In The Centre Of A Long Mud Wall, Ventilated
By Certain Attempts At Frameless Windows, Guarded By Rough Wooden Bars,
We Perceived A Large Archway With Closed Doors.
Above this entrance was
a shield, with a device that gladdened my English eyes:
There was the
British lion and the unicorn! Not such a lion as I had been accustomed
to meet in his native jungles, a yellow cowardly fellow that had often
slunk away from the very prey from which I had driven him; but a real
red British lion, that, although thin and ragged in the unhealthy
climate of Khartoum, looked as though he was pluck to the back-bone.
This was the English Consulate. The consul was absent, in the hope of
meeting Speke and Grant in the upper Nile regions, on the road from
Zanzibar, but he had kindly placed rooms at our disposal.
For some months we resided at Khartoum, as it was necessary to make
extensive preparations for the White Nile expedition, and to await the
arrival of the north wind, which would enable us to start early in
December. Although the north and south winds blow alternately for six
months, and the former commences in October, it does not extend many
degrees southward until the beginning of December. This is a great
drawback to White Nile exploration, as, when near the north side of the
equator, the dry season commences in November and closes in February;
thus the departure from Khartoum should take place by a steamer in the
latter part of September.
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