The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, Samuel White Baker [inspirational novels .TXT] 📗

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