The hour of deliverance - Triumphal entry into Gondokoro - Home-bound -
The plague breaks out - Our welcome at Khartoum to civilization.
The hour of deliverance from our long sojourn in Central Africa was at
hand. It was the month of February, and the boats would be at Gondokoro.
The Turks had packed their ivory; the large tusks were fastened to poles
to be carried by two men, and the camp was a perfect mass of this
valuable material. I counted 609 loads of upward of 50 lbs. each;
thirty-one loads were lying at an out-station; therefore the total
results of the ivory campaign during the last twelve months were about
32,000 lbs., equal to about 9,630 pounds sterling when delivered in
Egypt. This was a perfect fortune for Koorshid.
We were ready to start. My baggage was so unimportant that I was
prepared to forsake everything, and to march straight for Gondokoro
independently 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 day arrived for our departure; the oxen were saddled, and we were
ready to start. Crowds of people cane to say "good-by;" but, dispensing
with the hand-kissing of the Turks who were to remain in camp, we
prepared for our journey toward HOME.
