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.
