CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH PARTY.
The success of an expedition depends mainly upon organization. From my
former experience in Central Africa, I knew exactly the requirements of
the natives, and all the material that would be necessary for the
enterprise. I also knew that the old adage of "out of sight out of mind"
might be adopted as the Egyptian motto, therefore it would be
indispensable to supply myself with everything at the outset, so as to
be independent of support hereafter.
The English party consisted of myself and Lady Baker; Lieutenant Julian
Alleyne Baker, R.N.; Mr. Edwin Higginbotham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood,
secretary; Dr. Joseph Gedge, physician; Mr. Marcopolo, chief storekeeper
and interpreter; Mr. McWilliam, chief engineer of steamers; Mr. Jarvis,
chief shipwright; together with Messrs. Whitfield, Samson, Hitchman, and
Ramsall, shipwrights, boiler-makers, &c. In addition to the above were
two servants.
I laid in stores sufficient to last the European party four years.
I provided four galvanized iron magazines, each eighty feet long by
twenty in width, to protect all material.
Before I left England I personally selected every article that was
necessary for the expedition; thus an expenditure of about 9,000 pounds
was sufficient for the purchase of the almost innumerable items that
formed the outfit for the enterprise.
