This Included An Admirable
Selection Of Manchester Goods, Such As Cotton Sheeting, Grey Calico,
Cotton And Also Woollen Blankets, White, Scarlet, And Blue; Indian
Scarfs, Red And Yellow; Handkerchiefs Of Gaudy Colours, Chintz Printed;
Scarlet Flannel Shirts, Serge Of Colours (Blue, Red), Linen Trowsers,
&C., &C.
Tools of all sorts - axes, small hatchets, harness bells, brass and
copper rods, combs, zinc mirrors, knives, crockery, tin plates,
fish-hooks, musical boxes, coloured prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned
spoons, cheap watches, &c., &c.
All these things were purchased through Messrs. Silber & Fleming, of
Wood Street, Cheapside.
I thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body of troops if
necessary, while the magazines could produce anything from a needle to a
crowbar, or from a handkerchief to a boat's sail. It will be seen
hereafter that these careful arrangements assured the success of the
expedition, as the troops, when left without pay, could procure all they
required from the apparently inexhaustible stores of the magazines.
In addition to the merchandise and general supplies, I had several large
musical boxes with bells and drums, an excellent magic lantern, a
magnetic battery, wheels of life, and an assortment of toys. The
greatest wonder to the natives were two large girandoles; also the
silvered balls, about six inches in diameter, that, suspended from the
branch of a tree, reflected the scene beneath.
In every expedition the principal difficulty is the transport.
"Travel light, if possible," is the best advice for all countries; but
in this instance it was simply impossible, as the object of the
expedition was not only to convey steamers to Central Africa, but to
establish legitimate trade in the place of the nefarious system of
pillage hitherto adopted by the so-called White Nile traders.
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