From the first I had
observed that the Egyptian authorities did not wish to encourage English
explorations of the
Slave-producing districts, as such examinations
would be detrimental to the traffic, and would lead to reports to the
European governments that would ultimately prohibit the trade; it was
perfectly clear that the utmost would be done to prevent my expedition
from starting. This opposition gave a piquancy to the undertaking, and I
resolved that nothing should thwart my plans. Accordingly I set to work
in earnest. I had taken the precaution to obtain an order upon the
Treasury at Khartoum for what money I required, and as ready cash
performs wonders in that country of credit and delay, I was within a few
weeks ready to start. I engaged three vessels, including two large
noggurs or sailing barges, and a good decked vessel with comfortable
cabins, known by all Nile tourists as a diahbiah.
The preparations for such a voyage are no trifles. I required forty-five
armed men as escort, forty men as sailors, which, with servants, &c.,
raised my party to ninety-six. The voyage to Gondokoro, the navigable
limit of the Nile, was reported to be from forty-five to fifty days from
Khartoum, but provisions were necessary for four months, as the boatmen
would return to Khartoum with the vessels, after landing me and my
party. In the hope of meeting Speke and Grant's party, I loaded the
boats with an extra quantity of corn, making a total of a hundred urdeps
(rather exceeding 400 bushels). I had arranged the boats to carry
twenty-one donkeys, four camels, and four horses; which I hoped would
render me independent of porters, the want of transport being the great
difficulty. The saddles, packs, and pads were all made under my own
superintendence; nor was the slightest trifle neglected in the necessary
arrangements for success. In all the detail, I was much assisted by a
most excellent man whom I had engaged to accompany me as my head man, a
German carpenter, Johann Schmidt. I had formerly met him hunting on the
banks of the Settite river, in the Base country, where he was
purchasing living animals from the Arabs, for a contractor to a
menagerie in Europe; he was an excellent sportsman, and an energetic and
courageous fellow; perfectly sober and honest. Alas! "the spirit was
willing, but the flesh was weak," and a hollow cough, and emaciation,
attended with hurried respiration, suggested disease of the lungs. Day
after day he faded gradually, and I endeavoured to persuade him not to
venture upon such a perilous journey as that before me: nothing would
persuade him that he was in danger, and he had an idea that the climate
of Khartoum was more injurious than the White Nile, and that the voyage
would improve his health. Full of good feeling, and a wish to please, he
persisted in working and perfecting the various arrangements, when he
should have been saving his strength for a severer trial.
Meanwhile, my preparations progressed. I had clothed my men all in
uniform, and had armed them with double-barrelled guns and rifles. I
had explained to them thoroughly the object of my journey, and that
implicit obedience would be enforced, so long as they were in my
service; that no plunder would be permitted, and that their names were
to be registered at the public Divan before they started. They promised
fidelity and devotion, but a greater set of scoundrels in physiognomy I
never encountered. Each man received five months' wages in advance, and
I gave them an entertainment, with abundance to eat and drink, to enable
them to start in good humor.
We were just ready to start; the supplies were all on board, the donkeys
and horses were shipped, when an officer arrived from the Divan, to
demand from me the poll tax that Moosa Pasha, the Governor-general, had
recently levied upon the inhabitants; and to inform me, that in the
event of my refusing to pay the said tax for each of my men, amounting
to one month's wages per head, he should detain my boats. I ordered my
captain to hoist the British flag upon each of the three boats, and sent
my compliments to the Government official, telling him that I was
neither a Turkish subject nor a trader, but an English explorer; that I
was not responsible for the tax, and that if any Turkish official should
board my boat, under the British flag, I should take the liberty of
throwing him overboard. This announcement appeared so practical, that
the official hurriedly departed, while I marched my men on board, and
ordered the boatmen to get ready to start. Just at that moment, a
Government vessel, by the merest chance, came swiftly down the river
under sail, and in the clumsiest manner crashed right into us. The oars
being lashed in their places on my boat, ready to start, were broken to
pieces by the other vessel, which, fouling another of my boats just
below, became fixed. The reis, or captain of the Government boat that
had caused the mischief, far from apologizing, commenced the foulest
abuse; and refused to give oars in exchange for those he had destroyed.
To start was impossible without oars, and an angry altercation being
carried on between my men and the Government boat, it was necessary to
come to closer quarters. The reis of the Government boat was a gigantic
black, a Tokrouri (native of Darfur), who, confident in his strength,
challenged any one to come on board, nor did any of my fellows respond
to the invitation. The insolence of Turkish Government officials is
beyond description - my oars were smashed, and this insult was the
reparation; so, stepping quickly on board, and brushing a few fellows on
one side, I was obliged to come to a physical explanation with the
captain, which terminated in a delivery of the oars.
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