Had the White
Nile been open as formerly, I should have transported the necessary
camels from Khartoum, and there would have been no serious difficulty in
the delivery of the steamers to this point. Two or three strong pioneer
parties, with native assistance, would quickly have bridged over the
narrow water-courses and have cleared a rough road through the forests
as the carts advanced.
It was useless to repine. I still hoped to accomplish the work.
We now descended into the beautiful plain, to which I had given the name
Ibrahimeyah, in honour of the father of his Highness the Khedive
(Ibrahim Pacha).
This point is destined to become the capital of Central Africa.
The general depot for the steamers will be near the mouth of the
Un-y-Ame river; which, after rising in the prairies between Fatiko and
Unyoro, winds through a lovely country for about eighty miles, and falls
into the White Nile opposite to Gebel Kuku. The trade of Central Africa,
when developed by the steamers on the Albert N'yanza, will concentrate
at this spot, whence it must be conveyed by camels for 120 miles to
Gondokoro, until at some future time a railway may perhaps continue the
line of steam communication.
It is a curious fact that a short line of 120 miles of railway would
open up the very heart of Africa to steam transport - between the
Mediterranean and the equator, when the line from Cairo to Khartoum
shall be completed!
