"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.
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