We could not take him with us; he
belonged to Ibrahim, and had I purchased the child to rescue him from
his hard lot and to rear him as a civilized being, I might have been
charged with slave-dealing. With heavy hearts we saw hint taken up in
the arms of a woman and carried back to camp, to prevent him from
following our party, that had now started.
I will not detain the reader with the details of our journey home. After
much toil and some fighting with hostile natives, we bivouacked one
sunset three miles from Gondokoro. That night we were full of
speculations. Would a boat be waiting for us with supplies and letters?
The morning anxiously looked forward to at length arrived. We started.
The English flag had been mounted on a fine straight bamboo with a new
lance-head specially arranged for the arrival at Gondokoro. My men felt
proud, as they would march in as conquerors. According to White Nile
ideas, such a journey could not have been accomplished with so small a
party. Long before Ibrahim's men were ready to start, our oxen were
saddled and we were off, longing to hasten into Gondokoro and to find a
comfortable vessel with a few luxuries and the post from England. Never
had the oxen travelled so fast as on that morning; the flag led the way,
and the men, in excellent spirits, followed at double-quick pace.
"I see the masts of the vessels!" exclaimed the boy Saat. "El hambd el
Illah!" (Thank God! ) shouted the men. "Hurrah!" said I; "Three cheers
for Old England and the Sources of the Nile! Hurrah!" and my men joined
me in the wild, and to their ears savage, English yell. "Now for a
salute! Fire away all your powder, if you like, my lads, and let the
people know that we're alive!"
This was all that was required to complete the happiness of my people,
and, loading and firing as fast as possible, we approached near to
Gondokoro. Presently we saw the Turkish flag emerge from Gondokoro at
about a quarter of a mile distant, followed by a number of the traders'
people, who waited to receive us. On our arrival they immediately
approached and fired salutes with ball cartridge, as usual advancing
close to us and discharging their guns into the ground at our feet. One
of my servants, Mahomet, was riding an ox, and an old friend of his in
the crowd happening to recognize him immediately advanced and saluted
him by firing his gun into the earth directly beneath the belly of the
ox he was riding.
The effect produced made the crowd and ourselves explode with laughter.
The nervous ox, terrified at the sudden discharge between his legs, gave
a tremendous kick, and continued madly kicking and plunging, until
Mahomet was pitched over his head and lay sprawling on the ground. This
scene terminated the expedition.
Dismounting from our tired oxen, our first inquiry was concerning boats
and letters. What was the reply? Neither boats, letters, supplies, nor
any intelligence of friends or the civilized world! We had long since
been given up as dead by the inhabitants of Khartoum, and by all those
who understood the difficulties and dangers of the country. We were told
that some people had suggested that we might possibly have gone to
Zanzibar, but the general opinion was that we had all been killed.
At this cold and barren reply I felt almost choked. We had looked
forward to arriving at Gondokoro as to a home; we had expected that a
boat would have been sent on the chance of finding us, as I had left
money in the hands of an agent in Khartoum ; but there was literally
nothing to receive us, and we were helpless to return. We had worked for
years in misery, such as I have but faintly described, to overcome the
difficulties of this hitherto unconquerable exploration. We had
succeeded - and what was the result? Not even a letter from home to
welcome us if alive!
As I sat beneath a tree and looked down upon the glorious Nile that
flowed a few yards beneath my feet, I pondered upon the value of my
toil. I had traced the river to its great Albert source, and as the
mighty stream glided before me, the mystery that had ever shrouded its
origin was dissolved. I no longer looked upon its waters with a feeling
approaching to awe, for I knew its home, and had visited its cradle. Had
I overrated the importance of the discovery? and had I wasted some of
the best years of my life to obtain a shadow? I recalled to recollection
the practical question of Commoro, the chief of Latooka, "Suppose you
get to the great lake, what will you do with it? What will be the good
of it? If you find that the large river does flow from it, what then?"
At length the happy day came when we were to quit this miserable place
of Gondokoro. The boat was ready to start, we were all on board, and
Ibrahim and his people came to say good-by. Crowds lined the cliff and
the high ground by the old ruins of the mission-station to see us
depart. We pushed off from shore into the powerful current; the English
flag, that had accompanied us all through our wanderings, now fluttered
proudly from the masthead unsullied by defeat, and amidst the rattle of
musketry we glided rapidly down the river and soon lost sight of
Gondokoro.
What were our feelings at that moment?
