I Had Ordered One Of My Men To Carry My Stool; I Was Determined Not To
Sit Upon The Earth, As The King Would Glory In My Humiliation.
M'Gambi,
his brother, who had formerly played the part of king, now sat upon the
ground a few feet from Kamrasi, who was seated upon the same stool of
copper that M'Gambi had used when I first saw him at M'rooli.
Several of
his chiefs also sat upon the straw with which the porch was littered. I
made a "salaam" and took my seat upon my stool.
Not a word passed between us for about five minutes, during which time
the king eyed me most attentively, and made various remarks to the
chiefs who were present. At length he asked me why I had not been to see
him before. I replied, because I had been starved in his country, and I
was too weak to walk. He said I should soon be strong, as he would now
give me a good supply of food; but that he could not send provisions to
Shooa Moru, as Fowooka held that country. Without replying to this
wretched excuse for his neglect, I merely told him that I was happy to
have seen him before my departure, as I was not aware until recently
that I had been duped by M'Gambi. He answered me very coolly, saying
that although I had not seen him, he had nevertheless seen me, as he was
among the crowd of native escort on the day that we left M'rooli. Thus
he had watched our start at the very place where his brother M'Gambi had
impersonated the king.
Kamrasi was a remarkably fine man, tall and well proportioned, with a
handsome face of a dark brown color, but a peculiarly sinister
expression. He was beautifully clean, and instead of wearing the bark
cloth common among the people, he was dressed in a fine mantle of black
and white goatskins, as soft as chamois leather. His people sat on the
ground at some distance from his throne; when they approached to address
him on any subject they crawled upon their hands and knees to his feet,
and touched the ground with their foreheads.
True to his natural instincts, the king commenced begging, and being
much struck with the Highland costume, he demanded it as a proof of
friendship, saying that if I refused I could not be his friend. The
watch, compass, and double Fletcher rifle were asked for in their turn,
all of which I refused to give him. He appeared much annoyed, therefore
I presented him with a pound canister of powder, a box of caps, and a
few bullets. He asked, "What's the use of the ammunition if you won't
give me your rifle?" I explained that I had already given him a gun, and
that he had a rifle of Speke's. Disgusted with his importunity I rose to
depart, telling him that I should not return to visit him, as I did not
believe he was the real Kamrasi I had heard that Kamrasi was a great
king, but he was a mere beggar, and was doubtless an impostor, like
M'Gambi. At this he seemed highly amused, and begged me not to leave so
suddenly, as he could not permit me to depart empty-handed. He then gave
certain orders to his people, and after a little delay two loads of
flour arrived, together with a goat and two jars of sour plantain cider.
These presents he ordered to be forwarded to Kisoona. I rose to take
leave; but the crowd, eager to see what was going forward, pressed
closely upon the entrance of the approach, seeing which, the king gave
certain orders, and immediately four or five men with long heavy
bludgeons rushed at the mob and belabored them right and left, putting
the mass to flight pell-mell through the narrow lanes of the camp.
I was then carried back to my camp at Kisoona, where I was received by a
great crowd of people.
CHAPTER XXIII.
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. Far away though it was, every step
would bring us nearer. Nevertheless there were ties even in this wild
spot, where all was savage and unfeeling - ties that were painful to
sever, and that caused a sincere regret to both of us when we saw our
little flock of unfortunate slave children crying at the idea of
separation. In this moral desert, where all humanized feelings were
withered and parched like the sands of the Soudan, the guilelessness of
the children had been welcomed like springs of water, as the only
refreshing feature in a land of sin and darkness.
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