Their numbers were equal black and white,
as I considered this arrangement might excite an esprit de corps, and
would in the event of discontent prevent a coalition.
The men having been well chosen were fine examples of physique, and
being armed with the snider rifle and carefully drilled, such a body of
picked troops would form a nucleus for further development, and might
become a dependable support in any emergency. This corps was commanded
by an excellent officer, my aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel Abd-el-Kader,
but owing to the peculiar light-fingered character of the men, I gave it
the name of "The Forty Thieves."
Eventually the corps became a model of morality, and was distinguished
for valour and fidelity throughout the expedition.
Six months' rations were on board for all hands, in addition to the
general stores of corn, and cases, bales, &c., innumerable.
On the 8th February, 1870, the bugles announced the departure. The
troops hurried on board their respective transports according to the
numbers painted on their sides and sails. The official parting was
accomplished. I had had to embrace the governor, then a black pacha, a
rara avis in terris, and a whole host of beys, concluding the affecting
ceremony with a very fat colonel whom my arms could not properly
encircle.
A couple of battalions lined the shore; the guns fired the usual salute
as we started on our voyage; the flotilla, composed of two steamers,
respectively of thirty-two and twenty-four horsepower, and thirty-one
sailing vessels, with a military force of about 800 men, got away in
tolerable order. The powerful current of the Blue Nile quickly swept us
past Khartoum, and having rounded the point, we steamed up the grand
White Nile. The wind blew very strong from the north, thus the entire
fleet kept pace with the steamers, one of which was towing my diahbeeah,
and the other that of the colonel, Raouf Bey. Thank God we were off;
thus all intrigues were left behind, and the future would be under my
own command.
On reference to my journal, I find the following entry upon 8th
February, 1870: -
"Mr. Higginbotham, who has safely arrived at Berber with the steel
steamers in sections for the Albert N'yanza, will, I trust, be provided
with vessels at Khartoum, according to my orders, so as to follow me to
Gondokoro with supplies, and about 350 troops with four guns.
"My original programme - agreed to by his Highness the Khedive, who
ordered the execution of my orders by the authorities - arranged that
six steamers, fifteen sloops, and fifteen diahbeeahs, should leave Cairo
on 10th June, to ascend the cataracts to Khartoum, at which place
Djiaffer Pacha was to prepare three steamers and twenty-five vessels to
convey 1,650 troops, together with transport animals and supplies.
"The usual Egyptian delays have entirely thwarted my plans. No vessels
have arrived from Cairo, as they only started on 29th August. Thus,
rather than turn back, I start with a mutilated expedition, without a
SINGLE TRANSPORT ANIMAL."
Having minutely described the White Nile in a former work, "The Albert
N'yanza," I shall not repeat the description. In 103 hours and ten
minutes' steaming we reached Fashoda, the government station in the
Shillook country, N. lat. 9 degrees 52 minutes, 618 miles by river
from Khartoum.
This town had been fortified by a wall and flanking towers since I had
last visited the White Nile, and it was garrisoned by a regiment of
Egyptian soldiers. Ali Bey, the governor, was a remarkably handsome old
man, a Kurd. He assured me that the Shillook country was in excellent
order; and that according to the instructions received from the Khedive
he had exerted himself against the slave trade, so that it was
impossible for vessels to pass the station.
Fashoda was well situated for this purpose, as it completely dominated
the river; but I much doubted my friend's veracity.
Having taken on board a month's rations for all hands, we started; and,
with a strong breeze in our favour, we reached the Sobat junction on
16th February, at 12.30 p.m.
There we took in fresh water, as that of the Sobat is superior to the
White Nile. At this season the river was about eight feet below the
level of the bank. The water of the Sobat is yellowish, and it colours
that of the White Nile for a great distance. By dead reckoning I made
the Sobat junction 684 miles by river from Khartoum.
When I saw the Sobat, in the first week of January 1863, it was
bank-full. The current is very powerful, and when I sounded in various
places during my former voyage, I found a depth of twenty-six to
twenty-eight feet. The volume of water brought to the Nile by this river
is immense, and the power of the stream is so superior to that of the
White Nile, that as it arrives at right angles, the waters of the Nile
are banked up. The yellow water of the Sobat forms a distinct line as it
cuts through the clear water of the main river, and the floating rafts
of vegetation brought down by the White Nile, instead of continuing
their voyage, are headed back, and remain helplessly in the backwater.
The sources of the Sobat are still a mystery; but there can be no doubt
that the principal volume must be water of mountain origin, as it is
coloured by earthy matter, and is quite unlike the marsh water of the
White Nile. The expeditions of the slave-hunters have ascended the
river as far as it is navigable. At that point seven different streams
converge into one channel, which forms the great river Sobat.
