Seven
days' march south of that station the navigable portion of the Nile is
reached, whence vessels can ascend direct to the Albert Lake; thus an
enormous extent of country is opened to navigation, and Manchester goods
and various other articles would find a ready market in exchange for
ivory at a prodigious profit, as in those newly-discovered regions ivory
has a merely nominal value.
"Beyond this commencement of honest trade I cannot offer a suggestion,
as no produce of the country except ivory could afford the expense of
transport to Europe. (The proposed railway from Cairo to
Khartoum will overcome this obstacle.)
"If Africa is to be civilized, it must be effected by commerce, which,
once established, will open the way for missionary labour; but all ideas
of commerce, improvement, and the advancement of the African race that
philanthropy can suggest, must be discarded until the traffic in slaves
shall have ceased to exist.
"Should the slave trade be suppressed, a field would be opened, the
extent of which I will not attempt to suggest, as the future would
depend upon the good government of countries now devoted to savage
anarchy and confusion." . . . .
"Difficult and almost impossible is the task before the missionary. The
Austrian mission has failed, and their stations have been forsaken;
their pious labour was hopeless, and the devoted priests died upon their
barren field."
By a reference to that work also - "The Albert N'yanza" - it will be seen
that in the present expedition I carried out the plans that I had
proposed at the termination of my first journey.
I have no doubt that missionaries will take advantage of the chance that
has resulted from the suppression of the slave trade and the
establishment of a government. At the same time, should they attempt a
settlement in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro, they must be prepared with
an inexhaustible stock of patience when dealing with the Baris.
The Madi and Shooli tribes would be found tractable and more capable of
religious instruction. It is my opinion that the time has not yet
arrived for missionary enterprise in those countries; but at the same
time a sensible man might do good service by living among the natives,
and proving to their material minds that persons do exist whose
happiness consists in doing good to others. The personal qualifications
and outfit for a single man who would thus settle among the natives
should be various. If he wished to secure their attention and
admiration, he should excel as a rifle shot and sportsman. If musical,
he should play ` the Highland bagpipes. He should be clever as a
conjurer, and be well provided with conjuring tricks, together with a
magic lantern, magnetic battery, dissolving views, photographic
apparatus, coloured pictorial illustrations, &c., &c. He should be a
good surgeon and general doctor, &c.; and be well supplied with drugs,
remembering that natives have a profound admiration for medical skill.
