Why He Had Not Followed The Nile To The Luta N'zige Lake,
And From The Lake To Gondokoro?
As it happened, it was impossible for
Speke and Grant to follow the Nile from Karuma:
The tribes were fighting
with Kamrasi, and no strangers could have gone through the country.
Accordingly they procured their information most carefully, completed
their map, and laid down the reported lake in its supposed position,
showing the Nile as both influent and effluent precisely as had been
explained by the natives.
Speke expressed his conviction that the Luta N'zige must be a second
source of the Nile, and that geographers would be dissatisfied that he
had not explored it. To me this was most gratifying. I had been much
disheartened at the idea that the great work was accomplished, and that
nothing remained for exploration. I even said to Speke, "Does not one
leaf of the laurel remain for me?" I now heard that the field was not
only open, but that an additional interest was given to the exploration
by the proof that the Nile flowed out of one great lake, the Victoria,
but that it evidently must derive an additional supply from an unknown
lake, as it entered it at the NORTHERN extremity, while the body of the
lake came from the south. The fact of a great body of water such as the
Luta N'zige extending in a direct line from south to north, while the
general system of drainage of the Nile was from the same direction,
showed most conclusively that the Luta N'zige, if it existed in the form
assumed, must have an important position in the basin of the Nile.
My expedition had naturally been rather costly, and being in excellent
order it would have been heartbreaking to return fruitlessly. I
therefore arranged immediately for my departure, and Speke most kindly
wrote in my journal such instructions as might be useful.
On the 26th of 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.
I now weighed all my baggage, and found that I had fifty-four cantars
(100 lbs. each). The beads, copper, and ammunition were the terrible
onus. I therefore applied to Mahommed, the vakeel of Andrea Debono, who
had escorted Speke and Grant, and I begged his co-operation in the
expedition. Mahommed promised to accompany me, not only to his camp at
Faloro, but throughout the whole of my expedition, provided that I would
assist him in procuring ivory, and that I would give him a handsome
present. All was agreed upon, and my own men appeared in high spirits at
the prospect of joining so large a party as that of Mahommed, which
mustered about two hundred men.
At that time I really placed dependence upon the professions of Mahommed
and his people; they had just brought Speke and Grant with them, and had
received from them presents of a first-class double-barrelled gun and
several valuable rifles. I had promised not only to assist them in their
ivory expeditions, but to give them something very handsome in addition,
and the fact of my having upward of forty men as escort was also an
introduction, as they would be an addition to the force, which is a
great advantage in hostile countries. Everything appeared to be in good
trim, but I little knew the duplicity of these Arab scoundrels. At the
very moment that they were most friendly, they were plotting to deceive
me, and to prevent the from entering the country. They knew that, should
I penetrate the interior, the IVORY TRADE of the White Nile would be no
longer a mystery, and that the atrocities of the slave trade would be
exposed, and most likely be terminated by the intervention of European
Powers; accordingly they combined to prevent my advance, and to
overthrow my expedition completely. All the men belonging to the various
traders were determined that no Englishman should penetrate into the
country; accordingly they fraternized with my escort, and persuaded them
that I was a Christian dog that it was a disgrace for a Mahometan to
serve; that they would be starved in my service, as I would not allow
them to steal cattle; that they would have no slaves; and that I should
lead them - God knew where - to the sea, from whence Speke and Grant had
started; that they had left Zanzibar with two hundred men, and had only
arrived at Gondokoro with eighteen, thus the remainder must have been
killed by the natives on the road; that if they followed me and arrived
at Zanzibar, I would find a ship waiting to take me to England, and I
would leave them to die in a strange country. Such were the reports
circulated to prevent my men from accompanying me, and it was agreed
that Mahommed should fix a day for our pretended start IN COMPANY, but
that he should in reality start a few days before the time appointed;
and that my men should mutiny, and join his party in cattle-stealing and
slave-hunting. This was the substance of the plot thus carefully
concocted.
My men evinced a sullen demeanor, neglected all orders, and I plainly
perceived a settled discontent upon their general expression. The
donkeys and camels were allowed to stray, and were daily missing, and
recovered with difficulty. The luggage was overrun with white ants,
instead of being attended to every morning. The men absented themselves
without leave, and were constantly in the camps of the different
traders.
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