The men of Shooli and Fatiko are the best proportioned that I have seen;
without the extreme height of the Shillooks or Dinkas, they are muscular
and well knit, and generally their faces are handsome.
The women were inclined to a short stature, but were very strong and
compact. It was singular, that throughout the great Shooli country, of
which Fatiko is simply a district, while the women are perfectly naked,
the men are partially clothed with the skin of an antelope, slung across
the shoulders, and covering the lower part of the body life a scarf. In
other countries that I had passed, the men were quite naked, while the
women were more or less covered.
After the dance, I was visited by several natives who had known me in
former years, among whom was my old guide, Gimoro, who had first led me
to Unyoro. Another excellent man named Shoeli now gave me all the
intelligence of the country. Both these men spoke Arabic.
It was a repetition of the old story. The country was half-ruined by the
acts of Abou Saood's people. The natives were afraid to resist them in
this neighbourhood, as every adjacent country had been plundered, and
the women and children carried off. Abou Saood had not expected that I
could leave Gondokoro; but he had told the Shooli natives to attack me
if I should arrive; thus on the day of my appearance, the natives, being
ignorant of my presence, had considered the dreaded Pacha must be an
enemy, until they had recognized my wife and myself as their old
friends.
Upon that day, when I had observed the natives running to and fro with
spears and shields, Abou Saood had told them to resist me at once, and
he had promised that his people should assist the Fatikos; but when the
natives saw our powerful force, they had known that an attack would be
useless; they had accordingly sent men to discover our intentions, and
these messengers had reported my return to their country in the capacity
of Pacha commanding the expedition.
My old friends now assured me, in reply to my explanation of the
Khedive's intentions, that the whole country would rally around a good
government, and all that the poor people desired was protection and
justice. The fact of my return would give confidence throughout the
country; and the news had already been carried to the great sheik, Rot
Jarma, who had never visited Abou Saood or his people, but who would
quickly tender his allegiance to me as the representative of the
Khedive.
I told Gimoro and Shooli to inform the headmen, and the people generally
throughout the country, of my pacific intentions, and to have no fear
now that the government was represented, as it would be impossible that
the atrocities committed by the slave-hunters of Abou Saood should
recur. At the same time I explained, that in about twenty days the
contract entered into between Agad and Co. with the Soudan government
would expire, and Abou Saood would be compelled to withdraw all his
people from the country, which would then remain solely in the hands of
the Khedive.
Throughout the subsequent expedition, I could always rely upon the
fidelity of these two men, Gimoro and Shooli.
After their departure to spread the good news far and wide, I had a long
conversation with my old servant, Mohammed, who I knew would give me
every information respecting the acts of Abou Saood and his people, as
he had been among them in these parts for many years.
He told me that my arrival at Fatiko was supposed to be improbable, as
the Gondokoro natives were known to be hostile to the government;
therefore it would be impossible to transport the baggage. Although the
Baris were at war with the government, Abou Saood had about seventy of
these natives at Fatiko, armed with muskets, in his employ; thus he was
openly in league with the enemies of the Khedive's government.
The report among the slave companies asserted that Abou Saood had been
in league with Raoul Bey to frustrate the expedition; thus the
conspiracy of the officers headed by Raouf Bey, which I had checkmated,
was the grand move to effect a collapse of the expedition, and to leave
a clear field for the slave-traders.
"Up to the present time, my arrangements have been able to overpower all
opposition."
The success of the corn collection at the moment of the conspiracy was
fatal to the machinations of Raouf Bey, and secured me the confidence of
the troops.
"The success of every attack that I have personally commanded has
clinched this confidence.
"The trader's people are discontented with their leaders; they are
without clothes or wages.
"Their parties have been massacred in several directions by the natives.
Nearly 500 loads of ivory have been burned, together with one of their
stations, by a night attack of the Madi, in which the slave-hunters lost
thirty-five killed, and the rest of the party only escaped in the
darkness, and fled to the forests.
"Thus I come upon them at a moment when they are divided in their
feelings. A dread of the government is mingled with confidence in the
arrival of a strong military force, which would be auxiliary in the
event of a general uprising of the country."
I found several of my old men engaged as slave-hunters. These people,
who had behaved well on my former voyage, confided all the news, and
were willing to serve the government. Kamrasi, the former king of
Unyoro, was dead, and had been succeeded by his son, Kabba Rega.
