It was therefore necessary for him to visit his stations, and to warn
his people to hold both their slaves and ivory until I should be
withdrawn from Gondokoro by the expiration of my term of service; after
which, he had no doubt that things would quickly return to their former
happy state. By these means he would be able to cheat the government out
of the two-fifths of all ivory; he would preserve his slaves; and a
judicious present to some high official would reinstate him in his
original position as the greatest slave-hunter of the White Nile; with
the additional kuilos of having battled the Christian Pacha.
I had already written to assure the Khedive that, should my work not be
satisfactorily accomplished at the expiration of my term of service, I
should continue at my post until I could honourably resign the command,
when the government should be firmly established in the interior.
I now devoted every energy to the preparations for starting, together
with the English engineers and the steamer. Having given the necessary
instructions to the engineer in chief, Mr. Higginbotham, I had no
anxiety, as I felt sure that everything would be in order.
The carts were to be thoroughly examined, and the No. 3 steamer of 38
tons was to be divided in parcels; the small work secured in loads of
fifty pounds, each sewn up in raw hide, and the heavier portions divided
among the carts.
The officers were now perfectly resigned to their lot. The remnant of
the Egyptian force had been converted into artillery-men, and all the
Soudanis formed one regiment.
While Mr. Higginbotham was engaged in the work of arranging and packing,
my masons were busy in making bricks, as I wished eventually to build
the barracks of this solid material, instead of trusting to the
dangerously inflammable straw-huts. I had already written to England for
sufficient galvanized iron for 3,000 feet of building in actual length.
Although galvanized iron is hot in a tropical climate, it can easily be
protected from the sun by a light framework of canes slightly thatched.
My Soudanis were never overpowered by heat, as they had been born in a
high temperature.
On my return to Gondokoro, I found that Meri's natives had collected a
large quantity of stones, and they had sent to request a vessel to
transport them. I gave them a cow, and they had a general dance. This
reception seemed to delight them, and they returned to their villages,
accompanied by a noggur with an officer and twenty men.
