony was shortly disturbed.

At about 9 P.M. one night we were suddenly disturbed by a tremendous din
--hundreds of nogaras were beating, horns blowing, and natives
screaming in all directions. I immediately jumped out of bed, and
buckling on my belt I took my rifle and left the hut. The village was
alive with people all dressed for war, and bearded with cows' tails,
dancing and rushing about with shields and spears, attacking imaginary
enemies. Bacheeta informed me that Fowooka's people had crossed the Nile
and were within three hours' march of Kisoona, accompanied by A HUNDRED
AND FIFTY of Debono's trading party, the same that had formerly attacked
Kamrasi in the preceding year in company with Rionga's people. It was
reported, that having crossed the Nile they were marching direct on
Kisoona, with the intention of attacking the country and of killing
Kamrasi. M'Gambi, the brother of Kamrasi, whose hut was only twenty
yards distant, immediately came to me with the news: he was in a state
of great alarm, and was determined to run off to the king immediately to
recommend his flight. After some time I succeeded in convincing him that
this was unnecessary, and that I might be of great service in this
dilemma if Kamrasi would come personally to me early on the following
morning.

The sun had just risen, when the king unceremoniously marched into my
hut;--he was no longer the dignified monarch of Kitwara clothed in a
beautiful mantle of fine skins, but he wore nothing but a short kilt of
blue baize that Speke had given him, and a scarf thrown across his
shoulders. He was dreadfully alarmed, and could hardly be persuaded to
leave his weapons outside the door, according to the custom of the
country--these were three lances and a double-barrelled rifle that had
been given him by Speke. I was much amused at his trepidation, and
observing the curious change in his costume, I complimented him upon the
practical cut of his dress, that was better adapted for fighting than
the long and cumbrous mantle. "FIGHTING!" he exclaimed, with the horror
of "Bob Acres," "I am not going to fight! I have dressed lightly to be
able to run quickly. I mean to run away! Who can fight against guns?
Those people have one hundred and fifty guns; you must run with me; we
can do nothing against them; you have only thirteen men; Eddrees has
only ten; what can twenty-three do against A HUNDRED AND FIFTY? Pack up
your things and run; we must be off into the high grass and hide at
once; the enemy is expected every moment!"

I never saw a man in such a deplorable state of abject fright, and I
could not help laughing aloud at the miserable coward who represented a
kingdom. Calling my headman, I ordered him to hoist the English ensign
on my tall flagstaff in the courtyard. In a few moments the old flag was
waving in a brisk breeze and floating over my little hut. There is
something that warms the heart in the sight of the Union Jack when
thousands of miles away from the old country. I now explained to Kamrasi
that both he and his country were under the protection of that flag,
which was the emblem of England; and that so long as he trusted to me,
although I had refused to join him in attacking Fowooka, he should see
that I was his true ally, as I would defend him against all attacks. I
told him to send a large quantity of supplies into my camp, and to
procure guides immediately, as I should send some of my men without
delay to the enemy's camp with a message to the vakeel of Debono's
party. Slightly reassured by this arrangement, he called Quonga, and
ordered him to procure two of his chiefs to accompany my men. The best
of his men, Cassave, appeared immediately;--this was a famous fellow,
who had always been civil and anxious to do his duty both to his master
and to me. I summoned Eddrees, and ordered him to send four of his men
with an equal number of mine to the camp of Fowooka to make a report of
the invading force, and to see whether it was true that Debono's people
were arrived as invaders. In half an hour from the receipt of my order,
the party started;--eight well-armed men accompanied by about twenty
natives of Kamrasi's with two days' provisions. Kisoona was about ten
miles from the Victoria Nile.

At about 5 P.M. on the following day my men returned, accompanied by ten
men and a choush, or sergeant, of Debono's party;--they had determined
to prove whether I was actually in the country, as they had received a
report some months ago that both my wife and I were dead; they imagined
that the men that I had sent to their camp were those of the rival party
belonging to Ibrahim, who had wished to drive them out of Kamrasi's
country by using my name. However, they were now undeceived, as the
first object that met their view was the English flag on the high
flagstaff, and they were shortly led into my courtyard, where they were
introduced to me in person. They sat in a half-circle around me.

Assuming great authority, I asked them how they could presume to attack
a country under the protection of the British flag? I informed them that
Unyoro belonged to me by right of discovery, and that I had given
Ibrahim the exclusive right to the produce of that country, on the
condition that he should do nothing contrary to the will of the reigning
king, Kamrasi; that Ibrahim had behaved well; that I had been guided to
the lake and had returned, and that we were now actually fed by the
king; and we were suddenly invaded by Turkish subjects in connexion with
a hostile tribe, who thus insulted the English flag. I explained to them
that I should not only resist any attack that might be made upon
Kamrasi, but that I should report the whole affair to the Turkish
authorities upon my return to Khartoum; and that, should a shot be fired
or a slave be stolen in Kamrasi's country, the leader of their party,
Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, would be hanged.

They replied that they were not aware that I was in the country; that
they were allies of Fowooka, Rionga, and Owine, the three hostile
chiefs; that they had received both ivory and slaves from them on
condition that they should kill Kamrasi; and that, according to the
custom of the White Nile trade, they had agreed to these conditions.
They complained that it was very hard upon them to march six days
through an uninhabited wilderness between their station at Faloro and
Fowooka's islands and to return empty handed. In reply I told them, that
they should carry a letter from me to their vakeel Mahommed, in which I
should give him twelve hours from the receipt of my order to recross the
river with his entire party and their allies and quit Kamrasi's country.

They demurred to this alternative: but I shortly settled their
objections, by ordering my vakeel to write the necessary letter, and
desiring them to start before sunrise on the following morning. Kamrasi
had been suspicious that I had sent for Mahommed's party to invade him
because he had kept me starving at Shooa Moru instead of forwarding me
to Shooa as he had promised. This suspicion placed me in an awkward
position; I therefore called M'Gambi (his brother) in presence of the
Turks, and explained the whole affair face to face, desiring Mahommed's
people themselves to explain to him that they would retire from the
country simply because I commanded them to do so, but that, had I not
been there, they would have attacked him. This they repeated with a very
bad grace, boasting, at the completion, that, were it not for me, they
would shoot M'Gambi where he stood at that moment. The latter, fully
aware of their good intentions, suddenly disappeared. . . . My letter to
Mahommed was delivered to Suleiman Choush, the leader of his party, and
I ordered a sheep to be killed for their supper. . . . At sunrise on the
following morning they all departed, accompanied by six of my men, who
were to bring a reply to my letter. These people had two donkeys, and
just as they were starting, a crowd of natives made a rush to gather a
heap of dung that lay beneath the animals; a great fight and tussle took
place for the possession of this valuable medicine, in the midst of
which the donkey lifted up his voice and brayed so lustily that the
crowd rushed away with more eagerness than they had exhibited on
arriving, alarmed at the savage voice of the unknown animal. It appeared
that the dung of the donkey rubbed upon the skin was supposed to be a
cure for rheumatism, and that this rare specific was brought from a
distant country in the East where such animals existed.



CHAPTER XV.

KAMRASI BEGS FOR THE BRITISH FLAG.

Kamrasi, thus freed from his invaders, was almost stupefied with
astonishment. He immediately paid me a visit, and as he entered the
courtyard he stopped to look at the flag that was gaily fluttering above
him, as though it were a talisman. He inquired "why the Turks were awed
by an apparent trifle." I explained that the flag was well known, and
might be seen in every part of the world; wherever it was hoisted it was
respected, as he had just witnessed, even at so great a distance from
home and unsupported, as in Unyoro.

Seizing the opportunity, he demanded it, saying, "What shall I do when
you leave my country and take that with you? These Turks will surely
return. Give me the flag, and they will be afraid to attack me!" I was
obliged to explain to him that "the respect for the British ensign had
not been gained by running away on the approach of danger, as he had
proposed on the arrival of the enemy, and that its honour could not be
confided to any stranger." True to his uncontrollable instinct of
begging, he replied, "If you cannot give me the flag, give me at least
that little double-barrelled rifle that you do not require, as you are
going home; then I can defend myself should the Turks attack me."

I was excessively disgusted; he had just been saved by my intervention,
and his manner of thanking me was by begging most pertinaciously for the
rifle that I had refused him on more than twenty occasions. I requested
him never to mention the subject again, as I would not part with it
under any circumstances. Just at this moment I heard an uproar outside
my gate, and loud screams, attended with heavy blows. A man was dragged
past the entrance of the courtyard bound hand and foot, and was
immediately cudgelled to death by a crowd of natives. This operation
continued for some minutes, until his bones had been thoroughly broken
up by the repeated blows of clubs. The body was dragged to a grove of
plantains, and was there left for the vultures, who in a few minutes
congregated around it.

It appeared that the offence thus summarily punished was the simple act
of conversing with some of the natives who had attended Mahommed's men
from Fowooka's island to Kisoona: a conversation with one of the enemy
was considered high treason, and was punished with immediate death. In
such cases, where either Kamrasi or his brother M'Gambi determined upon
the sudden execution of a criminal, the signal was given by touching the
condemned with the point of a lance: this sign was the order that was
immediately obeyed by the guards who were in attendance, and the culprit
was beaten to death upon the spot. Sometimes the condemned was touched
by a stick instead of a lance-point; this was a signal that he should be
killed by the lance, and the sentence was carried out by thrusting him
through the body with numerous spears--thus the instrument used to slay
the criminal was always contrary to the sign.

On the day following this event, drums were beating, horns blowing, and
crowds of natives were singing and dancing in all directions; pots of
plantain cider were distributed, and general festivities proclaimed the
joy of the people at the news that Mahommed's party had retreated across
the river, according to their agreement with me. My men had returned
with a letter from Mahommed, stating that he was neither afraid of
Ibrahim's people nor of Kamrasi, but that as I claimed the country, he
must retire. Not only had he retired with his thwarted allies, but,
disgusted at the failure of his expedition, he had quarrelled with
Fowooka, and had plundered him of all his cattle, together with a number
of slaves: this termination of the affair had so delighted Kamrasi that
he had ordered general rejoicings: he killed a number of oxen, and
distributed them among his people, and intoxicated half the country with
presents of maroua, or the plantain cider.

Altogether Mahommed, the vakeel of Debono, had behaved well to me in
this affair, although rather shabbily to his allies: he sent me six
pieces of soap, and a few strings of blue beads and jenettos (red glass
beads) as a proof that he parted with no ill feeling. Hardly were the
Turks in retreat when Kamrasi determined to give the finishing stroke to
his enemies. He sent great quantities of ivory to the camp, and one
evening his people laid about twenty tusks at my door, begging me to
count them. I told him to give the ivory to Ibrahim's men, as I required
nothing; but that should Ibrahim find a large quantity ready for him on
his return to the country, he would do anything that he might desire.

A few days later, whole lines of porters arrived, carrying enormous
elephants' tusks to Eddrees, the vakeel. Early the next morning,
Kamrasi's entire army arrived laden with provisions, each man carrying
about 40 lbs. of flour in a package upon his head. The Turks' party of
ten men joined them, and I heard that an attack was meditated upon
Fowooka.

A few days after the expedition had started, the Turks and about 1,000
natives returned. Kamrasi was overjoyed; they had gained a complete
victory, having entirely routed Fowooka, and not only captured the
islands and massacred the greater number of the inhabitants, but they
had captured all the wives of the rebel chiefs, together with a number
of inferior slaves, and a herd of goats that had fortunately escaped the
search of Mahommed's retreating party. Fowooka and Owine had escaped by
crossing to the northern shore, but their power was irretrievably
ruined, their villages plundered and burned, and their women and
children captured.

A number of old women had been taken in the general razzia; these could
not walk sufficiently fast to keep up with their victors during the
return march, they had accordingly all been killed on the road as being
cumbersome: in every case they were killed by being beaten on the back
of the neck with a club. Such were the brutalities indulged in.

On the following morning I went to visit the captives; the women were
sitting in an open shed, apparently much dejected. I examined the hands
of about fourteen, all of which were well shaped and beautifully soft,
proving that they were women of high degree who never worked
laboriously: they were for the most part remarkably good looking, of
soft and pleasing expression, dark brown complexion, fine noses, woolly
hair, and good figures, precisely similar to the general style of women
in Chopi and Unyoro.

Among the captives was a woman with a most beautiful child, a boy about
twelve months old; all these were slaves, and the greater number were in
a most pitiable state, being perfectly unfit for labour, having been
accustomed to luxury as the women of chiefs of high position. Curiously
enough, the woman Bacheeta, who had accompanied us to visit these
unfortunate captives, now recognised her former mistress, who was the
wife of the murdered Sali; she had been captured with the wives and
daughters of Rionga. Bacheeta immediately fell on her knees and crept
towards her on all fours, precisely as the subjects of Kamrasi were
accustomed to approach his throne. Sali had held as high a position as
Fowooka, and had been treacherously killed by Kamrasi at M'rooli in the
presence of Bacheeta. At that time peace had been established between
Kamrasi and the three great chiefs, who were invited to a conference at
M'rooli with a treacherous design on the part of the king. Hardly had
they arrived, when Rionga was seized by Kamrasi's orders, and confined
in a circular but with high mud walls and no doorway; the prisoner was
hoisted up and lowered down through an aperture in the roof. He was
condemned to be burnt alive on the following morning for some imaginary
offence, while Sali and Fowooka were to be either pardoned or murdered,
as circumstances might dictate. Sali was a great friend of Rionga, and
determined to rescue him; accordingly he plied the guards with drink,
and engaged them in singing throughout the night on one side of the
prison, while his men burrowed like rabbits beneath the wall on the
opposite side, and rescued Rionga, who escaped.

Sali showed extreme folly in remaining at M'rooli, and Kamrasi,
suspicious of his complicity, immediately ordered him to be seized and
cut to pieces: he was accordingly tied to a stake, and tortured by
having his limbs cut off piecemeal--the hands being first severed at
the wrists, and the arms at the elbow joints. Bacheeta was an eyewitness
of this horrible act, and testified to the courage of Sali, who, while
under the torture, cried out to his friends in the crowd, warning them
to fly and save themselves, as he was a dead man, and they would share
his fate should they remain. Some escaped, including Fowooka, but many
were massacred on the spot, and the woman Bacheeta was captured by
Kamrasi and subsequently sent by him to the Turks' camp at Faloro, as
already described. From that day unremitting warfare was carried on
between Kamrasi and the island chiefs; the climax was their defeat, and
the capture of their women, through the assistance of the Turks.

Kamrasi's delight at the victory knew no bounds; ivory poured into the
camp, and a hut was actually filled with elephants' tusks of the largest
size. Eddrees, the leader of the Turks' party, knowing that the victory
was gained by the aid of his guns, refused to give up the captives on
the demand of the king, claiming them as prisoners belonging to Ibrahim,
and declining any arguments upon the matter until his master should
arrive in the country. Kamrasi urged that, although the guns had been of
great service, no prisoners could have been captured without the aid of
his canoes, that had been brought by land, dragged all the way from
Karuma by hundreds of his people in readiness for the attack upon the
islands.

As usual in all cases of dispute, I was to be referee. Kamrasi sent his
factotum Cassave in the night to my hut to confer with me without the
Turks' knowledge; then came his brother, M'Gambi, and at length, after
being pestered daily by messengers, the great king arrived in person. He
said that Eddrees was excessively insolent, and had threatened to shoot
him; that he had insulted him when on his throne surrounded by his
chiefs, and that, had he not been introduced into the country by me, he
would have killed him and his men on the spot.

I advised Kamrasi not to talk too big, as he had lately seen what only
ten guns had effected in the fight with Fowooka, and he might imagine
the results that would occur should he even hint at hostility, as the
large parties of Ibrahim and the men of Mahommed Wat-el-Mek would
immediately unite and destroy both him and his country, and place his
now beaten enemy Fowooka upon HIS throne should a hair of a Turk's head
be missing. The gallant Kamrasi turned almost green at the bare
suggestion of this possibility. I advised him not to quarrel about
straws, assuring him, that as I had become responsible for the behaviour
of the Turks while in his country, he need have no fear; but that, on
the other hand, he must be both just and generous. If he would give them
a supply of ivory, he might always reckon upon them as valuable allies;
but if he attempted to quarrel, they would assuredly destroy his country
after my departure. Of course he requested me never to think of leaving
him, but to take up my abode for life in Kitwara, promising me all that
I should require in addition to a large territory. I replied that the
climate did not agree with me, and that nothing would induce me to
remain, but that, as the boats would not arrive at Gondokoro for six
months (until February), I might as well reside with him as anywhere
else. At the same time, I assured him that his professed friendship for
me was a delusion, as he only regarded me as a shield between him and
danger. After a long conversation, I succeeded in persuading him not to
interfere in matters regarding prisoners of war, and to look upon
Eddrees only as a vakeel until Ibrahim should arrive. He left my hut
promising not to mention the affair again; but the next, day he sent
Cassave to Eddrees, demanding two of the prettiest women who were
captives. In reply, Eddrees, who was an extremely hotheaded fellow, went
straight to Kamrasi, and spoke to him in a most insulting manner,
refusing his request. The king immediately rose from his seat and turned
his back upon the offender. Off rushed Eddrees, boiling with passion, to
his camp, summoned his men well armed, and marched straight towards the
residence of Kamrasi to demand satisfaction for the affront.

Fortunately, my vakeel brought me the intelligence, and I sent after
him, ordering his immediate return, and declaring that no one should
break the peace so long as I was in the country. In about ten minutes,
both he and his men slunk back ashamed, mutually accusing each other, as
is usual in cases of failure. This was an instance of the madness of
these Turks in assuming the offensive, when, in the event of a fight,
defeat must have been certain. They were positively without ammunition!
having fired away all their cartridges except about five rounds for each
man in the attack upon Fowooka. Fortunately, this was unknown to
Kamrasi. I had a large supply, as my men were never permitted to fire a
shot without my special permission.

The party of Turks were now completely in my power. I sent for Eddrees,
and also for the king: the latter had already heard from the natives of
the approach of the armed Turks, and of my interference. He refused to
appear in person, but sent his brother M'Gambi, who was, as usual, the
cat's-paw. M'Gambi was highly offended, and declared that Kamrasi had
forbidden Eddrees ever to appear again in his presence. I insisted upon
Eddrees apologizing, and it was resolved that all future negotiations
should be carried on through me alone.

I suggested that it would be advisable for all parties that a message
should be sent without delay to Ibrahim at Shooa, as it was highly
necessary that he should be present, as I should not continue
responsible for the conduct of the Turks. When I arrived in Unyoro it
was with the intention of visiting the lake, and returning immediately.
I had been delayed entirely through Kamrasi's orders, and I could not be
held responsible for Eddrees;--my agreement had been to guarantee the
conduct of the Turks under Ibrahim, who was the commander of the party.
Eddrees, who, being without ammunition, was now excessively humble and
wished for reinforcements, offered to send five men to Shooa, provided
that Kamrasi would allow some natives to accompany them. This did not
suit the ideas of the suspicious M'Gambi, who suspected that he intended
to misrepresent Kamrasi's conduct to prejudice Ibrahim against him.
Accordingly, he declined his offer, but agreed to give porters and
guides, should I wish to send any of my men with a letter. This suited
my views exactly; I longed to quit Kamrasi's country, as Kisoona was a
prison of high grass and inaction, and could I only return to Shooa, I
could pass my time pleasantly in a fine open country and healthy
climate, with the advantage of being five days' march nearer home than
Unyoro. Accordingly, I instructed my vakeel to write a letter to
Ibrahim, calling him immediately to Kisoona, informing him that a large
quantity of ivory was collected, which, should Eddrees create a
disturbance, would be lost. On the following morning, four of my men
started for Shooa, accompanied by a number of natives.

Kisoona relapsed into its former monotony-the war with Fowooka being
over, the natives, free from care, passed their time in singing and
drinking; it was next to impossible to sleep at night, as crowds of
people all drunk were yelling in chorus, blowing horns and beating drums
from sunset until morning. The women took no part in this amusement, as
it was the custom in Unyoro for the men to enjoy themselves in laziness,
while the women performed all the labour of the fields. Thus they were
fatigued, and glad to rest, while the men passed the night in uproarious
merriment. The usual style of singing was a rapid chant delivered as a
solo, while at intervals the crowd burst out in a deafening chorus
together with the drums and horns; the latter were formed of immense
gourds which, growing in a peculiar shape, with long bottle necks, were
easily converted into musical (?) instruments. Every now and then a cry
of fire in the middle of the night enlivened the ennui of our existence;
the huts were littered deep with straw, and the inmates, intoxicated,
frequently fell asleep with their huge pipes alight, which, falling in
the dry straw, at once occasioned a conflagration. In such cases the
flames spread from hut to hut with immense rapidity, and frequently four
or five hundred huts in Kamrasi's large camp were destroyed by fire, and
rebuilt in a few days. I was anxious concerning my powder, as, in the
event of fire, the blaze of the straw hut was so instantaneous that
nothing could be saved: should my powder explode, I should be entirely
defenceless. Accordingly, after a conflagration in my neighbourhood, I
insisted upon removing all huts within a circuit of thirty yards of my
dwelling: the natives demurring, I at once ordered my men to pull down
the houses, and thereby relieved myself from drunken and dangerous
neighbours.

Although we had been regularly supplied with beef by the king, we now
found it most difficult to procure fowls; the war with Fowooka had
occasioned the destruction of nearly all the poultry in the
neighbourhood of Kisoona, as Kamrasi and his kojoors (magicians) were
occupied with daily sacrifices, deducing prognostications of coming
events from the appearances of the entrails of the birds slain. The king
was surrounded by sorcerers, both men and women; these people were
distinguished from others by witch-like chaplets of various dried roots
worn upon the head; some of them had dried lizards, crocodiles' teeth,
lions' claws, minute tortoise-shells, &c. added to their collection of
charms. They could have subscribed to the witches' cauldron of Macbeth:

   "Eye of newt and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork and blindworm's sting,
    Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

On the first appearance of these women, many of whom were old and
haggard, I felt inclined to repeat Banquo's question: "What are these,
so withered and so wild in their attire, that look not like the
inhabitants o' the earth, and yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
that man may question?"

In such witches and wizards Kamrasi and his people believed implicitly.
Bacheeta, and also my men, told me that when my wife was expected to die
during the attack of coup de soleil, the guide had procured a witch, who
had killed a fowl to question it, "Whether she would recover and reach
the lake?" The fowl in its dying struggle protruded its tongue, which
sign is considered affirmative; after this reply the natives had no
doubt of the result. These people, although far superior to the tribes
on the north of the Nile in general intelligence, had no idea of a
Supreme Being, nor any object of worship, their faith resting upon a
simple belief in magic like that of the natives of Madi and Obbo.

Some weeks passed without a reply from Shooa to the letter I had
forwarded by my men, neither had any news been received of their
arrival; we had relapsed into the usual monotony of existence. This was
happily broken by a most important event.

On the 6th September, M'Gambi came to my hut in a state of great
excitement, with the intelligence that the M'was, the natives of Uganda,
had invaded Kamrasi's country with a large army; that they had already
crossed the Kafoor river and had captured M'rooli, and that they were
marching through the country direct to Kisoona, with the intention of
killing Kamrasi and of attacking us, and annexing the country of Unyoro
to M'tese's dominions. My force was reduced by four men that I had sent
to Shooa--thus we were a party of twenty guns, including the Turks,
who unfortunately had no ammunition.

There was no doubt about the truth of the intelligence; the natives
seemed in great consternation, as the M'was were far more powerful than
Kamrasi's people, and every invasion from that country had been attended
with the total rout of the Unyoro forces. I told M'Gambi that messengers
must be sent off at once to Shooa with a letter that I would write to
Ibrahim, summoning him immediately to Karuma with a force of 100 men; at
the same time I suggested that we should leave Kisoona and march with
Kamrasi's army direct to Karuma, there to establish a fortified camp to
command the passage of the river, and to secure a number of canoes to
provide a passage for Ibrahim's people whenever they could effect a
junction:--otherwise, the M'was might destroy the boats and cut off
the Turks on their arrival at the ferry. Kisoona was an exceedingly
disadvantageous situation, as it was a mere forest of trees and tangled
herbage ten or twelve feet high, in which the enemy could approach us
unperceived, secure from our guns. M'Gambi quite approved of my advice,
and hurried off to the king, who, as usual in cases of necessity, came
to me without delay. He was very excited, and said that messengers
arrived four or five times a day, bringing reports of every movement of
the enemy, who were advancing rapidly in three divisions, one by the
route direct from M'rooli to Karuma that I had followed on my arrival at
Atada, another direct to Kisoona, and a third between these two
parallels, so as to cut off his retreat to an island in the Nile, where
he had formerly taken refuge when his country was invaded by the same
people. I begged him not to think of retiring to the island, but to take
my advice and fight it out, in which case I should be happy to assist
him, as I was his guest, and I had a perfect right to repel any
aggression.

Accordingly I drew a plan of operations, showing how a camp could be
formed on the cliff above Karuma Falls, having two sides protected by
the river, while a kraal could be formed in the vicinity completely
commanded by our guns, where his cattle would remain in perfect
security. He listened with wandering eyes to all military arrangements,
and concluded by abandoning all idea of resistance, but resolutely
adhering to his plan of flight to the island that had protected him on a
former occasion.

We could only agree upon two points, the evacuation of Kisoona as
untenable, and the necessity of despatching a summons to Ibrahim
immediately. The latter decision was acted upon that instant, and
runners were despatched with a letter to Shooa. Kamrasi decided to wait
until the next morning for reports from expected messengers on the
movements of the enemy, otherwise he might run into the very jaws of the
danger he wished to avoid; and he promised to send porters to carry us
and our effects, should it be necessary to march to Karuma: with this
understanding, he departed. Bacheeta now assured me that the M'was were
so dreaded by the Unyoro people that nothing would induce them to fight;
therefore I must not depend upon Kamrasi in any way, but must make
independent arrangements: she informed me, that the invasion was caused
by accounts given to M'tese by Goobo Goolah, one of Speke's deserters,
who had run away from Kamrasi shortly after our arrival in the country,
and had reported to M'tese, the king of Uganda, that we were on our way
to pay him a visit with many valuable presents, but that Kamrasi had
prevented us from proceeding, in order to monopolise the merchandise.
Enraged at this act of his great enemy Kamrasi, he had sent spies to
corroborate the testimony of Goobo Goolah (these were the four men who
had appeared some weeks ago), which being confirmed, he had sent an army
to destroy both Kamrasi and his country, and to capture us and lead us
to his capital. This was the explanation of the affair given by
Bacheeta, who, with a woman's curiosity and tact, picked up information
in the camps almost as correctly as a Times correspondent.

This was very enjoyable--the monotony of our existence had been
unbearable, and here was an invigorating little difficulty with just
sufficient piquancy to excite our spirits. My men were so thoroughly
drilled and accustomed to complete obedience and dependence upon my
guidance, that they had quite changed their characters. I called
Eddrees, gave him ten rounds of ball cartridge for each of his men, and
told him to keep with my party should we be obliged to march: he
immediately called a number of natives and concealed all his ivory in
the jungle. At about 9 P.M. the camp was in an uproar; suddenly drums
beat in all quarters, in reply to nogaras that sounded the alarm in
Kamrasi's camp; horns bellowed; men and women yelled; huts were set on
fire; and in the blaze of light hundreds of natives, all armed and
dressed for war, rushed frantically about, as usual upon such occasions,
gesticulating, and engaging in mock fight with each other, as though
full of valour and boiling over with a desire to meet the enemy.
Bacheeta, who was a sworn enemy to Kamrasi, was delighted at his
approaching discomfiture. As some of the most desperate looking
warriors, dressed with horns upon their heads, rushed up to us
brandishing their spears, she shouted in derision, "Dance away, my boys!
Now's your time when the enemy is far away; but if you see a M'was as
big as the boy Saat, you will run as fast as your legs can carry you."

The M'was were reported to be so close to Kisoona that their nogaras had
been heard from Kamrasi's position, therefore we were to be ready to
march for Atada before daybreak on the following morning. There was
little sleep that night, as all the luggage had to be packed in
readiness for the early start. Cassave, who could always be depended
upon, arrived at my hut, and told me that messengers had reported that
the M'was had swept everything before them, having captured all the
women and cattle of the country and killed a great number of people;
that they had seen the light of burning villages from Kamrasi's camp,
and that it was doubtful whether the route was open to Atada. I
suggested that men should be sent on in advance, to report if the path
were occupied: this was immediately done.

Before daybreak on the following morning an immense volume of light with
dense clouds of smoke in the direction of Kamrasi's position showed that
his camp had been fired, according to custom, and that his retreat had
commenced;--thousands of grass huts were in flames, and I could not
help being annoyed at the folly of these natives at thus giving the
enemy notice of their retreat, by a signal that could be seen at many
miles' distance, when success depended upon rapid and secret movements.

Shortly after these signs of the march, crowds of women, men, cows,
goats, and luggage appeared, advancing in single file through a grove of
plantains and passing within twenty yards of us in an endless string. It
was pouring with rain, and women carrying their children were slipping
along the muddy path, while throngs of armed men and porters pushed
rudely by, until at last the gallant Kamrasi himself appeared with a
great number of women (his wives), several of whom were carried on
litters, being too fat to walk. He took no notice of me as he passed by.
M'Gambi was standing by me, and he explained that we were to close the
rear, Kamrasi having concluded that it was advisable to have the guns
between him and the enemy.

For upwards of an hour the crowd of thousands of people and cattle filed
past; at length the last straggler closed the line of march. But where
were our promised porters? Not a man was forthcoming, and we were now
the sole occupants of the deserted village, excepting M'Gambi and
Cassave. These men declared that the people were so frightened that no
one would remain to carry us and ours effects, but that they would go to
a neighbouring villa and bring porters to convey us to Foweera tomorrow,
as that was the spot where Kamrasi wished us to camp; at Foweera there
was no high grass, and the country was perfectly open, so that the
rifles could command an extensive range. The cunning and duplicity of
Kamrasi were extraordinary--he promised, only to deceive; his object
in leaving us here was premeditated, as he knew that the M'was, should
they pursue him, must fight us before they could follow on his path; we
were therefore to be left to defend his rear. The order to camp at
Foweera had a similar motive. I knew the country, as we had passed it on
our march from Atada to M'rooli; it was about three miles from Karuma
Falls, and would form a position in Kamrasi's rear when he should
locate, himself upon the island. Foweera was an excellent military
point, as it was equidistant from the Nile north and east at the angle
where the river turned to the west from Atada.

I was so annoyed at the deception practised by Kamrasi that I determined
to fraternise with the M'was, should they appear at Kisoona; and I made
up my mind not to fire a shot except in absolute necessity for so
faithless an ally as the king. This I explained to M'Gambi, and
threatened that if porters were not supplied I would wait at Kisoona,
join the M'was on their arrival, and with them as allies I would attack
the island which Kamrasi boasted was his stronghold. This idea
frightened M'Gambi, and both he and Cassave started to procure porters,
promising most faithfully to appear that evening, and to start together
to Foweera on the following morning. We were a party of twenty guns;
there was no fear in the event of an attack. I ordered all the huts of
the village to be burned except those belonging to our men; thus we had
a clear space for the guns in case of necessity. In the evening, true to
his promise, M'Gambi appeared with a number of natives, but Cassave had
followed Kamrasi.

At sunrise on the following day we started, my wife in a litter, and I
in a chair. The road was extremely bad, excessively muddy from the rain
of yesterday, trodden deeply by the hoofs of herds of cattle, and by the
feet of the thousands that had formed Kamrasi's army and camp followers.
There was no variety in the country, it was the same undulating land
overgrown with impenetrable grass, and wooded with mimosas; every swamp
being shaded by clumps of the graceful wild date. After a march of about
eight miles we found the route dry and dusty, the rain on the preceding
day having been partial. There was no water on the road and we were all
thirsty, having calculated on a supply from the heavy rain. Although
many thousands of people had travelled on the path so recently as the
previous day, it was nevertheless narrow and hemmed in by the high
grass, as the crowd had marched in single file and had therefore not
widened the route. This caused great delay to the porters who carried
the litter, as they marched two deep; thus one man had to struggle
through the high grass. M'Gambi started off in advance of the party with
several natives at a rapid pace, while the Turks and some of my men
guarded the ammunition, and I remained in company with the litter and
five of my men to bring up the rear. The progress of the litter was so
slow that, after travelling all day until sunset, we were outmarched,
and just as it was getting dark, we arrived at a spot where a path
branched to the south, while the main path that we had been following
continued E.N.E. At this point a native was waiting, having been
stationed there by the Turks to direct us to the south; he explained
that the people had halted at a village close by. Pushing our way
through the narrow path we shortly arrived at the village of Deang. This
consisted of a few deserted huts scattered among extensive groves of
plantains. Here we found Eddrees and the Turks, with their captives from
the attack on Fowooka; passing their huts, we took possession of two
clean and new huts in the midst of a well-cultivated field of beans that
were about six inches above the ground, the cleared field forming an
oasis in the middle of the surrounding grass jungle There was no water;
it was already dark, and, although we had travelled through the heat of
the day, no one had drunk since the morning. We were intensely thirsty,
and the men searched in vain among the deserted huts in the hope of
finding a supply in the water jars they were all empty. Fortunately we
had a little sour milk in a jar that we had carried with us, barely
sufficient for two persons. There was nothing to eat except unripe
plantains: these we boiled as a substitute for potatoes. I disarmed all
the porters, placing their lances and shields under my bedstead in the
hut, lest their owners should abscond during the night. It now appeared
that our party had scattered most disgracefully; those in advance with
the ammunition who bad been ordered not to quit their charge for an
instant, had outmarched the main body, leaving Eddrees and a few men
with the captive women, who could not walk fast, and my small guard who
had attended the litter.

No one ate much that night, as all were too thirsty. On the following
morning I found to my dismay that all of our porters had absconded,
except two men who had slept in the same hut with my people; we were for
about the hundredth time deserted in this detestable country. I ordered
Eddrees to push on to Foweera, and to desire my men with the ammunition
to wait there until I should arrive, and to request Kamrasi to send
porters immediately to assist us. Foweera was about thirteen miles from
Deang, our present position. Eddrees and his party started, and I
immediately sent my men with empty jars to search in all directions for
water; they returned in about an hour, having been unsuccessful. I again
ordered them to search in another direction, and should they find a
native, to force him to be their guide to a drinking place. In about
three hours they returned, accompanied by two old men, and laden with
three large jars of good water; they had found the old people in a
deserted village, and they had guided them to a spring about three miles
distant. Our chief want being supplied, we had no fear of starving, as
there was abundance of plantains, and we had about a dozen cheeses that
we had manufactured while at Kisoona, in addition to a large supply of
flour. A slight touch of fever attacked me, and I at length fell asleep.

I was awakened by the voices of my men, who were standing at the door of
my hut with most doleful countenances. They explained that Richarn was
missing, and was supposed to have been killed by the natives. My vakeel
held a broken ramrod in his hand: this suspicious witness was covered
with blood. It appeared that while I was asleep, Richarn and one of my
men named Mahommed had taken their guns, and without orders had rambled
through the country in search of a village, with the intention of
procuring porters, if possible, to carry us to Foweera.

They had arrived at a nest of small villages, and had succeeded in
engaging four men; these Richarn left in charge of Mahommed while he
proceeded alone to a neighbouring village. Shortly after his departure
Mahommed heard the report of a gun in that direction about half a mile
distant, and leaving his charge, he ran towards the spot. On arrival, he
found the village deserted, and on searching the neighbourhood, and
vainly calling Richarn, he came upon a large pool of blood opposite
several huts; lying upon the blood was the broken ramrod of Richarn's
gun. After searching without success, he had returned with the
melancholy report of this disaster. I was very fond of Richarn; he had
followed me faithfully for years, and with fewer faults than most of his
race, he had exhibited many sterling qualities. I waited for two days in
this spot, searching for him in all directions. On one occasion my men
saw a number of men and women howling in a village not far from the
place where the accident had happened; on the approach of my people they
fled into the jungles: thus, there was no doubt that Richarn must have
shot a man before he had been killed, as the natives were mourning for
the dead.

I was much distressed at this calamity; my faithful Richarn was dead,
and the double-barrelled Purdey that he carried was lost; this belonged
to my friend Oswell, of South African and Lake Ngami celebrity; it was a
much-prized weapon, with which he had hunted for five years all the
heavy game of Africa with such untiring zeal that much of the wood of
the stock was eaten away by the "wait a bit" thorns in his passage on
horseback at full speed through the jungles. He had very kindly lent me
this old companion of his sports, and I had entrusted it to Richarn as
my most careful man: both man and gun were now lost.

Having vainly searched for two days, and my men having seen several
village dogs with their mouths and feet covered with blood, we came to
the conclusion that his body had been dragged into the grass jungle by
the natives, and there, concealed, it had been discovered and devoured
by the dogs.

No porters had arrived from Kamrasi, neither had any reply been sent to
the message I had forwarded by Eddrees;--the evening arrived, and,
much dispirited at the loss of my old servant, I lay down on my angarep
for the night. 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. The two
natives who had remained with us immediately woke the men, and declared
that the drums we heard were those of the M'was, who were evidently
approaching our village;--the natives knew the peculiar sound of the
nogaras of the enemy, which were different to those of Kamrasi. This was
rather awkward--our ammunition was at Foweera, and we had no more than
the supply in our cartouche boxes, my men thirty rounds each, while I
carried in my pouch twenty-one. Our position was untenable, as the
drinking place was three miles distant. 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. I was sure that it could not be less than twelve or thirteen
miles, and in her weak state it would be impossible for her to
accomplish the distance, through high grass, in darkness, over a rough
path, with the chance of the route being already occupied by the enemy.
However, she was determined to risk the march. I accordingly prepared to
start at 9 P.M., as at that time the moon would be about 30 degrees
above the horizon and would afford us a good light. I piled all the
luggage within the hut, packed our blankets in a canvas bag, to be
carried by one of the natives, and ordered one of our black women to
carry a jar of water. Thus provided, and forsaking all other effects, we
started at exactly nine o'clock, following our two natives as guides.

Our course was about E.N.E. The moon was bright, but the great height of
the grass shadowed the narrow path so that neither ruts nor stones were
visible. The dew was exceedingly heavy, and in brushing through the rank
vegetation we were soon wet to the skin. This was our first attempt at
walking a distance since many months, and being dreadfully out of
condition, I much feared that one of us might be attacked by fever
before we should have accomplished the march; at all events, there was
no alternative but to push ahead until we should reach Foweera, however
distant. We walked for about three hours along a narrow but
unmistakeable path, well trodden by the cattle and people that had
accompanied Kamrasi. Suddenly we arrived at a place where a path
diverged to the right, while another led to the left: the former was
much trodden by cattle, and the guides declared this to be the right
direction. Perfectly certain of their mistake, as Foweera lay to the
east, while such a course would lead us due south, I refused to follow,
and ordered the party to halt while I made a survey of the
neighbourhood. I shortly discovered in the bright moonlight that the
larger path to the south had been caused by the cattle that had been
driven in that direction, but had again returned by the same route. It
was evident that some village lay to the south, at which Kamrasi and his
army had slept, and that they had returned by the same path to the
Foweera main route on the following morning. I soon discovered cattle
tracks on the smaller path to the east: this I determined to follow. My
guides were of little use, and they confessed that they had only once
visited the Foweera country. We were bound for the principal village
that belonged to the chief Kalloe, an excellent man, who had frequently
visited us at Kisoona.

Not far from the branch roads we came suddenly upon a few huts, the
inmates of which were awake. They gave us the unpleasant intelligence
that the M'was occupied the country in advance, and that we should not
be able to pass them on our present route, as they were close to that
spot. It was now past midnight, the country was perfectly still, and
having no confidence in the guides I led the way.

About a mile from the huts that we had passed we suddenly observed the
light of numerous fires, and a great number of temporary huts formed of
green grass and plantain leaves: this was the camp of the M'was. I did
not observe any people, nor did we wait long in our present position,
but taking a path that led to the north, we quietly and stealthily
continued our march through walls of high grass, until in about an hour
we arrived in a totally different country. There was no longer the
dismal grass jungle in which a man was as much lost as a rabbit in a
field of corn, but beautiful park-like glades of rich and tender grass,
like an English meadow, stretched before us in the pale moonlight,
darkened in many places by the shadows of isolated trees and clumps of
forest. Continuing along this agreeable route, we suddenly arrived at a
spot where numerous well-beaten paths branched into all directions. This
was extreme confusion. We had left the direct route to Foweera when we
had made the detour to avoid the M'was' camp. I knew that, as we had
then turned to the north, our course should now be due east. There was a
path leading in that direction; but just as we were quietly deliberating
upon the most advisable course, we heard distant voices. Any voice in
this neighbourhood I concluded must be that of an enemy, therefore I
ordered my people to sit down, while two men concealed themselves on the
borders of a jungle, about a hundred yards distant, as sentries.

I then sent Bacheeta and one of the guides towards the spot from which
the sound of voices had proceeded, to listen to their language, and to
report whether they were M'was, or people of Foweera. The spies started
cautiously on their errand.

About five minutes passed in utter silence; the voices that we had heard
had ceased. We were very cold, being wet through with the dew. My wife
was much fatigued, and now rested by sitting on the bag of blankets. I
was afraid of remaining long in inaction, lest she should become stiff
and be unable to march.

We had been thus waiting for about ten minutes, when we were suddenly
startled by the most fearful and piercing yell I ever heard. This
proceeded from the jungle where one of my men was on guard, about a
hundred yards distant.

For the moment I thought he had been caught by a lion, and cocking my
rifle, I ran towards the spot. Before I reached the jungle I saw one of
the sentries running in the same direction, and two other figures
approaching, one being dragged along by the throat by my man Moosa. He
had a prisoner. It appeared, that while he was crouching beneath the
bushes at the entrance of the main path that led through the jungle, he
suddenly observed a man quietly stealing along the forest close to him.
He waited, unobserved, until the figure had passed him, when he quickly
sprang upon him from behind, seizing his spear with his left hand and
grasping his throat with his right.

This sudden and unexpected attack from an unseen enemy had so terrified
the native that he had uttered the extraordinary yell that had startled
our party. He was now triumphantly led by his captor, but he was so
prostrated by fear that he trembled as though in an ague fit. I
endeavoured to reassure him, and Bacheeta shortly returning with the
guide, we discovered the value of our prize.

Far from being an enemy, he was one of Kalloe's men, who had been sent
to spy the M'was from Foweera: thus we had a dependable guide. This
little incident was as refreshing as a glass of sherry during the
night's march, and we enjoyed a hearty laugh. Bacheeta had been
unsuccessful in finding the origin of the voices, as they had ceased
shortly after she had left us. It appeared that our captive had also
heard the voices, and he was stealthily endeavouring to ascertain the
cause when he was so roughly seized by Moosa. We now explained to him
our route, and he at once led the way, relieving the native who had
hitherto carried the bag of blankets. We had made a considerable circuit
by turning from the direct path, but we now had the advantage of seeing
the open country before us, and marching upon a good and even path. We
walked for about three hours from this spot at a brisk pace, my wife
falling three times from sheer fatigue, which induced stumbling over the
slightest inequalities in the road. At length we descended a valley, and
crossing a slight hollow, we commenced the ascent of a gentle
inclination upon a beautiful grassy undulation crowned by a clump of
large trees. In the stillness of the night wherever we had halted we had
distinctly heard the distant roar of the river; but the sound had so
much increased within the last hour that I felt convinced we must be
near Foweera at the bend of the Victoria Nile. My wife was so exhausted
with the long march, rendered doubly fatiguing by the dew that had added
additional weight to her clothes, that she could hardly ascend the hill
we had just commenced. For the last hour our guide had declared that
Foweera was close to us; but experienced in natives' descriptions of
distance, we were quite uncertain as to the hour at which we should
arrive. We were already at the top of the hill, and within about two
hundred yards of the dense clump of trees my wife was obliged to confess
that she could go no farther. Just at that moment a cock crowed; another
replied immediately from the clump of trees close to us, and the guide,
little appreciating the blessing of his announcement, told us that we
had arrived at Kalloe's village, for which we were bound.

It was nearly 5 A.M., and we had marched from Deang at 9 P.M. There was
some caution required in approaching the village, as, should one of the
Turks' sentries be on guard, he would in all probability fire at the
first object he might see, without a challenge. I therefore ordered my
men to shout, while I gave my well-known whistle that would be a signal
of our arrival. For some time we exerted our lungs in this manner before
we received a reply, and I began to fear that our people were not at
this village: at length a well-known voice replied in Arabic. The
sentries and the whole party were positively ASLEEP, although close to
an enemy's country. They were soon awake when it was reported that we
had arrived, and upon our entering the village they crowded around us
with the usual welcome. A large fire was lighted in a spacious hut, and
fortunately, the portmanteau having preceded us together with the
ammunition, we were provided with a change of clothes.

I slept for a couple of hours, and then sent for the chief of Foweera,
Kalloe. Both he and his son appeared; they said that their spies had
reported that the M'was would attack this village on the following day;
that they had devastated the entire country and occupied the whole of
Unyoro and Chopi; that they had cut off a large herd of cattle belonging
to Kamrasi, and he had only just reached the island in time for
security, as the enemy had arrived at the spot and killed a number of
people who were too late to embark. Kalloe reported that Kamrasi had
fired at the M'was from the island, but having no bullets his rifle was
useless. The M'was had returned the fire, being provided with four guns
that they had procured from Speke's deserters;--they were in the same
condition as Kamrasi, having no bullets; thus a harmless fusilade had
been carried on by both parties. The M'was had retired from their
position on the bank of the river by Kamrasi's island, and had proceeded
to Atada, which they had destroyed.

They were now within three miles of us; nevertheless the foolish Kalloe
expressed his determination of driving his cattle to Kamrasi's island
for security, about two miles distant. I endeavoured to persuade him
that they would be perfectly safe if under our protection, but his only
reply was to order his son to drive them off immediately.

That day, Kalloe and all the natives quitted the village and fled to an
island for security, leaving us masters of the position. I served out a
quantity of ammunition to the Turks, and we were perfectly prepared. The
drums of the M'was were heard in all directions both day and night; but
we were perfectly comfortable, as the granaries were well filled, and
innumerable fowls stored both this and the closely adjoining deserted
villages.

On the following day M'Gambi appeared with a message from Kamrasi,
begging us to come and form a camp on the bank of the river opposite to
his island to protect him from the M'was, who would assuredly return and
attack him in canoes. I told him plainly that I should not interfere to
assist him, as he had left me on the road at Deang; that Richarn had
been killed by his people, and that one of my guns was still in their
possession, added to which I had been obliged to forsake all my baggage,
owing to the desertion of the porters;--for all these errors I should
hold Kamrasi responsible. He replied that he did not think Richarn was
killed, but that he had shot the chief of a village dead, having got
into some quarrel with the natives.

The conversation ended by my adhering to my intention of remaining
independent at Foweera. M'Gambi said they were very miserable on the
island, that no one could rest day or night for the mosquitoes, and that
they were suffering from famine;--he had several men with him, who at
once set to work to thrash out corn from the well-filled granaries of
the village, and they departed heavily laden. During the day a few
natives of the district found their way into the village for a similar
purpose. I had previously heard that the inhabitants of Foweera were
disaffected, and that many were in correspondence with the enemy. I
accordingly instructed Bacheeta to converse with the people, and to
endeavour through them to get into communication with the M'was,
assuring them that I should remain neutral, unless attacked, but if
their intentions were hostile I was quite ready to fight. At the same
time I instructed her to explain that I should be sorry to fire at the
servants of M'tese, as he had behaved well to my friends Speke and
Grant, but that the best way to avoid a collision would be for the M'was
to keep at a distance from my camp. Bacheeta told me that this assurance
would be certain to reach the chief of the M'was, as many of the natives
of Chopi were in league with them against Kamrasi.

In the afternoon of that day I strolled outside the village with some of
my men to accompany the party to the drinking place from which we
procured our water; it was about a quarter of a mile from the camp, and
it was considered dangerous for any one to venture so far without the
protection of an armed party.

We had just returned, and were standing in the cool of the evening on
the lawn opposite the entrance of the camp, when one of my men came
rushing towards us, shouting, "Richarn! Richarn's come back!" In another
moment I saw with extreme delight the jet black Richarn, whom I had
mourned as lost, quietly marching towards us. The meeting was almost
pathetic. I took him warmly by the hand and gave him a few words of
welcome, but my vakeel, who had never cared for him before, threw
himself upon his neck and burst out crying like a child. How long this
sobbing would have continued I know not, as several of my Arabs caught
the infection and began to be lachrymose, while Richarn, embraced on all
sides, stood the ordeal most stoically, looking extremely bewildered,
but totally unconscious of the cause of so much weeping. To change the
current of feeling, I told the boy Saat to fetch a large gourd-shell of
merissa (native beer), of which I had received a good supply from
Kalloe. This soon arrived, and was by far the most acceptable welcome to
Richarn, who drank like a whale. So large was the gourd, that even after
the mighty draught enough remained for the rest of the party to sip.
Refreshed by the much-loved drink, Richarn now told us his story. When
separated from Mahommed at the village he had found a great number of
people, some of whom were our runaway porters; on his attempting to
persuade them to return, a quarrel had taken place, and the chief of the
village heading his men had advanced on Richarn and seized his gun;--at
the same time the chief called to his men to kill him. Richarn drew his
knife to release his gun; seeing which, the chief relaxed his hold, and
stepping a pace back he raised his lance to strike;--at the same moment
Richarn pulled the trigger and shot him dead. The natives,
panic-stricken at the sudden effect of the shot, rushed away, and
Richarn, profiting by the opportunity, disappeared in the high grass,
and fled. Once in the interminable sea of grass that was almost
impenetrable, he wandered for two days without water: hearing the
distant roar of the Nile, he at length reached it when nearly exhausted
with thirst and fatigue;--he then followed up the stream to Karuma,
avoided the M'was,--and knowing the road thence to M'rooli that we had
formerly travelled, he arrived at Foweera. His ramrod had been broken in
the struggle when the chief seized his gun, and to his great
astonishment I now showed him the piece that we had picked up on the
pool of blood. He had made an excellent loading-rod with his hunting
knife by shaping a sapling of hard wood, and had reloaded his gun; thus
with a good supply of ammunition he had not much fear of the natives.
Kamrasi had evidently heard the true account of the affair.

Late in the evening we heard from a native that the whole of Kalloe's
cattle that he had driven from Foweera had been captured by the enemy on
their way to the river island, and that one of his sons and several
natives who had driven them were killed;--this was the result of his
precipitate flight.

The M'was followed up their advantages with uninterrupted success,
overrunning the entire country even to the shores of the Albert lake,
and driving off the cattle, together with all the women that had not
taken refuge upon the numerous islands of the Victoria Nile. During this
time, Kamrasi and his wives, together with his principal chiefs, resided
in the misery of mosquitoes and malaria on the river; great numbers of
people died of disease and starvation.

M'Gambi appeared frequently at our camp in order to procure corn, and
from him we received reports of the distress of the people; his
appearance had much changed; he looked half starved, and complained that
he had nothing to drink but Nile water, as they had neither corn, nor
pots in which they could make merissa, and the M'was had destroyed all
the plantains, therefore they could not prepare cider.

Among other losses my two cows were reported by M'Gambi to have been
stolen by the M'was, in company with the cattle of Kamrasi, with which
they had been driven from Kisoona. I did not believe it, as he also told
me that all the luggage that I had left at Deang had like wise been
stolen by the enemy. But I had heard from Bacheeta that the natives of
that neighbourhood had carried it (about six loads) direct to Kamrasi's
island; thus it was in his possession at the same time that he declared
it to have been stolen by the M'was. I told him, that I should hold him
responsible, and that he should pay me the value of the lost effects in
a certain number of cows.

A few days after this conversation, my cows and the whole of my luggage
were delivered to me in safety. Kamrasi had evidently intended to
appropriate them, but being pressed by the M'was and his old enemies on
the east bank of the Nile (the Langgos), who had made common cause with
the invaders, the time was not favourable for a quarrel with either me
or the Turks.

On the evening of the 19th September, a few days after this occurrence,
intelligence was brought into camp that Ibrahim and a hundred men had
arrived at Karuma Falls at the ferry by which we had formerly crossed
the river to Atada. I immediately despatched ten men to investigate the
truth of the report. In about two hours they returned in high spirits,
having exchanged greeting with Ibrahim and his party across the river.
Kamrasi had despatched boats to another ferry above the Falls to
facilitate the passage of the entire party on the following morning, as
he wished them to attack the M'was immediately.

Not being desirous of such an encounter, the M'was, who had witnessed
the arrival of this powerful reinforcement, immediately retreated, and
by sunrise they had fallen back about twenty miles on the road to
M'rooli.

On the morning of the 20th Ibrahim arrived, bringing with him the Post
from England; that being addressed to the consul at Khartoum had been
forwarded to Gondokoro by the annual boats, and taken charge of by
Ibrahim on his arrival at that station last April with ivory from the
interior. My letters were of very old dates, none under two years, with
the exception of one from Speke, who had sent me the Illustrated London
News, containing his portrait and that of Grant; also Punch, with an
illustration of Punch's discovery of the Nile sources. For a whole day I
revelled in the luxury of letters and newspapers.

Ibrahim had very kindly thought of our necessities when at Gondokoro,
and had brought me a piece of coarse cotton cloth of Arab manufacture
(darmoor) for clothes for myself, and a piece of cotton print for a
dress for Mrs. Baker, in addition to a large jar of honey, and some rice
and coffee--the latter being the balance of my old stock that I bad
been obliged to forsake for want of porters at Shooa. He told me that
all my effects that I had left at Obbo had been returned to Gondokoro,
and that my two men, whom I had left in charge, had returned with them
to Khartoum, on board the vessel that had been sent for me from that
place, but which had joined the traders' boats on their return voyage.
Ibrahim had assured the captain that it was impossible that we could
arrive during that year. It was thus fortunate that we had not pushed on
for Gondokoro after April in expectation of finding the boat awaiting
us. However, "All's well that ends well," and Ibrahim was astounded at
our success, but rather shocked at our personal appearance, as we were
thin and haggard, and our clothes had been so frequently repaired that
they would hardly hold together.

On the 23d September we moved our camp, and took possession of a village
within half a mile of the Victoria Nile. Kamrasi was now very valorous,
and returned from his island to a large village on the banks of the
river. He sent Ibrahim an immense quantity of ivory, in addition to the
store that had been concealed by Eddrees on our departure from Kisoona;
this was sent for, and in a few days it was safely deposited in the
general camp. Ibrahim was amazed at the fortune that awaited him. I
congratulated him most heartily on the success of the two expeditions--
the geographical, and the ivory trade; the latter having far more than
fulfilled my promise.

Kamrasi determined to invade the Langgo country immediately, as they had
received Fowooka after his defeat, and he was now residing with the
chief. Accordingly, eighty of Ibrahim's men were despatched across the
river, and in three days they destroyed a number of villages, and
captured about 200 head of cattle, together with a number of prisoners,
including many women. Great rejoicings took place on their return;
Ibrahim presented Kamrasi with a hundred cows, and in return for this
generosity the king sent thirty immense tusks, and promised a hundred
more within a few days.

Another expedition was demanded, and was quickly undertaken with similar
success; this time Fowooka narrowly escaped, as a Turk fired at him, but
missed and killed a native who stood by him. On the return of the party,
Kamrasi received another present of cattle, and again the ivory flowed
into the camp.

In the meantime, I had made myself excessively comfortable; we were in a
beautiful and highly cultivated district, in the midst of immense fields
of sweet potatoes. The idea struck me that I could manufacture spirit
from this source, as they were so excessively sweet as to be
disagreeable as a vegetable. Accordingly I collected a great number of
large jars that were used by the natives for brewing merissa; in these I
boiled several hundredweight of potatoes to a pulp. There were jars
containing about twenty gallons; these I filled with the pulp mashed
with water, to which I added yeast from a brewing of merissa. While this
mixture was fermenting I constructed my still, by fixing a jar of about
twelve gallons on a neat furnace of clay, and inserting the mouth of a
smaller jar upon the top; the smaller jar thus inverted became the dome
of the still. In the top of this I bored a hole, in which I fitted a
long reed of about an inch in diameter, which descended to my condenser;
the latter was the kettle, sunk by a weight in a large pan of cold
water.

My still worked beautifully, and produced four or five bottles of good
spirit daily;--this I stored in large bottle gourds, containing about
four gallons each. My men were excessively fond of attending to the
distillery, especially Richarn, who took a deep interest in the
operation, but who was frequently found dead asleep on his back; the
fire out; and the still at a standstill. Of course he could not be
suspected of having tried the produce of his manufactory! I found an
extraordinary change in my health from the time that I commenced
drinking the potato whisky. Every day I drank hot toddy. I became
strong, and from that time to the present day my fever left me,
occurring only once or twice during the first six months, and then
quitting me entirely. Not having tasted either wine or spirits for
nearly two years, the sudden change from total abstinence to a moderate
allowance of stimulant produced a marvellous effect. Ibrahim and some of
his men established stills; several became intoxicated, which so
delighted M'Gambi, who happened to be present, that he begged a bottle
of spirit from Ibrahim as a sample for Kamrasi. It appears that the king
got drunk so quickly upon the potent spirit, that he had an especial
desire to repeat the dose--he called it the maroua (cider) of our
country, and pronounced it so far superior to his own that he determined
to establish a factory. When I explained to him that it was the produce
of sweet potatoes, he expressed his great regret that he had never
sufficiently appreciated their value, and he expressed a determination
to cultivate whole districts. Ibrahim was requested to leave one of his
men who understood the management of a still, to establish and undertake
the direction of "King Kamrasi's Central African Unyoro Potato-Whisky
Company, unlimited."

Ibrahim had brought a variety of presents for Kamrasi: fifty pounds of
beads, a revolver pistol, cotton cloths, blue glass tumblers,
looking-glasses, &c. These donations, added to the pleasure afforded by
the defeat of his enemies, put his majesty into excellent humour, sad he
frequently came to visit us. On one occasion I gave him the portraits of
Speke and Grant: the latter he recognised immediately; he could not
understand the pictures in Punch, declaring that he (Punch) was not an
Englishman, as he neither resembled me nor Speke; but he was exceedingly
pleased with the Paris fashions in the Illustrated London News, which we
cut out with a pair of scissors, and gave him as specimens of English
ladies in full dress.

The war being concluded by the total discomfiture of his enemies,
Kamrasi was determined to destroy all those inhabitants of Foweera who
had in any way connived as the attack of the M'was. Daily executions
took place in the summary manner already described, the victims being
captured, led before the king, and butchered in his presence without a
trial.

Among others suspected as favourable to revolution was Kalloe, the chief
of Foweera; next to Kamrasi and M'Gambi he was the principal man in the
kingdom; he was much beloved by the entire population of Chopi and
Foweera, and I had always found him most intelligent and friendly. One
night, at about eight o'clock, Ibrahim came to my hut looking very
mysterious, and after assuring himself that no one was present, he
confided to me that he had received orders from Kamrasi to attack
Kalloe's village before daybreak on the following morning, to surround
his dwelling, and to shoot him as he attempted to escape; Ibrahim was
further instructed to capture the women and children of the village as
his perquisites. At the very moment that thus treacherous compact had
been entered into with Ibrahim, Kamrasi had pretended to be upon the
most friendly terms with Kalloe, who was then in his camp; but he did
not lay violent hands upon him, as, many of the natives being in his
favour, the consequences might have been disagreeable: thus he had
secretly ordered his destruction. I at once desired Ibrahim at all
hazards to renounce so horrible a design. Never did I feel so full of
revolution as at that moment; my first impulse was to assist Kalloe to
dethrone Kamrasi, and to usurp the kingdom. Ibrahim had an eye to
business; he knew, that should he offend Kamrasi there would be an end
to the ivory trade for the present. The country was so rich in ivory
that it was a perfect bank upon which he could draw without limit,
provided that he remained an ally of the king; but no trade could be
carried on with the natives, all business being prohibited by Kamrasi,
who himself monopolised the profits. In the event of war, not a tusk
would be obtained, as the ivory in possession of the natives was never
stored in their huts, but was concealed in the earth. The Turks were now
mercenaries employed by the king to do any bloody work that he might
require.

Ibrahim was in a dilemma. I offered to take the entire onus upon myself.
That Kalloe should not be murdered I was determined; the old man had on
several occasions been very obliging to me and to my people, and I
resolved to save him at any risk. His son, perfectly unsuspicious of
evil, was at that moment in our camp, having fraternized with some of my
men. I sent for him immediately and explained the entire plot,
concluding by telling him to run that instant at full speed to his
father (about two miles distant), and to send away all the women and
children from the village, but to bring Kalloe to my hut; that I would
hoist the British flag, as I had done at Kisoona, and this should
protect him from the bloodthirsty Kamrasi, who would not dare to seize
him. Should he refuse to trust me, he must fly immediately, as the Turks
would attack the village before daybreak. Away started the astonished
son in the dark night at full speed along the well-known path, to give
the warning.

I now arranged with Ibrahim that to avoid offending Kamrasi he should
make a false attack upon the village at the time appointed; he would
find it deserted, and there would be an end of the matter should Kalloe
prefer flight to trusting in my protection, which I felt sure he would.
Midnight arrived, and no signs of Kalloe had appeared; I went to sleep,
satisfied that he was safe. Before daybreak eighty men of the Turks'
party started upon their feigned expedition; in about two hours they
returned, having found the village deserted;--the bird had flown. I was
delighted at the success of this ruse, but I should have been more
satisfied had Kalloe placed himself in my hands: this I had felt sure he
would decline, as the character of the natives is generally so false and
mistrustful that he would suspect a snare.

At about noon we heard yells; drums were beating and horns blowing in
all directions. For the moment I thought that Kalloe had raised the
country against Kamrasi, as I observed many hundred men dressed for war,
scouring the beautiful open park, like hounds upon a scent. The Turks
beat their drum and called their men under arms beneath the ensign
planted outside the village,--not knowing the intention of the unusual
gathering. It shortly transpired that Kamrasi had heard of the escape of
Kalloe, and, enraged at the loss of his prey, he had immediately started
about a thousand men in pursuit.

In the evening I heard that he had been captured. I sent to Kamrasi
directly, to beg him to postpone his execution, as I wished to speak
with him on the following morning.

At sunrise I started, and found the king sitting in his but, while
Kalloe was lying under a plantain tree perfectly resigned, with his leg
in the Kamrasi shoe--a block of wood of about four feet long and ten
inches thick (the rough trunk of a tree); his left foot had been thrust
through a small hole in the log, while a peg driven through at right
angles just above the instep effectually secured the prisoner. This was
a favourite punishment of the king; the prisoner might thus languish
until released by death; it was impossible to sit up, and difficult to
lie down, the log having to be adjusted by an attendant according to the
movement of the body. I told Kamrasi that as I had saved him from the
attack of the Turks at Kisoona he must grant me a favour, and spare
Kalloe's life: this request, to my astonishment, he at once granted,
[A few days afterwards he shot Kalloe with his own hands.] and
added, that he should only keep him in the "shoe" for a few days, until
his people should bring him a hundred cows as a fine, in which case he
should release him. I had no faith in his promise, as I had before heard
that it was his practice to put the shoe upon any rich man in order to
extract a fine, upon the payment of which the unfortunate prisoner was
on some occasions killed instead of liberated. However, I had done all
in my power; and had Kalloe been a man of determination, he could have
saved himself by trusting implicitly to me. As I returned to the camp, I
could not help reflecting on the ingratitude I had experienced among all
the natives; on many occasions I had exerted myself to benefit others in
whom I had no personal interest, but in no single instance had I ever
received even a look of gratitude.

Two days after this occurrence I ordered the boy Saat to go as usual in
search of supplies to the neighbouring villages; but as he was starting,
Ibrahim advised him to wait a little, as something was wrong, and it
would be dangerous to go alone. A few minutes later, I heard three shots
fired in rapid succession at about three-quarters of a mile distant. The
Turks and my men immediately thronged outside the village, which
position being on a hill, we had a panoramic view of the surrounding
country.

We shortly perceived a number of men, including a few of the Turks'
party, approaching from an opposite hill, carrying something heavy in
their arms. With the telescope I distinguished a mat on which some
object of weight was laboriously supported, the bearers grasping the
corners in their hands. "One of our people is killed!" murmured one
Turk. "Perhaps it's only a native," said another. "Who would trouble
himself to carry a black fellow home!" exclaimed a third. The mystery
was soon cleared by the arrival of the party with the dead body of one
of Kamrasi's headmen; one ball had struck him through the chest, another
through the right arm, and the third had passed through the body from
side to side. He had been shot by some Bari slaves who acted as soldiers
belonging to the Turks' party. It appeared that the deceased had
formerly sent seventy elephants' tusks to the people of Mahommed
Wat-el-Mek against the orders of Kamrasi, who had prohibited the export
of ivory from his kingdom, as he had agreed to deal exclusively with
Ibrahim. The culprit was therefore condemned to death, but having some
powerful adherents in his village, Kamrasi had thought it advisable to
employ the Turks to shoot him; this task they gladly accepted, as they
were minus seventy tusks through his conduct. Without my knowledge, a
small party had started in open daylight to his village close to our
camp, and on attempting to enter the fence, several lances were thrown
at the Turks; the deceased rushed from the hut attempting to escape, and
was immediately shot dead by three of the Bari soldiers. The hands were
then (as usual in all these countries) amputated at the wrists, in order
to detach the copper bracelets; the body being dragged about two hundred
paces from the village, was suspended by the neck to a branch of the
tamarind tree. All the slave women (about seventy) and children were
then driven down to the spot by the Turks to view the body as it swung
from the branch; when thoroughly horrified by the sight, they were
threatened to be served precisely in a similar manner should they ever
attempt to escape.

Superlatively brutal as this appeared, I could not help reflecting that
our public executions in England convey a similar moral; the only
difference being in the conduct of the women; the savages having to be
DRIVEN to the sight as witnesses, while European females throng
curiously to such disgusting exhibitions. A few minutes after the
departure of the crowd, the tree was covered with vultures, all watching
the prospective feast. [The woman Bacheeta ran away, and we never saw
her again. Some time after, we heard that she had escaped to Fowooka's
people, fearing to be left by us, as we had promised, in Chopi.]

In the evening Kamrasi sent a number of women and children as presents
to Ibrahim: altogether he had given him seventy-two slaves in addition
to those captured in the various wars. There never was a more supreme
despot than the king Kamrasi--not only the property, but the families
of his subjects were at his disposal; he boasted that "all belonged to
him." Thus, when disposed to be liberal, he took from others and
bestowed upon his favourites; should any sufferer complain, there were
no lawyer's costs, but the "shoe," or death. His power depended upon a
perfect system of espionage, by which he obtained a knowledge of all
that passed throughout his kingdom; that being divided into numerous
small districts, each governed by a chief, who was responsible for the
acts committed within his jurisdiction, the government was wonderfully
simplified. Should a complaint be made against a governor, he was
summoned before the king; if guilty, death, or the "shoe!" To be
suspected of rebellion, was to die. A bodyguard of about 500 men, who
were allowed to pillage the country at discretion, secured the power of
the king, as with this organized force always at hand he could pounce
upon the suspected and extinguish them at once: thus the tyrant held his
sway over a population so timid that they yielded tamely to his
oppression. Having now allied himself to the Turks, he had conceived the
most ambitious views of conquering Uganda, and of restoring the ancient
kingdom of Kitwara; but the total absence of physical courage will
utterly frustrate such plans for extension, and Kamrasi the Cruel will
never be known as Kamrasi the Conqueror.



CHAPTER XVI.

KAMRASI'S ADIEU.

It was the middle of November--not the wretched month that chills even
the recollection of Old England, but the last of the ten months of rain
that causes the wonderful vegetation of the fertile soil in Equatorial
Africa. The Turks were ready to return to Shooa, and I longed for the
change from this brutal country to the still wilder but less bloody
tribe of Madi, to the north.

The quantity of ivory in camp was so large that we required 700 porters
to carry both tusks and provisions, &c. for the five days' march through
uninhabited country. Kamrasi came to see us before we parted; he had
provided the requisite porters. We were to start on the following day;
he arrived with the Blissett rifle that had been given him by Speke. He
told me that he was sorry we were going; and he was much distressed that
he had burst his rifle!--he had hammered a large bullet in the endeavour
to fit the bore; and the lump of lead having stuck in the middle, he had
fired his rifle and split the barrel, which being of remarkably good
metal had simply opened. He told me that it did not matter so very much
after all, as he had neither powder nor ball (this was false, as Ibrahim
had just given him a quantity), therefore his rifle would have been
useless if sound; but he added, "You are now going home, where you can
obtain all you require, therefore you will want for nothing; give me,
before you leave, the little double-barrelled rifle that YOU PROMISED
me, and a supply of ammunition!" To the last moment he was determined to
persevere in his demand, and, if possible, to obtain my handy little
Fletcher 24 rifle, that had been demanded and refused ever since my
residence in his country. I was equally persistent in my refusal,
telling him that there were many dangers on the road, and I could not
travel unarmed.

On the following morning our people crossed the river: this was a
tedious operation, as our party consisted of about 700 porters and
eighty armed men: Ibrahim had arranged to leave thirty men with Kamrasi
to protect him from the M'was until he should return in the following
season, when he promised to bring him a great variety of presents. By 4
P.M. the whole party had crossed the river with ivory and baggage. We
now brought up the rear, and descended some fine crags of granite to the
water's edge; there were several large canoes in attendance, one of
which we occupied, and, landing on the opposite shore, we climbed up the
steep ascent and looked back upon Unyoro, in which we had passed ten
months of wretchedness. It had poured with rain on the preceding day,
and the natives had constructed a rough camp of grass huts.

On the break of day on the 17th November we started. It would be tedious
to describe the journey, as, although by a different route, it was
through the same country that we had traversed on our arrival from
Shooa. After the first day's march we quitted the forest and entered
upon the great prairies. I was astonished to find after several days'
journey a great difference in the dryness of the climate. In Unyoro we
had left the grass an intense green, the rain having been frequent: here
it was nearly dry, and in many places it had been burnt by the native
hunting parties. From some elevated points in the route I could
distinctly make out the outline of the mountains running from the Albert
lake to the north, on the west bank of the Nile; these would hardly have
been observed by a person who was ignorant of their existence, as the
grass was so high that I had to ascend a white ant-hill to look for
them; they were about sixty miles distant, and my men, who knew them
well, pointed them out to their companions.

The entire party, including women and children, amounted to about 1,000
people. Although they had abundance of flour, there was no meat, and the
grass being high there was no chance of game. On the fourth day only I
saw a herd of about twenty tetel (hartebeest) in an open space that had
been recently burnt. We were both riding upon oxen that I had purchased
of Ibrahim, and we were about a mile ahead of the flag in the hope of
getting a shot; dismounting from my animal, I stalked the game down a
ravine, but upon reaching the point that I had resolved upon for the
shot, I found the herd had moved their position to about 250 paces from
me. They were all looking at me, as they had been disturbed by the oxen
and the boy Saat in the distance. Dinner depended on the shot. There was
a leafless bush singed by the recent fire; upon a branch of this I took
a rest, but just as I was going to fire they moved off--a clean miss!
--whizz went the bullet over them, but so close to the ears of one that
it shook its head as though stung by a wasp, and capered round and
round; the others stood perfectly still, gazing at the oxen in the
distance. Crack went the left-hand barrel of the little Fletcher 24,
and down went a tetel like a lump of lead, before the satisfactory sound
of the bullet returned from the distance. Off went the herd, leaving a
fine beast kicking on the ground. It was shot through the spine, and
some of the native porters, having witnessed the sport from a great
distance, threw down their loads and came racing towards the meat like a
pack of wolves scenting blood. In a few minutes the prize was divided,
while a good portion was carried by Saat for our own use; the tetel,
weighing about 500 lbs. vanished among the crowd in a few minutes.

On the fifth day's march from the Victoria Nile we arrived at Shooa; the
change was delightful after the wet and dense vegetation of Unyoro: the
country was dry, and the grass low and of fine quality. We took
possession of our camp, that had already been prepared for us in a large
courtyard well cemented with cow-dung and clay, and fenced with a strong
row of palisades. A large tree grew in the centre. Several hits were
erected for interpreters and servants, and a tolerably commodious hut,
the roof overgrown with pumpkins, was arranged for our mansion.

That evening the native women crowded to our camp to welcome my wife
home, and to dance in honour of our return; for which exhibition they
expected a present of a cow.

Much to my satisfaction, I found that my first-rate riding ox that had
been lamed during the previous year by falling into a pitfall, and had
been returned to Shooa, was perfectly recovered; thus I had a good mount
for my journey to Gondokoro.

Some months were passed at Shooa, during which I occupied my time by
rambling about the neighbourhood, ascending the mountain, making
duplicates of my maps, and gathering information, all of which was
simply a corroboration of what I had heard before, excepting from the
East. The Turks had discovered a new country called Lira, about thirty
miles from Shooa; the natives were reported as extremely friendly, and
their country as wonderfully fertile and rich in ivory. Many of the
people were located in the Turks' camp; they were the same type as the
Madi, but wore their hair in a different form: it was woven into a thick
felt, which covered the shoulders, and extended as low upon the back as
the shoulderblade.

They were not particular about wearing false hair, but were happy to
receive subscriptions from any source; in case of death the hair of the
deceased was immediately cut off and shared among his friends to be
added to their felt. When in full dress (the men being naked) this mass
of felt was plastered thickly with a bluish clay, so as to form an even
surface; this was most elaborately worked with the point of a thorn, so
as to resemble the cuttings of a file: white pipe-clay was then arranged
in patterns on the surface, while an ornament made of either an
antelope's or giraffe's sinew was stuck in the extremity and turned up
for about a foot in length. This when dry was as stiff as horn, and the
tip was ornamented with a tuft of fur--the tip of a leopard's tail
being highly prized.

I am not aware that any Lord Chancellor of England or any member of the
English bar has ever penetrated to Central Africa, therefore the origin
of the fashion and the similarity in the wigs is most extraordinary; a
well-blacked barrister in full wig and nothing else would thoroughly
impersonate a native of Lira. The tribe of Lira was governed by a chief;
but he had no more real authority than any of the petty chiefs who ruled
the various portions of the Madi country. Throughout the tribes
excepting the kingdom of Unyoro, the chiefs had very little actual
power, and so uncertain was their tenure of office that the rule seldom
remained two generations in one family. On the death of the father, the
numerous sons generally quarrelled for his property and for the right of
succession, ending in open war, and in dividing the flocks and herds,
each settling in a separate district and becoming a petty chief; thus
there was no union throughout the country, and consequently great
weakness. The people of Lira were fighting with their friends the
Langgos--those of Shooa with the natives of Fatiko; nor were there two
neighbouring tribes that were at peace. It was natural that such
unprincipled parties as the Khartoum traders should turn this general
discord to their own advantage; thus within the ten months that I had
been absent from Shooa a great change had taken place in the
neighbourhood. The rival parties of Koorshid and Debono, under their
respective leaders, Ibrahim and Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, had leagued
themselves with contending tribes, and the utter ruin of the country was
the consequence. For many miles' circuit from Shooa, the blackened ruins
of villages and deserted fields bore witness to the devastation
committed; cattle that were formerly in thousands, had been driven off,
and the beautiful district that had once been most fertile was reduced
to a wilderness. By these wholesale acts of robbery and destruction the
Turks had damaged their own interests, as the greater number of the
natives had fled to other countries; thus it was most difficult to
obtain porters to convey the ivory to Gondokoro. The people of the
country had been so spoiled by the payment in cows instead of beads for
the most trifling services, that they now refused to serve as porters to
Gondokoro under a payment of four cows each; thus, as 1,000 men were
required, 4,000 cows were necessary as payment. Accordingly razzia must
be made.

Upon several expeditions, the Turks realized about 2,000 cows; the
natives had become alert, and had driven off their herds to inaccessible
mountains. Debono's people at their camp, about twenty-five miles
distant, were even in a worse position than Ibrahim; they had so
exasperated the natives by their brutal conduct, that tribes formerly
hostile to each other now coalesced and combined to thwart the Turks by
declining to act as porters; thus their supply of ivory could not be
transported to Gondokoro. This led to extra violence on the part of the
Turks, until at last the chief of Faloro (Werdella) declared open war,
and suddenly driving off the Turks' cattle, he retired to the mountains,
from whence he sent an impertinent message inviting Mahommed to try to
rescue them.

This act of insolence united the rival trading parties against Werdella:
those of Ibrahim and Mahommed agreed to join in an attack upon his
village. They started with a force of about 300 armed men, and arriving
at the foot of the mountains at about 4 A.M. they divided their force
into two parties of 150 men each, and ascended the rocky hill upon two
sides, intending to surprise the village on one side, while the natives
and their herds would be intercepted in their flight upon the other.

The chief, Werdella, was well experienced in the affairs of the Turks,
as he had been for two or three years engaged with them in many razzias
upon the adjoining tribes--he had learnt to shoot while acting as
their ally, and having received as presents two muskets, and two brace
of pistols from Debono's nephew Amabile, he thought it advisable to
supply himself with ammunition; he had therefore employed his people to
steal a box of 500 cart ridges and a parcel containing 10,000 percussion
caps from Mahommed's camp. Werdella was a remarkably plucky fellow; and
thus strengthened by powder and ball, and knowing the character of the
Turks, he resolved to fight.

Hardly had the Turks' party of 150 men advanced half way up the mountain
path in their stealthy manner of attempting a surprise, when they were
assailed by a shower of arrows, and the leader who carried the flag fell
dead at the report of a musket fired from behind a rock. Startled at
this unexpected attack, the Turks' party recoiled, leaving their flag
upon the ground by the dead standard-bearer. Before they had time to
recover from their first panic, another shot was fired from the same
shelter at a distance of about thirty paces, and the brains of one of
the Turks' party were splattered over his comrades, as the ball took the
top of his head completely off. Three Bagara Arabs, first-rate elephant
hunters, who were with the Turks, now rushed forward and saved the flag
and a box of ammunition that the porter had thrown down in his flight.
These Arabs, whose courage was of a different class to that of the
traders' party, endeavoured to rally the panic-stricken Turks, but just
as they were feebly and irresolutely advancing, another shot rang from
the same fatal rock, and a man who carried a box of cartridges fell
dead. This was far too hot for the traders' people, who usually had it
all their own way, being alone possessed of firearms. A disgraceful
flight took place, but Werdella was again too much for them. On their
arrival at the bottom of the hill, they ran round the base to join the
other division of their party; this effected, they were consulting
together as to retreat or advance, when close above their heads from an
overhanging rock another shot was fired, and a man dropped, shot through
the chest. The head of Werdella was distinctly seen grinning in triumph;
--the whole party fired at him! "He's down!" was shouted, as the head
disappeared;--a puff of smoke from the rock, and a shriek from one of
the Turks at the sound of another musket shot from the same spot,
settled the question; a man fell mortally wounded. Four men were shot
dead, and one was brought home by the crestfallen party to die in two or
three days; five shots had been fired, and five killed, by one native
armed with two guns against 300 men. "Bravo, Werdella!" I exclaimed, as
the beaten party returned to camp and Ibrahim described the fight. He
deserved the Victoria Cross. This defeat completely cowed the cowardly
Turks; nor would any persuasions on the part of Ibrahim induce them to
make another razzia within the territory of the redoubted chief,
Werdella.

During the absence of the traders' party upon various expeditions, about
fifty men were left in their camp as headquarters. Nothing could exceed
the brutality of the people; they had erected stills, and produced a
powerful corn spirit from the native merissa; their entire time was
passed in gambling, drinking, and fighting, both by night and day. The
natives were ill-treated, their female slaves and children brutally
ill-used, and the entire camp was a mere slice from the infernal
regions. My portion of the camp being a secluded courtyard, we were
fortunately independent.

On one occasion a razzia had been made; and although unsuccessful in
cattle, it had been productive in slaves. Among the captives was a
pretty young girl of about fifteen; she had been sold by auction in the
camp, as usual, the day after the return from the razzia, and had fallen
to the lot of one of the men. Some days after her capture, a native from
the village that had been plundered confidently arrived at the camp with
the intention of offering ivory for her ransom. Hardly had he entered
the gateway, when the girl, who was sitting at the door of her owner's
hut, caught sight of him, and springing to her feet, she ran as fast as
her chained ankles would allow her, and threw herself in his arms,
exclaiming, "My father!" It was her father, who had thus risked his life
in the enemy's camp to ransom his child.

The men who were witnesses to this scene immediately rushed upon the
unfortunate man, tore him from his daughter, and bound him tightly with
cords.

While this was enacting, I happened to be in my hut; thus I was not an
eye-witness. About an hour later, I called some of my men to assist me
in cleaning some rifles. Hardly had we commenced, when three shots were
fired within a hundred paces of my hut. My men exclaimed, "They have
shot the Abid (native)!" "What native?" I inquired. They then related
the story I have just described. Brutal as these bloodthirsty villains
were, I could hardly believe in so cold-blooded a murder. I immediately
sent my people and the boy Saat to verify it; they returned with the
report that the wretched father was sitting on the ground, bound to a
tree, dead; shot by three balls.

I must do Ibrahim the justice to explain that he was not in the camp;
had he been present, this murder would not have been committed, as he
scrupulously avoided any such acts in my vicinity. A few days later, a
girl about sixteen, and her mother, who were slaves, were missing; they
had escaped. The hue and cry was at once raised. Ibrahimawa, the
"Sinbad" of Bornu, who had himself been a slave, was the most
indefatigable slave-hunter. He and a party at once started upon the
tracks of the fugitives. They did not return until the following day;
but where was the runaway who could escape from so true a bloodhound?
The young girl and her mother were led into camp tied together by the
neck, and were immediately condemned to be hanged. I happened to be
present, as, knowing the whole affair, I had been anxiously awaiting the
result. I took this opportunity of explaining to the Turks that I would
use any force to prevent such an act, and that I would report the names
of all those to the Egyptian authorities who should commit any murder
that I could prove; neither would I permit the two captives to be
flogged--they were accordingly pardoned. [It will be observed that at
this period of the expedition I had acquired an extraordinary influence
over the people, that enabled me to exert an authority which saved the
lives of many unfortunate creatures who would otherwise have been
victims.]

There was among the slaves a woman who had been captured in the attack
upon Fowooka. This woman I have already mentioned as having a very
beautiful boy, who at the time of the capture was a little more than a
year old.

So determined was her character, that she had run away five times with
her child, but on every occasion she had been recaptured, after having
suffered much by hunger and thirst in endeavouring to find her way back
to Unyoro through the uninhabited wilderness between Shooa and Karuma.
On the last occasion of her capture, the Turks had decided upon her
being incorrigible, therefore she had received 144 blows with the
coorbatch (hippopotamus whip), and had been sold separately from her
child to the party belonging to Mahommed Wat-el-Mek. Little Abbai had
always been a great pet of Mrs. Baker's, and the unfortunate child being
now motherless, he was naturally adopted, and led a most happy life.
Although much under two years old, he was quite equal in precocity to a
European child of three; in form and strength he was a young Hercules,
and, although so young, he would frequently follow me out shooting for
two or three miles, and return home with a guinea-fowl hanging over his
shoulder, or his hands full of pigeons. Abbai became very civilized; he
was taught to make a Turkish "salaam" upon receiving a present, and to
wash his hands both before and after his meals. He had the greatest
objection to eat alone, and he generally invited three or four friends
of about his own age to dine with him; on such occasions, a large wooden
bowl, about twenty inches in diameter, was filled with soup and
porridge, around which steaming dish the young party sat, happier in
their slavery than kings in power. There were two lovely girls of three
and eight years of age that belonged to Ibrahim; these were not black,
but of the same dark brown tint as Kamrasi and many of the Unyoro
people. Their mother was also there, and their history being most
pitiable, they were always allowed free access to our hut and the dinner
bowl. These two girls were the daughters of Owine, one of the great
chiefs who were allied with Fowooka against Kamrasi. After the defeat of
Fowooka, Owine and many of his people with their families quitted the
country, and forming an alliance with Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, they settled
in the neighbourhood of his camp at Faloro, and built a village. For
some time they were on the best terms, but some cattle of the Turks
being missed, suspicion fell upon the new settlers. The men of
Mahommed's party desired that they might be expelled, and Mahommed, in a
fit of drunken fury, at once ordered them to be MASSACRED. His men,
eager for murder and plunder, immediately started upon their bloody
errand, and surrounding the unsuspecting colony, they fired the huts and
killed EVERY MAN, including the chief, Owine; capturing the women and
children as slaves. Ibrahim had received the mother and two girls as
presents from Mahommed Wat-el-Mek. As the two rival companies had been
forced to fraternize, owing to the now generally hostile attitude of the
surrounding tribes, the leaders had become wonderfully polite,
exchanging presents, getting drunk together upon raw spirits, and
behaving in a brotherly manner--according to their ideas of
fraternity. There was a peculiar charm in the association with children
in this land of hardened hearts and savage natures: there is a time in
the life of the most savage animal when infancy is free from the fierce
instincts of race; even the lion's whelp will fondle the hand that it
would tear in riper years: thus, separated in this land of horrors from
all civilization, and forced by hard necessity into the vicinity of all
that was brutal and disgusting, it was an indescribable relief to be
surrounded by those who were yet innocent, and who clung in their
forsaken state to those who looked upon them with pity. We had now six
little dependents, none of whom could ever belong to us, as they were
all slaves, but who were well looked after by my wife; fed, amused, and
kept clean. The boy Abbai was the greatest favourite, as, having neither
father nor mother, he claimed the greatest care: he was well washed
every morning, and then to his great delight smeared all over from head
to toes with red ochre and grease, with a cock's feather stuck in his
woolly pate. He was then a most charming pet savage, and his toilette
completed, he invariably sat next to his mistress, drinking a
gourd-shell of hot milk, while I smoked my early morning pipe beneath
the tree. I made bows and arrows for my boys, and taught them to shoot
at a mark, a large pumpkin being carved into a man's head to excite
their aim. Thus the days were passed until the evening; at that time a
large fire was lighted to create a blaze, drums were collected, and
after dinner a grand dance was kept up by the children, until the young
Abbai ended regularly by creeping under my wife's chair, and falling
sound asleep: from this protected spot he was carried to his mat,
wrapped up in a piece of old flannel (the best cloth we had), in which
he slept till morning. Poor little Abbai! I often wonder what will be
his fate, and whether in his dreams he recalls the few months of
happiness that brightened his earliest days of slavery.

Although we were in good health in Shooa, many of the men were ill,
suffering generally from headache; also from ulcerated legs;--the
latter was a peculiar disease, as the ulcer generally commenced upon the
ankle bone and extended to such a degree that the patient was rendered
incapable of walking. The treatment for headache among all the savage
tribes was a simple cauterization of the forehead in spots burnt with a
hot iron close to the roots of the hair. The natives declared that the
water was unwholesome from the small stream at the foot of the hill and
that all those who drank from the well were in good health. I went down
to examine the spring, which I found beautifully clear, while the
appearance of the stream was quite sufficient to explain the opposite
quality. As I was walking quietly along the bank, I saw a bright ray of
light in the grass upon the opposite side; in another moment I perceived
the head of a crocodile which was concealed in the grass, the brightness
of the sun's reflection upon the eye having attracted my attention. A
shot with the little 24 rifle struck just above the eye and killed it;
--it was a female, from which we extracted several large eggs, all with
hard shells.

The shooting that I had while at Shooa was confined to antelopes; of
these there was no variety excepting waterbuck and hartebeest. Whenever
I shot an animal the Shooa natives would invariably cut its throat, and
drink the hot blood as it gushed from the artery. In this neighbourhood
there was a great scarcity of game the natives of Lira described their
country as teeming with elephants and rhinoceros; a fine horn of the
latter they brought with them to Shooa. There is only one variety of
rhinoceros that I have met with in the portions of Africa that I have
visited: this is the two-horned, a very exact sketch of which I made of
the head of one that I cut off after I had shot it. This two-horned
black rhinoceros is extremely vicious. I have remarked that they almost
invariably charge any enemy that they smell, but do not see; they
generally retreat if they observe the object before obtaining the wind.

In my rambles in search of game, I found two varieties of cotton growing
indigenous to the country: one with a yellow blossom was so short in the
staple as to be worthless, but the other (a red blossom) produced a fine
quality that was detached with extreme ease from the seeds. A sample of
this variety I brought to England, and deposited the seed at the Royal
Botanical Gardens at Kew. A large quantity was reported to be grown at
Lira, some of which was brought me by the chief; this was the inferior
kind. I sketched the old chief of Lira, who when in full dress wore a
curious ornament of cowrie shells upon his felt wig that gave him a most
comical appearance, as he looked like the caricature of an English
judge. The Turks had extended their excursions in their search for
ivory, and they returned from an expedition sixty miles east of Shooa,
bringing with them two donkeys that they had obtained from the natives.
This was an interesting event, as for nearly two years I had heard from
the natives of Latooka, and from those of Unyoro, that donkeys existed
in a country to the east. These animals were the same in appearance as
those of the Soudan; the natives never rode, but simply used them to
transport wood from the forest to their villages; the people were
reported as the same in language and appearance as the Lira tribe.



CHAPTER XVII

THE NATIVES IN MOURNING.

The hour of deliverance from our long sojourn in Central Africa was at
hand; it was the month of February, and the boats would be at Gondokoro.
The Turks had packed their ivory; the large tusks were fastened to poles
to be carried by two men, and the camp was a perfect mass of this
valuable material. I counted 609 loads of upwards of 50 lbs. each;
thirty-one loads were lying at an outstation: therefore the total
results of the ivory campaign during the last twelve months were about
32,000 lbs., equal to about 9,630 pounds when delivered in Egypt. This
was a perfect fortune for Koorshid.

We were ready to start. My baggage was so unimportant that I was
prepared to forsake everything, and to march straight for Gondokoro
independently with my own men; but this the Turks assured me was
impracticable, as the country was so hostile in advance that we must of
necessity have some fighting on the road; the Bari tribe would dispute
our right to pass through their territory.

The porters were all engaged to transport the ivory, but I observed that
the greater number were in mourning for either lost friends or cattle,
having ropes twisted round their necks and waists, as marks of sorrow.

About 800 men received payment of cattle in advance; the next day they
had all absconded with their cows, having departed during the night.
This was a planned affair to "spoil the Egyptians:" a combination had
been entered into some months before by the Madi and Shooa tribes, to
receive payment and to abscond, but to leave the Turks helpless to
remove their stock of ivory. The people of Mahommed Wat-el-Mek were in a
similar dilemma; not a tusk could be delivered at Gondokoro.

This was not my affair. The greater portion of Ibrahim's immense store
of ivory had been given to him by Kamrasi; I had guaranteed him a
hundred cantars (10,000 lbs.) should he quit Obbo and proceed to the
unknown south; in addition to a large quantity that he had collected and
delivered at Gondokoro in the past year, he had now more than three
times that amount. Although Kamrasi had on many occasions offered the
ivory to me, I had studiously avoided the acceptance of a single tusk,
as I wished the Turks to believe that I would not mix myself up with
trade in any form, and that my expedition had purely the one object that
I had explained to Ibrahim when I first won him over on the road to
Ellyria more than two years ago, "the discovery of the Albert lake."
With a certain number of presents of first class forty-guinea rifles and
guns, &c. &c., to Ibrahim, I declared my intention of starting for
Gondokoro. My trifling articles of baggage were packed: a few of the
Lira natives were to act as porters, as, although the ivory could not be
transported, it was necessary for Ibrahim to send a strong party to
Gondokoro to procure ammunition and the usual supplies forwarded
annually from Khartoum; the Lira people who carried my luggage would act
as return porters.

The day arrived for our departure; the oxen were saddled and we were
ready to start. Crowds of people came to say "goodbye," but, dispensing
with the hand-kissing of the Turks who were to remain in camp, we
prepared for our journey towards HOME. Far away although it was, every
step would bring us nearer. Nevertheless there were ties even in this
wild spot, where all was savage and unfeeling--ties that were painful
to sever, and that caused a sincere regret to both of us when we saw our
little flock of unfortunate slave children crying at the idea of
separation. In this moral desert, where all humanized feelings were
withered and parched like the sands of the Soudan, the guilelessness of
the children had been welcomed like springs of water, as the only
refreshing feature in a land of sin and darkness. "Where are you going?"
cried poor little Abbai in the broken Arabic that we had taught him.
"Take me with you, Sitty!" (lady), and he followed us down the path, as
we regretfully left our proteges, with his fists tucked into his eyes,
weeping from his heart, although for his own mother he had not shed a
tear. We could not take him with us;--he belonged to Ibrahim; and had I
purchased the child to rescue him from his hard lot and to rear him as a
civilized being, I might have been charged with slave dealing. With
heavy hearts we saw him taken up in the arms of a woman and carried back
to camp, to prevent him from following our party, that had now started.

We had turned our backs fairly upon the south, and we now travelled for
several days through most beautiful park-like lands, crossing twice the
Un-y-Ame stream, that rises in the country between Shooa and Unyoro, and
arriving at the point of junction of this river with the Nile, in
latitude 3 degrees 32 minutes N. On the north bank of the Un-y-Ame,
about three miles from the embouchure of that river where it flows into
the Nile, the tamarind tree was shown me that forms the limit of Signor
Miani's journey from Gondokoro, the extreme point reached by any
traveller from the north until the date of my expedition. This tree bore
the name of "Shedder-el-Sowar" (the traveller's tree), by which it was
known to the traders' parties. Several of the men belonging to Ibrahim,
also Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, the vakeel of Debono's people, had accompanied
Signor Miani on his expedition to this spot. Loggo, the Bari
interpreter, who had constantly acted for me during two years, happened
to have been the interpreter of Signor Miani; he confessed to me how he
had been compelled by his master's escort to deceive him, by pretending
that a combined attack was to be made upon them by the natives.

Upon this excuse, Miani's men refused to proceed, and determined to turn
back to Gondokoro; thus ended his expedition. I regarded the tree that
marked the limit of his journey with much sympathy. I remembered how I
had formerly contended with similar difficulties, and how heartbreaking
it would have been to have returned, baffled by the misconduct of my own
people, when the determination of my heart urged me forward to the
south; thus I appreciated the disappointment that so enterprising a
traveller must have felt in sorrowfully cutting his name upon the tree,
and leaving it as a record of misfortune.

With a just tribute to the perseverance that had carried him farther
than any European traveller had penetrated before him, we continued our
route over a most beautiful park of verdant grass, diversified by
splendid tamarind trees, the dark foliage of which afforded harbour for
great numbers of the brilliant yellow-breasted pigeon. We shortly
ascended a rocky mountain by a stony and difficult pass, and upon
arrival at the summit, about 800 feet above the Nile, which lay in front
at about two miles' distance, we halted to enjoy the magnificent view.
"Hurrah for the old Nile!" I exclaimed, as I revelled in the scene
before me: here it was, fresh from its great parent, the Albert lake, in
all the grandeur of Africa's mightiest river. From our elevated point we
looked down upon a broad sheet of unbroken water, winding through marshy
ground, flowing from W.S.W. The actual breadth of clear water,
independent of the marsh and reedy banks, was about 400 yards, but, as
usual in the deep and flat portions of the White Nile, the great extent
of reeds growing in deep water rendered any estimate of the positive
width extremely vague. We could discern the course of this great river
for about twenty miles, and distinctly, trace the line of mountains on
the west bank that we had seen at about sixty miles' distance when on
the route from Karuma to Shooa; the commencement of this chain we had
seen when at Magungo, forming the Koshi frontier of the Nile. The
country opposite to the point on which we now stood was Koshi, which,
forming the west bank of the Nile, extended the entire way to the Albert
lake. The country that we occupied was Madi, which extended as the east
bank of the Nile to the angle of the Victoria Nile (or Somerset river)
junction opposite Magungo. These two countries, Koshi and Madi, we had
seen from Magungo when we had viewed the exit of the Nile from the lake,
as though a tail-like continuation of the water, until lost in the
distance of the interminable valley of high reeds. Having, from Magungo,
in lat. 2 degrees l6 minutes, looked upon the course of the river far to
the north, and from the high pass, our present point, in lat. 3 degrees
34 min. N., we now comprised an extensive view of the river to the
south; the extremities of the limits of view from north and south would
almost meet, and leave a mere trifle of a few miles not actually
inspected.

Exactly opposite the summit of the pass from which we now scanned the
country, rose the precipitous mountain known as Gebel Kookoo, which rose
to a height of about 2,500 feet above the level of the Nile, and formed
the prominent feature of a chain which bordered the west bank of the
Nile with few breaks to the north, until within thirty miles of
Gondokoro. The pass upon which we stood was the southern extremity of a
range of high rocky hills that formed the east cliff of the Nile; thus
the broad and noble stream that arrived from the Albert lake in a sheet
of unbroken water received the Un-y-Ame river, and then suddenly entered
the pass between the two chains of hills,--Gebel Kookoo on the west,
and the ridge that we now occupied upon the east. The mouth of the
Un-y-Ame river was the limit of navigation from the Albert lake. As far
as the eye could reach to the southwest, the country was dead flat and
marshy throughout the course of the river; this appearance proving the
correctness of the information I had received from the natives of
Unyoro, and from Kamrasi himself, that the Nile was navigable for some
days' journey from the Albert lake. Precisely the same information had
been given to Speke, and the river level at this point showed by his
thermometer so great a difference between that of Karuma, that he had
concluded the fall of 1,000 feet must exist between the foot of Karuma
Falls and the Albert lake; this, as already described, I proved to be
1,275 feet.

It would be impossible to describe the calm enjoyment of the scene from
this elevated pass, from which we confirmed the results of our own
labours and of Speke's well-reflected suggestions. We were now on the
track by which he and Gant had returned; but I believe they had rounded
the foot of the hill that we had ascended; the two routes led to the
same point, as our course brought us at right angles with the Nile that
flowed beneath us. Descending the pass through a thorny jungle, we
arrived at the river, and turning suddenly to the north, we followed its
course for about a mile, and then bivouacked for the evening. The Nile,
having entered the valley between Gebel Kookoo and the western range,
was no longer the calm river that we had seen to the south: numerous
rocky islands blocked its course, and mud-banks covered with papyrus
rush so obstructed the stream that the river widened to about a
mile,---this width was composed of numerous channels, varying in breadth
between the obstructing rock and island. Upon one of the rush-covered
islands a herd of elephants was discovered, almost concealed by the
height of the vegetation. As they approached the edge of the water and
became exposed, I tried about twenty shots at them with the Fletcher
rifle, sighted to 600 yards, but in no instance could I either touch or
disturb them by the bullets;---this will afford some idea of the width
of the river, the island appearing to be in the middle of the stream.

A short distance below this spot, the Nile rapidly contracted, and at
length became a roaring torrent, passing through a narrow gorge between
perpendicular cliffs, with a tremendous current. In some places the
great river was pent up between rocks, which confined it to a width of
about 120 yards, through such channels the rush of water was terrific,
but to a casual observer approaching from the north, the volume of the
Nile would have been underrated, unless calculated by the velocity of
the stream.

From this point we followed the bank of the Nile over a difficult route,
down steep ravines and up precipitous crags, by a winding path along the
foot of the range of syenite hills that hemmed in the river on the west
bank. Several considerable waterfalls added to the grandeur of the pass,
through which for many miles the angry Nile chafed and roared like a
lion in its confined den.

At length we arrived at a steep descent, and dismounting from our oxen
after a walk of about a quarter of a mile over rough stones, we reached
the Asua river, about a quarter of a mile above its junction with the
Nile. The bed was rocky; but although the Atabbi had subscribed its
waters above the point where we now crossed, there was merely a trifling
stream occupying about a quarter of the river's bed, with a current of
about two and a half miles an hour. Crossing this on foot, the water in
the deepest part reached to the middle of my thighs. The Asua river, as
already described at the time that I crossed it on the route from
Farajoke to Shooa, is a mountain torrent formidable during the rains;
quickly flooding and quickly emptying from its rapid inclination, it is
exhausted during the dry season.

The crossing of this river was a signal for extra precaution in the
arrangement of our march: we had entered the territory of the ever
hostile Bari tribe; we had been already warned that we could not pass to
Gondokoro without being attacked.

We slept on the road, about seven miles to the north of the Asua. On the
following morning we started. The route led over a fine country parallel
with the Nile, that still continued in a rockbound channel on the west
of the march. Throughout the route from the Un-y-Ame junction, the soil
had been wretchedly poor, a mass of rock and decomposed granite forming
a sand that quickly parched during the dry season. The level of the
country being about 200 feet above the Nile, deep gullies cut the route
at right angles, forming the natural drains to the river.

In these ravines grew dense thickets of bamboos. Having no native guide,
but trusting solely to the traders' people, who had travelled frequently
by this route, we lost the path, and shortly became entangled amongst
the numerous ravines. At length we passed a village, around which were
assembled a number of natives. Having regained the route, we observed
the natives appearing in various directions, and as quickly disappearing
only to gather in our front in increased numbers. Their movements
exciting suspicion, in a country where every man was an enemy, our party
closed together;--we threw out an advance guard,--ten men on either
flank,--the porters, ammunition, and effects in the centre; while
about ten men brought up the rear. Before us lay two low rocky hills
covered with trees, high grass, and brushwood, in which I distinctly
observed the bright red forms of natives painted according to the custom
of the Bari tribe.

We were evidently in for a fight. The path lay in a gorge between the
low rocky hills in advance. My wife dismounted from her ox, and walked
at the head of our party with me, Saat following behind with the gun
that he usually carried, while the men drove several riding-oxen in the
centre. Hardly had we entered the pass, when--whizz went an arrow over
our heads. This was the signal for a repeated discharge. The natives ran
among the rocks with the agility of monkeys, and showed a considerable
amount of daring in standing within about eighty yards upon the ridge,
and taking steady shots at us with their poisoned arrows. The flanking
parties now opened fire, and what with the bad shooting of both the
escort and the native archers, no one was wounded on either side for the
first ten minutes. The rattle of musketry, and the wild appearance of
the naked vermilion-coloured savages, as they leapt along the craggy
ridge, twanging their bows at us with evil but ineffectual intent, was a
charming picture of African life and manners. Fortunately the branches
of numerous trees and intervening clumps of bamboo frustrated the good
intentions of the arrows, as they glanced from their aim; and although
some fell among our party, we were as yet unscathed. One of the enemy,
who was most probably a chief, distinguished himself in particular, by
advancing to within about fifty yards, and standing on a rock, he
deliberately shot five or six arrows, all of which missed their mark;
the men dodged them as they arrived in their uncertain flight: the speed
of the arrows was so inferior, owing to the stiffness of the bows, that
nothing was easier than to evade them. Any halt was unnecessary. We
continued our march through the gorge, the men keeping up an unremitting
fire until we entered upon a tract of high grass and forest; this being
perfectly dry, it would have been easy to set it on fire, as the enemy
were to leeward; but although the rustling in the grass betokened the
presence of a great number of men, they were invisible. In a few minutes
we emerged in a clearing, where corn had been planted; this was a
favourable position for a decisive attack upon the natives, who now
closed up. Throwing out skirmishers, with orders that they were to cover
themselves behind the trunks of trees, the Baris were driven back. One
was now shot through the body, and fell; but recovering, he ran with his
comrades, and fell dead after a few yards.

What casualties had happened during the passage of the gorge I cannot
say, but the enemy were now utterly discomfited. I had not fired a shot,
as the whole affair was perfect child's play, and any one who could
shoot would have settled the fortune of the day by half a dozen shots;
but both the traders' people and my men were "shooters, but not
hitters." We now bivouacked on the field for the night.

During the march on the following day, the natives watched us at a
distance, following in great numbers parallel with our route, but
fearing to attack. The country was perfectly open, being a succession of
fine downs of low grass, with few trees, where any attack against our
guns would have been madness.

In the evening we arrived at two small deserted villages; these, like
most in the Bari country, were circular, and surrounded by a live and
impenetrable fence of euphorbia, having only one entrance. The traders'
people camped in one, while I took up my quarters in the other. The sun
had sunk, and the night being pitch dark, we had a glorious fire, around
which we placed our angareps opposite the narrow entrance of the camp,
about ten yards distant. I stationed Richarn as sentry outside the
gateway, as he was the most dependable of my men, and I thought it
extremely probable that we might be attacked during the night: three
other sentries I placed on guard at various stations. Dinner being
concluded, Mrs. Baker lay down on her angarep for the night. I drew the
balls from a double No. 10 smooth bore, and loaded with cartridge
containing each twenty large-mould shot (about a hundred to the pound);
putting this under my pillow I went to sleep. Hardly had I begun to
rest, when my men woke me, saying that the camp was surrounded by
natives. Upon inquiry I found this to be correct; it was so dark that
they could not be seen without stooping to the ground and looking along
the surface. I ordered the sentries not to fire unless hostilities
should commence on the side of the natives, and in no case to draw
trigger without a challenge.

Returning to the angarep I lay down, and not wishing to sleep, I smoked
my long Unyoro pipe. In about ten minutes--bang! went a shot, quickly
followed by another from the sentry at the entrance of the camp. Quietly
rising from my bed, I found Richarn reloading at his post. "What is it,
Richarn?" I asked. "They are shooting arrows into the camp, aiming at
the fire, in hopes of hitting you who are sleeping there," said Richarn.
"I watched one fellow," he continued, "as I heard the twang of his bow
four times. At each shot I heard an arrow strike the ground between me
and you, therefore I fired at him, and I think he is down. Do you see
that black object lying on the ground?" I saw something a little blacker
than the surrounding darkness, but it could not be distinguished.
Leaving Richarn with orders not to move from his post, but to keep a
good look-out until relieved by the next watch, I again went to sleep.

Before break of day, just as the grey dawn slightly improved the
darkness, I visited the sentry; he was at his post, and reported that he
thought the archer of the preceding night was dead, as he had heard a
sound proceeding from the dark object on the ground after I had left. In
a few minutes it was sufficiently light to distinguish the body of a
roan lying about thirty paces from the camp entrance. Upon examination,
he proved to be a Bari: his bow was in his hand, and two or three arrows
were lying by his side; thirteen mould shot had struck him dead; one had
cut through the bow. We now searched the camp for arrows, and as it
became light we picked up four in various places, some within a few feet
of our beds, and all horribly barbed and poisoned, that the deceased had
shot into the camp gateway.

This was the last attack during our journey. We marched well, generally
accomplishing fifteen miles of latitude daily from this point, as the
road was good and well known to our guides. The country was generally
poor, but beautifully diversified with large trees, the tamarind
predominating. Passing through the small but thickly-populated and
friendly little province of Moir, in a few days we sighted the
well-known mountain Belignan, that we had formerly passed on its eastern
side when we had started on our uncertain path from Gondokoro upwards of
two years ago. The mountain of Belignan was now N.E. from our point of
observation.

We had a splendid view of the Ellyria Mountain, and of the distant cone,
Gebel el Assul (Honey Mountain) between Ellyria and Obbo. All these
curiously-shaped crags and peaks were well known to us, and we welcomed
them as old friends after a long absence; they had been our companions
in times of doubt and anxiety, when success in our undertaking appeared
hopeless. At noon on the following day, as we were as usual marching
parallel with the Nile, the river, having made a slight bend to the
west, swept round, and approached within half a mile of our path; the
small conical mountain, Regiaf, within twelve miles of Gondokoro, was on
our left, rising from the west bank of the river. We felt almost at home
again, and marching until sunset, we bivouacked within three miles of
Gondokoro. That night we were full of speculations. Would a boat be
waiting for us with supplies and letters? The morning anxiously looked
forward to at length arrived. We started;--the English flag had been
mounted on a fine straight bamboo with a new lance head specially
arranged for the arrival at Gondokoro. My men felt proud, as they would
march in as conquerors;--according to White Nile ideas such a journey
could not have been accomplished with so small a party. Long before
Ibrahim's men were ready to start, our oxen were saddled and we were
off, longing to hasten into Gondokoro and to find a comfortable vessel
with a few luxuries and the post from England. Never had the oxen
travelled so fast as on that morning;--the flag led the way, and the
men in excellent spirits followed at double quick pace. "I see the masts
of the vessels!" exclaimed the boy Saat. "El hambd el Illah!" (Thank
God!) shouted the men. "Hurrah!" said I--"Three cheers for Old England
and the Sources of the Nile! Hurrah!" and my men joined me in the wild,
and to their ears savage, English yell. "Now for a salute! Fire away all
your powder, if you like, my lads, and let the people know that we're
alive!" This was all that was required to complete the happiness of my
people, and loading and firing as fast as possible, we approached near
to Gondokoro. Presently we saw the Turkish flag emerge from Gondokoro at
about a quarter of a mile distant, followed by a number of the traders'
people, who waited to receive us. On our arrival, they immediately
approached and fired salutes with ball cartridge, as usual advancing
close to us and discharging their guns into the ground at our feet. One
of my servants, Mahomet, was riding an ox, and an old friend of his in
the crowd happening to recognise him, immediately advanced, and saluted
him by firing his gun into the earth directly beneath the belly of the
ox he was riding;--the effect produced made the crowd and ourselves
explode with laughter. The nervous ox, terrified at the sudden discharge
between his legs, gave a tremendous kick, and continued madly kicking
and plunging, until Mahomet was pitched over his head and lay sprawling
on the ground;--this scene terminated the expedition.

Dismounting from our tired oxen, our first inquiry was concerning boats
and letters. What was the reply? Neither boats, letters, supplies, nor
any intelligence of friends or the civilized world! We had long since
been given up as dead by the inhabitants of Khartoum, and by all those
who understood the difficulties and dangers of the country. We were told
that some people had suggested that we might possibly have gone to
Zanzibar, but the general opinion was that we had all been killed. At
this cold and barren reply, I felt almost choked. We had looked forward
to arriving at Gondokoro as to a home; we had expected that a boat would
have been sent on the chance of finding us, as I had left money in the
hands of an agent in Khartoum--but there was literally nothing to
receive us, and we were helpless to return. We had worked for years in
misery, such as I have but faintly described, to overcome the
difficulties of this hitherto unconquerable exploration; we had
succeeded--and what was the result? Not even a letter from home to
welcome us if alive! As I sat beneath a tree and looked down upon the
glorious Nile that flowed a few yards beneath my feet, I pondered upon
the value of my toil. I had traced the river to its great Albert source,
and as the mighty stream glided before me, the mystery that had ever
shrouded its origin was dissolved. I no longer looked upon its waters
with a feeling approaching to awe for I knew its home, and had visited
its cradle. Had I overrated the importance of the discovery? and had I
wasted some of the best years of my life to obtain a shadow? I recalled
to recollection the practical question of Commoro, the chief of Latooka,
--"Suppose you get to the great lake, what will you do with it? What
will be the good of it? If you find that the large river does flow from
it, what then?"



CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM KHARTOUM.

The various trading parties were assembled in Gondokoro with a total of
about three thousand slaves; but there was consternation depicted upon
every countenance. Only three boats had arrived from Khartoum--one
diahbiah and two noggurs--these belonged to Koorshid Aga. The resume of
news from Khartoum was as follows:--

"Orders had been received by the Egyptian authorities from the European
Governments to suppress the slave-trade. Four steamers had arrived at
Khartoum from Cairo. Two of these vessels had ascended the White Nile,
and had captured many slavers; their crews were imprisoned, and had been
subjected to the bastinado and torture;--the captured slaves had been
appropriated by the Egyptian authorities.

"It would be impossible to deliver slaves to the Soudan this season, as
an Egyptian regiment had been stationed in the Shillook country, and
steamers were cruising to intercept the boats from the interior in their
descent to Khartoum;--thus the army of slaves then at Gondokoro would
be utterly worthless.

"The plague was raging at Khartoum, and had killed 15,000 people;--many
of the boats' crews had died on their passage from Khartoum to Gondokoro
of this disease, which had even broken out in the station where we then
were: people died daily.

"The White Nile was dammed up by a freak of nature, and the crews of
thirty vessels had been occupied five weeks in cutting a ditch through
the obstruction, wide enough to admit the passage of boats."

Such was the intelligence received by the latest arrival from Khartoum.
No boats having been sent for me, I engaged the diahbiah that had
arrived for Koorshid's ivory;--this would return empty, as no ivory
could be delivered at Gondokoro. The prospect was pleasant, as many men
had died of the plague on board our vessel during the voyage from
Khartoum; thus we should be subject to a visitation of this fearful
complaint as a wind-up to the difficulties we had passed through during
our long exile in Central Africa. I ordered the vessel to be thoroughly
scrubbed with boiling water and sand, after which it was fumigated with
several pounds of tobacco, burnt within the cabin.

Three days were employed in ferrying the slaves across the river in the
two noggurs, or barges, as they must be returned to their respective
stations. I rejoiced at the total discomfiture of the traders, and,
observing a cloud of smoke far distant to the north, I spread the alarm
that a steamer was approaching from Khartoum! Such was the consternation
of the traders' parties at the bare idea of such an occurrence that they
prepared for immediate flight into the interior, as they expected to be
captured by Government troops sent from Khartoum to suppress the
slave-trade. Profiting by this nervous state of affairs, I induced them
to allow the boat to start immediately, and we concluded all our
arrangements, contracting for the diahbiah at 4,000 piastres (40
pounds). The plague having broken out at Gondokoro, the victims among
the natives were dragged to the edge of the cliff and thrown into the
river;--it is impossible to describe the horrible effluvium produced by
the crowds of slaves that had been confined upon the limited area of the
station. At length the happy moment arrived that we were to quit the
miserable spot. The boat was ready to start--we were all on board, and
Ibrahim and his people came to say good-bye. It is only justice to
Ibrahim to say, that, although he had been my great enemy when at
Gondokoro in 1863, he had always behaved well since peace was
established at Ellyria; and, although by nature and profession a
slave-hunter, like others of the White Nile, he had frequently yielded
to my interference to save the lives of natives who would otherwise have
been massacred without pity.

I had gained an extraordinary influence over all these ruffianly people.
Everything that I had promised them had been more than performed; all
that I had foretold had been curiously realized. They now acknowledged
how often I had assured them that the slave-trade would be suppressed by
the interference of European powers, and the present ruin of their trade
was the result; they all believed that I was the cause, by having
written from Gondokoro to the Consul-general of Egypt in 1863, when the
traders had threatened to drive me back. Far from retaliating upon me,
they were completely cowed. The report had been spread throughout
Gondokoro by Ibrahim and his people that their wonderful success in
ivory hunting was chiefly due to me; that their sick had been cured;
that good luck had attended their party; that disaster had befallen all
who had been against me; and that no one had suffered wrong at our
hands. With the resignation of Mahommedans they yielded to their
destiny, apparently without any ill-feeling against us. Crowds lined the
cliff and the high ground by the old ruins of the mission station to see
us depart. We pushed off from shore into the powerful current; the
English flag that had accompanied us all through our wanderings now
fluttered proudly from the masthead unsullied by defeat, and amidst the
rattle of musketry we glided rapidly down the river, and soon lost sight
of Gondokoro.

What were our feelings at that moment? Overflowing with gratitude to a
Divine Providence that had supported us in sickness, and guided us
through all dangers. There had been moments of hopelessness and despair;
days of misery, when the future had appeared dark and fatal; but we had
been strengthened in our weakness, and led, when apparently lost, by an
unseen hand. I felt no triumph, but with a feeling of calm contentment
and satisfaction we floated down the Nile. My great joy was in the
meeting that I contemplated with Speke in England, I had so thoroughly
completed the task we had agreed upon.

Silently and easily we floated down the river; the oars keeping us in
midstream. The endless marshes no longer looked so mournful as we glided
rapidly past, and descended the current against which we had so
arduously laboured on our ascent to Gondokoro. As we thus proceeded on
our voyage through the monotonous marshes and vast herds of hippopotami
that at this season thronged the river, I had ample leisure to write my
letters for England, to be posted on arrival at Khartoum, and to look
back upon the results of the last few years. The Nile, cleared of its
mystery, resolves itself into comparative simplicity. The actual basin
of the Nile is included between about the 22 degree and 39 degree East
longitude, and from 3 degrees South to 13 degrees North latitude. The
drainage of that vast area is monopolized by the Egyptian river. The
Victoria and Albert lakes, the two great equatorial reservoirs, are the
recipients of all affluents south of the Equator; the Albert lake being
the grand reservoir in which are concentrated the entire waters from the
south, in addition to tributaries from the Blue Mountains from the north
of the Equator. The Albert N'yanza is the great basin of the Nile: the
distinction between that and the Victoria N'yanza is, that the Victoria
is a reservoir receiving the eastern affluents, and it becomes a
starting point or the most elevated SOURCE at the point where the river
issues from it at the Ripon Falls: the Albert is a reservoir not only
receiving the western and southern affluents direct from the Blue
Mountains, but it also receives the supply from the Victoria and from
the entire equatorial Nile basin. The Nile as it issues from the Albert
N'yanza is the ENTIRE Nile; prior to its birth from the Albert lake it
is NOT the entire Nile. A glance at the map will at once exemplify the
relative value of the two great lakes. The Victoria gathers all the
waters on the eastern side and sheds them into the northern extremity of
the Albert: while the latter, from its character and position, is the
direct channel of the Nile that receives all waters that belong to the
equatorial Nile basin. Thus the Victoria is the first SOURCE; but from
the Albert the river issues at once as the great White Nile.

It is not my intention to claim a higher value for my discovery than is
justly due, neither would I diminish in any way the lustre of the
achievements of Speke and Grant; it has ever been my object to confirm
and support their discoveries, and to add my voice to the chorus of
praise that they have so justly merited. A great geographical fact has
through our joint labours been most thoroughly established by the
discovery of the sources of the Nile. I lay down upon the map exactly
what I saw, and what I gathered from information afforded by the natives
most carefully examined.

My exploration confirms all that was asserted by Speke and Grant: they
traced the country from Zanzibar to the northern watershed of Africa,
commencing at about 3 degrees South latitude, at the southern extremity
of the Victoria N'yanza. They subsequently determined the river at the
Ripon Falls flowing from that lake to be the highest source of the Nile.
They had a perfect right to arrive at this conclusion from the data then
afforded. They traced the river for a considerable distance to Karuma
Falls, in lat. 2 degrees 15 minutes N.; and they subsequently met the
Nile in lat. 3 degrees 32 minutes N. They had heard that it flowed into
the Luta N'zige, and that it issued from it; thus they were correct in
all their investigations, which my discoveries have confirmed. Their
general description of the country was perfect, but not having visited
the lake heard of as the Luta N'zige, they could not possibly have been
aware of the vast importance of that great reservoir in the Nile system.
The task of exploring that extraordinary feature having been
accomplished, the geographical question of the sources of the Nile is
explained. Ptolemy had described the Nile sources as emanating from two
great lakes that received the snows of the mountains of Ethiopia. There
are many ancient maps existing upon which these lakes are marked as
positive: although there is a wide error in the latitude, the fact
remains, that two great lakes were reported to exist in Equatorial
Africa fed by the torrents from lofty mountains, and that from these
reservoirs two streams issued, the conjunction of which formed the Nile.
The general principle was correct, although the detail was wrong. There
can be little doubt that trade had been carried on between the Arabs
from the Red Sea and the coast opposite Zanzibar in ancient times, and
that the people engaged in such enterprise had penetrated so far into
the interior as to have obtained a knowledge of the existence of the two
reservoirs; thus may the geographical information originally have been
brought into Egypt.

The rainfall to within 3 degrees north of the Equator extends over ten
months, commencing in February and terminating in the end of November.
The heaviest rains fall from April till the end of August; during the
latter two months of this season the rivers are at their maximum: at
other times the climate is about as uncertain as that of England; but
the rain is of the heavy character usual in the tropics. Thus the rivers
are constant throughout the year, and the Albert lake continues at a
high level, affording a steady volume of water to the Nile. On the map
given to me by Captain Speke he has marked the Victoria Nile below the
Ripon Falls as the Somerset river. As I have made a point of adhering to
all native names as given by him upon that map, I also adhere to the
name Somerset river for that portion of the Nile between the Victoria
and the Albert Lakes; this must be understood as Speke's VICTORIA NILE
source; bearing the name of Somerset, no confusion will arise in
speaking of the Nile, which would otherwise be ambiguous, as the same
name would apply to two distinct rivers--the one emanating from the
Victoria and flowing into the Albert; the other the entire river Nile as
it leaves the Albert lake. The White Nile, fed as described by the great
reservoirs supplied by the rains of equatorial districts, receives the
following tributaries:

From the East bank--The Asua, important from 15th April till 15th
November: dry after that date.

From West bank--The Ye, third class; full from 15th April till 15th
November.

From West bank--Another small river, third class; full from 15th April
till 15th November.

Ditto--The Bahr el Gazal; little or no water supplied by this river.

From East bank--The Sobat, first class; full from June to December.

The Bahr Giraffe I omit, as it is admitted by the natives to be a branch
of the White Nile that leaves the main river at the Aliab country and
reunites in lat. 9 degrees 25 minutes between the Bahr el Gazal and the
Sobat. The latter river (Sobat) is the most powerful affluent of the
White Nile, and is probably fed by many tributaries from the Galla
country about Kaffa, in addition to receiving the rivers from the Bari
and Latooka countries. I consider that the Sobat must be supplied by
considerable streams from totally distinct countries east and south,
having a rainfall at different seasons, as it is bank-full at the end of
December, when the southern rivers (the Asua, &c.) are extremely low.
North from the Sobat, the White Nile has no other tributaries until it
is joined by the Blue Nile at Khartoum, and by its last affluent the
Atbara in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes. These two great mountain streams
flooding suddenly in the end of June, fed by the rains of Abyssinia,
raise the volume of the Nile to an extent that causes the inundations of
Lower Egypt.

The basin of the Nile being thus understood, let us reflect upon the
natural resources of the vast surface of fertile soil that is comprised
in that portion of Central Africa. It is difficult to believe that so
magnificent a soil and so enormous an extent of country is destined to
remain for ever in savagedom, and yet it is hard to argue on the
possibility of improvement in a portion of the world inhabited by
savages whose happiness consists in idleness or warfare. The advantages
are few, the drawbacks many. The immense distance from the seacoast
would render impossible the transport of any merchandise unless of
extreme value, as the expenses would be insupportable. The natural
productions are nil, excepting ivory. The soil being fertile and the
climate favourable to cultivation, all tropical produce would thrive;
cotton, coffee, and the sugarcane are indigenous; but although both
climate and soil are favourable, the conditions necessary to successful
enterprise are wanting--the population is scanty, and the material of
the very worst; the people vicious and idle. The climate, although
favourable for agriculture, is adverse to the European constitution;
thus colonization would be out of the question. What can be done with so
hopeless a prospect? Where the climate is fatal to Europeans, from
whence shall civilization be imported? The heart of Africa is so
completely secluded from the world, and the means of communication are
so difficult, that although fertile, its geographical position debars
that vast extent of country from improvement: thus shut out from
civilization it has become an area for unbridled atrocities, as
exemplified in the acts of the ivory traders.

Difficult and almost impossible is the task before the Missionary. The
Austrian Mission has failed, and the stations have been forsaken; their
pious labour was hopeless, and the devoted priests died upon their
barren field. What curse lies so heavily upon Africa and bows her down
beneath all other nations? It is the infernal traffic in slaves--a trade
so hideous, that the heart of every slave and owner becomes deformed,
and shrinks like a withered limb incapable of action. The natural love
of offspring, shared with the human race by the most savage beast,
ceases to warm the heart of the wretched slave. Why should the mother
love her child, if it is born to become the PROPERTY of her owner?--to
be SOLD as soon as it can exist without the mother's care. Why should
the girl be modest, when she knows that she is the actual PROPERTY, the
slave, of every purchaser? Slavery murders the sacred feeling of love,
that blessing that cheers the lot of the poorest man, that spell that
binds him to his wife, and child, and home. Love cannot exist with
slavery--the mind becomes brutalized to an extent that freezes all those
tender feelings that Nature has implanted in the human heart to separate
it from the beast; and the mind, despoiled of all noble instincts,
descends to hopeless brutality. Thus is Africa accursed: nor can she be
raised to any scale approaching to civilization until the slave-trade
shall be totally suppressed. The first step necessary to the improvement
of the savage tribes of the White Nile is the annihilation of the
slave-trade. Until this be effected, no legitimate commerce can be
established; neither is there an opening for missionary enterprise--the
country is sealed and closed against all improvement.

Nothing would be easier than to suppress this infamous traffic, were the
European Powers in earnest. Egypt is in favour of slavery. I have never
seen a Government official who did not in argument uphold slavery as an
institution absolutely necessary to Egypt, thus any demonstration made
against the slave-trade by the Government of that country will be simply
a pro forma movement to blind the European Powers. Their eyes thus
closed, and the question shelved, the trade will resume its channel.
Were the reports of European consuls supported by their respective
Governments, and were the consuls themselves empowered to seize vessels
laden with slaves, and to liberate gangs of slaves when upon a land
journey, that abominable traffic could not exist. The hands of the
European consuls are tied, and jealousies interwoven with the Turkish
question act as a bar to united action on the part of Europe; no Power
cares to be the first to disturb the muddy pool. The Austrian consul at
Khartoum, Herr Natterer, told me, in 1862, that he had vainly reported
the atrocities of the slave-trade to his Government--NO REPLY HAD BEEN
RECEIVED to his report. Every European Government KNOWS that the
slave-trade is carried on to an immense extent in Upper Egypt, and that
the Red Sea is the great Slave Lake by which these unfortunate creatures
are transported to Arabia and to Suez--but the jealousies concerning
Egypt muzzle each European Power. Should one move, the other would
interfere to counteract undue influence in Egypt. Thus is immunity
insured to the villanous actors in the trade. Who can prosecute a slave
trader of the White Nile? What legal evidence can be produced from
Central Africa to secure a conviction in an English Court of Law? The
English consul (Mr. Petherick) arrested a Maltese, the nephew of
Debono;--the charge could not be legally supported. Thus are the consuls
fettered, and their acts nullified by the impossibility of producing
reliable evidence;--the facts are patent; but who can prove them
legally?

Stop the White Nile trade; prohibit the departure of any vessels from
Khartoum for the south, and let the Egyptian Government grant a
concession to a company for the White Nile, subject to certain
conditions, and to a special supervision. (There are already four
steamers at Khartoum.) Establish a military post of 200 men at
Gondokoro; an equal number below the Shillook tribe in 13 degrees
latitude, and, with two steamers cruising on the river, not a slave
could descend the White Nile.

Should the slave-trade be suppressed, there will be a good opening for
the ivory trade; the conflicting trading parties being withdrawn, and
the interest of the trade exhibited by a single company, the natives
would no longer be able to barter ivory for cattle; thus they would be
forced to accept other goods in exchange. The newly-discovered Albert
lake opens the centre of Africa to navigation. Steamers ascend from
Khartoum to Gondokoro in latitude 4 degrees 55'. Seven days' march south
from that station the navigable portion of the Nile is reached, where
vessels can ascend direct to the Albert lake--thus an enormous extent
of country is opened to navigation, and Manchester goods and various
other articles would find a ready market in exchange for ivory, at a
prodigious profit, as in those newly-discovered regions ivory has a
merely nominal value. Beyond this commencement of honest trade, I cannot
offer a suggestion, as no produce of the country except ivory could
afford the expense of transport to Europe. IF Africa is to be civilized,
it must be effected by commerce, which, once established, will open the
way for missionary labour; but all ideas of commerce, improvement, and
the advancement of the African race that philanthropy could suggest must
be discarded until the traffic in slaves shall have ceased to exist.

Should the slave-trade be suppressed, a field would be opened, the
extent of which I will not attempt to suggest, as the future would
depend upon the good government of countries now devoted to savage
anarchy and confusion.

Any Government that would insure security would be the greatest
blessing, as the perpetual hostilities among the various tribes prevent
an extension of cultivation. The sower knows not who will reap, thus he
limits his crop to his bare necessities.

The ethnology of Central Africa is completely beyond my depth. The
natives not only are ignorant of writing, but they are without
traditions--their thoughts are as entirely engrossed by their daily
wants as those of animals; thus there is no clue to the distant past;
history has no existence. This is much to be deplored, as peculiarities
are specific in the type of several tribes both in physical appearance
and in language. The Dinka; Bari; Latooka; Madi; and Unyoro or Kitwara,
are distinct languages on the east of the Nile, comprising an extent of
country from about 12 degrees north to the Equator.

The Makkarika have also a distinct language, and I was informed in
Kamrasi's country, that the Malegga, on the west of the Albert lake,
speak a different tongue to that of Kitwara (or Unyoro)--this may
possibly be the same as the Makkarika, of which I have had no experience
by comparison. Accepting the fact of five distinct languages from the
Equator to 12 degrees N. lat., it would appear by analogy that Central
Africa is divided into numerous countries and tribes, distinct from each
other in language and physical conformation, whose origin is perfectly
obscure. Whether the man of Central Africa be pre-Adamite is impossible
to determine; but the idea is suggested by the following data. The
historical origin of man, or Adam, commences with a knowledge of God.

Throughout the history of the world from the creation of Adam, God is
connected with mankind in every creed, whether worshipped as the
universal sublime Spirit of omnipotence, or shaped by the forms of
idolatry into representations of a deity. From the creation of Adam,
mankind has acknowledged its inferiority, and must bow down and worship
either the true God or a graven image; or something that is in heaven or
in earth. The world, as we accept that term, was always actuated by a
natural religious instinct. Cut off from that world, lost in the
mysterious distance that shrouded the origin of the Egyptian Nile, were
races unknown, that had never reckoned in the great sum of
history--races that we have brought to light, whose existence had been
hidden from mankind, and that now appear before us like the fossil bones
of antediluvian animals. Are they vestiges of what existed in a
pre-Adamite creation?

The geological formation of Central Africa is primitive; showing an
altitude above the sea-level averaging nearly 4,000 feet. This elevated
portion of the globe, built up in great part of granitic sandstone
rocks, has never been submerged, nor does it appear to have undergone
any changes, either volcanic or by the action of water. Time, working
through countless ages with the slow but certain instrument of
atmospheric influence, has rounded the surface and split into fragments
the granite rocks, leaving a sandy base of disintegrated portions, while
in other cases the mountains show as hard and undecayed a surface as
though fresh from Nature's foundry. Central Africa never having been
submerged, the animals and races must be as old, and may be older, than
any upon the earth.

No geological change having occurred in ages long anterior to man, as
shown by Sir R. I. Murchison theoretically so far back as the year 1852,
when Central Africa was utterly unknown, it is natural to suppose that
the races that exist upon that surface should be unaltered from their
origin. That origin may date from a period so distant, that it preceded
the Adamite creation. Historic man believes in a Divinity; the tribes of
Central Africa know no God. Are they of our Adamite race? The equatorial
portion of Africa at the Nile sources has an average altitude above the
sea-level of about 4,000 feet; this elevated plateau forms the base of a
range of mountains, that I imagine extends, like the vertebrae of an
animal, from east to west, shedding a drainage to the north and south.
Should this hypothesis be correct, the southern watershed would fill the
Tanganika lake: while farther to the west another lake, supplied by the
southern drainage, may form the head of the river Congo. On the north a
similar system may drain into the Niger and Lake Tchad: thus the
Victoria and the Albert lakes, being the two great reservoirs or sources
of the Nile, may be the first of a system of African equatorial lakes
fed by the northern and southern drainage of the mountain range, and
supplying all the principal rivers of Africa from the great equatorial
rainfall. The fact of the centre of Africa at the Nile sources being
about 4,000 feet above the ocean, independently of high mountains rising
from that level, suggests that the drainage of the Equator from the
central and elevated portion must find its way to the lower level and
reach the sea. Wherever high mountain ranges exist, there must also be
depressions; those situated in an equatorial rainfall must receive the
drainage from the high lands and become lakes, the overflow of which
must form the sources of rivers, precisely as exemplified in the sources
of the Nile from the Victoria and the Albert lakes.

The fact that Sir Roderick Murchison, as a geologist, laid down a theory
of the existence of a chain of lakes upon an elevated plateau in Central
Africa, which theory has been now in great measure confirmed by actual
inspection, induces me to quote an extract from his address at the
anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, 23d May, 1864. In
that address, he expressed opinions upon the geological structure and
the races of Central Africa, which preceded those that I formed when at
the Albert lake. It is with intense interest that I have read the
following extract since my return to England:--

"In former addresses, I suggested that the interior mass and central
portions of Africa constituting a great plateau occupied by lakes and
marshes from which the waters escaped by cracks or depressions in the
subtending older rocks, had been in that condition during an enormously
long period. I have recently been enabled, through the apposite
discovery of Dr. Kirk, the companion of Livingstone, not only to fortify
my conjecture of 1852, but greatly to extend the inferences concerning
the long period of time during which the central parts of Africa have
remained in their present condition, save their degradation by ordinary
atmospheric agencies. My view, as given to this Society in 1852, was
mainly founded on the original and admirable geological researches of
Mr. Bain in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. It was, that, inasmuch
as in the secondary or mesozoic age of geologists, the northern interior
of that country was occupied by great lakes and marshes, as proved by
the fossil reptile discovered by Bain, and named Dicynodon by Owen, such
it has remained for countless ages, even up to the present day. The
succeeding journeys into the interior, of Livingstone, Thornton and
Kirk, Burton and Speke, and Speke and Grant, have all tended to
strengthen me in the belief that Southern Africa has not undergone any
of those great submarine depressions which have so largely affected
Europe, Asia, and America, during the secondary, tertiary, and quasi
modern periods.

"The discovery of Dr. Kirk has confirmed my conclusion. On the banks of
an affluent of the Zambesi, that gentleman collected certain bones,
apparently carried down in watery drifts from inland positions, which
remains have been so fossilized as to have all the appearance of
antiquity which fossils of a tertiary or older age usually present. One
of these is a portion of the vertebral column and sacrum of a buffalo,
undistinguishable from that of the Cape buffalo; another is a fragment
of a crocodile, and another of a water-tortoise, both undistinguishable
from the forms of those animals now living. Together with these, Dr.
Kirk found numerous bones of antelopes and other animals, which, though
in a fossil condition, all belonged, as he assured me, to species now
living in South Africa.

"On the other hand, none of our explorers, including Mr. Bain, who has
diligently worked as a geologist, have detected in the interior any
limestones containing marine fossil remains, which would have proved
that South Africa had, like other regions, been depressed into oceanic
conditions, and re-elevated. On the contrary, in addition to old
granitic and other igneous rocks, all explorers find only either
innumerable undulations of sandstones, schistose, and quartzose rocks,
or such tufaceous and ferruginous deposits as would naturally occur in
countries long occupied by lakes and exuberant jungles, separated from
each other by sandy hills, scarcely any other calcareous rocks being
found except tufas formed by the deposition of landsprings. It is true
that there are marine tertiary formations on the coasts (around the Cape
Colony, near the mouth of the Zambesi opposite Mozambique, and again on
the coasts of Mombas opposite Zanzibar), and that these have been raised
up into low-coast ranges, followed by rocks of igneous origin. But in
penetrating into the true interior, the traveller takes a final leave of
all such formations; and in advancing to the heart of the continent, he
traverses a vast region which, to all appearance, has ever been under
terrestrial and lacustrine conditions only. Judging, indeed, from all
the evidences as yet collected, the interior of South Africa has
remained in that condition since the period of the secondary rocks of
geologists! Yet, whilst none of our countrymen found any evidences of
old marine remains, Captain Speke brought from one of the ridges which
lay between the coast and the lake Victoria N'yanza a fossil shell,
which, though larger in size, is undistinguishable from the Achatina
perdix now flourishing in South Africa. Again, whilst Bain found fossil
plants in his reptiliferous strata north of the Cape, and Livingstone
and Thornton discovered coal in sandstone, with fossil plants, like
those of our old coal of Europe and America,--yet both these mesozoic
and palaeozoic remains are terrestrial, and are not associated with
marine limestones, indicative of those oscillations of the land which
are so common in other countries.

"It is further to be observed, that the surface of this vast interior is
entirely exempt from the coarse superficial drift that encumbers so many
countries, as derived from lofty mountain-chains from which either
glaciers or great torrential streams have descended. In this respect, it
is also equally unlike those plains of Germany, Poland, and Northern
Russia, which were sea-bottoms when floating icebergs melted and dropped
the loads of stone which they were transporting from Scandinavia and
Lapland.

"In truth, therefore, the inner portion of Southern Africa is, in this
respect, as far as I know, geologically unique in the long conservation
of ancient terrestrial conditions. This inference is further supported
by the concomitant absence, throughout the larger portion of all this
vast area, i.e. south of the Equator, of any of those volcanic rocks
which are so often associated with oscillations of the terra firma
["Although Kilimandjaro is to a great extent igneous and volcanic, there
is nothing to prove it has been in activity during the historic era."]

"With the exception of the true volcanic hills of the Cameroons recently
described by Burton, on the west coast, a little to the north of the
Equator, and which possibly may advance southwards towards the Gaboon
country, nothing is known of the presence of any similar foci of
sub-aerial eruption all round the coasts of Africa south of the Equator.
If the elements for the production of them had existed, the coast-line
is precisely that on which we should expect to find such volcanic vents,
if we judge by the analogy of all volcanic regions where the habitual
igneous eruptions are not distant from the sea, or from great internal
masses of water. The absence, then, both on the coasts and in the
interior, of any eruptive rocks which can have been thrown up under the
atmosphere since the period when the tertiary rocks began to be
accumulated, is in concurrence with all the physical data as yet got
together. These demonstrate that, although the geologist finds here none
of those characters of lithological structure and curiously diversified
organic remains which enable him to fix the epochs of succession in the
crust of the earth in other quarters of the globe, the interior of South
Africa is unquestionably a grand type of a region which has preserved
its ancient terrestrial conditions during a very long period, unaffected
by any changes except those which are dependent on atmospheric and
meteoric influences.

"If, then, the lower animals and plants of this vast country have gone
on unchanged for a very long period, may we infer that its human
inhabitants are of like antiquity? If so, the Negro may claim as old a
lineage as the Caucasian or Mongolian races. In the absence of any
decisive fact, I forbear, at present, to speculate on this point; but
as, amid the fossil specimens procured by Livingstone and Kirk, there
are fragments of pottery made by human hands, we must wait until some
zealous explorer of Southern Africa shall distinctly bring forward
proofs that the manufactured articles are of the same age as the fossil
bones. In other words, we still require from Africa the same proofs of
the existence of links which bind together the sciences of Geology and
Archaeology which have recently been developed in Europe. Now, if the
unquestioned works of man should be found to be coeval with the remains
of fossilized existing animals in Southern Africa, the travelled
geographer, who has convinced himself of the ancient condition of its
surface, must admit, however unwillingly, that although the black man is
of such very remote antiquity, he has been very stationary in
civilization and in attaining the arts of life, if he be compared with
the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Red Indian of America, or even with
the aborigines of Polynesia." ("The most remarkable proof of the
inferiority of the Negro, when compared with the Asiatic, is, that
whilst the latter has domesticated the elephant for ages, and rendered
it highly useful to man, the Negro has only slaughtered the animal to
obtain food or ivory.")



CHAPTER XIX.

THE BLACK ANTELOPE.

We continued our voyage down the Nile, at times scudding along with a
fair wind and stream, when a straight portion of the river allowed our
men respite from the oars. This was the termination of the dry season,
in this latitude 7 degrees (end of March);--thus, although the river
was nearly level with the banks, the marshes were tolerably firm, and in
the dryer portions the reeds had been burnt off by the natives. In one
of these cleared places we descried a vast herd of antelopes, numbering
several thousands. The males were black, and carried fine horns, while
the females were reddish-brown and without horns. Never having shot this
species, I landed from the boat, which I ordered to wait in a sheltered
nook, while, accompanied by the boy Saat and Richarn, I took the little
Fletcher 24 rifle and commenced a stalk.

The antelopes did not evince their usual shyness, and with a tolerable
amount of patience I succeeded in getting within about 120 paces of two
splendid black bucks that were separated from the herd;--a patch of
half-burnt reeds afforded a good covering point. The left-hand buck was
in a good position for a shoulder shot, standing with his flank exposed,
but with his head turned towards me. At the crack of the rifle he sprang
upon his hind legs,--gave two or three convulsive bounds, and fell. His
companion went off at full speed, and the left-hand barrel unfortunately
broke his hind leg, as the half-burnt reeds hindered a correct aim.
Reloading, while my men bled the dead buck, I fired a long shot at the
dense mass of antelopes who were now in full retreat at about 600 yards'
distance crowded together in thousands. I heard, or fancied I heard, the
ball strike some object, and as the herd passed on, a reddish object
remained behind that we could hardly distinguish, but on nearer approach
I found a doe lying dead--she had been by chance struck by the ball
through the neck at this great distance. The game being at full speed in
retreat, my sport would have been over had we not at that moment heard
shouts and yells exactly ahead of the vast herd of antelopes. At once
they halted, and we perceived a number of natives, armed with spears and
bows, who had intercepted the herd in their retreat, and who now turned
them by their shouts exactly towards us. The herd came on at full speed;
but seeing us, they slightly altered their line, and rushed along,
thundering over the ground almost in single file, thus occupying a
continuous line of about half a mile in length. Running towards them at
right angles for about a quarter of a mile, I at length arrived at a
white ant-hill about ten feet high; behind this I took my stand within
about seventy yards of the string of antelopes that were filing by at
full gallop. I waited for a buck with fine horns. Several passed, but I
observed better heads in their rear;--they came bounding along.
"Crack!" went the rifle; and a fine buck pitched upon his head. Again
the little Fletcher spoke, and down went another within ten yards of the
first. "A spare gun, Richarn!" and Oswell's Purdey was slipped into my
hand. "Only one barrel is loaded," said Richarn. I saw a splendid buck
coming along with a doe by his side;--she protected him from the shot
as they came on at right angles with the gun; but knowing that the ball
would go through her and reach him on the other side, I fired at her
shoulder,--she fell dead to the shot, but he went off scatheless. I now
found that Richarn had loaded the gun with twenty mould shot instead of
ball;--these were confined in a cartridge, and had killed her on the
spot.

I had thus bagged five antelopes; and, cutting off the heads of the
bucks, we left the bodies for the natives, who were anxiously watching
us from a distance, but afraid to approach. The antelope first shot that
was nearer to the boat, we dragged on board, with the assistance of ten
or twelve men. The buck was rather larger than an average
donkey;--colour, black, with a white patch across the withers;--a white
crown to the head; white round the eyes; chest black, but belly white;
the horns about two feet four inches long, and bending gracefully
backwards.

A few days after this incident we arrived at the junction of the Bahr el
Gazal, and turning sharp to the east, we looked forward to arriving at
the extraordinary obstruction that since our passage in 1863 had dammed
the White Nile.

There was considerable danger in the descent of the river upon nearing
this peculiar dam, as the stream plunged below it by a subterranean
channel with a rush like a cataract. A large diahbiah laden with ivory
had been carried beneath the dam on her descent from Gondokoro in the
previous year, and had never been seen afterwards. I ordered the reis to
have the anchor in readiness, and two powerful hawsers; should we arrive
in the evening, he was to secure the vessel to the bank, and not to
attempt the passage through the canal until the following morning. We
anchored about half a mile above the dam.

This part of the Nile is boundless marsh, portions of which were at this
season terra firma. The river ran from west to east; the south bank was
actual ground covered with mimosas, but to the north and west the flat
marsh covered with high weeds was interminable.

At daybreak we manned the oars and floated down the rapid stream. In a
few minutes we heard the rush of water, and we saw the dam stretching
across the river before us. The marsh being firm, our men immediately
jumped out on the left bank and manned the hawsers--one fastened from
the stern, the other from the bow; this arrangement prevented the boat
from turning broadside on to the dam, by which accident the shipwrecked
diahbiah had been lost. As we approached the dam, I perceived the canal
or ditch that had been cut by the crews of the vessels that had ascended
the river; it was about ten feet wide, and would barely allow the
passage of our diahbiah. This canal was already choked with masses of
floating vegetation and natural rafts of reeds and mud that the river
carried with it, the accumulation of which had originally formed the
dam.

Having secured the vessel by carrying out an anchor astern and burying
it on the marsh, while a rope fastened from the bow to the high reeds
kept her stern to the stream, all hands jumped into the canal and
commenced dragging out the entangled masses of weeds, reeds, ambatch
wood, grass, and mud that had choked the entrance. Half a day was thus
passed, at the expiration of which time we towed our vessel safely into
the ditch, where she lay out of danger. It was necessary to discharge
all cargo from the boat, in order to reduce her draught of water. This
tedious operation completed, and many bushels of corn being piled upon
mats spread upon the reeds beaten flat, we endeavoured to push her along
the canal. Although the obstruction was annoying it was a most
interesting object.

The river had suddenly disappeared: there was apparently an end to the
White Nile. The dam was about three-quarters of a mile wide; it was
perfectly firm, and was already overgrown with high reeds and grass,
thus forming a continuation of the surrounding country. Many of the
traders' people had died of the plague at this spot during the delay of
some weeks in cutting the canal; the graves of these dead were upon the
dam. The bottom of the canal that had been cut through the dam was
perfectly firm, composed of sand, mud, and interwoven decaying
vegetation. The river arrived with great force at the abrupt edge of the
obstruction, bringing with it all kinds of trash and large floating
islands. None of these objects hitched against the edge, but the instant
they struck they dived under and disappeared. It was in this manner that
the vessel had been lost--having missed the narrow entrance to the
canal, she had struck the dam stem on; the force of the current
immediately turned her broadside against the obstruction; the floating
islands and masses of vegetation brought down by the river were heaped
against her, and heeling over on her side she was sucked bodily under
and carried beneath the dam; her crew had time to save themselves by
leaping upon the firm barrier that had wrecked their ship. The boatmen
told me that dead hippopotami had been found on the other side, that had
been carried under the dam and drowned.

Two days' hard work from morning till night brought us through the
canal, and we once more found ourselves on the open Nile on the other
side of the dam. The river was in that spot perfectly clean; not a
vestige of floating vegetation could be seen upon its waters; in its
subterranean passage it had passed through a natural sieve, leaving all
foreign matter behind to add to the bulk of the already stupendous work.

All before us was clear and plain sailing.  For some days two or three
of our men had been complaining of severe headache, giddiness, and
violent pains in the spine and between the shoulders. I had been anxious
when at Gondokoro concerning the vessel, as many persons had died on
board of the plague during the voyage from Khartoum. The men assured me
that the most fatal symptom was violent bleeding from the nose; in such
cases no one had been known to recover. One of the boatmen, who had been
ailing for some days, suddenly went to the side of the vessel and hung
his head over the river; his nose was bleeding!

Another of my men, Yaseen, was ill; his uncle, my vakeel, came to me
with a report that "his nose was bleeding violently!" Several other men
fell ill: they lay helplessly about the deck in low muttering delirium,
their eyes as yellow as orange-peel. In two or three days the vessel was
so horribly offensive as to be unbearable; THE PLAGUE HAD BROKEN OUT! We
floated past the river Sobat junction; the wind was fair from the south,
thus fortunately we in the stern were to windward of the crew. Yaseen
died; he was one who had bled at the nose. We stopped to bury him. The
funeral hastily arranged, we again set sail. Mahommed died; he had bled
at the nose. Another burial. Once more we set sail and hurried down the
Nile. Several men were ill, but the dreaded symptom had not appeared. I
had given each man a strong dose of calomel at the commencement of the
disease; I could do nothing more, as my medicines were exhausted. All
night we could hear the sick, muttering and raving in delirium, but from
years of association with disagreeables we had no fear of the infection.
One morning the boy Saat came to me with his head bound up, and
complained of severe pain in the back and limbs, with all the usual
symptoms of plague: in the afternoon I saw him leaning over the ship's
side; his nose was bleeding violently! At night he was delirious. On the
following morning he was raving, and on the vessel stopping to collect
firewood he threw himself into the river to cool the burning fever that
consumed him. His eyes were suffused with blood, which, blended with a
yellow as deep as the yolk of egg, gave a horrible appearance to his
face, that was already so drawn and changed as to be hardly recognised.
Poor Saat! the faithful boy that we had adopted, and who had formed so
bright an exception to the dark character of his race, was now a victim
to this horrible disease. He was a fine strong lad of nearly fifteen,
and he now lay helplessly on his mat, and cast wistful glances at the
face of his mistress as she gave him a cup of cold water mixed with a
few lumps of sugar that we had obtained from the traders at Gondokoro.

We arrived at Fashoder, in the Shillook country, where the Egyptian
Government had formed a camp of a thousand men to take possession of the
country. We were well received and hospitably entertained by Osman Bey,
to whom our thanks are due for the first civilized reception after years
of savagedom. At Fashoder we procured lentils, rice, and dates, which
were to us great luxuries, and would be a blessing to the plague-smitten
boy, as we could now make some soup. Goats we had purchased in the Shir
country for molotes (iron hoes) that we had received in exchange for
corn at Gondokoro from Koorshid's agent who was responsible for the
supply I had left in depot. We left Fashoder, and continued our voyage
towards Khartoum.

Saat grew worse and worse: nothing would relieve the unfortunate boy
from the burning torture of that frightful disease. He never slept, but
night and day he muttered in delirium, breaking the monotony of his
malady by occasionally howling like a wild animal. Richarn won my heart
by his careful nursing of the boy, who had been his companion through
years of hardship. We arrived at the village of Wat Shely, only three
days from Khartoum. Saat was dying. The night passed, and I expected
that all would be over before sunrise; but as morning dawned a change
had taken place,--the burning fever had left him, and although raised
blotches had broken out upon his chest and various parts of his body, he
appeared much better. We now gave him stimulants; a tea-spoonful of
araki that we had bought at Fashoder was administered every ten minutes
on a lump of sugar. This he crunched in his mouth, while he gazed at my
wife with an expression of affection, but he could not speak. I had him
well washed and dressed in clean clothes, that had been kept most
carefully during the voyage, to be worn on our entree to Khartoum. He
was laid down to sleep upon a clean mat, and my wife gave him a lump of
sugar to moisten his mouth and relieve his thickly-furred tongue. His
pulse was very weak, and his skin cold. "Poor Saat," said my wife, "his
life hangs upon a thread. We must nurse him most carefully; should he
have a relapse, nothing will save him." An hour passed, and he slept.
Karka, the fat, good-natured slave woman, quietly went to his side:
gently taking him by the ankles and knees, she stretched his legs into a
straight position, and laid his arms parallel with his sides. She then
covered his face with a cloth, one of the few rags that we still
possessed. "Does he sleep still?" we asked. The tears ran down the
cheeks of the savage but good-hearted Karka, as she sobbed, "He is
dead!"

We stopped the boat.  It was a sandy shore; the banks were high, and a
clump of mimosas grew above high water-mark. It was there that we dug
his grave. My men worked silently and sadly, for all loved Saat: he had
been so good and true, that even their hard hearts had learnt to respect
his honesty. We laid him in his grave on the desert shore, beneath the
grove of trees. Again the sail was set, and, filled by the breeze, it
carried us away from the dreary spot where we had sorrowfully left all
that was good and faithful. It was a happy end--most merciful, as he had
been taken from a land of iniquity in all the purity of a child
converted from Paganism to Christianity. He had lived and died in our
service a good Christian. Our voyage was nearly over, and we looked
forward to home and friends, but we had still fatigues before us: poor
Saat had reached his home and rest. Two faithful followers we had
buried,--Johann Schmidt at the commencement of the voyage, and Saat at
its termination.

A few miles from this spot, a head wind delayed us for several days.
Losing patience, I engaged camels from the Arabs; and riding the whole
day, we reached Khartoum about half an hour after sunset on the 5th of
May, 1865.

On the following morning we were welcomed by the entire European
population of Khartoum, to whom are due my warmest thanks for many kind
attentions. We were kindly offered a house by Monsieur Lombrosio, the
manager of the Khartoum branch of the "Oriental and Egyptian Trading
Company."

I now heard the distressing news of the death of my poor friend
Speke.  I could not realize the truth of this melancholy report
until I read the details of his fatal accident in the appendix of
a French translation of his work.  It was but a sad consolation
that I could confirm his discoveries, and bear witness to the
tenacity and perseverance with which he had led his party through
the untrodden path of Africa to the first Nile source.  This
being the close of the expedition, I wish it to be distinctly
understood how thoroughly I support the credit of Speke and Grant
for their discovery of the first and most
elevated source of the Nile in the great Victoria N'yanza.

Although I call the river between the two lakes the "Somerset," as
it was named by Speke upon the map he gave to me, I must repeat
that it is positively the Victoria Nile, and the name "Somerset"
is only used to distinguish it, in my description, from the entire
Nile that issues from the Albert N'yanza.

Whether the volume of water added by the latter lake be greater than
that supplied by the Victoria, the fact remains unaltered: the Victoria
is the highest and first-discovered source; the Albert is the second
source, but the ENTIRE RESERVOIR of the Nile waters. I use the term
SOURCE as applying to each reservoir as a head or main starting-point of
the river. I am quite aware that it is a debated point among
geographers, whether a lake can be called a SOURCE, as it owes its
origin to one or many rivers; but, as the innumerable torrents of the
mountainous regions of Central Africa pour into these great reservoirs,
it would be impossible to give preference to any individual stream. Such
a theory would become a source of great confusion, and the Nile sources
might remain forever undecided; a thousand future travellers might
return, each with his particular source in his portfolio, some stream of
insignificant magnitude being pushed forward as the true origin of the
Nile.

I found few letters awaiting me at Khartoum: all the European population
of the place had long ago given us up for lost. It was my wish to start
without delay direct for England, but there were extraordinary
difficulties in this wretched country of the Soudan. A drought of two
years had created a famine throughout the land, attended by a cattle and
camel plague, that had destroyed so many camels that all commerce was
stagnated. No merchandise could be transported from Khartoum; thus no
purchases could be made by the traders in the interior: the country,
always wretched, was ruined. The plague, or a malignant typhus, had run
riot in Khartoum: out of 4,000 black troops, only a remnant below 400
remained alive!

This frightful malady, that had visited our boat, had revelled in the
filth and crowded alleys of the Soudan capital.

The Blue Nile was so low that even the noggurs drawing three feet of
water could not descend the river. Thus, the camels being dead, and the
river impassable, no corn could be brought from Sennaar and Watmedene:
there was a famine in Khartoum--neither fodder for animals, nor food for
man. Being unable to procure either camels or boats, I was compelled to
wait at Khartoum until the Nile should rise sufficiently to enable us to
pass the cataracts between that town and Berber.
[The want of water in the Blue Nile, as here described, exemplifies the
theory that Lower Egypt owes its existence during the greater portion of
the year entirely to the volume of the White Nile.]

We remained two months at Khartoum.  During this time we were subjected
to intense heat and constant dust-storms, attended with a general plague
of boils. Verily, the plagues of Egypt remain to this day in the Soudan.
On the 26th June, we had the most extraordinary dust-storm that had ever
been seen by the inhabitants. I was sitting in the courtyard of my
agent's house at about 4:30 P.M.: there was no wind, and the sun was as
bright as usual in this cloudless sky, when suddenly a gloom was cast
over all,--a dull yellow glare pervaded the atmosphere. Knowing that
this effect portended a dust-storm, and that the present calm would be
followed by a hurricane of wind, I rose to go home, intending to secure
the shutters. Hardly had I risen, when I saw approaching, from the S.W.
apparently, a solid range of immense brown mountains, high in air. So
rapid was the passage of this extraordinary phenomenon, that in a few
minutes we were in actual pitchy darkness. At first there was no wind,
and the peculiar calm gave an oppressive character to the event. We were
in "a darkness that might be felt." Suddenly the wind arrived, but not
with the violence that I had expected. There were two persons with me,
Michael Latfalla, my agent, and Monsieur Lombrosio. So intense was the
darkness, that we tried to distinguish our hands placed close before our
eyes;--not even an outline could be seen. This lasted for upwards of
twenty minutes: it then rapidly passed away, and the sun shone as
before; but we had FELT the darkness that Moses had inflicted upon the
Egyptians.

The Egyptian Government had, it appeared, been pressed by some of the
European Powers to take measures for the suppression of the slave-trade:
a steamer had accordingly been ordered to capture all vessels laden
with this in famous cargo. Two vessels had been seized and brought to
Khartoum, containing 850 human beings!--packed together like anchovies,
the living and the dying festering together, and the dead lying beneath
them. European eye-witnesses assured me that the disembarking of this
frightful cargo could not be adequately described. The slaves were in a
state of starvation, having had nothing to eat for several days. They
were landed in Khartoum; the dead and many of the dying were tied by the
ankles, and dragged along the ground by donkeys through the streets. The
most malignant typhus, or plague, had been engendered among this mass of
filth and misery, thus closely packed together. Upon landing, the women
were divided by the Egyptian authorities among the soldiers. These
creatures brought the plague to Khartoum, which, like a curse visited
upon this country of slavery and abomination, spread like a fire
throughout the town, and consumed the regiments that had received this
horrible legacy from the dying cargo of slaves. Among others captured by
the authorities on a charge of slave-trading was an Austrian subject,
who was then in the custody of the consul. A French gentleman, Monsieur
Garnier, had been sent to Khartoum by the French Consulate of Alexandria
on a special inquiry into the slave-trade; he was devoting himself to
the subject with much energy.

While at Khartoum I happened to find Mahommed Her! the vakeel of
Chenooda's party, who had instigated lily men to mutiny at Latooka, and
had taken my deserters into his employ. I had promised to make an
example of this fellow; I therefore had him arrested, and brought before
the Divan. With extreme effrontery, he denied having had anything to do
with the affair, adding to his denial all knowledge of the total
destruction of his party and of my mutineers by the Latookas. Having a
crowd of witnesses in my own men, and others that I had found in
Khartoum who had belonged to Koorshid's party at that time, his
barefaced lie was exposed, and he was convicted. I determined that he
should be punished, as an example that would insure respect to any
future English traveller in those regions. My men, and all those with
whom I had been connected, had been accustomed to rely most implicitly
upon all that I had promised, and the punishment of this man had been an
expressed determination.

I went to the Divan and demanded that he should be flogged. Omer Bey was
then Governor of the Soudan, in the place of Moosa Pasha deceased. He
sat upon the divan, in the large hall of justice by the river. Motioning
me to take a seat by his side, and handing me his pipe, he called the
officer in waiting, and gave the necessary orders. In a few minutes the
prisoner was led into the hall, attended by eight soldiers. One man
carried a strong pole about seven feet long, in the centre of which was
a double chain, riveted through in a loop. The prisoner was immediately
thrown down with his face to the ground, while two men stretched out his
arms and sat upon them; his feet were then placed within the loop of the
chain, and the pole being twisted round until firmly secured, it was
raised from the ground sufficiently to expose the soles of the feet. Two
men with powerful hippopotamus whips stood, one on either side. The
prisoner thus secured, the order was given. The whips were most
scientifically applied, rind after the first five dozen, the
slave-hunting scoundrel howled most lustily for mercy. How often had he
flogged unfortunate slave women to excess, and what murders had that
wretch committed, who now howled for mercy! I begged Omer Bey to stop
the punishment at 150 lashes, and to explain to him publicly in the
divan, that he was thus punished for attempting to thwart the expedition
of an English traveller, by instigating my escort to mutiny.

This affair over--all my accounts paid--and my men dismissed with their
hands full of money,--I was ready to start for Egypt. The Nile rose
sufficiently to enable the passage of the cataracts, and on the 30th
June we took leave of all friends in Khartoum, and of my very kind
agent, Michael Latfalla, well known as Hallil el Shami, who had most
generously cashed all my bills on Cairo without charging a fraction of
exchange. On the morning of 1st July, we sailed from Khartoum to Berber.

On approaching the fine basalt hills through which the river passes
during its course from Khartoum, I was surprised to see the great Nile
contracted to a trifling width of from eighty to a hundred and twenty
yards. Walled by high cliffs of basalt upon either side, the vast volume
of the Nile flows grandly through this romantic pass, the water boiling
up in curling eddies, showing that rocky obstructions exist in its
profound depths below.

Our voyage was very nearly terminated at the passage of the cataracts.
Many skeletons of wrecked vessels lay upon the rocks in various places:
as we were flying along in full sail before a heavy gale of wind,
descending a cataract, we struck upon a sandbank--fortunately not upon a
rock, or we should have gone to pieces like a glass bottle. The
tremendous force of the stream, running at the rate of about ten or
twelve miles per hour, immediately drove the vessel broadside upon the
bank. About sixty yards below us was a ridge of rocks, upon which it
appeared certain that we must be driven should we quit the bank upon
which we were stranded. The reis and crew, as usual in such cases, lost
their heads. I emptied a large waterproof portmanteau, and tied it
together with ropes, so as to form a life-buoy for my wife and Richarn,
neither of whom could swim; the maps, journals, and observations, I
packed in an iron box, which I fastened with a tow-line to the
portmanteau. It appeared that we were to wind up the expedition with
shipwreck, and thus lose my entire collection of hunting spoils. Having
completed the preparations for escape, I took command of the vessel, and
silenced the chattering crew.

My first order was to lay out an anchor up stream.

This was done: the water was shallow, and the great weight of the
anchor, carried on the shoulders of two men, enabled them to resist the
current, and to wade hip-deep about forty yards up the stream upon the
sandbank.

Thus secured, I ordered the crew to haul upon the cable. The great force
of the current bearing upon the broadside of the vessel, while her head
was anchored up stream, bore her gradually round. All hands were now
employed in clearing away the sand, and deepening a passage: loosen ing
the sand with their hands and feet, the powerful rapids carried it away.
For five hours we remained in this position, the boat cracking, and half
filled with water however, we stopped the leak caused by the strain upon
her timbers, and having, after much labour, cleared a channel in the
narrow sandbank, the moment arrived to slip the cable, hoist the sail,
and trust to the heavy gale of wind from the west to clear the rocks,
that lay within a few yards of us to the north. "Let go!" and, all being
prepared, the sail was loosened, and filling in the strong gale with a
loud report, the head of the vessel swung round with the force of wind
and stream. Away we flew! For an instant we grated on some hard
substance: we stood upon the deck, watching the rocks exactly before us,
with the rapids roaring loudly around our boat as she rushed upon what
looked like certain destruction. Another moment, and we passed within a
few inches of the rocks within the boiling surf. Hurrah! we are all
right! We swept by the danger, and flew along the rapids, hurrying
towards Old England.

We arrived at Berber, the spot from which we had started upwards of four
years ago for our Atbara expedition. Here we were most hospitably
received by Monsieur and Madame Laffargue, a French gentleman and his
charming wife, who had for many years been residents in the Soudan. It
is with feelings of gratitude that I express my thanks to all Frenchmen
that I have met in those wild countries, for courtesies and attention,
that were appreciated by me like unexpected flowers in a desert. I can
only hope that Frenchmen may, when in need, receive the same kindness
from my countrymen, when travelling in lands far distant from LA BELLE
FRANCE.

I determined upon the Red Sea route to Egypt, instead of passing the
horrible Korosko desert during the hot month of August. After some delay
I procured camels, and started east for Souakim, from whence I hoped to
procure a steamer to Suez.

This route from Berber is not the usual caravan road: the country was in
rather a disturbed state, owing to the mutiny of all the black troops in
the Egyptian service in the Taka province; and the Hadendowa Arabs, who
are at no time the best of their race, were very excited. The first
eight days' journey are devoid of water, except at two stations, the
route being desert. Our party consisted of my wife, Richarn, Achmet, and
Zeneb; the latter was a six-foot girl of the Dinka tribe, with whom
Richarn had fallen in love and married during our sojourn at Khartoum.

Zeneb was a good girl, rather pretty, as strong as a giraffe, and a good
cook; a very valuable acquisition for Richarn. Her husband, who had been
my faithful follower, was now a rich man, being the owner of thirty
napoleons, the balance of his wages. Achmet was an Egyptian servant,
whom I had recently engaged in Khartoum. I had also offered a Swiss
missionary the protection of our party.

One day, during the heat of noon, after a long march in the burning sun
through a treeless desert, we descried a solitary tree in the distance,
to which we hurried as to a friend. Upon arrival, we found its shade
occupied by a number of Hadendowa Arabs. Dismounting from our camels, we
requested them to move and to give place for our party--as a tree upon
the desert is like a well of water, to be shared by every traveller. Far
from giving the desired place, they most insolently refused to allow us
to share the tree. Upon Richarn attempting to take possession, he was
rudely pushed on one side, and an Arab drew his knife. Achmet had a
coorbatch (hippopotamus whip) in his hand, that he had used on his
camel; the act of raising this to threaten the Arab who had drawn his
knife was the signal for hostilities. Out flashed the broadswords from
their sheaths! and the headman of the party aimed a well-intended cut at
my head. Parrying the cut with my sun umbrella, I returned with a quick
thrust directly in the mouth, the point of the peaceful weapon
penetrating to his throat with such force that he fell upon his back.
Almost at the same moment I had to parry another cut from one of the
crowd that smashed my umbrella completely, and left me with my remaining
weapons, a stout Turkish pipe-stick about four feet long, and my fist.
Parrying with the stick, thrusting in return at the face, and hitting
sharp with the left hand, I managed to keep three or four of the party
on and off upon their backs, receiving a slight cut with a sword upon my
left arm in countering a blow which just grazed me as I knocked down the
owner, and disarmed him. My wife picked up the sword, as I had no time
to stoop, and she stood well at bay with her newly-acquired weapon that
a disarmed Arab wished to wrest from her, but dared not close with the
naked blade. I had had the fight all my own way, as, being beneath the
tree (the boughs of which were very near the ground), the Arabs, who do
not understand the use of the point, were unable to use their swords, as
their intended cuts were intercepted by the branches. Vigorous thrusting
and straight hitting cleared the tree, and the party were scattered
right and left, followed up by Richarn and Achmet, armed with
double-barrelled rifles. I was determined to disarm the whole party, if
possible. One of the Arabs, armed with a lance, rushed up to attack
Richarn from behind; but Zeneb was of the warlike Dinka tribe, and
having armed herself with the hard wood handle of the axe, she went into
the row like "Joan of Arc," and hastening to the rescue of Richarn, she
gave the Arab such a whack upon the head that she knocked him down on
the spot, and seizing his lance she disarmed him. Thus armed, she rushed
into the thickest of the fray.

"Bravo, Zeneb!" I could not help shouting. Seizing a thick. stick that
had been dropped by one of the Arabs, I called Richarn and our little
party together, and attacking the few Arabs who still offered
resistance, they were immediately knocked down and disarmed. The leader
of the party, who had been the first to draw his sword and had received
a mouthful of umbrella, had not moved from the spot where he fell, but
amused himself with coughing and spitting. I now ordered him to be
bound, and threatened to tie him to my camel's tail and lead him a
prisoner to the Governor of Souakim, unless he called all those of his
party who had run away. They were now standing at a distance in the
desert, and I insisted upon the delivery of their weapons. Being
thoroughly beaten and cowed, he conferred with those whom we had taken
prisoners, and the affair ended by all the arms being delivered up. We
counted six swords, eleven lances, and a heap of knives, the number of
which I forget.

I ordered the entire party to stand in a line; and I gave them their
choice, whether the ringleaders would receive a flogging from me, or
whether I should tie them to the tails of camels and lead them to the
Turkish Governor of Souakim? They immediately chose the former; and,
calling them from the rank, I ordered them to lie down on the ground to
receive punishment.

They submitted like dogs; Richarn and Achmet stood over them with their
whips, ready for the word. At this moment an old white-headed Arab of my
caravan came to me: kneeling down, he stroked my beard with his dirty
hands, and implored pardon for the offenders. Thoroughly understanding
the Arab character, I replied, "They are miserable sons of dogs, and
their swords are like the feathers of a fowl; they deserve flogging, but
when a white head asks for pardon, it should be granted. God is
merciful, and we are all his children." Thus was the affair ended to the
satisfaction of our side. I broke all the lances into fragments upon a
rock,--ordered Zeneb to make a fire with the wood of the handles, to
boil some coffee; and tying the swords into a bundle, we packed the
lance-heads and knives in a basket, with the understanding that they
should be delivered to their owners on our arrival at the last well,
after which point there would be water on the route every day. From that
place, there would be no fear of our camels being stolen, and of our
being deserted in the desert.

On arrival at the well a few days later, I delivered the weapons to
their owners as promised, they having followed our party. Souakim is
about 275 miles from the Nile at Berber. At Kokreb, about half-way, we
entered the chain of mountains that extends from Suez parallel with the
Red Sea to the south; many portions of this chain are four or five
thousand feet above the sea-level. The mountains were exceedingly
beautiful, their precipitous sides of barren rock exhibiting superb
strata of red and grey granite, with vast masses of exquisite red and
green porphyry. Many hills were of basalt, so black, that during an
entire day's journey the face of the country appeared like a vast desert
of coal, in broken hills and blocks strewed over the surface of the
ground. Kokreb was a lovely oasis beneath the high mountains, with a
forest of low mimosas in full leaf, and a stream running from the
mountains, the produce of a recent storm. Throughout this country there
are no rivers that should be noticed on a map, as the torrents are
merely the effects of violent storms, which, falling upon the mountains
several times during the rainy season from June to the end of August
tear their boisterous way along their stony course and dry up in a few
hours, becoming exhausted in the sand of the deserts. For some days our
course lay along a deep ravine between stupendous cliffs; this was the
bed of a torrent, that, after heavy storms, flowed through the
mountains, inclining to the east; in this were pools of most beautifully
clear water. In many places the nooks among the cliffs were fringed with
lovely green trees. It was extraordinary to observe the activity of the
camels in climbing the most difficult passes, and in picking their way
among the rocks and stones that obstructed the route. In many places
camels might be seen grazing upon the green mimosa bushes, that growing
among the rocks high upon the mountains had tempted the animals into
places that I should not have believed they could have reached.

After a journey of twenty-four days from the Nile at Berber, we emerged
from the mountain-pass, and from the elevated embouchure we obtained a
sudden and most welcome view of the Red Sea. We now quickly descended:
the heat increased every hour; and after a long day's march, we slept
within a few miles of Souakim. On the following morning we entered the
town.

Souakim is a considerable town; the houses are all built of coral. The
principal dwellings, and the custom house and Government offices are
situated on an island in the harbour. We were received with much
attention by the Governor, Moomtazze Bey, who very kindly offered us a
house. The heat was frightful, the thermometer 115 degrees F and in some
houses 120 degrees F.

There is no doubt that Souakim should be the port for all exports and
imports for the Soudan provinces. Were a line of steamers established
from Suez, to call regularly at Souakim, at a moderate freight, it would
become a most prosperous town, as the geographical position marks it as
the nucleus for all trade with the interior. At present there is no
regularity: the only steamers that touch at Souakim are those belonging
to the Abdul Azziz Company, who trade between Suez and Jedda. Although
advertised for distinct periods, they only visit Souakim when they think
proper, and their rates are most exorbitant.

There was no steamer upon our arrival. After waiting in intense heat for
about a fortnight, the Egyptian thirty-two gun steam frigate,
Ibralaimeya, arrived with a regiment of Egyptian troops, under Giaffer
Pasha, to quell the mutiny of the black troops at Kassala, twenty days'
march in the interior. The General Giaffer Pasha, and Mustapha Bey the
captain of the frigate, gave us an entertainment on board in English
style, in honour of the completion of the Nile discovery. Giaffer Pasha
most kindly placed the frigate at our disposal to convey us to Suez, and
both he and Mustapha Bey endeavoured in every way to accommodate us. For
their extreme courtesy I take this opportunity of making my
acknowledgment.

Orders for sailing had been received, but suddenly a steamer was
signalled as arriving: this was a transport, with troops. As she was to
return immediately to Suez, I preferred the dirty transport rather than
incur a further delay. We started from Souakim, and after five days'
voyage we arrived at Suez. Landing from the steamer, I once more found
myself in an English hotel. The spacious inner court was arranged as an
open conservatory; in this was a bar for refreshments, and "Allsopp's
Pale Ale" on draught, with an ice accompaniment. What an Elysium! The
beds had SHEETS and PILLOW-CASES! neither of which had I possessed for
years.

The hotel was thronged with passengers to India, with rosy, blooming
English ladies, and crowds of my own countrymen. I felt inclined to talk
to everybody. Never was I so in love with my own countrymen and women;
but they (I mean the ladies) all had large balls of hair at the backs of
their heads! What an extraordinary change! I called Richarn, my pet
savage from the heart of Africa, to admire them. "Now, Richarn, look at
them!" I said. "What do you think of the English ladies? eh, Richarn?
Are they not lovely?"

"Wah Illahi!" exclaimed the astonished Richarn, "they are beautiful!
What hair! They are not like the negro savages, who work other people's
hair into their own heads; theirs is all real--all their own--how
beautiful!"

"Yes, Richarn," I replied, "ALL THEIR OWN!" This was my first
introduction to the "chignon."

We arrived at Cairo, and I established Richarn and his wife in a
comfortable situation, as private servants to Mr. Zech, the master of
Sheppard's Hotel. The character I gave him was one that I trust has done
him service: he had shown an extraordinary amount of moral courage in
totally reforming from his original habit of drinking. I left my old
servant with a heart too full to say good-bye; a warm squeeze of his
rough, but honest black hand, and the whistle of the train sounded,--we
were off!

I had left Richarn, and none remained of my people. The past appeared
like a dream-the rushing sound of the train renewed ideas of
civilization. Had I really come from the Nile Sources? It was no dream.
A witness sat before me; a face still young, but bronzed like an Arab by
years of exposure to a burning sun; haggard and worn with toil and
sickness, and shaded with cares, happily now past; the devoted companion
of my pilgrimage, to whom I owed success and life--my wife.

I had received letters from England, that had been waiting at the
British Consulate;--the first I opened informed me, that the Royal
Geographical Society had awarded me the Victoria Gold Medal, at a time
when they were unaware whether I was alive or dead, and when the success
of my expedition was unknown. This appreciation of my exertions was the
warmest welcome that I could have received on my first entrance into
civilization after so many years of savagedom: it rendered the
completion of the Nile Sources doubly grateful, as I had fulfilled the
expectations that the Geographical Society had so generously expressed
by the presentation of their medal Before my task was done.



APPENDIX

    COMPUTATION OF MR. BAKER'S OBSERVATIONS.
    HEIGHTS OF STATIONS ABOVE THE MEAN LEVEL OF THE SEA DETERMINED
    BY BOILING-WATER OBSERVATIONS BY S. W. BAKER, Esq.
    COMPUTED BY E. DUNKIN, Esq. OF GREENWICH OBSERVATORY.          Feet.

    Tarrangolle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2047
    Obbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3480
    Shoggo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3770
    Asua River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2619
    Shooa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3619
    Rionga's Island  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3685
    Karuma, below falls  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3737
    Karuma, south of falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3796
    South of Karuma, at river level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3794
    M'rooli, river level, junction of Kafoor . . . . . . . . . . . 3796
    West of M'rooli, on road to Albert lake  . . . . . . . . . . . 4291
    Land above lake, east cliff . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 4117
    Albert N'yanza, lake level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2448
    Shooa Moru, island of Patooan  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2918
    Gondokoro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 1636

The above heights will be found to differ considerably from those given
by Mr. Baker in his letter written from Khartoum in May, 1865, and
published in the TIMES newspaper in June. This arises from Mr. Baker
having corrected his observations, whilst in the interior of Africa,
from what have since proved erroneous data: the above are the correct
computations of the same observations.



REMARKS ON THE THERMOMETER B. W. USED BY MR. S. W. BAKER IN
DETERMINING HEIGHTS. By Staff-Commander C. George,
Curator of Maps, Royal Geographical Society.

This thermometer was one of the three supplied by the Royal Geographical
Society to Consul Petherick, in 1861, and was made by Mr. Casella.

At Gondokoro, in March, 1862, it was lent to Mr. Baker, who made all his
observations with it, and brought it back safe: it has, therefore, been
in use about 4 and 3/4 years.

On November 9th, 1865, Mr. Baker returned it to the Royal Geographical
Society, and it was immediately taken to Mr. Casella, who tested its
accuracy by trying its boiling-point, in nearly the same manner as Mr.
Baker had made his observations. The result by two independent observers
was that the boiling-point had increased in its reading by 0 degree
point 75 in 4 and 3/4 years, or 0 degree point 172 yearly.

On November 23d the thermometer was again tested by Mr. Baker at the Kew
Observatory. The observation was made under the same conditions as those
near the Albert N'yanza, as nearly as it was possible to make it. (By
immersion in boiling water.) The result gave the thermometer 0 degree
point 80 too much at the boiling-point.

The readings of the thermometer have, therefore, been TOO MUCH; and by
REDUCING the readings, it ELEVATES all positions at which observations
were made.

Table No. 1.--In this Table the error obtained at Kew Observatory has
been treated like that of a chronometer, the error being assumed
increasing and regular.

Table No. 2 is to correct the height, computed by Mr. Dunkin, using the
quantity taken from Table No. 1.

Table No. 3 is the final result of the observations for height,
corrected for instrumental error.

TABLE No. 1.

Table for Increased Reading of Thermometer, using 0 degrees 80 as the
Result of Observations for its Error.

    Month.           1861.  1862.   1863.   1864.   1865.
    January. . .       --  0'143   0'314   0'487   0'659
    February . .       --   '157    '328    '501    '673
    March . . .     0'000   '172    '344    '516    '688
    April . . .      '014   '186    '358    '530    '702
    May . . . .      '028   '200    '372    '544    '716
    June . . . .     '043   '214    '387    '559    '730
    July . . . .     '057   '228    '401    '573    '744
    August . . .     '071   '243    '415    '587    '758
    September . .    '086   '257    '430    '602    '772
    October . , .    '100   '271    '444    '616    '786
    November . .     '114   '285    '458    '630   0'800
    December . .    0'129  0'300   0'473   0'645      --


TABLE No. 2.

At the elevation of 3,500 feet, 1 Degrees equals about 520 feet, from
which the following--

    Degrees    Feet.  Degrees  Feet   Degrees  Feet.
     1'0 . . . 520    '7 . . . 364    '3  . . . 156
      '9 . . . 468    '6 . . . 312    '25 . . . 130
      '8 . . . 416    '5 . . . 260    '2  . . . 104
      '75. . . 390    '4 . . . 208    '1  . . .  52





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