This Man Declared That His People
Could Not Prepare Materials For The Camp, As The Neighbouring Tribes
Were Hostile; And He Could Not Venture To Collect Bamboos.
I told him that if my orders were not obeyed, the troops would be
obliged to be sheltered in his villages upon arrival, as I could not
allow them to be exposed to the rains.
Both Allorron and his people looked extremely sullen, and although I
always knew the Baris to be the worst tribe in the Nile basin, I was not
prepared for such a morose welcome. I explained to him the object of the
expedition. He seemed quite incredulous, and made some remark to his
followers in his own language with a contemptuous smile. He rather
approved of the idea that slave-taking would be suppressed in his own
tribe, but he could not sympathize with the general principle, and he
asked "What will the slave-traders do?" Colonel Abd-el-Kader replied to
the question by explaining to him my exact position, and the relative
position of the traders. At this he burst out laughing in the rudest
manner. He had seen me and my wife on our former voyage, and he well
remembered that in those days we had been not only helpless in
Gondokoro, but that the traders had spoken of all Europeans with
contempt. He had already hoard from Abou [*] Saood's people of my
expected arrival, by whom he had been incited against the expedition. It
had been explained to him, that if baffled, we should soon become
disgusted, and return to Khartoum.
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