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.
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