INTRODUCTORY.
In the present work I shall describe the history of the Khedive of
Egypt's expedition, which I have had the honour to command, as the first
practical step that has been taken to suppress the slave trade of
Central Africa.
I shall not repeat, beyond what may be absolutely necessary, that which
has already been published in my former works on Africa, "The Albert
N'yanza" and "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia," but I shall adhere to
the simple path taken by the expedition. This enterprise was the natural
result of my original explorations, in which I had been an eye-witness
to the horrors of the slave trade, which I determined, if possible, to
suppress.
In my former journey I had traversed countries of extreme fertility in
Central Africa, with a healthy climate favourable for the settlement of
Europeans, at a mean altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea level. This
large and almost boundless extent of country was well peopled by a race
who only required the protection of a strong but paternal government to
become of considerable importance, and to eventually develop the great
resources of the soil.
I found lands varying in natural capabilities according to their
position and altitudes - where sugar, cotton, coffee, rice, spices, and
all tropical produce might be successfully cultivated; but those lands
were without any civilized form of government, and "every man did what
seemed right in his own eyes."
In this dislocated state of society, the slave trade prospered to the
detriment of all improvement.
